If you are into magick practices you will find that the term energy is tossed around a lot, but what exactly is this energy they speak of? And more importantly how does it actually fit in with my practice and lifestyle?
This thread will be dedicated to understanding what energy is and how to utilize it in your practice. So lets get to it.
Energy?
We have all heard about it, maybe not as the specific word Energy, but it has many words in different cultures. Some of which I will mention in just a minute. First lets look at the description for Energy to give us some insight into the meaning of the term.
One of the most prominent descriptions of energy reads as follows: Energy is the term for the universal energy, or the energy that permeates everything around us. (Thanks to Deseus for the description.) Now let us examine that for a second. Its a force that permeates everything, meaning that it is all around us and even flows through us. We can use this energy for many things depending on our intent; focus and knowledge of its functionality. It is also often referred to as the life force.
Energy is known all around the world and is recognized in religions and occultist paths, some of which are as follows:
Origin: Word:
Chinese - Chi
Egyptians - Ka
Japan - Qi or Ki
Vedic culture - Prana
The list can go on and on, but lets not stop at semantics. I do believe that we can see that it is recognized all over even with this short list. For the sake of this thread I will be using the word energy as not to create confusion.
Where does energy fit in the puzzle?
If you look into your basics you will notice that energy is right up there on the list. Why? Well simple as it sounds a lot of things that we do as practitioners would not work without knowing how energy influences us, both in a spiritual and physical sense as well as the external environment and what role it plays in the grand working of things.
Consider the following, a Reiki healer (yes those blokes with the shiny multi colored auras) uses for the most part energy in a certain way as to promote healing and recovery and has proven effective many a times during its use. This is but one example; another could be acupuncture, where the healer would stick needles into your body at certain meridians as to ensure the proper flow of energy, which in a lot of cases could lead to mental and physical manifestations of illness.
Healing aside, every spell you cast and every circle you make and every visualization you do all has the secret ingredient of energy in the mix in one way or another. So it is cardinal that you understand its usage in your practice. Have you ever felt that something that you attempt just isnt working? Well you might be doing something wrong or you could just miss the energy aspect of the spell.
How do I use it?
One thing I want to emphasize on here is the fact that you must always remember that you are not a storage facility for energy, yes you can accumulate it, but it will be like a balloon, if you keep blowing at some point the balloon will pop and let the energy out, this is extremely unhealthy and can have physical manifestations one of the common ones being extreme exhaustion. Rather see yourself as part of the river of energy out there, it flows through you, how you direct it will be your choice, whether it be healing or casting a spell.
The primary thing that you have to do when wanting to work with energy or so called energy manipulation is to acknowledge it is there, you must feel it flow through you. I will give a short exercise that can be performed at ease anywhere you go and its quite soothing.
Get in a comfortable position, it doesnt matter which position you choose, just dont be in a way that discomfort becomes a distraction. Close your eyes and see yourself as part of this river of energy flowing through you, visualize with every breath you take that the air you breathe is the very energy around you, feel it flow through your veins and arteries with every heart beat and feel it flow out of you with every breath out. This does not take too long and a lot of people have said that they feel a strange tingling sensation running through them as well as heat. If you have tried this and have experienced something else I would love to hear about it. Obviously there are many ways to get to Rome and this is not the only exercise to feel the energy around us.
Once you have done that you can try to alter the flow of the current to specific areas such as your hands or feet. This might take some time to accomplish and the most important thing to remember while attempting this is that you should not try and force the direction, always flow. Knowing that it is there and being able to direct it is cardinal to its use in your practice.
Conclusion
I am afraid of making a post that is too long so I will continue this thread with more posts at a later time with more exercises and information. I hope that you have found this thread meaningful or informative. Please feel free to correct me or add to this thread, any input would greatly be appreciated.
This is my first post and I am not afraid of constructive criticism, but dont just shoot down, help build :)
