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This is a copy of a thread I have in another guild, where we discuss the basics of energy work. Since shielding came up as a subject recently, I thought perhaps MM could also use a similar thread.
What I teach is not pantheon-specific or even really deist in any way; it is fairly standard eclectic neo-pagan energy work, without a religious component. Some of my students are not religiously inclined, so I leave off any religious content - if they desire some at a future point, I can always put it in later.
I'm not claiming to be an expert. I am largely self-taught, based on trial and error, but in the last 10 years I've had the opportunity to fine-tune my skills and learn how to work in various group paradigms. I've got several real-life students whom I've run through the basics of my methods, and I get pretty consistent results.
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I'd like to lay some groundwork here, about energy in general, and what I call 'the basics'.
Energy
Let's talk 'energy' for a moment. I tend not to think of energy as a nebulous cloud of sparkly dust just sitting around waiting for someone to wave a wand...there's a bad habit in neo-paganism to be vague and hand-wavy about energy. Energy is the ability to do work. All energy comes from the same place - the Source - and all energy returns there. Energy doesn't stop, or end. Energy exists in two forms - kinetic, and potential. Both have their uses.
This is why I say that energy within people is generated by the nervous system - it sends the nerve impulses from brain to body that makes us move, and it generates the electric current that allows those impulses to do so. Without the nervous system we don't have the ability to convert potential energy into kinetic - we literally can't move. Energy from any external source technically should have the ability to do what work you're asking it to do (whether it's actively doing so, or holding it in potential).
I feel energy picks up different characteristics from the environment it's in. You can have energy that's strongly attuned with the sea, and resonates that environment. Same for anything else. Because of that 'personality' it picks up, energy from some things or places is better suited to certain things than others. And if the energy we're speaking of is from living things, you'll find that they quite often don't want to be drawn on, without permission, or maybe at all.
'The Basics':
What I call 'The Basics' of energy work are the following: centering, grounding, visualization, awareness, and movement. These form a solid foundation of practice that once mastered gives a solid base to build further skills on.
Centering is gathering your internal energy to a central, focused point inside yourself. It's not only necessary for energy work, but it's a useful skill for everyday life as well. Being centered helps us focus and stay on task.
Grounding is the act of connecting yourself to the Earth. Grounding is somewhat literal; you are rooting yourself, giving yourself a measure of stability to work from, and a deeper energy pool to augment your own personal energy. And much like a ground wire draws off excess current and removes it safely, a good grounding can keep you from being overloaded from external sources or backlash.
Awareness is just that - sensing the energy around you, and how it is (or isn't) moving. Not everyone does this in the same way, so it generally takes a little trial and error, and it's highly individual. Some people are more sensitive to energy than others, which has to be taken into account.
Visualization counts as much as awareness. Visualization is more than simply imagining what might be there, or might be happening; it is actually creating an object, or place, that has psychic reality. Imagination is the outline of the object; visualization fills in the details and gives it reality. I also teach deconstruction of said objects.
Movement is the final basic skill in my set. Only once we have mastered the self, and the ability to visualize and create things with psychic reality, do I start teaching the mechanics of moving energy from place to place, into objects or out of them, and to create boundaries or spaces. This typically culminates in leading guided meditation journeys where the student will create or find their own inner temple, and to meeting a spirit guide or ally to assist them in future work.
In this process I typically also familiarize a student with the classical Western elements and their correspondences, with meditation, some useful symbols, and occasionally with the use of gemstones and crystals as an aid to their focus. After the basic foundation of skills is laid, I generally let a student lead the direction in which they're most interested, as well as teaching about shielding and warding.
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Discussion is open!
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