Basic Psychic Protection
Basic psychic protection acts as an energy that wraps around us. The purpose of this energy is ultimately to block out all intrusive or malicious vibrations that come from other sources. As one begins to practice magic or any psychic art, their awareness of the world's energies increases greatly. With this newfound sensitivity comes exposure to a new realm of distractions. Astral entities may be attracted to your increased energy or activities. Other practitioners may notice you as well. Not all of these personalities may wish you harm, but it is best to be prepared with psychic protection, just in case.
Bubble TechniqueThe most basic technique for protecting oneself magically is to simply imagine yourself inside a ball of white light that turns away any energy before it can touch you. When you visualize this ball of light around you, you want to make sure it appears opaque and solid in your mind's eye. This bubble should extend about a foot above your head and at least 6 inches below your feet. It doesn't have to be a perfect sphere; just make it fit around your body in whatever shape seems most comfortable or appropriate. You want to enforce the energy in the areas above and below to be just as strong as the areas in front and behind you. Rest assured that even after you come out of your concentrated state, this bubble will move with you without hindrance. Any vibrations that touch it will simply pass over and around your shield like the wind moving around a mountain. In the rare circumstance that your shield comes up against someone else's, it will bend to compensate, but not break, much like two balloons pressing together. You need to hold the image of an impenetrable force field in your mind for at least a good solid minute or two, before returning to your everyday life.
Mummy TechniqueThe visualizing of specific shapes forming around your body piece by piece adds focus and resolve to your psychic protection, and this is the basis of the mummy technique. Begin by creating the image of a ball of white light glowing just above your head where the crown chakra or higher-self psychic center is located. Focus on the energy here, willing its intensity to increase. Visualize white light sweeping down from this powerful sphere in the shape of a wide ribbon that begins to wrap around your head. You may want to leave some space between the energy ribbons and your physical body, perhaps 3-4 inches. Have the ribbon continue to wrap around your head, overlapping itself and creating a solid sheet that surrounds your head in protective energy. Don't stop at the head though. Let the ribbon continue to spin around your shoulders, torso, hips, legs all the way down to the feet, making sure to cover every spot so that you are entirely and safely wrapped. Once you've worked your way down to your feet, have it wrap underneath them, completing the blanket surrounding you. When you are completely wrapped, hold the image of what you just did in your mind for a few moments before opening your eyes. This exercise is a great way to improve your skills with energy manipulation while benefiting yourself.
Burning FlameThe Burning Flame is best used in situations that may be dangerous or that you require a great amount of psychic protection over a short period of time. If you are entering a place/meeting/situation with a terrible amount of negativity you can perform this technique. Some people visualize their shields as a fire surrounding them at all times which is fine, although the method presented here is geared toward an emergency situation or on a temporary basis since it uses high amounts of energy.
Stand perfectly upright with your legs together and your arms flat against your side. Go deep inside yourself to the center of your being. Approach all of this with a confident intensity, your mind focused on your need for protection. Find your center and know that in your center is an intense source of energy, the very energy that all your magical abilities come from. With your consciousness in this core of your being, create an eruption of energy within yourself. Like a volcano building up pressure, cause your energy to rise and expand from your center out. As the energy reaches the outside of your body have it burst into a blue flame that surrounds your body. The curved base of the flame should be at your feet and the tip of the flame above your head. The intense energy flame will burn any outside vibrations before they can reach you. This flame won't harm you physically since it's a spiritual flame, but it will stop any other spirit or energy from touching you. Once the flames surround you, try to keep part of your mind focused on it as you proceed through the situation you felt required extra psychic protection. Imagine more energy fanning the flames stronger and higher as you exhale.
As with any of these techniques, practicing first in a safe place is highly recommended.
Chakra Spin ProtectionThis powerful technique unites the chakras to create a shield fully embedded with all aspect of your will and energy. Begin by visualizing performing the Psychic Center Visualization as detailed in the Energy Techniquesdocument. A quick rehash: Charge the crown chakra, and draw a line down to the 3rd eye chakra. Charge the 3rd eye before drawing a line to the throat. Charge and continue to the heart, charge this chakra and draw a line of white light to the solar plexus chakra. After charging the solar plexus you move to the sex chakra, charge it and then onto the root chakra. As mentioned before, this is an adaptation of the traditional chakra system to have a center between the two feet so draw one more line to the ground center and charge this area. Create two lines of light from this center that swoop to each side of you in an upward curve before connecting with the crown chakra above your head. Begin cycling your energy through the lines timed with your breathing.
Instead of stopping at this point, continue cycling but move your focus to the curved lines at your side. We want to move these two lines simultaneously clockwise so that they being to spin around the body. Let them put out energy as they continue to move faster and faster until their light forms a solid wall of energy that surrounds you. Spin this wall of energy around you for a few moments. When you feel ready, let the image of the chakras fade from your mind, and let the spinning motion end, but hold onto the image of all the energy the chakras surrounded you with.
How often and how long?
You should practice psychic protection techniques at least once a day until your body picks up the habit and begins to naturally reinforce your shields with energy. After a month or two you should be proficient enough that you only need to revisualize your shields once a week. If you find yourself in a particularly nasty situation where you need an extra amount of protection, feel free to shield yourself again even if you had done so earlier in the day. As you become more comfortable and skilled at these techniques you will find it possible to reinforce your shield with little concentration and even while you body is in motion or otherwise distracted.
Colors in ProtectionEveryone likes to add a little color to his or her magic. When you give your energy it's own color, you are personalizing it and making it easier for you to relate to. Some people are very firm in the belief that white energy is the purest and therefore is most powerful. Generally white and blue are the most commonly used colors for psychic protection. There may be something to this, but it is always best to listen to your gut. If you feel an urge to have a green shield, then go with it. You can always experiment by changing your shield's color every week. If you find one shade or tone to be more effective than others, then stick with it. There are some generally accepted associations with each color that I'll post on the Temple of Manannan at a later date.
Complex combinations of color can be used to create very strong protection. For example you could make a shield that starts as red at the top of your head and then slowly graduates to orange, yellow, green, blue and then purple when it finally reached your feet. Visualizing such a shield takes strong focus, and holding it this image in your mind's eye as the day goes by can be challenging. Since the appearance of this shield requires much more effort, it is more strongly empowered by your will. Unusual patterns in shields can also aid you in psychic self-defense. Integrating a religious design or an occult symbol that represents protection can add extra strength and power.
