Lesson 4 - Shielding

[~Elise~]

Okay--there are as many ways to shield as there are magicians/witches out there. Everyone has their own favorite way.

The key to effective shielding is both simple and intensive at the same time - DO IT DAILY for at least three months.

I can not stress enough how important this is. If you don't do it daily, it doesn't become instinctive and automatic. If you have to stop and think about it -- it is too late for most attacks that are going to be directed at you.

I'm going to post several different ways to shield yourself. This is done after grounding and centering yourself. If you aren't centered and grounded, you will not be able to shield effectively.

I know I'm sounding like a broken record, but this and the last lesson HAVE to be a daily practice or they will not be effective. It doesn't take that much time and the payoff is more than worth it.

For your homework...try out several different methods -- post your results and tell me which one you're going to end up using.

Elise

[~Elise~]

This is one of the easiest forms of shielding:

Put yourself into a comfortable position and begin by releasing all tension and anxiety.

Visualize a ball of white light floating above you. Focus on the energy of the ball -know that it is full of love and strength and peace. Try hard to FEEL these qualities in the energy of the ball.

Now let the energy from the ball of light begins to flow down into you. The energy is a beautiful, clear white light. No matter how much light comes into you, the ball will remain equally strong for its true origin is the Universe and it is a source of boundless spiritual energy.

Let the energy from the ball pour into you and flow throughout your body. Let it move out into your arms and legs, down into your fingers and toes.

Now let that light expand beyond your body. At first see the light expand just an inch out from your body. Now let it expand a little more -two inches, four inches... Let the light expand to form an oval around your whole body --an oval filled with clear, beautiful, loving white light from the Universe.

Now let that oval of white light expand to form a perfect circle of energy around you, expanding until it is about six feet across.

[~Elise~]

This one is one of my personal favorites and the one I teach first to my IRL students:

Breathe deeply. In through your nose and out through your mouth. Breathe in for the count of four, hold for four, out for four. Do this four times. It helps to ground us and aids in our concentration. (you can do this before any of these exercises)

Imagine that you are putting on a mirrored suit of armor. It is sleek, comfortable and form-fitting. Remember also to cover the bottoms of your feet and the top of your head.

This will reflect anything directed at you back to the person/thing in question.

Now -- when you first start this one...you won't have any 'filters' on it. All your stuff stays in and all the other stuff stays out...including people that you know and love. As you get better at the visualization, you'll be able to filter the suit--that is let in the good, (and out the good, as well) and stop the yucky stuff. This will take a bit of adjusting over a couple of weeks, but it will be easy as you get better at the visualization.

[~Elise~]

Light a candle, the colour you feel is best for working to rid yourself of bad feelings.Concentrate on the flame. Stare into the flame. Imagine the flame becoming a ball of light. When it *is* a ball of light, imagine the ball of light becoming a circle, a large and growing ball that you pour all your negativity into. The ball hovers, and when you feel you have poured all the negativity that has built up from other people into this ball, imagine the ball breaking away from the flame, hovering in the room. Then it begins to move. It moves away from you and the candle flame, the ball floats out the window, floats into the guttering, rolling, rolling, and down the drain the ball goes, to be washed away.

Stare into the candle flame again and imagine the flame becoming a circle again, and then a ball. This ball is fillling up, not from you, but from the Universe. As the ball shimmers, shining brightly, imagine it coming towards you, a bright, shining ball of Universal love and light, come to fill you with power, courage and self love. Allow the ball to diffuse into your body as you continue to stare into the candle flame.

[~Elise~]

Visualize a 'net' of energy around the area to be shielded. Remember to 'see' it in 3D, a sphere rather than a circle. Visualize negative energy being absorbed by the shields and flowing into the earth. Visualize it as porous, though, so that energy you send can pass through.

[~Elise~]

This is an article that I've used for a couple of years with my IRL students...don't remember the source:

Most people are taught to shield in a temporary way, only when they encounter a situation which makes them feel threatened or uncomfortable. Shields should be permanent, and never be 'turned off'. If you wait to launch a defense or build a shield in response to a given situation, it's already too late to be truly effective, often resulting in a headache or some other manifestation of what you've absorbed before the shields are solid and in place. If you are dealing with a magical attack, putting shields in place once you have noticed the attack is a bit like closing the barn door after the horses have escaped. Defenses which are left in place and properly maintained over time are also likely to be far stronger than ones tossed into place in response to an immediate threat.

