Tag Archive: psychic protection


Are Sexual Fantasies a Form of Psychic Harassment?

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

In the past I engaged in astral sex: by focusing my energy on someone, I would have intense sexual experiences. This was amplified by the use of drugs, and now that I’ve quit using, I find I can still make these connections but in a far less powerful way. Now I want to discontinue doing this because it doesn’t feel right anymore. When I try to draw the line, however, I am discovering that just having an ordinary sexual fantasy about someone connects me to them in an energetic way. I’m starting to think it’s impossible to avoid having energetic experiences with other people. What do you think? I’ve also discovered I need to work on my relationship to the divine as it expresses itself in a feminine way. During the time when I was discovering sexual energy projection, I journeyed into disrespectful and degrading attitudes. I am working on changing that, and am seeking others’ forgiveness for my past behaviors.
– L.

Dear L.:

If the past behaviors you’re seeking forgiveness for are non-physical in nature (such as fantasies about other people), then you need do nothing but choose to think in new ways and forgive yourself. If it makes you feel better, you can mentally apologize to the people you feel you’ve wronged and ask them to forgive you. (To speak to them directly would probably really freak them out, which would do more harm than good.)

Regarding your current dilemma, you are absolutely right: it is impossible to avoid interacting energetically with others, for we are in constant energetic interaction with everyone around us. Every time we think of someone, we send them energy. In fact, even if you were to have a fantasy about some imaginary person, you would be interacting with a being in some dimension.

You can, however, resolve your worries telepathically. In becoming aware of auric exchanges, you are moving into some deep psychic territory, and you will have to develop some new psychic skills anyway. If you find yourself fantasizing about someone, and you’re not sure if this is okay, you can simply (mentally!) ask them for permission to continue. Think about it: if you can affect them with your sexual “fantasies,” surely you can also affect them with a soulful “fantasy” conversation.

Now let’s explore sex and spirituality and what a complicated subject this has become for us all. I believe we can tell a great deal about our relationship to life (and “God”) from our attitude toward sex. People who have yet to develop conscious spiritual awareness tend to be rather animalistic in their approach to sex. As we evolve spiritually, we seek physical release less and emotional union more. At first, we seek this union in another person; in time, however, we realize that what we really long for is union with the Divine.

There is a reason why highly spiritual people often turn to practices like celibacy and tantra. At first glance, these may seem totally unrelated, but such choices reflect awareness that sexual energy is powerful and can be harnessed toward spiritual aims.

Unfortunately, our evolutionary journey in relationship to sex is not simply a matter of how we express our desires. Because sex is so important and so powerful, mankind has developed all sorts of ways to try to control it, from harsh laws and religious edicts to the insidious psychological weapon of shame and social rejection. Depending on how we’ve been socialized, we all have various degrees of awakening and healing to accomplish regarding sexual energy. Most of us have been taught to believe that sex is dirty, sexual desire is wrong, and even our bodies are somehow shameful. Repression eventually becomes obsession, whether we’re obsessed with having sex or with NOT having it.

In backlash to all that control, many people now choose to believe that sex can be purely recreational – that we don’t have to exert any self-control so long as we practice good hygiene. Of course, this careless approach breeds all sorts of emotional, spiritual, social and economic issues.

As with anything else that brings us great pleasure, sex is also easy to get addicted to or obsessed with. This is when it begins to rule us and we surrender our freedom to choose wisely. If we can’t control our sexual thoughts and feelings in addition to our sexual acts, we can become addicted, and may become earthbound by our desires when we depart this world. This is why great spiritual teachers have warned us against lust: it’s not because sex is inherently evil, but because it is so enticing that it’s easy to lose our heads about it.

Like all energy, sexual energy can be directed and redirected, stored and released, but it can’t be destroyed. When it is repressed, it will seek some sort of outlet. The greater the tension between sexual energy and the forces trying to repress it, the more twisted it may become as it seeks an outlet for expression.

What you call “degrading” in your question others might call perverted, which simply means distorted or unnatural. Thus sex that is perverse or degrading involves the distortion of whatever would be natural for us if we didn’t have so many artificial ideas about it. This sort of perversion is now pervasive and self-perpetuating: it has become yet another thing we inherit from our cultures if we’re not conscious enough to choose something higher for ourselves.

Of course, conscious awareness is the key to making wise choices on any path. This involves knowing why we want what we want, why we do what we do, and how what we choose may affect other people. Without such awareness, we can’t purposefully cultivate the quality of experience we most value.

To have a healthy relationship to sexual energy, we must recognize it as a normal, natural, beautiful expression of life and love. We must also remain in control of our own thoughts and impulses, and carry the basic intention of loving ourselves and others.

You are at a natural turning point in your own evolution: you’re waking up to all the cultural issues you’ve absorbed about sex, and are in the process of making some new conscious choices for yourself. This is very positive, for it is only in aligning with the loving heart of sexual desire that we are freed from compulsion and empowered to manifest true fulfillment.

The simplest advice I can give you is just to LOVE: Cultivate loving thoughts, send loving energies, and choose whatever is most loving when you’re not sure what to do, and you can’t go wrong. If you are just sending love and appreciation to others and you end up in blissful sexual fantasies about them, then you are making love to the Universe, my friend – and there is nothing wrong with that!

– Soul Arcanum


The Evil Eye and Auric Interactions

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

My family has all sorts of superstitions that I’ve always thought were crazy. At the same time, however, part of me has always wondered if maybe there is something to them. For example, my grandmother was forever blaming all sorts of problems on what she called the “evil eye.” (I could tell you lots of wild stories!) Anyway, do you think the evil eye is real? Is it possible to harm another person on some level just by looking at them?
– Effie

Dear Effie:

The evil eye is a common superstition in Arab and European countries, especially around the area of the Mediterranean. However, the understanding that ill will can be communicated via a look is universal. Let’s deal with the superstition first.

The basic idea behind the evil eye is that one person can curse another person by simply envying them. Most people believe that this harm is not intentional. It seems to arise from the idea that in drawing attention to someone’s blessing, God may realize He’s made a mistake or that things aren’t “fair” somehow, and take that blessing away.

From a metaphysical perspective, there is of course no need for us to hide our blessings for fear they will be taken away from us, and in fact, that sort of fear is counter-productive. Most of us can appreciate the psychological issues behind such superstitions, however, for we’ve all been the uncomfortable objects of envy. If someone who couldn’t have a child praised my beautiful baby, I would naturally feel sorry for her and empathize by imagining myself in her place. If we are in any way doubtful of our worthiness of such a blessing, it’s natural to think we’d better hide our good fortune lest someone take it away.

Perhaps this sort of thinking arises in childhood, when parents strive to be fair to siblings. If one sibling has something like a new toy or candy, he may be made to share it with his brothers and sisters. Also, children often find things they treasure but should not have, and when their parents find out, they take those things away. To protect their treasures, children often learn to hide them.

