Thoughtforms

T H O U G H T F O R M S

Thoughtforms: if you want to do things on the Planes, you'll be using thoughtforms. What are they? Well, remember when I said that you can create things on the Astral Planes? If not, be assured, I did, when discussing the creation of Archetypes. You can make things on the Planes by concentrating on them; the thought will have a physical existance in a place MADE of thought.

For instance; when you dream and you meet someone you know, it's fairly obvious that it's not the REAL person, but a dream-image of them. The dream image is a creation of your own Astral energy, and will not exist for long after your dream. But, IN that dream, it will look and act like a real person. This is for TWO reasons:

You are controlling it yourself
It has a limited mind of it's own

Obviously, you don't control it consciously, because you don't realise you're dreaming, but your expectations of how that person would act in a certain situation influence your dream-image of that person. Plus, it's own mind has the same information on how you expect that person to act, and would act accordingly.

But, these dream-images are only a very small part of what thoughtforms are. And, in all honesty, a fairly useless one; there's not much they can do. Mind you, if you're angry with someone, beating up a thoughtform of them can be a good way of getting rid of stress. The thoughforms that ARE useful are those of ACTUAL THOUGHTS. With them, you can do all sorts of things, to yourself, and even to other people.

You might think that just thoughts can't do much, but here you are wrong. Because thoughts control the mind, and the mind controls the body; with thoughtforms, you can, therefore, change your physical form.

Bad eyesight? You can correct that, with a thoughtform.
Wish you had a better figure? You can have it, using thoughtforms, without taking any exercise.
Want to break a habit? Habits are thoughtforms; you can change or destroy them in the Astral Planes.
Want to make someone think of you? Send them a thoughtform of you.

That last one requires a bit of explanation, I feel. You can indeed make someone else think something they wouldn't have without your influence. That does NOT mean you can psychically dominate them and make them think whatever you want them to think. For instance; whilst you can make someone remember to buy a birthday card on their way home, you can't make them buy that card for no reason at all. Nor can you make someone who hates you suddenly decide you're not so bad after all just by sending them a thoughtform. To do that kind of thing would require massive amounts of Astral Energy, phenominal numbers of thoughtforms, and an unbelieveable amount of skill. So don't try getting to the Astral Planes with the idea that you can make that gorgeous blond(e) you know do whatever you want them to do by using magic; you can't. Sorry, but that's the way it is.

But, there's plenty of other things you can do. You can improve yourself on the physical plane, as I mentioned. You can also improve your status: make money, do better at school/work, etc. How? Well, I guess you could call it cheating. But with the benefit; you can't get caught.

So, how can you use the Planes to cheat? Simple; When you're in the Planes, you can travel instantly from one place to another, whether you're going from your bedroom to your living room, or from your house to Saturn. And, is case you've forgotten, time is also a dimension. You can travel to the future, and find out what horse will win a race, or what numbers the Lottery will have. Or what the exam paper is going to be, or what 'surprises' are going to be sprung on you in a business meeting. That's the sort of thing you can do when you learn how to navigate the Planes. There are a few limits; you can only travel around 5 centuries in either direction; the further into the past you go, the paler and less distinct everything becomes, until it is featureless. The future becomes brighter and more vivid the further you go, until it's blinding. Also, you cannot affect the real world when you're in a different time. Not that you can affect it much in the present, of course.

As I have said before, you can't affect much of the real world from the planes: You cannot lift more than a few grams, and even that takes a lot of effort and practice. What you CAN do, if you're skilled enough, is materialise. It's not easy, but can be done; you can make yourself visible to people. Combine that with the ability to alter your shape, which even a novice ought to be capable of, and you'll see some REAL possibilities!

Before you go on to the next page, there's one thing I ought to say: DON'T let Astral Projection take over your life. It's fun, it's beneficial, but the inhabitants are almost entirely non-humans or dead, it does have a few dangers and it is not a substitute for life: treat it as a kind of Netsurfing, a hobby, not a way of life.

Beyond Thoughtforms: Esoterica