As a long time, mainly solitary practitioner with occasional spurts of magical and/or mystical group work, a recurring reflection on the elements required to succeed on the solitary path has been returning to me since starting this blog. Hence this post is brought to life.

First, if you are seeking a magickal community, there are many available. Depending on your system, check Facebook groups, Meetup groups, local study groups or orders, and search on the internet. You can find like-minded individuals and I do encourage finding kin in your respective system. Even as a solitary practitioner, this keeps you from being locked in an echo chamber and from being too isolated on your own island. You should be well acquainted with your personal experiences, but aware of how magickal experiences register differently for others. Learning what others experience and how you’ve experienced things can bring much to light for you.

When it comes to actual practice, many students of the magickal arts are solitary practitioners in some fashion. Ritual work often includes magical operations with others if in an order or lodge, yet they sometimes include doing the work at home. In internal power systems such as the work of Franz Bardon, you are mainly engaged with the inner domain rather than performing an outward formula of movements and words. Even amongst group ritual work, one’s development ultimately rests in their own hands. You can’t turn the keys over to someone, vacate the vehicle and expect someone to drive the long road all the way home for you. They must drive their own vehicle too. We can and should learn from others, but at the end of the day, when considering enlightenment or full capability, I think it’s safe to say at a certain level that “the buck stops with us.”

To be successful as a solitary practitioner, there’s a handful of traits I’ve seen be useful. One I advise cultivating is resourcefulness. When you come across new experiences or have questions, you may not have a teacher or peer(s) to query for feedback or to bounce ideas off of. Sometimes you need to find the answers yourself. When it comes to actual practice, you need to find your way through the nuances of the stages of magickal development. You might find a heat-of-the-moment situation where you need to think on your feet. In part it is also about developing your own pool of power to draw from. Sometimes the best juice comes from relying on all that is inherent within you and digging deep to find reservoirs, even if you are only gathering scraps to light a fire. Once kindled, it is yours. Don’t be afraid to go into the depths to find what you need.

You might have a community to tap into, but I advise also cultivating the ability to answer your own questions. Have the capability, even if just a passing ability, to seek out the tools you need on your own. Yes, break bread in the metaphorical dining hall, enjoying a feast and good cheer with others, but also have the skill set to go out and find game on your own should the occasion call for it. Be self-reliant.

This is not to negate the sacredness that can be found in a teacher-student relationship. I think this can be a sacred calling and provided you have a qualified instructor, entrusting your development to the guidance of another can be a worthwhile, special journey. Likewise for friendships forged with those on the path. However, like unassumingly slipping on a banana peel, if you lean too much on another and abandon your center, you are vulnerable to losing your own footing and crown. Don’t give your power away and cultivate a healthy dynamic. I would put heavy emphasis on the student regulating themselves in this regard. Remember that one objective is to cultivate and hone your self sovereignty. To seriously study and practice magick requires some maturity and cultivation. The divine is present in you (even if simply more dormant) just as it is in another. The degree of difference is about experience, acquired cultivation and activation. Some may be content sitting at the feet of their master the remainder of their life. That’s okay, but remember you can be a master too. Give yourself that chance or at least know it’s possible. When you do work with a teacher, respect & honor their time, experience and decision to invest in you.

The magickal thread that’s absolutely required for you to gain experience and ability is discipline. You have to just do the work. I have several considerations on this point. First, thankfully I had early experience in martial arts where discipline came with the territory. I had to put in the work, have abilities tested, and exposure to a culture that encouraged round-the-clock training. That provided tangible experience in what it means to go full force into something. The memory is priceless. With magickal experiences built by seated exercises, however, such as the works of Franz Bardon, I found myself hitting a wall. I would sit and try the exercises, but didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere. This is where the crucial turning point can be for students and where many give up. So, I resolved to sit every day anyway and do the exercises. I would not let the initial failings be reason to quit and still showed up for the practice. This is where the magick started to happen. In the first 5-15 minutes of an exercises sometimes I might not get anywhere, but after each repetition it gradually shifts. With each day I sat to do the exercise again and again, I began to pierce into its substance.

I like to call this working through the outer crust to get to the pudding. From a metaphysical perspective, I see this as having to move your attention, focus and energies gradually from how they operate in the outside world towards the essence of the exercise. That can take a little tuning, and like building new neural pathways in the brain, it usually takes effort to establish that flow. We aren’t in a society that has adopted going within as a taught mode of being. Just as we weren’t taught to walk on all 4 but we could, there are some things outside of our cultural norm that we have to cultivate independently. Sometimes these are foreign to how we’re used to being, but there’s potential if you stick with it.

When it came to first figuring out magickal discipline, in addition to my memory of martial arts, I summoned Muslims and Buddhists into my mind. Muslims pray for hours a day. I know Buddhists who chant for hours each morning and night or get up at 3 am to start meditating. These individuals do it for their religion. They are dedicated. Am I not as devoted to the cause and reason I have set out for myself? If they can manage to put in the time, so can I.

Discipline also ties into rhythm and habit. Some practitioners practice for the same allotted time at the same hour every day. Everyone sets their own schedule. Some prefer the mornings and others prefer late into the evening. Your home environment can be a determining factor, such as if you have kid(s), a spouse or parent(s) living with you. Just be sure to install frequent practice into your lifestyle. I find on the weekends, when it is the hour I normally would stop training to shift to weekday work, my energy is already used to stopping, so I have to override it if I want to continue. Very early mornings can provide clean energy without everyone’s awake consciousness and intents filling the atmosphere. I’m usually not keen on 2 am – 3:30 am work because it is too quiet. As the “witching hour” where I’ve experienced strange phenomena, I’ve found there’s more exposure for things to be curious and bug you if you’re generating a lot of energy, but everyone has their preference.

Through revolving environments and lifestyles, I’ve found my own discipline shifts, and each individual has to hold themselves accountable to the time they put in. Sometimes life is full force drinking from a fire hose, and other times it’s like a tropical paradise. I recently trained 5 hours one day (which is normal for some) and usually do 1-3 hours. Due to internal or external factors (be it associated with magick or not), some days I might do the bare minimum, like write in my dream journal, do silent meditation for 30 minutes and reflect upon the current state of affairs. This is just my approach that may not be part of your rhythm, but it leads me to the next useful traits I find worthwhile for solitary practitioners. The ability to reflect, aka evaluate and recalibrate your development.

As a solitary magician, especially in systems that have to do with inner transformation, alchemy or refinement, you are both the marble and artist forging the sculpture. You are directing how things are being crafted, yet also embodying the result of that work. I personally find the need to step back now and then to look at what is transpiring. How is the work going? How would I evaluate what I’ve been doing? Would I give myself an A or a C for this magick project I did? Have I been so lasered in on something that I missed the bigger picture? Am I caught up in my own bulls***t? What would I tweak here? Is this passable? Should I move on?

Evaluating your work and progress, and recalibrating as needed to fit any expectations or standards you’ve set out for yourself, seems critical when your magickal journey takes you across several layers of maturity and experience. We may find that aspects of ourselves that applied at one level have since transformed thanks to the work you put in. Hence, that is now an outdated modality. Allow your updated inner programs the space and time to fully upload and integrate.

In Initiation into Hermetics, Franz Bardon says that (magickal) development is subject to the law of karma, but after mentioning that we all know that good deeds result in positive outcomes and harmful deeds carry their respective consequences. Similarly, putting sincere time, dedication and energy into magickal development yields corresponding results. We can smirk at knowing what doors open depend on what we are showing up as and bringing to the table. To be able to appreciate and integrate that at the various levels of your development, we can see the value in frequent self-evaluation and recalibration.