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Symbiosis, " a cooperative relationship (as between two persons or groups)." Merriam-Webster online dictionary

A symbiosis is also when a mind-controlling alien attaches itself to your spine and gives you INFINITE, COSMIC POWER while sapping your free-will. But that's not the type of symbiosis I'm going to discuss =)

I've learned a few things with my personal dealings with Hypnos. Firstly, he seems to assist more in a method of exchange. This is reflected in myth, as Hypnos did not usually make deals for free with the other gods; the end had to be worth the trouble he was getting into. "Oh, you want me to piss off Zeus? Let's talk price." Well shit, I see where he's coming from. If I had to piss off Zeus, the payout had better be worth it!

Hand-outs are not too common. I like to give an offering of incense, or a sleepy tea to begin working with him. He has given me good advice on several aspects in life, and how to handle various situations concerning sleep loss. Yep, sleep loss. That's how I ran into him in the first place.

The reason he doesn't give hand-outs left and right and solve everyone's insomnia problems and everything else like that is because the gods weren't put here to hold our hands, and he is no exception. He helps us, but in the end we have to solve our own problems and grow; not stay in the same rut of problems that cause sleep disorders.

Fortunately, Hypnos isn't a demanding, mean god. He's kind, patient, and understanding. He isn't exceptionally strict... he is very relaxed, and this allows a lot of freedom in doing things. When I begin working with him, I give an offering of incense and meditation to keep his attention. It's best to be removed from an uncomfortable, noisy area when honoring him. Of course, the best place to be is in the comfort of your own bedroom, but if you set up a shrine, that works too.

For incense, the best herbs to use are chamomile, lavender, and vervain. You can either buy these pre-made from specialty stores, or you can make your own. I will soon add project instructions on creating incense on the Crafty page.

Light the incense and take a few minutes to meditate. Open your heart to him, and you will honor him, and share the love. This is also a good precursor to asking for blessings, favors, and guidance. You don't have to get ornate robes, run around a room swinging around the censer and chanting in Latin... unless if you want to look like a fool, lol. With Hypnos, it doesn't matter if everything is "just so". The intent matters most, and it's the thought that counts.

Assisting others with their sleeping problems also honors Hypnos, and helps humanity. You don't have to cure someone's insomnia (though that certainly helps), but you can do little things such as making a relaxing sleepy tea for a friend, or giving out bottles of a home-made relaxing bath oil.

Correspondences
Time: Night
Flora: First and foremost, poppy flowers. Otherwise, soporific herbs, such chamomile, lavender, and vervain.
Colors: Black, silver, purple, gray, poppy red.
Rites: Sleep, meditation, dreams, dream travel, silence, darkness.

Here's a handy list of what NOT to do:

• Cause someone to lose sleep.
• Stop sleeping.
• Give offerings of energy drinks or caffeine.
• Play loud music at night or very early in the morning (unless you live in the middle of nowhere and no one else is around, then it doesn't really matter)

Meditation is extremely beneficial to mind, body, and soul. Done over a period of time (weeks and months, sometimes within days), meditation can improve your physical health. Meditation can also improve your mood, strengthen your mind, and edify your spiritual nature. Meditation is a close cousin to sleep, and it is more.

Meditation brings silence to the mind, and strengthens your focus. If you have trouble calming down before bed, then 5 - 15 minutes of meditation will help you get back on track. The problem here is the "little voice in the mind" that likes to pipe up. If you are new to meditating, you may find it difficult initially to reach the silence. Or, you may reach the silence, and that little voice says, "There, everything's quiet now!" The silence of the mind is the absence of thought, feeling, or action; it is not simply the absence of sound. When you reach a point of true silence of the mind, you will not see, hear, or feel; the silence becomes you. Do not try to force a sensation to simulate the silence, because such a situation is untrue.

I have reached the silence before. It is like a release, letting go. I focused on a spot in the room until my vision went black (with my eyes open). I felt only breathing, heard breathing, and saw blackness. Soon I felt only breathing, but did not hear. I soon felt no breathing (but was later told I was still breathing). Then the blackness I saw vanished and I saw nothing... I cannot really describe what this looks like. The closest I can describe is, it was like having my eyes turned off. When my meditation was over, I felt at complete peace. Some others who were attempting to meditate had become frustrated, but after my meditation, they felt inexplicably at peace as well.

You can achieve this silence as well. Anyone can do it, it just takes time and practice.

Any of these meditations may be done just about anywhere, but I do not recommend meditation if you are driving, operating machinery, or doing something complicated. If you're sitting on the plane, standing on the bus, or out with friends at a restaurant, then meditation will suit you just fine. You do not have to meditate everyday, but I personally suggest meditating for a few minutes, everyday, for a few months.

It is important to breathe regularly while meditating for effectiveness. Slow, even breaths regulate your energy and relax the mind.

Four-Second Breather
This is a good starter technique to help ease the mind and center yourself.

1. You do not need to sit down or lay down. You do not need to close your eyes.
2. Focus on your breathing.
3. Inhale for 4 seconds. You don't have to inhale until your lungs are bursting... just take a deep breath.
4. Exhale for 4 seconds. Make sure you expel all of the air from your lungs.
5. Repeat the inhalation and exhalation for a few minutes, or until you feel clear.

The Flow
This breathing technique works great at the end of a long day.

