Blog, Working With Demons
The effect of drugs on spiritual experiences or demon contact work
Jul
Drugs and Demons – does it help or hinder your contact?
Magic, as far as I can understand, since the dawn of time has been largely been predicated upon drug use. 
The effect of drugs on spiritual experiences
In the video I mention my own use of drugs during spiritual contact, including drinking of Kava in Fiji many years ago. Kava is common in the Pacific Island countries, and is used mainly for medicinal purposes.
[box] Pacific Islanders say the awareness invoked by Kava brings one into communion with the gods and ancestors. When celebrating the Great Rite, Kava can be part of the ritual cup or might be macerated in the oils which are used as lubricants.[/box]
What is Kava?
What is Kava?I spoke of trying Kava to the WWD Group, and in the video, as I think that if you are going to try drugs and contact demons, then its better to do so with a “Health Food” such as Kava.
Kava is also a social drink (drunk from a cup that is passed around a group of people), and the effect varies from person to person and the amount consumed. The strength of the Kava mix on the day can also effect your experience. For me, my lips were quite numb, and because the group of people I was sitting with were happy and telling “stories”, it was a positive experience. However, I wasn’t open to contacting demons as I was not thinking about what I wanted with a clear mind.
In Fiji, Kava is also used for Black Magic as well. The practice is called “elioro” where you send out death or illness to another person. It is a little like “Hot Foot” Magic where you want the target to walk over the magical object so the magic takes effect. The Kava root is the container for the spell, and the spellcaster will fill the root with blood, or the spell to hex the target.
[box] Many famous occultists completely oppose drug use, and state drugs of all kinds can effect your abilities. I will share some of these thoughts below.[/box]Drugs effecting the 3rd Eye
Blavatsky observed that “the habitual use of hashish, opium, and similar drugs” are “destructive to the development of the inner powers” (Blavatsky, Key to Theosophy, 262). The reason for this may be connected to two glands in the brain — the pineal and the pituitary, which are directly related to so-called “altered” states of consciousness.
She identifies the pineal gland with the “third eye,” which, she says, “is the chief and foremost organ of spirituality in the human brain.” The occult activity of this gland “gives spiritual clairvoyance” and can take the soul “to the highest planes of perception.”
Alcohol was also included as a drug by Blavtsky’s description. She states:
“….the use of wine, spirits, liquors of any kind, or any narcotic or intoxicating drug, is strictly prohibited. If indulged in, all progress is hindered, and the efforts of teacher and pupil alike are rendered useless. All such substances have a directly pernicious action upon the brain, and especially upon the “third eye,” or pineal gland . . . They prevent absolutely the development of the third eye, called in the East “the Eye of Siva.”
Leadbeater’s writes:
Certain drugs and drinks — notably alcohol and all the narcotics, including tobacco — contain matter which on breaking up volatilizes, and some of it passes from the physical plane to the astral . . . When this takes place in the body of man these constituents rush out through the chakras in the opposite direction to that for which they are intended, and in doing this repeatedly they seriously injure and finally destroy the delicate web.
These substances may produce two different effects according to an individual’s constitution. They may burn away the web, leaving “the door open to all sorts of irregular forces and evil influences,” or they may produce “a kind of ossification of the web, so that instead of having too much coming through from one plane to the other, we have very little of any kind coming through” (Leadbeater, Chakras, 77–78).
Drugs effecting the astral experience
Which of these planes becomes available to our perception under the influence of drugs? According to Mme. Blavatsky, it is the one immediately above the physical, generally called the “astral plane” (Blavatsky, Collected Writings, 12:662). She defined this dimension as follows:
The astral region [is] the Psychic World of super-sensuous perceptions and of deceptive sights . . . No blossom plucked in those regions has ever yet been brought down to earth without its serpent coiled around the stem. It is the world of the Great Illusion. (Blavatsky, Voice of the Silence, 75-76; emphasis here and in other quotes is in the original)
C.W. Leadbeater wrote:
[Drugs] bring again into the physical consciousness indiscriminate impressions from the astral world. These come generally from the lower part of the plane, in which are aggregated all the astral matter and all the elemental essence concerned with exciting the lower passions and impulses. Sometimes they come from slightly higher regions of sensuous delight . . . but these are scarcely better than the others. (Leadbeater, Talks, 2:34)
The astral plane is basically sensuous in nature. Its lower part is the realm of passions and desires, and stimulates the animal nature in us. It also can bring quite terrifying experiences. But the higher aspect of this world is alluring, being far more beautiful and pleasant than the physical one.
