Inner 'contacts' – and how to contact them

Like other magical groups which work at similar levels, The Gareth Knight Group is what is known as a 'contacted' group. This means that the outer group which the world sees is, like an iceberg, only a part of the complete whole, and the outer group are aware of this. The outer group operates like the earth terminal of an electric circuit in the overall scheme of things, but the greater vision and guidance of its work comes from higher level inner beings who are not physically incarnate.

Fantastic though this claim may sound (at least, to those outside psychic environments), the truth and reality of it can be verified by experience. Indeed, successful teamwork depends on it.

In the early stages of magical training, students are given teaching and exercises by their appointed tutor as a foundation. However, this is only a temporary arrangement and ultimately the aim is for members to receive guidance and teaching independently from the inner plane adepts responsible for the group and its incarnate members, as this will go far further than any material offered by incarnate teachers. As well as providing a general source of magical projects and inspiration, these inner adepts may also introduce individuals who naturally resonate with a certain type of theme, to inner specialists who may train and work with them in specialised types of magical work of common interest.

A fundamental skill, then, is to learn how to contact and communicate with these higher level teachers. Because our level of consciousness is generally fairly mundane in orientation, and theirs is based on a much more elevated level of intelligence, in order to communicate at all, we are going to have to learn to raise the level of our own consciousness up towards theirs. Except in rare cases of unusually outstanding natural psychic talent, this normally requires training.

Describing the process involved requires attempting to describe inner states of consciousness, which our language is not well equipped to do. However, we could use the metaphor of radio broadcasting. The inner plane adepts could be conceived as transmitting on a certain high frequency radio band. If we regard our own consciousness as a radio receiver normally tuned to a lower frequency, the first aim would be to re-tune it to the appropriate waveband. When we have got that far, we can search along the correct waveband for the station we are looking for.

In terms of consciousness, we are thus aiming to raise the level of our own mental vibrations to a higher level of mentation, and then tune into the identity of a particular inner contact. Although the latter are able to come down towards our level a little, we still have to raise up our own level of consciousness some way above the norm to at least meet them half way, as it were.

Students in the physical group practice techniques from their first year of training which will enable them to raise consciousness at will. As part of the process, these same techniques also 'open' the (non physical) 'heart', as described in numerous mystical texts. For in this tuning process to contact higher beings, a combination of both heart and mind are necessary.

It is the open-hearted desire to connect and the unconditional love which flows as a result, which propels consciousness upwards to the correct 'waveband'. Once there, the mind fine-tunes to focus upon a particular contact.

The student knows what they are looking for, of course. They will have done research on the inner plane teacher, and memorised any available images of them. They will almost certainly have read words from the inner plane adepts which have been recorded by other individuals who have spoken with them, and this in itself will enable them to probe around mentally, trying to define the energy behind those communications, ready to recognise it again by feel. This latter technique is particularly useful, for if the student can memorise how abstract energies feel, having once contacted them, recalling the feeling will serve as a 'homing beacon' as their mind scans the waveband to contact them again in the future. The student is also aware that the inner teacher knows what they are trying to do and wants them to succeed, helping as far as possible to get the communication process off the ground.

How will one know any results are genuine? Initially it is possible that the student may not, particularly if they are using the technique of 'astral psychism' described below, which is more prone to interference from the student's own mind than the second of the described techniques, conscious channelling. A good rule of thumb is always to coolly examine and appraise the content of any received communications - 'by their fruits shall ye know them', as they say. If the supposed communication consists of drivel and/or information with which the student was already familiar, more practice may be required.

The channelling technique involves a direct link between the consciousness of the inner plane adept and the student, and the experiential result where it is genuine is far more distinctive, putting the student into an elevated and open-hearted state of consciousness in which they intuitively know it to be genuine and true. After the communication has finished, there remains with them a 'residue' of that same state, and a sense of a link of unconditional love with that inner plane being.

Let us take a look in more detail at how the two aforementioned methods can work in practical terms. Both are used by modern occultists to establish and develop conscious communication with elevated inner contacts, the first technique often leading to the second, and this latter being the more preferable of the two, for reasons described:

1. Astral Psychism

A rather grand term which refers to the technique of visualising the inner plane being in one's imagination in a suitable pictorial context and then having a telepathic conversation with them, seeing them articulating and responding, and showing you relevant symbols or performing relevant actions as appropriate. An imagined 'meeting place' is usually invented or borrowed, based on the 'personality' of the inner plane being. For example, to meet an inner being who presents himself as a Victorian engineer, the interior of a Victorian workshop might 'set the scene' for this meeting well.

