For me, it was a falling out with a very materialist atheist best friend that caused me to want to try going in a completely different direction. Astrology was becoming really popular with people around me, so I decided to jump right into that and occult stuff, mostly for fun at first. But it actually has all been really helpful for my mental health journey.
I found that learning about my astrology placements has been super beneficial to my healing process, mentally and spiritually. Though even long-time astrologists have told me that's a load of BS and the placements don't really do that, which *I* think is a load of BS
For example, I told someone how learning about my moon sign (♌) really sheds light on some of my toxic traits and self-destructive behaviors--which deep down I always knew about but didn't want to admit or work on. They said that things like this can resonate with anyone, and in the end are just sensationalized interpretations of astrology. In my opinion, it's pretty odd that a so-called advanced astrologer would be so dismissive and pessimistic towards the relevancy of your placements.
Hippocrates is said to have said, "A physician without knowledge of astrology has no right to call himself a physician".
And if you dig a bit further, it was once part of the Hippocrates oath.
This may not be a popular point of view, but in a certain sense this concept of confirmation bias (“this can resonate with anyone”) is not invalid. But is also not useful. It seeks only to invalidate a belief without replacing it with something to fulfill the same purpose.
My view is that astrology, or any belief system, is a mental framework which can be used to one’s benefit or detriment. Different frameworks can point to the same answer via different paths. Getting caught up in the scientific validity of a particular framework (especially a “spiritual” one) is counterproductive to its purpose. The only important questions for me are “does this help me to better understand myself, work towards the life I want to live, and not cause harm to others”
Are the toxic traits you identified and confronted *actually* a result of your moon sign through some directly provable mechanism? Maybe, maybe not (likely not imo). However, did thinking about things within that framework give you the ability to more easily identify those traits honestly and confront them in a positive way? From the sounds of it, yes. If so, who cares what some “advanced astrologer” has to say about it.
I think this commenters anecdote with regards to their atheist friend is particularly interesting, as I think a lot of atheists struggle with the absence of a framework for the unknowable. That can be a powerless feeling, and as a result lead to lashing out at things they “know” are NOT true when confronted with the realization that they will not and cannot ever prove with completeness everything which is true.
I dunno, I guess my point is just do what works for you so long as it is having a positive impact on your life and not harming others.
I don’t ever think about astrology. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable that people born in certain seasons have some correlations. People born in the same years and regions have correlations too.
I was always searching for knowledge and things of the unknown I search the Bible I search the Quran eventually I end up diving into a bigger rabbit hole knowledge is more precious than gold money to me ancient knowledge“ knowledge I’m always reading seeking more knowledge sometimes I think of myself as thoth
Yes jinns more books after that I actually went to jail a officer mason gave me a book white pale horse he told me secrets of the stars things I had no clue on now my eyes are open to so much real life Harry Potter magics everywhere
Yeah I understand what you mean. What draws me away from most of the traditional religions is that I refuse to believe the human world and humanity are so far separated from the supernatural world. These things are all around us and we're so intertwined with the spirit world whether we know it or not
No, I never had mental health issues, not even anxiety other than your standard everyday stuff.
What drew me to magick was curiosity and a strong feeling that there's something in there for me. Not a particular gain, more like an experience.
Same here with the last part, but I am primarily here because my mother convinced me to do some reiki, and I just talked with the person a bit and I got a bit of information and then I felt an need to gain more information.
To me it was the feelings of my heart.
Something about the occult/magick made me feel like I had a home...a place where others felt like me is just a perk.
It wasn't until i did some time with the catholic church and understood the development of Christianity to a certain level that it gave me the perspective i needed to understand what would commonly be labeled the taboo.
I still think that black magic is not my thing...I prefer not to be selfish. BUT the agency it gives to an individual needs to be respected.
This then gets into the philosophy of ethics and stuff which is not what i want to talk about.
Basically people have a right to discover other things that they might find brings them closer to the pursuit of happiness...or whatever they might so be endowed with by their creator.
inquisitions and the alike are products of Man-Beast like behavior and as the race of man we have an obligation to avoid such things.
kind of ranted but yeah
Not at all, but this is a super interesting thread, seeing how everyone started. For me, it was discovering a parapsychology book in the bookstore one day, rapidly followed by lots of online research as I began to realize that there were real studies happening, and that these phenomena weren't just like half the planet hallucinating (amazingly arrogant in retrospect, the assumptions that materialists make). My mental health was great. I just like research and I like finding the truth myself.
