Giltwist's Energetic Almanac
15:38 Jul 25 2007
Times Read: 663
Giltwist's Energetic Almanac
on Wednesday, December 28, 2005 - 09:32 PM :: Posted by: Giltwist :: 704 Reads
Part I – Grounding
So, you want to know about channeling energy. The first thing that we want to talk about is energy itself. There are many ways to talk about energy and many types of energy. From a physics standpoint, the whole universe is energy. Even matter is just high density energy. There is mechanical energy, light energy, heat energy, chemical energy, sound energy, and on and on. However, when you are talking about channeling energy, or, heck, energy in any sort of magical, mystical, or psionic standpoint is special. There are many names for that sort of energy, and while I would not go so far as to say they are all the same thing, they all behave in similar ways, at the least. Names like prana, chi, kundalini, psi, and so forth. These energies are all around us, and are maybe a byproduct of life or the causation of life, who knows. The important thing is that it is there; and, if it helps, you can consider the different types of energies as different wavelengths of the same thing.
I prefer to call such things Talents, because that makes it more natural that not everybody is the same when it comes to this sort of thing. Anyone who can feel or otherwise sense these energies is sometimes referred to as a Sensitive, for obvious reasons. I would say most people are at least a little Sensitive, but most people choose to ignore it. Now, other than actually sensing such energies, the most widespread Talent is Grounding and with good reason. There is a whole universe of energy out there, and, sooner or later, you are going to be exposed to more than you can handle at any one time. So, telepaths, empaths, mediums, and most any sort of Sensitive that I can think of needs to be able to exert a modicum of control, a safety net of sorts. While some will take it a step further and do something called Shielding, let us start with Grounding for now.
The basic idea is that, in comparison to a human being, there are lots of things with a ton more energy, like an ocean, or the earth itself. Amounts of energy far too big for a human to handle is a drop in the bucket for things like those. And just like you would ground an electrical device, so to can you pass on the overflow energy. Grounding requires a couple steps. First you must connect with that to which you plan to pass on the energy, then you must let that thing take the energy away from you and, if necessary, replenish what has been lost. When you first start Grounding, you will want to just pretty much overkill the steps, because you will lack the finesse to just do it while standing around. I like connecting to the earth. It's huge. If you were element neutral or earth-favoring, I would teach you this method and you may need to fall back on it if my experimental methods don't work.
Typically, when teaching Grounding , I have people start paying attention to their feet when they walk, but without looking at them. Most people are totally locked in their head and forget their feet exist most of the time. So, by starting to pay attention to how their feet are feeling, they are taking a step out of their head and into their body, because you really do just forget to keep focusing on your feet if you keep thinking about other things. A good method for this is trying to walk as quietly as possible without slowing your pace. That takes some serious concentration at first, but works well. When successful, I call this shifting your consciousness, because that is what it feels like to me. With practice, they begin to be able to shift their consciousness to anywhere in there body and its a pretty natural thing to do. We have all done it, usually without thinking. Like, when you have a sore back, all you think about all day is your back. Then it is just a matter of applying the same principle to shifting your consciousness out of your body, even a foot or two is plenty.
Additionally, you should make meditation a part of your regular routine. It does not have to be an every day thing, but it shouldn't be a once a month thing either. Meditation, in and of itself, is not really a step in the energy channeling process; but, in my personal experience, it does make a world of difference. Meditation does two things to make your energy channeling experience more successful.
For one, in general, a person's energy is just sort of chaotic and hectic, just like the daily grind. Meditation helps unify this energy - just like magnetizing a piece of metal helps align the molecules. Think of it this way, when pool balls are scattered across the table, you can move only one or two at a time. On the other hand, rack all the balls up, and you can easily move them all at once. In the same way, meditation sort of gathers all the energy up so its a bit easier to grab.