We must also remember that folklore arises to answer questions to which there are no other answers available. For example, babies and small children tend to get sick a lot. Back when there was no medical explanation for most illnesses, people looked to supernatural causes because they were desperate to be able to do something to save their children from harm.

There are all sorts of strange rituals, charms and so-called cures for the evil eye, which you can research elsewhere if you’re interested. I do think it’s interesting to note that these remedies reveal a basic awareness of the fact that our auras can be affected by others’ energy. When we believe we are protected, our vibration is high, and for this reason alone, using a charm or ritual could protect us. Further, charms for protection are often mirrored surfaces or look like eyes, as they are designed to reflect and return the energy in the sender’s gaze. This suggests basic understanding of karma, and how it is wiser to “turn the other cheek” than to go on the offensive. Other remedies for the evil eye involve auric cleansing techniques. For example, in some places children are smudged with smoke when they return from being in public.

As for whether or not there is any spiritual basis for these superstitions, we all know that looks can be unsettling and unnerving. While some looks obviously contain some sort of threat, most of us don’t like to be stared at, and some looks really give us the creeps. The common saying, “if looks could kill” suggests we are aware of the malevolent quality of some looks, and grateful that they can only affect us on a non-physical level.

Most women are familiar with the energetic feeling of being “checked out” or leered at by a man. One of the first auric interactions I ever witnessed clairvoyantly involved such a situation. I was picking up a friend who lived in a college co-op. She hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so I agreed to wait while she grabbed a quick meal with her housemates. I was sitting in the back of the dining room when I saw a young man enter. Her back was to him, and as I saw him look at her, I actually saw this red, murky energy flow out from his aura toward her. When it got close to her, all of a sudden she turned around and looked right at him with an angry look on her face.

This so surprised me that I lost my clairvoyant connection. Later I told her what I’d seen, and she was amazed by it. She then explained how that young man had been sexually harassing her for a while, and gave her the creeps!

This experience demonstrated how we sense when someone is looking at us: they actually send energy out to our auras. It also explained how we can sense things about people, like whether they are safe or dangerous, sincere or dishonest, and all sorts of other information. Regardless of what they may do or say, when we interact with other people, our auras are communicating on a deeper level.

We can send energy to someone by focusing on them mentally, but it’s more powerful to be able to focus on them visually as well. By focusing our gaze on someone with emotion, we can communicate all sorts of things from anger, threats or rejection to sincere interest, sexual attraction and love.

Further, when two or more people are together, natural spiritual law causes them to entrain to the vibration of the person with the strongest energy field. This person has the most “power” both in terms of life force and interpersonal dynamics. This does not mean that person is the most “enlightened.” If such a person has a very positive, warm vibration, others will find him attractive. If such a person has a negative or destructive vibration, people will naturally tend to fear him.

People with strong life force energy radiate that power in many ways, and one key way is through their eyes, which tend to be striking, penetrating or beautiful. It thus makes sense that when we are around someone of a lower vibration who has more powerful chi than we do, we will feel threatened by their energy, and try to avoid interacting with them in any way.

Please don’t let these ideas worry you, for we have been dealing with these auric interactions our whole lives with the help of our wonderful inner guidance systems. Our instincts make us aware of what is happening on an auric level, so all we need to do is listen to our intuition and act accordingly.

– Soul Arcanum

The Evil Eye and Auric Interactions

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

My family has all sorts of superstitions that I’ve always thought were crazy. At the same time, however, part of me has always wondered if maybe there is something to them. For example, my grandmother was forever blaming all sorts of problems on what she called the “evil eye.” (I could tell you lots of wild stories!) Anyway, do you think the evil eye is real? Is it possible to harm another person on some level just by looking at them?
– Effie

Dear Effie:

The evil eye is a common superstition in Arab and European countries, especially around the area of the Mediterranean. However, the understanding that ill will can be communicated via a look is universal. Let’s deal with the superstition first.

The basic idea behind the evil eye is that one person can curse another person by simply envying them. Most people believe that this harm is not intentional. It seems to arise from the idea that in drawing attention to someone’s blessing, God may realize He’s made a mistake or that things aren’t “fair” somehow, and take that blessing away.

From a metaphysical perspective, there is of course no need for us to hide our blessings for fear they will be taken away from us, and in fact, that sort of fear is counter-productive. Most of us can appreciate the psychological issues behind such superstitions, however, for we’ve all been the uncomfortable objects of envy. If someone who couldn’t have a child praised my beautiful baby, I would naturally feel sorry for her and empathize by imagining myself in her place. If we are in any way doubtful of our worthiness of such a blessing, it’s natural to think we’d better hide our good fortune lest someone take it away.

Perhaps this sort of thinking arises in childhood, when parents strive to be fair to siblings. If one sibling has something like a new toy or candy, he may be made to share it with his brothers and sisters. Also, children often find things they treasure but should not have, and when their parents find out, they take those things away. To protect their treasures, children often learn to hide them.

We must also remember that folklore arises to answer questions to which there are no other answers available. For example, babies and small children tend to get sick a lot. Back when there was no medical explanation for most illnesses, people looked to supernatural causes because they were desperate to be able to do something to save their children from harm.

There are all sorts of strange rituals, charms and so-called cures for the evil eye, which you can research elsewhere if you’re interested. I do think it’s interesting to note that these remedies reveal a basic awareness of the fact that our auras can be affected by others’ energy. When we believe we are protected, our vibration is high, and for this reason alone, using a charm or ritual could protect us. Further, charms for protection are often mirrored surfaces or look like eyes, as they are designed to reflect and return the energy in the sender’s gaze. This suggests basic understanding of karma, and how it is wiser to “turn the other cheek” than to go on the offensive. Other remedies for the evil eye involve auric cleansing techniques. For example, in some places children are smudged with smoke when they return from being in public.

As for whether or not there is any spiritual basis for these superstitions, we all know that looks can be unsettling and unnerving. While some looks obviously contain some sort of threat, most of us don’t like to be stared at, and some looks really give us the creeps. The common saying, “if looks could kill” suggests we are aware of the malevolent quality of some looks, and grateful that they can only affect us on a non-physical level.

Most women are familiar with the energetic feeling of being “checked out” or leered at by a man. One of the first auric interactions I ever witnessed clairvoyantly involved such a situation. I was picking up a friend who lived in a college co-op. She hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so I agreed to wait while she grabbed a quick meal with her housemates. I was sitting in the back of the dining room when I saw a young man enter. Her back was to him, and as I saw him look at her, I actually saw this red, murky energy flow out from his aura toward her. When it got close to her, all of a sudden she turned around and looked right at him with an angry look on her face.

