My magical education is based on the practical aspects of the eastern chakral system. On my own, I study and meditate on the Kabbalistic tree of life, and use both the Eastern Chakral system and the Western Kabbalist system as foundations from which the higher principles are built. I also practice the tarot as a direct application of the western system. I have been meditating and practicing consistently since May 2015.
I was novitiated in a pranic healing school in Singapore. The basic skills I've been trained in under close supervision are lower clairsentience - used especially for scanning the etheric body and chakras of patients, the applications of raising and channeling energy in healing, and the use of visualizations in distance healing.
I often feel that the school I first learnt magick from to be extremely suspicious of me. I learnt and applied many of the "higher" teachings on my own through sheer instinct and the acquisition of knowledge without spending huge amounts of money on their courses, drawing the ire of many of the senior students. I have a working understanding of the use of colors in spellwork, I practice my crystal programming on ordinary household salt on an everyday basis, and I have a decent understanding of the use of shields in self-defense. I'm also able to draw on magick to help with everyday tasks like staying awake in class.
In secular life, I'm an accountancy student. Academic studies have usually come more easily for me, and my main challenge in life is usually being a misfit. I am a top student and have always been one whenever I can pull through in spite of the social difficulties. Even in occultism, I find the massing of knowledge to be natural for me, and I stick out like a sore thumb when I am with other eastern practitioners, many of whom learn their craft by dogma and rote. The fact that I cross the magical traditions of the east and west does not help things with them.
I grew up Christian. While I told no one that I am practicing magick, my mentioning that I was even willing to consider other teachings was enough to make all of my oldest (christian) friends abandon me. - I'm a heretic now.
I guess I've sought out the wiccan community because I want asylum and a community that I can work and serve with. I am in between worlds, haven't having fully cast of the shackles of exoteric religion, nor have I found a permanent place I can call home. I intend to seek a reputable order to undergo full initiation later on in life. For now, I am confident that I can serve well with any group I work with. My raw strength is considerable, and though I have studied only the lower mysteries of the outer-courts, I have learnt them well.
Magick is probably something I have done across countless lifetimes. A little kickstart in this life was all I needed to get going. I don't actually need to pay tons of money for people to show me how to do things... Many of us aren't really learning when we practice the magical arts - we are remembering.
Your story sounds similar to mine, except I've not had any personal training.
If my elderly mother found out I am Wiccan, she might have a heart attack. She already shuns me because I don't want to be a Jehovah's Witness, like her.
