Instructor: Rainsong
<Rainsong> Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to the second in the autumn series of elementary psionics classes here at the social club.
<Rainsong> The usual warning applies: if you’re looking for an RPG, you might want to try a different room before you get too weirded out. We’ll be discussing real-world psionics, rather than GURPS or d20 rules.
<Rainsong>
<Rainsong> Last week, the concept of “visualization” was mentioned in passing.
<Rainsong> Much has been written about it elsewhere, and we will be using it for several purposes, but it is very simple.
<Rainsong> If you visualize something, you are picturing it in your head. In other words, you are imagining it.
<Rainsong> For example, imagine a flower. See it as clearly as you can. Imagine its smell, if you like. If it happens to be an edible flower, such as a rose or a violet, imagine what it tastes like.
<Rainsong> While you were visualizing it, did it seem to be in front of you, or did it seem to be inside your head?
<Rainsong> If it seems to be inside, the visualization is said to be “subjective”; if it seems to be outside, it is said to be “objective”.
<Rainsong> It makes no difference at this point. For our purposes, for the moment, one is as good as the other.
<Rainsong> However, do be aware of it. We’ll be using both types later on.
<Rainsong> Any questions?
<Taka> nope
<Caendaer> None here.
*Aphanas raises hand…
<Eventide> none
<Rainsong> Aphanas?
<Aphanas> Just curious… where in the general literature does subjective vs objective visualization get discussed? Wondering for further reading purposes.
<Rainsong> If memory serves correctly, Charles Tart speaks of it in some of his essays. It shows up less often in how-to books about precog and other clairvoyant activities.
<Aphanas> *nods* Thanks.
<Rainsong> Notice also: did the flower appear to exist in a vacuum, against a plain background and not connected to anything?
<Rainsong> Or, was it part of a larger scene…in a field perhaps, or in a vase on a breakfast table?
<PsiScythe> I visualized a candle, because I haven’t been around flowers, which I would say was in a vacuum.
<Rainsong> People often assume that everyone visualizes things the same way, and are startled to find out that there is more than one way to do it
<Rainsong> That works, PsiScythe. In fact, any common object will do nicely. 🙂
<PsiScythe>
<Rainsong> So, what is visualization good for?
<Rainsong> As mentioned last week, visualization is handy for talking to your file clerk dude, the subconscious.
<Rainsong> For example, rather than tense our muscles to “generate” psi-stuff, we can use the psi-stuff that seems to accumulate as a result of our day-to-day activities.
<Rainsong> One of the places it accumulates is near the belly.
<Rainsong> We can use visualization to direct it, by “pretending” the psi-stuff is a familiar flowing substance: water
<Rainsong> Imagine that there is a pool of swirling water – a small whirlpool – on your belly. Picture a whirlpool of clear water on your belly.
<Rainsong> For now, you can centre it right on your belly-button, or a little higher or lower than that.
<Rainsong> The important part is that the whirlpool is full of lots of nice clean water, swirling merrily.
<Rainsong> Got it?
<PsiScythe> Yup.
<Jael> *nods*
*PsiScythe has one question, though
<Caendaer> Yep
<Rainsong> PsiScythe?
*Eventide has no problem with that.
<PsiScythe> This may be too off-topic, but I noticed when I first started to make psi-balls that they were warm and easily noticable. Nowadays they’re not as noticable. Does this have to do with accumulating a lot of “psi-stuff” over periods of time?
<Rainsong> It is possible. However, it is more likely to have a totally mundane cause: not paying as much attention to the construction as you used to, and perhaps skimping a bit on the oomph
<PsiScythe> Ok.
<Rainsong> Now we’re going to add streams or pipes to the whirlpool
<Rainsong> Run two imaginary streams or pipes from the pool up to your shoulders and down your arms to the palms of your hands.
<Rainsong> When you have a nice clear picture of it, please let me know
<Taka> Does it have to be water in the visualization or just whatever works for the individual?
<Rainsong> Can be whatever works for you. I’ll be using water in the descriptions for this one, though. Feel free to substitute
<Taka> Ok, thanks
<PsiScythe> Done
*Eventide is ok
<PsiScythe> (It’s better to say water instead of purple dinosaurs )
<Taka> Done
<Rock> What’s wrong with purple dinos?
<PsiScythe> I find them to be a bad visualization…
<Rock> Oh.
<PsiScythe> (Perhaps it reminds me of the traumatic days of barney?)
*Rock decides to be contrary and makes purple dinos spring into existance near tummy,and jump around to the hands.