1. Sit back and relax.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Inhale sharply for 3 seconds.
4. Exhale for 6 seconds. While you exhale, feel your worries and pressures "flow" away with the escaping breath.
5. Repeat the inhalation and exhalation for a few minutes, or until you feel better.

The Flame In The Void
I picked up this form of meditation from Robert Jordan's "Wheel of Time" series. This meditation helps empty your mind. If your mind is prone to racing, then frequently practicing this method will help you gain greater emotional control, over time.

1. Go to a dark, quiet room. Turn off your cell phone and remove as many distractions as possible.
2. Sit or lay down in a comfortable position. Close your eyes.
3. Visualize complete darkness in your mind. Visualize a single, burning flame in the center of this void.
4. Send your problems of the day to this flame. Bill problems, bad news, all of these problems must be fed into the flame in the void.
5. Send your stresses to this flame.
6. After sending your stress into this flame, send your emotions into this flame. This does not destroy your emotions, but it temporarily puts them on hold while your mind clears.
7. Send everything into your flame until the flame itself and the void are extinguished, and you feel at complete peace. No joy, no anger, no echoes of rude people you've met; just nothingness. Serenity.

The Smallest Sound
This form of meditation helps you tune out a noisy environment. This was taught to me by my fiance, Dark Orion.

1. Sit or lay down in a comfortable position.
2. Close your eyes. Visualize nothing.
3. Listen in on the loudest sound you can hear.
4. Tune out this sound, and then focus on a less loud sound.
5. After you do this, focus on an even less loud sound.
6. Proceed with focusing on sounds that become more and more quiet until you "hear" only silence. Your mind will negate other sounds. At some point you may hear a ringing in your ears; this is your pulse. Eventually, you may tune this out as well.

Warm Embrace
I found this meditative technique to be very helpful if I was upset. However, this only discards emotions of upset, and doesn't really empty the mind. After performing this, perform another meditation, such as "The Flame in the Void", to silence the mind.

1. Sit down or lay down and relax.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Remember a tender moment of love that you have felt in your life. Feel nothing else except for this love.
4. Feel this love radiate from your heart, and expand through your body in pulses.
5. Perform the "Four Second Breather" while the love pulses through you.
6. Continue the breathing technique and focusing on the love for a few minutes.

Tarot Meditation
This is a good meditative technique to start with, and I personally found this to be the most reliable approach to nothingness. I got this technique from "Modern Magick", by Donald Michael Kraig. I have made modifications, as the original author excludes certain cards. I feel that such a step is unnecessary. (In the original version, the author asks that the Rider Waite deck be used, and that cards 6, 7, 10, 13, 15, & 18 be excluded)

1. Shuffle your tarot deck and draw one card to use for this meditation. If you do not own a tarot deck, you may use the image I have provided above.
2. Look at the card. Starting from the upper left corner of the card, slowly scan to the right until you have memorized a "strip" of the card. The strip should be about a half-inch in size. You should have the image of this strip in your mind.
3. Return to the left side of the card, and slowly scan the next strip.
4. Repeat this process, left to right, until you have scanned the entire card and have reconstructed it in your mind.
5. Put away the card so that you can no longer see it.
6. Close your eyes.
7. Visualize the image of the card as accurately as possible. You may get a few details wrong, but don't worry... with enough practice you will be able to remember the card completely. Just try your best.
8. Once you have the image of the card showing solidly in your mind, begin scanning from left to right in half-inch strips, as you have done previously to remember the card. However, this time, as you slowly scan each strip, it will vanish.
9. When your first strip vanishes, proceed immediately to the left side of the image and scan from left to right again, and the strip will vanish.
10. Repeat this process with each strip until the image is entirely gone.
11. The author states, "At this point, a very interesting phenomenon will occur. Your consciousness which has been caught up in the act of de-scanning the visualized card, will also be "gone" (actually it will only be silent) by the time the card is gone. Your consciousness will be silent and the monologue in your head will be stopped." -Donald Michael Kraig, from "Modern Magick"
12. The author also adds, "This will give your subconscious a chance to speak to you and give you possibly important messages and information." I added this last as the purpose of including this meditation is to silence the mind. I would not have added it at all, as the subconscious chattering to you technically ends the meditation, however it is very important to acquire this substantial connection with your subconscious.

Edge of the Cosmos
This is another technique for emptying the mind, and may require some creative visualization. This is not a form of astral travel.

1. Sit down or lay down in a dark, quiet room.
2. Remove all distractions.
3. Close your eyes. Begin the 4 Second Breather.
4. Visualize yourself sitting in the room. Then, rise up to the ceiling, float through, and visualize the roof of your home.
5. Continue floating up until you see your entire community.
6. Float up faster and faster until you start seeing birds, and then clouds.
7. Float up until the clouds are far below, and you emerge from the atmosphere of the Earth.
8. Float away faster and faster until the moon passes you.
9. Continue floating away and pass several planets.
10. Float out of our solar system, and float faster, past several stars and solar systems.
11. Many, many solar systems, stars, and nebulas will pass you by as you fly to the edge of the galaxy.
12. You will soon be flying so quickly that you will emerge from the edge of the Milky Way galaxy. You will see all around you millions of other galaxies in our universe... but don't stop.
13. Fly past all of the galaxies. They are not infinite. Soon, all of the galaxies will become further and further away as you fly into the darkness. The galaxies shrink away, fade into nothing.
14. In the complete emptiness of space, you will be left with nothing.