I have mentioned this before but this is what I do practising imagination.
When at work I imagine a small black fairy (as in a 'fairy story' in one of the Mags) standing on the kitchen table at home, sometimes next to an egg cup. When I first did this I found it had quite an effect on my vision but it depended on what background i was resting my eyes on as to how easy or successful this was. So, the first time I tried this at work I noticed that right outside my window is a nice blank piece of pale yellow wall, on a hotel. But when I went to imagine the black fairy there was a strange pulling sensation on the surface of my eyes and shortly afterwards a sign emerged from the 'blank' wall with teh name of the hotel written in subdued, pastel colours. This is what I now practise on daily, a good long session in the morningn and brief top-ups at regular intervals.
When I am at home I imagine the fairy standing on my desk at work.
Now the imagination of the fairy is close to memory really, except it's not a real memory as I have never actually seen a fairy. In fact, I had to construct a fairy in my imagination, all dressed in black, very small, about egg-cup size or a little bigger, very pretty in a dark kind of way when her face is pale but perfectly black when in 'black mode'. She has no wings - I found it too hard to see her with them, couldn't imagine them well - they were kind of lacy, or angel-y, so I just dropped the concept. She looks a bit like Diana Rigg from the Avengers. There is also a white fairy (same Bates mag. story) who has gold braid on her clothes when seen in close-up, and she too is wingless. Both have wands (of course).
It is hard to see either of the fairies. When I try to see the black fairy the sign starts to clear up and I keep find myself distracted by th bakground of what I am looking at.
contd. This is what I meant by looking at a burning bush sometimes. If I am feeling very relaxed it's easier to see the fairy (no surprise there). But even so I only see her in snatches and have to keep returning to the kitchen table and th fairy from the sign on the wall. Sometimes it feels impossible to see the fairy and all you see is the blur of the sign. So the really important thing to remember is that you are not conjuring up this imagined vision out of nowhere, but that the fairy is actually there on my kitchen table right now and I am pretending that I am looking at her. The fact of the matter is that if you look at her even half right for a second or three the sign clears up. It has happened, and happens often, that I am so obsessed with and committed to seeing this fairy that the sign clears up perfectly and it annoys me because I want to look at the fairy and this bl**dy sign keeps distracting me.
My eyes invariably water when I see the fairy with any clarity. It can take 20 mins to see the sign, or half a second (rarely). This only happens when you see the fairy first: no fairy - no sign.
People have no idea I do this, which is probably just as well.
The fairy has a wand (as I said) and this is very useful because so often, although I have seen her so often in the past, I can't see her, or the kitchen table but am just locked onto the wall in front of me. She then obligingly switches on a blinking light on the end of the wand and I can glimpse this, and then I can see her, perhaps for a split second, then again, and again, and the sign clears up.
I know for a fact that if I can imagine the fairy, even if only partially and for a second or two, that the sign will clear up. The sign doesn't always clear up because I don't always manage to do this, in fact often i can't do this. And then I have to ask myself why I allow myself to not do this and I then insist on doing this, which is not always that easy but nearly always has results.
When I see the fairy I go over some affirmations. This is killing 2 birds with 1 stone and I'm not sure it's the best approach. But I do it because it seems right.
I am loathe to miss an appointment, albeit for 10 secs, with the fairy at any time during the day and like to do a 'top up' imagination session of a few secs every half hour. If I'm really feeling enterprising I will also keep the feeling going by imagining a black dot. It's hard to keep this up (resistance etc as above). Anyway, I am moving towards the idea of focussing on a point for the intervening periods as that seems to work just as well, albeit in a slighly different (better I think) way. But both methods work.
The fairies can talk! And tney can be very encouraging. For some reason they both have Spanish accents. They are not my fairies but Bates' fairies and I am given to understand that they can talk in whatever damn way they feel like talking.
I don't often choose to see the white fairy, but it's really just habit. I don't think the colour matters.
I think the reason my vision improves is because by looking at the fairy you have to let go of the background (hotel sign on wall) and this is uncomfortable. Sometimes it can be really really hard. The odd thing is that as it becomes easier to see the fairy it becomes easier to see the sign. This is a bit of a paradox because this is also the hardest bit. I have only rarely seen the sign clearly without experiencing considerable discomfort beforehand.
I have a good idea that a lot of the discomfort is some subconscious fear or resistance. On the other hand it might just be a matter of using a clumsy technique.
The purpose of this post, written at speed here, is not to say how this should be done. It might be of use to some people who are unaware of just how gobsmackingly amazing this phenomenon actually is. I welcome any suggestion for improvement or refinement.
The white fairy speaks exactly the same as the good looking Mexican woman who owns the hotel in High Noon. You know: "You are not a men like the Marshall. He is a real men." (Just thought I'd let you know )
You don't need good imagination to practise this. In fact if your imagination is, or seems to be poor, then this is possibly something worth trying.
Well, if Bates said it, then is Bates Method related...
I hope you don't actually say you are seeing fairies to other who don't know people...