The second useful aspect of meditation is the state of mind it generates. Even as an experienced energy worker, I'll be honest, very little of my time is actually spent paying attention to my energy body. Worse than that though, most of the time my, and I would wager your, train of thought flickers back and forth from topic to topic. Not a good thing for energy channeling, I assure you. However, when you meditate, you are actively focusing your train of thought to one thing, or even nothing at all. In either case, you gain the sort of uniformness of mind and attention needed to work with energy. Now, some people might say you need to have a quiet mind to do energy channeling, and they might be right in the case of psi. Although, here we are talking about prana, which is quite strongly linked to emotion. So, as I know from my own experience, you can often put out quite a bit more energy when you are, say, angry. I do maintain that it wouldn't work if you were flitting back and forth from one emotion to another. In that case, your emotional energy would be pushing you around and not vice-versa.
Now, I find that just about everyone has a element to which they feel a particular attraction. Also, I find that when doing any sort of visualization, it helps to have some degree of connection with what you are visualizing. These being the case, I have listed four different approaches for Grounding, one for each element. These are not the only approaches for each element, nor are elemental approaches the only way to go with Grounding. However, I feel these provide a pretty thorough set of examples from which you can create your own system.
Earth: Basically, your first and most powerful form of Grounding to the earth consists of laying in the grass, face up and spread eagle, as if you were going to make a snow angel in the grass. Just a totally relaxed and open posture. You close your eyes and basically start to meditate. Clear your mind, etc. Now here is the tricky bit. You need to shift your consciousness down into the earth itself. Remember it doesn't need to be much, just a little and it is as if you become an extension of the earth. A lot of people visualize that they are growing roots to do this. If you ever hear me talking about feeling the earth moving, this is what I am talking about, because you really can feel it. Then, you need to visualize the earth drawing all the extra energy and all the negative energy out of you, like it draws electricity out of a lightening rod. But you don't want to get sucked dry, so you also need to imagine the healthy energy of the earth rising up into you, as the nutrients and water rise into the roots of plants. And that is all there is to that.
Air: If this is your element of choice, I would suggest waiting for a windy day, just to make Air's presence more noticeable. Though, with practice, the method should theoretically work just as well with only slight modification. So, go outside on a windy day. You can either stand or sit or whatever seems best, so long as you can feel the wind blowing all around you. Start as you would for the earth method. This time, instead of down, you will shift your consciousness into the air above your head, exposing it to the wind. What you will visualize here is the wind blowing away all the energy you don't want, like it would blow away dust settled on you. You will also want to make sure you visualize the energy of the wind flowing into you. Wind is powerful, think of windmills. If it helps, especially on a less windy day, you can utilize your breath. After all, breathing involves air. In with the good air, out with the bad, as they say. I sometimes visualize the unwanted energy as smoke so I can really "see" it leaving me. I have a confidence in this method. How many times have you been told to take a deep breath when you are getting a bit emotional, eh? This is just a more formalized version.
Water: I have two basic ideas for this. The first is essentially the same as the earth method except you move your consciousness into a nearby body of water. This would be especially good one something with gentle waves that you can visualize as washing away the unwanted energy. The other is a little different. If you don't mind getting a little wet, go outside on a rainy day, please not with lightning around. Assume a similar state as described in the air method. Shift your consciousness above your head. This time, instead of having the energy blown off you, let the rain wash it away and fill you with fresher energy. Think about how clean the air smells after a good rain. That is exactly what you are trying to reproduce in your energy.
Fire: This one is, in my mind, the only possibly risky method described here. Fire is a fickle creature. It does a lot of good for us, but one wrong move and you are burned. Start small with this one folks. Think candle. If that doesn't cut it, move up to a fireplace. I've been around a couple really immense bonfires, a large quantity of fire would probably swallow you whole. Basically, the idea is that the fire can burn away the impurities from you, as you would burn dross from ore. And there is a copious amount of energy available, so I doubt you will get burned dry unless you are careless.
Good luck with your first attempts with Grounding. As you progress, you will find that you need less visualization and less actual connection with the element in question. I find I can get an okay amount of Grounding in my attic if I really try. Distance is meaningless, remember that. The representative of each element is just to act as a focal point and to make it more tangible for the first few tries.
