Grounding, Protection And
Vampires
If the world of Spirituality is relatively new to you, you will hear a lot about these topics as you get more involved with creating a Spiritual Path or Practice. Obviously it will be up to you as to which you pay attention to and which you don’t, if any. Believe you me, there are plenty to choose from! So, let’s take a closer look at each of these, starting with Grounding.
Grounding Your Energy
The idea behind ‘Grounding
your Energy’ has been mainly made popular in Western style Spirituality by
the New Age Movement. Those who teach these techniques swear by them and they
seem to work. Somebody, somewhere, at some time must have come up with the idea
and I would say it was probably back towards the end of the nineteenth century
and into in twentieth, and as we entered into the 21st Century, it became a very
popular teaching. The original idea could have come from when we started using metal
rods to Earth Lightning so when Energy Work/Healing became in vogue, this was possibly
adapted to fit accordingly.
From a personal perspective,
Grounding is not taught in Reiki, or at least not in the Usui Reiki System,
because it wouldn’t work. The whole idea of Grounding is to clear any excess
Energy stored in your body after carrying out whatever Practice you were doing,
such as Chakra Balancing, Past Life, Tarot and so on, and which may have left
you feeling a little spaced out or overly energetic and ‘send’ it into the
ground, in effect earthing yourself. From a purely Reiki perspective this
wouldn’t happen because you don’t store the Energy in your body in the first place,
it flows through as you are the Conduit and not the Vessel and
this is what I base my view upon.
The thing is, as I see and
understand it, we are all made of Energy. We are Energy Beings in a slow
moving, or lower vibration, Energy Body which we view as physical. Quantum
Physics has proved as much and continues, from a scientific aspect, to explore
this to see what else can be uncovered and verified and add weight to what
Yogis and Mystical Teachers have been teaching down through the ages.
Therefore, if we are all made
of and connected already to all this Energy, and that includes everything in,
on and around this ‘University of Life’, why do we need to Ground
ourselves? To me it doesn’t really make sense. Perhaps it started out as a
Course Filler, an extra bit of teaching to round off a training or exercise
which involved Energy work - and I’m certainly not against that by the way -
and then it became popular as those who were taught it also passed it on with a
little embellishment here and there. Or perhaps a Spiritual Teacher had an
unsettling experience which they believed was resolved by using a ‘Grounding
Meditation’.
That’s how it usually works,
right? And also, just like Reiki in the early days, bits get added on to
established practices and meditations as Teachers wanted to leave their own Mark
and eventually it evolves into something else. We are very good at that aren’t
we? We are experts in taking something simple and overdressing it, wouldn’t you
agree it? I mean, look how the Victorians decorated everything in a very ornate
way with swirls of flowers and intricate designs, from mundane kitchen floor
tiles to Pumping Stations for Sewage! It does look good though and I admire
their ingenuity and artistry, even if it was unnecessary!
However, on saying that, as
I’ve said there may be other Spiritual Practices which could potentially leave Energy
Residues in your body, and which may require a meditative exercise to help
calm you, bring you back to Earth, as they say. I’m certainly not disputing
that; my perspective is based on my personal experience, and I haven’t needed
to carry out any Grounding Exercises after a Meditation or Energy Exercise or
even Past Life Regression sessions, but then I also haven’t taken part in an
Ayahuasca Ceremony and by all accounts you certainly need Grounding after that!
So, does that mean you
shouldn’t try any of the Grounding exercises offered? No, certainly not. What
didn’t really work for me may work for you. To be honest it was all the
Ritualistic stuff attached to it that put me off. I prefer a more
straightforward approach on the main, minimalistic to an extent – basically if
it’s not needed then it’s purely decorative. But don’t let my personal opinions
sway you, find out for yourselves, try them out and see if they work for you or
not.
For me there is only one
Grounding Exercise that works without fail and that’s getting out into good old
Nature. There is nothing more calming as far as I’m concerned than being in the
woods, especially ancient ones, or a beautiful park or by the sea or ocean. I
love mountains too, just not the climbing bit so much!
By the way, for any Grounding
Exercises or Meditation you don’t need to be sitting, standing or lying in a
certain position, nor is there a need to carry out certain movements and the
like, so there’s no need to feel left out if you have mobility issues of any
kind. And that goes for any meditative practice, they can all be done in
whatever position is comfortable and best suited for you and guess what? They
still work!
Protecting Yourself
Why do we need to Protect
ourselves when working with Energy or any Spiritual Practice? In fact, do we
need to and if so from what or whom?
The style of Reiki I’ve been trained in didn’t
include the need for Protection Exercises, although they may be in other
Eastern Practices. In Buddhism, for example, there’s a Principle taught where
the ‘Buddha Nature’ manifests itself from within you and this has the effect of
you activating the ‘Buddha Nature’ within others, thereby providing you with
the protection you require. The Om Mani Padme Hum Mantra, amongst
others, can also be used as a way to protect yourself from negativity.
