I felt this feeling of "Oh no here we go" and "Loony Alert!" when a gentleman came into my bookroom, looked at the books on occultism and suchlike, and then conspiratorially whispered that he wanted to tell me of his dream. I was tempted to say "You must be dreaming now to think for one moment that I have the slightest interest in your dreams." However, I acceded to his request for privacy, we left the others and, on the staircase outside, he told me of his dream.
A being of striking presence came to him, he thought an Angel, and told him that he would communicate a new form of magic, of great power, that had never been realized before. This secret the Angel then told him. And I will tell you. The reason, because the dream being, Angel, Daimon or whatever, was absolutely right. It was a form of magic, potentially of immense power, that to my knowledge has never never been consciously utilized before.
The secret is very simple, and so simple to employ. When stated it seems so obvious, one immediately thinks of the folk customs and traditions that point to the awesome potential of the process. But then that is true of sex magick.
The secret is this:
Make a wish when you sneeze.
Moreover the reason why it works is simple too. The sneeze is this wonderful bodily function, to be truly relished. It is an involuntary movement, at its best allowing a steady bending back of the spine allowing the sudden forward motion of the sneeze. There is a powerful involuntary ejaculation. At the moment of the climax of the sneeze we lose consciousness for an instant.
In many ways sneeze magic is easier than sex magic. Wilhelm Reich argued that most people are unable to achieve truly involuntary spinal movement in sex because of inhibition. We can all achieve it in a sneeze. Sneeze with an awareness of kundalini. One can be aware of the chakras associated with the process, I think the Ajna or Third eye rather than the throat, the Ajna location is connected by the sinuses to the nose and you will observe that often people touch their foreheads after a sneeze. Indeed the sneeze is of particular interest when related to the subtle body. Kundalini rises through three central channels, the central channel, the Shushumna and the Ida & Pingala that spiral caduceus like around it. They pass through the Third eye and out, one through each nostril, hence the yogic practice of alternate nostril breathing. One can explore the passage of energy through these channels when sneezing.
As one sneezes visualize a symbol, or frame a desire in some way. What one experiences then is the sigil, the vehicle for one's desire, a tremendous expression of physical energy with fertile associations with the subtle energy system and at the climax a subtle loss of consciousness, thus we are utterly liberated of all lust of result indeed, for a moment all ego consciousness is annihilated. Doctors have stated that we are never so near death as when we sneeze. A very useful state for magical endeavor.
The folklore associated with sneezing indicates its magical properties. In classical times sneezing was taken as a good omen, indeed Aristotle regarded it as divine. It was the custom to salute the sneezer. At other times the sneeze has been known as "the little death", when the soul might leave the body. In Scotland it was said that a child remained under the spell of the fairies until it had sneezed for the first time. In America sneezing was taken as an indication that one was telling the truth. In Germany and East Anglia three sneezes before breakfast meant you could expect a present, while in Japan a sneeze meant someone, somewhere was saying nice things about you.
A children's rhyme concerning sneezing is:—
Once a wish,
Twice a kiss,
Three times something better!
Another:—
Sneeze on Monday, sneeze for danger,
Sneeze on Tuesday, kiss a stranger,
Sneeze on Wednesday, get a letter,
Sneeze on Thursday, something better,
Sneeze on Friday, sneeze for sorrow,
Saturday – see your true love tomorrow.
This is an entertaining idea for the modern magician, that the time of an unprompted sneeze might have significance, possibly related to planetary hours etc. Indeed there are many avenues for future research. Given that there is usually some product of the sneeze one has the opportunity for the consecration of talismans born of the very instant of the expression of the sigil. Indeed one can imagine exploring the subtle nature of the sneeze product not just for sigilisation and consecration but also divination. The sneeze can produce a most remarkable range of mucus kalas. Indeed close observation suggests that most people have an overwhelming compulsion to examine the sneeze product. Could this be the unconscious awareness of the divinatory possibilities of the sneeze elixir. Experiment tells me when one inquires of people, just after a sneeze, to explain and point out just what is so fascinating they retreat into embarassment and sometimes aggression. I found this especially true when approaching strangers. Even persistent and quite stern questioning failed to produce any living tradition of sneeze mucus interpretation. It is sad to see such manifestion of the Gnosis ignored.
First published in Sunwheel magazine volume I #1, An. IViv Sol in Aries. © Ben Fernee. Used with permission.
Key entry and HTML coding by Frater T.S.