First time trying pathworking

[dreamcatcher]

I'm fairly confused by my results, so any help with trying to figure out what it meant would be very much appreciated.

I was using a guided meditation video for it-fairly simple stuff. You would start by walking through a forest and when it came time, you would be guided into a temple, then relax in a pool of water, before going to a field of sunflowers.
I started off alright... my forest seemed almost exactly like the red woods which I'd visited once and loved as a child. It was very relaxing and made me feel at ease, as if I'd just returned home. I stopped multiple times with the urge to just pause and press my hand against the bark of the trees. Then, once I reached where I was supposed to enter the temple, I seemed to branch off of the guide. When I first approached, the temple that I saw was in ruins, but when I entered it, it seemed to become completely put together and beautiful for a bit until I focused on the pool. The pool was sunk into the ground, very much like a natural pond, and the floor around it was a mix of marble and earth. I stepped into the pond and for a while I just relaxed into the water, laying on my back instead of swimming like the video suggested. Then came the part where I was supposed to go into a group of sunflowers, except that instead, I walked out of the pond and went directly to a wall of the temple. (It was beginning to seem much more like ruins again and I was starting to feel a bit anxious.) I saw quite clearly a pair of very, very tall, shining gold doors. (Shaped roughly like the ones in the picture but much larger- http://th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2 ... 2ghkn0.jpg ) I put my hand against the door and began to feel extremely scared, not of something horrible happening, but that feeling where you know that there is no going back once you make a choice. The feeling escalated until I just shut off the video, because the feeling was getting too strong. At the doors there was also a sense that whatever was on the other side was not part of the same sort of world that I was in inside the temple. I had a brief picture of an everexpanding blackness on the other side of the door, as if I would have been staring into space if I had opened it.

Do any of you have thoughts regarding this experience? Do you think it would be a good idea to go back to the same place later on and see what lies behind the door? Any and all insight is welcome.

[Firebird]

Is this video on utube or something? There is a lot of great visualization clips out there, but I kinda wonder how responsible are the makers of these videos? I actually have had a fear that subliminal messages could be contained in some of them.
Although dread is a fairly common reaction to opening up the unknown, as in your..."what's behind door number one" ??? We never know if opening up the door beholds bounty behind it, or something you need to face to progress, and that is pretty freaking scary. Vast darkness is also scary, but to let go into the void is to be reborn. Every little rebirth nourishes our spirit.. and that builds our inner soul.
I like that you called this a pathworking. Frequently this kind of work is just called a guided meditation, but a pathworking lets you the visionary, come to your own conclusions about what lurks in the void.
If you can post the video I wonder if others would be willing to see if they have similar experiences.
Blessings, Firebird

[Shub Niggurath]

I'm volunteering to try the same guided meditation and see what happens, as Firebird suggested. So, if you could post a link to the video that would be awesome.
And as for the experience itself - it happens often, especially when the guide doesn't seem to resonate with us 100% our minds tend to drift away during the meditation. It's totally okay and worth exploring as it gives you additional information about your subconscious mind. If I were you I'd open the door!

Another hint this experience might be giving you is that you might need to work more on relaxation itself. Cause the "malfunction" of visualising exactly what the guide said could mean that your mind still bears bits of tension and "feels" the urge to manipulate the images to let you know about it. Just a thought :>

[random417]

As a side note, I don't do guided meditations often, so someone with more experience correct me if I'm wrong here, but my understanding is the best guided meditations are the ones you write, and record in your own voice.

Probably has something to do with not resonating 100 percent with the guide as LC said.

[Shub Niggurath]

As a side note, I don't do guided meditations often, so someone with more experience correct me if I'm wrong here, but my understanding is the best guided meditations are the ones you write, and record in your own voice.

Yup, if you write a guided meditation and record it in your own voice (or ask someone else to record it for you) then it's the best guided meditation possible. Simply because everyone has different imagination and not everything resonates with everyone, and since you know yourself the most you're able to compose the guided meditation to suit your imagination, your rhythm etc.
Still doesn't mean that other guided meditations are not worth trying, you never know

[Pinkpower_80]

As a side note, I don't do guided meditations often, so someone with more experience correct me if I'm wrong here, but my understanding is the best guided meditations are the ones you write, and record in your own voice.

Probably has something to do with not resonating 100 percent with the guide as LC said.

I would love to try that! I'm not too fond of my own voice though lol.