Part II – Channeling & The Psi-Ball
Without realizing it, in learning to Ground you have learned a skill that, with some developement, will blossom into energy channeling. The process of Grounding redistributes the energy in your subtle body. In some cases, Grounding even changes the shape of your energy body, extending it or extruding it. This is a very simple and mostly passive form of energy channeling, and it is from this starting point that you will soon be able to actively channel not only your energy, but the energy around you.
To begin this next phase of your training, remember how you feel when you Ground. In particular, remember how you shifted your consciousness. Now, pick a part of your body, for the sake of argument, let's say your stomach. Shift your consciousness to your stomache. Hold it there for a few moments to make sure you've really anchored yourself. In Grounding, you let the element of your choice do all the work of moving energy for you. Now, you are going to have to do it yourself.
Visualize your center of consciousness as a big magnet for your energy. Wherever you move it, your energy will slowly start moving toward it. So keep visualizing the energy being pulled from every corner of your body as if it were by a magnet. Soon, you will begin to feel sensations in your stomach. In general, this is experienced as a tingling, a growing heat, or a pressure. I, in this particular case, find that I experience a sensation much like "butterflies." If successful, you will have actually used your willpower to concentrate the energy of your body.
Once you have successfully performed the above technique several times, the next step is to channel energy from inside your body to outside your body and back. What you are about to do can be compared to the arcing of electricity through the air. However, this process should be both more prolonged and less intense. Begin by moving all the energy to your dominant hand. Once you have a good amount of energy in your dominant hand, hold it out in front of your body palm flat. Put your non-dominant hand parallel to it about an inch or two away. As quickly as you can, shift your consciousness from the dominant hand to the non-dominant hand. With luck, you will find that the energy will take the shortest path it can, namely across that inch between your hands.
You will know an unsuccessful attempt if you sense if your energy flowed up your arm, across your shoulders, and down the other arm. With practice, you will be able to extend this arcing process to considerable distances. Having successfully bridged the gap between your hands, you will likely now want to try again. So, move the energy up your non-dominant arm, across your shoulders, and back to your dominant hand. Repeat this process as many times as you will, but don't overtax yourself. After a few successful attempts, try making the arc go slower. Don't just move instantly from one hand to the other; shift your consciousness through the separating space. With practice, you will be able to create and sustain a constant loop from hand to hand then back again.
Now that you can move your own energy around, it is time for you to start working one moving about the ambient energy in the air around you. I know two easy ways to do this. One is a breathing technique and one relies on what you already know about energy channeling.
For the first, you can visualize the ambient energy around you as a colored fog. Get into a comfortable position, and you can spend a few moments meditating or grounding if it helps. Begin to take slow, deep breaths. Focus on the flow of air in and out of your lungs until you develop a natural rhythm. Now, just like fog, visualize the ambient energy flowing in and out of you with each breath. Once you have a good grasp on the energy, take in a big breath, sucking in as much energy as you can. Hold your breath for a few moments and let the energy in your lungs soak into you. Release your breath and visualize that no energy flows out this time. You should be infused with a little extra energy. Try channeling this extra as if it were your own.
The second technique can be related to fishing. In this scenario, you will visualize the energy around you as fog as before. Then, begin to channel an arc of energy between your hands using whatever technique you wish. Now, begin to stretch the arc outward from you, letting it expand as it goes. In a few moments, you should have something akin to a large net cast outward from your hands. Begin to reel this net, along with all the energy it can hold, back towards you. When it gets close, bring you hands together, closing the net into a bag of sorts. Retract this whole bag into the hand of your choice. With any luck, you will have also absorbed the energy you just netted.
Energy gathering accomplished, you are finally ready to make a psi-ball. Gather yourself some energy. Now, instead of just channeling this energy between your hands, what you will want to do is let it pool in the palm of your hand. Visualize this energy flowing together into a little marble of energy in your palm. Gather some more energy, and you can add another layer to your growing psi-ball. Repeat this process until the psi-ball is as big as you would like. However, if you just try throwing this psi-ball right away, you will find that it won't get more than a little bit away from you before it just simply dissolves. There are two things that you can do to improve the lifespan of your psiballs. The first is to simply condense your psi-ball. Visualize the psi-ball shrinking but not losing any energy. Some do this as visualizing the psi-ball as getting smaller and brighter. I suggest alternating between growing your psi-ball and condensing your psi-ball several times before you try throwing it, which is, sometimes, referred to as pinging. The second method is Binding, which I will cover in the section on constructs.
