Lesson 1 Story Exchange

[~Elise~]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

Elise

[MoonDragn]

I've had situations where I've been in a circle where spirits were being channeled. The spirits attached themselves to me and followed me home, and just slowly drained away my energy.
Another type of attack is from psychic vampires, usually ones without any idea that they are draining you. You come away with a headache.

I usually ground, center and shield to stop attacks. However, I have to drop my shield at some point. If I leave it up too long, I start to develop a migrain.

Sometimes I forget I put it up.

I would like to come away from the class with better control over my shields and maybe a better method of protection.

[misfitroxy]

I can't say that I've had spirituality-specific needs for magical self defense in the past (no curses or hexes pointed in my direction that I'm aware of), but I have dealt with some very manipulative and abusive types in the last few years who displayed many psychic/emotional vampire qualities, from what I understand of those terms. Two of them were people who were supposedly close friends of mine, and as such, they gave me some real physical and mental run-arounds, eventually destroying my sense of trust in pretty much any and everyone.

I'm still working on becoming open again (my house is covered in protection charms right now so I could get through those times and retain my sanity and general composure, but I'd like to let down a bit of the overall wall because it keeps the good out as well as the bad), and I think developing my psychic defenses will boost my confidence enough so I'm not as reliant on external assistance to make me feel secure and available for new experiences. To sum that up, I think if I can become aware without always feeling wary, I'd be happier. And if I can ever prevent that type of situation from occuring again and taking so much from me, I'd be friggin' elated. ;}

I'm very new to ritual and spellcasting, so part of my reason for joining this class is to prevent naivly proceeding with my practices and haphazardly placing myself in the way of potential harm.

I don't have a grounding technique as of yet (I've read about plenty of them, but haven't actually tested them out), so I'm looking forward to hearing the processes of others.

I'd like to strengthen my ability to shield (which is something I've been doing since I was young, I just didn't know what it was. I used to think of my Mom's car as surrounded by a bubble to keep it safe from crashes and I'd mentally trace my entire house with a barrier line when I was home alone to keep out intruders (of the physical and ethereal kind, as I was always fascinated, yet simultaneously terrified, by the idea of ghosts. Still am, I guess, if it's 3am and I've been "spooked" by an unexplainable noise)) as well.

Also, I've never smudged or ritualistically blessed my living space, but would appreciate knowing how to do so to clear the air (if only to dissolve my own negativity and stress) and make it "mine".

I would imagine the "where are you from" query refers to our location? If so, then I'm from Southern California. If it's more of a path question, then I'm still finding my way. But if I had to pin it down in a sentence, I'd say that I identify as a witch but not as Wiccan, though I'm drawn to Goddess energies and relate the most to Dianic practices out of everything I've read thus far (that being said, I'm also incredibly interested in Vodou, though more from a research than ritual perspective at the moment).

[Caitlin.ann]

One experience I've had in the past where Magickal Self Defense would have helped me were my run-ins with a Psychic Vampire. I don't have anything against Vampires, believe me, but this one loved to take my energy and after I was with him I'd always feel terrible. Magickal Self Defense would have saved me a lot of bad times. I suppose that's one of my main motivation out of taking this class. If I do end up hanging out with him in the future I want to be able to protect myself from his "feeding habits". I've tried shielding but I've learned that after a while of having my shield up it makes me physically nauseous.

I want to come away from this class with batter knowledge on how to protect myself psychically and magickally from physical and spritual entities who would do me harm.

I'm from Indiana and I've noticed this class before (and wanted to take it) but I was too late to join. I'm glad I finally have the opportunity to take this class.

[Wolf_love]

In the past, I was in a relationship with someone you could describe as a psychic vampire. It was long distance, I was far from him (thank God) but I felt a lot of negative energy and felt drained and lost my personality....I couldnt focus, my intuition was blocked and I couldnt talk to my guides... What I did at the time was to just carry my stones with me and pray..I was really scared took me over 3 months to recover even after keeping myself away from him. It was a very odd experience and I do not know what o call it, I do definately feel he was very draining.

I have never been bothered by spirits though.

I hope to learn to be able to protect myself better if/when such situations arise again.

Also, I am surrounded by a lot of "psychic vampires" people who drain you...I dont know just seems I run into a lot of them.

