On Psychic and Magical Shields

Greetings, and welcome back to Journeys! This Samhain, popularly known as Halloween, we will look at psychic self defence – why it is necessary and how to do it.

The word occult literally means “hidden”. Within the world of the occult, then, it should be no surprise that it is full of hidden things. These things range from the familiar – our own soul and spirit for example are hidden from normal awareness and therefore occulted – to the utterly unfamiliar and strange, including the many invisible and intelligent entities we call spirits. In the Western magical tradition this time of year is known as the time when the veil between our physical and material existence and the occult world – the astral and mental planes – thins, allowing greater sight in both directions and permitting spirits greater freedom to roam in our realm for a period of time. In the past among these traditions this was a time of lighting lamps and candles in windows to guide the spirits, especially of the recently departed, but also to ward them away from human domiciles. It was a ritual acknowledgment of the invisible, hidden world that surrounds us. Scorpio takes much of its connection to the occult from this festival.

In the bright, modern world of neon lights and the internet and constant connection to others through wireless technology this belief may seem quaint at best, more like superstitious nonsense for dark autumn nights, but the reality is that we are constantly immersed in a hidden world where hidden influences interact with us without our awareness and some of those influences are not welcome ones. There is far more hidden from our perception than what we typically perceive around us (if we even notice that, given our current pre-occupation with looking at screens). To make matters worse, the vast majority of human beings have minimal defences against these factors and their bodies natural defences are also coming under constant assault in the modern environment (from pollutants, modern stresses, etc.). If we were to lift the veil on the occult world we would see that it is a major factor in many social ills such as addiction, suicide, violence, mental health disturbances and emotional disorders as well as many physical ones. It isn’t just hauntings we are dealing with here. It is, quite literally, in every facet of society and culture and all of the troubles we meet with in the course of life that these occult factors play a significant role. Many animals have not lost their senses as we have, and so pet cats and dogs often form a front line of defence that keep many such unwanted and unseen influences at bay, but many wild animals do this too. Wolves, coyotes, crows, owls (indeed most birds), for example, use sound to ward areas or harry spirits they do not like. They also help us to relax and unwind, which helps us in other ways as the lessening of tensions reduces the potential we have for creating personal entities, thought forms that feed on our anxieties, hurts, etc. Many traditions also hold lore concerning the innate protective properties of certain plants, for example onion and garlic are renowned for their ability to absorb negative or toxic energies and would sometimes be strewn about a home for a while and then burned.

The sources of negative influences are varied. Sometimes (most often it seems to me) they are initiated by other human beings, sometimes they are locked into certain locations or spaces or objects like curses or hauntings, sometimes they arise from our own karma, sometimes from the interference of entities, of which there are also many varieties. Sometimes this source will be obvious, like a creepy painting or a body buried under the floorboards, but more often it is occulted. Even weak spirits have a strong self preservation instinct just as we do and this is in many cases a primary motivation for their activities, meaning they tend to conceal themselves, especially in the presence of someone who can recognise and deal with them. Fortunately, it is often not necessary to identify the source of whatever is involved as even more fortunately they can almost always be dealt with in the same way. In other words, you only have to learn one way of creating your occult shield and that one way will probably be all you ever need as it will be effective against every kind of threat whether it is a curse or a spirit. The only thing your shield will not protect you from is your own karma or stupidity. However the power and strength of your shield is a factor that needs continuous attention.

Before getting to that, however, I would like to talk about the things your shield is protecting you from because the understanding of what you are dealing with is itself a form of protection. Ignorance is most definately not bliss in this area.

SOURCES OF POTENTIAL PSYCHIC ATTACK

As I said above most attacks come from people, with intentional psychic attack being pretty rare – many attacks are to some degree unintentional. This becomes even more the case once you understand the nature of many of the invisible entities that we deal with, as I will explain shortly. In my experience about 80-90% of cases where people feel that they are under psychic attack arise from their own imaginations or the unconscious, in other words we attack ourselves most frequently. We have unhealthy mental and emotional habits that manifest our magical potential in hidden, unwelcome ways – how often do you hear yourself or other people saying “This makes me sick!” with real passion, for example? Such thoughts and words contribute towards eventually making us sick. Better instead to express “I don’t like this”, or something less impactive to our being. In extreme cases, this factor can easily be so severe that it seems no different to a curse or a spirit. In reality it often is all of the above as spirits and curses operate effectively through our unconscious and are drawn toward thinking that is alike to their own nature. Identifying a source can therefore be problematic, like a chicken and egg conundrum.