<Taka> lol That’s a funny visualization
<Rainsong> (no doubt….however, using Barney pictures as targets in archery tournaments somehow improves everyone’s aim)
<PsiScythe> Haha.
<Rainsong> Again, using your imagination to direct things, move some of the water up one of the pipes/streams to your hand and back a few times.
<Rainsong> Or purple dinos or whatever else you might use.
<Rainsong> Then do the same with the other hand. What, if anything, do you feel (or see or hear or grok)?
<Taka> It feels tingly and sort of magnetic ish
<PsiScythe> I get a sense of paying extra attention to the area, as if something were up with it
<Jael> Very similar to what Taka described. Feels like things are “larger” around my hands.
<Rock> Nice warm fuzzy feeling both hands.
<Caendaer> Just a bit tingly
<Eventide> A push or pull
<Rainsong> Good stuff.
<Rainsong> Next, loop the “water” around. Send it to one hand and back by way of the other, making a big circle. Try this a few times, with the hands farther and farther apart.
<Rainsong> Alright, we are back at the infamous psiball stage.
<Rainsong> Picture a ball between your hands, and push as much “water” into it as you can.
<Rainsong> Keep the water swirling inside, to keep the ball together…to keep its shape.
<Rainsong> If you like, freeze the ball into “ice” or congeal it into “jelly”.
<Rainsong> Hold it in one hand and poke it with the other.
<Rainsong> Feel around the edges. Look through it. Do you feel/grok/see/hear/whatever anything?
<Rainsong> (Remember: “no” is a perfectly legitimate answer.)
<Rainsong> When you are finished with your psiball, lob it against a wall, or roll it on the floor for the cat to play with.
<Taka> I dont really feel the ball to tell the truth just the energy in my hands
<Rainsong> Fair enough. Try pushing against it lightly with the flat of your palm
<PsiScythe> I could feel it with the hand I was holding it with as a chilly, windy type effect (never experienced that before), but when poking it with the other hand, felt nothing.
*Rock finds the back of the hand more sensitive to textures than the palm.
<Rainsong> Rock: good point.
<Rock> But, maybe I’m just strange.
<Rainsong> PsiScythe: that works.
<Taka> ok now i feel the swirliness of the wind also a bit cool (I’m using wind as my visualization)
<Rainsong> Good stuff
<Jael> I felt pressure and “stuff”. Feels like I should wash my hands or dip them in salt, heh.
<Rainsong> You’re used to anything being there being something to get rid of (She’s a healer)
<Jael> Yep, hehe
<PsiScythe> I had already splattered the first one, so…
<Rainsong> Wipe your hands on your trousers, or something
*Rock pretends to put psi stuff in Jael’s hands.
<PsiScythe> I made a second, and could, see it but not see it, if I looked closely enough. Could’ve been an illusion though.
<Rainsong> What did it look like? They often have the appearance of heat distortion
<PsiScythe> Heat-distortion, yes. I’d say, very vague heat-distortion . <PsiScythe> I could “see” it, but it was as if it wasn’t being seen. Hard to explain.
<Rainsong> *nods*
*Rock finds it easier to make the psi construct where it’s needed, or directly in the hand, rather than collect energy, move it there and make it.
<Rainsong> That can be more convenient, surely.
*Levi agrees with Rock
<Rock> Faster, for me anyway.
<Rainsong> Certainly so.
<Levi> Though, if i need something done, such as shield construction. I find it easier to “will” It into place, and do what I want, if not use some physical motion(s) to enforce my thinking
<Rainsong> I do much the same, usually. The longer way is useful if one is having any trouble getting it to work.
<Rainsong> Comments? Questions?
<Levi> Other than to perhaps apologize for interrupting your flow of thought. Not really 🙂
<PsiScythe> Nope
<Aphanas> None here.
<Taka> I have one question
<Rainsong> Levi: no problem
<Taka> What is next?
<Caendaer> Nope
<Rainsong> Taka?
<Eventide> I’ve done another visualization before…
<Jael> None here either.
<Rainsong> Taka: we’ll get to that in a moment
<Taka> ok
<Rainsong> Eventide: please continue
<Eventide> Well, its something like this…
<Eventide> Imagine a ball between your hands. Feel its weight as though you where carrying it, even though its not there physically.
<Rainsong> Sounds good.
<Eventide> (Make the ball heavier if needed)
<Rainsong> Iam mentioned grounding, at the end of last week’s class.
<Rainsong> Psionic “grounding” – much like grounding in the electrical sense of the word – gets excess psi-stuff (and often excess emotions, depending on how you ground) out of your system.
