Pathworking, Visiting the Spiritual Realm Options

I'm a practitioner of Wicca, the Correllian tradition specifically. I've read and re-read Living the Wiccan Life (part of the Witch School series of Witch School International) twice now, and the most appealing aspect was that of pathworking.

Pathworking exercises in the book help guide you to visiting your Higher Self, ancestral spirits, spirits/guardians of physical world places, your power animal, and the Goddess herself.

However, the author puts a lot of emphasis on one instruction.
"Do not have any pre-conceived ideas as to what the spirit you're seeking might look like. Let it come to you in whatever form it chooses."

So my question is: Does anybody else have a hard time NOT having a pre-conceived idea? I have not yet attempted pathworking in the fear that the ideas that I've developed for myself will ruin the experience.

Help/advice is much appreciated! ^^




P.S. Feel free to post stories of personal pathworking experiences!

This post has been edited by JHunt609: Mar 10 2010, 09:13 PM

I do, but I also believe a lot of the time that preconceived image is put there by an external force (usually the spirit itself) and this is the way it feels most appropriate for us to view it at the time! In my experience, it's best to go with the flow - make sure you're grounded and protected, get to know the spirit and ask why it presents itself like that to you and if it would be comfortable showing you itself in another form. As far as I can tell there are no set rules as to how a spirit should appear; my patron deity is traditionally portrayed with the head of an ibis or a babboon, yet I've encountered him in several forms.

Also, something I've found helpful in this situation - if you're worried that what you see isn't their actual outward appearance, try to become familiar with how their energy feels, this is a great way to recognise (and sometimes understand) spirits you encounter.

Anyways, good luck with your pathworking! I've not read into it much, but I'm now going to go have a little search on the internet (IMG:style_emoticons/default/happy.gif)