However regardless of the source the key aspect of the attack to deal with is always at hand because it is within us. All forms of astral and mental assault exploit weaknesses in our own psyches. Our own negative qualities, our darkness, is what enables the attack to land and take root. An entity or thought-form in the vicinity of humans will seek out a resonant mental or astral body, looking for a match like a human on a dating app. If we do not have such a hook in the first place the attack will be repelled and if it lands and we then later uproot its hold over our psyche it will stop affecting us. For example a being that feeds on anger will gravitate towards the angriest people in its vicinity, while those who have mastered their anger will be immune to its attachment, and an angry person who works through their anger issues will cause any entities that feed on that anger to migrate, just like any animal. This means that the key to never being psychically attacked at all in the first place is self awareness and self-knowledge as well as the commitment to work through our own negative character qualities. Unfortunately, nobody is perfect and the psyche is immensely complex and so we always have to deal with the potential for the unconscious to expose us, and so the use of a magical shield to guard against such situations is necessary. However it cannot replace the real work of making ourselves invulnerable to such attacks – self tranformation towards a better version of ourselves. Its function is merely to supplement and support that work. Aside from a purity of being the bedrock of any impenetrable psychic defence is the conviction that you cannot be attacked at all. If you have no belief in the power of a curse, for instance, not even an unconscious one, it cannot land before that conviction is shaken or removed. This means that many people who do not believe in any supernatural or occult factors have some degree of natural defence but it is a very fragile one that can be easily negated. The strongest forms of psychic defence are based not on ignorance but on knowledge, self knowledge. Working to the point where you have transformed the majority of your unknown darkness into known darkness and then into something positive and developing a strong will is not only essential to effective psychic defense but to progress in magic as well. Ultimately with self knowledge we reach the realisation that the unity of our consciousness with all other things makes the very idea of an attack itself utterly void. The idea of evil as an external force also disintegrates.

Ultimately you are a sovereign being which means that you are always in a position of control, but many ‘dark’ entities will try to convince you that this is not the case as a way to get their hooks into your psyche. By generating experiences of terror, helplessness, fear and doubt, by sowing dissent and playing little tricks, by displaying violence and power, or simply by slowly leeching you of life and vital energy, such entities not only feed on what they create (growing more powerful) but also use it to erode the sense of control people have which is a key part of the attack. Once this sense of control is removed the person (or group) is much easier to manipulate and it is much harder to deal with the issues. For this reason it is also quite difficult for many entities to attach themselves to people with strong willpower, composure, self discipline and will to live such as members of the Armed Forces, emergency services, or similarly trained individuals – once the initial connection is made with the psyche it will take longer for the entity to wear down the will and the sense of sovereignty and control over life situations. However the exposure to negative or traumatic situations such people often have and the way those experiences are suppressed also makes plenty of fertile ground for that initial connection to be made.

Many places where people work are crowded with negative beings, additionally hospitals, prisons and places where people grieve or suffer like war-zones. Such places used to be more protected by the spiritual traditions of their cultures, but this is no longer the case. Cities everywhere are similarly crowded with negative beings for what I think should be obvious reasons but which will become clearer once I explain what we have to deal with spiritually. People seek the solace and comfort of nature on regular vacations for many reasons. Moving through such spaces on a regular basis with unregenerate and unknown darkness within us we become like sponges soaking up these entities, which ultimately helps to create more. Some places become breeding grounds. Beings can also hitchhike on us from these places back into our homes or other locations where we spend time or migrate from person to person like birds moving their nests from tree to tree. Especially sensitive, empathic and unconsciously psychic people (Pisces or Neptune attuned souls especially) can have severe issues with this situation and never know why. It is possible for this problem to become chronic enough to affect us physically, disturbing our sleep, draining our energy generally and potentially harming the organs of the body as time passes. All of this is often extremely worrying and concerning for people to learn, leading to fear and paranoia, but really there is no reason for that, you might just as well spend your entire life worrying yourself sick about the influence of microscopic bacteria everywhere. These creatures are a part of the natural way of things and we are better off being aware of them and taking appropriate precautions, measures that serve to increase our self confidence, not reduce it.

