I don't know anything about "self-hypnosis". Visualization--the repeated imagined performance of a specific skill--is thought to improve actual performance. Mental rehearsal isn't a replacement for actual rehearsal and practice, of course -- it's a supplement.

Excuse me sir, I think you have been directed to the incorrect forum. This here is The Philosophy Forum. I'm sure the forum you're looking for is concerned with the dark arts.

Excuse me sir, I think you have been directed to the incorrect forum. This here is The Philosophy Forum. I'm sure the forum you're looking for is concerned with the dark arts. — Wayfarer

Have you ever engaged in Buddhist dark arts Wayfarer? >:)

It's a different topic of course, but the dark arts are strictly forbidden in the Vinaya. And that's not a trivial matter, because the Hindu priestly class made a living by performing of rituals and casting of spells and so on. So the social pressure and expectation on members of the Buddhist sangha would have been immense, in that it was expected any accomplished monk would have siddha, magic powers, to be able to grant wishes and good fortune. (And nowadays there are indeed Buddhist sects that are all about saying the right mantra to get the latest gadget, not to mention helping ward of malevolent spirits, which is still a major factor in village cultures).

But I really do think that what ought to be retained about Buddhism is beyond all that, and conversely, those aspects of Buddhism that are concerned with spells and powers are what ought to be abandoned.

Excuse me sir, I think you have been directed to the incorrect forum. This here is The Philosophy Forum. I'm sure the forum you're looking for is concerned with the dark arts.
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Listen I dont know much at all but There is something about LaVey Satanism that confuses a great deal of onlookers. It was designed to do this as a filter to separate the assumptions from the inquisitive.

1. Satanism is atheistic, LeVay satanists do not belive in the devil, the devil to them, is a fictional charater they use as their archetype.

2. Just as with the devil, satanists do not believe in magic(this part is my personal suspicion I will admit[the above however, is fact]), "black magic" is the term they choose to refer to self-hypnotic processes they have developed to help them achive their goals. A pschycological practice to sharpen and focus their minds and emotions. That would be something that can be measured and tested with science, no?

I disagree, simply on the premise that this is not about the existence of magic. I think this is a perfectly appropriate place to discuss the subject, but then perhaps im lacking an accurate enough understanding of what philosophy entails; it has become a very widely used term in modern times. But if any of you think that Satanists are superstitions enough to believe in satan, god, good or evil, then you are being trolled like you can't possibly imagine >:O

Philosophers dispel and disenchant one second and then they conjure and reenchant the next. Just read a few threads to glean the absurdity that magic isn't anything like what philosophers do, as if philosophy or just being alive has nothing to do with art and the temporary satisfaction of desire.

There is a good Isabella Allende tale where a woman attains power and status by words. From the perspective of the dying culture (the supernaturalism of the displaced native) magic is just a label for what the art of her words accomplish. There is some power retained seeing the new world through the frames of the old one.

One man's 'magic' is another man's engineering. 'Supernatural' is a null word. — Robert Heinlein

Maybe I just like the literary genre of "magical realism" too much though.

In the past I feel that I had the ability to hypnotize myself, its back when I routinely thought about my goals every morning, and wrote in a notebook I carried everywhere. This self-hypnotism led me into anorexia/orthorexia, but also led me to save more money than I ever have before, achive higher levels of skill than I ever have before, ect.

The experience has left me fascinated with how to manipulate myself into states of hypnotic focus. Does anyone know allot about a how Anton LeVay Satanism Atheistic Black Magic works? I suspect its a self-hypnotic process, that gives you a major psychological edge.

Any other forms of hypnotism? And most preferably any scientific research on this subject? — XanderTheGrey

[While I agree that this topic is not quite in tune with those of philosophy ...]

Given your knowledge of LeVay (I haven’t read his work yet), you may already be familiar with Aleister Crowley. His positions could potentially be summed up with two of his phrases:

-- “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law” [no need to believe others’ authority on this, experience will teach one just fine: all your context-specific actions hold their context-specific consequences in turn … from a different thread, as example, were I to not capitalize my name it would be my will and i will know myself responsible for the consequences that result of my will to so do]

-- [and, as regards the mysteries of magick] “Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity to one’s own will.” [Hence, the act of blowing one’s nose – as one example among many – is in and of itself an instance of magick. no bullshit.]

I mention him rather purposely because—despite being a conflux of good and bad as is everyone else—he was rarely if ever kindly regarded in an overall way, including by other’s that practiced the occult/esoteric. He willed to test out his karma/luck/fortune by senselessly walking in front of bullets … and he got shot. I still like some aspects of what he had to say, though. And I, in my own way, agree with the two statements of his that I just listed. “Learn from fools and from sages” … as says a partial lyric from one of Aerosmith’s songs.

As to hypnosis, think of it this way: every time you say something and thereby affect the mind/memories/emotions/thoughts/etc. of someone else you hypnotize the other in a state of mind partly emerging out of your own state of mind and will. For example, all conversations are about a bunch of wills hypnotizing each other into this or that inter-course/path; sometimes its pleasant and sometimes it isn’t; sometimes it leads to greater siblinghood (to put brotherhood and sisterhood together in a term) and sometimes it leads to one/some subjugating others. Same processes of hypnosis happen when you hear anything said in a song or movie, see anything in your context, etc.—these being aspects of information through which you as conscious agent are momentarily in part formed. As to the more nitty gritty, there are tons of books out there that discuss various theories regarding hypnosis. My favorite still remains, Monsters and Magical Sticks: There’s No Such Thing As Hypnosis? By Steven Heller. I highly recommend it to anyone interested.

Autohypnosis is then putting yourself as a total being (mind&body) into states of memories/emotions/thoughts/desires that you (as a conscious agent) desire/will to be in. Buddhist monks, I’ve so heard, can take autohypnosis to great lengths, and it is also a common staple in the Aikido path, among others (it will, of course, be often termed otherwise, such as “meditation”).

So, the other basic thing that remains is for you to figure out toward what end(s) you aspire to apply this “atheistic black magic” thing. Makes quite a difference.

So let me get this straight: You found out that you can change your own behavior?

Quick someone get this guy a Nobel Prize!

↪XanderTheGrey

So let me get this straight: You found out that you can change your own behavior?

Quick someone get this guy a Nobel Prize! — Jeremiah

No, I have not found any evidence that I am in control of my behavior. I'm a mechanist.