How long it takes to un-block our psychic anatomy for a more complete and harmonious functioning of the Secret Fire is unclear.
It is stated that even the most advanced yogis require a minimum of three years of special practice for this to occur. Since that kind of training takes place under specialized and supervised conditions, it can be assumed that modern Western life requires more time, as well as self-reflection and referral, since the average Western occultist, be they kabbalist, alchemist, or both, will spend the majority of their time working alone or at best in occasional small groups.Certain schools of yoga as well as kabbalah and Sufi practices view the heart as the center of the individual universe, and the most important of all psychic centers. By opening the heart, we gain access to our Interior Master, or Holy Guardian Angel (messenger),characterized by a strong manifestation of intuition. This is the final resting place for the Serpents Tongue after its ascent over the skull, and as Boehme and Hermetic imagery have shown, the “Heart girt with a serpent” is the ideal to which mystics aspire.
As one yogi put it, we approach the “Big King” first, and allow him to direct the activities of the serpent - language not unfamiliar to Hermeticists.