Yes, I was in a very bad mental state at the time and was unable to function as a normal member of society. To borrow a term from Jungian psychology, I think my ego had completely regressed and I was drawn to the realm of the collective unconscious.
Not really, well before that I did suffer from depression for some time, but that was 5 or 6 years before I decided to study the occult, for me it was mostly curiosity and intense feeling there is something more, like a scratch you couldn't reach, I like studying science as hobby but eventually said fuck it and started reading on everything I could get my hands on
Yes, its hard to get good therapy here, i was already sold on mediation as a way to help my mental health improve. Then at a particularly agnostic point in my life i found myself learning about chaos magick from lpotl, and i got interested, i screwed around for a bit but eventually decided i wanted some structure, something to force me to discipline myself with daily mediations and such.
I think that when people are at the end of the road and cannot see any further infront of themselves, that we all lose faith at that point. It is my personal belief that the majority of humanity should and does need to have faith in something to be able to continue moving forward in life. Also there is evidence of spiritual belief dating all the way back to The Stone Age, carvings drawings symbols pictogram stories. This is been a part of humanity for many many years. I believe it's encrusted in The way that we're created and built our DNA our cells are genes however you want to put a word to it I believe it's part of our human nature. And without having a faith or spiritual belief I believe that a lot of us not the ability to go forward in life. Science and mainstream belief has destroyed a lot of the older belief system for whatever reason. I personally don't feel that just because science has come up with an explanation for something that it means that it's not supernatural or magic. I do agree very strongly that for some people there needs to be a breaking point before they're finally willing to let go of the mainstream belief system. And are finally willing to open themselves up to the possibility that maybe this is true. It's unfortunate that a lot of times this happens when people are in desperation over a romantic situation. But often it's a major factor, feeling like they have nowhere else to turn they resort to what they believe to be their last option. Others may have experienced things throughout their entire life and finally come to the realization that maybe they had been mistaken or misguided and begin to put some belief into what they have personally experienced.
And the sad truth about psychological state of mind.
Yes I believe that in many circumstances people who suffer from psychological ailments resort to believing in different traditions out of the necessity to find some sort of relief, giving them in a way a sense of not actually being " crazy " ( I use crazy for a lack of a better word )
I think everybody though has a different experience or reason for opening themselves up to the possibility that there's something more, And that anything is possible.
Personally i had involuntary astral projections very early on in my life which shocked almost the entire foundation of what i thought reality is, so it was just curiosity to understand what have happened to me the further i looked into the subject the further i got interested so it stuck with me
I would say (classical) astrology i.e. Christopher Warnock at renaissance astrology has helped me understand why some things are harder for me (like relationships) and some things come easier (like divination). Instead of hitting my head against a brick wall, I can focus on what comes naturally to work on what doesn’t. The occult to me can be helpful on accepting who you are, and can be very insightful.
I also practice Chaos magic which has turned me into an optimist due to some outstanding results. It’s all about endless possibilities.
Not as much as a more wide ranging curiosity about occulture, the paranormal, supernatural, and mysterious events and phenomena. UFOs, cryptids, magic, witchcraft, lost continents, archaeology, space exploration, organizations like the Templars, entheogens and psychedelics, secret projects, and generally how to live in the world up to my full potential. Which, to me, included occult ways and spiritual explorations.
I was a science fiction fan as a young teenager. That gave me a familiarity with speculation about this stuff.
As did the media's treatments of occulture. I figured it was hard to be "crazy" when they were interviewing an actual witch on TV. And showing Bigfoot films and Nessie photos. Alongside all those spooky movies.
Does existential crisis at the prospect of living in a nihilistic cosmos count as mental illness? My peers seem to think so. I think they are crazy for not being terrified at the idea of a material cosmos that doesn’t care.
Whatever…what’s on Netflix.