The beings of the astra mental universe or ‘spirits’ are literally infinite and beyond description but we can understand that vast scope according to certain types of entity that exist in close proximity to us. In the Step 6 physical training of ‘Initiation into Hermetics‘ Franz Bardon groups these beings into elementals, larvae, phantoms and phantasms or shadows, in Step 7 he discusses elementaries (which are magically distinct from elementals) and in ‘The Practice of Magical Evocation‘ he discusses the hierarchy of Divinely created Intelligences in the spheres that make up the astra-mental universe surrounding the Earth. There are also beings outside of this framework who are either inhabitants or travelers through the astra-mental realms such as magicians wandering in their astral or mental bodies and visitors from other physical worlds. All of these things can be categorized as ‘spirits’ in some sense or another. Of these the most relevant to psychic attack and defence are larvae, phantoms and phantasms. Some of these entities are extremely ancient, having been fed collectively for many thousands of years, others are modern arrivals or beings with very little relative power. What follows is a brief description of each of these types.

Larvae and Elementals are both formed by human beings and represent a vast number of the problematic beings we deal with on a regular basis. Larvae are more common than elementals. They are practically identical with the only difference between them being that larvae are created unconsciously while elementals are the same type of being created consciously by a magician. These beings are formed on the mental plane and live out their existence there but if they gain enough density they are capable of manifesting astrally and even physically as well – some orbs of light that people see are elementals or larvae. Larvae are the problem entity here but, like all negative forces, once properly understood the nature of these beings reveals itself to be a spiritual teaching for the soul since the presence of a larvae in your life serves to teach you about yourself. It has attached itself to you because you were somehow a match. Human beings are continuously creating these entities, which some traditions refer to as thought forms, through their passions, excitements and the intense empowerment of their thoughts through the feelings – it is a natural thing that humans cannot help but do all the time but the involuntary nature by which we do it becomes a major problem when coupled with the darker urges in the human psyche. These beings feed from a particular thought-feeling, the substance which created them, and their self-preservation instinct causes them to seek richer and greater sources of that substance so that they can grow in size and power. Aside from this they are mostly mindless, unintelligent entities with purpose but no life force of their own, akin to parasites in the physical world except that they can grow very large. The form of a larva symbolically reflects the substance which created them and which they feed from, for example larvae created from loving feelings may appear as a cupid or as a love heart while hate as arrows or flashes or burning light. This form, along with the mental force needed to create it, is drawn from the unconscious of the creator of the larva. Thus the form of the being not only reveals its nature but also potentially the identity of its original creator and in the mental realm we witness a constant stream of larvae being created and sustained by human beings, the larvae interacting with human mental bodies in ways that stimulate the mind of the person in a particular way, usually by drawing attention to the subject matter it feeds upon. We can notice the coming and going, the constant traffic of these entities in our awareness, simply by being present and taking note of the train of thoughts arriving and bringing with them various emotional attachments. Through mental discipline such as that gained through meditation we learn to take control of this phenomena and to lessen its negative impact not just in our lives but in the entire world, and the universe. Bardon mentions these larvae in connection with the Inquisition and the burning of many innocent people as witches, but this is clearly just a horrific example (as well as a warning to fellow magicians) and not a special case. The early and ongoing life process of initiation, which involves continuous self reflection and introspection and grappling with the soul seeking to transform and master it, leads to the natural purging of these negative entities from the magicians bodies, since they no longer find a source of food to sustain them and either die or detach themselves. Thus the key to dealing with destructive larvae is to transform the negative character trait that acted as bait or as a creator for them in the first place. The science of affirmation, hypnosis and other methods can help here. Stop telling yourself that terrible thing and replace it with something that feels better for you.

