"Void Meditation" is what is known as "stilling the mind." The benefits of void meditation are the ability to turn off unwanted thoughts and influences at will, being able to control your thoughts instead of your thoughts controlling you (as with the average person), and a sense of inner peace. Void meditation is essential for anyone who practices power meditation, and is important for success in advanced magickal practice. Power meditation changes the strength of our thoughts and it is very important to be able to control thoughts and to turn them off or focus them at will. Thought power, also known as 'witch power' is needed for success in ritual and in using your mind to obtain what you want. Power meditation strengthens our thoughts, and people who are more aware or sensitive will be able to pick up on our thoughts and feelings telepathically. Void meditation will train your mind to be silent so others will not know what you are thinking. The Japanese Ninja use this technique to avoid being detected while carrying out important missions that require one to advance or infiltrate, unnoticed. Void meditation trains your mind so you can focus during rituals and in every day life so your mind brings you what you desire.
General Guide for Void Meditation
There are several techniques for void meditation. The goal is to turn off all of your thoughts and focus on the here and now. You get your mind to be completely still for a specified length of time. In the beginning, this can be extremely difficult, as thoughts will come into your head continually. Before you know it, you will again be thinking about something. Don't get upset with yourself as this is very normal and even for advanced practitioners, certain meditation sessions may not go as smooth as usual. Just keep bringing your mind back to focus. Patience and persistence are the keys here. It definitely helps to do some breathing exercises beforehand to induce a trance state. Some people find meditating after a heavy meal causes the mind to be easily distracted.
Always try to meditate when you are fully awake and alert. If you try to do void meditation when you are tired, chances are you will quickly fall asleep.
Standard Void Meditation
Breathing exercises are optional. This is a simple method of breathing that will induce a trance state:
- Breathe in for a count of six,*
- Hold your breath for a count of six
- Exhale for a count of six
Repeat this several times until you feel relaxed.
* Only hold as long as you feel comfortable. If holding for a count of six is not comfortable, then hold for a count of 4, or even 2. Just make sure you are uniform in your counts. Never hold longer than is comfortable. Breathing exercises are never to be pushed, as in doing so, they can cause damage to the nervous system.
Now, get your entire mind to be completely still and free of any thoughts for a specified amount of time with no thoughts or music in your head. Your mind should be a total blank. You should focus on being in the here and now. For beginners, five minutes is fine. Intermediate and advanced practitioners can go anywhere from 15 minutes to however long they feel is essential.
Void meditation can be done with your eyes open or closed. When your eyes are open, you will more than likely see a mist around objects as you settle into a trance state. This is normal. If you choose to close your eyes, you may fall asleep, but this is an individual choice and use whatever method works best.
For Meditation with your Eyes Open:
Choose something small to focus on. This can be a point on the wall, a second hand on a clock, or even a piece of lint on your clothing. Many choose to meditate on a candle flame. The important thing is to concentrate on your object of choice
For Meditation with your Eyes Closed:
Focus inside of yourself and relax. You can put yourself deeper and deeper into a trance with a feeling of falling. This is normal. For people who are new, this falling sensation that often accompanies a deep trance can make you feel dizzy. To stop the sensation, focus on the front of your body.
Everyday Void Meditation:
Void meditation can be done anywhere and at any time with just focusing on the here and now and concentrating totally on whatever you are doing. This method works best for those of you who are unable to secure any privacy. Just set a goal to focus on the here and now for a specific amount of time each day and you will benefit.
Advanced Void Meditation
- Visualize an object and hold the image in your mind. At first, it will fade in and out, but as you progress, it will remain longer and longer. This is definitely a needed ability for magickal practice and focusing your mind power.
- Focus on a specific chant or sound. You can do this either aloud or in your head. This is what is known as a "mantra." You breathe in and on the exhale, chant a specific mantra or tone of your choice. One common chant used in kundalini yoga is "Sa Ta Na Ma." This is pronounced "Sah- Tah- Nah- Mah." You can also chant "Sa Tan" "Say-Tahn" or "Say- Tahn- Nah- S-S-S-S."
- Focus on a specific emotion- anger, happiness, sadness, love, hate. You can choose an emotion going by how you feel on a specific day. This is excellent training for advanced ritual.
- Focus on a specific texture, for example, running your fingers back and forth across velvet or a terry towel.
- Focus on a specific odor or taste.
Advanced void meditation including physical positions
Advanced void meditation that includes adding physical positions trains both your mind and develops an iron will, and extreme inner strength.
- Keep your entire body still. Do NOT move. This is what the advanced yogis do.
- Get into a comfortable position. Don't scratch any itches, just ignore them and stay focused. Muscle cramps may come and go. Ignore any physical fatigue or mental fatigue. Just continue to remain focused.
- Add uncomfortable and/or awkward positions. Make sure these are taken from a Yoga or Tai Chi book, so that they are physically beneficial. This is a discipline that is taught in many Martial Arts schools where one learns to ignore pain, while retaining intense focus. This strengthens the mind for physical combat and drastically increases your sense of self-confidence. This will also increase your resistance to pain.
- Many martial arts masters meditate under cold waterfalls, in snow or other painful conditions. One's physical health must be built up here, for obvious reasons. A cold shower can be substituted. As with anything new, be sure to start out gradual.
- These techniques, when mastered, will give one total control over one's mind and emotions. If one faces death, one will not freeze up or panic with fear and the odds of one's survival will greatly increase.
- Running and meditating; focusing on your running steps, increases endurance both mentally and physically.
Power Void Meditation:
This is an excellent way to empower yourself while doing void meditation. This is advanced and you must have a feel for energy and be able to draw it in as with the Energy Meditation.
Energy Meditation – Library of Rickandria
Here you don't visualize the energy, you just breathe in and out, absorbing the energy on the inhale and expanding your aura on the exhale. You focus totally on the *feel.* you should be adept at energy breathing before incorporating this method into your void meditation.
Satanic Void Meditation (basecamp.com)
Satanic Void Meditation – Library of Rickandria