Part III – Basic Energy Techniques
The ubiquitous psi-ball is pretty much a standard for newcomers as their first construct. Alas, for a lot of people, this is all they ever learn to do. So, I thought I would share some of the other little tricks I have developed or encountered over the years.
Reiki:
By and large, Reiki is the number one most popular form of energy channeling. However, it has been my experience that Reiki is a far more passive form than what I am trying to teach. In performing Reiki, the practitioner is acting as a focusing lens for energy rather than as a sculptor. Reiki, though, is still definitely worth a look. If you are interested in learning how energy work can be used to heal, Reiki is a good place to start. A Reiki session or class is a great way for a novice energy channeler to experience energy work performed by someone else. Closely related to Reiki, you might also choose to investigate crystal healing. To the best of my knowledge, crystal healing involves the practitioner pumping energy into assorted stones and letting the stones' inherent properties alter the energy into forms that are useful for specific kinds of healing.
Psi-smoke:
You begin this practice, like most, by grounding and/or centering if you feel the need. Take a deep breath then release as much of it as you can without straining yourself. Focus on the ambient energy around you. Some people "reach out" with their feelings in the Star Wars-esque manner, others "open their third eye." Whatever method you choose, visualize the energy all about you, perhaps as colored mists. Begin to suck in air and the ambient energy with it. However, instead of taking the energy into you, let it collect in your mouth, filling it as if with smoke being drawn from a cigarette. When you have drawn in as much as you can, hold it there for a moment to sort of solidify a bit. Then, just like blowing smoke, blow the energy back out. It will stay together a bit, then diffuse in a smoky way, unless you otherwise decide to control it.
Glowing Eyes:
This one is just pure fun when done in front of your Sensitive friends. In fact, I've noticed that a lot of Sensitives do this naturally during periods of heightened emotions, primarily anger. The premise is virtually identical to the glowing fingers/hands techniques you find out on the internet, just focused in a more expressive place. I have fairly limited visual impressions from energy, compared to the average Sensitive, but I can actually see this one sometimes.
Step one is to ground and center as needed. After that, make sure you have a full tank of energy, because, where the psi-smoke doesn't expend extra energy, this does. Next, focus on your personal energies. If you are shielded, it should feel fairly well defined and closer to you depending on how tight your hold is on your energy. If you are unshielded, it will probably feel like you are in the middle of a wispy cloud that extends anywhere from a couple inches to a couple feet away from you. Either way, visualize all that energy moving into your physical body. Once it is into you, send it all to the place you want to glow, in this case your eyes. You may begin to feel a little pressure behind your eyes - this is normal. Now, once you have it where you want it, you need to push it back out of you, either like your eyes are headlights with big beams of light coming out of them, or just as if they are like eye-shaped glow sticks with a gentle light coming out. Either way, you want to push it out of your body, or the most the average person will sense is a buildup of energy. Be gentle though. If you have ever heard the phrase "staring daggers into my back" people are talking about the natural occurrence of this phenomena. It can be very displeasing to have people using their Superman-like heat vision to stare at you, if you get my drift.
Energy Drink (no not Gatorade):
This is, perhaps, the coolest introductory level trick I have ever had the pleasure to try out. First, you are going to need a good number of people who are, at the very least, sensitive to subtle energy.
I worked with five, though it could easily be expanded to more. You are going to want at least three of these people to be able to energy channel. That's the bulk of the work here. The others are going to be taste testers. You heard me right. This little experiment is going to show you that subtle energy can be experienced via more than just sight or touch.
First, you are going to need a glass of water. Glass is preferable. Please, no plastic or metal, but wood, porcelain, and such should be okay too. So, pick who is going to be the first taster. To establish a control, fill the glass with clean drinking water and have the taster have a sip. Then, have the first of the energy channelers fill the water as much as they easily can with their energy. An easy method to do this is to just make a psi-ball that engulfs the glass and hold it there for a minute or two. The taster should then take another sip. If all goes according to plan there should be a distinct, though sometimes hard to define, change in the flavor of the water.