Yes, imagination can become a memory.
Just look at Clinical Lycanthropy cases as well other mental conditions.
Ever heard about spies cheating the truth-test? They use similar methods.
I just wanted to give my feedback on one point mentioned: about how discomfort is felt when you can see clearly. I too have experienced this, although I don't imagine fairies on my table when this happens. Sometimes, I'm looking at a Snellen eyechart and I do a sort of short swing from one end to the other repeatedly, often crossing and uncrossing the eyes in the process. I have noticed that I can see the letters best when I feel uncomfortable. I have two different and conflicting interpretations for this:
1. The discomfort is the resistance to change. I really wish this was the reason, but somehow, I think the next reason is more likely.
2. It is in fact BAD for my eyes, but it provides a temporary interval of better vision, like the kind that can be gotten through squinting, putting pressure on the eyes and then opening them, etc. This is why I stopped that exercise.
I'm not sure at all if this is the reason for the discomfort, but I'm taking no chances. I figure that discomfort is my brain's way of saying that something isn't right. If someone out there could prove or disprove what I have just written, it would be great, but until then, I have many other ways to try to improve my vision without the discomfort.
sean, I don't understand the nature of this "discomfort" that you feel, but I think that you should be careful. It may or may not be good, but ultimately, it's your decision as to whether or not you should allow this discomfort to continue.
That's awesome stuff! Keep doing what you are doing! You gave me a good laugh, too, because I thought of how it would sound to an outsider! And yes, because I am experimenting with similarly insane-sounding stuff, too! (I am not as advanced with my imagination, though as you are...) I think you are totally getting the Bates Method!!!! The more you can do it the better, eventually the mind will get it, too and your vision will be better longer and longer...
So here is an email conversation I had with my husband after I have copied him sean's imagination tale. I wanted to shock him with some aspects of the Method, but again, I failed. Proves to me that at least one person with perfect vision has no trouble doing it, in fact, he is not even surprised by sean's practice as it seems so natural to him!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Husband:
well, what do you expect? anything specific?
it seems ok to do, i sometimes see thing i imagine with open eyes.
as soon as i read the black fairy, i saw it with my eyes within half a second. while i was looking at the screen. i kept seeing her while i read the article.
if i look at a darker backround i can see the white , but the balck one i see much better.
mine is dancing and has wings. yuo only see one from the side. and she arches her back and has a trumpet or clarinet, not sure, maybe a flute.
i will have to investigate that.
Me:
Thanks Honey!
That's awesome, you surprised me again, I thought I would give you a glimpse of how "mad" the Bates Method is, but the fact that you got it... I would like to post your reply to iblindness forum (which is where this quote came from), if you give me permission, to show the people there the reaction of a person with eagle eyes, such as yours!!
Husband:
yeah, no probs....
btw she is blacker than black. can't see the features well she is so dark. almost like a black hole.
oh yeah, and its a magic flute :-)
Yes, but wasn't the key according to Bates that what you see shall be some sort of a reality shadow of what you imagine. In your exercise you just imagine and there is no reality shadow to be seen, Sean, since there is no such reality that you imagine. I guess this exercise is something temporary to you in order just to improve your imagination, but then Sean I think you should close your eyes, because else you risk ending up with strain in your mind instead, because your mind can get confused as it cannot distinguish between reality and imagination, and in such a case the mind ends up with strain. In average a schizofrenic person lives 12 years shorter than a normal person, so I guess this is causing strain to you if you don't close your eyes when you imagine. But if you notice improvement, so why not go for it anyway. Maybe it is ok to imagine this like you do in a controlled manner if you just look at the details, because it actually is quite effortless if you just look for details, I understand how you think I guess and that something positive for your eyes might come out of this anyway. But I will close my eyes when I imagine something.
Hey JC, Oh man of little faith, the Black Fairy will be cross with you!
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All right, I know it's allegorical but I can be so literal minded when I want. It took a while to find the story 'cos the mags are FULL of fairy stories. That man was obsessed with them! LOL!
@ others
Thanks very much for the comments folks.
I know the post must look strange but as you can see from the times on them I was in hurry (dinner). Kinda stream of consciousness stuff, but I'm no James Joyce! Anyway, I was writing from a part of me, as it were, which was a little bit more independent of the usual conscious editorial functions. I get the impression that Dave does that sometimes to focus his thoughts, but could be wrong. (I'm no Dave either)
I had wondered beforehand if I should give you this, but I think I'd promised someone here I'd do it. As I said a good while back, it would be really useful to find out what people do EXACTLY. And then I thought: Hey, I haven't been exactly forthcoming myself. Then I wondered why I hadn't done this and the following reasons suggested themselves:
- don't want to lead people astray if it's wrong
- don't want to be told by others that I've been wasting my time on this
- don't want to say anything embarrassing
As I said before I'd been experiencing some kind of 'resistance' of late, in particular following Dave's notes on looking at a point. My mind said: Great, this will work. I think an unconscious part of me took this badly, for the same reason. I dunno, only gueesing. When I posted last week about a feeling in the pit of the stomach it was this I was talking about. I had just done a 'good' imagination session where I had insisted on seeing the fairy and
contd I got a strong feeling that was telling me: F**k Off! This Will Not Work. Sorry for the coarse language. Anyway that made me to tell it straight. I'd thought: will I mention the fairy talking? Then: will I tell them about the affirmations? That's the weak part I think - but I don't like to leave out regular affirmations (Martin Brofman).