Hodson, having worked in the field of energy healing, frequently dealt with the ill effects of different types of harmful practice. His observations corroborate those of Leadbeater, at least in regard to the first kind of effect described above. Referring to the etheric web as a “shield,” Hodson said:
When illicit drugs are ingested there is a tendency to break down this shield enabling negative influences from the astral world to enter the aura, especially through the chakras which are the psychic sense organs. These problems can range from hallucinations and delusions to a full-scale obsession by a human or sub-human entity. If the process of abuse has occurred to an advanced degree – no amount of repair that I am able to do will help.
Marijuana use on spiritual experience
Geoffrey Hodson also believed that:
From my clairvoyant researches Marijuana . . . is not just a gateway drug leading on to something worse and more harmful, but it is in and of itself destructive to the mechanism of consciousness, especially if used extensively.
Crowley’s Drug Use & Demon Contact
Crowley’s own recreational drug use and also his personal struggle with drug addiction, particularly heroin, is well documented. Crowley made a study of drugs and their effects upon the body and mind, experimenting widely himself. Many of his conclusions are present within this novel. Diary of a Drug Fiend encapsulates much of Crowley’s core philosophy concerning Thelema and his conception of True Will.
While I respect Crowley’s contribution to our occult body of knowledge, and follow many of his teachings in my own practices, I feel his drug use significantly challenged Crowley’s success with demon contact. As Crowley was hugely popular in his day, with a slue of high profile acquaintances, many of his invocations and evocations were well documented. Two occasions come to mind, that demonstrate Crowley’s lack of judgement and connection to the magickal act, and a deadly result.
Summoning of Pan – Crowley and his followers rented the entire floor of a small Parisian hotel for a weekend-long ceremony to call forth the Greek god Pan. According to onlookers, Crowley successfully brought Pan back into the world, but could not control him. The other magician in the room with him was killed, “….while the whole ordeal left Crowley a “gibbering idiot.”(1)”
Evocation of Choronzon – The evocation was performed in 1909. In November, Crowley and Neuberg went to Algiers on holiday and walked south through the desert to Aumale. Crowley intended to enter the triangle, a dangerous act for a magician. He became perhaps the first magician in the Western magical tradition to offer his own body ritually as a vehicle for manifestation of a demon. Associates of Crowley said the ritual permanently damaged him and that he was possessed by Choronzon for the rest of his life.
My final thoughts….Do what you feel will serve you best! If you believe you will do your best work in demon contact high, then do it! If you would like to be more in control of your magick and remember the demon experience……don’t take drugs! If you are nervous and feel like drugs will settle you down in some way or provide you with more confidence, don’t do the ritual. Your confidence must be your natural internal strength, and not the illusion of strength provided by drugs.
I would like to hear your experiences. Please share 🙂
Black Witch S
Sources
- (1) http://airshipdaily.com/blog/10102014-aleister-crowley
- (2)Blavatsky, H.P. Collected Writings. Edited by Boris de Zirkoff. Fifteen vols. Wheaton: Theosophical Publishing House, 1977–91.
———. “Dialogue on the Mysteries of the After-Life.” Lucifer 3:17 (Feb. 1889), 407-16.
———. The Key to Theosophy. London: Theosophical Publishing House, [1987].
———. The Voice of the Silence. Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House, 1992.
- (3) Leadbeater, C.W. Talks on the Path of Occultism. Three volumes. Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980.
- (4) Sender,Pablo. Drugs and Spirituality – An Occult Perspective – https://pablosender.wordpress.com/about/articles/drugs-and-spirituality-an-occult-perspective/
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