This so surprised me that I lost my clairvoyant connection. Later I told her what I’d seen, and she was amazed by it. She then explained how that young man had been sexually harassing her for a while, and gave her the creeps!

This experience demonstrated how we sense when someone is looking at us: they actually send energy out to our auras. It also explained how we can sense things about people, like whether they are safe or dangerous, sincere or dishonest, and all sorts of other information. Regardless of what they may do or say, when we interact with other people, our auras are communicating on a deeper level.

We can send energy to someone by focusing on them mentally, but it’s more powerful to be able to focus on them visually as well. By focusing our gaze on someone with emotion, we can communicate all sorts of things from anger, threats or rejection to sincere interest, sexual attraction and love.

Further, when two or more people are together, natural spiritual law causes them to entrain to the vibration of the person with the strongest energy field. This person has the most “power” both in terms of life force and interpersonal dynamics. This does not mean that person is the most “enlightened.” If such a person has a very positive, warm vibration, others will find him attractive. If such a person has a negative or destructive vibration, people will naturally tend to fear him.

People with strong life force energy radiate that power in many ways, and one key way is through their eyes, which tend to be striking, penetrating or beautiful. It thus makes sense that when we are around someone of a lower vibration who has more powerful chi than we do, we will feel threatened by their energy, and try to avoid interacting with them in any way.

Please don’t let these ideas worry you, for we have been dealing with these auric interactions our whole lives with the help of our wonderful inner guidance systems. Our instincts make us aware of what is happening on an auric level, so all we need to do is listen to our intuition and act accordingly.

– Soul Arcanum

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

My husband and I have found a house we would like to buy. It’s a foreclosure so it’s listed for a great price. The atmosphere, however, is really yucky. I know that new carpet and fresh paint would make it look much better, but I’m worried about its energy. It feels like the people who lived there were NOT very nice, and just walking in leaves me feeling sort of “dirty.” Do you have any advice for creating a positive psychic atmosphere?
– Beth

Dear Beth:

Buildings absorb the energy of the people who live in them and the events that happen there. I believe that everyone can sense energy in the atmosphere of a place. For example, we associate places that are dark, dirty, and decrepit with a creepy feeling, and these are the very conditions that negative astral entities find most attractive.

Physical objects also absorb the energy of the people who own them, wear them or use them. The more something is worn or used, the more energy it absorbs. Some materials are more “porous” than others, and some “hold a charge” better than others. For example, metal holds a charge very well. This is why psychics can hold a piece of jewelry and tell you about the person who owned it. Wedding bands, watches and other items that are worn daily are ideal for psychometry work.

Moving into a house that has absorbed the energy of people who were very different from you in vibration will naturally make you feel uneasy. Since the house is a foreclosure, the former residents were no doubt really stressed when they left. If they fought a lot or suffered a great deal (as with people who die in a space after a long illness), you may actually pick up the emotions they left behind and begin to feel like you’re “not yourself,” especially if you’re not conscious of what is happening.

Your awareness of how this house feels is a blessing. Feeling “dirty” is indeed a reflection that you’ve picked something up from the atmosphere. Just as driving down a dusty road will leave our cars covered with film, when we move through a space where lots of old energy has settled, we’ll stir it up, and if we’re not careful, it will get all over us.

The good news is that whether you do anything or not, if you buy this house and move in, it will immediately start to release its old charge and absorb your vibration. Just cleaning the house physically will go a long way. You mentioned painting and re-carpeting, which are great ideas. Getting rid of the old carpet would release stale energy, and painting would not only freshen things up, it would allow you to mark your territory with your personal color choices.

The more chi you get moving, the faster the house will shift in vibration. Again, comparing old energy to dust, imagine what would happen if you moved in, plopped your stuff down, and didn’t do another thing: you’d be living with all that old dust for a long time. If instead you come in and start cleaning, opening the windows, running fans and washing down walls, you’ll stir up that old energy and clear it out of there.

Because you don’t like the energy of the house now, I recommend you get rid of everything the previous owners left behind. If they left any furniture or other objects, sell, donate or recycle them. If you can afford new window treatments, get rid of those too. Replace anything cosmetic that you don’t like such as paint, wallpaper, etc. This will go a long way in shifting the atmosphere toward your own vibration.

Since the existing climate there is so uncomfortable for you, I recommend you start your clearing work on a psychic level. Physical intangibles such as sounds, smells, smoke, light, thoughts/prayers, etc., have a strong impact on the astral, so these will be your key tools in this endeavor.

First, open all the blinds to let as much light into the house as possible. You might also leave spiritual music playing in the house all the time, whether you’re there or not. Then smudge the house of negative energy with sage. (Light a sage bundle and blow out the flame, and then walk through the house, sweeping the fragrant sage smoke over every wall, door, window, nook and cranny. As you do this, imagine that any astral residue is being burned off, and in your wake, everything is clean and shiny.)

If you’re Catholic and this doesn’t feel right to you, you can do the same thing with holy water. Get some from your priest and sprinkle it as you go, or better yet, have your priest over to bless the house. I’ve also heard that burning orange peels is especially effective for clearing out the energy of former residents.

Plants are also great for creating fresh, positive energy. Just as plants transmute carbon dioxide into oxygen, they can transform negative energy into positive. Anything vital and beautiful will contribute to a positive atmosphere. Continuously running water is another great way to get chi flowing and keep it moving; this is why fountains create such a fresh, soothing vibe.

You can also use crystals to magnify your efforts. If you want to create a peaceful feeling, for example, you might put a big amethyst geode on a windowsill, or if you want to brighten the atmosphere, hang a crystal in the window to refract sunlight. Some people even bury quartz crystals in the corners of their property to create a “force field” designed to keep their good energy in, and anything not in harmony with their energy “out.”

A housewarming is another great idea, but make sure you only invite people who embody the mood you want in your house. Enlist a friend or minister to lead your guests in a prayer to fill your new home with great energy. Here’s a house blessing I wrote just for you. I recommend you print it out and hang it up wherever it feels appropriate – perhaps on the back of your front door. Please note that while the combined energy of your friends and loved ones is powerful, you should also call upon a higher power to bless your house, whether that higher power is Jesus or nature spirits or some other force of love and light.

The blessing:

Mother/Father/God, bless this house and all who live here. Fill this dwelling with an ambience of peace, prosperity, health, happiness, harmony and love. Let this space shine with divine light and beauty and provide a warm, comfortable haven from the world. May only beings that are kind-hearted and well-intentioned enter here. May nature’s spirits feel welcome and live with us as friends. May all who enter here receive what they need, and feel richly blessed with their heart’s desires.

From Christianity and Judaism to Native American traditions, all cultures have practiced some form of ritual designed to protect and bless a dwelling and its inhabitants. At a deep intuitive level, we know that creating a healthy, positive atmosphere will promote mental and emotional well-being, just as creating a clean physical environment will promote physical health and well-being.