The talking fairy bit is important (rather Frank Zappa-esque don't you think?) because it's easy to half do these things, say: right that's done, but you haven't really brought up the image. You're only kidding yourself. The black fairy tells you to shut the hell up because your mind goes into overdrive and won't stop chattering, right?
I forgot to mention stand in front of the mirror and do the imagination there. It could be anything of course. When I'm in church I imagine from time to time a black crucifix. I'm outside in some grotto or other. Look at yourself in the mirror and do the imagination and feel the tugging on the eyeballs, it can be unreal. Sorry I'm rushing again - dinner time.
I feel at the moment that, to use Dave's words, my mind is messing things up and it's hard to visualize, but that's ok, it's come later or I can go onto something else. I was just trying to show how real and concrete these things are that Bates talks about. When I first came to this site, having read the wiki article (planting the seeds of doubt), I was looking for examples of progress and it was ages till I got my first clear flash. Someone (Silvergoose) had talked about seeing a subway sign clear up and I thought: how did she do that. I'm just throwing this out there as something.
contd. The other main reason was that in the looking at a point thread Dave says that there is imagination involved (Bates looking at the cave picture) so I thought, I'll show that THIS is how I imagine things.
There's other stuff. Where do you imagine it, front or back of your head etc? Does it matter? I tried to get to the point of imagining a tiny black point ('fairy') wherever I was looking but this never took off as I was sticking to the usual routine. Time to move on now i think. I think it could be a case of you can imagine whatever you want in no matter what situation if you only can let yourself believe you can do it and, maybe?, insist on it.
Pikachu: good comment, though I think your idea of discomfort is different to mine. Mine I think is like the fellow in his book (imagination or memory chapter) who becomes agitated when the vision clears up while he's looking at the imagined image. Bates says something like: the patient is on the horns of a dilemma at this point.
I must check this out and was hoping that the feedback might spark a discussion whereby we could refine our ideas. Somehow to me the book reads like a big fairy tale with miracle cures: that was then, this is now. It won't work now, we're different. That kind of stuff. Look, it either works or it doesnt'. Dave said here once that only about 1 in 50 can perservere with this to a successful outcome. I won't accept that and it grieves me when people give up after a while and retire gracefully from view, AND WE DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING WRONG SO IT COULD HAVE BEEN FIXED. Sorry for shouting.
Andrea: Thanks for your feedback, that is most interesting.
Hammer: Your first two lines (you should see some sort of a reality shadow) is what I was always thinking. I'm going to do what Dave did and ask where you got this from. Your post makes a lot of sense and is the way I'd been thinking about things. I'd meant to progress to that but got stuck in the routine. Now why did I do that I wonder? There have been times where, as I said, I got good imagination going and kept it going with a black dot, and returned to the fairy at regular intervals (well I do that anyway) to give a 'booster' and build up momentum and a couple of times you'd be thinking you were on your way...
Hammer, I think I read somewhere where Bates talks about imagining with open eyes. I find that I can't imagine much through palming. But then again I have never palmed regularly or consistently. Spot the pattern.
I'd be grateful if anyone can actually try this. Doesn't have to be fairy. I think it's central to Bates, he wrote a longish article about it where he stresses its importance. It's something I never thought i'd do and I'm still amazed at some level that it actually works. Well, if anyone can try it and see if it or something similar works for them please post.
I'm going to put my main energy now into the imagining a point. Looks like our Dave has let us wander through all this Bates Arcania (is that a word?) only to return and say: stop all of that, now just look at the detail, and look hard! But I think I know what he means.
@sean: That's good. Just make sure it's only slight discomfort and not pain. I know where you're coming from since I have a sort of discomfort after doing certain exercises, but I know for example, that when I'm reading a book and I get this uncomfortable feeling in my eye, it's because I'm doing something wrong.
All I can say is that there's no way I can do this fairy imagination thingy. I'll admit that it sounds kind of cool because it can clear up vision a bit, but I'm just not a very imaginative person to begin with.
In fact, I had to construct a fairy in my imagination, all dressed in black, very small, about egg-cup size or a little bigger, very pretty in a dark kind of way when her face is pale but perfectly black when in 'black mode'. She has no wings - I found it too hard to see her with them, couldn't imagine them well - they were kind of lacy, or angel-y, so I just dropped the concept. She looks a bit like Diana Rigg from the Avengers. There is also a white fairy (same Bates mag. story) who has gold braid on her clothes when seen in close-up, and she too is wingless. Both have wands (of course). 
