Previous Paths? Thelema? Chaos? Wicca? Etc., Just curious - regardless of current discipline, what have you explore Options

I'm just curious -- because all of my friends who practice tend to dabble and believe that all beliefs are legit -- what have been your path experiences. (I'm guessing many of you have "played the field" and still do?) Any "bonded for lifers" out there?

My past explorations (and I have affection for all of them -- as a Chaote I still tend to practice ALL of them) were, all of the above, but aside from Chaos, my biggest journey has been (and remains) Tantric Buddhist Magick and Taoism (Daoism).

Also a bit of a chaote myself, I started out with wicca like every other teenager in my hometown, and then moved on to ceremonial magick with the goetia, evokation etc., then into enochian very briefly, more study than practice in that one, but I constructed all the tools and explored some of the first aethyrs before I got caught up in transcendental meditation, which is where I was diverted into eastern paths, mostly hindu, but tantric buddhist as well. After that my magick was decidedly chaote in nature just by the fact that it was such an amalgam of techniques. Through my guides i've always practiced a layman's form of shamanism, I've always been an animist, so conversing with the natural spirits has always been part of my practice in life, as well. I got into the necronomicon, walked the first gate, had some conversations with the Gods, and realized it was not for me to devote myself to, although I have still had good experiences with some of the fifty names, and am still considering the other gates. My bandar was rather troublesome, so I was forced to take a step back and reconsider myself.

Like most chaotes I've studied just about everything under the sun to one degree or another, and draw on all of it when postulating a new ritual, or even just when interpreting symbolism from my dreams or in visions during meditation.

Now, I do very little ritual magick at all. Being familiar with energies from so many different perspectives, and with so many different states of consciousness magick for me usually consists of a sigil for any enduring effect, along with a meditation through whichever state of consciousness is best for the work, and connecting patterns of energies to whichever grid seems most appropriate to get the right effect. I guess that goes under 'other.' I work with a small host of spirits that I became 'friendly' with, from across the entire journey I've had, but that no longer falls under evocation, so much as 'afternoon tea'.

Oh, and before my current amalgam, the path I explored most consistently for the longest time was western ceremonial - Mostly golden dawn, since those are the books I had, but at this point it's all largely the same, right?

peace

This post has been edited by Vagrant Dreamer: Feb 15 2007, 01:59 PM