Phantoms or spectres are similar to larvae, being created by humans in a mostly involuntary way, but instead of drawing their forms and life force from the unconscious mind of their creator they draw it from the conscious imagination of the person, from their dreams and fantasies. Hence there are many of these with an erotic charge to them, beings who have been created through the constant fantasies of people sleeping with specific celebrities or ‘sex symbols’, for example (traditionally a type of demon called a succubus or incubus, depending on their apparent gender), but there are many other kinds formed from all kinds of conscious fantasizing. Players of role playing games create such beings as ways of exploring their own psyches and authors do the same with characters they imagine – even with worlds. Some of us create epic phantoms that try to take over our lives and they often succeed because we are willing. When these beings grow strong enough they can start dictating their own stories, taking control of the stories they are in – our story! Other, darker, phantoms are created from horror movies and the minds of serial killers. These beings have more intelligence than unconsciously created larvae because of the involvement of a degree of conscious imagination. They are bound by the rules of the imaginer and behave as they have been imagined to behave. They can interact with us more cleverly, using our dreams for example to stimulate activity that feeds them, and then cause an orgasm in order to feed on the vital energy, which can be very draining for the person. They can therefore be very dangerous. Bardon gives two examples of these entities, one concerning a situation in which a perfectly mundane and not at all magical person is mistaken by another person for a black magician because of the way they look (clearly, this poor dude is a Scorpio!), leading to the eventual suicide or mental degeneration of the second person as the phantom created by their thoughts grows stronger, only for the soul to realise after death that they have committed an elaborate kind of magical suicide. The other example given is of a succubus or incubus. Other examples of this entity are doppelgängers (doubles of people we know that appear when the person is far away, often when they are in some kind of trouble) and beings born out of memes or urban legends. Entities we would think of as demons are very often just powerful phantoms bloated and gluttoned by millennia of collective imagination – ‘the devil’, for example. Some of these entities can become powerful enough to enact forms of possession on the most vulnerable human beings. They have no existence outside of the human world but they are powerful enough to be real to us and that matters. They are obviously a major problem in our society, like larvae, but like larvae they also serve to teach us about ourselves, since we actually created them all. Think of what we could do with elementals and phantoms if we were all responsible with it.

Phantasms or shadows/shades are similar to phantoms but their image is drawn from that of a deceased person, specifically from the remembering and mourning of the deceased by the living. These are the beings that most frequently manifest themselves to spiritualists and mediums (sometimes to different mediums in different places at the same time). They are quite intelligent and adept at trickery. Bardon tells us that it is very sad that these phantoms are always mistaken for the real dead persons by the spiritualists. They have the same memories as the people who remember that person (who are its creators) and due to the long time in which people are remembered they can exist for centuries, even thousands of years. Statues, monuments and images of ancient dead rulers were specifically designed to create powerful shades that would then be used to guide and influence cultures after their deaths. Mummification magic, in which the astral body is preserved alongside the physical body, is different to the creation of a phantasm but related. In mummification the objective was to preserve the astral body, which would disintegrate following the physical body’s death, enabling the spirit of the departed to influence the physical world for a time after its passing. However the vast majority of people pass beyond this world immediately following their death and the apparitions which we see of them after that point are mostly phantasms. Not always, as the departed may still be contacted through the Akasha, but in the majority of cases, contact with the dead is actually with a shade. Phantoms and phantasms can also be consciously created by magicians but their employment in intentional psychic attack is rare.

Elementaries are intentionally created beings that differ substantially from elementals. Elementals are composed of consciously condensed mental light while an elementary is composed of the Elements and therefore has a more complex occult anatomy with more potential, and it is invested with life from its creators life energy. The creation of an elementary is an act of magic and is only possible by a well trained initiate. A physical representation of the beings body – like a doll – is constructed and ritually prepared so that it is brought to life astrally and mentally. Many varieties exist, from the crudest and simplest (corn dolls and scarecrows used by magician farmers) to the most advanced and mystical. A Golem is an advanced and extemely powerful type of elementary that has been imbued with Divine power through ritual kabbalah and evocation so that its physical form is animate, for example. Despite the prevalence of this trope in horror stories the practice of creating elementaries is very rarely an issue in psychic attacks as it requires a well trained black magician. Most people are attacked instead by larvae or phantoms.