So whether we’re moving into a new space or not, when we’ve been feeling irritable, tired, frustrated, etc., clearing the atmosphere can help us shift into a lighter, brighter personal vibration. With this in mind, I recommend that everyone cleanse the atmosphere of their home regularly, or at least whenever they feel the need for a spiritual boost.

– Soul Arcanum


Is It Safe for Teen to Explore Psychic Abilities?

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

My 15-year-old son is interested in exploring his psychic abilities. My father and I both had second sight, but only for the dark things, and we struggled to repress it. I want to know if I should let my son develop his abilities. He has shown some signs of having second sight, but only for dark things. Please let me know your opinion: is it safe for him to explore this? My father drank away the memories he had of his own psychic experiences, and I have buried mine deep within, though they still come through sometimes. My mother and her family are against me using my ability, because I read someone’s mind one time, and the reading was so dark it terrified me for weeks. I know that second sight is real – I just don’t know if my son should develop his or not. I had an unusual childhood because of my ability.
Thank you for your time.
– Tami

Dear Tami:

It doesn’t surprise me that this situation has been passed from one generation to another. In fact, I’ve seen this very issue in my own family. I was raised from the age of eight by my father, and had no contact with my mother until I was in my 20’s. My father’s family was not psychic or even spiritual in any way, and I didn’t know that on my mother’s side I was descended from a long psychic line until well after my own abilities had come to the surface.

After I was an adult and professional psychic myself, I reconnected with my mother, and that’s when I learned about her family’s history. My great-grandmother was famous for her tea-leaf readings; people traveled from all around England’s countryside to consult with her. My grandmother devoted more than 50 years to managing her Episcopal church’s office. Though she may not have labeled herself “psychic,” when she prayed for people, miracles happened. My own mother struggled a great deal psychologically and emotionally. When I was small, she teetered on that fine line between genius and madness, often leaning toward the mad side, and relied on various psychological medications to cope with life.

She was thus amazed to learn how comfortable I had become with my own psychic ability, because like you, she had had many dark experiences, and she had prayed for her abilities to be “turned off.” It was probably a blessing that I wasn’t raised by her, because I probably would have absorbed her fear of psychic matters and pushed my own abilities down as well.

This is what has happened in your family. From one fearful generation to another, the belief/ expectation that psychic = dark has been passed down. So how did this fear get started in the first place?

First, it’s natural to fear the unknown. Children are afraid of the dark because humans have an innate, primal fear of what we can’t see, don’t know, aren’t familiar with, etc. It’s the same thing that makes children afraid of strangers. These fears are designed to protect us from harm.

We not only have a natural fear of that which is unknown, unseen and unfamiliar, but there are also “gatekeepers” designed to keep us from stumbling into realms and powers we’re not yet ready for. If these dark entities or frightening experiences send us screaming for the hills, it means we’re not ready to explore higher realities. Our fear protects us from getting in over our heads. Many people have had to face and “conquer” dark entities with light when their abilities were first developing, myself included.

It goes deeper than this, however. We have to remember that we are constantly creating our own realities. Where thoughts go, energy flows; what we focus upon and expect is what we manifest. Like attracts like, so if we are afraid, we will attract frightening experiences. This is why people who believe in psychic abilities tend to have psychic experiences. It’s also why people who are scared or who expect to have scary experiences will attract frightening entities and experiences. (This is perhaps why we are prevented from moving forward by gatekeepers: we must have the ability to consciously master our thoughts before we gain the ability to consciously manifest VIA our thoughts.)

Given all of this, it is clear that the only thing to fear is fear itself, for when you are no longer afraid, you will no longer have scary experiences. It should also ease your mind to know that what you experienced is normal and common, and that many gifted psychics were afraid when their abilities first opened. When I began opening psychically, I was generally feeling very vulnerable. I was young, pregnant, newly married, and living away from friends and family for the first time in my life. I had many frightening experiences as my abilities spontaneously came to the surface. As I learned more and feared less, my experiences shifted, and I’ve not had a frightening experience since.

There is a way to rise above this scary realm and thus enjoy only uplifting, empowering psychic experiences. The first step is to conquer fear, and to do that, we must make peace with it by remembering that it protects us, just as it protect children from strangers. At the same time, we have to view our fears with the wisdom of experience. Not all strangers are menacing – in fact, most are harmless, and some could prove to be great benefactors. The same is true with non-physical energies: some may seem evil, but most are harmless, and some are tremendously helpful.

Fear is also a sign that we’re stretching ourselves. A little fear is what I call excitement, while a lot of fear is a sign that we need to prepare more before we move forward. The fear itself is a helpful gauge for what we should do next. Though we may feel afraid, if we hide in the basement and avoid strangers for the rest of our lives, we’ll miss everything wonderful in life. Instead, we must learn about the world via experience, and develop discernment. This is what you and your family must do with your psychic abilities. Instead of hiding from them, you must learn about them and develop them consciously so you can be discerning.

To do this, developing psychics must raise their vibration, deepen their knowledge and understanding, and cultivate faith via general spiritual development. To move in this direction, please consider the following actions: study psychic and spiritual matters by reading the wealth of material available on this subject; make peace with your fear; purify your heart and soul by setting only high intentions, acting with integrity and compassion, conquering bad habits, healing anger and resentment, etc.; take a class with a reputable spiritual teacher; pray or meditate regularly; ask Spirit to guide you toward positive, empowering, enlightening experiences.

My own son is also 15 and very psychically gifted. Despite growing up with a psychic mom, he also had some initially disturbing experiences with non-physical entities. Fortunately, I was able to reassure him, clear his aura of dark entities, and teach him how to work with his own vibration to radiate light and thus attract higher experiences.

While you may not be able to help your son in this way due to your fear, there are others who can. Find a local Spiritualist church and contact a minister there for guidance. Allow your fears to be brought into the light, for the more light you shed upon these shadows – the more knowledge, faith and understanding you view them through – the more natural and positive your psychic abilities will seem.

In my view, this situation with your son is a wonderful opportunity to break a fearful chain of experience. Together, you two have the power to transform your family’s suffering into a wonderful legacy. If you conquer your fear and begin to embrace your abilities as divine gifts, they will begin to bring your family wonderful blessings for many generations to come.

– Soul Arcanum


Protecting Yourself from Fear and Negative Thinking

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

There has been a lot of discussion about economic trends for the past several years. I have heard quite a bit about an impending huge economic crash, and that it is unavoidable. The national debt, wars, etc., have thrown our world out of balance, and we will have to go through some dire times to regain balance. Maybe this is true – maybe not. Others believe that the economy is turning around. I truly believe we create our own realities, but how do you work within the realm of global thought? I believe even in dire times that beautiful things can happen, but how do you protect yourself from succumbing to fear? It feels as if global events are out of an individual’s realm of control, but is this really true? How much impact does each individual have on the unfoldment of harmony in our world?
– P.