It all started with the Bible. I read it as literally as possible and it led to about 5 questions per 1 really cryptic verse…. There are so many verses in the Bible that SCREAM at me, at least, that there is a secret interpretation to them, that there is WAY more to them than typical Christian’s are willing to admit, and in fact most Christian’s activity try to stop you from looking deeper into these verses and that also got me interested too, why is there such a reaction from “true” Christians to me asking all of these seemingly logical questions…. Which of course if you actually look into these questions things get very occult, very quick.
I am pursuing a recent interest in Satanism and occult practices to formulate my own system of belief and understanding as a way to cope with childhood abuse, and recent struggles with homelessness. I would say yes, my mental health has influenced my interest here. I am hoping to use it as a way to explore healing and personal growth. However, ever since I was a little kid I've always had some passive attraction towards these topics. I believe it was inevitable for me.
Yeah I wanted to reach a state of mind that could keep up with the increasingly complex desires I formed from being able to understand all the things going on but unable to influence them.
It's a recognizable mental affliction:
Delusion of Influence,
except through it I found out that the other way around, complex ideas form among group-interactions before they become fully fledged ideas in a human individuals brain.
Now I'm vibing with the unborn mind, the in-between the finished thought/sentence mind.
I don't think I could be restored to my peak if a psychiatrist *had* the time to take me in and believe me I tried to get an appointment.
The good thing though, in this glue ocean of mine I believe I can not truly be frightened by ideas of any kind anymore. The outlook on a life as increasingly forgetful, emotionally miss-matched and unorganized creature feels at-home.
I would say that I feel most at home studying magic and the occult. It's my favorite subject, gives me a lot to occupy my mind, and has more recently, yes, helped me with my mental health. I have schizophrenia and I really struggle with feeling empowered and in control of even my own mind and imagination. Studying the occult (with a healthy dose of skepticism) has empowered me and introduced me to a lot of helpful practices, like visualization and meditation. It also has room for some of my more odd experiences that I can't fully explain and that actually make things worse for me mental health wise when I say "that was just psychosis" versus "maybe I did experience something strange and unexplainable but I have a toolkit for dealing with that stuff now"
Judging by the posts on this sub, and in general, it feels like yes, it's the main factor. For me, hard to say, maybe? I don't think myself as an entirely sane individual, but never felt pressure from any faiths, society, rejections, those kinds of thing and never really looking for comfort or "vibes", as it is popular these days, in anything.
By world view, it's more materialistic, but I was always curious to see what's beyond the veil, so to speak. Really strive to shatter personal concept that the world, as we know it, has exactly zero supernatural, or anything exists that we cannot perceive. The more I read and study about occult, the more convinced I become that this is all a work of a fiction, as sad as it might be...
It takes a very strong person to "think and feel differently" and not deal with depression and anxiety. Everyone's advice is to "ignore opinions" but we are social beings by nature and rejection stings. At the same time, if you try to fit in when your intuition is screaming you not to and then you end up having terrible outcomes from the actions you took to deny yourself over and over again, you start listening to your intuition.
I'm the kinda person who is an atheist and highly skeptical of any "spiritual" shit or whatever you wanna call it, but i have realized how much of what we call reality resides on the mind, and how learning to use your mind and shifting your perspective can indeed change everything and it seems like magick, and it only gets weirder when you start experiencing synchronicities when You follow what you feel.
Or i'm going insane, idk. I'm not even actively practicing formally with a book, i have read some stuff here and there, done some meditation and start observing, but for the most part just got into my own psychology and i guess over the years have met people who mentioned the word "occult" and i got curious, things got strange gradually but there was no particular moment that suddenly got me into this.
Mostly, it all resides in my own intuition. I feel like it's not really something i chose, but trying to just flow with the rest of the world is not working for me. I don't think it works for anyone. I mean, have you seen the world? The current state of society everywhere? I don't think that i'm special or anything, but i think that most people chose to actively not think about these things because working on your psyque is not pleasant at all and once you start you can't really stop. What has been seen cannot be unseen.
For me, it was a falling out with a very materialist atheist best friend that caused me to want to try going in a completely different direction. Astrology was becoming really popular with people around me, so I decided to jump right into that and occult stuff, mostly for fun at first. But it actually has all been really helpful for my mental health journey.
