Permission Slips and External Catalysts

Bashar introduces the concept of permission slips — external objects, rituals, or practices that allow you to access states of consciousness you already contain — explaining that the power was never in the object but always in the being using it.

I want to introduce you to a concept that I find very useful for understanding a wide range of human practices — from the use of crystals and talismans to religious rituals, from the taking of certain substances to the wearing of specific clothing — the concept of what I call the permission slip.

A permission slip is anything external — an object, a practice, a substance, a ritual, a place — that you use as a catalyst or a trigger to access a state of consciousness that you already contain within yourself. The key word is already. You do not need the external thing to have the state. You have the state. But your current belief system includes the belief that you need this specific external catalyst in order to access the state, and so — as always — the universe cooperates with your belief, and the external catalyst does indeed produce the effect you expect.

This explains many things. It explains why crystals work for some people and not others — the people for whom they work have given themselves permission, through their belief, to access the frequencies that those crystals represent. The crystal is not the source of the frequency. The crystal is the trigger that allows them to recognize and activate the frequency they already carry.

It explains why the same ritual can be profoundly transformative for one person and entirely inert for another. The ritual is not the magic. The belief that the ritual enables access to something real — combined with the genuine intention of the practitioner — is the magic. The ritual is the permission slip that says, 'Now it is allowed to happen.'

This is not to diminish the value of permission slips. They are extraordinarily useful, especially in the earlier stages of developing your conscious relationship with your own creative power. If a particular crystal helps you feel grounded, use it — gladly and gratefully. If a particular practice helps you access clarity, do it consistently. The fact that the power is ultimately within you does not make the permission slip less valuable as a tool.

But understand the direction of the relationship. The more you use a permission slip while simultaneously recognizing that the power is within you and not in the object, the more you will find that your dependence on the external catalyst naturally diminishes over time. You will begin to be able to access the state directly — without the intermediary — because you will have practiced the state enough, through the use of the permission slip, to recognize it as your own.