Dear P.:

Personally, I’m more concerned about the global love market. I read that the world supply of love has been dwindling for the past decade, and that by 2010, we will be facing a crisis unlike anything humankind has known before unless we do something quick! Of course this report set off quite a panic, and love experts are now warning us that the more we hoard love, the worse things are going to get.

While I’m obviously being facetious, money IS just a tangible representation of energy, and just like love, the universe is alive and overflowing with energy. Money/ love/ abundance is everywhere, and it responds to the energy of our minds and hearts.

Our prosperity consciousness is not measured by how much wealth we have attained, but rather by the amount of wealth/blessings we are able to ENJOY. A rich man may be very poor in prosperity consciousness if he lives in fear of losing what he has, and a relatively poor man may be very rich in prosperity consciousness if he is happy with his blessings. As prosperity is a state of mind, you are wise to be asking how to be positive/ happy despite what is happening around you.

Everyone who is reading this is an extraordinary creator, including you. I know this, because one does not consciously encounter knowledge/wisdom until one is vibrationally in harmony with it and able to work with it. Thus, those who are consciously aware that we create our own realities are those who have awakened their power to do so consciously. These people also tend to have certain other traits, one of which is high sensitivity (which is what led them to conscious awareness of this subtle truth in the first place).

So you’re sensitive and you’re obviously still paying attention to “the news” – it’s no wonder you’re struggling to remain positive! I do not watch the news, for I am one of those hyper sensitive souls who can be upset for DAYS by something that happened to someone I will never meet. I empathize with people, which means I put myself in their shoes and imagine how I would feel if what happened to them happened to me or someone I love.

Being highly sensitive may be challenging, but it can also be a blessing. While we’re easily “upset,” we also blissfully cry at weddings and shed tears of joy when babies are born because we’re so good at stepping into others’ vibrations. So to answer your last question, some sensitive, powerful creators are going to have more power than most to consciously affect (for better OR worse) their own realities and the world around them. This is all a reflection of the basic truth that we are responsible (via natural spiritual law) for the knowledge/wisdom we attain.

Faith is another key element to include here, for it is through the power of believing that we work magic in our lives. When we have faith that everything happens for a good reason and that life is a learning journey, then we won’t want to wave our magic wands and make the global economy perfect for everyone. What fun would a life without any challenge or contrast be? It’s not our job to save the world, but rather to evolve through our own fears into a lighter, brighter expression of divine creation.

So while you’ve asked how we work within the realm of global thought, my answer is we DON’T. We make our own reality bright by shining our light, and surrender everyone else’s reality with faith that they are experiencing just what they most need to experience to learn what they need to learn. What folks need most is not a better economy, but the truth, power and wisdom to consciously create what they want in their own lives. So don’t worry about what is happening in other places to strangers. Worrying will not help them anyway. And instead of feeling guilty when you’re prospering and others are struggling, look upon manifesting abundance and happiness as being a good role model, which is the highest and best way to be of service.

To maintain a high vibration despite all the negativity of “global thought,” drop the notion that you have to protect yourself from fear. You can’t, for the very notion of protection is fear-based. Instead of trying to get rid of fear, we have to cultivate faith and positive expectation instead. Here are a few ideas designed to help you with that:

  • First, only watch, read and listen to things that feel good. The only TV show I watch is “Whose Line is it Anyway?” (This article was written in 2004.)This comedy improvisation always makes me laugh and marvel at how quickly some people can take whatever life sends their way and spin it into something delightful through the sheer power of their creativity. I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to consciously choose your “input,” including the music you’re mindlessly absorbing as you drive in the car, which is programming your mind at a subconscious level. It’s like a hypnosis/self-help tape, except it’s often far from helpful. If “Love Stinks” is playing in the background of your life, turn the radio off! Similarly, carefully choose the people you associate with. The more sensitive (powerful) you are, the more important this becomes.
  • Don’t just cut out negative influences – add IN positive influences as well. Read uplifting and empowering books. Seek out positive shows, music and movies. Always focus on what you want. Every time you hear some negative story or prediction, make a point of seeking out a success story or some other uplifting and encouraging input to boost your faith, power and magic! Avoiding anything is impossible, for in just thinking about it/giving your attention to it, you are attracting it. It’s therefore wise to purposefully replace all negativity with empowering thoughts/energies. If you pull all the weeds from a garden, it will just be a lot of dirt unless you also plant flowers and luscious fruits and vegetables and then cultivate them.
  • Own your power! Money is just a tangible form of energy. Your thoughts and feelings are also energy. Visualize energy flowing through your life, and then visualize energy as money flowing through your life. It’s all just energy. Money is not some magical, scarce resource; it’s just pretty paper. It DOES grow on trees!
  • Study the Law of Attraction and actually work with all the (endless) exercises available. From writing affirmations to listening to self-hypnosis tapes to creating visual collages of your dreams, there are innumerable powerful tools to choose from, but you have to USE them.
  • Above all, follow your bliss and count your blessings. If you’re happy, you naturally feel blessed. This not only attracts more blessings, it’s downright satisfying in and of itself!

– Soul Arcanum


Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I consider myself to be a pretty positive person who tries to see the good in people as well as in situations. Right now I am working on learning how to manifest what I want by studying how I function as a person and how I can remove the blocks that are limiting my experience. I am living with a man who is very set on seeing the negative aspects of everything that happens instead of the positive ones. He says things like, “Why would anything ever work out when it never has before? Why would I ever get what I want when I never have before?” Now recently we were offered the opportunity to start a business, which would be connected to an already existing business, and I am wondering to what extent my partner’s negative views will interfere with my attempts to create success. I truly believe that this can become a very lucrative, positive endeavor for us. Will his negative energy make it harder for me to manifest what I want? Is it possible for a person to try to manifest something for herself and her partner when the partner doesn’t have faith that it will work out in a good way? Can I make it work with him?
Thank you!
Soul Arcanum

Dear Soul Arcanum:

Soul Arcanum, I get a surprising number of similar questions. It’s rare for two people to be spiritually on the same page at the same time; one person is usually a bit more “evolved” or “together” than the other. Sometimes those roles shift and change, but sometimes, the difference is marked from the start, or a pattern will become apparent over time, where one person pulls ahead as the “giver” and the other person is more the “taker.” What’s really interesting to me is how often “givers” will be the ones putting in most of the energy to maintain the relationship.