Im from Calgary, Canada and I am a new member here, saw the class and knew I'd gain a lot from it!

x x x

[Infinite Grey]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

Hmmm the majority of my experiences were a form of magical judo may have come in handy have usually been exaggerated by my over active imagination, but on the other hand, so of the events are not so easily dismissed. For example waking up with intense bruises on my back, beyond my reach... or at least in areas to which I would not of have had sufficient leverage to inflict them on myself.


What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?


Symbols have proven to work exceedingly well for me, using a seal, rune, hieroglyphs and other forms of potent symbolic devices. In fact a lot of what I do is based on Symbolism, like the concept of the "Projected Internal Closed Circle Reality" to which allows for both confidence, contentment and protection.

What doesn't work for me, is "conventional" energy work. In my opinion it is an art that should take a life time to master, to which I'm not particularly worried about people sending energy attacks against me... it's comparable to a bug on the windshield.



What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

Hopefully a new knowledge, I'm always on the look out for something to add to the old memory banks.


Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

Elise


I'm from Australia... born in Brisbane, but grew up in Sydney.

Academic curiosity prompted me to join this class... also that someone I respect said some very complementary things about you (seapearls) and I trust their judgment (even if I don't always agree with his methods)

[Amythyst]

Experiences in the past that would have been helped with some magical self defense...

I was raised in my grandmother's house and there was always something strange about it, and sometimes disturbing. My mother and I have just lately been comparing notes. I had no idea that she experienced some of the same things as I did in that house. You would feel as though you were being watched when no one was there; the hair on the back of your neck would stand up. You would get the feeling of something "bad" around you and have to leave the room-- usually at a fast pace! At night you could hear a voice whispering, you just couldn't quite make out what it was saying. My mother and I were both amazed that we had both experinced that one-- it was creepy.

My ex mother-in-law is a psychic vampire. Even people who have never heard of such a thing complain about how draining she is to be around. I'd have a headache and just feel zapped. I finally taught myself to tune her out and I would avoid her as much as possible. Now I get to permanently avoid her.

My present mother-in-law, and her family, have a terrible dislike for me. From day one, when we were introduced. She didn't even acknowledge the intro. She threw a fit. I can feel the negativity from these people even when I'm not around them and it is oppressive and uncomfortable. I'd like to be able to shut it off.

What have I done?...

I've made a witches' bottle for protection. But I made the mistake of burying it on my property. I was suppose to bury it several miles away from my own land. That one didn't seem to work. I learned my lesson about reading the fine print.

I've done bindings-- but I quickly learned that I cannot touch my ex-husband in any way like this because my children wind up getting sick, the whole lot of them. I'm assuming that there obviously must be a connection. I learned through experince that bindings can often have effects that you didn't bank on.

In our present home, after we moved in, we had some problems in the girls room. I talked to the previous owners and found out that they had lost a child and that my girls were sleeping in that child's room. I did a cleansing with sage and salt, my daughter and I made small bags of herbs for protection that we hung over the doorsill and the window, I regualry incense the room. Problems stopped.

What do I want to gain from this class...

The knowledge that you don't really have to be afraid of anything-- whether it's human or an unseen entity. I want to learn all the old ways there are out there of protecting myself and my family and my home from energies, entities, and any other unforseeable situations that come up. I also want to take away the empowerment and peace of mind that this knowledge will bring.

What prompted me to join this class?...

The chance to finally learn from a teacher.

I'm from Nebraska USA.

[~Elise~]

Wow--great stories so far. I hope what I teach can live up to your goals.

Seriously, what you get out of this class will be directly related to how much of the daily practice you do during this class AND more importantly, what you do after this class is over.

I do make this promise though: IF you will do the daily practices for a minimum of 3 months, which will start in the third lessson, you will become adept at Self Defense. It will become a habit and that is when it will be truly effective.

What I'm teaching will be the basics that you will be able to use throughout your lifetime.

Elise

[Wytchie]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

The only real confirmed experience I have had was during an online based circle. Someone none of us knew came in and targeted me as I was the least experienced person there (or at least, in discussions after the fact that is what we assumed to be the reason). I immediately began to feel very drained, and weighted down, and nauseous. I knew some very very basic techniques such as grounding and shielding, but ultimately it took intervention from someone a lot more knowledgeable than myself to get me out of the situation. I learnt a lot of lessons that day, number one not to go into open online circles!


What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

I have since learned the basics of 'mirroring' (as I call it, the idea of reflecting energy back to the sender), as well as practiced a lot at shielding and 'putting up walls/doors' inside my mind to protect myself. Most of the techniques I use rely on visualisation, and I seem to have a bit of a hit and miss track record to be honest; I can do it when calm, but when a bit anxious it tends to bit a bit less reliable.