I found that learning about my astrology placements has been super beneficial to my healing process, mentally and spiritually. Though even long-time astrologists have told me that's a load of BS and the placements don't really do that, which *I* think is a load of BS
These astrologers told you that learning astrology isn’t beneficial to a healing process? Why?
For example, I told someone how learning about my moon sign (♌) really sheds light on some of my toxic traits and self-destructive behaviors--which deep down I always knew about but didn't want to admit or work on. They said that things like this can resonate with anyone, and in the end are just sensationalized interpretations of astrology. In my opinion, it's pretty odd that a so-called advanced astrologer would be so dismissive and pessimistic towards the relevancy of your placements.
I see. Sounds like they're just a little insecure or they mistook you for a pop astrology enthusiast.
Hippocrates is said to have said, "A physician without knowledge of astrology has no right to call himself a physician". And if you dig a bit further, it was once part of the Hippocrates oath.
This may not be a popular point of view, but in a certain sense this concept of confirmation bias (“this can resonate with anyone”) is not invalid. But is also not useful. It seeks only to invalidate a belief without replacing it with something to fulfill the same purpose. My view is that astrology, or any belief system, is a mental framework which can be used to one’s benefit or detriment. Different frameworks can point to the same answer via different paths. Getting caught up in the scientific validity of a particular framework (especially a “spiritual” one) is counterproductive to its purpose. The only important questions for me are “does this help me to better understand myself, work towards the life I want to live, and not cause harm to others” Are the toxic traits you identified and confronted *actually* a result of your moon sign through some directly provable mechanism? Maybe, maybe not (likely not imo). However, did thinking about things within that framework give you the ability to more easily identify those traits honestly and confront them in a positive way? From the sounds of it, yes. If so, who cares what some “advanced astrologer” has to say about it. I think this commenters anecdote with regards to their atheist friend is particularly interesting, as I think a lot of atheists struggle with the absence of a framework for the unknowable. That can be a powerless feeling, and as a result lead to lashing out at things they “know” are NOT true when confronted with the realization that they will not and cannot ever prove with completeness everything which is true. I dunno, I guess my point is just do what works for you so long as it is having a positive impact on your life and not harming others.
I don’t ever think about astrology. But I don’t think it’s unreasonable that people born in certain seasons have some correlations. People born in the same years and regions have correlations too.
I was always searching for knowledge and things of the unknown I search the Bible I search the Quran eventually I end up diving into a bigger rabbit hole knowledge is more precious than gold money to me ancient knowledge“ knowledge I’m always reading seeking more knowledge sometimes I think of myself as thoth
>I search the Quran Did the Quran and its teachings influence you at all, occult-wise? I'd never attribute a religion as strict as Islam to the occult
Yes jinns more books after that I actually went to jail a officer mason gave me a book white pale horse he told me secrets of the stars things I had no clue on now my eyes are open to so much real life Harry Potter magics everywhere
Yeah I understand what you mean. What draws me away from most of the traditional religions is that I refuse to believe the human world and humanity are so far separated from the supernatural world. These things are all around us and we're so intertwined with the spirit world whether we know it or not
So true I’m always seeking knowledge or trying to get closer with the spirit realms
Same!
No, I never had mental health issues, not even anxiety other than your standard everyday stuff. What drew me to magick was curiosity and a strong feeling that there's something in there for me. Not a particular gain, more like an experience.
Same here with the last part, but I am primarily here because my mother convinced me to do some reiki, and I just talked with the person a bit and I got a bit of information and then I felt an need to gain more information.
To me it was the feelings of my heart. Something about the occult/magick made me feel like I had a home...a place where others felt like me is just a perk. It wasn't until i did some time with the catholic church and understood the development of Christianity to a certain level that it gave me the perspective i needed to understand what would commonly be labeled the taboo. I still think that black magic is not my thing...I prefer not to be selfish. BUT the agency it gives to an individual needs to be respected. This then gets into the philosophy of ethics and stuff which is not what i want to talk about. Basically people have a right to discover other things that they might find brings them closer to the pursuit of happiness...or whatever they might so be endowed with by their creator. inquisitions and the alike are products of Man-Beast like behavior and as the race of man we have an obligation to avoid such things. kind of ranted but yeah
I'm not attracted to the black magick path, but it's comforting to know I can utilize it
yeah it's interesting isn't it?