Often what givers are getting is a sense of being “loved,” though in truth, the other person is just dependent on them for help, support or energy. Others are in it for the self-esteem boost they get from being such a selfless “saint,” or from feeling like they’re so much more together than the taker. (Observing folks with really messy lives tends to make us grateful for our relatively minor problems). There IS a place for selfless, one-sided giving, but it’s not in key relationships where we expect our energy/investment to be returned in kind. One-sided relationships are fine for ministers/ therapists/ doctors/ healers/ teachers, etc. to have with those they help, but we should seek equals we respect, trust and admire as friends, business partners and lovers. It’s unwise in any relationship to pour our hearts and souls into “negative” people who never make sincere efforts to improve their lives.

Often even relationships that were once wonderful or “perfect” become unhealthy for all involved. I frequently see this in long-term marriages when one partner wakes up and decides to learn and grow. As this partner moves into a new level of understanding and wisdom, she may at first try to share her new spiritual discoveries with her partner, but this is usually an exercise in disappointment and frustration. If she lets go and simply decides to follow her own heart and her own path, her energy will separate even more from her mate’s. Throughout this process the tension is growing. What used to be a good fit is now heavy or restrictive to the progressive partner.

As you mentioned that you’re “learning how to manifest,” I think this is what is happening. Your conscious awareness of the power of positive (and negative) thinking is new, and while you may have known your partner had a bad attitude before, you had no strong desire to be positive yourself. Now you’re singing at a higher note, and the “chord” created by your combined energies is discordant and jarring to your very soul. You try to be unconditionally loving, patient, compassionate, etc., but every time you try to soar and he strikes that negative note, your whole being just cringes. This is your inner guidance telling you that what you’re experiencing is not what your higher self really wants.

When the discordant relationship in question is sexually intimate, it’s especially important to make sure that you’re with someone whose energy is as positive/high as yours, for intimacy is a deep blending of energies. While you may uplift him and make him feel better, he will tend to bring you down, and as you now know, feeling “down” is going to limit your power to manifest your goals and dreams.

In all close relationships (whether we’re lovers, partners or best friends with someone), if the other person’s energy is not harmonious with our own, we will gradually start to change. We will not “be ourselves” anymore, and sometimes, we won’t even realize it until we spend a consistent period of time away from the situation. I used to spend a lot of time with a friend whose life was always in turmoil. Eventually her behavior got more and more disturbing and I pulled away. I recently spent some time with her again, and only then did it strike me how much better I’ve felt NOT being around her. I had returned to my true vibration. When we’re not sure about continuing a troubled relationship, often taking a six-week break like this will realign us with our own true vibration and lead us to clarity.

While it’s great to have an open heart, if we want happiness and fulfillment in relationships, we have to be discerning. People who take responsibility for creating their own realities approach life very differently from those who see themselves as victims of circumstance. In owning their personal power to create for better or worse in their own lives, they enjoy much more success and happiness.

I therefore encourage you to go into business with someone who pumps you up. Find someone whose strengths and weaknesses are complementary to your own. When two positive, conscious creators get together with a common intention, magic happens through the power of synergy. Instead of 1 + 1 = 2, 1 + 1 = unlimited potential.

Also, you’re in the midst of a big personal transition. Not only will your man’s heavy, negative energy weigh you down and potentially limit your success, but your discomfort with his negativity reveals that you’re moving apart in vibration. Should you choose separate paths in the near future, it will be much more complicated if you’re in business together.

Ultimately, deciding whether or not to go into business with your man depends on how you would end up FEELING about all of this. If you’re capable of staying passionately upbeat and positive despite his negative mood, then your energy could prevail, for one who is connected to the stream of pure, positive energy is more powerful than a thousand who are not. That’s a big “if” however, especially to maintain day in and day out. If he “brings you down,” or you get impatient, critical or fed up with him, then both of you will be down, and you know where that will get you.

Choosing a negative person as a partner is choosing a very uphill path. You’re better off on your own, or manifesting a partner who shares your positive beliefs and will match your uplifting, creative energy with some power and wisdom of his or her own.

May you know the thrilling, magical power of synergy, and enjoy a wonderful journey to big success!

– Soul Arcanum

What’s Happening When Someone “Gives Us the Creeps?”

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I’m a 33-year-old married mother of two. I work as an administrative assistant in a corporate environment. About nine months ago, the company hired a new executive, and while I don’t work directly for him, I often see him around the office and sometimes have to interact with him for my boss. Here’s the thing: he totally gives me the creeps. I don’t know what it is about him. He usually looks away when we make eye contact, but I swear I can FEEL his eyes roving over me when my back is to him. He doesn’t seem dangerous or anything, just creepy. What’s happening here and what should I do?
– Andrea

Dear Andrea:

Thanks for a great question! First we must remember that everything in the universe is composed (ultimately) of energy. Living beings (people, plants, animals) are composed of dynamic energy, which is to say that they are constantly interacting with other energy systems. If you’ve ever had a fuzzy radio station suddenly come through clearer as you approached the receiver to fix the dial, you’ve experienced firsthand the interaction between your energy field/aura and the energy field of the radio.

At some level, we are all aware of these energetic interactions, though for most people this awareness is subconscious. We are drawn to some people and naturally avoid others. When we accurately sense someone looking at us, what we are sensing is their energy interacting with ours. Some clairvoyants can perceive not only the auras of individuals, but also interactions between people’s auras.

These interactions are happening constantly, not only when we literally interact with others, but also when we just think about them. Whenever we give someone our attention, we are giving them energy. For the sake of illumination, we might imagine that non-living objects (such as bowls, spoons, rugs, etc.) are composed of rock, while living beings are like sponges, and energy is like water. When we focus on the bowl, our energy-water just rolls over it. It will be “wet” for a while with our energy, but otherwise unaffected. When we focus on a person, however, she will soak up our energy, and in focusing back on us, she will squeeze some energy-water our way as well.

Praying for someone is a very powerful energy exchange in that it’s a very concentrated, focused flow of positive energy toward that person. Energy healing is similar though even more powerful because the recipient is generally aware and consciously accepting and absorbing that healing energy. Just as healers can use energy to positively affect those they are trying to heal, anyone can use energy to try to do whatever they want to others. If we’re “creeped out by” or afraid of someone, our intuition is alerting us to an undesirable energetic interaction. Further, if we succumb to fear or other negative emotion when this happens, we basically open up our auras to those outside influences.

If you think about this, it only makes sense. When we’re not afraid of someone or don’t give a darn what they think of us, they don’t have the power to affect us. When we worry about what others think or succumb to fear of them, then we are definitely letting them affect us, and this is true both psychologically and at an auric level. People who want things from us that we don’t really want to give naturally make us uncomfortable. This feeling is our intuition raising a self-protective alert.

The more time we spend with people, the more their energy will affect ours. With people who make us feel good, we will open up our energy field the minute we see them coming, because we expect to get a nice boost. With people who generally make us feel bad (whether that means we feel insecure, frustrated, angry, creeped out, jealous, etc.), even though we may “brace” ourselves, we will tend to open up our energy field (unintentionally) as soon as we see them coming by succumbing to negative emotion. That negative emotion lowers our vibration and thus our “psychic defenses” come down. The best “psychic defense” is thus to send out bright loving energy, for it instantly obliterates all darker energies.