What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

Number one I would like to feel that I am able to take care of and protect myself should the need arise. I would also like to feel able to join a circle at some point in the future, knowing that if something did happen that I could protect myself and not rely on others to do it for me. I would like to become better at the very basic techniques I am aware of, and possibly learn some more too.

Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

I am from N.Wales, UK, and I joined this class as it is something I have been interested in learning (well, more felt that I needed to learn) for some time, but have been worried about who I learned from and in what kind of environment. I feel very safe here at MW and do trust the members, so felt that as the opportunity arose in a place I was comfortable in, it would be daft not to take advantage of it!

[Philosophia]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

I'm an empath and I can't stand some of the energy out there. I keep my shield up most of the time but they're very thin and sometimes I can't keep them up.
I have had two experiances with "psychic vampires". One knew about his "condition" yet thought it might be fun to try it out on me, and the other was totally oblivious to it. I could block the latter, but not the first.
My house is also haunted and one of the spirits hanging around isn't friendly. So I hope to move him on soon. I also do a lot of ghost hunting and have came in contact with many different entities.
Nothing else has happened to me.


What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

I've done shielding, symbols, bindings, and talismans. So far, all have worked, except the shielding and symbols need more *boost* so there not energy draining.


What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

To further gain experiance, and learn more effective techniques to better protect myself and my loved ones.


Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

I'm from South Australia, Australia, and I joined this class to get better educated about magical self-defense from an experianced teacher.

[Sage WindMoon]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

For the past three years I've been dealing with an individual at work who constantly drains my energy. Due to our roles at work, I am always working in close proximity to this person. I've tried shielding myself, but I find it hard to maintain that all the time. Also I'm somewhat empathic, and I need to get better at blocking out the emotions of others.


What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

I would like to gain more experience in shielding and general self-protection.


Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

I'm from the St Louis, Missouri area. I've seen this class offered in the past and never got a chance to sign up, and I really need to get some experience in this area.

[Sobeq]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

Elise

Lets see. In the past I have been involved in relationships with people who are very emotionally and mentally draining, and I would have benefited from being able to avoid those effects. Also, members of my family have a tendency to broadcast their emotions, so that if they are feeling stressed or upset, it immediately rubs off. I'm beginning to wonder if I'm not slightly empathic b/c of that.

I have tried some basic forms of shielding which I gathered from reading books and websites, which mostly worked out for a while -- I was basically immune to my family's emotions and the emotions of people at school which would occasionally rub off on me. It worked for about two weeks, and then it wore down and I never quite got it back up. I tried a few charms to shield my rooms, but they never really worked -- I don't think I quite put enough effort in, though.

I hope to come away from this class with enough knowledge to shield and defend myself from anybody I should meet in college who should wish to harm me. I also would like to know how to be safer in order to be more comfortable with the idea of rituals, magic, and meditation.

I'm from good old New Jersey -- Most of what you've heard isn't true, I promise! I decided to join the class, well, mostly for the reasons above, but also because I am going off to college in September and I would like to be prepared for that. I'm very excited to participate in this class (I'm a knowledgeaholic.)

[~Elise~]

Keep 'em coming, guys!

Elise

[Garden of Eden]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

Hmmm. I've never had many problems during ritual or spellwork, i.e. I have never attracted anything I didn't want around. However, there have been many instances in my day-to-day life when knowledge of magical defence would have been very useful. I've encountered a couple of psychic vampires and one or two individuals who seem to project negative energy onto everyone around them. I pick up emotions from people sometimes, but I wouldn't call myself an empath. If anything, I'm probably the opposite of an empath, because I have a tendency to project my own feelings outwards (I have an empathic friend, and I give her major headaches. I don't drain, but she finds it tiring when I'm particularly energetic.) I suppose I'd like to learn to prevent myself doing that too often.

I have also experienced some problems with my grandmother's house and the belongings which I inherited after her death. In particular, her jewelry box, of which she was very proud, has some very strong emotions attached to it and I was forced to move the box from my room because it was preventing me from sleeping. Since then my room has been attracting odd things during the night; dark shapes move about quickly and hover in the corners; I want to get rid of those. 0_o

My mother works in a two hundred-year-old building and has experienced really odd things in her office and the corridors. I've promised to make her something that'll help.