There are those who feel they must not expend the energy needed to create or maintain a defense when they are ill. If you spend the time and energy on the design and creation of your shields at the start, the maintenance "energy cost" to you on an ongoing basis is next to nothing. Even when you are sick (which, after all, is a really good time to be shielded!) you need not lower your defenses. You should work on your shielding and protection daily until they are second nature to you. Each time you begin to work, scan your shields. In the beginning, you will see weaknesses, cracks, thin areas, etc. at the start of each session. Reinforce them every day, plug up the holes, patch the cracks, and strengthen the whole system. When you do this consistently, over time you will notice more and more of your repair work holding and not having "worn off" since the last scan. Once your shields are stable, and do not require constant reinforcement and repair, you may find you don't need to scan them daily. You should, however, continue to scan on a regular basis to maintain them.

Shields learn what you teach them to do, through daily visualization and programming. Many people are satisfied with shields built with simple visualization, such as surrounding themselves with white light, or an energy bubble or a crystal egg. These techniques are simple, easy to learn, easy to teach, and often relatively adequate for 'normal' situations. Most are taught to visualize their shields as something protective, but essentially non-intelligent and inanimate.

Consider, however, creating your shields more dynamically. Intelligent, active, able to respond in a variety of ways to a given situation, self-cleaning and self maintaining shields are constantly alert, vigilant and dynamic. This can be accomplished with time and work; this effort will also assist you in developing consistent visualization skills.

Some people don't like to allow shields this much autonomy, and prefer to micromanage protection. It is true that one can occasionally have trouble accepting healing and energy in through one's shields if they are built this way. Since you are programming your shields to protect you, they should respond to anything sent your way with suspicion. You can always ask people to "drop the energy at the door" should this become an issue for you. Determining how strong you want your defensive system, and how much independence you will allow that system in responding to changing conditions is a very personal choice.

People are often afraid their empathic skills will be negatively impacted by the use of a permanent shield. This need not be the case. You can use your visualization techniques to create "filters" which allow empathic information through to you, while filtering out the attached emotional impact. This may actually make it easier for you to utilize your empathic skills, since you will find it considerably less draining without having to absorb and process the emotions along with the information. Filters are not the only way to accomplish this, but they are simple and effective if used correctly for this purpose.

Shields can be programmed to be self regulating; that is, they are able to monitor and repair their own health, and to strengthen automatically as situations change. In protective magic, some people choose to mirror back negative energy sent to them. I consider this wasteful. The energy is a gift to you, even if this was not the intent of the sender. Your shields can be taught to clean the energy, and then use it for their maintenance and strengthening. Of course, the irony of using such a "gift" for this purpose provides a bit of amusement as well!

Shields should be very personalized. Experiment with them, work with them until they meet your needs, and can provide customized responses to given stimuli. Do not get caught up in the appearance of your shields. I have run across far too many people whose shields were incredibly ornate visualizations (which take some energy to maintain), but had little functional value. Always let form follow function, and consider what the task is before you create the image. Your shields are not for show; they have a job to do, and the form should support that job, rather than having the function come out of, and be limited by, the form.

Shielding provides an incredibly flexible and efficient method of regulating the "energy weather" around you. It takes time and effort, good visualization, and repetition to create responsive and effective shielding. Once in place, solid shields help maintain your emotional and physical health and balance, in addition to providing more obvious psychic and magical benefits. Properly constructed and maintained, your shields are the most important magical tool you can have.
__________________

[Penthesilea]

I like the suit of armor. (Big surprise!) I'll try that one first...

[Crystal Raven]

k, strangely enough, and for reasons I won't go into here...when I was young app 8-10 yrs old, my mother used to put a "bubble" around me, it was invisble so I could see all around me, yet unbreakable and she used to say a small saying as she motioned with her hands putting this bubble around me...would this be an effective shield? any thoughts on what kind of saying might go with a bubble? trying desperately to remember what she used to say!!!

[~Elise~]

Yes- it would be effective--but it needs to be something that you'll be able to do at the drop of a hat. I mean instantly--no waiting--it's just there. If you have to stop and think... it's too late.

Elsie

[Salanthos]

hmmm, a couple questions?
I like the flame visualization, but can it be adapted to breath - huff the negatives out, rather than burning?

would/could a shield be like a wall of ice or a pane of glass surrounding? it doesn't work like the examples seem to - rather than reflect or seal out, it pretends its not there. anything trying to get in can't 'see' the sheild or anything its hiding, and if anything stumles close, it slides off and around w/o becoming aware of the shield.

would this work? the 'Im not here' shield?
its already nearly instinctive.

