The World around us is old, dark and ancient. We have forgotten that.
The false veneer of our new mundane Industrial and Scientific Age has made it seem to most of us that humans are the masters of all we see. That things our ancestors knew as truth for thousands of years are but childish tales.
That’s not true.
See I know that there are monsters in our World and we sometimes we are but prey to them. As much as we might pretend, tell me if at midnight on a cold full moon, do you not shiver when you see a shadow move.
Maybe its just a cat on a nocturnal hunt. Or maybe its something more dangerous.
If you want to explore that old occult and ancient world our Ancestors knew then the first thing you must learn is how to protect yourself.
Humans have powerful personal energy that for most of us goes untapped and ignored. For those who want to develop their occult abilities, like shamans, you must learn how to tap into that power. To harness it to your will and to your purpose.
Our bodies are a collections of shells. Mind, Body, Soul, Arua, even your own Magnetic Field, which yes you generate. What you think of as a distinctive and solid body with limits is anything but. Those shells extends deep into the physical body and extend out beyond it as well.
Energy flows through those shells as currents and patterns that are difficult to describe to someone who has never experienced them. Yet as you work with your own, and learn to harness them you will see.
Its a unfortunate fact that our mundane language does poorly in giving us the ways to describe what it happening in the occult, so bear with me. Up may seem like down, sideways may seem round. Square may seem linear. Its an imperfect process. Just go with it for now (grins). I’d like to say it gets better but it doesn’t.
Occult lore and practices are as diverse and varied as there are cultures in the World. Wiccans and magicians, dervishes and wizards, they all arose when humans had settled in towns and villages. When religion got organized and built churches.
Shamans though, are of the most ancient school of the occult. We practiced our trade in caves where our fellow tribe wore furs from cave bear and saber tooth lion, and our members painted the images of deer, antelope and oxen on the cave walls to bring our hunters luck.
They worshiped the most oldest of Patrons then. Sun, Moon and the Stars.
We’ll talk more about the Realm of the Spirits in a later blog post, for now lets discuss working with Energy.
Before we start, a explanation and a brief disclaimer: The order I’m going to teach you to work with energy will be a bit different from the traditional. Its not the order I learned, but I’ve come to realize some techniques work better if you have a working knowledge of another technique first.
The order I will use is:
- Centering Your Energy
- Working with Psi Balls and Energy Shapes
- Breathing
- Sensing Other Energy Fields
- Grounding and Channeling
- Personal Shielding
I’ll explain more on why I use this order as we go along in this series of posts.
FINDING YOUR CENTER:
The first technique in working with energy is “centering”.
When we speak of “centering” we mean the technique where you collect the flow of energy inside yourself, and collect it into a spot, typically its a point around your navel for men or just a few inches below that for a women.
One way to visualize this skill is to image your energy as the air in a room, centering it compresses that air into a balloon.
I wasn’t taught centering as an occult skill. I learned as a technique in a class on Drama and Acting when I was much younger to help you get a better feel for your body. As an actor that is important.
When I was in my early teens, I joined a amateur theater troop. I didn’t have the guts to be an actor, but I was happy to be one of the backstage crew that helped put on the play. As I remember it, I ended up doing sound effects, like door bells and telephone rings.
Our troop leader was big on team building exercises. You know, like the “close your eyes and fall backwards, your team mate will catch you” kind of things.
One Saturday, he brought in a woman who had us all lay on our backs on the floor of the theater. She had us close our eyes, then begin to imagine our bodies in our minds. To imagine the energy within each of us, as a swirling flight of luminescent light racing around inside of us.
Perhaps she was an occult practitioner, perhaps she just learned this technique as a way to get in touch with your body.
She said then, “Imagine then taking the energy running around in one finger, and slowly pull it back, letting that energy add itself to the small spot in your stomach. Imagine then the energy in each finger and each toe, making its way to that same spot in your stomach. Once that energy has settled into the spot, do the same with your hands and your feet.”
Slowly she walked us through taking all the swirling energy of our bodies and collecting it into a small glowing spot in our stomachs.
(I think she had soft music playing but don’t remember.)
Its hard to describe the sensations you have when you do this. There is a floating feeling like you aren’t really on the floor anymore. A limpness yet serious silence to your being. And yet your senses seem to slowly seep out past the boundaries of your body.
After a few minutes, the guest speaker had us slowly allow that energy to return. First in the center, then slowly to the extremities of the arms and legs, until our bodies were full again of our energy.
Truthfully, I can remember being a bit groggy after it. I can remember having a feeling of beyondness to my body, like the energy inside it extended outward past the boundaries of my physical body.
I was a member of that theater troop for about a year, before my family moved to California, and I meet my witch. That’s a story for another day.
PRACTICAL EXERCISE #1:
I’ve done the previous exercise many times since I learned it then.
Now over the course of my life, and after much reading I think what this exercise is best for, is to find the “energy center” of your body. Traditionally for women, this has been the point just above their sex. For larger women, and most men, it is a point around their navel.
For beginners do the following exercise over a course of several weeks, and pick a mental point upper or lower of that traditional point, and seeing how your body feels as you collect your energy into that point, and how it makes you feel after the exercise. Do you feel centered afterwards or off centered? Once you have found your personal spot, you can move forward with your training.
I like to do this exercise during the late morning or early afternoon. If you are tired, this exercise can put you into a light sleep sometimes. You should be rested and if you have eaten, be sure its light or just a snack. Hold off on a lot of fluids too. Take a shower or short bath and don clean comfortable clothing. I tend to be barefoot because I like to wiggle my toes and fingers as I begin to reconnect with my edges.
