In Chapter 2 of KISSING THE LIMITLESS, Thorn writes

“Each spiritual seeker & magic worker sooner or later has to face the oracle that tells us to know ourselves. Without that component our work is lost. We ask a lot of questions & think many things about our conditions, but do we really look at our lives inside & out? Do we see? Do we know?” 

The adage “know thyself” is ages old, but how do we approach such a monumental (& frightening) task? How, with lives saddled by responsibility, dulled by routine & fraught with worry, do we connect with that true inner self? One exercise that Thorn suggests is a 1-month journal as a way to observe the details of our daily lives. What other ways do you find to connect with the world and that shadowed inner self? How can we better “see” and “know?” @WeiserBooks

One of the important things that I think needs to be mentioned is a look at what Thorn means by “Do we see? Do we know?” Our experience of the external, explicit world is illusory. Everything we see and know about it are the results of our perceptions of it. This poses something of a challenge to the idea of a knowable absolute reality.

But what about our internal world? Is it too subject to the illusory evidence of our senses? I don’t think so. We don’t perceive that we are feeling emotional pain. We don’t perceive loneliness, we feel it. We don’t perceive that we are angry, we feel anger. There are many ways to move these emotions into an idea of perception, to look at them and let them pass. But the truth of them is that they are ultimately knowable, and simultaneously incommunicable. Our language is not sufficient to transmit the reality of what we feel internally. If we look at ourselves as Thorn advises, and feel all of our parts and pieces, then we recognize that our emotions are one of those pieces. We address them in wholism.

So when we are asked “Do we see? Do we know?” we are really talking about an internal state of being that is divorced from the illusory filter of perception. The struggle becomes less about trying to ‘See’ the truth, or ‘Know’ what is real and what is not. Instead the struggle becomes about the choice to be aware of and dwell in the sight and knowledge of ourselves.

Something that has been important for me year after year is to treat the macrocosm as a reflection of the microcosm. Thorn touched on this somewhat, but I think it needs a bit more emphasis. When I look at my bedroom and I see clothing all over the floor, and an empty glass on the shelf next to my bed I can look at that as a reflection of my inner state.

This is helpful not because my room being a mess indicates that my mind is in disarray. It is helpful because perception is illusory. The things I perceive are dependent upon the state of my inner reality. For some reason I notice the clothing on the floor and that talks to me about the different personas, masks, and guises that I take on in my life. It makes me vie for simplicity and unity of those facets of my being. It makes me wonder if I’m taking proper care of those faces, and if there is something I can do to make them healthier.

It’s important to me to say that the clothing being on the floor does not indicate anything. It is my choice to perceive it that gives it meaning. Just as when we experience the guidance of the divine in the world. An odd man staring at you, a bird landing on your porch. These things do not have meaning. The meaning is in our notice of them.

Another practice that I think is one that helps keep me focused on the work of “self-posession” is one of gratitude. I know several people who choose one thing to be grateful each day. They feel that expressing that gratitude reminds them of a higher light working in their life. While I’m newer to the disciplined practice of gratitude I find that I feel comforted and relaxed when I accept responsibility for my part, but offer gratitude for the light that comes through me. It reaffirms my belief that my life is a partnership between myself and the spirits.

I’ve found that practicing gratitude in any form also helps me release my worries and act directly and precisely when the time is right, which is something that Thorn stresses, perhaps too much, in Chapter 2 of Kissing the Limitless.