[Penthesilea]

I've been using the "Suit of Armor" shield since it is very easy for me to visualize. I haven't noticed anything different yet. The grounding and centering have been more productive since I stopped vibrating like a tuning fork from caffeine overload! :lol: I've also found the perfect time to ground, center and shield... when I sit down in front of the computer for the first time each morning. Hubby and kids are usually still asleep and it's just me, the comp and the cats.

[MariThorn]

I haven't heard of the shield of armour approach, but it sounds interesting. The others I've done in the past. For me it is easiest to simply put myself in a bubble of white or blue light. It doesn't take much at all after years of practice. I would think that the one with ice or glass would be a bit fragile. Would that work? I'm just curious. I know that making yourself invisible can be done by working with the fox totem. Is that the same as shielding? I've also read of the "I'm not here look somewhere else" spell. That one I could see as a shield . . . Raises some good questions in my mind.

[PoisonIvy]

After I center and ground myself I shield myself with a sphere of blue light.I replenish this sphere everyday through my meditations. That's just how I've always done it.

I don't use white light because it is so powerful that it doesn't let anything into the shield whereas the blue light will keep anything harmful away from me but still let good things come into me.

And I am by no means wiccan,but I do believe in karma and don't intend on doing anything that reflects peoples bad intentions towards me back to the sender. I will only send out good intentions and love to those who have ill will towards me. Kindness kills!
So forgive me for not trying the suggestions posted in this lesson. I'd like to just stick to the methods that I know and what works for me if that's allright.
I mean no disrespect.

[~Elise~]

I've been using the "Suit of Armor" shield since it is very easy for me to visualize. I haven't noticed anything different yet. The grounding and centering have been more productive since I stopped vibrating like a tuning fork from caffeine overload! :lol: I've also found the perfect time to ground, center and shield... when I sit down in front of the computer for the first time each morning. Hubby and kids are usually still asleep and it's just me, the comp and the cats.

Good--do that each morning and keep the practice up daily, as I suggested. It'll get easier and easier.

Elise

[~Elise~]

I haven't heard of the shield of armour approach, but it sounds interesting. The others I've done in the past. For me it is easiest to simply put myself in a bubble of white or blue light. It doesn't take much at all after years of practice. I would think that the one with ice or glass would be a bit fragile. Would that work? I'm just curious. I know that making yourself invisible can be done by working with the fox totem. Is that the same as shielding? I've also read of the "I'm not here look somewhere else" spell. That one I could see as a shield . . . Raises some good questions in my mind.

Depends on what type or how thick the ice or glass is, wouldn't it. It is your preception that will make it work.

No--invisible is not the same thing as shielding. Shielding is protecting yourself. while the invisiblity thing is as well... it is different. and it is something that you wouldn't want to do all the time, where shielding is. It is protection... self defense

Elise

[~Elise~]

After I center and ground myself I shield myself with a sphere of blue light.I replenish this sphere everyday through my meditations. That's just how I've always done it.

I don't use white light because it is so powerful that it doesn't let anything into the shield whereas the blue light will keep anything harmful away from me but still let good things come into me.
practice with the white... learn how to set filters on it as you've already done with the blue




And I am by no means wiccan,but I do believe in karma and don't intend on doing anything that reflects peoples bad intentions towards me back to the sender. I will only send out good intentions and love to those who have ill will towards me. Kindness kills!
So forgive me for not trying the suggestions posted in this lesson. I'd like to just stick to the methods that I know and what works for me if that's allright.
I mean no disrespect.

Don't apologize... but on the other hand, there are times where you do have to fight fire with fire. Not all times, and not most times when it comes right down to it. But, I am preparing you for those times.
Be glad you haven't had those times yet, but I guarantee they will happen at some point. Sticking your head in the sand and saying it isn't there won't make it go away.

You don't take a martial arts class to go fight... you take it to defend when necessary. You take it so most people won't even bother messing with you. That is the same purpose here. Learn the other stuff... it will pay off.

Elise

[RunningRiot]

I am StarCraftLia.. I had to get a new name because I just previously switched servers and lost my old brower's e-mail addy.. Sorry for the confusion and delay to replying to lessons!

I've been grounding and shielding since the grounding lesson started.. I used bark from the roots of my feet to create a shield. After a week or so I created filters in my shield so the magic I send out and to myself could get it. I noticed that I also needed a converter, so I created one that took any negative energy sent to me and created it into a small shield-like object that floated around -my- shield. It's all working well, I'm happy to say.

