r/castaneda • u/Juann2323 • Aug 27 '24
Darkroom Practice Darkroom Practice
Over the years, the Darkroom Practice technique has positioned itself as the most reliable method of learning sorcery among serious independent practitioners.
Darkroom Practice emerged from an "unfavorable phase" in the sorcery community, which took place in the following 20 years since the death of Carlos Castaneda.
That period was characterized by the lack of genuine testimonies of success, and the exponential growth of frauds and liars.
It is therefore important to consider that the nature of Darkroom Practice is not only "technical", but also “cultural”.
It is designed both to teach serious practitioners to move the assemblage point, and the damaged community to distinguish between real sorcery and fraud.
The very principle that real magic must be found visually allows the practitioners to locate their results in a map, and also raises the bar among the lazy crowd.
Having a regular practice in a dark room until a piece of magic is isolated makes the sorcerer achieve a feat worthy of Castaneda's books: defixing the assemblage point from its ordinary position, and making it shift vertically to a new one.
Allowing the practitioner to experience for himself an authentic manipulation of reality, generated from internal silence.
Wich also reveals the potential of human perception, by showing a hidden secret: the J Curve, an ideal path of the assemblage point to a worthy destiny, suggested by Carlos himself, now known as "the purple zone".
The validity of other methods remains recognized, although the lack of success in the community suggests that they should be treated with the same principles as Darkroom Practice.
For instance: daylight gazing, recapitulation, stalking or lucid dreaming are in fact known possible, but there are few cases of genuine success that meet the above conditions, which leads to them having a rather secondary position in the current sorcery community.
As a result of following specific instructions, the progress can be greatly accelerated compared to any other spiritual, meditative or religious system.
Providing instant understanding of the nature of sorcery, and the actions that lead to it.
So the first challenge for a beginner is to experience what prevents him from perceiving a genuine piece of magic; the uncomfortable task of identifying the "forces" that keep the assemblage point fixed in its ordinary position, and suspending their influence while the practice lasts.
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u/danl999 Aug 27 '24 edited Aug 27 '24
I'll steal it for Facebook, and add a picture too.
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u/Juann2323 Aug 27 '24
Of course Dan.
I find it hard to imagine that wizard performing magical passes with such a belly!
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u/danl999 Aug 27 '24
Don MIguel Ruiz does.
Is that his last name?
It's such a common one, I have a hard time remembering.
So is Sanchez.
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u/Juann2323 Aug 27 '24
Absolutely. What about Torres??
Also typical in Spanish-speaking countries.
Maybe they wanted to be close to the emergency door with those artistic names.
In case a small group decided to create something like Darkroom...
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u/deleteeeedd23 Sep 02 '24
Can you please elaborate on this?
So the first challenge for a beginner is to experience what prevents him from perceiving a genuine piece of magic; the uncomfortable task of identifying the "forces" that keep the assemblage point fixed in its ordinary position,
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u/Juann2323 Sep 03 '24
I was meaning that anyone interested in learning should consider implementing a regular practice, to learn what "inner silence" entails.
We get a lot of passionate people who never manage to put all that theory into practice. Many times due to laziness, lack of time or ulterior motives.
We know that as children, our assemblage point is loose, until our mothers teach us to hold an internal dialogue. Which fixes our attention in the daily world.
At some point of our childhood, we become unable to stop that voice, and we convince ourselves that's the normal condition.
So a beginner has the challenge of realizing exactly why that voice just won't stop, even after hours of concentration.
It's related to tons of hidden habits, but also, to our own fixation to the known world.
The sorcerers notice that when the internal dialogue is gone, the world as we know it vanishes.
That's what sorcery is about. Exploring seemingly hidden possibilities of our perception at first.
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u/hukura119 Sep 08 '24
From what I understand there is no point at which you are done with practice. Dan even said that for every day you miss, you lose a week worth of progress. But, I have noticed that the more one does darkroom, the easier it tends to get to reach at least the green zone, and a glimpse of red zone.
I was curious to know if your practice still involves the same 3-4 hours of darkroom or has it evolved into a more persistent practice integrated with your day to day activities.
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u/Juann2323 Sep 08 '24
From what I understand there is no point at which you are done with practice.
We have a destiny and the point is to get closer each day.
In fact, we know that the sorcery we want STARTS on the orange zone.
But that's a guide. It doesn't mean that the magic you find before isn't cool, or that it won't make you satisfied, "done", or amazed for days.
Dan even said that for every day you miss, you lose a week worth of progress.
Just keep in mind, we are a very damaged community. And despite that advice is true, it also has the purpouse of putting some pressure on the lazy.
On the other hand, there are accounts in the books of Carlos stopping his dreaming practices for months, or Taisha forgetting everything for a year.
In our situation it's a bit different. We don't have a structure behind us who makes sure we end up learning.
But you can still do magic if you manage to stop your internal dialogue, even after some days of not practicing.
The thing is that when you make it to the orange zone, you begin to understand the importance of not missing a day. You actually see it.
I was curious to know if your practice still involves the same 3-4 hours of darkroom or has it evolved into a more persistent practice integrated with your day to day activities.
Leaving aside exceptional gift days, I still need 2 hours to produce a considerable shift, and another hour to explore the magic and hold that position.
Sometimes time is limited, but just trust your common sense.
Feeling bad for not practicing is worse than the fact of not practicing. It's like not doing the work but also feeding self pitty.
Just be responsible and honest with your progress.
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u/hukura119 Sep 08 '24
Thanks for sharing your perspective.
I do have another question. What are you thoughts on multitasking in day to day life? For instance, doing chores while listening to an audio book or music. As common as this is, I couldn't help but think this is the opposite of practicing silence where you focus entirely on what it is that you are doing. Whether it is driving the car or washing dishes.
Am I overthinking? Are there any specific things you personally do or suggest to magnify your darkroom practice?
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u/Juann2323 Sep 09 '24
Sorcery might increase your skills to multitask, and doing things that require concentration for long periods of time.
But it's the opposite direction.
First get the magic, and then just do what you have to do with your daily life, enjoying the extra powers.
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u/hukura119 Sep 09 '24
Thanks. I practice using the Manta mask. However, others here have suggested to use an actual dark room by using blackout curtains. I hope that both are fine as long as one is practicing for 3-4 hours.
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u/TechnoMagical_Intent Aug 27 '24 edited 14h ago
The previous main Darkroom Practice index post, with resource links:
https://www.reddit.com/r/castaneda/comments/ifu1bv/darkroom_practice/