When we get over our negative feelings about various people and situations, we do become immune to them, but this is easier said than done much of the time. It’s easier and more effective to radiate love and light than to ignore a source of discomfort, for while we may think we’re ignoring someone, in ignoring them actively, we’re actually thinking about them. It’s sort of like telling yourself not to think about the color yellow.

As for what is happening your case, your coworker is probably fantasizing about you, and you are “feeling” this at a semi-conscious level. Your intuition is alerting you via that “creepy” feeling that his energy is creeping up on you. Then when you “confront” this man with eye contact, he immediately withdraws his energy for he fears being “detected.”

The best thing you can do is drop your fear/uneasiness around him. Start by recognizing that he’s not really doing you any harm, and thank your intuition for “alerting you” to the situation. Then whenever he creeps you out, just counter his energy by turning up your own light. Don’t be antagonistic, just stand very tall in your aura and let the contrast of the feeling/experience remind you to consciously align with something more desirable. Affirm that you live in a reality that is divinely bright and beautiful, where everything happens for a good reason, and only good things come to you. Blind him with a bright smile/burst of light, and then shift your thoughts to something or someone you find divine. While he may still be attracted to your lovely energy, he won’t really be able to get near you, because your high vibration will put you out of his “range.”

For more information on auric interactions, I highly recommend the classic book Hands of Light and by Barbara Brennan.

– Soul Arcanum

Do We Need to Close Our Chakras After Working on Them?

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I read your chakra cleansing and charging exercise a while back, and I love it. I’ve been using it for a few weeks now. I just have one question. I’ve read other places that you should always close your chakras after working on them, but you don’t mention this. Isn’t it important to close the chakras after opening them?
P.

Dear P.:

Thanks for this question! I’ve received it in one form or another a number of times over the years, and it seems to be a matter of some controversy.

Chakras are energy vortices through which life force flows through our beings. There are seven major chakras, and each governs energy of a different range or vibration. The lower the vibration, the more “physical” the energy; similarly, the higher the vibration, the more “non-physical” or “spiritual” the energy. In this way, different chakras correspond to different aspects of our being, from our physical bodies to our feelings, thoughts and connection to the Divine. As I have only limited space here, I won’t go any further into basic chakra information, which can be found in abundance on the internet.

When chakras are “open,” they are freely channeling life force energy from the Universe through our beings. The more open they are, the more energy is flowing. Imagine that being “open” here is not an all or nothing state – we can be closed, open, and anywhere in between. When we feel very “open,” that is a good indication that our chakras are open – we are open to expressing ourselves, receiving input and experiencing whatever comes our way. When we experience fear or pain, we often “shut down” or close ourselves off from the potential for further discomfort, and in this way, we close down the chakras involved to various degrees.

We can consciously “open” our chakras, clear away the “baggage” and debris of “negative” experiences, and “charge” them up so that they channel more energy. This is what is meant by “working on chakras.” There are some spiritual teachers who say that we should always close the chakras after working on them, for when they’re open, we are “open to” negative energies in our environments. We may then be easily influenced by others, drained of our energy, or vulnerable to “psychic attack.”

My own views on this are based on my studies and training and also on my intuitive sense of truth. In my view, it is wise to simply open the chakras and to assume that one is always safe from negative influences. If you’re at a point in your spiritual development where you’re consciously working on tuning up your own energy, then you are probably intuitive enough to modulate your energy according to your needs as you move through life. Your vibration is probably also high enough to keep you above most negativity. I have never tried to close my chakras, and have not suffered any ill effects.

It is true that when we are open to everything, we have to process a great deal of energy and information. I call this being “awake.” Yes, discomfort and confusion will arise, but that’s preferable to sleepwalking through life. Instead of just shrugging off experiences we don’t understand, we chew on them, work through them and seek understanding of them. It’s a lot of work, but that’s the whole point: to be awake and evolving a sense of understanding about the nature of life.

Should you open your chakras and then not be able to deal with negative energies in your environment, you would experience pain and discomfort, and then your chakras would start to close down naturally. Keeping our chakras closed on purpose to “protect ourselves” from negative energies is a bit like walking around with our eyes closed, just in case something might blow into them.

Even people who have never even heard the word charka are naturally repairing and rebalancing chakras all the time. Let’s say that Mark was very focused on getting a Ph.D., and spending all his time thinking, studying, learning, etc. He’d start to feel unbalanced, like he needed more physical exercise and more love and emotional connection. His solar plexus, throat and third eye chakras would likely be far more developed and open than his root, sacral and heart chakras. If he told himself he didn’t have time to make changes, he’d get more and more uncomfortable. This is how disease and depression develop. As he honored his need for other experiences, the chakras would naturally balance.

When we are in balance, we experience a sense of well-being. Think about how it would feel to have the right amount of everything in your life: physical exercise, sexual fulfillment, personal accomplishment, love and support, creative expression, intellectual stimulation, connection to the Divine.

To get a feel yourself for how your chakras are functioning, just ask yourself the following questions. The more you answer “yes,” the more open the corresponding chakra probably is. If you see “weak” points here, you can simply focus consciously on developing that area of your life in order to achieve better balance.

Root chakra: Do I feel physically vibrant, healthy, and powerful in the world? Do I feel at home here? Do I feel like I belong? Do I have a strong desire to live? Do I love and appreciate my body as a wonderful treasure? Am I a high energy person, moving boldly through life?

Sacral chakra: Do I have a strong, healthy sex drive? Do I feel sexually confident and fulfilled? Can I express myself sexually, and give and receive pleasure? Does expressing myself creatively feel wonderful and fulfilling?

Solar plexus: Do I know what I want, and feel confident about being able to manifest it? Can I make decisions and act upon them? Am I aware of my emotions and able to control them? Am I able to mentally sort through and resolve my feelings? Am I emotionally fulfilled?

Heart chakra: Do I have fulfilling, healthy relationships? Do I love myself, friends and family, and have a strong sense of compassion for all living beings? Can I accept others as they are, without needing them to change? Do I expect the best from people, and look for the best in them? Am I good at cooperating? Can I stay in the moment and surrender outcomes to the Universe?

Throat chakra: Can I express myself with skill and ease? Do I do the practical things I need to do in order to be healthy, happy and successful? Do I take responsibility for my life instead of blaming others for my problems and expecting others to take care of me? Do I strive to do my best, and do I feel worthy of rewards or compensation for my efforts? Do I have enough faith in myself to take risks, embrace challenges, and create avenues for fulfillment?