Intelligences are Divinely ordained entities not created by human beings. They have a role in the natural order, a function and meaning that they embody and personify. These come in countless types but they exist in a hierarchy. In hermetics this hierarchy of Intelligences is expressed as spheres that are named after the objects in the solar system – the Sun sphere, the Moon sphere, etc Included in this category are the Intelligences of the Elements (from which magical elementaries are created), beings of the pure Elements such as the gnomes and sylphs and many nature spirits. These are different from the phantasms humans have created by imagining these beings – another reason why dealing with the spirit world requires a keen discernment. Magical shielding will protect you against these if it is ever necessary, but only if it is not karmic for you to deal with it. Specific magical shields can be crafted for resisting the oscillations of these spheres and are some of the secrets first learned by magicians from these spirits in evocation. There are positive entities and negative entities, with the negative ones being called contra-Intelligences and representing the opposite of their positive counterpart, the destructive power of their principle. These beings are part of the natural order of things (things have to be destroyed as well as created) and assist us in our incarnation but not necessarily in ways we would like. Many of them are aware of us and can interact with our world in various ways, sometimes even visiting it or even taking us to visit theirs (faerie lore is full of such encounters, for example). They take forms that express their innate being, what they are in essence, but also ones that communicate that to us specifically through symbols, thus it is possible for two people (or cultures) to see the same Intelligence differently, even at the same time.

Curses are actually quite common, since they can be placed upon people through the unconscious creation of larvae and phantoms, but as I hope I have made clear most often we have done so to ourselves, not to another human being, and we can also see that many curses arise from repeated use of a building or place for acts which generate and nurture such beings. Objects can also carry residues from human use, persistent influences that bring either good or bad luck. The same principle is used by magicians in the conscious creation of a talisman or amulet and you can employ the same idea in your psychic shield.

CREATING A MAGICAL SHIELD

There are as many ways of doing this as there are traditions – they exist for every kind of religion, mysticism, magic, culture, etc. In finding your own occult shield I suggest you begin where you are comfortable meaning that if you have a particular leaning towards a particular spiritual tradition then you should examine how that tradition views psychic self protection and shielding and become familiar with the symbols that tradition uses in this respect. For example if you are drawn towards the Egyptian tradition then consider using the Eye of Horus, while if you are drawn towards the Norse tradition then use Thor’s Hammer as a warding symbol, if you are Christian, use the cross instead, etc. Animal totems, religious icons, magical sigils, mantras, words of power, gestures, incantations, guardian spirits and whatever your personal tradition provides can be involved in the ritual you design to create your shield. The magical power of symbols is in what they signify to us, so select symbols that speak directly to you. This also means creating your own is a wise strategy but these will lack the weight and substance of centuries of use by other humans, which can be considerable. A self created, original symbol relies more on the power that we invest into them, meaning they are often better for those with more practice in the occult. Whatever tradition we use it provides a framework and a support structure for our shield, anchoring it in that traditions power and philosophy, in its history as a successful counter to unwanted influences. Employing no tradition at all frees our creative power but leaves the shielding dependent on the power of our own will, our conviction in the protection, and without a strong support structure backing it up. This is part of why many banishings, exorcisms and wardings follow a strict ritual process. You don’t need to learn any of these to create an effective magical shield, though.

The process of creating a magical shield is relatively simple and can be accomplished without much effort or training, however its effectiveness will dramatically increase if you do have some skill in meditation and mental discipline as well as creative imagination. If you lack this skill or feel that your shield is not strong enough you will need to continuously replenish it to offset this weakness. Additionally there are certain extra steps you can take to strengthen and empower your shield as well as to make it easily accessible in an emergency. You do not have to follow all the steps outlined below, you can just concentrate on the creation of the shield itself if you wish, but if you do follow these steps your shield will be much more effective.

Preparations: Banishing, Cleansing and Blessing

Before you create your shield it is a very good idea to dismiss from yourself or the area you are shielding any negative influences that already dwell there. If you do not do this you run the risk of shielding yourself in with something, especially if your shield is to encompass your home or vehicle. This would lead to a psychic battle with that entity. In the case of a personal shield being made for your own bodies a cleansing and banishing ritual prepares your space and will give the shield a stronger basis to ground itself in.