The next channeler should then use whatever means they know to dissipate the previous channeler's energy from the water. When in doubt, dump out the water and start fresh. This process should repeat until one taster after the other has tasted the energy of all the channelers.
In my experiments, most times, each of the channelers tasted different from the last, and there was some consistency between tasters as to who tasted like what. Consistently, people have described my personal energy as metallic and bitter.
Part IV – Shielding
Second only to Grounding, Shielding is absolute a godsend for Sensitives. Where Grounding is the process of performing spring-cleaning on the energy already in you, Shielding is devoted to keeping energy out. There are many approaches described on the internet and in the literature. Of those I have read, all involve a barrier outside of yourself. Some examples I've heard are visualizing a bubble of energy around you, expanding a psi-ball so it envelops you, and channeling energy in such a way as to create a barricade around you. These are all excellent techniques that I have tried and successfully employed. However, I'd be selfish indeed if I didn't offer my own variation on the method.
My method could be described as the polar opposite to all the aforementioned techniques. Instead of keeping energy out, I find it also works to hold yourself in, so to speak. There are two reasons I like this method. Firstly, while conductive to a degree, human flesh does offer resistance to energetic phenomena such as heat and electricity. So, theoretically, it should offer some protection to subtle energy as well. Secondly, it is my experience that with a little practice, my technique requires far less attention than an external shield. In essence, my version of shielding requires you to simply reel in your aura and constrain it to within the limits of your physical body. Unfortunately, for many it is not that simple at first. A definite downside to this technique is that it requires more familiarity with energy channeling that most of the others.
Once you have learned how to channel energy, what you will want to do is start by practicing on a small portion of your body, probably your dominant hand. If you have not yet done so, I suggest trying to channel energy outwards from your hand in all directions at once. What will likely occur is an expansion of your aura in that area of your body. This is the opposite of what we want to do. In a change of pace from the normal use of channeling, you are now going to try to channel all the energy outside of you hand into the center of your hand. This is much like gathering energy for a psi-ball, but you are trying to latch on to your own energy and not the ambient energy of the room. The energy in your hand will likely feel quite dense and somewhat resistant to being so confined, however what will happen at the same time is that you should notice a profound drop in energetic sensitivity in that part of your body because your energy is no longer mingling with the energy around it. With practice, you should be able to extend this technique to your entire body.
Pros: Other what I mentioned before, this technique has other benefits. This is great in situations where you want to seem impolite by setting up an obvious fortress against energy. In other words, this is a more social shield because it's not so noticeable and won't infringe on someone else's personal space. Moreover, this technique is great if you are the sort of person who tends to broadcast your thoughts and emotions. By holding in your energy, you are going to keep yourself from sending stuff out unintentionally.
Cons: However, everything has drawbacks. There are downsides besides what I've already mentioned. Be forewarned about this technique; it is not a strong defense against a directed energetic attack. While this energy helps prevent you from picking up stray energy, it does not actively repel in the same way that other techniques do. This is what makes the technique more social in nature. You are not making the people around you assume you are worried that they will attack you.
Part V – Cleansing & Attunement
Energy is constantly just floating out and about. It gathers in a room just as dust would. By and large, it isn’t a problem. However, it is definitely good to clean things out now and then, lest you find yourself knee deep in stray energy. This is especially important if you wish to perform energy work, but energetic litter can also make day-to-day life less pleasant. Just as if you would clean your house so that you aren’t constantly breathing dust and getting your clothes filthy, you should clean the energy of your space. Cleaning energy is doubly important when doing energy work because the ambient energy can interfere in unexpected ways if it is in complete disarray. There are two general methods to Cleansing. The first involves gathering the energy then throwing it out. You can relate this to sweeping up dust then throwing it out. In fact, that is the visualization I often suggest. Walk the perimeter of the room sweeping the air with your arms as you channel energy out of your fingers into scoops to pick up all the energy strewn about the room. Then, find the nearest door or window and physically and energetically wipe the fingers off and flick aware the energetic dust. A slight alteration on this method can be to make one large psi-ball to skim the surface, so to speak. Focus on gathering only the negative energy. Do not let it soak into you, just hold it until you are ready to throw it away. The second method of Cleansing that works well is forcibly pushing out the bad energy by expanding your shield outwards to encompass the whole room. This can take practice, but the visualization that I find works well is to envision a shockwave bursting out from me. Be aware that some Sensitives will notice such a display and may take it as a ping or an attack. Attunement takes Cleansing one step farther by replacing the removed energy with your own energy. This leaves the area particularly well suited to your channeling as the groundwork has already been laid.
