This is work in progress, posted for comment by several of those involved. Check back later to see if it's been updated.
This meditation exercise is drawn from a significantly longer Madeleine ritual that I have yet to prepare for the web. It's got a history and most of the components have appeared elsewhere on the site (there's a related reading list at the bottom). It's a deceptively simple exercise for two but, unless you're already well-practised in such things, it's likely to take several sessions before you start to see results. Please note that just because physicl sex is absent.
If “Coda” starts to gel, this will form the basis for different visualisations in the longer sections. It stands alone because I devised it to check that the little "LEDLantern" recently inspired by the LEDLIght of a Joker colleague would actually work in a ritual context. You don't need a LEDLight for the exercise, though: a candle or small oil lamp will work just as well, but it's simply that the LEDLight will work in places where a candle won't, such as a soft mattress.
You'll need a space for two of you to sit comfortably, facing each other across the lantern. You can work naked or clothed as you prefer, but if possible launder any clothing first and reserve it for this purpose whilst you're doing the exercises. Most teachers recommend sessions of about twenty minutes, but you're unlikely to get benefit from sessions that long at the beginning: stop when one or other of you starts to feel tired. Clearly, given the nature of the exercise, if you live together then just before going to bed is the obvious time, but if you adopt this idea, make sure you're not too tired when you start. Consider also trying the exercise first thing on waking, but whatever time you choose, try to stick to it.
Sit facing each other comfortably across the lamp. Light it and hold hands, seeking a place of safety and relaxation within each other. Your faces and bodies illuminated from below, aware of each other's sensuality and sexuality, now form the limit of your world. Now start to physically relax. Focus on each area and muscle of your body in turn and intentionally relax it, perhaps starting with the feet and legs and working up, since most people seem to find the scalp, face and jaw hardest. Take your time and try to feel the connection between the relaxed part and the rest of the body and brain. Be aware of your partner doing the same and of your connection with them. When you're fully relaxed, drop hands, perhaps placing htem gently on your knees.
Now start to slow your breathing. Remain sitting fully relaxed and then start to slow your breathing from its normal rate to about six or seven breaths per minute (you can get much slower with practice). Count slowly to five as you breathe out and again as you breathe in. Don't hold your breath or rush the air in or out: having got nicely relaxed, use that relaxation to its fullest effect. Again, be aware of your partner's breathing and gradually find a rate that's comfortable for you both.
The normal instructions for meditation, as, for example, in the Hallows, are to concentrate on the candle, your breathing or the seed thought. This exercise is more difficult (nothing comes for free). Be aware of your partner's breathing, of the candle, but concentrate on the physical. If you're wearing clothes, the sensation should gradually disappear, until you're almost unaware of the fact. But the converse is also true: although your hands are no longer touching there should be a lingering body-memory of that touch.
Build on the memory and imagine the contact spreading until . Use this edge to sense the presence of the Lord and Lady within yourself and your partner, very close and easily within reach. Now merge the masculine and feminine, becoming one as the light of the lantern frames your ritual space. It takes practice, so don't worry if the sense of welcoming, comforting presence doesn't fully materialise the first time you try.
If you're not used to working together, then I suggest that when the first of you becomes tired or loses focus, they gently touch the other on the arm. After a few tries, you should have enough subconscious triggers that you'll recognise it and emerge together. Breathe deep and allow a couple of minutes to surface properly, then hold hands again to ground properly and extinguish the light.
[front door] [ffetcher] [coda] [top]