What is aspecting?

Red Ember
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What is aspecting?

Post by Red Ember »

I am hoping someone here will be able to help me. I am having real difficulty in getting my head around understanding what aspecting is.

I understand it is connected to working with deity, but what I am finding difficult to understand is if it is the same thing as a medium going into trance or if its something else.

I am use to seeing spiritualist mediums go into trance and I am aware of the different levels of trance that can be worked with and developed. But I have no experience with aspecting or why a wiccan works with this method and so I can not tell if its the same thing happening by a different name or some else.

Any help would be appreciated.
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Becks
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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Becks »

I'm glad you asked Red Ember. I have never heard this term before so I look forward to answers. Meanwhile I will google....
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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Seraphin »

Aspecting Deities is also known as drawing down lunar and/or solar energy. It's invocation of the essence or 'aspect' of a God (the sun) and the Goddess (the moon) into one's body for a variety of spiritual purposes, such as divination, astral travel, spiritual guidance and even necromancy or mediumship. This is actually a Wiccan practice.

I always invoke the essence of my Deities but I do not call it 'aspecting' though. In the Wiccan way as far as I'm concerned, the rite always start with the high priest's invocation speech to call or draw down the energies or forces of the Goddess and let the priestess' body be filled and possessed by the divine essence. Well, I don't do that.

My fiancee was a Wiccan Priestess before dedicated to Hekate and I witnessed how her coven did this rite. She received a lot of benefits from aspecting; not only have she got a better understanding of the rite but she also got to improve her oracle and divinatory skills.

However, if I were you, I wouldn't dare to call any Deities when I don't have any need to. And I wouldn't want to create a need just so I have an excuse to draw or call them.
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Firebird
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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Firebird »

Our tradition has 2 main workings for persons on the Priesthood path.
One is called a Contacting, the other an Aspecting.
Contacting is essentially like a trance medium where you contact a deity to oracle for the group. One student thought it was similar to calling someone on the phone.
Aspecting is full body possession of a deity. Then they oracle for the group. Aspecting is a great deal more challenging and it not recommended you try this without a spotter...so to speak. That person also calls the deity into the Aspector, and is there with bread and water for the Aspectee, when they the spotter requests the deity to leave.
There are caveats to this work and it is not for those of weak mental constitutions.
The biggest challenge is to not let a Contacting become an Aspecting...that is the discipline of the witch.

Hope that helped
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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Firebird »

Oops now I see Seraphin slipped in

The work we do was drawn from Robert Chocrane
“There are things known and things unknown and in between are the Doors.”
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“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
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Red Ember
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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Red Ember »

I think I am starting to get a better idea of what it is. Although there are still parts I find difficult to understand.

Friebirdflys, I'm wondering if what you call contacting I am use to calling mental mediumship? Your description of aspecting sounds a lot like what I recognise as trance. What you called a spotter I would call a controller. From what you have said I feel the main difference is the reason behind the work been done. Both you and Seraphin talk about divination and oracle work but spiritualist tend to use it for philosophy and passing on teachings. Its interesting however that I like both yours descriptions better then the spiritualist one.

Seraphin I do not wish to call any Deities to me or into me, I'm not even sure what I feel about Deities. I just wanted to understand the subject better.

I do still find it difficult to understand the calling down of sun/moon energies in this context, but I feel that lack of understanding is more on my part then on information not been out there or put across clearly. As you may have worked out my background is Spiritualism and as such that is the language I know and it can be difficult for me to to unlearn that whilst learning a new way of speaking about and understanding things.
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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Becks »

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you. I had heard of those processes- 'drawing down' and 'invoking', but I didn't know the term 'aspecting'.
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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Firebird »

:flyingwitch:
yes I guess the one very much like trance mediumship. The drawing down can be the same thing too ...though I believe drawing down either the sun or the moon is God or Goddess energy respectively, the aspecting oracle can be bringing in the wisdom of a particular deity, not just the ultra masculine or ultra feminine as in drawing down. It would be very much like shapeshifting.
Contacting...making the deity contact.
Aspecting...taking on the aspects of the deity.

Bb, Firebird
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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by SnowCat »

I always just talk to my deities. It's more like a coworker relationship. I don't know if that makes me weird. It seems to work. It's like we have a give and take. What do they need me to do, what do I need them to do.

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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Seraphin »

firebirdflys wrote:Contacting...making the deity contact.
Aspecting...taking on the aspects of the deity.
You nailed it, FF.

Okay, I would try to differentiate the two by giving you examples from my own experiences:

Contacting

I contact my Deities in Enochian way. I start by reciting a prayer to the Gods and Goddesses and gaze to my obsidian crystal ball and/or look at my skrying cards. Sometimes I would ask some questions and there are times, some 'lost' entity (not divine) would reply to me which was prompting me to do some banishment pronouncements.