Both Cleansing and Attunement can also be performed on objects as well as locations. Any ritual tools, such as wands and crystals, should receive both on a regular basis to maximize their effectiveness
Part VI – Constructs
Ok, this is quite probably the single most useful part of energy channeling outside of basic defense. Constructs, quite simply, can do just about anything you can figure out how to teach them to do. In general, the best way to describe a Construct is to liken it to the golems of Jewish lore. In the tales of old, men were able to build creatures of clay or metal to do their bidding, though only with limited intelligence. Similarly, a Construct is a conglomeration of energy designed to perform a specific task. Constructs generally fall into two categories, the animate and the inanimate. Animate Constructs have a limited ability to act independantly of the maker whereas inanimate Constructs are simply tools. However, one thing that both have in common is that they both start as a psi-ball. However, to make these Constructs last a little longer than the flash-in-the-pan psi-ball you need to perform an extra step that I like to call Binding.
So, your first Constuct is going to be the psi-ball revisited. As you might imagine, the first step is to make a psi-ball. Now, make sure that you've got some energy to spare; it might be a good idea to gather a little more than you need for your psi-ball. Carefully channel this extra energy into a rigid ring that belts the psiball. Repeat this process to make a second rigid ring, but place this one so that it makes an X with the first. Make a third ring which wraps around both without passing through the original X. It is very important that your visualize the rigidity of these rings; the rigidity of these rings is going to hold the psi-ball together. Visualize these rings acting like a cage to hold in the energy of the psi-ball. If the energy can't escape, the psi-ball can't dissipate. This cage-like behavior is the reason that I refer to this process as Binding. Lastly, suck those rings in as close to the psi-ball as you can, tightening the proverbial straps. Your psiball should now last until you forget about it totally or until you break the rings that hold it together. Try throwing the psi-ball. With a little bit of practice, you should even be able to call the psi-ball back to your hand.
When you have gotten the hang of Binding a psi-ball and traditional Shielding yourself, you should be about ready to make yourself a Ward. If you can't tell by the prerequisites, a Ward is an inanimate construct which generates its own Shield. This is particularly useful for creating a long term haven from the psychic noise of the waking world. The process is fairly simple, start with your basic psi-ball. Personally, I like to ancher Wards on a physical object like a crystal. You can do this by generating the whole thing around the object. When you Bind the Construct, it will actually get "stuck" to the physical object. Now, visualize the center of the psi-ball as becoming like a whirlpool and gently sucking in the energy around it. Maintaining a Shield takes energy, and if the Ward cannot collect it's own energy, it will soon expire. Bind your Ward at this point. If you skip this step, the whirlpool you've created will eventually consume the very Shield it is supposed to feed. Now, channel a bubble of energy around your Ward. For those of you paying attention, this is a form of the classic bubble shield. Carefully coax energy from the center of your whirlpool outward in all directions to press gently upon your bubble. Release your hold on the bubble and continue pulling energy out of the center of your whirlpool to expand the bubble until it is the desired size. At this point, Bind your Ward a second time. However, you aren't going to want to try to encompass the whole Shield, as it could easily be as big as a room by now. Instead, what you are going to do is Bind the energy that is moving outwards so that it can not overextend your Shield nor let the Shield retract too far. With any luck, your Ward should now be fully operational. With practice, you can learn to filter out just specific energies, as it is unwise to completely cut off energy flow to any one place for too long.
