Magickal Self-Defense 101 - PPD 2019

Today I presented Magickal Self-Defense 101 at our local Pagan Pride celebration.  For participants and those who missed it, here are my notes for that workshop.  As these are just notes, it's not the fully fleshed out writing that you're used to from me.  Feel free to ask for clarification or elaboration on any point.

Magickal self-defense is about securing the self.  There are four basic parts:

• Cleansing - Get that which is “not me” out/off of me.
• The magickal equivalent of taking a daily shower or washing your hands.  Enhanced by common cleansing herbs such as sage, cedar, lavender, or rosemary.
• Asperging with herbs (or essential oil water in a spritz bottle) or censing/fumigating with incense are common techniques. 
• Grounding - Get rid of excess energy and any internal negativity.
• The act of flushing out negative or excess energy you have in your body into a place where it is naturally neutralized.  It’s basically the same as the concept of grounding electricity.  Some traditions refer to this practice as “earthing” because you send the unwanted energy into the earth.
• Roots down.  Envision all of the negative or excess energy in your body as black static that you allow to sink into the ground to be neutralized.
• Centering - Stabilize your own energies and connection to life energies/the universe.
• Finding the place in your body where you feel your energies the strongest and aligning your energies to concentrate and flow from that place.  For most people this energetic center is in the lower abdomen, but could be other places. 
• Branches up.  Breathe in and out while envisioning your energies flowing in and out of your center for a few minutes until you feel calm and stable, then connect yourself to your external source - whatever that may be (nature or the heart of the earth are good ones to start with)
• Shielding - Strengthen the barrier between “you” and “not you.”
• Shielding is the practice of forming a layer of protective energy around yourself in order to strengthen the barrier between you and the outside world.  Think strengthening the aura or putting a case around your phone. 
• Magickal shielding is entirely energetic. That means that while shielding can protect you from all kinds of bad juju and unpleasant emotions, it won’t do anything to stop a physical attack.
• To cast a bubble shield you just imagine a solid bubble of energy forming all the way around your body, creating a barrier that negative energy can't get through. If you've ever seen any of the Star Trek movies or television shows remember what it looks like when they raise the ship's shields. You are seeing the characters raise a bubble shield around the Enterprise. You can do the same thing by picturing a solid egg of energy forming around you, feeling the air thicken with energy around you, or even imagining a particular smell filling the space around you. This simple shield will protect you as long as you hold it in your mind. When you stop holding the shield in your mind the shield will fade away.
• Suit of armor can also be effective - the trick is to find the metaphor/visual/idea that clicks in your brain.

Quick Defensive Preparation

Whenever you feel the need to be on your guard do the following exercise.

• Take a deep breath, in and out.
• Take a deep breath in and feel all the stress in your body vibrating like static electricity. Forcefully breathe out and see it all rush out of your body and into the ground like a torrent of water.
• Breathe in and visualize a sphere of calm silver energy in the center of your body, breathe out and see it expand until it forms a sphere around you.
• Breathe in and let your mind still. Breathe out.

The whole exercise should take the time of four breaths. If it takes you longer than that, you’ll need to practice until you can do it quickly.  This exercise should make you feel calm and focused.

Psychic Self-Defense for Ghost Hunters (2015 edition)

Last weekend I gave a lecture on Psychic Self-Defense for Ghost Hunters down at the Spooked in Seattle's Metaphysical Market.  I wanted to share the important points of that lecture for those that were unable to attend.  

These days it seems like everyone and their grandmother wants to have an exciting paranormal experience like the ones they see on TV - hearing whispered voices, having their hair be moved by unseen hands, seeing shadowy figures, etc.  Just a few days ago I was telling a friend about the haunting of the restaurant we were eating in (Kells in Post Alley, highly recommended)  and the table next to us got terribly excited and asked how they could experience the haunting for themselves.  For most people most of the time ghost tours and ghost hunts are a fun and completely benign way to spend an evening.  However, every once in a while something goes amiss.  There are a few quick and east things you can do to make sure your experience is as safe and fun as it can be, avoid the dangers of attack, attachment, or bringing something home with you.

Visit the dead but don't join them prematurely

Brief Disclaimer: The following tips and techniques are things that will make you safer, not safe.  You will certainly be better off doing them than doing nothing at all, but the unseen world is unpredictable and nothing short of sealing yourself in a psychic bubble and never leaving your house again will guarantee that nothing metaphysically untoward will happen to you - and perhaps not even then.  Use common sense - if you ever feel like you are in danger in a haunted location you should leave.  Ghost hunting is about interacting with the dead, not becoming one yourself.  