What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

I've often visualised a bubble of energy around myself in order to block external influence-- sometimes I form it just where I want it, but if I'm feeling particularly threatened I'll 'explode' it outwards from within me, and I've found that makes for a very strong shield. Occasionally I forget to take them down... but they are effective.

Other times I just use symbols, visualising them in the air before me and making them solid in order to block whatever's making me uneasy. I've used crystals and such with different associations for protection as well.

I can't really think of something that was unsuccessful-- not because I've never had anything fail :p-- but because I tend to dismiss things when they don't work. I like to quickly figure out what went wrong and move on to a new method. Recently I've tried banishing whatever's hanging around in my room just by declaring it to be "banished" and demanding that it leaves. That didn't work... lol.

What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

Knowledge, basically. I hope to learn techniques I can apply whenever and wherever I need them.

Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

I'm from the North of Ireland and I joined for all the reasons detailed above.

[Skylah]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

I haven't as yet had a need for magical self defense, save for negative thoughts cast my way. I do feel that it is an important skill to learn. I have only begun to read a little on the subject.


What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

As for negative thoughts coming at me... this is an occasional occurance at work by a particular co-worker. At that point in time, I take my 15 minute break, ground and center with a tree meditation.

What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

new skills/knowledge for safety and peace of mind.

Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

I'm from Muskoka Ontario Cda. Your Magical Self Defence course caught my eye, as I have been reading a little on this subject just recently.

Thank you, Elise

Blessings,
Skylah

[Rowan Darkmoon]

O.k., so I'm cheating a little, and I'm going to copy what I put for the beginning of the last class, and then add some new info. ;)

I have a couple of stories that make me want to take this class...they might be a little long so bear with me.

The first negative entity experience I had was when I was living with a couple of friends (who were dating) at an old apartment. I would notice something in the hallway at night, it seemed human shaped, that would stare at me if I left the door to my bedroom open. There were three of them, two felt female and one male. It went on for a little while, and I kept having dreams about them, in my dreams they looked like black flame with red eyes, so I decided to cleanse the apartment and hallway. When I moved into the hallway and asked the things to go away, the male blantaly told me that he would not. So, I kick his butt out, set wards around the apartment, and didn't have a problem after that.

Later, I told the story to my male friend, who has psychic abilities but refuses to learn how to use them, and he freaked out. They were into drugs, and I was not, so whenever they did them I left the apartment. He had recently tried mushrooms for the first time. He had no reaction to them, until he went to his bedroom and looked out into the hallway. In the hall he saw three black figures with red eyes who looked at him and said, "We're not leaving, we're a part of you now."

I experienced some psychic probbing earlier in this year from unknown people. It felt unpleasant, like someone was taking a jackhammer to my forehead. I set up some psychic shields, and cut the ties that they were trying to establish, and set a very clear "stay away" message back. They persisted for some time until I asked the Morrigan to incede on my behalf and strengthen my stay away message. They haven't messed with me since then.

While I do have some experience with Magical Self Defense, I'm not as good at it as I would like to be. I have a tendency when I go new places to absorb the energies of that place until I'm pretty much walking around in a daze for the first day or so. Usually this is o.k., but when I'm in a place with a lot of negative energy, it severely affects me and makes me spacey and freaked out.

I have used shielding and binding, as well as some talisman work, but not a lot. I am very good at energy working and visualization. I'm not so good at keeping shields up because I have a tendency to get distracted and I don't visualize them around me all of the time.

I want to come away from this class with more precision and knowledge, and greater peace of mind. Right now I have some self defense techniques, but they're more like drunken boxing then martial arts. :lol: It's kind of like, "Throw a bunch of crap at it until it leaves me alone." This technique is very tiring, and with some things, self defeating.

I am from the US, and live in Illinois. :hahugh:

[moonbride]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

My only experiences that I would have needed some Magical Self Defense would be people who tend to be draining and hard to be around. I can think of two in particular... one a close friend of the last 13 years who I feel I'm growing apart from. She tends to totally zap the energy from you when she's having a bad day and I mean she can really wipe a person out. The other is a close family member who really tends to make every situation a drama of some sort. I sometimes literally feel exhausted after spending too much time with either of them. It would be really nice to be able to defend myself against those feelings.


What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

I have been folling my spiritual path for around 8 years now but only recently started seriously practicing. However, in the past I have made charms or used crystals sometimes to help me out a little. I have had pretty good success with those things when I've thought to use them. What I'm bad about is remembering that I CAN use these things.