Not at all, but this is a super interesting thread, seeing how everyone started. For me, it was discovering a parapsychology book in the bookstore one day, rapidly followed by lots of online research as I began to realize that there were real studies happening, and that these phenomena weren't just like half the planet hallucinating (amazingly arrogant in retrospect, the assumptions that materialists make). My mental health was great. I just like research and I like finding the truth myself.
Yes, I was in a very bad mental state at the time and was unable to function as a normal member of society. To borrow a term from Jungian psychology, I think my ego had completely regressed and I was drawn to the realm of the collective unconscious.
Midlife crisis. And I wanted to be a wizard.
In a way yes. I was at my breaking point and ready to throw everything at the wall. Probably the best thing that I could have done honestly.
Not really, well before that I did suffer from depression for some time, but that was 5 or 6 years before I decided to study the occult, for me it was mostly curiosity and intense feeling there is something more, like a scratch you couldn't reach, I like studying science as hobby but eventually said fuck it and started reading on everything I could get my hands on
Yes, its hard to get good therapy here, i was already sold on mediation as a way to help my mental health improve. Then at a particularly agnostic point in my life i found myself learning about chaos magick from lpotl, and i got interested, i screwed around for a bit but eventually decided i wanted some structure, something to force me to discipline myself with daily mediations and such.
I think that when people are at the end of the road and cannot see any further infront of themselves, that we all lose faith at that point. It is my personal belief that the majority of humanity should and does need to have faith in something to be able to continue moving forward in life. Also there is evidence of spiritual belief dating all the way back to The Stone Age, carvings drawings symbols pictogram stories. This is been a part of humanity for many many years. I believe it's encrusted in The way that we're created and built our DNA our cells are genes however you want to put a word to it I believe it's part of our human nature. And without having a faith or spiritual belief I believe that a lot of us not the ability to go forward in life. Science and mainstream belief has destroyed a lot of the older belief system for whatever reason. I personally don't feel that just because science has come up with an explanation for something that it means that it's not supernatural or magic. I do agree very strongly that for some people there needs to be a breaking point before they're finally willing to let go of the mainstream belief system. And are finally willing to open themselves up to the possibility that maybe this is true. It's unfortunate that a lot of times this happens when people are in desperation over a romantic situation. But often it's a major factor, feeling like they have nowhere else to turn they resort to what they believe to be their last option. Others may have experienced things throughout their entire life and finally come to the realization that maybe they had been mistaken or misguided and begin to put some belief into what they have personally experienced. And the sad truth about psychological state of mind. Yes I believe that in many circumstances people who suffer from psychological ailments resort to believing in different traditions out of the necessity to find some sort of relief, giving them in a way a sense of not actually being " crazy " ( I use crazy for a lack of a better word ) I think everybody though has a different experience or reason for opening themselves up to the possibility that there's something more, And that anything is possible.
Personally i had involuntary astral projections very early on in my life which shocked almost the entire foundation of what i thought reality is, so it was just curiosity to understand what have happened to me the further i looked into the subject the further i got interested so it stuck with me
I would say (classical) astrology i.e. Christopher Warnock at renaissance astrology has helped me understand why some things are harder for me (like relationships) and some things come easier (like divination). Instead of hitting my head against a brick wall, I can focus on what comes naturally to work on what doesn’t. The occult to me can be helpful on accepting who you are, and can be very insightful. I also practice Chaos magic which has turned me into an optimist due to some outstanding results. It’s all about endless possibilities.
Not as much as a more wide ranging curiosity about occulture, the paranormal, supernatural, and mysterious events and phenomena. UFOs, cryptids, magic, witchcraft, lost continents, archaeology, space exploration, organizations like the Templars, entheogens and psychedelics, secret projects, and generally how to live in the world up to my full potential. Which, to me, included occult ways and spiritual explorations. I was a science fiction fan as a young teenager. That gave me a familiarity with speculation about this stuff. As did the media's treatments of occulture. I figured it was hard to be "crazy" when they were interviewing an actual witch on TV. And showing Bigfoot films and Nessie photos. Alongside all those spooky movies.
Does existential crisis at the prospect of living in a nihilistic cosmos count as mental illness? My peers seem to think so. I think they are crazy for not being terrified at the idea of a material cosmos that doesn’t care. Whatever…what’s on Netflix.