Before 

There are certain things you should do before visiting a potentially haunted location:

• Know your environment - For maximum safety you should learn as much as you can about the types of experiences people have had in a location and what types of entities are generally believed to be present.  The more you know going in the more appropriate your protections can be.  However, knowing too much about what other people have experienced in a location can bias your own experiences.  The human mind is amazing at seeing what it expects to see.  As a result, you may choose not to find out too much about a location in order to guarantee a more authentic experience.  Most of the time that's an acceptable risk as long as you have something at hand that can increase your protections if necessary (I'll talk about that in a moment).  At the very least, find out if the paranormal activity in a location is generally benign or if it's considered malevolent; if it's benign then going in blind is probably an acceptable risk, if not then your safety should trump the desire to be "surprised" by paranormal activity.

• Choose how much protection you want going in - Psychic protection, at its core, is something that strengthens the barrier between you and the world around you.  It makes it more difficult for unseen entities to do things to you that you don't want - like pushing, scratching, or attaching themselves to you.  However, it can also make it more difficult for entities to do things you do want - like touching or talking to you.  Think of it like the difference between wearing rubber gloves as opposed to wearing a full hazmat suit.  They each put a protective barrier between you and something potentially dangerous, but one dulls your senses a lot more than the other.  Ideally, you want just enough protection to keep you safe, but not so much that it deters activity.  After all, the whole point of going on a ghost hunt or tour is to experience something.

• Basic Pre-Hunt Protections - These techniques are good for most situations (e.g. mild/med hauntings).  Do these before entering a potentially haunted location.    
• Prayer - If you are a person who prays it will probably be beneficial to pray for protection and good fortune before entering a haunted place.  The powers (gods, spirits, angels, etc.) that are a part of your personal belief system generally have a vested interest in helping you out and are probably willing to do so.  It never hurts to have a little outside muscle on your side.  However, keep in mind that prayer alone is almost never enough to be considered complete protection.  Also, depending on how your faith views the unseen world, the protective entities you call on might scare away all the ghosts.  Think about it and do what makes you comfortable.
• Ground and Center    
• When I use the term “grounding” I mean the act of flushing out negative or excess energy you have in your body into a place where it is naturally neutralized.  This is generally done by visualizing all the energy you don't want as static electricity and then moving it down your body and into the ground where it is neutralized.  Grounding helps to make sure that your energy doesn't interfere with the energy of the place you're visiting and it makes you more energetically stable.
• The act of centering is essentially finding the place in your body where you feel your energies the strongest and aligning your energies to concentrate and flow from that place.  For many people that place is the lower abdomen or the base of the spine - it make be different for you.  I generally center by visualizing my center (just below and behind the navel for me) and breathing into it until I feel my energies focus and stabilize there.  Having a calm and focused center makes it easier to pay attention to what's going on around you and adapt accordingly.  

• Shield - Shielding is the practice of forming a layer of protective energy around yourself in order to strengthen the barrier between you and the outside world.  The easiest way for most people to shield is to visualize an egg of white or pale blue electricity surrounding them like a bubble - just like the shields around the Enterprise on Star Trek.  Depending on how safe you feel in a given location you will want to make your shields thicker or thinner.  The nice thing about shields it that you can modify them at any time in response to what's happening around you.  This is also a great technique to use when dealing with angry co-workers or relatives.  It helps keep their negative energy off of you!

During a Tour or Hunt

• Statement of Intent - I consider it a common courtesy to introduce myself when first entering a haunted location.  You can do it out loud or in your head, paranormal entities are generally able to hear thoughts expressly directed at them, though I like to say it aloud unless it would make me look like a crazy person in the given situation.  I recommend introducing yourself, expressing your respect and compassion for the unseen entities present, and inviting the experience you would like to have, e.g. let the entities know that you'd like to hear them speak or be gently touched and that you do not want to be pushed, scratched, or otherwise harmed.  By expressly saying (aloud or silently) what you do and do not want to happen you actually make it easier for the entity to do what you want and make it more difficult to do what you do not want.  Clearly expressed desires create their own energy that can help or hinder paranormal entities to act.  It's also just the courteous thing to do.  Wouldn't you be more likely to be friendly to a stranger that introduced themselves and asked you to do thing rather than just barging in an making demands?    
• Protective Items - These are things to have on hand in order to escalate your protections as necessary.  Depending on the item and your own risk assessment you make choose to carry some of these things on your person (in a pocket or bad) or choose to leave them in a secure and easily accessible place just outside the haunted location.  I recommend choosing just 2-3 items to have on hand for most investigations.    
• Talismans/charms     
• Objects of faith (cross, star of david, pentagram, hand of fatima, etc.)  
• Personal objects of special significance (family heirloom, love token, etc.)     
• Bundles or small bags of protective herbs (Angelica, Bay, Cinnamon, Cloves, Fennel, Garlic, Mullein, Rosemary, Rue, Sage)    
• Mojos (bundle of protective objects in a red cotton bag worn next to the skin - to begin I recommend choosing an herb, a stone, and a metal charm, eg. a bay leaf, a hematite, and a small pewter dragon)     
  