What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

I want to learn all I can about protecting myself and not have to worry anymore or dread coming in contact with people/entities who may seek to harm me or even harm me without the intent.


Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

I am from Ohio. I just joined MW earlier this week and after looking around for several days, I became very interested in this class once I saw some of the answers others had given to this first lesson. I'm so happy that I was able to join a little late.

[LadyOak]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

There are times I feel I have a need for Magical Self Defense. I work with the public and feel lots of negative energy thrown my way.


What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

Usually I am able to stave off negative energy by leaving the situation.

What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

Skills and knowledge

Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?
I live in Florida and have always been interested in this

[~Elise~]

wow--this is the most international class that I've had. You guys run the gambit.

Okay--there are still a few that haven't posted--

GET BUSY! This is the easy stuff. It gets harder from here.Tograduate you have to do the homework for ALL the classes.

Here is the banner for you guys for this class, as well.

Elise

[Brightshores]

Hi! Glad to be in this class!

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

Well, I grew up in a family where both my parents were active alcoholics for most of my life. So, I have been subjected to undeserved attacks, accusations, and character assassination for the past twenty years. My father died ten years ago, but my mother is still alive and has now gotten to the point where it seems all she can do to cope with her pain is to project it onto others.

What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

I am fairly new to my path so I haven't done very much in the past that could be formally considered "magical self defense." Just some basic shielding visualization.. It worked to the point where I believe it gave me confidence to face certain situations, but I'm not sure it Worked in the greater sense.

What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

I would like to learn how to protect myself from negativity and fear, and to defend myself in a mental and spiritual sense. Generally, I would also like to take this opportunity to grow spiritually.

Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

I'm originally from New Jersey (I agree with crazedstarlite - it's actually a nice place!) and now live in Southeast PA (via the UK - a complicated story!)

Basically, my family situation prompted me to join this class. Also, I've been dealing with a rather prolonged spell of bad luck, and I'm hoping to find some tools to break that cycle as well.

[Sivafae]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

At night when I try to sleep and there is no noise to distract me, I find that I have been having visions of very vile things while in the inbetween meditative state of consious to unconsious.
Also, when traveling out and about in the city, some people have a tendency to try and get my attention and drain me. I had one guy the other day ask me for a cigarette and then get pissed at me because I said "no." Sure he was an asshole, but I was still left with the fight or flight defenses.

What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?
Well for dealing with the visions I found a picture of a tibetan goddess that deals with nightmares, I forget her name. At first I was visualizing Archangel Michael to help send the demon down to hell, but it was quite exhausting. But when I visualized the tibetan goddess, she ate it right up. But she seems to not be working so well these days again.
In dealing with street people, I have almost perfected my "No" to the point where they just look at me and move away. But more techniques are always useful.

What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?
A greater understanding of the subject.


Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?
SF Bay Area. I would very much like to be able to reclaim the part of my meditative magical process, it is incredibly powerful for me and to have something blocking that ablility is highly frustrating.

[Necrobomber]

well...i can't really say that i have had an interest nor the need to use magic in the past so i'm fairly new to this. altho the other day i did hear some strange sounds during a storm that too me sounded like hostile spirits. i have also had trouble sleeping at night.

i want to come away from this class knowing how to protect myself and those that are close to me.

i am from massachusetts in in the US.

[~Elise~]

Sivafae--

You might contact me via PM or email. Depending on your path, I know QUITE a few witches in your area.

I soooooo want to be there myself. I miss the ocean and just the general area so much. My soul hurts when I see pictures of the area--esp ocean.

Elise

[~Elise~]

Moonbride made an awesome banner... at least, I think so.

Here is your class banner!

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And here are instructions on how to add this to your signature line.

How to Post a Banner

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To post a banner in your signature, enlarge the image, right click on the picture image, then go to properties and click. Copy the url address you see by highlighting it and hitting "ctrl c". Now, go into your UserCP section of MW, and edit signature. Scroll down until you get to the box that says Posting Rules. Make sure that IMG is on and VB is on. Now Click on the yellow button above the white text box that looks like mountains above the white text box. Now paste the url address in there by pressing "ctrl v". Click OK. You should now see the URL address surrounded by [IMG] brackets. Hightlight this section, and press the button above the text box that centers text. This will center your picture in your signature. Now save and you should be good to go.


