Gaining control of the new awareness

This whole site is mostly dedicated to finding ways to understand and control the new awareness that schizophrenia engenders. Here, though, are a few methods that should make this process easier. The benefits of some degree of control are incalculable. We've all been out there into the dark night of the soul. This is just the proving ground. Once we are skilled in our new consciousness we are awarded immeasurable freedom and knowledge.

Remember, though, that even amongst peoples who have frames of reference for the shaman sickness at the heart of their societies, it can still easily take the apprentice shaman at least seven years to gain a workable control of their new consciousness. We have to be extraordinary to make it - but the spirits would never have chosen you if you weren't extraordinary! They've been up to it long enough to know who to try.

Stilling the mind

There are many additional methods that various cultures implement:

• Playing hypnotic rhythms on hand drums, on your own or with like-minded people.
• Rubbing two stones together for long periods of time.
• Dancing non-stop to music with no vocals and a repetitive beat. The Goa/Psychedelic Trance movement is perfect for this.
• Looking for something that you have seen in a dream - a particular stone for example.
• Drawing/painting/carving/sculpting something that you have seen in a dream, totally immersing yourself in the process.
• Yoga and meditation - focus on breathing with your diaphragm, and let your thoughts drift away with an imaginary wind blowing gently in your face. If you can find a good teacher, harnessing the energies of the chakras might be the way you want to go.

It's certainly possible to achieve this stillness of mind even when on medication. If you're thinking of coming off your medication, it's probably best to wait until you have the technique perfected, and a still, safe haven is therefore always available to you. If you do come off your medication though, do it as gradually as possible.

It's likely to take quite a while before you are able to still your mind like this - but be patient and it will happen.

Learning to focus on other realities

Visualising is the key to learning to focus. When you visualise something, it is often more than building a construct in your mind. The construct you are building is often a doorway to something that is real. This is why tradition is invaluable, as workable constructs can be passed down from generation to generation.

Elf Shot

The aim is to find the elf shot that you've been hit with, and to pull it out. This will also improve your health.

Lay down somewhere alone, preferably in the dark, breathe deeply and still your mind. Then, inspect every part of your body for the little arrows. The elf shot will actually be embedded in your energy body - a complement to the physical body - so the inspection will have to be done with your mind.

Once you find some elf shot, you know that you're focussing on your energy/dreaming body. You'll see it/sense it, and it will be easy to remove. You might even want to tie the arrows in a bundle and put them somewhere - by little gestures like this, friends can be made in other realities.

Characters in dreams

It's best not to tell anyone about these dreams, except for people on a similar path who are likely to understand. There's an old saying - to know, to dare, to keep silent.

Once you have had a dream that really means something to you, it's a good idea to familiarise yourself with its characters/locales. This will strengthen your connection with the dreamworld, helping you to balance and to remember whatever you learn there. Drawing/painting characters you meet there, writing poetic descriptions of the places you visit, meditating on scenes and scenarios will all help you to achieve this objective, making the dreamworld a more tangible and real place for you.

Repetitive Tasks

The trick is, when involved in something repetitive which you might normally consider boring, try immersing yourself into it, forcing yourself to find it utterly fascinating, without thinking about it, without justifying it intellectually to yourself. Be totally aware of your every action - focus your attention entirely on what you're doing, and it'll happen.

Digging over a garden, weeding, collecting litter, anything you can do without having to think about it; there are so many activities that can help you to attain a remarkable state of mind, performing a useful social function at the same time.

Get enough sleep

By engaging in various relaxing and mind-expanding exercises in bed before going to sleep, you can fox yourself into going to bed when part of you thinks you'd rather be up and about doing stuff.

Dangerous substances

Alcohol

Drinking to excess can really mess us up. A lot of people with schizophrenia are far more sensitive to drugs, such as alcohol, than ordinary people. Alcohol's a poison, and it doesn't tend to have any psychedelic effects, so what's the point? It can be nice for relaxing the mind in small quantities, but it was no real friend for Jim Morrison.

Steroids

Even when only taken medicinally steroids can easily bring on psychoses. And then you'll feel like you're on PCP (angel dust), which I've never heard anyone recommend, including Hells Angels.

Amphetamines

What are these but an obstacle to finding real internal energy supplies? You're better off doing a bit of yoga before going out. (Which can also be dangerous, so you're no woose for choosing this alternative.)

Marijuana

This is a difficult one. There are those that say it can bring on psychosis. I think the point is that you can't abuse it. Personally, I find that smoking it takes me straight to the land of the dead, so smoking and chatting with friends isn't really an option any more. Use wisely, if you're going to use it.

Psychedelics in general

I think these are for people that need an external stimulus to get them into a visionary state of being. Most people with schizophrenia can get into such states without the need for them. As with all of this, it's up to you.
I have, when having been psychotic for long periods of time (ie months, even years), upon occasion found them helpful in recreating a sense of self; but then again I've found long walks tracking deer helpful for this as well.

Coffee

Too much coffee can set your nerves on edge in a way that feels very similar to being pre-psychotic.

Dealing with depression

It isn't impossible to pick these ambitions up again, if this is what you really want to do. Schizophrenia is a very personal experience - despite the similarities of beliefs/intuitions, it affects each of us as individuals, and changes us, if it is to change us, on an individual level. It is likely that the "dark night of the soul" will have had some effect on the individual's outlook, and will hopefully become integrated into their world outlook, tremendously increasing their empathy and compassion.

More often than not, though, we are left feeling alone in a materialistic world that has no place for our visions. René Guénon, a French philosopher writing in the 1930s and 1940s, believed that all civilisation worthy of the name serves a spiritual function: to act as a channel for the influence of tradition (ie the functions and movement of truth) upon every sphere of human life. He saw the modern division between the sacred and the secular as perverse, one of the many examples of the way modern society has made it impossible for man to fulfil his inner destiny. To compare our society with that of Ancient Egypt, in those days each individual would be an "apprentice" to a god, the final aim being to become the god, and this basic premise would be apparent in every aspect of their day to day lives. Guénon's message in short is:

"Search out the few dwindling traces of orthodox spirituality that still exist in the world, cast away your present life, and depart - or else face the life of anxiety, pseudo-religion, superficial knowledge, and the all-pervasive illusory pleasures and commitments that characterize the civilisation of the Dark Age."

It is a bold thing to say, but I believe that those of us who have been touched by schizophrenia are fortunate. We can no longer ignore our spirituality; we can no longer ignore the importance of the spiritual in the human world. We can't spend the rest of our time here ignorantly chasing money and material gain. In this I think we are fortunate. We have to believe in the transformation that we have undergone; we have to listen to the needs of our souls. As a result of this we have a real chance to grow as human beings.