enchantingmoonshark:

Magick for the Blind and Aphantasic

Aphantasia:

When an individual is unable to produce mental images.

Aphantasics conceive of ideas, stories, and other thoughts in a non- or sub-visual way.

When the average person is told to imagine a chair, they “see” a chair in their mind’s eye. Also known as visualization.

Aphantasics are incapable of doing this.

This is not a disorder, merely a variation in cognition. It also exists on a spectrum.

Blindness:

Those who have been blind from birth typically do not perceive of their world in a visual way.

There is at least one notable exception.

Because of this, most people who have been blind their whole lives are also incapable of visualizing.

Magick and meditation often reference visualizations as a starting point. Therein lies the problem.

As someone who is rather close to the aphantasic end of the cognition spectrum, this has been quite frustrating and significantly impeded my own spiritual growth.

But I believe my fellow aphantasic magick practitioners along with blind magick practitioners can still do powerful things even without the power of visualization.

Here is what I’ve learned so far:

• Throw out the word visualization. Throw it out forever. If you’re like me, it’s not for you.
• Substitute your own cognitive process. In my case, I have a strong sense of spatial/mechanical thought. Do what works for you.
• Trust your intuition. You know what you need to do. Just relax.
• Accept your gift. You can conceive of the world in a way many people can’t. Your magick is so so So important. Because you’ll catch what others might miss.

I hope this is helpful for someone out there. I know I can’t be the only borderline aphantasic witch.