(Use the restroom too, nothing kills the mood of a exercise like the need to pee in the middle of it, lol.)
I do this exercise on my bed, but you can do it on the floor, or outside on a blanket on the ground. The inner world is more important than the outer in this.
You should have some music available, something soft and without distracting vocals. Even environmental sounds like ocean waves or a rain storm work (but not alot of lightning). I find that this helps quiet my inner voices and I can focus more on the exercise than last weeks arguments at work or bills needed to be paid.
(I actually have a set of Viking ambiance tracks I found off of Youtube that I use when I need to reconnect with my center which I play. The deep base track seems to help center my attentions.)
Before you begin, do some stretching and then say a short prayer out loud asking for guidance and protection. As a beginning shaman you won’t have established relationships with spiritual allies yet, so I recommend you make your prayers to your ancestors. Family is important in working as a shaman. Even if you haven’t begun to honor them, your Ancestors are still watching over you.
Some incenses or light smudging is ok, but stay away from lighting candles or other sources of energy (salt lamps). This can distract your sensitivity to your energy.
Start the music and lay down on your back. A small pillow to rest your head is fine. Put your arms at your sides and spread your legs slightly. Just relax at first and breath slowly in and out.
Wiggle your toes and fingers if you want. Try to feel any stress or tension you have and let it slowly seep out of you, sinking into the ground. As you do, begin to feel the energy within you. How it slowly spins in rivers and flows, from the tips of your fingers into the heart of your chest and head. To some it appears as golden and glowing, but I’ve had people tell me to them it was like deep water, dark blue with deep currents. Don’t make judgement calls about how you see it.
For some, you may not even “see” the flows, but instead sense it as waves of sound, or even smell. Much is made over the skill of “visualization” but not all of us relate to the World though sight, and that is ok too.
For a few minutes just watch the flow of energy, how it moves through your body and how it feels. You might even see places in your body which are like rocks in a river, where the energy ripples and goes around. Make note of where this is but don’t dwell on it at this time. (we’ll get to blockages later.)
Once you are comfortable with the flow of energy within you, begin by seeing in your mind the fingers on your hands. Slowly wiggle them and see how the energy changes and moves. As you do, imagine the energy leaving them. Like the tide, gently lapping away bit by bit.
Then imagine the energy leaving your hands. Toes too. Begin to pull the flow of your energy from the extremities and into your body.
You may find that the cloud of energy inside yourself grows brighter (or darker for those who saw it in opposite) as you collect your energy. That’s good. At some point, you may begin to see a focus develop, usually around your stomach. Let it progress naturally. Often your body will find its center for you.
If not, use the point you had decided on at the start of this exercise. Don’t worry, if you are off, you’ll learn and correct it. Continue to pull back your body’s energy until its in your stomach, chest and head.
Begin then to let the energy in your head drain into your core. If you’ve had a center point develop, see your consciousness descend from your forehead to your stomach. This can be dis-conjoining, or even a little frightening. Or it can be peaceful. Or beautiful.
Don’t force it, in these first few tries. If you are feeling uncomfortable, then stop. If you can, note where your center sits. Is it above your sex, in your navel, perhaps above that.
Let the energy in your body settle into that one small spot, your energy center. Try and see how that feels. Let yourself experience it for a few minutes, then slowly step back.
Begin to take your energy and expand it. Let the tide return to wet the sands of your body. Feel it radiate out slowly, filling first your arms and legs and then the fingers and toes. When you have filled your body with your energy again, open your eyes slowly.
Be warned, the first few times you do this exercise, the moment you open your eyes can have all sorts of strange impacts on you. From a room filled with glowing balls, to reality vibrating to an unheard song, to even being temporarily blind. Don’t fear, it will pass. Take your time and just breath.
Once you are ready, sit up. Try to stand if you can. You’ll be wobblie I can guarantee you. Thank your ancestors for their protection. If you can, write down what you experienced while its fresh in your mind.
I often take a long shower afterwards, something about the feel of the water on my skin seems to bring the various parts of me, physical, astral, and soul back into sinc.
FURTHER WORK:
Now if during this exercise you didn’t see a clear “center”, then here is a work around.
Find yourself a fist size rock, something with a bit of weight but not overly heavy. Find a rock that speaks to you because this rock will be important to you. If you are having trouble, make a prayer to the Earth, asking its guidance and help in your quest. I’ve found that the spirits of stone look kindly on humans.
In a big city this can be hard. Try the river or streams near you. Water and stones together are ideal for energy work.
Do the exercise again, but place the stone on your stomach at your navel (or for women about half way from the navel to your sex). As you collect your energy, you should feel the dent in your body from the stone. This will usually help your body’s energy find a center. Now it may want to coalesce above or below the point you have placed the stone on your body. That’s ok. Take a few days off, return and do the exercise again placing the stone at the new location. See if the weight of the stone settles at the point of your body’s energy center. If it does, then you’ve found it.
Once this is done, don’t just toss the stone into your garden. It is your first “Ally” and deserves your respect. It will be there for you if you want.
I find that a small offering, perhaps of rum or other spicy alcohol is appropriate. Pour a small bit for you and pour some over the stone. Drink the alcohol yourself, while offering the taste of it through your mouth to the stone. Put it in a place of respect in your home and don’t be surprised if the spirit of the stone visits you in your dreams.
For those of you who found their center easily and don’t need a stone ally, don’t fret, there will be plenty of chances to acquire other allies going forward when we discuss “Allies and Patrons”.
Explorations In Shamanism 