If you are clearing a space such as your home or vehicle then the first part of the banishing and cleansing is to literally clean up the physical space, removing all clutter, dust, webbing, untidiness, garbage, etc. If you have to, let go of old objects anchoring things to you or your space – have a clear out and pass things on. Then your space should be astrally and mentally cleared of influences, something that is often accomplished through incense, music and chanting or through the creative imagination of a bright, cleansing positive light filling the space or surrounding your body and driving out anything negative that is hiding within. However you do it the key point is to summon all of your conviction and all of your willpower and shoo all negativity away. It’s worth noting at this point that there are other things that act as banishing and cleansing factors – humour and laughter is an incredibly powerful force here, as are wild parties and celebrations, sometimes. It depends on the party. However a party thrown with the intent of banishing away evil spirits is a time-honoured way of doing this. I’m often amused that the materialistic expression of Samhain as Halloween, a time of crazy and fun parties, laughter at the spooky side of life and sweet treats, seems designed with the lurking fear of the truth in the back of the collective mind. Try as we might, we cannot stamp out the natural instincts that tie us to the invisible world. After all, as I have hopefully pointed out already, many of its local inhabitants are our spiritual kin or the spiritual children of our ancestors, and such familial bonds are of the strongest kind.

If you are creating a shield for yourself then I would recommend that before the first time you do so you have a ritual magical bath, if possible. This is a powerful banishing and cleansing ceremony in which you bathe not to clean your physical body but your astral and mental bodies. You shower and clean your physical body before the bath, making the focus the process of cleansing your subtle bodies. You can employ bath salts, candles, oils, incense, music and other ritual elements as you wish. I cannot do better than point you in the direction of Kaitlin Coppocks article on this subject: https://sphereandsundry.com/lo-a-step-by-step-guide-to-ritual-bathing-personal-energetic-cleansing-w-astrology/

In her article you will find a most excellent and extensive set of instructions on magical baths, including what to do if you have no bath. I recommend you read it and create your own version of it with the tools you have at hand or can obtain in a reasonable amount of time. Undergoing a magical bath before you create your magical shield will greatly enhance your experience and empower your shield to be more effective. If you do not have the time or the means for a ritual bath then instead you can perform a banishing and cleansing of your bodies using the simple method of imagining yourself in a universe filled with white light that drives away all darkness, or you can use the more involved meditation that follows (you could also make this a part of your magical bath ritual if you wish):

Sit or lie down in a comfortable position and begin to relax, focusing on your breathing. Breathe normally and naturally as you relax each of the muscles in your body in turn, noting where the greatest tension lies. When you are ready begin to imagine a golden light above your head beginning to descend into its top. As this beautiful golden light descends into your head it gradually fills up the inside of your body like warm golden honey. Take your time feeling it moving slowly into every crevice inside your head. The pulsing, warm light continues to pour down and the golden liquid gradually descends into your throat and shoulders, chest and upper arms, flows over your elbows and into your stomach and abdomen, trickles towards the end of every finger and over the edge of your hips, down towards your feet, until your entire body is filled with this golden fluid. As it passes through your body it takes with it all negativity and all disharmony and dysfunction and breaks it down until it is nothing. When the inside of your body is entirely filled from head to tips of toes and soles of feet, imagine that the liquid begins to transmute and ooze out of the tips of your toes as a gaseous golden mist that begins to float upwards. This beautiful golden cloud returns to your head slowly, filtering through your astral and mental bodies and your aura as it does so and removing negativity and disharmony from them and your space. When it reaches the top of your head where the light began to descend into your body it seals you completely in a bubble, front and back, left and right sides, leaving you wrapped in an egg shaped golden mist and all negativity has been removed from your being. Give thanks that it is so.

These examples exist alongside many other methods of accomplishing the same goal of banishing and cleansing. You might go to see a professional such as a shaman or a medical practitioner such as an acupuncturist to accomplish the same ends.

Creation of the Magic Shield around a Person

Once again, sit or lie down in a comfortable position and relax, focusing on your breathing. I prefer to be sitting because the spine is straight and vertical, but comfort for you is the main thing. Before you begin, affirm silently in your mind that this process will bring an increase in self confidence. Be certain that your shield is not established based on fear or paranoia but instead is founded on empowerment. Additionally, and perhaps even before you begin, give some time to contemplating how your shield will behave toward negative influences. Does it drain them, reflect them back at their source, make you invisible to them, trap them, destroy them, notify you or not, does it give you an option to let them in so that you can examine them? How long is it meant to last for, and in what situations or places is it meant to be present? Does it behave differently toward different entities or sources of attack, for example does it notify you when it specifically comes from an individual known to you or does it destroy one kind of entity but trap another? This is an important design step that should be a reflection of your intentions and also your morality. These are after all, living beings like us – many are our unwanted children! Human beings do an enormous number of negative things but that doesn’t mean all entities need to be destroyed.

