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[Ravensong]

well first post outside of intros, and I'm wanting to talk to people about beginnings with "energy work". Now please don't take the quotes as sarcasm, the term itself is new for and to the best of my knowledge i would be associating a lot of it with spell craft etc.

My question is what are good steps to practice to begin with, although i started my path in the craft close to a decade ago, i find it very hard(almost impossible) to pick up on things, by that i mean, sense magick in objects, pick up on things around me, whether they be an astral presence or spiritual being?
It is a bit frustrating trying to advance my skills when it feels like I'm poking around in the dark. That being said i have felt things once or twice while in direct contact with a another magick user, and have been able to do simple things like cure headaches etc, so i know i can do positive things, and i know this "ether", for lack of a better word right now (one coffee in) exists, but problem is expanding past this.

Are these normal growing pains, that anyone has experienced? Or am I missing the point entirely?

[Yvsaph]

It sounds to me like you simply need to familiarise yourself with energy--like a person who’s just started to learn how to swim needs to familiarise themselves with water.

My only suggestions would be to begin meditating (if you haven’t already), and just relax. Allow yourself to be open to the forces already present around you, take an actual notice of gravity. I would also say--especially if you are going to be working with natural energy--to take a few walks, and try to feel the energy in Nature.

[Ravensong]

yes certainly have been, but its a hard work i am enjoying right now, i'm really not too focused on any kind to be honest, whether is based around nature, enochian (not sure on spelling), or anything else for that matter, guess I'm just really not sure what I'm looking out for waiting for as it's been so many years now, there's a lot of self doubt there, so I'm not sure if I'm even doing it properly to generate a response.

[Yvsaph]

If you’re simply looking at energy work, and not necessarily spellwork, evocation, invocation, or any of that, I always like Ki (or Chi), which is basically life-force energy; I specifically think of Ki as being one’s own personal life-force energy. I conjure such an energy through meditation, or through exercise (the more strenuous, the better). That is what I started with, mostly because it was the first type of energy that I had heard one could control (I’ve always loved the more fantastic martial arts films).

After that--or alternatively--you could always try communing with Nature, to see if that suits you better. As I said, take walks in Nature, sit in Nature; see if you can pick up on the flow in the air, or in the trees, or the water.

After you have some basic grasp on how energy works, you could always start to look at different ceremonial traditions (if you haven’t already). I personally am not a cerimonialist, but I have heard that a basic knowledge of energy work helps quite a bit. You, of course, don’t have to work with cerimony or ritual at all to practise energy work, but that’s just something to mull over.

[Ravensong]

How will i know i've been able to tap into Ki, is it all the same or is it different from person to person?

[Yvsaph]

I can only speak for myself, but I think that most of this sort of stuff is primarily subjective, so it will probably feel different depending on the person. Generally, though, I feel a sort of tingle throughout my body, primarily in my hands, but I have gotten to the point that I can feel it extending beyond myself for a few inches.

There is always the possibility--though I suspect I won’t be able to, in this lifetime anyway--that you can project in Ki in rather interesting ways.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXTir6cISA8

[Ravensong]

ok well that makes sense, if all things being relative i can safely admit i get something like that through my shoulders and down my back, in what i can only explain as similar to what people say as "someone just walked over my grave" like a shiver sensation. So that's a positive step.

When it comes to like asking for advice, to me all knowledge is relevant, and it's up to me to make sense of it. my biggest problem that i have so far, as I feel like i'm hitting this brick wall, when it comes to working with energy, things don't come as easily as they used to the first time i tried something.
And while i don't think anymore that something is wrong with me, like for example i'm physcially ill, or something has been attracted to me and is feeding, i honestly don'y know what to do, so i'm trying to search for as much info as possible in the hopes and answer comes. So i thank you for the info you've been willing to give, i just hope i can find some answers on unlocking that kinda change within me, whether it comes from working with energy or not.

[Jarhog]

I found this link again and thought I would pas it on to you. I was not quite sure how to answer you at first because I have not had any formal training in seeing energy but I have worked variations of these exercises and I think they would be helpful to you.

http://www.occultforums.net/intermediate/522-energy-working-exercises.html

I don't see energy like some I have met do with their eyes. I can sense it and can see it with my 3rd eye. It is usually much plainer when I am using my energy body to manipulate it. When I started out I would try to see what was around me when I was meditating with my eyes closed. After while I could and I knew it was not a visualization because of how things had changed around me while I had my eyes closed and I saw it. I guess my point is, you might try some 3rd eye exercises too and see if that helps you.

Don't be dismayed if something does not work for you. Everyone is different and you will need to find what works for you.

[Ravensong]

wow thanks for finding that page for me, it's something very simple but that's exactly the sort of thing i'm looking for. I've also tracked down some books on principles of Qigong from my local library, so i'm going to sit down and have a read and see where it leads thanks again

[Zagreus]

My advice is centering. If you are reading something you want to connect with the energy and let your emotions/intution guide you. Find out your own ''symbol'' language and find out how you perceive things... then extend that perception to energy. I brought up centering because reading energy is a very internal process, at least for me. Drawing some of that energy into you might also help spur the process of reading it.

Drugs have also helped people in their ability to let go and use their intuition. Stimulants can especially help ( caffine...) with it. Since they tend to make you center anyway and excite the passions. However, keep in mind the factor of using reason if you use any chemical ''enhancements'' in order to read energy.

[Ravensong]

in honesty I do find centring the hardest thing because my mind just races and i can't shut it up for any long period of time, so i must admit to steering away from stimulants in case it made it worse, but it's worth a try, I mean the worst that can happen is that it doesn't work .

so thank you for the tip.