THE
PSYCHONAUT’S JOURNEY A
Manual for Shared Interactive Visualisations By
Leoniv Revok
(This is an
excerpt from a forthcoming work on the subject.)
Shared
Interactive Visualisations is a ritual technology of astral simulation
whereby the visions and dream-images received through the image-making
sense of the individual participant is projected onto each other, thus
forming a complex etheric hologram that allows interactive exploration
of the aethyrs of the terrestrial zone and beyond. The technique
is akin to active imagination, pathworking or guided visualisation but
is collective and interactive. Such an
experiment is conducted by one Navigator working with two to six
Psychonauts. The Navigator is the lens through which the imaginations
of the participants are collected into a singular vision. He or She
weaves a Mythic Quest out of the fragments of inspiration washed ashore
from the depths of the cosmic mind. Each participant in the group will
take the role as Navigator in turns. Shared
Interactive Visualisations are the most potent when combined with
individual explorations (lucid dreaming, astral projection, entheogens,
meditation, etc) conducted by each of the participating psychonauts.
Each one will then bring something unique to the collaboration and the
group work will become a wider context for the individual journeys.
Structure
of the Quest
During
the quest the Navigator follows the steps of a procedure inspired by
the process of individuation mapped by Carl Gustav Jung. At each step
the Navigator constructs and manipulates the etheric hologram and
confronts the Psychonauts with locations, beings, encounters, objects
and events relevant to that particular phase of the quest. He or she
channels messages from entities encountered and describes their
appearance and behaviour. Within this manual you will find descriptions
of several astral locations and entities that has been encountered by
previous explorers and which your team can investigate further.
The journey begins
The journey can be an intentional act of exploration on behalf of the
Psychonauts or a reaction to events outside their control. Have the
Psychonauts decided to travel to a specific location or make contact
with a specific entity? Perhaps one of the participants has brought
something from their own explorations that the group can investigate
together.
Finds a talisman, something that helps the travellers on their journey.
This may be an object, an entity or a piece of information. It may not
necessarily be apparent at first that it is a talisman or in what way
it will prove helpful. The Navigator may have a specific idea as to
what it can do, but the talisman can also serve as a kind of Rorschach
test by letting its function be whatever the Psychonauts try to use it
for.
Encounter with the Shadow
The Shadow is the parts of the Cosmic Consciousness that are anathema
and taboo to the human consciousness. It often manifests as fearsome
and aggressive beings, such as bug-eyed monsters, which attack or
otherwise threaten the Psychonauts.
The Shadow is defeated (perhaps only temporarily) or assimilated.
Just like the wrathful deities in the Tibetan Book of the Dead the
Shadow entities may prove to be less destructive and antagonistic than
they first seemed, but this often depends on how they are treated. But
the Shadow entities will not easily be permanently assimilated, such a
transformation will require great efforts to thoroughly explore and
understand the forces encountered. It is easier to temporarily defeat
the Shadow’s emanations, but then they will return to haunt the
Psychonauts in later journeys.
Encounter with the Other, negative or positive
The Other is any force outside the personal or collective human
unconscious. Unlike the Shadow the Other entities is not necessarily
pariah or anathema but neither are they automatically harmless or
positive. These forces can be many things: helpful, distanced, wary,
deceitful, or aggressive.
Accepting or rejecting the Other
The entities of the Other can aid the Psychonauts but will usually want
something in return. They will often have agendas of their own and may
demand things from the Psychonauts.
Encounter with the Guide
This is a guru, oracle or mentor, but it need not be apparent that the
Guide is a teacher and the teachings are not always presented as formal
lessons. The Guide is simply any being carrying some kind of wisdom,
knowledge or learning experience that will be of use for the
Psychonauts, either in their visionary journeys or their daily life.
The Guide can be a fount of wisdom who answers any questions that the
Psychonauts have if they are deemed worthy, or it can be a trickster
who without a warning subjects them to a situation that will give them
an insight it thinks they are in need of.
Confrontation / synthesis
In the end the different strands of the Quest are woven together,
conflicts are brought to their conclusion and the Psychonauts reap the
consequences of their actions. Depending on how the encounters with the
entities of the Shadow and the Other where handled these beings may
appear again for a final confrontation. The Shadow, the
Other and the Guide are often different entities but this need not
always be true. Sometimes the categories may overlap, in part or
entirely, one person or being may occupy several or all of these
positions. This may be apparent or may be something that only becomes
known after a deeper investigation.
Afterwards
The team
should take some time for debriefing and reflecting upon what happened
during the session. At the next
session the role as Navigator will rotate to another member of the team
and a new journey will be undertaken. It can prove fruitful to return
to locations that have been visited in earlier quests and talk to
beings previously encountered, often new details and aspects can be
revealed.
Conflicting
visions
Each
participant has a unique perspective based on his or her experiences
and objectives but the group work is like a crystal that collects the
individual rays into a coherent beam. If the actions of a Psychonaut
conflicts with those of another or with the visions of the Navigator
the conflict can be resolved through the use of divinatory tools.
Assign a judge, preferably one in the team who is not a part in the
conflict.
Each side in the conflict briefly states their vision of what is to
happen.
A tool of divination (Tarot, I Ching, Runes) is consulted for each side. The divination
is interpreted by the judge who decides the outcome of the conflict.
The divination should not be understood as a simple yes or no that only
tells who’s vision will influence the shared experience – the oracles
answer gives you a lot of new information that should shape the
emerging situation.
*
* *
THE PSYCHONAUT’S
JOURNEY A
Manual for Mythic Quests and Shared Interactive Visualisations by
Leoniv Revok This manual
describes a powerful new technique for empowering your and your fellow
psychonauts explorations of the mind and the cosmos. Shared Interactive
Visualisations is a technique that is reminiscent of active
imagination, pathworking or guided visualisation but is collective and
interactive.
This is a
ritual technology of astral simulation whereby the visions and
dream-images received through the image-making sense of the individual
participant is projected onto each other, thus forming a complex
etheric hologram that allows interactive exploration of the aethyrs of
the terrestrial zone and beyond. Connect your
imagination to that of your team mates and embark on a quest to seek
out and explore strange new worlds and life forms. This booklet is
now avalaible in print or pdf: www.http://stores.lulu.com/Sapientastellarum