Perceived advantages: This is a technique widely used by psychics and development groups which can be operated without very high levels of consciousness. Visually imaginative people (e.g. the astrologically Neptunian or Lunar types, and water sign types generally) tend to find this method particularly easy. Visual symbols can be received readily.

Perceived disadvantages: This technique is an indirect, reflected, one in that one's own High Self (or 'super consciousness'), which forms the interface with the consciousness of the inner plane contact, is feeding down into one's subconscious ('Low Self') from whence it is then being retrieved second hand into conscious thought by the thinking 'Middle Self'. The operation can thus be akin to wanting to observe the moon, but instead of looking upwards into the sky, trying to focus instead on a clear image of the moon on the surface of a pond with a light breeze rippling the surface, and the occasional leaf or twig floating by, as one's own emotional nature and imagination tend to keep trying to intrude. It therefore requires quite a sustained effort of concentration to keep the communication clearly tuned, plus holding the visual imagery and articulating it, pushing aside one's own thoughts, and listening telepathically to the communication itself. However, it can produce valid results for shorter length communications in particular, and in the early stages of practice can act as a springboard into ......

2. Conscious Channelling

This method is more abstract and consists of one's own super conscious 'High Self' (the interface with the consciousness of the inner being) primarily feeding direct into the thinking, 'Middle Self' of the recipient. It thus tends to bypass the interference and the pictorial imagination of the subconscious 'Low Self', and information is received more intuitively as telepathic words forming in a stream, sometimes with flashes of perception or energy flows.

One way to locate this rather abstract state of consciousness is to begin with the technique of astral psychism, engage the inner being in conversation, and focus increasingly on keeping the exchange and flow of words going (keep asking questions!) At the same time as one is holding the link in this way, one raises up consciousness, allowing any visual imagery to fall away but focussing increasingly on the flow of the conversation and the energetic link with the inner contact. As consciousness rises up to become a direct High Self–Middle Self channel, the stream of thoughts and words from the contact will seem to form spontaneously like bubbles in your head from a perceivable, high level, abstract energy beyond them.

Visually orientated people who might find the abstract perplexing, may find it helpful to visualise a vague horizon line or horizontal layer in front of them and just a little above eye level. Accompanying efforts to travel into it in imagination (which doesn't actually happen) should tie up the visual faculties whilst one focusses on holding the verbal and energetic link.

Perceived advantages: Inner plane beings have expressed a preference for this type of communication. Once mastered, long transfers of information and energy can take place with little effort and inaccuracy. Those of an Aquarian or Uranian astrological type tend to find this method particularly easy.

Perceived disadvantages: Requires elevation of consciousness to an appropriate level. Relocating the inner energetic 'coordinates' at will can take a little practice. Occasionally information may seem to originate from one's own super conscious High Self, rather than passing through it from a higher source. The nature of the material and the feel of the energy should indicate if this is the case.

The techniques above are conscious methods of communication – that is, the practitioner is aware and participating in the interchange, and in charge of their own consciousness. A formerly popular unconscious technique of receiving inner plane communications was trance mediumship. In this process, a suitably trained trance medium who is able to raise consciousness high enough to contact the level of an inner plane adept, allows the inner plane being to temporarily possess them so that the being is then able to articulate the medium's vocal chords and speak through them. During this process, the medium enters a sleep-like state, and on awakening usually has little or no conscious recall of the communication. Other people present in a waking state are able to question the inner contact by addressing the medium, if appropriate. Much valuable magical material has been brought through in this way by mediums of a suitably high level of consciousness and calibre, such as Margaret Lumley Brown and Dion Fortune in the last century, who were able to control and use their skills in a balanced manner.

Today, however, trance mediumship – and the training available to become one – are far less common. Mediums who are naturally gifted tend to be psychically very receptive and absorbent, and most remain within spiritualist circles where they do not have to contend with strong magical forces which could impact on their psychic sensitivity. In addition, many modern occultists dislike the principle of giving up control of their own consciousness when they can participate more fully in other, conscious, methods of receiving the same material.