Animate Constructs, some of which are referred to as Servitors, involve a similar process. The most notable difference, though, is that you imbue your Construct with energy taken directly out of your Chakras to bestow a degree of intelligence. This is a very advanced process which can leave your subtle body fairly well damaged if not done correctly. Therefore, I suggest that this only be attempted by those with extensive experience with energy work and Constructs. Moreover, it would probably help to have a person physically nearby capable of helping you unravel yourself from the mess you would make if you made an error. Additionally, I feel that no animate Constuct is complete without being given a name. It is my belief that giving a name to the Construct gives you power over it so that it will not become completely independant unless you desire it as such.
All in all, Constructs can do just about anything that can be accomplished via energetic means. With time and practice, Constructs will act as a useful supplement to most if not all of your energy manipulation.
Part VII - Overload
Well, too much of a good thing is a bad thing, as they say. This holds true with energy manipulation as well. If you channel too much energy in too short a time, you will experience what I refer to as Overload. Early warning signs of Overload include increased difficulty in channeling, sudden change in sensitivity to energy or mundane senses, and unexplained tiredness. If these warning signs are ignored, Overload can occur. Typically, this involves total inability to channel energy, which can even include Shielding. Other symptoms can include numbness or burning sensations in the area used for channeling and strange dreams. At this point, any spare energy your body might have been using to keep itself going is unable to be processed or is lacking entirely, so you will likely be suffering from the symptoms of mild exhaustion as well. If you’ve really overextended yourself, Overload can become very bad. You will likely face the full brunt of physical exhaustion. Energetically, you will likely to barely be able to hold yourself together because not only have you expending your spare energy but you have dipped into your vital stock. The first time I made a Construct, I really overdid it. It was a nice Construct that I kept for several years, but I was absolutely sick as a dog for the next three days. The good news is that with rest, both physical and energetic, you will generally return to normal after a couple days, though difficulty with energy work may continue for some time and you may be more prone to a relapse of Overload for a while as well.
Some tips for when you suffer from Overload. Try consuming foods high in Vitamin C. I can’t praise this vitamin enough; it does wonders for your body and your soul. Tomato juice and orange juice are most often touted as remedies. I have also heard that wheat grass juice is jam-packed full of energy, though I don’t know whether it has Vitamin C. In general, most vitamin supplements are probably going to help. The more your body has to work with, the sooner it will repair itself. In addition, try to stay away from toxins. The cleaner you keep your body during this period, the better. This means no alcohol, no caffeine, no intoxicants of any sorts. I also recommend avoiding sugary and greasy foods, but I admit they do make you feel better as most comfort foods fall under this category.
Part VIII – Ettiquette
Dabbling in the subtle reality can be risky business at times, and many Sensitives are somewhat paranoid about what sorts of things are going on around them. So, here are some rules to minimize risking your safety and minimize the risk of offending others.
Never perform energy work on or around someone without permission. Period. It is often difficult if not impossible to gauge the intent of a channeler just by perceiving that channeling is occurring. This puts many Sensitives on the defensive because they may perceive your behavior as tantamount to assault. Keep in mind that many people don’t have the vaguest understanding of energy work, so you should make sure that their decision to allow you to do your thing should be an informed decision.
If you are trying something for the first time, take every precaution that you can in the event that something should go wrong. When applicable, make sure that everyone involved knows how to Ground and to Shield, these are the basic defenses that can avert most accidents. Cleansing is important too. These are not the only protections, though. Consider researching arcane defenses such as casting the circle. Better safe than sorry.
Have a plan. Don’t just randomly try things. First off, the subtle reality is a fragile and distorted thing. A small influence can quickly result in a dramatic result. Secondly, keep in mind how different changes can interact. Just as certain medications go horribly wrong together, so too can certain aspects of energy work.
Consider the spirit world. Many traditions posit the existence of non-corporeal entities. Some of these entities are benign, and some are decidedly sadistic. Performing energy work in graveyards or other haunted locations can result in attracting the attention of unwanted guests, so to speak. Moreover, be specific in whom you invite. If you call out for anybody and everybody, you will get it. If you wish to invite a specific entity from another plane of existence, be specific. Call by name if at all possible.