<Rainsong> Typically, this is done by sending the excess stuff literally into the ground.
<Rainsong> Can anyone tell me how or when this could be useful?
<Eventide> When you are stressed out, for one.
<PsiScythe> How: Visualizing the “dirt” or “slime” in you being filtered out of the clean stuff, and being thrown away afterward?
<Taka> when you get overloaded with energy on accident or on purpose
<Rainsong> (PsyScythe: good method, but the question was how it would be useful, not how to do it )
<PsiScythe> Looks like I misunderstood the question, yeah
<Jael> I ground before touching someone for the healing stuff I do. Otherwise, my “stuff” can confuse me.
<PsiScythe> Uh: General cleaning up, maybe to help with psionics, or perhaps just make you feel better?
<Levi> I also ground before healing another
<Rainsong> All excellent ideas.
<Rainsong> Some other times are…
<Rainsong> Nervousness for a test/public speaking engagement/interview/date, too much stuff in your field making you lightheaded or prickly, stress from argument/too many emotional people around, feeling “hyper”, having stuff thrown at you
<Rainsong> There are many perfectly usable ways to ground, and some people prefer not to ground at all.
<Rainsong> It is good to be familiar with at least one method, even if you prefer not to use it.
<Rainsong> For one thing, situations in which grounding is useful have a way of creeping up on you.
<Rainsong> For another, grounding forms the basis of some of the more advanced skills.
<Rainsong> Back to the pool of “water” we were playing with a moment ago.
<Rainsong> (or wind, or Barneys….)
<Rainsong> Visualize all the excess emotions and energies in your system as mud or silt that is flowing into the whirlpool from all over your body.
<Rainsong> Then, put your hands flat on the ground or floor, or on your desk … anything that is not alive and that is connected in some way to the ground.
<Rainsong> Now, run the “water” through the streams/pipes to your hands, through your palms, and into the object you have chosen.
<Rainsong> Keep if flowing until the water runs clean again.
<Rainsong> This method has several names, one of which is “frog-stance” grounding…if you squat to put your hands flat on the ground between your feet, you are sitting the way little kids do for frog-hopping races.
<Rainsong> When grounding generally, just it flow, rather than pushing it.
<Rainsong> Pushing will often leave you light-headed and dizzy.
<Rainsong> However, there are times when pushing is appropriate .
<Rainsong> . An example of this would be if you were overwhelmed with a lot of “stuff” and emotions when someone else is very angry and chucking stuff around. You want to get all that ickiness out of your field as fast as possible.
<Rainsong> By the way, you generally do not want to ground into a piece of electrical equipment; at least, not if you want the equipment to continue to function.
<Rainsong> Also, grounding into clear quartz can cloud the crystal, sometimes.
<Aphanas> Side note: Grounding can also be useful if the earlier psi-moving exercises created any “aches” in the limbs or other places where you were running energy.
<Rainsong> Quite so
<Rainsong> Questions?
<Eventide> None here
<PsiScythe> Could you choose to make a psi-ball out of the dirty stuff?
*Rock likes to ground to rocks.
<Rainsong> Yes, you can. Sometimes, you’ll want to make several such balls.
<Levi> You may, but I do not think that would be as sufficient. Plus, wouldn’t the energy be floating around you? That wouldn’t be too good.
<Rainsong>
<Levi> ^ My opinion
<Eventide> I seem to be able to change my unwanted emotions into clean energy.
<Rainsong> Also, it depends on what you want to do with it. If you want to pelt someone with them, it would make sense to make balls…
<Eventide> Am I right?
<Rainsong> Eventide: that is perfectly doable, also
<Eventide> (always a good way to start – e.g. a psi-ball – while being un-distracted by getting rid of emotional “noise”)
<Rainsong> Yep.
<Rainsong> One of the nifty skills for which grounding is the basis is fatigue-banishing
<Eventide> I guess this is off topic, but how is fatigue-banishing different from normal grounding?
<Rainsong> You can use this to get rid of the symptoms of fatigue for a few hours.
<Rainsong> Not off-topic at all…
<Rainsong> You will eventually need to sleep it off, but this is handy if you have plans for the evening after a hard day at work, or if you need to keep yourself awake to write the exam for which you just pulled an all-nighter.
*Rock notes that a similar approach is good for reducing indigestion.
<Rainsong> For this, instead of the silt and mud being excess emotions and energies polluting the “water”, they are the symptoms of fatigue: heaviness, vague soreness, headachey feelings, burning eyes, and so on.