Nothing really especially wonderful, except that I've noticed my shield changed ITSELF without my command! It was really amazing, as it was sudden and unexpected. When I imagine my shield, my hair is soft vines and floral. After I'd realized I got possessed, I started to shield automatically when I sensed the spirit for a second time and my armour's hair changed itself to look like the antlers of a stag that had vines wrapped around it. It was amazing and I got to feel what my armour's persona's energy felt like. Really amazing.

[amakaliani]

While I like the idea of the suit of armor, I am having a bit of difficulty imagining that. And the ball of light images never seem to hold my focus, as I have a very bad wandering eye, and cannot stare to focus. However, the fact that I am all Fire and not really any of the other elements, I guess I should work towards actually using this as a goal, hm? But the tree roots worked for me for grounding, and maybe I will try to adapt something of the two together, though trees and fire.......


I have long envisioned a cloak of purple around me for oh, I don't know, at least as long as I have been on the path. I think that since this image has stayed throughout all of my changing interests on the Path, I might need to use this. So I think I might use the suit of armor approach, but, with my cloak. I have always seen the outside of the cloak as shiny, and the inside almost like velvet.

I will let you all know how that goes.

[~Elise~]

I am StarCraftLia.. I had to get a new name because I just previously switched servers and lost my old brower's e-mail addy.. Sorry for the confusion and delay to replying to lessons!

I've been grounding and shielding since the grounding lesson started.. I used bark from the roots of my feet to create a shield. After a week or so I created filters in my shield so the magic I send out and to myself could get it. I noticed that I also needed a converter, so I created one that took any negative energy sent to me and created it into a small shield-like object that floated around -my- shield. It's all working well, I'm happy to say.

Nothing really especially wonderful, except that I've noticed my shield changed ITSELF without my command! It was really amazing, as it was sudden and unexpected. When I imagine my shield, my hair is soft vines and floral. After I'd realized I got possessed, I started to shield automatically when I sensed the spirit for a second time and my armour's hair changed itself to look like the antlers of a stag that had vines wrapped around it. It was amazing and I got to feel what my armour's persona's energy felt like. Really amazing.

Very interesting! I like it

Elise

[~Elise~]

I have long envisioned a cloak of purple around me for oh, I don't know, at least as long as I have been on the path. I think that since this image has stayed throughout all of my changing interests on the Path, I might need to use this. So I think I might use the suit of armor approach, but, with my cloak. I have always seen the outside of the cloak as shiny, and the inside almost like velvet.

I will let you all know how that goes.

sounds like a great compromise. Keep us posted

Elise

[PoisonIvy]

practice with the white... learn how to set filters on it as you've already done with the blue



Don't apologize... but on the other hand, there are times where you do have to fight fire with fire. Not all times, and not most times when it comes right down to it. But, I am preparing you for those times.
Be glad you haven't had those times yet, but I guarantee they will happen at some point. Sticking your head in the sand and saying it isn't there won't make it go away.

You don't take a martial arts class to go fight... you take it to defend when necessary. You take it so most people won't even bother messing with you. That is the same purpose here. Learn the other stuff... it will pay off.

Elise

You're right,I do need to learn to defend myself better,especially against my little niece! :lol:
I just don't wanna do anything that's gonna come back to bite me in the butt,if ya know what I mean.
I used to be very tempermental and use a lot of bad judgement and now that I'm "paying for it",I just wanna "do my time" and make up for past mistakes. I try to send out love and understanding now instead of hate and revenge....that's prolly what I should have said instead.

[Rin Daemoko]

The sharp decrease in anxiety as a result of the grounding exercises has continued through the shielding techniques. I really like the one where you surround yourself in white light - I see it almost like taking a bath in compassion and wisdom. Not only has this practice helped me to catch my anxiety before it sparks up again, but it's done something that I haven't experienced in over a decade - it gives me faith.

Not belief, I should say, but a sort of faith. Not simply a hope that I'll be alright, that things will be fine, and that there really isn't anything to worry about it. But a faith in myself, and in Tara (http://www.mysticwicks.com/showpost.php?p=2259086&postcount=1)as both an aspect of myself and as a universal principle. There isn't any room for doubt, so it's not belief and it's not hope. I never thought I'd experience this again.

I've been able to admit something about myself to myself that I was not fully aware of until after doing the grounding and the shielding practices. Along with daily recitations of the 21 Tara Praises. Subtle mental processes are being made clear to me as the usual surface chatter subsides on its own. I guess I'm being afforded the opportunity to clear out all of this mental clutter - a lot of which I was previously unaware of.

