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

[~Elise~]

does everyone realize this has been up for a few days now???

[odd_duck71]

I've read it all, I promise!

I even have a notion for the "smart shield" -- unfortunately my attention span and visualization skills have a bit of catching up to do before it's going to be functional.

I'm using a quicker, simpler one in the meantime.

This class is making me realize just how much books and movies influence my thought patterns -- one of my grounding methods is X-men inspired, my smart shield is a Matrix/Lyndsay Sands combo, and my quick shield is pretty Harry Potter-ish. Sad, sad state of affairs...:goodgrief

[~Elise~]

No, not really. Whatever helps you get your visualization down quicker is okay. One in a former class used a shield while in the shower like the T3 guy. One- in my RL class uses the quill guy from X3--

Elise

[maudlin]

i like the suit of armor method.
im gonna try that one. im a fan of tangible things i can see.

i usually use a sphere shape made of dragonwings.
its worked pretty well for me, most of the time

[TheWomanMonster]

I've used the mirror in the past, I didn't like that one so much.
Although now that I'm working with filters maybe it would be different?

I like the egg/orb shield of light.
I use that one often out in public, to buffer what other people are throwing off. I use green for healing. Yellow for energy. Usually I use the Chakra colours because they're the ones I'm most familiar with.

My personal favorite is a mist like shield. I started using this one when I felt I needed to travel unnoticed. I create a cloud of violet mist around myself. It swirls and absorbs things that come at it. Worked especially well when I was alone in the dark.

I use the net one at night to shield in my sleep. Often 'lacing' the shield with my elements of choice. It seems to work nicely as well.

I find that after a couple weeks of working on shielding (I admit I got a jump start on it before you posted the lesson Elise) it's become more unconscious and effortless than before.

[~Elise~]

And THAT is the key to it... daily use. It'll become habit and you won't even have to think about it.

I change the frequency of mine (think radio dial) probably once a year or so now. More, if needed.

Elise

ETA--yes, TWM-filters are what makes the mirror one work well and not shut you off from life.

[odd_duck71]

I can get my smart shield about half done now before my attention span flakes out on me. Getting there...slowly.

[~Elise~]

you're getting there!!! yeah!!!

Elise

[LIGV]

I've found that I have more direction after grounding... now ... I just realize the new lesson been off and on the past mont... but I can certainly relate to duck... I'll try out the ball... this week... see how it workds for me... but the shields sounds achievable. :)

[~Elise~]

keep it coming, guys

Elise

[Annorah]

I love the idea of a permanent shield - up until now I have only shielded myself when I have known that I am going into difficult/testing situations when I have used a "grey cloak" (maybe a bit "Harry Potter" :lol: )

I am going to try the suit of armour first and see how I get on.

[odd_duck71]

I love the idea of a permanent shield - up until now I have only shielded myself when I have known that I am going into difficult/testing situations when I have used a "grey cloak" (maybe a bit "Harry Potter" :lol: )

I am going to try the suit of armour first and see how I get on.

:lol: My quick shield was inspired by the cloak of invisibility.

[odd_duck71]

WooHoo! I finally got my smart shield in place. :boing:

Elise -- Could you go into a bit more detail on the how to's of programming a shield? Do we visualize sample scenarios and the way we would like for the shield to respond to that sort of situation?

Maybe I'm missing something in the article, but it seems to just point out that it can be done and assume the reader will know how.


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

[~Elise~]

It's all in the intention. There isn't a specific way to do it.

Yeah on getting it in place. How 'bout you work on just that part for a couple of weeks before you start programming it? I think it would work better for you that way.

Elise

[odd_duck71]

Thanks! I'll do that.

[Annorah]

:boing: got my suit of armour in place without too much trouble!

Now I just have to work on the programming/filtering part - I think that is going to take a bit more time.

[LIGV]

Glowing whilte light seem to be the visiualisation for me... envolving me like a second skin :)

[~Elise~]

Awesome--how's everyone else's going? Are we ready to move to the next lesson?

Elise

[TheWomanMonster]

I'm ready when you are Elise. :)

[Shawn Blackwolf]

Ditto...Shield fully functional...ready...

[~Elise~]

Why do I feel like I'm in a Star Trek episode????


Next lesson going up soon!

Elise

[wolf]

I work in a setting with a lot of loose psychic energy flying around, so shielding is second nature to me. I have two methods that I work with. The first is best described as being like drawing a hooded cloak over and around myself, with absolutely nothing showing. The second is a bit more ideosyncratic ... I make my energy completely permeable ... it's like I'm completely not there, or, as my teacher described it, "Like trying to grab onto mist." She hadn't had another student who used that particular method before me.

If there's a particular point source I'm defending against, I'll create a mirror.

[wolf]

does everyone realize this has been up for a few days now???


Yep. The article was great.

[wolf]

Incidentally, this part of the class has been quite helpful, at least in terms of moving something as basic to me from background to foreground ... kind of like focusing on your breathing, you know?

(sorry for the multiple line of posts, but I keep coming up with some other tid-bit to add that doesn't quite fit in with an edit.)

[~Elise~]

Incidentally, this part of the class has been quite helpful, at least in terms of moving something as basic to me from background to foreground ... kind of like focusing on your breathing, you know?

(sorry for the multiple line of posts, but I keep coming up with some other tid-bit to add that doesn't quite fit in with an edit.)

Glad it's helping... The basics tend to get overlooked and underemphasized, IMO

Elise