Psychic Self Defense 101: Shields (Part 1 of 3)

A solid shield is a warrior's boon companion. It turns away life threatening blows and can, itself, be a weapon in trained hands. Just as a physical shield can be a formidable thing with proper training, a psychic shield is just as impressive. And, like a physical shield, it can be something simple and functional or something complicated and multifaceted. They are something that everyone has to some limited fashion but with training their shield becomes more solid and effective.

At its base level, a psychic shield is the hardening of one's bio-energetic envelope at its outermost layers. This bio-energetic envelope is known by various terms but the most commonly used one is that of aura. While auras are known for communicating information to those who have the ability to sense and read them, they also act like a 'skin' for our spiritual/psychic bodies. (They actually have many functions, but for the purpose of this series of articles, we're going to focus on this one.)

The outermost part of our aura has a limited capacity by itself to repel energies that are not of itself. This limited capacity to repel energy is one that all people (and, honestly, all beings). For this reason, we are not continually ground down by the repeated input that comes from our environment. Add to this the fact that most people do not focus upon the psychic input that they receive, and you find many, many people in the world declaring that their aura is not much of a thing or even stating that it does not exist. When the situation is that the aura's outer envelope is performing its function and inhibiting excess information from coming in to our psychic senses and the person in question having limited capacity/ability for processing that information¹. These two things serve to insulate the person from the psychic input and what it may do to their mental state.

Problems arise when input has sufficient force to push through that natural barrier. This may be due to the person having a weaker psychic 'skin' than others. It may also be due to the person being especially sensitive to certain forms of psychic input. Additionally, there are conditions that can weaken one's psychic 'skin' and create their own set of problems. A miasmic situation, for example, makes a person vulnerable to psychic problems because it weakens one's psychic 'skin' and can lead to them becoming 'infected' with a psychic illness².

One of the things that lends itself to a healthy psychic 'skin' is being in good physical, mental, and emotional health³. This puts your psychic 'skin' in its optimal state of health. The other thing that lends itself to healthy psychic 'skin' is practicing proper psychic and magical hygiene. Like the physical body, the psychic/spiritual body functions better and is more able to adapt to the environmental situations when it is in proper health and well maintained. Part of this is exercising one's psychic abilities, because regular exercise is necessary for one's well being on all levels when done judiciously.

The most basic exercise for one's psychic 'skin' happens to be the most basic of shield techniques. It is a mentally based exercise, though if it is necessary to use external foci this is acceptable as well. Holding a picture of yourself in your mind (or holding a physical picture, this could mean a mirror providing an image for you) envision your aura about you. As you envision it, become aware of the sensations upon your skin. Focusing on your aura, you will begin to feel a tingling, warmth, or coolness upon your skin as you become aware of it. The aura envelops you in an oval figure approximately the same dimensions as your height and your extended arms length in both directional planes. Because this is a three dimensional figure, it is somewhat like a spheroid.

Focus your attention on the outer edges of this spheroid. As you focus upon this region of your aura, see it becoming increasingly solid. A mirrored surface is directed at the world about you, which reflects unwelcome and unhealthful psychic input away. The inner surface of this mirrored spheroid emits a soft white light. This light is the gathered healthful psychic input that touches your aura and permitted to pass through. Practice hardening this 'shell' so that the light emitted dims. Then practice on softening this shell so that the light becomes brighter.

Practicing this exercise on a frequent basis does two things. First, it makes you more aware of your shield, which is what this shell can be called. This makes the shield easier to envision/access when you feel threatened, unsafe, or unwell. Secondly, this exercise works to help you learn to control the strength of your shield. At it's hardest, your psychic shield will only allow in the psychic energies that you permit and what is hardwired into your environment. Thus, the psychic energy of the chair you are sitting in will be present but the residual energy of the previous occupant will not come through when your shield is at its hardest.

Awareness of your shield makes it easier for you to strengthen it. In part, it is strengthened when ever you feed additional energy to it (which happens when you think of it). It is also strengthened when you focus upon it and intentionally direct energy into it. When starting out with actively using your psychic shield, it may be good to have a reminder that your shield is present. Some people wear jewelery that reminds them of their shield⁴. (Yes, you can imitate Harry Dresden and have your own shield bracelet. It works, though not as dramatically as Dresden's does.) The jewelry becomes a focus point that helps you access the thoughtform of your shield.

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1. The ability to process psychic input is one that can be acquired through training and learning to 'listen' with those senses. I will discuss it at a later time.

2. Psychic illness will be discussed in greater detail after the holidays. There is some research currently underway to develop a concise method for assessing if one is suffering from some form of psychic illness and to assemble a partial list of illnesses that are common.

3. In the case of chronic conditions, the individual maintaining the highest state of health their condition allows is what maintains one's psychic 'skin'. There are exercises that can be used to maintain the health of their psychic body and decouple it, to a measurable extent, from the physical, mental, and emotional factors that power it.

4. Jewelry as a focus for your psychic shield is similar and related to the use of a talisman. I'll talk more about them in a later post.