• Protective stones (hematite, jet, obsidian, malachite, black tourmaline, etc.). 
• Salt water, salt, black salt - Salt has a unique ability to disrupt and neutralize negative energy.  Black salt is salt that also contains charcoal or crushed lava rock and it cannot be beat for absorbing and grounding negative energy.  Something as simple as putting a few grains of salt on your tongue or rubbing salt on your hands or feet can make a huge difference in mitigating negative energies.  You can also wash your hands or feet in salt water for the same effect.    
• Shielding - As I mentioned earlier, you can and should adapt your shields in response to what you feel in a haunted location.  If you feel threatened you can thicken shields or change their opacity, e.g. if your shields are a translucent electric blue you can change them to be made of solid steel or concrete.

Aftercare

What you do after a paranormal experience may actually be more important than anything you do before or during it.  If you do nothing else, I urge you to always do all three of the following:

• Closing statement - Before you leave a location, inform the spirits that you’re finishing up and give them one last chance to communicate with you. Thank them for allowing you to share their space and wish them well. (Being kind and courteous costs you nothing and can go a long way towards ending things on a positive note - especially if you think you might come back!) Then tell them that you’re done and that they are to remain where they are, that they are not allowed to follow you home.  As with your statement of intent, just saying that the spirits are not to follow you will make it more difficult for any troublemakers to do so.    
• Ground - After any paranormal experience you're likely to be either keyed up or extremely tired. Take a few moments to consiously let the energy of the experience calm down.  The easiest way to do this is to have some food and drink (fruits, nuts, cheese, bread, water or fruit juices all good - stay away from over processed or sugary foods for the best results).  Eating has a wonderful way of closing any open psychic connections and bringing down energy levels.  Rubbing your hands with salt or putting a little in your shoes is also an easy way to help you ground. 
• Cleanse - Cleansing after a paranormal experience is absolutely critical.  You never really know what energies have gotten on you during an investigation and you do not want any potential negatives lingering. Here are a few things that you can do to cleanse yourself energetically:    
• Smudge - A Native American technique of essentially fumigating yourself with the smoke of smoldering herbs, most often sage, cedar, and/or sweetgrass. 
• Spritz - Have a spray bottle with a few drops of cleansing essential oil in water or hydrosol (rosemary, cedar, sage, lavender all good) and give yourself a good spritz or three.  This technique is particularly useful while traveling. 
• Wash hands in salt water 
• Bathe/Shower -  If you can, I highly recommend taking a shower - standing in running water does wonders for washing away negative energy.  Try using cedar or sage soap, florida water soap (available at your local Hoodoo supplier), or a van van wash (also available at your local Hoodoo supplier).

Try out these techniques the next time you visit a local paranormal hot spot and see how different your experience is. 

tl;dr - be courteous (ghosts are people too), be firm (say exactly what you do and do not want to experience and mean it), be prepared (have some quick and easy methods of increasing your protection if necessary)

My previous post on this topic - I've refined things quite a bit over the last few years.

Pop Culture Magick: Con Edition - Part II

In my last post, Pop Culture Magick: Con Edition - Part I, I talked a bit about that magick you can perform at a comic or pop-culture convention to take advantage of the unique energies and opportunities that cons present.  In this post I'll talk a bit about the magick you can perform in order to help yourself stay safe, sane, and healthy while at a con.

Conventions are amazing things and I adore them, however they can be rather overwhelming.  When you squeeze a convention center or hotel full of people the possibilities for discordant energy, exhaustion, and illness go up dramatically.

First, the mundane

Why am I talking about the mundane in a magickal blog? Because you can't do effective magick if you're physically exhausted or ill.  If your mundane foundations aren't strong your magick will suffer, so you need to take care of yourself.

As with any con, I always recommend that you keep the 6-2-1 rule in mind: get a minimum of six hours of sleep a night, eat at least two balanced meals a day, and take one shower a day (this is for you and everyone around you). Most cons have official activities going all day and both official and unofficial activities going most of the night.  It's shockingly easy to loose track of time when you're having fun, but all-nighters aren't good for you.  I don't know about you folks, but I am not a teenager anymore and turn into an unbearable harpy when I don't get my rest.  My getting sufficient sleep is in everyone's best interest.  It's also incredibly easy to miss meals at a con.  Often events are scheduled so that there's always something happening and it you're interested in it all there might not be much time for meals.  Do yourself a favor and find the nearest grocery store or deluxe mini-mart and stash some healthy food in your room and some nutritious and non-squishable food and a water bottle in your con bag.  Here in Seattle we have one of the best public market's in the world, Pike Place Market, so I took advantage and filled the room with tasty and mostly healthy snacks.  I trust I don't need to explain the need to bathe.  Seriously folks.