Elise

[Tarbh Nathroch]

I read a book by the same name of this class…man more than 12 years ago. I found it very useful mostly at work where I am constantly pounded by the stress, emotions and energies of co-workers. It can be very easy to get caught up in the panic and stress of others so the techniques in that book help with that I find. That and you have to go to work so if there is just a downright draining person there you can’t distance yourself….you need to defend yourself.

I am looking to get a refresher from this course maybe a few new techniques. I really do think that that book so many years ago is the reason people around me always think I’m so together and collected and why I find it very easy not to get carried away with the drama of others peoples lives, and why those people you can just tell are vampires don’t like me after only a few moments and move on to someone else to vent on.

I also have a creature in my dreams that I would like to be able to spar with and nail down…its an interesting situation since I am a lucid dreamer.

[~Elise~]

I will be offline all weekend. I will check in either late on sunday or early on monday.

Elise

[AussiePagan]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defence would have helped you.

Well I'm still new to Paganism, done a bit of reading on various things, but I haven’t actually done any ritual/magical work beyond meditation and some unsuccessful energy work. Knowing how to not to hurt yourself, or allow yourself to be hurt by others seems a pretty good idea :idea:

What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

What have I done, not much :hehehehe:, What's worked, umm...I can meditate :idea: What hasn't worked, energy work, but I haven't given up on that one yet.

What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

Knowledge of basic magical/spirtiual defenses so I can play around with magic stuff without hurting myself.

Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

I study in country NSW Australia, but home is on the coast. What prompted me ? Well it looked interesting and self defence seems like a nice place to start for the budding pagan.

[Kmartin60]

HI, Im very new in some areas...and others have dealt with for long time! I had as a teenager (LONG time ago!) LOL had a demon? or something attach our home and would cause all sorts of "stuff"
(No true vicious attacks just a pain? persay)

Now, as I try to open back up to the qualities I had then...telepathy, empathy, and such...have found working with online groups..such attacks from low self esteem, deppresion, and you name it, the works! (Mainly for the group, but have felt lots of physical problems irritated because of the attacks)

Also seem to draw vamps? I dont know for sure what you would call them but they seem to need constant upholding, and attention....draining me.

I come from a Born-again Christian background, with a touch of green witchery, medicine woman apprentice, and do a few catholic novena's thrown in that brew! :awilly: :yayah: (And planning on starting spellcrafting!) So, needless to say, lots of confusion...and need to learn plenty of protection! (Hmmm...? I guess Im now what they call a Mystical Christian?) :hehehehe:

Also here lately, been recieving messages in my dreams? Want to be strong enough to be able to filter the useful stuff from the nonsense......

Im a disabled housewife, in the bible belt area of OK......
(this change in my path comes from needing help with M.S. and pacemaker) so....sigh...looking into all ways for help not only my own health but more importantly to help others....knowledge is power they say, but learning how and when to use it is wisdom...so also needing to gain that! :lol: Sorry so long, Kim

[CelticMoon11]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

I've had some very strange experiences. One I had I was in my room and I was laying on my bed I closed my eyes and opened them again and everything was tinged blue and I heard a voice yelling "shut the door!" but then I felt it was too late and felt a dark nasty presence ooze down the hall way and slide up the wall and circle above me I managed to visualise a shield as it fell on me and fought with it long and hard until my cat in the physical realm ran into the room screaming and hissing and woke me up and I couldn't breath

I had a similar experience where in the middle of the night i though the bed was rocking and the blankets were going mental and I was trying to fight it away but couldn't and ran and sat in a corner and could see the same dark mass as before and said "it's found me" and then it disappeared on the return of my partner from the bathroom. More training and practice and discipline would help me a lot more I believe in facing these sorts of situations even if they are just dreams just knowing more and having better and stronger visualisation abilities would probably help ease these experiences


What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

Sheilding work but I find the effect wavers sometimes it feels very strong others I feel weak and useless. Umm not really sure what hasn't worked probably bindings don't work I tried one on certain individuals that didn't stop them from hurting others. A loud and fiery ill tempered mouth has worked on occassion :lol:


What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

An inspired desire to strive to learn and practice more and maybe new techniques and exercises that I haven't looked at previously that will help me :)


Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

Elise

Im from Australia and I wanted to join this class for reasons stated above. Thank you again for letting me join late :)

Celtic Moon

[~Elise~]

KMartin60--please contact me ASAP offlist. If you are ANYWHERE close to Tulsa... I'm doing this whole class, in person, as a one-day workshop on July 8th.