As part of my Reiki Training,
I was taught a ‘Space Clearing’ technique, but it wasn’t part of the Teachings
of Reiki’s Founder, Mikao Usui, it was an added extra from another discipline,
possibly Feng Shui or Qigong. However, protecting yourself Energetically is not
such an Off idea, because setting Boundaries is also a form of protection and
we all should have strong Boundaries in place, irrespective of whether or not
we are following a Spiritual Path.
Whereas I am not a great
believer in the effects of so-called ‘Spell Casting’, there are those who are
and that’s what those who make money out of this dubious industry rely upon.
They only work if you truly believe in them, which is the same with everything
we’ve looked at so far and also will look at moving forward. At the end of the day,
it comes down to Faith. However, I much prefer having Faith in something Positive
and Beneficial rather than something which is designed to cause harm or
extracts payment for ‘Love Potions’ and the like. As always, it’s your choice.
Taking all that into account,
there are Negative Energies here within our University, however they are not
negative in a dark or evil sense, they are simply the opposite to the Positive
Energy we prefer to use, just like a magnet and its Positive and Negative poles
where both can be beneficial or not dependent on usage. There is talk of those
among us, however, who are thought to be Vampires!
These so-called Energy
Vampires are said to suck the very Energy out of you to feed themselves,
just like Dracula in the old movies or in the Twilight Saga or the
Lost Boys movie. Well, despite my personal disbelief, I have to report that
there is such an entity as an ‘Energy Vampire’ however, it’s not some Midnight
Prowler. This is something I have learned from my Tarot and Psychic Development
mentor, Richard Knight, and the way he explains it makes total sense.
Have you ever been chatting
with someone, say at a party or even with a friend, and you walk away from them
afterwards feeling very tired all of a sudden? Despite starting the evening in
a super buoyant mood, for example, you feel totally drained after being in the
company of this aforementioned person. If so, then you were in the presence of
a so-called ‘Energy Vampire’. Don’t be alarmed, however, because here’s the
important bit – they did not deliberately set out to feed off and drain your
Energy because the chances are they don’t realise they are doing it. In fact,
the term ‘Energy Vampires’ is so Hammer House of Horror and gives a more
negative connotation than needed, so I prefer to call them ‘Energy Absorbers’
as that is basically what they unwittingly are rather than Blood Sucking
Monsters. Oh, and they come out in Sunlight too!
The way Richard explains it is
that these are people who, for whatever reason, are seemingly unable to
generate any, or very little, Positive Energy themselves so they go to places
where there is a high level of Positive Energy such as Rock Concerts, Sports
Events, Music Festivals, Comedy shows and so on and absorb whatever Energy they
can to restock their personal levels. They are also attracted to High Energy
events or individuals such as Spiritual Workers, Motivational Speakers or
anyone who is in a great mood. This is why you may feel unusually low after
attending a certain event or speaking with a particular person who, by the way,
can even be a close friend or family member!
There is a positive to this,
and it is an important one. These ‘Energy Absorbers’ won’t drain you
completely, in fact on the main you usually won’t notice any difference in your
mood or energy levels because the amount ‘absorbed’, is minimal. They only ‘top
up their tank’, so to speak, and then leave. It’s only in rare cases where they
absorb more than they need possibly because you are the only source available
at that time. Your own Energy Reserves are quickly replaced, and you would be
back to normal after a short break or nap. I know it still sounds gruesome,
however it’s still better than having your blood sucked out, right?
Is there anything you can do
to protect yourself in any way? Yes, setting strong Boundaries goes a long way
to strengthening your ‘defences’ against an ‘Energy Absorber’, and there are at
least two ways to do that which I shall, of course, now share with you.
The first one is recognising
anyone within your Social or Family Circle who potentially could be an ‘Absorber’.
Is there someone you know who always seems Down and a little Grumpy when you
first meet and yet soon seemingly cheers up and leaves bright as a button
whilst you, and possibly your friends, feel kind of low all of a sudden? Most
of us know someone in the wider family or at work or in your neighbourhood who
is like that. Usually we would say they’re a bit pessimistic, however pessimists
tend to be always looking on the dark side of things so that’s a different
story. ‘Energy Absorbers’ are usually pretty positive, but their ‘Batteries’
need recharging on a regular basis. Either way, my advice would be to limit
your time with them if possible, especially if you are going to be with them on
your own. If you are in a group then the effects will only last momentarily and
will soon pass.
If it happens when you are
attending an event, with or without friends, then try to distance yourself from
the possible source, the person who is probably absorbing the Positive Vibes of
not just you and your friends, but from several people and they will wander
from one to the next. Obviously if you are attending a seated event, it’s a bit
more difficult however there is a neat little tool you can use which will help.
In fact, I would recommend using it in any situation where you suspect there is
an ‘Energy Absorber’ – or even a Pessimist - in the vicinity.
(Extract of Chapter 1, PUNC Living by J Sadler-Scott)
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