The shield you will be creating utilizes a very common energy source for this purpose, the universal Light. It relies on the fact that every individual human being (indeed, all beings) has a connection to the highest spiritual realms that they can call upon at any time. The Light will be drawn down from above your head into your bodies and circulated around them with the instruction that it protect you as you intend it to. When the process is complete you will then ensure its supply of energy by connecting it to the universal storehouse of Light from which it will be continually replenished.

Begin by relaxing deeply, then imagine a white light above your head beginning to move down into your crown from which it begins to overflow like a fountain. As this white light flows from above into and out of your crown it begins to move in a clockwise direction around the top of your head, very slowly and gracefully. Affirm that as it does so it protects you in the way that you have intended and be sure to continually press this idea into the Light as it moves. Be sure to visualise and feel its movement around the back of your head as it crosses in front of your eyes and brow, ears, nose and mouth, and finally wraps itself around your chin and neck. It makes contact with your skin because it envelopes you internally as well but its boundary extends slightly beyond your skin into the space you consider your own personal space. With the shield now formed as a kind of hood or helmet around your head region pause for a while and again affirm your will and desire that the shield protect you in the way you design it to. It begins to broaden out to encompass the space around your shoulders and then spirals down your upper arms to your elbows and around your chest and back, wrapping your upper body. Take your time and be sure to continually focus on the idea of your magical shield and its protection. Breathe normally and naturally and feel the protective layer of the shield encompassing the whole upper half of your body. When you’re ready mentally affirm once again the purpose of the shield and remind yourself that it will lead to an increase in confidence as you direct the Light to continue circulating in a clockwise direction around your abdomen and lower body, shielding your belly and stomach, and wrapping itself around your hips, always pressing the intention of the magical shield into it as it passes around you. You want to calmly know that absolutely no negative influence can get past it. Continue to let the light circulate in this way until you reach the soles of your feet. At this point, sit within your shield and feel its presence, try to get used to its energy so that you can recognise it when it is activated. Enjoy being in the safe space for a while. When you’re ready, simply instruct your shield to begin drawing its energy from the universal storehouse of Light that is available at all times in all places. Imagine that the original portal to this Light above your head slowly fades and disappears and place yourself in an entire universe of this Light stretching in every direction. Instruct the universal Light to then begin to pour into your shield from every direction continuously, and include the thought that this connection can only be severed by you. Know that this is true. Now go and have a cup of tea or coffee and watch a movie or read a book – anything that takes your mind off the shield for a number of hours, so that you forget about it. This helps the shield to establish itself. Beyond that, from time to time give attention to your shield and replenish it by repeating the ritual.

If you wish you may repeat the process two more times, making the first shield for your mental body, the second for your astral body and the third for your physical body. The process is exactly the same, all that changes is that you make sure to impress the shield with the idea that it is protecting a specific body. A single shield works to protect you on all three levels but separate shields allow you to distinguish more between influences that affect different bodies and the act of repetition makes them generally sturdier as well.

On that note there are other things you can do to make your shield even stronger. First, learn to utilize all of your astral and mental senses in the shields creation, not just visualizing it but smelling, hearing, tasting and feeling it as well. For me this is actually the really fun part of the process where you get to employ the creative side of your creative imagination. What is the smell of protection for you? Look back into your memories and you will find an archive of aromas and odors that you have mostly ignored in favour of visual stimuli. These are literal treasure troves waiting assignment to some kind of magical operation, all you have to do is consciously recall them with your imagination. The journey of just discovering these things is itself a magical one. For example, most people have a long buried memory of the smell of their mother’s skin when they were babies. If you can remember this smell and creatively imagine it as the smell of your shield while you are wrapping it around you it will greatly empower that shield (unless perhaps the shield is for use against your own mother!). Similarly, give your shield a presence in imagined sound (an instrument, a musical tone, birdsong, an alarm bell, etc.), a taste and a feeling as well (hard, smooth, rough, spiky, hot, cold, etc.). You can also instruct your shield to bring these sensations into your awareness under specific trigger conditions, for example you can instruct it to give you a bitter taste or the sound of an owl when a specific entity tries to interfere with you. These are more advanced shielding techniques for people more familiar with the practice but in the beginning simply personalizing your shield by adding all of your senses in these ways is one of the most powerful techniques you can use to increase its strength and effectiveness. The more personal your connection is to your own shield, the more it protects you. Always keep the personal details of your shield a secret to preserve its power.