[Salanthos]

um, just wondering if you could answer my questions from p1? I didn't get a reply...

[~Elise~]

hmmm, a couple questions?
I like the flame visualization, but can it be adapted to breath - huff the negatives out, rather than burning?

would/could a shield be like a wall of ice or a pane of glass surrounding? it doesn't work like the examples seem to - rather than reflect or seal out, it pretends its not there. anything trying to get in can't 'see' the sheild or anything its hiding, and if anything stumles close, it slides off and around w/o becoming aware of the shield.

would this work? the 'Im not here' shield?
its already nearly instinctive.

Sorry--thought I'd already answered these.

Yes--can be adapted to breath.

On the shielding question, the answer is yes and no.

let me explain... in this case you aren't truly shielding, you're deflecting, not the same thing.

If you had something come directly at you--you're toast--they get right through. I know, because I used to be the same way. and the bad stuff got through what I had like knife through hot butter... taught me a very valuable lesson.

Elise

[AineDanu]

How I do my grounding/centering seems to be really close to the white ball shileding....
"I read through the lesson and I thought I would share how I do grounding/centering as it partly mimics things from a couple of the examples. I visualize a golden/white light coming from way up above and entering into my head through my chakra point. As it enters it becomes a sort of "washcloth" of pure white and as it flows through my chakra it cleans all of the negativity out of it and I do this through each chakra point until I can see no more "black" or "gray" spots as it swipes through. When I reach the first chakra I then visualize that "cloth" flowing through both legs and then my feet and from there all of the negativity is pushed deep into Mother Earth. She then sends back to me nothing but love and positive energy and it enter through my feet and back up into my chakras until it flows out of my head and then it falls down around me forming an Egg-shaped shield filled with love. I often put a reflective shell around that egg so that any harm coming towards me is reflected away again...."

Will this work as a good shield?

I cannot do the armor option as to me armor feels very heavy and restrictive. I do not know why but the feeling is very strong.

I do like the idea of a "smart shield" but would like to get better at a simpler shield before I try something more complicated.

[~Elise~]

I like what you're doing and it sounds effective. give it a try daily and see how it strengthens.

Elise

[Meriwen]

I have trouble with the light visualation. What I have been doing, which comes easier for the way my mind works, is something another witch told me about and I do every night laying in bed. I weave an egg shape out of ribbon, my ribons are blue and purple. I start from the outside center the ribbon at the bottom of the egg and follow the ribbon up to the top of the egg, where I loop the ribbon together, like when you wrap a present the take the two sides down to the bottom and loop again so the egg has 4 ribbons on the outside markining off the egg in fourths, then back up to 6ths back down etc. Then when the egg is covered up and down I tie it off at the top of the egg and go in the egg through the space between two of the ribbons, which I pull back like a curtain. The vertical ribbons are blue, sky blue. When inside I start at the bottom and weave the purple ribbon between the blue ribbons til i finish at the top. The bottom looks like the bottom of a round basket. Because I don't do the quarters, I call on Earth, Sea, and Sky, I take other ribbons from white to black, and all colors in between and tie them off and put them through the spaces left from the weaving. I can pass energy out through the spaces and recieve good energy back, but if there is negative energy the egg spins and the ribbons hanging outside lift up to the air and through Nature's energy call up a storm and blow or wash away the negitive energy, or cause it to slide away cause the earth is slippery, like wet grass or mud if so needed. The strenght of the storm depends on how strong the negativy is, it may start off small but grow to a full blown thunderstorm with lightening. I sit or stand in side, which is very comfortable with a cushy chair, a good light and a good book, a fireplace, my animals and can watch the storm disapite the negativity through the weaving.

Do you think this is a practical sheild, I can ground and center myself while weaving and am getting where I can do it while doing other things. I check it every day just following the weaving and maybe changing some of the colors of the hanging ribbons depending on how I feel. If I am depressed the colors become lighter like spring, if I'm manic they become cool calming colors, I adjust them to my mood, but I am always in my egg.

[~Elise~]

If it is up daily--it should work well for you.

In an emergency, not sure how well it would work, but since it is always up, you may be okay. Make sense?

Elise

[Belladona]

I was taught to "bubble" as well. It is a very protective shield.

[Meriwen]

Thanks Elise

I go over it every day, to clean house, sweep residue, and check the weavings and ribbons for wear and replace if needed.