Elise

[~Elise~]

Great reasons to be taking this class. I truly hope that you do take something away from this that will help you in these matters. THAT is the reason that I was so passionate about teaching this class. It was said that it couldn't be done online.
In one respect, that is correct. BUT the basic ideas and concepts can be taught. How you apply that daily and to your day-to-day life is up to you. You will get out of this class exactly what you put into it. If you do the daily practice... You will get better at this, I promise.
Will it keep out all the bad uglies, NO? But, it gives you a strong foundation to build on. And that is important to keep in mind... I'm giving you the tools to build a foundation...where you take it from there is limited only by YOU.

Elise

[Hermgirl]

First off, let me apologise for taking so long to get this in.

I kind of separate my magical studies into two--stuff I did back when I was a teen in the 80s, and stuff I've been doing over the past few years, after returning after many years.

I'm from the San Francisco bay area, where there is access to all kinds of info and every kind of group you could want to join.

Back in the day, I had a friend that taught me some things, and we also learned things together. As far as self-defense was concerned, I mainly went through a few books, such as "Creative Visualization" and learned a few meditation and affirmation techniques that sort of built me up.

An experience that had a profound affect on my beliefs about metaphysics, how they work, and what one should & shouldn't mess with occured during this time.

My friend was experiencing some kind of psychic difficulty. She went to one of her friends who was considerably more experienced than we were, and they taught her some technique, what it was, I don't know. She practiced it on her own, and whether the person had purposefully taught her something bad (they may not have had the best motives), she overdid it, or performed it wrong, I don't know, but the result was that she had called up some kind of "entities" that she said occupied her room like buzzing flies.

This was the point when I was enlisted, her partner in crime, to come over and spend the night, to see if i could identify them, or help ward them off.

I slept down in the basement, pretty much right beneath her room. As I laid down getting ready to sleep, I heard a whisper in my ear, as if someone was talking to me on a cellphone: "Get ready, Hermgirl, here they come!" My friend later told me that she had said that, although not so loud as to be physically heard down there (she & I had a very powerful telepathic connection.)

And something was indeed coming down the stairs to me. Some kind of malevolent thought form, that looked to my "psychic eye" like a science fiction horror monster.

I quickly mentally constructed a "glass jar" around myself, which the thing was not able to penetrate, although whether one or many, it buzzed around my structure like bees. I also focused on the song, "We're Not Gonna Take It" by Twisted Sister, which was a nice positive image to divert my attention from the very frightening thing hovering above me. I managed to fall asleep that way, and nothing seemed to happen after that.

Things basically went on the way they had been, although my friend had a lot of control-freak issues & also accused me of being a psychic vampire, although I think in retrospect she may have may have been the vampire--over our friendship, I wound up giving her huge sums of money, and loaning her things she never returned. I was always available to her, and our friendship ended when I finally got tired of coming running every time she crooked her finger.

She told me that her cousin had put a curse on me--this may have led to our break (in that case, he did me a favor!), or it may have been a lie to see what would happen.

I have tried to be more sensible in recent times, mainly studying on my own. I've learned the LBRP, which I need to pick up on doing again. I got involved with a group, going to a few of its rituals, although a series of little things led me to believe that I really don't want to "do the Vulcan mind meld" magically with these folks, so I backed off from them.

I joined this class thinking that anything I could learn here would be very helpful in "dejunking" anything icky I may have picked up recently, as well as teach me things to help heal the "psychic scarification" from the past.

Thank you for bearing with me.

[Pandy Fackler]

I haven't had a problem with any kind of self-defense until recently. I broke up with a guy a while back and he was savvy to energy workings and things...and of course, he wasn't very happy. I found myself constantly pouring out energy to him for various reasons. Same thing happened after I broke up with a different guy except he was doing it subconciously. I keep finding myself drained because of people who feel I've wronged them; I feel good about my decisions, I just find myself drained and constantly attending to these people until they leave me alone. It's exhausting.

I've done lots of things in the past but only to certain extents. I've tried a few things but never gotten any kind of formal, attentive training on this subject. I've tried opening and closing the doors to my chakras, imagining white light around me, feeling my spirit guides with me, crystals, charms, etc. So far, the only thing I feel any kind of loose connection with is feeling my spirit guides present. I ask for help and protection (usually before bed) and I feel my protecting guide by my bedside.


I'm wanting a good, definete training on this subject. So far, people ahve just mentioned suggestions in passing but we've never actually sat down and talked about just this subject.


And last....I'm from Cincinnati, Ohio. I've never taken a class at MW but I've always wanted to. I just happened to see the sign-up forum (granted...a few days too late). Thanks so much for letting me in!