<Rainsong> Rock: excellent. If you could hold that thought, and then elaborate in a moment, that’d be great
<Eventide> Hmm… That seems very important for me to remember
<Rainsong> Otherwise, it is done the same way as the grounding method we just discussed.
<Rainsong> Alternately, ground in the usual manner and close your eyes for a moment.
<Rainsong> Imagine, as vividly as you can, participating in some sort of pleasant activity in which you see yourself as full of energy.
<Rainsong> The usual sorts of images for this are “walking briskly around the block” (per Leslie LeCron’s book on self-hypnosis), “playing with the cats”, “walking the dog”, “playing tennis”.
<Rainsong> In some cases, “engaging in lively conversation in an alert and comfortable manner” is all that is required.
<Rainsong> Rock: please do continue
<Rock> Visualize a fine “mesh” above your head – larger than the body.
<Rock> Then, slowly lower it across the head, down the torso, soothing the acid, down to the stomach, soothing as you go. And continue down through the legs, and out the bottoms of your feet.
<Rock> Take the resultant trash and toss it into the garbage.
<Rock> Works whether you use energy or not…
<Rainsong> Definitely a useful approach. Thanks for sharing it.
<Rock> Can be used for cleaning of one’s field as well…
<Jael> (Side note: using the ‘stuff’ left over from a grounding/cleaning has the potential to damage others, so be careful with it.)
<Rainsong> Jael: a very valid warning
<Eventide> Rainsong: How about pulling energy from stuff, (grounding in reverse) useful in any way?
<Rock> Thus my recommendation for putting it in the garbage Jael.
<Jael> *nods
<Rainsong> Eventide: Yes, although you should be careful when doing that. Some people use such pulling to add oomph to their working. And also, pulling stuff away from a headache or fever can ease the condition, considerable.
<Rainsong> Also, you can cool water that way.
*Rock raises a hand.
*Eventide too.
<Rainsong> Then, there are the various “psychic vampire” types of things, but I have little-to-no experience on that side of things
<Rainsong> Rock?
<Rock> If one depends on taking energy from the environment, are there any issues?
<Eventide> Is it possible to create a construct in water that then pulls and grounds the energy flowing through it?
<Eventide> (oops, sorry
<Rainsong> Well, depending on it can be an issue, if it gets blocked somehow…an opponent could find that useful.
<Rainsong> Eventide: Yes, but why would you want to?
<Rainsong> (I’m not following some part of your question, I think)
<Eventide> To cool the water without having to get rid of excess energy?
<Eventide> Though, I guess grounding with one hand and un-grounding with the other would do the same thing.
<Rainsong> Hmmm. No. To cool water, the energy that results in the heat doesn’t just disappear.
<eversosleepy> Mmmm…Heat transfer.
*Rock mutters something about “Conservation of Energy”…
<Rainsong> Psionics does not actually violate the laws of Physics. 🙂
<Aphanas> Another side note: Don’t ground too much… i.e. – don’t push too hard, or collect as much energy as you can in your torso and then send it into the ground.
<Eventide> I just thought that not grounding would overload you a little.
*Rock never had that issue.
<Aphanas> Had a friend that did the “collect all of my energy and send it into the ground” thing… he called me at 2am because he was puking his guts up, saying, “I think I misunderstood a part of your explanation…”
<Eventide> … Hmm, so here energy is not psi but electrons manipulated by psi, right?
<Rock> Oops.
*Rock notes that while energy cannot be “destroyed” it can be converted…
<Rainsong> Eventide: part of the problem is we don’t actually know what the “psi-stuff” is. It is not all the same, in any case
<Aphanas> I don’t think we know definitively, Eventide.
<Eventide> Aphanas: Yes I guess too much stuff could flow through you, and harm you in some way
*Rock thought part of the idea was that it didn’t quite flow THROUGH you…
<Eventide> Thus the construct idea…
<Rainsong> Typically, it’s better to keep the movement on the surface, or near it. It’s safer than running it through the nerves or blood vessels.
<Eventide> Or around my body?
<Rainsong> mmhmm
<Aphanas> Actually, in my friend’s case, it’s simply because he “emptied” himself, as far as I can tell, and the body apparently uses a certain amount of psi for basic health functions (at least Chinese medicine thinks so). His field was very low for several days after that.
<Raven> I wouldn’t draw that conclusion, Aphanas.
<Eventide> Could un-grounding have helped in such a situation. (Aphanas’s theory)
<Raven> Could be the same as coming down from a high of the body’s natural pain killer (forgot the name), will make most people rather sick.
<Rainsong> In any case, it is possible to cause serious (and occasionally lethal) problems if one is not careful
<Aphanas> Endorphins, Raven?