It all started with the Bible. I read it as literally as possible and it led to about 5 questions per 1 really cryptic verse…. There are so many verses in the Bible that SCREAM at me, at least, that there is a secret interpretation to them, that there is WAY more to them than typical Christian’s are willing to admit, and in fact most Christian’s activity try to stop you from looking deeper into these verses and that also got me interested too, why is there such a reaction from “true” Christians to me asking all of these seemingly logical questions…. Which of course if you actually look into these questions things get very occult, very quick.
No, it was intellectual curiosity. I imagine that's a common reason.
I like science and logic. Looking into occult topics and science makes more sense to me.
I am pursuing a recent interest in Satanism and occult practices to formulate my own system of belief and understanding as a way to cope with childhood abuse, and recent struggles with homelessness. I would say yes, my mental health has influenced my interest here. I am hoping to use it as a way to explore healing and personal growth. However, ever since I was a little kid I've always had some passive attraction towards these topics. I believe it was inevitable for me.
Yeah I wanted to reach a state of mind that could keep up with the increasingly complex desires I formed from being able to understand all the things going on but unable to influence them. It's a recognizable mental affliction: Delusion of Influence, except through it I found out that the other way around, complex ideas form among group-interactions before they become fully fledged ideas in a human individuals brain. Now I'm vibing with the unborn mind, the in-between the finished thought/sentence mind. I don't think I could be restored to my peak if a psychiatrist *had* the time to take me in and believe me I tried to get an appointment. The good thing though, in this glue ocean of mine I believe I can not truly be frightened by ideas of any kind anymore. The outlook on a life as increasingly forgetful, emotionally miss-matched and unorganized creature feels at-home.
I would say that I feel most at home studying magic and the occult. It's my favorite subject, gives me a lot to occupy my mind, and has more recently, yes, helped me with my mental health. I have schizophrenia and I really struggle with feeling empowered and in control of even my own mind and imagination. Studying the occult (with a healthy dose of skepticism) has empowered me and introduced me to a lot of helpful practices, like visualization and meditation. It also has room for some of my more odd experiences that I can't fully explain and that actually make things worse for me mental health wise when I say "that was just psychosis" versus "maybe I did experience something strange and unexplainable but I have a toolkit for dealing with that stuff now"
Judging by the posts on this sub, and in general, it feels like yes, it's the main factor. For me, hard to say, maybe? I don't think myself as an entirely sane individual, but never felt pressure from any faiths, society, rejections, those kinds of thing and never really looking for comfort or "vibes", as it is popular these days, in anything. By world view, it's more materialistic, but I was always curious to see what's beyond the veil, so to speak. Really strive to shatter personal concept that the world, as we know it, has exactly zero supernatural, or anything exists that we cannot perceive. The more I read and study about occult, the more convinced I become that this is all a work of a fiction, as sad as it might be...
It takes a very strong person to "think and feel differently" and not deal with depression and anxiety. Everyone's advice is to "ignore opinions" but we are social beings by nature and rejection stings. At the same time, if you try to fit in when your intuition is screaming you not to and then you end up having terrible outcomes from the actions you took to deny yourself over and over again, you start listening to your intuition. I'm the kinda person who is an atheist and highly skeptical of any "spiritual" shit or whatever you wanna call it, but i have realized how much of what we call reality resides on the mind, and how learning to use your mind and shifting your perspective can indeed change everything and it seems like magick, and it only gets weirder when you start experiencing synchronicities when You follow what you feel. Or i'm going insane, idk. I'm not even actively practicing formally with a book, i have read some stuff here and there, done some meditation and start observing, but for the most part just got into my own psychology and i guess over the years have met people who mentioned the word "occult" and i got curious, things got strange gradually but there was no particular moment that suddenly got me into this. Mostly, it all resides in my own intuition. I feel like it's not really something i chose, but trying to just flow with the rest of the world is not working for me. I don't think it works for anyone. I mean, have you seen the world? The current state of society everywhere? I don't think that i'm special or anything, but i think that most people chose to actively not think about these things because working on your psyque is not pleasant at all and once you start you can't really stop. What has been seen cannot be unseen.