[atropa]

Please post some experiences that you've had in the past where you think that Magical Self Defense would have helped you.

First of all, I am very empathic, and as such am susceptible to negativity around me, always have been. When I first started on this path (about 10 years ago) I was, of course, niaeve. Some friends and I started a circle, and it was really exciting. There was one member who I thought was a friend but as it turns out was, I believe, working against us. I truly believe she was doing negative magic against my Mom and me. It was very frighteneing for me, as I have always been a trusting person. I was also scared because I was inexperienced and didn't know what to do to defend myself, and was unsure of what action to take fearing karmic retribution. One of the first things the leader of this group taught us was energy working. So I tried shielding, it was all I knew to do. She had been studying for 7 years and taught me the basics. She was a good person, but got caught up with the other girl, and my Mom and I were out. I haven't been a part of any type of circle or coven since. Fast forward to recently. My brother was dating this girl for 2 years. She considers herself a witch. When we would have conversations about it she would always agree that "Do as you will and harm none" was paramount. I have recently found out some horrible things about her, and she is an evil, vindictive person. Much like the person I mentioned above. The things sha has done to my brother are reprehensible, I can't believe how conniving and sick she is. She successfully hid all of this from us for 2 years. I believe she may be working magic to harm my family, and I want it stopped. I want to learn how to do it the right way.


What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?

Mostly shielding. That has worked pretty well, even if I'm in the car or something I'll visualize a bubble of protection around the car. One time I did a banishing spell to get a really harmuful person out of my life. He left town shortly thereafter and I've never heard from him again. That scared me. I didn't do the spell out of vengeance. I did it because we were in fear of our safety and sanity.


What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?

I would like to protect my self and my family from people like the ones above, and from psychic vampires (intentional or not).


Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?

I'm from Birmingham, AL, currently live in Montgomery, and am planning a move to Nashville. There is nothing where I live currently, but lots of pagan groups and gatherings in Nashville. I am ready to find a group of some sort but want to have a strong defense system in case things go wrong again.

[AstralMagick]

I'm quite empathic, so the energies around really hit me.

'What have you done in the past?'
I've mostly just done imagery, where a light is surrounding me, and no 'dark' can absorb the protective barrier.

'What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?'
I suppose that what I've explained above works well enough, but it doesn't help "reverse" damage.

'What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?'
Different opinions, new experiences.

'Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?'
From Wisconsin, USA. I joined because one can never know too much.;)

[slntmom]

when ever i talk to my one friend i use to feel really down and bad. but now before i see her i meditate and focus all of my positive enerigies and surround myself with those energies and bring up my sheilds and i no longer feel down or tired

[Jenne]

I was actually in a little cybercoven about 3 years ago, and we all knew each other IRL as well. Well, two of the witches decided I was not to be borne and did some AWFUL psychological crap, and I SUSPECT something on the astral plane as well. I put up shields and protected me and mine, but I suspect that they had already had something in place beforehand.

See, there'd been a falling out waaaay before, but I thought they'd dropped it. I thought things were getting back to normal, we could start hanging together again, and then WHAM! they hit me with full-force. And they dragged in a third one as well, who since recanted, but she's still sort of a drain, if you know what I mean, on my defenses.

I now think they did something unintentionally, but through stirring of the negativities they had about me, they really messed things up for me, on a lot of levels. I only just got out of the tailspin they put me in 2 years ago. It took me TWO years to get over that.

I'm Jenne, turning 33 this Friday, work-at-home mom to 2 boys, and I've been on this board for forever. I'm a witch, an eclectic pagan, with no real pantheon. Just a Moon Mother and a Sun Father, though I occaisionally call upon different deities at other times.

Sorry this took me so long to get over here and post!

[innocent]

"What have you done in the past? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?"

Being an empath, I've had to do alot of sheilding, and from day one that has worked rather well for me. I have learned to do several types and have certain likes and dislikes as far as that goes. Chants usually dont work well for me, and I've never tried to use PSI against anyone, but i suppose if warrented I might.


"What is that you're wanting to come away with from this class?"
Well, ever sence I was younger, my brother was very troubled. He unknowingly would bring people over who would create havock for me on a metaphysical level. I just want to know how to protect myself a little better now that I'm going to a new home.

"Also--where are you from and what prompted you to join this class?" I am from one of the "hick" states in the U.S. but will be moving sometime soon :D