If you can, get a hotel room near the con.  If you're going to be at a con that is either multi-day or that goes far into the night do yourself a favor and get a room.  Having a room means that you've got safe, private space at an extremely public event.   As a magickal person the ability to, whenever you need to, retreat from the public energies into a quiet energetically controllable space is absolutely critical.  You never know when you're going to need to just crash and chill out for a while.  Cons can be overwhelming in both good and bad ways: you can be shaking from an inspiring panel from your favorite writer or shaking with rage from the dudebro bad mouthing your favorite character.  Either way, having safe space to relax is a godsend.  Some conventions (thank you ECCC) have quiet rooms in the con itself for just such occasions and they are truly helpful - mark them on your map!  But if you need to do a full LBRP to come down, having private space to do so would make your life a lot easier.

Take care of your feet.  I walked over 20,000 steps the first day of ECCC.  On an average work day I get in about 4,000.  By Sunday night my legs and feet were both very unhappy with me.  Bring multiple pairs of shoes to change your gait, change your socks 2-3 times a day (trust me), and bring epsom salts and soothing lotion for your legs and feet (tiger balm is your friend).  You will have a better time at the con if you're not in pain.

A word on con-crud.  80,000 of your closest friends does not a hygienic environment make.  Getting sick at a con blows donkey nuts.  Take vitamin c, take immune boosting herbs, do acupuncture before hand, use hand sanitizer, eat well, keep yourself hydrated, and get enough rest.  Take care of yourself or pay the consequences.

On to the magick!

Grounding

Possibly the most important magickal skill you can use to have a better con experience is grounding.  The near-tidal levels of chaotic energy that are experienced at a convention can wreak havoc on even the most shielded of practitioners.  Ground well and ground often to keep your equilibrium.

This is where you should plan on bringing out you big guns for grounding: use stones like jet or obsidian to help earth your energies, drink soothing herbal tea like chamomile or lemon balm (put some iced tea in a water bottle for on the go grounding needs), wear grounding jewelry, have particularly earthy friends on hand if possible, and be prepared to take a grounding shower at the end of the day (seriously, a nice herbal soap and a soothing shower do wonders for grounding at the end of the day).  At ECCC this year my con buddy, Rae du Soleil, brought a spritz of rosemary/cedar water that was wonderful for helping us ground.  I highly recommend something similar. If you forget to ground you will wake up with a spectacular magickal hangover - I speak from experience.

It's also nice to give yourself a magickal foot massage at the end of the day.  Even if you forgot to pack your homemade lotion packed with grounding herbs and per-charged with your intent, almost all hotels have little bottles of hand lotion.  Use the lotion to rub your feet with the intent of working out both the physical kinks and the energetic residue of the day.  As you work the knots in your muscles allows your energetic knots to come loose as well to allow the energy of the day to ground away.  Your feet and your aura will thank you.

Shielding

Shielding at a con is tricky.  On the one hand you don't want to miss out on the fun and excitement of the ambient energy, and on the other hand you don't want to get blown out by that same energy.  I recommend coming into the event with minimal shielding and then reading the ambient energy to see how much you need to add.  I'd rather get a little bit frazzled than miss out, but it's totally up to you.

I highly recommend using anchored shields (shields housed in a physical object) while at a con.
If the con is any good you will be fully engaged in the con itself, with very little brain power left over to deal with shielding.  Making sure that your shields take care of themselves will save you a lot of energy.

Altars

Travel altars are your friend.  Having a small altar of your own power objects can completely transform an energetically nondescript hotel room into your hotel room. If you're energetically sensitive you're probably noticed that generic hotel rooms can be a little bit soul crushing.  They're specifically designed to not have much character or energy beyond restful sleep.  Setting up a small altar infuses your energy into the room and makes it far more supportive to you.  Don't underestimate the importance of feeling like you belong in the space you wake up in. 

Rae du Soleil's ECCC 2015 altar

Daily Divination

It may seem like a small thing, but doing a bit of divination before you head out for the day and really affect how you experience things.  Anything from a simple one card pull to a full spread on what you need to focus on for the day can provide guidance and direct your focus.  It's also a great way to help yourself figure out if you really need to skip lunch to make that 12:20pm panel.

Cosplay 

First off, I am not a cosplayer.  I have tremendous respect for the art of cosplay and I love the incredible people watching it provides, but it's just not really my thing.  That being said, there is tremendous magickal potential in cosplay.  It's quite different to walk the floor as a nondescript attendee and another thing entirely to walk the floor as Lady Sif (and there were a few amazing Lady Sifs at ECCC).  If you're a cosplayer you can take advantage of the energies involved in playing a character in a place where that character is recognized and respected.  Just a thought ;)

For more info:
Conventions - Part I
Pop Culture Magick Index