Third eye: Am I mentally sharp and able to figure things out? Do I have lots of creative ideas, and the habit of taking the necessary steps to make them reality? Do answers or insights come to me as I mentally try to understand things? Am I able to visualize my goals and dreams? Do I set realistic, attainable goals? Do my experiences support and validate my beliefs about life?

Crown chakra: Do I feel like I’m part of something vast and wonderful? Do I feel connected to God/ Spirit/ the Universe, and feel that my life has a purpose? Am I able to view myself honestly, and to ferret out the lessons in my experiences in order to develop wisdom?

As you work with your chakras, I encourage you to do whatever your intuition tells you is best for you. If you assume that your higher self will naturally guide you in maintaining balance, then you can focus on just opening up to life and developing an ever greater capacity for joy, well-being and personal power.

Finally, there is a great guided Chakra Clearing and Charging Meditation in Soul Arcanum’s Spiritual Toolbox that you may want to check out.

– Soul Arcanum

Effects of Alcohol on Spirit Communication

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I find, embarrassingly enough, that I feel closer to the spirits of dead loved ones after having a drink or two! I feel bad about this, but wonder if I should. In your opinion, can moderate use of alcohol increase psychic abilities or enhance spirit communication?

W.

Dear W.:

You are not the first person to experience this, and you should not feel bad about it any more than you should feel bad about getting rid of a headache by taking pain reliever or breaking out in hives when you have an allergic reaction to something. It’s actually a natural side effect of mild intoxication, and your embarrassment and puzzlement is probably more a reflection of your socialization than spiritual truth. A long time ago, Christians got it into their heads that “spirit” was good and “physical” was bad, and we’ve viewed the two as disjointed in the West ever since. In truth, the physical reflects and affects the spiritual, and vice versa. So what you ingest will naturally affect you spiritually, mentally, emotionally, etc.

While there are valid positive reasons to abstain from drugs and alcohol, we would all be wise to examine the beliefs we’ve developed about mind altering substances. In the West, most people have negative associations with drugs and alcohol (though that doesn’t stop us from using them). In other cultures, this is not the case. Throughout history around the world, many cultures have traditionally ingested something in order to commune with gods or the divine. From the wine and bread of communion to the trance-inducing peyote of South American shamans, this is an honored tradition seemingly as old as mankind. In fact, in shamanistic cultures, trance-inducing plants (drugs) are not considered destructive, but are honored and revered as gifts from the gods, left here to help us connect with higher planes. Drugs like peyote and ayahuasca are said to induce spirit communication, clairvoyance and healing abilities. So please remember that there is no one “right” answer to this question. If you asked a shaman, he may push your wine glass aside and offer you ‘shrooms instead.

Drugs and alcohol facilitate spirit communication because when you have a drink or two, you begin to relax. If you’re a very logical person who is always “in control,” then the only time you may experience freedom from your strict inner censor is when you’re sleeping, dreaming or under the influence of some mind altering chemical. Someone who has a lot of natural psychic or mediumship ability but who was raised in a family or culture that demonized or invalidated it would actually be predisposed to the sort of experience you’re having. Similarly, most people are very left-brained, and spirit communication and other psychic abilities are right brain functions. Various drugs and alcohol impair the left brain first and/or enhance right brain activity, so we are more likely to have mystical or psychic experiences while under the influence.

Despite all of this, I have never used any hallucinogenic drugs of any kind. I have studied with some of the best teachers of mediumship in the world, however, and since they’ve been right about everything else, I am happy to pass their advice on to you. The general consensus among these experts is that there are better ways to approach spirit communication.

First, initiating spirit communication while even mildly intoxicated is like driving under the influence. Both activities can be dangerous, so you need to have your wits about you and remain in control. As strange as this may at first sound, we don’t leave our addictions behind when we pass on. Many people who are of low spiritual vibration also have physical addictions, and when they depart this life, they end up in the lower astral, where they remain until they develop themselves beyond this level. When you open up to spirit communication and you have been drinking, it’s like throwing open the saloon door and yelling to a crowd of thirsty alcoholics, “Bar’s open and drinks are on (in) me!” Lower astral entities will race to experience alcohol vicariously through you. (I believe this is why alcohol is also called “spirits.”) As it is easier for spirits to influence you when you’re intoxicated, and these spirits tend to be “low lifes,” this is very unwise indeed. If an alcoholic in the astral attaches itself to you, you can also quickly become an “alcoholic” yourself. You’d then feel like you just couldn’t stop yourself, and you’d be right: someone else would be controlling you.

When it comes to reading for others, it’s even more important to be in the proper frame of mind. First, to give a good (accurate) reading, you need excellent integration of the right and left brain functions, so being intoxicated, which cripples the left brain, is not going to help! Interestingly enough, one of the the best ways to integrate right and left brain functions is by practicing meditation. (Sound familiar?)

In addition to skill, we must consider responsibility. I will never read if I’ve been drinking or even if I’m not feeling my best for the same reasons I don’t drink and drive. If I did, not only would I put myself in a compromised position, but someone else may get hurt. I know that I have tremendous influence over whoever I’m reading for. Most clients will hang on my every word as gospel, and emotionally invest so much in the messages I bring through both from loved ones in Spirit and higher intelligences that their long-term well-being could very well hinge on what I say. For some people, I am their last hope: they have tried everything else they could think of, and still not found the peace and healing their souls are starving for. It takes a tremendous extension of trust for someone to confide their deepest feelings and worries in me; the least I can do is honor that trust by being as responsible as I can be.

I am also very mindful of what I do, think, say and ingest even when I’m not “working,” for this is part of “the job.” Just as a professional athlete must train even when he’s not playing in a game, a spiritual counselor must remain in “peak spiritual condition.” As everyone is psychic and capable of spirit communication to various degrees, a key reason people actually pay me for my services instead of tuning in themselves is because they do not want to make all the sacrifices and undertake all the disciplines that would be required for them to develop their own skills to the same degree. To achieve spirit communication, one must maintain a very high vibration, which for most people means eating a healthy diet; regular physical conditioning (exercise), meditation and spiritual study; extraordinary dedication to personal growth and emotional mastery, which includes abstaining from negative thoughts and emotions and immoral or harmful acts; and abstaining from substances that can lower our vibration such as drugs, alcohol, junk food, cigarettes, etc.

Fortunately, you don’t really need the alcohol to achieve spirit communication. Your experience reflects the truth that in order to connect with Spirit, you just need to relax and shift your consciousness so that your left brain doesn’t filter out all that is real and yet often unperceived. While you’re free to choose the path of the shaman and the use of mind altering substances, I strongly advise you against doing so unless you have a very experienced and trustworthy mentor. Personally, I recommend the Spiritualist path of sound personal spiritual development including meditation and good old-fashioned clean living, for as is true of so much in life, when we try to take short-cuts, we often end up lost and wish we’d taken the safe, sure path in the first place.

– Soul Arcanum