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My girlfriend, Lisa, has been using the techniques in this series for a few months. She can connect to a single domain (her mind, her body, her mental muscles, etc), but she can’t follow the paths between domains. Instead, she jumps to the next domain, guessing at its signature. This has some limitations:
- If she doesn’t know a domain’s signature, she can’t find it. I can show her where it is, but you might not have that option.
- Many techniques require manipulating the paths between domains. Examples include deeper-than-energy healing, consciousness integration, and mental activation. If you can’t trace those paths, you can’t manipulate them.
This post explains how to trace paths between domains. It’s for Lisa and anyone else who jumps instead of tracing.
Note: A path is one or more connections. Think of it like co-ax cable, with many wires bundled together. A path can also be multiple connections that go through several domains in series, like going from your mind to a system then to a spirit. If that confuses you, just replace “path” with “connection” and you’ll get almost everything in this post.
If you haven’t read the rest of the series, start with the first post.
Why Trace Paths Across Domains
If you want to see how your mind connects to your body, how your mental muscles connect to your brain, or how a mage uses a systems, you need to trace paths from the first domain (your mind, your mental muscles, or the mage) to the second (your body, your brain, or the system).
I trace paths for just about everything I do, including:
- Exploring anything I haven’t worked with yet: Tracing all the paths lets you see how each part interacts with the whole.
- Finding the systems that another mage uses, so I can use them too. (Particularly useful for learning psychic talents, which always require systems).
- Deeper-than-energy healing: You need to work with the paths between energy and the deeper layers.
Basically, it’s a fundamental skill you’ll use everywhere. It lets you see and understand magick better, and it’s required for any technique that works with multiple domains, which is most of them.
Learning To Trace Cross-Domain Paths
Seeing a path within one domain is easy. It only has one signature, and as long as you align your sensory connection to that signature, you can see it.
The hard part is tracing paths across domains, where the signature shifts.
Before we can talk about this, we need a bit of notation: Say a connection goes from point A (in domain A, with signature A) to point B (in domain B, with signature B), transitioning the signature as it goes. Halfway across, the signature will be (roughly) 50% A and 50% B, which we’ll call 50/50. Closer to A, it might be 75% A, which we’ll call 75/25. Very close to B, it will be 10/90. Make sure you have that before going on.
So, you align to signature A, then start tracing. Remember, you can only see signatures that you’re aligned to. At 90/10, you can still see fine. At 80/20, you can see OK. But by 50/50 or so, there’s not enough of signature A in the hybrid signature for you to see clearly, so you lose track of the connection. That’s where I used to have trouble, it’s where Lisa has trouble now, and it’s where lots of mages can’t see magick clearly.
Here’s how you learn to trace paths:
- Connect to both ends of the path (A and B), so you know the two signatures.
- Make a third connection to side A, and align to signature A.
- Move it along the path a short way, to maybe 90/10 or 80/20, so you can still see the path. (Alternately, you can make a fourth connection a bit down the path).
- Re-align to the signature at that point (remember to broaden first, adding signature B into your connection, then align it).
- Trace a bit further, then re-align, until you’re through the path. You’ll feel the connection you have to point B when you’re done.
For better results, align all the scales of the signature you work with, from large to small. Align even the parts of the signature that don’t change (it will give you a better overall alignment). It’s OK if you can’t align all the scales at the same time, but do each scale before tracing the connection further. By aligning each step better, you’ll make it easier to trace the rest of the path easier.
Lisa imagines this as walking through a canyon, passing different layers of rock as you ascend, and making a smooth shift from one layer to the next.
General Path Tracing
Often, you’ll only know the starting point (signature A), but not the ending point (signature X). The technique is the same, but for step 4, use the general broadening technique from last post (for broadening when you don’t know the other signature). I’d recommend getting good at general broadening (meaning it’s easy and doesn’t tire you) before trying this.
Harder Cases
If you’re tracing a connection that a malicious spirit is intentionally hiding, it will often go from you (domain A) to someone else (domain B) then to the spirit (domain C). The last connection has zero percent of signature A. To trace it, you need to realize you’ve arrived at point B, then use general path tracing to find the spirit’s connections, and start tracing those to point C. It’s easy once you have experience tracing paths, but I wouldn’t recommend it for your first try.
Mastering Path Tracing
Like sounding out letters when you’re first learning to read, tracing paths will be slow at first, because you’re consciously training your mental muscles how to trace a path. But, like reading, with enough practice it will become fast, automatic and unconscious.
I find it easier to practice a skill when I’m using it to accomplish something, instead of just practicing to practice. So practice tracing paths until it becomes comfortable (but still slow), then use path tracing as you do other magick. (See the list of in-depth guides to the left for ideas).
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