How did you face your demons?

[In Flux]

Dear all, I've read several times about 'people facing their demons'. I never really grasped the meaning of that, but now it seems to become clear. I want to describe a dream I just had, but most of all, I wanted to ask you what 'facing your demons' meant to you, how you did it, and whether you had a certain strategy for it.

In my dream, if felt like I was building up towards facing my demons. It had a lot of silly plot lines that I think are not that interesting, and the first demon that appeared was in some kind of game I was playing. The demon was able to fly, and all it did was ask silly questions, but there was somehow a very dark presence or motivation behind those questions. I felt like it was capable of the worst, it had no inner drive to do good things (it was like it did not see any reason for goodness). I was really disgusted by it, and afraid, but at the same time, I realized that this demon was somehow a part of me.

When I just out-right rejected the existence of this demon (did not wish to deal with it), the dream changed and I dreamt about some kind of border patrol check (this seems to have a clear interpretation as 'checking what may come in or out'). This border patrol was supposed to check a party that included the 'president' (I vaguely imagined Trump), and also some people in his following. When thinking of his following, I imagined several (about 8) demons, who I 'saw' as deeply black and very ugly beings. They also felt to me as being really powerful. Again I realized that they represented parts of me, and I did not want to deal with them because I imagined that this interaction would be a hellish ordeal.

Already in the dream, I recognized that facing these demons is necessary. It feels like they are parts of me that need to be cleaned up. It's like we're living in the same house, and we're associating but I'm keeping it a big secret, and when I come accross them, I just avoid them in any way possible. At the same time, they *are* a part of me, and this is just unacceptable to me, I don't want anything like them to be a part of me. I see them as stains that need to be removed. I also know that they can be battled by facing them openly, daring to look at them (this is what people have described before as what it means to face your demons, I think I get it now, and I understand why it's a big deal).

You could try to remove the stain without facing it, but I have the impression that this would be much harder, because you can easily trick yourself into believing that the stain is not that bad (and so you avoid all the work and sabotage your own efforts). The dream is a special occasion where I relax my daily censor/filter and have a change to see that the demons are there in the first place.

But now the really important question: how do you face your demon? Do you try to mentally protect yourself by imagining some kind of shield, do you invoke love in some way, do you try to maintain some degree of separation from the demon while you look at it, or do you look at it without any effort to protect yourself? What happened when you did? I would prefer answers coming from personal experience (I don't really believe in theoretical answers at this point), but any input is welcome.

[Starman]

What I have learned is that my demons are angels in disguise, like Lucifer the fallen angel,
in facing my demons they are transformed from “fallen angels” into good angels that can lift
me up and make me lighter.

Our demons are as much our teachers as our good angels, and for me, facing them means
not running from them or hiding from them. Facing them means trying to understand why
they are there in the first place.

Did they come from some indulgence of mine, or maybe they are there because of some mental
or emotional thing that I am holding on to. Maybe it is the way that I have conditioned myself, etc.
What helps me uncover these answers is writing down my thoughts and feelings; what some people
call “journaling.”.

A big help was doing my autobiography; it took a few months but I wrote down my life history from
my perspective, the joys and hurts, and understanding that it was from my perspective gave me
some insight into how I view my journey. There lye the creation of my angels and demons.

Within my own view of my journey were attitudes and emotional hurts which created demons
that I uncovered. Once I uncovered the demons, I could transform them with my attitude and
maybe even use them for further personal growth and development. The saying is that if you
change your attitude you can change your world.

For me it is a learning process, and the subject, or topic, is your Self. We become introspective
about our spiritual experiences but most do not become introspective about their own thoughts
and feelings which they may have held for a long time.

The Tibetan Book of the Dead says; “The mind is free to create its own angels and its own demons.”
Nothing can enter us unless we invite it in, and spiritual development requires mental and emotional
work on ourselves as well. The process of personal change has to be done on many levels, as we exist
on many levels, and spirituality can help us with that change because it is at our core.

Of course, all that I have said here is but my opinion and how I approached my demons.
Others might have taken a different approach that was successful for them. We each have to
find what works for us. We each have our own unique individual puzzle to unravel.
Spiritual work speeds up that unraveling process.

[In Flux]

Thanks Starman for sharing your thoughts and experiences. I could certainly try journaling, it will give it some serious thought (like you said, in terms of time, it's very doable, and who knows what useful results may come out of it). When I became aware of the demons, it did not appear to me as though they have a personality, it was more like they were an embodiment of darkness and evil nature. But then again, I basically know nothing about them, so I can't really say what they are like.

[Starman]

A little exercise one can do is write down the top three (3) things that have influenced their life the most.
Some might list their family, or their religion, a particular person, a financial windfall, or an occupation, etc.

Just take a look at your life an honesty say what have been the biggest influences in my life,
but only list three (3), because it is the biggest influences in our life which has most molded
and shaped us, conditioned us, to be the character we are today.

That character is acting out a role, a role that comes with the conditioning left from those major influences.
No need to diagnose it or put a label on it. No need to intellectualize it. But each of us carries shadow and
light that is germane to our character. The trick is to minimize the shadow.

