Thought forms exist on the "astral" level of our reality, and we access them through our lucid dreams, meditation/visualization journeys, and subconscious processes. They are real entities that are like golems made of astral stuff, and they are the cake pans or gelatin molds that our lives are cast into while they develop.
What else have you heard about thought forms?
Where do they come from / Where do they dwell?
Thought forms are ideas and mind beings, they live in the astral and in our subconscious minds. They can be created by an individual, by a group mind, by a culture, or by natural processes.
Can we construct our own?
Yes. If you enter a meditative state, or magical mindset, you can access the astral plane and create a thought form from scratch.
Imagine if you wanted to redecorate your home, and you wanted to start by painting the walls. A counsellor once explained to me that as a sleep aid, she would go through the process from start to finish of painting the walls of her dream home. First she would imagine herself walking into the hardware or paint store, and begin choosing paint chips. What colours drew her attention? what were those colours named on the cards? Once selected, she would imagine herself walking to the counter and asking the clerk to mix the paint and shake the can. She would take a mixing stick and select brushes and rollers and tape and a drop cloth and so on. All the way through to cleaning up the paint droplets at the end of the process and taking the trash out. Of course, before she was done, often she would fall asleep.
But this is the exact process for creating a thought form, except you stay awake enough to finish your creation, because you are in a meditative state, not a sleep state. First you decide what to make the thought form out of. Is it a humanoid? An android? an animate object? Imagine yourself gathering the materials and then stitching it's fabric together or forming it from polymer clay, and so on. Don't forget to name your thought form.
What can they do? What is their purpose?
A thought form is a way to manifest intentions. Much like a poppet you might create in waking reality, a thought form is the container for your new patterns of behaviour and the new shape for your environment. A thought form can also be a guardian spirit or guide. In some of my studies, I stumbled on Ascend Academy's "Way of the Sentinel" path. In it, there is a section on creating an astral ally. As astral allies, thought forms can be called on to protect you or alert your intuition, or even act as messengers who potentially send signs, visions, or thoughts to other folks or conveying messages to you from other spirit beings or practitioners.
Whatever you envision your thought form doing, it can help you accomplish that. It is even possible to create your ideal self as a thought form, and then step into that new life.
What is the best way to interact with them?
Though thought forms are not always positive, it is good to treat them like self-sovereign beings, always being respectful and treating them with dignity. Though they may be your helpers, they are not your slaves or minions. Ask them questions, offer them something in return for their assistance, and reinforce them repeatedly by returning again and again to the astral to visit and spend time with them. If ignored for a long time, a thought form may wander off and become something other than what you had imagined. In my studies of thought forms in A Witches Bible by the Farrar's, I seem to remember reading that a thought form may even be seen in visions by people who were not intended to encounter the being on this plane.
What would the dangers or cautions be?
Sometimes thought forms are dangerous because we have created them by accident or with our hurt and harmful thoughts. If we focus too much on what could go wrong, or what we don't want to happen, thought forms can arise. If we have dependencies, addictions, negative behaviour patterns, mental health struggles, codependent relationships, and so on, we are also creating thought form energies when we reinforce these life processes. Our personal "Demons" are probably thought forms based in traumas of the past.
Once you see that the ways in which you behave that don't serve you are probably just following the scripted program of the thought form that is related to those issues, you can change the story.
How do we maintain thought forms?
We need to construct, re-construct, visit, re-visit, and build relationship and communication with thought forms to keep them going in a healthy way that serves us and is of mutual benefit to the spirit beings we have created. Like humans having children, it is important to nurture the good in these thought forms.
How do we bring a thought form to a conclusion? Is it possible to "deconstruct" one or transform one?
Yes, it is possible to dissolve a thought form, but there are two other things to consider. One is setting it free from service to you. Another is transforming it to serve another purpose and to grow with you. If you need to dissolve a thought form that is no longer needed, remember that it has had it's own experiences and interactions in the astral while not interacting with you. It has it's own life, and own story. Though it may feel like just a part of your imagination, thought forms created in the astral are real. If you want to dissolve or deconstruct one, be sure to let it know what is happening, so it can consent to the process. If you don't get it's permission, you may want to consider re-constructing or transforming it, or just allowing it to go on without you, to find someone more appropriate to support, for example.
To transform a thought form, it is back to basics, and basically a psychic surgery is performed, perhaps removing negative patterns or subconscious coping mechanisms and unhelpful strategies and harmful programs. These would then be replaced by beneficial, helpful, and pleasing parts and functions. Like repairing a radio or gluing a knick-knack back together, in a way, but also like healing a sick or injured friend. It is not to be done lightly, and again, asking for consent is appropriate.
The thought form, if it is experienced enough or has been given gifts of insight and intuition, may even have better ideas that it can give you before you make the changes. Most of all, remember that the thought form is a part of you. Don't rush into killing off a part of you that may just be essential to your being. You may have to get someone to help you regress and do a soul piece retrieval ceremony, or something similar, to recover from it, if you do.
What are your experiences with thought forms or things that you didn't realize before, but might just be thought forms?
If you wish to talk about this or other related matters, about the astral plane, poppets, spirit allies, and more, don't hesitate to connect with me.
♥ Jacki