I have done some guided meditations from YouTube. Before I get comfortable, I listen to the voice for a minute to see if I feel good about the uploader's voice and vibes. It usually takes me a bit before I find one.
Firebird, I have been worrying about that same thing with possible subliminal messages.

I attempted a spirit guide meditation last week and ended up TERRIFIED to open the door the meditation guide was talking about. I quickly shut it off. I don't know what it was that scared me, but there was such an overwhelming sense of dread that I just couldn't continue.

[Firebird]

One thing that probably should be done with every guide before you trust them to take you through some unknown portal is ask them a qualifing question, that they are working in your best interest. If they have a good answer, then take the leap. If the answer makes you uncomfortable then wait until a different time.

Also
The difference between a Pathworking and a Guided Meditation, is a Pathworking takes you through a journey in the mind and takes you to one or more places within that journey to discover the answer yourself. A pause of up to 5 minutes or so in these locations helps your own psyche fill in the blanks. These are most often used to get answers.
A Guided Meditation leaves little to the imagination... in that all the landscape, smells, sights, weather, people or animals encountered etc, etc ...are well drawn out in the meditation. It takes you on a journey to evoke a way of thinking or feeling. These are most often used for relaxation.
Curriculum for our 2 and 3 degree program has the student writing their own Guided Meditations and Pathworkings to be read to the group.
For those working solitaire recording your own voice is a great way to go...for both these types of visualizations.
Blessings, Firebird

[Pinkpower_80]

Firebird, do you have any links to resources to help a noob make their own guided meditation? I also want to start pathworking.

[dreamcatcher]

Hello there everyone! First of all, thank you very very much for all the responses, it means a lot.
Firebird, what you were saying about rebirth and fear of the void was spot on. Looking back on it now that I'm calmer I honestly was mostly terrified of letting go and losing who I am at this specific moment of time. Thinking about it, it makes more sense. Ever since I first found my way to the craft, I loved it but at the same time was unwilling to delve all in, completely and wholly, and I still am. I think that I'm mostly just worried about opening that door and stepping into the void, and not having anything there to latch onto once I let go of everything else that I'm clinging to as an excuse as to why I havent devoted myself fully yet.

And then for those who mentioned that they were willing to try it and share their own results, this is the video that I'd used. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIig2aZ6gc4

Thank you again.

[Shub Niggurath]

Looking back on it now that I'm calmer I honestly was mostly terrified of letting go and losing who I am at this specific moment of time. Thinking about it, it makes more sense. Ever since I first found my way to the craft, I loved it but at the same time was unwilling to delve all in, completely and wholly, and I still am. I think that I'm mostly just worried about opening that door and stepping into the void, and not having anything there to latch onto once I let go of everything else that I'm clinging to as an excuse as to why I havent devoted myself fully yet.

Oh yeah, this makes a lot of sense. If you're not sure if you want to "step into the void" just yet then I'd suggest not doing any guided meditations with spirit guides/animals, as they usually tell you to open some kind of door or enter some kind of dark place, that might scare you. Maybe try those guided meditations that tell you to connect to the Source or to the Universe? Those are usually much more comforting and safe.


Anyway, I tried the guided meditation you linked just now. By the title I wasn't really aware that it was going to be a meditation about meeting your spiritual guide so I was a bit surprised. For me everything went well, maybe it was a little bit too fast, especially the last part where I wanted to stay longer (not going to spoil anything!). But anyway, the results were a bit sad for me as I lost something (an amulet) that belonged to my spiritual guide around 2 years ago and I don't have much contact with him anymore since then. And now this whole guided meditation reminded me about it and, what's interesting, it took place in the forest I consecrated that amulet in. For me it was a really powerful experience, even though it was a bit painful, but I feel like I need to go to that exact place as soon as I visit my homeland.

Thank you for sharing this guided meditation, Dreamcatcher. And my moral of this "story" both for you and for me is not to be afraid of somewhat painful (for me) or scary (for you) experiences as all they've got to offer us is reaching higher and deeper within ourselves

[dreamcatcher]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Cat, and sorry that I've taken so long to respond. For some reason I really haven't been able to get that doorway out of my mind, and I feel like I should go back but I'm still not sure if I'd be brave enough to open the door. With that in mind I think that I'll probably end up waiting for a while and starting where you suggested by trying to connect to the universe in general instead of a guide. Thank you again!

[Shub Niggurath]

Hey Dreamcatcher,
I think you might like this guided meditation - "Experience the Pure Loving Energy of the Universe". I tried it and it was really nice and peaceful