Peace and Good Journey

P.S. There are some occult ways to rid your self of demons, or at least protect your self from demons.
One is simply making the sign of a 5-pointed star with your hand, starting in the lower left corner.
Burning sage may also help. You can research other ways online.

[In Flux]

I think that could be useful, but I don't see the connection to demons. For me, my demon appeared like a natural born killer, not like an old habit. I think I can already say that the forces that have shaped me most were 1) romantic/sexual attraction, 2) recognition of the law of karma 3) recognition of the beauty in virtue/justice/goodness (and a desire to experience these qualities). I don't think my demons came out of these shaping forces, but rather I feel they came from not really clarifying or addressing the darker thoughts and motives I'm also carrying around (the connection could of course be that because of wanting the 'light' qualities, I'm supressing the 'dark' qualities that are also there). But I'm not really sure about any of this (it's just a theory).

[John32241]

Originally Posted by In Flux

Dear all, I've read several times about 'people facing their demons'. I never really grasped the meaning of that, but now it seems to become clear. I want to describe a dream I just had, but most of all, I wanted to ask you what 'facing your demons' meant to you, how you did it, and whether you had a certain strategy for it.

In my dream, if felt like I was building up towards facing my demons. It had a lot of silly plot lines that I think are not that interesting, and the first demon that appeared was in some kind of game I was playing. The demon was able to fly, and all it did was ask silly questions, but there was somehow a very dark presence or motivation behind those questions. I felt like it was capable of the worst, it had no inner drive to do good things (it was like it did not see any reason for goodness). I was really disgusted by it, and afraid, but at the same time, I realized that this demon was somehow a part of me.

When I just out-right rejected the existence of this demon (did not wish to deal with it), the dream changed and I dreamt about some kind of border patrol check (this seems to have a clear interpretation as 'checking what may come in or out'). This border patrol was supposed to check a party that included the 'president' (I vaguely imagined Trump), and also some people in his following. When thinking of his following, I imagined several (about 8) demons, who I 'saw' as deeply black and very ugly beings. They also felt to me as being really powerful. Again I realized that they represented parts of me, and I did not want to deal with them because I imagined that this interaction would be a hellish ordeal.

Already in the dream, I recognized that facing these demons is necessary. It feels like they are parts of me that need to be cleaned up. It's like we're living in the same house, and we're associating but I'm keeping it a big secret, and when I come accross them, I just avoid them in any way possible. At the same time, they *are* a part of me, and this is just unacceptable to me, I don't want anything like them to be a part of me. I see them as stains that need to be removed. I also know that they can be battled by facing them openly, daring to look at them (this is what people have described before as what it means to face your demons, I think I get it now, and I understand why it's a big deal).

I think you have come to a good conclusion about demons being a part of us. However the way that I deal with them is very different than most people. I choose to see these aspects of self as a child wanting attention. I do not see them as blemished or a stain as you describe. I see them instead as ignorant, uninformed, and in need of nurturing. The term 'embrace the darkness' comes to mind. For that is intuitively what I sense they require.

You could try to remove the stain without facing it, but I have the impression that this would be much harder, because you can easily trick yourself into believing that the stain is not that bad (and so you avoid all the work and sabotage your own efforts). The dream is a special occasion where I relax my daily censor/filter and have a change to see that the demons are there in the first place.

But now the really important question: how do you face your demon? Do you try to mentally protect yourself by imagining some kind of shield, do you invoke love in some way, do you try to maintain some degree of separation from the demon while you look at it, or do you look at it without any effort to protect yourself? What happened when you did? I would prefer answers coming from personal experience (I don't really believe in theoretical answers at this point), but any input is welcome.

I have a very real experience with a specific demon, my self pity aspect of self. That encoubter is part of a long story however I suspect you can relate to it.
http://www.telepathyacademy.net/foru...php?topic=10.0

This is the part which would be of interest to you.

As life goes on, it is now February 1998, there is a time line for things to happen. To have the experience of a human, the conscious self is never informed about upcoming events. But events are scheduled. You may not be as ready as you need to be and Divine intervention may be needed. Even here spirit needs your approval.

I had a dream one night I was in a park I wanted to leave. Both exits were blocked so I jumped over a fence. I was asked to give someone the bottle I had or I would have to stay in the park. So I gave up the bottle willingly. I had a drinking problem in the seventies. I understood later about the symbolism for this experience.

The next night/morning I arrived at my scheduled meeting with Marion's subconscious and was met with extreme resentment. My reaction was that this is different. My understanding was this is the conscious Marion person. I was completely on the defensive. She kept asking "what is your plan". I was completely overwhelmed. Later I would realise that the "I am an innocent bystander like yourself in all of this" part of me never came out. However I did manage to say that we are in a relationship. I said before earth was a cloud of dust and long after it will be a cloud of dust again, we will still be in a relationship. For whatever reason, this calmed her down. I was able to say, "We need to talk". She agreed I could come and talk with her again. We set a time and after one delay had a more pleasant discussion. That delay is a small story in itself.