I remember when I first contacted M'rodakh or Marduk. No visions appeared in the ball even though I asked for a sign but when I looked at the skrying card, I saw a scene: a desert, there was a stampede of bulls (or maybe a battle... can't recall), and among it is a magnificent four-winged being riding a golden chariot which was being pulled by a dragon with horns. I could hear the sound of the wheels of the chariot. The God-creature had wings of an eagle or a hawk, wearing a something like an Ancient Mesopotamian costume and it was pointing to the sun. At that time, M'rodakh didn't answer any of my questions, I guess I'm not yet worthy to have knowledge of some things that moment since that's my first time. I noticed the creatures (the bulls, the dragon Mushussu, and the God) didn't interact with me but then I realized that I shouldn't be demanding too much for now and be content with the short contact. I was just asking for some sign anyway.

Lesson learned: 1.) Do not take too long on visions if that's your first time. There's no answers for all of your questions yet. There is a risk that you might end up 'forcing' the visions. Be content with the signs. 2.) The contact stops when it stops. Do not try to continue calling the God or the Goddess (if you don't want to pissed them off) :)

So you see, there's no possession occurred in 'contacting'.

Aspecting

Aspecting on the other hand, which I call trance involves spirit possession. The first time I drew an aspect or essence of a Deity was when I and my fiancee did an experiment to call the Goddess Ashtaroth to draw-out my own God-self. Yes, I know it's strange to draw an aspect of a female Deity to a man's body but what I originally wanted to invoke that time was Ashtaroth's Goetic Daemon male figure, Astaroth (the crowned prince of Hell that appeared in many grimoires). However, Daemons are tricky and mischievous so I should have at least expect She's gonna do something really, really naughty. :twisted:

Loika and the other witness (our very close pagan friend) said they saw something weird about me when I took the aspect of the Goddess. My skin turned pure white, almost like porcelain. My eye color are like jewels. I also took off all my clothes, wearing nothing. And they said I looked kind of creepy actually. And I was like... "porcelain skin and jewels aren't creepy at all... well perhaps my nudity" blue_flee . I think what they're really seeing is my aura. And that aura was the one that's reminding them to 'focus' whenever they're beginning to lose their contact with me.

Whenever I'm in my trance, I always get visions, but for some reason I don't remember much of anything afterward. My friend asked the Goddess Ashtaroth in me this particular question, "Can I make a person love me?" (since she's the Near Eastern version of Venus and Aphrodite).

And I said, "I cannot transform will, I only transform the steps you choose using your will." My friend according to him, couldn't easily accept it and he was about to begin a philosophical debate but fortunately he reckon it would be pretty futile.

In trance, Deities used to give me strange gifts, which would only make sense later on. Sometimes I speak in tongues and posses great strength. Trance also make my mediumship abilities improved. There were times though when it was harder to go back to normal waking consciousness, but there were also times when I get small insignificant results.
Seraphin

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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Red Ember »

Thank you everyone, its starting to make much more sense to me now :)

Seraphin, I think you may be right that people are seeing the aura when they see skin change colour. Its interesting you say your eyes have seemed like jewels, I knew someone who from time to time would open their eyes when in trance and her eye seemed lit up. It really is quite a sight to see.

I think I am also starting to understand what drawing down the sun/moon is.
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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Kassandra »

firebirdflys wrote:Contacting is essentially like a trance medium where you contact a deity to oracle for the group. One student thought it was similar to calling someone on the phone.
Aspecting is full body possession of a deity. Then they oracle for the group. Aspecting is a great deal more challenging and it not recommended you try this without a spotter...so to speak.
They do this in Spiritualist Churches, as well, with identical protocols and cautions as those you mentioned, Firebirdflys.



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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Red Ember »

Yes they do but not that often and not if you are in a SNU church in the UK. They lean more towards mental mediumship these days. For some reason they see trance and physical mediumship as out dated. Although some non SNU churches still allow public demonstrations most take place within someone's home. I find the whole subject, regardless of what words you use, to be interesting.
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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Firebird »

Seraphin Murmur wrote:Whenever I'm in my trance, I always get visions, but for some reason I don't remember much of anything afterward.
Yes! Thank you for bringing that up...I meant to mention a "scribe"...when in the aspect of deity you most likely will NOT remember a thing of what happened. If you have the luxury of a third person involved in the aspecting have them record the events, either by paper writings or recordings, however we rarely use electronics in ritual unless for music.
So in the best case scenerio you would have, aspector, spotter, scribe...if not, the spotter can also be the scribe.
Bb, Firebird
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Re: What is aspecting?

Post by Kassandra »

Red Ember wrote:Yes they do but not that often and not if you are in a SNU church in the UK...For some reason they see trance and physical mediumship as out dated. Although some non SNU churches still allow public demonstrations most take place within someone's home.
Here in the States, well in CA at least, the NSAC churches still do the whole shebang...table tipping, trumpet blowing, spirit art, ectoplasm, transmediumship, etc. Personally, I don't see the reason for the sideshow, but, yeah. I guess some people need some dog and pony tricks, otherwise they don't believe they're really dealing with the dead or something, I don't know.



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