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Common Sense on Psychic Protection
Caitlin Matthews, Psychic Shield: The Personal
Handbook of Psychic Protection.
Ulysses Press, 280 pages, $14.95
Caitlin Matthews is a living encyclopedia of the folkways and myths of the
Celts and the British Isles, the author of some forty books in this field.
She is also an authentic priestess of the Western Way, who brings to
shamanic practice an intimate knowledge of the power of song and story to
open paths for soul healing.
Her new book on psychic protection is dedicated to the late Dion Fortune,
whose work Psychic Self-Defence remains the classic, but was written
for practitioners rather than the general public, and presents the risk that
its thrilling and amazing case studies of psychic evil and dark side magic
will stimulate some readers to imagine that they are facing worse problems
than they are actually likely to encounter.
Caitlin Matthews wisely counsels us that psychic good health depends, first
and last, on exercising common sense, staying grounded, maintaining a
functioning “BS detector” – and keeping a sense of humor. She reminds us
that psychic means “of the soul” and that the heart of psychic defense
requires us to work with the energy of soul, and restore soul energy where
it has been lost through life traumas or bad choices.
Her core approach could be summarized as follows:
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We want to
set and maintain good energy boundaries. This involves scanning our energy
field, repairing holes or tears in the energy web, and cutting unhealthy
cords of connection to other people.
-
We need to
recognize we are not alone. Help is always available from our spiritual
allies. We want to remember to call on our helpers, and do what is necessary
to keep them around. We become visible to our advocates when we turn our
minds towards them, as in prayer or meditation, and when we do the work of
soul; they become visible to us through our dreams and imagination, taking
forms according to our understanding.
-
At every
turning, we should choose where we put the energy of our attention.
Energy flows where attention goes.
-
The only
real time is now. We want to live now, not in guilt over the past or fear
about the future.
-
We have the
power, and the responsibility, to deal with psychic disruption.
-
We need to
identify where we ourselves are a source of psychic disruption, through what
we invite or project, knowingly or unknowingly.
-
We are
responsible for what we think, imagine and intend as well as what we say and
do.
-
We need to
recognize that psychic intrusion is often connected to the loss of vital
energy. When a vital part of us is missing, something unwanted may come in.
-
We need to
define ourselves, for ourselves.
Caitlin writes
beautifully about the “unified fabric of life”. We live in two worlds, and
they are not separate, although the deeper world
is missing from the perspective of the trivial everyday mind. Both sides of
the web of life are equally real. “Like a piece of woven cloth, one side of
reality cannot exist without the other or the whole fabric falls to pieces.”
She insists that when we try to deny or ignore the reality of the
Otherworld, we increase the risk of psychic disturbance in our lives –
because we no longer able to screen or control traffic between the realms,
and deprive ourselves of a working relationship with spiritual allies. We
are like people who close their eyes as they step out into a busy road,
hoping that because we don’t see oncoming vehicles, they will not be there.
This
book contains many excellent practical suggestions for “spiritual
housekeeping” on an everyday basis – exercises to raise vitality, set
effective boundaries and call in power, personal rituals for clearing or
transforming murky energies, check-lists for helping to determine what is
going on in your field, incitement to define and act from your personal
truth.
There is good advice here on how to detect energy theft,
and how to deal with situations where you may have been draining
other people’s energies.
Recognizing that we cannot destroy energy, but we may be able to transform
it, Caitlin offers several exercises and rituals for transmuting what
afflicts us. She suggests we should consign negative thought-forms and
beliefs into a Pool of Change where they will be carried down and away by a
sucking whirlpool, and something beneficial will rise in their place. She
encourages us to call on spiritual helpers to assist us in a “substitution
ritual” through which a problem may be transformed into a power.
She offers scripts for connecting with our own center – and our own bright
star – and carrying its radiance and wisdom through all the ups and downs of
life.
She wisely insists that all physical events have a psychic side, and that we
must work in both realities. This is very important in relationships. When
we end a relationship, for example, we often fail to notice that a psychic
attachment does not end with a physical parting. If anyone has touched our
life deeply, we are likely to retain strong psychic cords of connection –
the kahunas of Hawaii call these aka cords – until and unless
something is done to sever these links. This can have confusing and
unhealthy consequences, including muddled feelings, a one-way energy drain,
and an opening for psychic intrusion.
Beyond giving advice on how to recognize and “unplug” old energy
attachments, Caitlin offers scripts for healing and resolving relationship
issues on what I would call the imaginal plane, for example, by
getting yourself heart-centered and picturing yourself sitting opposite the
person with whom you need clarity and having the right kind of dialogue in a
space where that is possible. I can testify that imaginal work of this kind
can bring through profound and positive effects on the physical plane –
if our intentions are clear and we operate from the heart.
Caitlin Matthews, Psychic Shield: The Personal
Handbook of Psychic Protection.
Ulysses Press, 280 pages, $14.95
[amazon
page:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1569755353/sr=1-1/qid=1154698324/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-6698971-9926536?ie=UTF8&s=books]
[Quotes
are from the unabridged UK edition published as The Psychic Protection
Handbook. Piatkus. 368 pages.
£12.99.]
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