On my way home from this discussion I met a dark energy. I tried to go around it, first on the left and then on the right. It stepped in front of me both times. I stepped back to get a better look at it. It just stood in front of me. I realised it meant me no harm, it just wanted to come with me. So I said ok and it followed me home.

It was a fasinating experience for me. I have had dreams were I felt an encountered entity did want to harm me and that is always frightening. This experience was not a dream but one of my meditative visualizations. I have good sensing skills. I am able to detect the intent if those I encounter.

Any way that is an experience I will not forget. I hope sharing it wityh you will be useful.

John

[Starman]

Everything is connected. Nothing in my life is isolated from anything else in my life,
but again, I am just speaking for myself, which is all any of us can do. Regardless whether
it is a habit or not, it is something that has found its way into your life, and the answer lye
in your very own unique process of becoming.

We are all becoming in our own unique way, and how we become is our journey. Its' really
not about "what" we become, because life is a process beyond identity. If we are fortunate
these things become clearer to us as we journey and grow; but understand, life is not what
you do rather life is what you are.

Solutions to life’s challenges are often more simple than the human mind can fathom and
frequently time must pass before we can clearly see into those challenges. For me, facing
my demons took time and processing what I had learned about my demons over time.

Certainly had experience. Quite early on, not without prompting, I realised a person can never be whole without being able to face their dark side. They’ll never be able to claim they have found their Self with any legitimacy. Where necessary, issues/encounters have to be resolved. For me, most of it was various shades of delusion. I think it is for most people so no shame in that. On waking up to “spirituality” they become aware of it and usually decide to act.

No need to go into my story aside from around my mid-teens I was introduced to pathworking, an approach to self-discovery/development and self-initiation drawn from the Qabalah, the Tree of Life and the 22 paths of wisdom. It didn’t make me a Qabalist but it did give me a formal path on which I could learn (and something I’ve stuck with as a very good model). It isn’t for everyone – needs some ability with astral projection, takes a lot of work up front and time.

On the paths one will face dark energies and they have to be dissipated – usually by a change in behaviour (through other “spiritual” techniques) or more directly with banishments or simply sending a bolt of +ve energy at them if they seem hostile, replacing them with something positive like for instance, prana. However, by being there, they’re pointing things out about one – in a way it’s fair to think of them as a symbolised reflection. The art is in being able to interpret the symbols and working out a way to deal with them.

However, "demons" aren't exclusive to pathworking. They can emerge during meditation, day-dreaming and on, when those uninvited thoughts slip in. The possibilities of dealing with them are pretty broad.

I’m no adept. I’m also no theorist. I’ve done this work over a long time. So I can say that it’s impossible to answer your questions directly. The answers depend on the current you follow, level of development, mental strength, how the dark thing manifests and the way you develop to deal with them. Each situation is different.

A final shot. “I’m sure they would remove my devils, but I fear they would offend my angels.” Rilke’s response to someone suggesting he was psychoanalysed. So – take care!

.

[Visitor]

Fear, regardless of how subtle, feeds 'what is evil'.
Paying attention to your demon feeds it.
Stop feeding them.

[Imzadi]

I have learned that what I once thought of as my demons are in fact the key to my Awakening. The demons were actually disowned aspects of myself that I kept buried in the dungeon of my unconscious mind all the while flagellating them, fighting them, resisting them, repressing them, neglecting them, and torturing them in a myriad of ways that reflected in my life as depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation.

Fortunately, I realized that I must bring the Light of Love and Awareness to them in order to free and heal those lost and forgotten aspects. I stood before them not in fear but in Divine Presence, Love, and Acceptance. Here's an example:

One of the demons I had was immense resentment, trauma, and fear because I had been significantly sexually and psychologically abused as a child. In order to protect myself from this trauma, I repressed the resentment and fear and this leads me into harmful behaviors such as drinking too much to numb myself and to run away from the demons. Of course all my attempts in the past to eradicate this addictive behavioral pattern was in vain because I was unable to face and acknowledge the fear, trauma, and resentment that I had demonized.

Finally, I was able to face my so called "demons" and enter the dungeon where they are locked and chained. I entered with Compassion, Presence, and Love as my guide to face the demon that dwells within. Instead of seeing a monster... I saw myself as a small child, neglected, wounded, scared, angry, and in immense pain. I offered a safe space for the inner child to tell their story, to rant, and to cry. I wrap the child in unconditional Love, Light, and Acceptance. As the child transformed by my Presence, the wounds began to heal. I took their hand and as we stepped outside of the dungeon we entered into the Light of Awareness in the Presence of the Divine.

The aspects within us that we disdain, disowned, and resist are the very aspects that needs the Light of Love and Awareness to embrace. Waking up and bringing Presence into the unconscious so that it can become Conscious is the heart of the Spiritual journey Home. We have the power to transform and heal the "demons" by our Love and Presence so that we can walk them into the Light.

Blessings, and safe travels.