Channeled Lessons in Psychic Development 7: On The Importance of Humility and Discipline in Protecting Your Energetic Integrity (Don't Dabble with Darkness)

When we first begin searching for greater knowledge and understanding of the spirit world, it can be easy to get confused about which paths to explore, especially in the current age of nearly unlimited access to information. There is a smorgasbord of practices to choose from out there. What will be in our highest interest? What is real, what is our imagination? What traditions are legitimate? What constitutes tangible evidence of the spirit world? Furthermore, how do we define our ethical and spiritual boundaries with the greatest integrity in a world where lines can quickly become blurred? With all the different styles of spiritual practice available to us, it is increasingly common to see people do away with scruples, with practices such as manipulative spell-casting, conjuration, hexing and tool-driven paranormal research becoming increasingly mainstream. If we are meditating regularly, have a strong spiritual practice, and keep our psychic protection strong, is it safe for us to engage with darker forces in the spiritual or occult world? Can we trust ourselves to keep negative repercussions at bay? While my guides always stress the importance of confidence, trust and fearlessness, it turns out that the answer to this last question isn’t always that simple.

A while ago, I learned a helpful lesson about this, when, after years of being curious about the subject since having a memorable dream of a similar contraption as a child, I decided to test a “ghost box” app on my phone. Yes, there were reasons to be skeptical, and I had other misgivings, but I was curious to see if anything would come out of it. (Did I listen to my gut that time? No!) The idea behind the app, based on an analogue counterpart, is to provide the spirit world with static noise that can be manipulated to form words. The trouble with this kind of thing, of course, as opposed to when channeling loved ones or spirit guides mentally or energetically, is that those intelligences able to work with this kind of apparatus will generally be of the “stuck” variety, hanging around the physical dimension out of fear, addiction, or unfinished business.

In short, the app seemed to work, and some of what came through was not too pretty. Some words that cropped up, as I was testing the app near a park, revolved around the theme of drugs. I figured that I was better off not using it. When I asked Natalie what she thought, as expected, the verdict was simple: “Bad energy. Don’t use it.” 

Uncharacteristically side-stepping her advice, out of continued curiosity, I used it a second time, with the idea that my psychic protection and prayers to cross over any earth-bound entities would neutralize whatever lower vibrations I might pick up. That night, I ended up with vivid nightmares of my home being invaded by a gang of drug addicts, in a manner similar to when I have experienced hauntings. I smudged my apartment, meditated, said some prayers, and did my best to send my uninvited guests into the light. When I spoke to my guides later that day, after gently rebuking me for letting my curiosity get the better of me, Natalie informed me that these hungry souls, indeed more than a dream, were merely on vacation from my home, and might return despite my corrective measures. “Why do you return to fearful energy before giving yourself time to recover? Do not listen to fearful voices. Fear needs energy to grow. Don’t use the app."  she reiterated. How to cross them over for good, then? “Love more,” she said. She then walked me through a crossing-over meditation in which, after a couple of attempts, I succeeded in raising my vibration high enough to send my spiritual squatters home to Source. This protocol for crossing over spirits, which I will share with you in greater detail in my next post, has become one of the most useful tools in my spiritual arsenal. So, in the end, my spiritual hubris served a higher purpose in teaching me this valuable lesson.

That day, Natalie stressed to me that it is important to recognize the limits of our power as psychic practitioners, not in the sense of how much we can be of service, or how high we can reach for guidance, but in the sense of having the humility to protect our energy by not dabbling in practices that entertain entities or energies that excite fear or morbid fascination in us, even if we think our psychic protection is strong enough to handle it. “Some psychics believe that power is all-important. This is wrong. When the energy is bad enough, power doesn’t help. When you listen to fearful voices, you diminish your energy. Words are good for protection, but not enough.” We shouldn’t let our curiosity, or in worse cases, desperation, lead us astray. Anything that inspires feelings in us, however subtle, of anxiety, trepidation or helplessness will interfere with our ability to be clear channels. We must be disciplined about where we direct our thoughts, what emotions we choose to nurture, what spiritual company we keep, and the standard of integrity to which we hold ourselves as practitioners. This is how we keep our connection to the highest possible realm of guidance open and strong.

“But wait,” you might say. “Aren’t we supposed to be able to help souls in need of crossing over? A scared person isn’t necessarily evil. I thought love was stronger than fear!” While this is true, in accordance with the earlier lesson on exchanging energy vs. exchanging information, what Natalie has explained to me is that it is not necessary for us to engage with lower vibration energies in an extended way in order to help them. Any work done in this capacity should be done as quickly and efficiently as possible, through focusing on raising one’s vibration high enough through love, excitement and gratitude to Source to a) render your own vibration incompatible with that of the entity and b) catapult them into a higher dimension themselves. (As one of my mentors, the Huna healer Evelyn Wakeman once told me: "The person with the biggest aura wins!") Dwelling on this type of exchange any longer than necessary will needlessly taint the spiritual worker’s energy through feeding the lower vibration with attention, and also probably stem from an ego-based need to “prove” something, either about the ability of the practitioner, or the reality of the spirit world. 

Here are some quick tips for keeping your energetic integrity strong and your channel clear, even if you sometimes accidentally pick up nuisances. Each one of them could be the subject of an entire post all on their own, but these general concepts should still be helpful:

• Always do your mediumistic or channeling work from within a “closed circuit” built with your spirit guides and protectors. (Sandy Anastasi has some great instructional videos on this.)
• Meditate and pray regularly, and include visualizations of a strong but flexible bubble of white light, or another type of shield that suits you, enveloping your aura. 
• Take good care of your physical body. Eat in a way that makes you feel healthy, exercise in a way that brings you joy, dress in a way that makes you feel happy and comfortable, tend to any physical ailments, and especially importantly, get adequate sleep as consistently as possible. 
• Take regular, intentionally charged baths or showers for energy purification, while visualizing the water showering blessings and healing on you.
• Natalie says, “To expect me is to invite me.”  In her case, it is comforting to know my sweet, wise guide is a thought away, but the heart of the lesson is that spirit moves swiftly, and your thoughts invite their energetic match. Avoid thinking about scary stories or disturbing spiritual concepts. Orient yourself to thoughts of love, compassion, humor, gratitude and excitement. Laugh often. Thank your guides, guardians and Source for elevating and protecting you. If you are at a development circle, and someone ill-advisedly starts talking about some scary apparition they saw, mentally close off your energy field and if possible, leave the room. Do not listen to it. On the other hand, if you find yourself entertaining troubling thoughts, do not dwell on it as a failure and thereby turn it into a vicious cycle. “Forgive yourself,” says Natalie, and move on quickly.
• Regularly meditate on releasing any emotional blockages you might be harboring in your body or energy field. (Shamanic drum meditations are great for this.)
• If you engage in a disturbing activity such as watching a horror movie, do something joyful to counteract it, such as dancing vigorously with friends, and consider taking a day or two off from channeling before resuming your practice.
• Always properly open and close out any type of psychic work sessions with opening and closing prayers. Forgetting to close out a session properly is the easiest way to end up with spirits pestering you outside “office hours,” and doing so is neither productive nor sustainable. Do not let your ego trick you into thinking that being constantly open to any spirit that wants your attention makes you a better medium.

Did you ever have an experience that taught you a valuable lesson about psychic discipline? What practices would you add to these tips?