Secondly you can ground your shield, giving it a material object to root itself in. Very often this will be some kind of jewellery, a ring or necklace that you wear that is specifically worn only as a part of your shielding and which you do not have to take off in bed or when washing. By touching the object you can activate the shield at will or strengthen it. By turning it or otherwise physically manipulating it you can also cause your shield to enter different configurations. The problem with this is if you lose the object. At that point you have to construct a new shield for yourself or modify the old one so that it is not dependent upon the object if that was the case. Losing our protective items is sometimes a profoundly deep lesson for us. Specials words or phrases can serve the same functions as can certain hand gestures. Grounding your shield can also be done in another way, by planting a magical tree or plant which you nurture as its physical form. Fruit trees can be especially useful in this respect as their fruit can be eaten and their seeds given to others or planted in a protective circle around an area.

Creation of the Magic Shield around a Space or Object

When it comes to creating a shield for a location or object such as a vehicle or something that is to be sent in the post the process is exactly the same but you must ensure that the Light is circulated around the object itself, from whatever its top seems to be to its bottom. Special attention must be given to all of the doorways and windows, chimneys, vents and any other entrances into the building or space as well as the four cardinal directions of east, west, north and south. Don’t forget that many things come into the home through the computer and the internet now – we have portals into digital spaces and the news isn’t good lately. It is customary and beneficial to begin with the east (where sunlight becomes visible each day) and rotate the Light in a clockwise direction from there (or in the direction the Sun travels in the day), so around the space from east to south, south to west, then west to north and back to the east again. Make sure that you cover underneath the area and above it so that is encompassed in a sphere. Begin at the top of the area or structure and rotate down into the ground beneath it. If you have land or a garden, extend the protection to the boundary and not just the building walls. If you have a garage or parking space treat that as part of the boundary of your shield and make sure it covers them too. You can do this room to room or cover the entire building and location in one go as you wish. Afterward or during it is a good idea to ground the shield by placing symbols or guardian objects in the cardinal directions or entryways of your home, over the doors or facing them or on window sills. I like to use wooden objects because wood is alive in a very special way for me.

If the object is to be used as a grounding object and a material representation of your shield, like a ring you want to wear, you simply have to hold the object in your hands while you perform your shielding and from time to time remember to put your attention on the held object and instruct it to behave in the way you wish. Make sure that your object is saturated in the universal Light of your shield.

The creation of a shield around your space constitutes a clear signal in the astra-mental planes that says “Caution! Conscious humans live here!” and this alone serves to protect you. The vast majority of our abodes, with no such spiritual protection placed around them, appear to many entities as open territories that they are free to move through at will, perhaps even live in. By establishing a boundary and signaling that it is our own astra-mental territory many negative entities are discouraged from coming near. If this seems familiar to you it’s because it is – it’s the tradition of lighting jack-o’-lanterns in your windows on Halloween, an occult tradition that is ironically itself heavily occulted. The lantern can become the object which grounds the shielding of your home, the pumpkin and its face the spirit of your home itself, warding intruders away, the candle flame the Light. This is why the tradition involves making the lantern a fun activity with children, because their natural magic is invested into it. As I have said before, adults may have largely lost (actually, misplaced) their psychic senses, but not entirely. They operate through the unconscious until they are consciously re-claimed and trained. They are occulted but still there. If you want to make this a true magical operation involving your children, I suggest you leave them to hollow out the pumpkins while you focus on impressing the Light of protection into the candles that will be used.

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That’s all for now, be safe out there and don’t be afraid, one of the things I hope you take away from this post is just how powerful we all are. Let’s realise it together. In a previous journey I have discussed the use of astrology in warding and banishing magic and I suggest you read this article after this one if you’re interested in learning more about that.

My love to all of you!