Hypnagogic Problem Solving/Pathworking

Post Reply
User avatar
Firebird
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 8212
Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 12:03 am
Gender: Female
Location: So. Cal.

Hypnagogic Problem Solving/Pathworking

Post by Firebird »

:flyingwitch:
HYPANGOGIC SOLUTIONS
Recently I was watching one of those medical dramas and one of the characters spoke about how the hypnagogic state might help them find a solution to curing their patient. The other doctor poo pooed her but, in the end, they decided to try it. Since they were very tired anyway from the long night of surgery, they agreed to take turns napping and just when the other was falling to sleep the partner would clap their hands and wake the sleeping dr. up and declare hypanogogia! and pry them for details of what they were just thinking of.
Truns out many famous figures and artists use this technique for bringing about creative solutions to problems or for creative inspiration. Although I don't believe there was someone there clapping and demanding revelations. :P
Turns out Thomas Edison used a technique of napping with a key in his hand while sitting in a chair. A pan was paced on the floor under the hand with key and as he started to drift off the key would fall from his hand making a Clank sound that would wake him. In those two minutes where the mind is drifting just before sleep sets in, one is in a state that is truly between the worlds. Neither waking nor sleeping. This is likely a portal to the time out of time, akashic records, and creative solutions that hover only fleetingly, as we mortals are not of this "place" but may be able to look into the "window" for moments at a time.
You can program yourself to seek answers for a particular problem by having the questions heavy on your mind and heart as you begin to drift off. Keep a note pad and jot down whatever comes to your mind in that wee window before you fall asleep at night. If you get whole ideas write that down but short sentences or just words or pictures that come to mind is plenty. Even if they don't make any sense at the time. In the morning you can expand and analyze.
:flyingwitch:
PATHWORKING SOLUTIONS
This reminded me of the process we call a Pathworking meditation. Some want to synonymously equate this to a guided meditation, which it is NOT. They are completly different, one; "Guided meditation", is used to evoke a feeling and the other; "Pathworking meditation", to invoke and answer.
A guided meditation does all the work for you, it tells you where to go and what to feel while you are there. They are generally used for relaxation.
In a Pathworking the facilitator leads one in meditation that is guided but with blank spots within the meditation for your own mind to fill in the details. In a good pathworking one either sits on a comfy chair, one that would support you should you begin to drift off, though laying down is best in my opinion. It occurred to me that one is likely in the hypnagogic state when traveling through a Pathworking. After going through a series of relaxation techniques the facilitators voice begins to weave the "path". They may take you to places or even evoke feelings and sensations. But the goal of a Pathworking is to get answers, perhaps through the voice of a God, an animal, or energy of a place. The facilitator might lead you down a path that ends up by a babbling brook then pausing for several moments, beckons you to listen to the message the brook has to say. Or maybe a journey within a cave when the facilitator askes you...what do you see there? Maybe a a different segment of the meditation where you are in a forest and left there for you mind to decide what animal comes to you and what message they may have to deliver to you. It is a very useful tool for the advanced witch to use within ceremony.
However, if you wish to try this powerful work as a solitaire, one might prerecord a meditation. It takes some time to create good pathworkings, I would suggest using lots of verbs and adjectives using as much visuals as you can while traveling down your path. Use the story to lead you somewhere, withing a tree, to a cool pond, a sunny beach, a dark cave. Be creative. Before beginning, allow plenty of time to breath and relax maybe even doing a body check, tense... stretch... relax each muscle group, then begin the meditation. After journeying along the path for a time, you'll arrive at destination, then leave a 5 minute silent pause to receive your answers, then start speaking again, possibly leading to another area for a different message. I don't recommend more than about three "answers" because you will end up forgetting them before you get "back" into your body.
Always spend some time coming back down the path you started out on, usually in a reverse kind of order, like you were in a safe circle, stepped onto a path, passed a tree, a lake, a giant boulder,... on the way back...you pass a boulder, a lake, a tree where you see the path you started on stepping back into the circle and back into your body where you stretch and wiggle fingers, toes ALL the while bringing into your conscious mind the messages you received. Because if you just snap back into your body you might forget the messages. Then write them down, even if they don't make sense at the time. They will usually reveal themselves with some study.

This is also known as shamanistic work, for one can hone the ability to drift between the worlds in search of answers. Do any of you have experiences with this wonderful portal to solutions and creativity?
bb, Firebird
“There are things known and things unknown and in between are the Doors.”
― Jim Morrison
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― RWEmerson
:mrgreen:
supremz
Posts: 92
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2022 10:01 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Louisiana

Re: Hypnagogic Problem Solving/Pathworking

Post by supremz »

I used to be an insomniac as a teen. Whenever I did sleep, I never dreamt anything. It was just pure black. The sleep deprivation gave me all kinds of creative ideas and aligned me closer to my higher, enlightened self.

I can definitely relate to what you're talking about, not only from personal experience, but eventually this lead to my interest in lucid dreaming and astral projection. I guess you can say I've always been fascinated by this state of mind.

Only getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night also helped me develop some serious willpower so I could get things done during the day without passing out, then take naps only when I had finished.

The standard 8 hours of REM has never worked for me. I always preferred either 4-6 of deep sleep or light power naps. I'm naturally nocturnal. Make of it what you will, but I definitely agree that this makes you more attuned to the other world. A lot of monks learn to deprive themselves of sleep, too.
User avatar
Firebird
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 8212
Joined: Tue May 10, 2011 12:03 am
Gender: Female
Location: So. Cal.

Re: Hypnagogic Problem Solving/Pathworking

Post by Firebird »

I believe it will be the light power naps that is most revealing of the creative side.:)
While lucid dreaming is also another path to creativity, that can be a little harder to access, for those who haven't been able to master it. Lucid dreaming happens during REM sleep. This creative problem solving is happening at a different stage of sleep.
ther are 4 stages to sleep:
Sleep Stages Types of Sleep Other Names Normal Length
Stage 1 NREM N1 1-5 minutes
Stage 2 NREM N2 10-60 minutes
Stage 3 NREM N3, Slow-Wave Sleep (SWS), Delta Sleep, Deep Sleep 20-40 minutes
Stage 4 REM REM Sleep 10-60 minutes
(source: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/stages-of-sleep
The N1 stage of sleep is the portal between the worlds to the place of creative problem solving, this is why I think the Pathworking method of meditation is very useful. The facilitator waits a for a time before starting to speak again, usually 5-10 minutes. So you are not allowed to drift off any further. It is really a magical moment when one tis neither awake nor asleep.

Here is some ways to access this method according to Salvador Dali
Image
https://www.invaluable.com/blog/salvado ... -thinking/
Course the man used other methods, namely drugs, he even said he didn't use drugs, he was drugs. Don't think Edison was of that bent but who knows? Edison sure did invent a lot of things! :fairy:
“There are things known and things unknown and in between are the Doors.”
― Jim Morrison
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
― RWEmerson
:mrgreen:
Post Reply

Return to “Advanced Witchcraft”