[MariThorn]

I use a similar shield of weaving light ribbons together. It is true that it also helps you ground and center. I have done it often enough that I can raise it quickly. I use different colors for different reasons. Usually red and white.

[amakaliani]

This one is one of my personal favorites and the one I teach first to my IRL students:

Breathe deeply. In through your nose and out through your mouth. Breathe in for the count of four, hold for four, out for four. Do this four times. It helps to ground us and aids in our concentration. (you can do this before any of these exercises)

Imagine that you are putting on a mirrored suit of armor. It is sleek, comfortable and form-fitting. Remember also to cover the bottoms of your feet and the top of your head.

This will reflect anything directed at you back to the person/thing in question.

Now -- when you first start this one...you won't have any 'filters' on it. All your stuff stays in and all the other stuff stays out...including people that you know and love. As you get better at the visualization, you'll be able to filter the suit--that is let in the good, (and out the good, as well) and stop the yucky stuff. This will take a bit of adjusting over a couple of weeks, but it will be easy as you get better at the visualization.



Ok, I sat down and did this. Except instead of just the shiny armor, I choose for it to be purple. About the time that I placed the mask on, my entire body felt a bit heavier and almost as though I was underwater or maybe in that spot just before sleep when you feel like you are too heavy to move.

And now as I type this, the feeling is still there. Covering my entire body from head to toe.

I am going to keep using that visualization as it seemed to work very well for me.

[Geministar]

I usually use the first method you posted, with the white light encircling me and sheilding me. It works great for me. I also tried the suit of armor method, and I liked it as well, but not as much as the candle method. I will still probobly most of the time use the ball of white light way, but I will also use the other methods you posted from time to time (I like to shake things up a little bit!)But I enjoyed trying new ways and they were all effective for me.:)

[slave_isabel]

I have finally got the hang of grounding and have begun trying to set up my sheilds. Today is the first day that I have actually sucessfully been able to build my shield. I was at the laundry and there was a stranger in there too. I was able to build a shield and stay safe inside it...AND I DIDNT PANIC!!
I just envisioned the arms of my loved ones wrapping around me in a solid wall leaving just enough room for me to see out of. It worked.

[piperwyatt]

the best form of sheilding is visualizing an orb of white light or fire around myself, and myself dressed in bright white, holding a gleaming sword. when I do this visualization, I take on my "mythical" self and I can wave off negativity with little effort.

I've had to do this several times within the past months, even before this class, and it's really helped me, but I think I need to find something stronger because I've noticed some negativity is starting to leak through my sheild. Any suggestions?!?!?!?!?!?

[~Elise~]

tried the suit of armor to go with the sword?

[Wyrdsister]

Just wanted to check in to say that I'm keeping up with the practicing (surprisingly!), but I don't have time to write anything in detail. I work until the 24th, have the 25th off, then work another 6 days in a row. I'll probably write more then!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Yule, and enjoy the rest of the holidays!

BB,
Wyrdsister

[~Elise~]

Great--glad to hear it! Keep up the practice...EVERYONE!

[~Elise~]

Lesson 5 is getting ready to go up

[Penthesilea]

I've been having to reinforce my shields when out in the shopping crowds. I'm getting good at it and I can tell a difference before and after. Now that the shopping part of the holiday is over, I hope I won't need to "supercharge" so often! :lol:

[~Elise~]

Awesome--glad it's working. Stories like this are why I teach the class.

Elise

[Hærfest Leah]

OK here is what I am going to work on. I like the idea of a bubble better than a suit of armor. To me I see mine more like one of those glass balls where you see the little charges of static electricity shooting around in it and when you touch it your hair is charged and stands on end.

Mine is a clear bubble (that just seems more pure to me) where on the outside you can see a charge of energy in a continuous loop that starts at the top and it goes around me down to the ground taking anything negative on the inside or being directed at me down with it and grounding it. But my shield is made of like breathable material that lets my good energy out and good energy in.

[LadyCelt]

I imagined myself with a mesh/armor type dress and a hood. I have excaliber as my sword. I also carry bows and arrows charged by Diana/Artemis. I often start with a ball/bit of white energy within me then project it out and ak for protection form the divine universe's energy.

[Syn]

I like the Armour one, but would it work if you visualized three balls surrounded you that are mirrors, and when somebody saw them they see an eye of the horus. Cause I can visualize that very well.

[~Elise~]

you would probably need to modify that a bit. It is very important that you cover your head and feet.