Setting up your daily practices

Introduction

One of the key points in succeeding in occult arts is a steady practice. By using a ritualistic approach of fixed practices in fixed times you are creating a habit.

Habits build half of your personality. Mundane habits include tying a tie, brushing your teeth, even bathing. When you do one of these things, you don't really think about what you are doing, hygienic procedures have become a part of your life so much that you do them automatically. During brushing your teeth you don't think about the brushing, it has become an automatic action and you can think about different things during that. By choosing a steady training regime, you will build a habit of using Magick and that will project into your life.

What are habits?

Habit is an action repeated so many times that it imprinted into your neural pathway and became automatic. To put it simply, it became part of your brain, part of your neural system, part of you.

To read more about habits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habit_(psychology)
To read more about neural pathways: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neural_pathway

Why is it good in Magick?

By developing a habit of certain rituals you develop a habit of practicing Magick, by the repetition you also strengthen the habit and most importantly you strengthen your Magickal ability. Just like visiting the gym every day strengthen your body, repeating certain rituals every day strengthens your mind and your willpower, not talking about how the repeating of the rituals can also stretch the amount of magickal energy you can hold.

How should the daily practice look like?

Meditation is a very important aspect, you should meditate daily. Process of meditation was already described in different article so I won't put the description of the process here, I will just say that meditating once per day is good, but ideal would be about 3 times daily.

Three rituals

Meditation isn't the only thing you should do. You should also perform 3 rituals per day, ideally one after waking up, one during the noon and one before going to sleep (you can actually have more rituals during your day, either in different times or two or more one after another).

These rituals can all be the same or each can be a different one. From simple adoration of Sun up to complex evocation of all angels/demons/insects, choice is fully up to you. My personal setup is as following:

• After waking up: Self-empowerment ritual
• During bus trip to work: Meditation (optional)
• During noon: Invocation and empowerment of my servitor
• Before going to sleep: Banishing the whole house, meditation and repetition of mantra to remember all my dreams before I fall asleep.

As I said, the setup of the rituals is totally up to you, make your own rituals if you wish, habituation is the important aspect here, not the rituals themselves.

Conclusion

With this said, you have everything you need for your spiritual development, persistence in the practice will be gradually rewarded with results. There is no need of initiations, no need of secret formulae and mantras, no need of masters, teachers, deities, religions or dogmas. Just take the responsibility for your self and build the rituals so they will suit your needs.