Be aware that not everybody’s energies will mix well. Sometimes, people will react in an oil and vinegar fashion and simply not interact. Other times, there may be a baking soda and vinegar reaction that is both explosive and messy.
Part IX - Troubleshooting
Q: I am trying as hard as I can, and it won't work. Why can't I do it?
A: You are probably trying too hard. Energy work is dependant upon your state of mind. Once you start getting frustrated, you might as well call it a day.
Q: I can't see the energy, why not?
A: Some people just can't. I, for example, can't. I perceive energy almost entirely as tactile sensations. I feel temperature changes, tingling, pressure, currents, and sometimes fleeting touches. Very rarely I can make out the faintest of visual impressions, but it is usually very brief and accompanying a rather large change.
Q: I was energy channeling, then I suddenly couldn't anymore. What happened?
A: Energy channeling is hard work, and we all have our own limitations. Your willpower will become exhausted and cease functioning just like your muscles would after enough exercise. With practice, your endurance will improve. Don't force yourself to keep going, you could experience overload.
Q: I used to be able to channel energy, but lately I'm having trouble. Did I overdo it?
A: It's certainly possible that you are experiencing minor overload. Your body is smart enough to rest when needed. On the other hand, there are other possible explanations. Lack of sleep, illness and even change in diet can affect your ability to energy channel. The adverse affects of sickness on channeling ability are often multiplied by the medicines taken to alleviate the symptoms. Think about it, if you don't have the mental clarity to operate heavy machinery, you probably can't energy channel either.
Q: Visualization just doesn't work for me, I'm doing it but nothing seems to be happening. What's wrong?
A: Well, things may actually be happening and you aren't realizing it. On the other hand, one of the above problems may be at work. However, you may just be one of those people who don't work well visually. What is needed is an appropriate alternative using one of the other senses. Mostly, this is tactile, but I'm told there are those who use sound and smell too. As a tactile myself, I've found that its fairly easy to convert most visualizations to tactile sensations by replacing "see the energy do this" with "feel the energy do this" where that feeling might be just about anything; and, for me, its often many different things depending on the situation. One of the hard ones is grounding, but I think that some of the options I've provided actually utilize tactile sensation as much as a visual sensation.
Q: Ever since I've started doing energy work, I've been restless and/or have had trouble sleeping. What's wrong?
A: Just like working out on a regular basis increases your muscle strength, so too does practicing energy manipulation increase your subtle body's ability to generate and process energy.
Q: Help! I'm being attacked.
A: The absolute best advice I can give to you is to Ground and Shield. If at all possible, leave the area too. I suggest you employ one of the mor etraditional shields that I mentioned as opposed to my own method. If your attacker is a non-corporeal entity, try Cleansing your whole living space or wherever it happens to be attacking you most. For added protection, you might want to make some Wards. If you are still learning to Ground and Shield, finding someone to make you a Ward may help give you a boost as you learn the ropes.
Part IX - Resources & References
SphynxcatVP’s Real Vampire Support Page ( http://sphynxcatvp.nocturna.org ):
One of the mirrors for this text, Sphynx has all sorts of interesting articles about psionic defense. Has a variety of information which extends even beyond the realm of energetics and psychic vampirism.
House Kheperu ( http://www.kheperu.org ):
Founded by Michelle Belanger, author of the Psychic Vampire Codex, this site contains primarily information about energetics and psychic vampirism.
PsiPog ( http://www.psipog.net ):
Despite the occasional controversy about authenticity, PsiPog genuinely offers some useful and sometimes even insightful articles upon psionics. This is a great place for people who already have some exposure to the subject looking for new things to research.
Part X - Notes
This document is free for distribution in its current form, however no modifications may be made without the author's permission. The author retains all rights of publication. The information presented here is a combination of personal experience and research. The author claims no responsibility for the actions of those who follow this guide. Practitioners of energy work do so at their own risk.
Vist my homepage at http://giltwist.metapath.org
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