<Raven> That’s the critters.
<Aphanas> *nods* That could be… I don’t have a definitive cause for the reaction, just a correlation that one occurred when he grounded too strongly. Only time, repetition, and testing could actually give a clearer indication of what actually happened in that instance.
<Raven> I know I get really sick from coming down from an endorphin high, and I’m not the only one. Psi could have a similar effect on the body, depleting it too fast causes a similar reaction.
<PsiScythe> Heh. “I need you to do something for me…”
*Eventide thinks “Always ground responsibly, kids”.
<Rainsong> Please note: A rattle will be required for the next class. It does not need to be anything fancy. A few grains of rice or some salt in a plastic container, or a box of Smarties or M&Ms will do nicely.
<Rainsong> Musical “shakers”, rainsticks, and baby rattles are other options. One of my favourite rattles is a small round plastic container out of a candy/gumball machine, partially filled with glass seed beads.
<Rainsong> Also useful for the next class, but not required, is a glass ball or bell of the Christmas-tree-ornament variety, or a picture thereof.
<Jael> Shiny
<Rainsong> Pictures of tree ornaments
<Rainsong> http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/glass-ornament.html
<Rainsong> http://www.stellarglass.com/blownglassornaments.htm
<Rainsong> http://www.cohassetcolonials.com/catalog/view/christmas-items/Mini-Glass-Tree-Ornaments/42T42
<PsiScythe> (Bell shaped shields?)
<Rainsong> (yep)
<Rainsong> Shiny, literally and figuratively
<Rainsong> Any further comments or questions?
<Aphanas> None here
<Jael> None here either
<Eventide> About seeing psi…
<Eventide> (a question that is)
*Rock does boring shields
<Rainsong> Eventide: question?
<Eventide> I sometimes “see” a mist like substance…
<Rainsong> mmhmm?
<Eventide> Is that normal?
<Rainsong> Actually, yes. “Mist like substance” is a very common description of it.
<Eventide> More smoke like actually. Anyway…
<Eventide> Thanks
<PsiScythe> Eventide: You put quotes around “see”…
<Eventide> Yep
*Rock has seen something where psi collected twice… In both cases it was a pale blue sparklike glow.
<PsiScythe> … maybe you’re getting what I get and “see” it, but not actually “see” it?
<Eventide> PsiScythe: Not physically, more of a perception
<PsiScythe> I get kind of a mix of both of those.
<Rock> Not everyone is “visually” oriented as far as sensing psi is concerned, correct?
<Rainsong> That is certainly true.
<Eventide> I mean, if I where to ask someone else whether they see it, the answer would be no, in this case.
<Rainsong> Some people never see it at all, but it doesn’t affect their skill. Other people do see it but use other senses more
<PsiScythe> (I think I remember reading that babies have energy perception abilities, may have gone along with visually. This may’ve been false, though)
<Eventide> Rainsong: Would this be what is called aura vision?
<Eventide> … or not at all?
<Rainsong> Yes and no. If you see or feel (or hear, which happens more often than you’d think) the field around a person, critter, or plant, that is “aura vision”
<Rainsong> However, way too many people teach alleged “aura vision” by using eye-fatigue to cause an optical illusion.
<Eventide> Hmm… is that a skill then?
<Rainsong> The blue haze that the illusion causes might look like a field around someone, but it is not actually there
<Rainsong> However, the real field can be detected, and yes, that is a “skill”.
<Rainsong> There is more skill in interpreting what one sees/feels/groks than just in sensing it, of course
<Rock> Guessing can be useful…
<Rainsong> People have often been disappointed when they have asked me to scan their fields, and I simply describe what I see
<Eventide> Is there any reading that I can do on the subject, just to know more about it?
<Rainsong> They then ask “But what does it mean?”
<Rainsong> and I say “I have no idea”
<Rainsong> Eventide: yes. To get a good idea about the optical illusion, read any method that involves staring at someone until a blue hazy field appears….
<PsiScythe> About the optical illusion thing: My eyes see orange/blue around things because of something.
<PsiScythe> Something to watch for…
<Rainsong> That’s the same idea, actually.
<Eventide> … and any for what aura vision actually is?
<Rainsong> As for useful data, Eventide, I would suggest “How to Read the Aura” by….Butler? I think.
<Eventide> Ok, thanks.
<Eventide> Thanks for the class too.
<Rainsong> You’re welcome. If I find the book in question, I’ll put more complete details in the log. Also any others I think of in the interim.
<Aphanas> Thanks for the class tonight, Rain. Was interesting, as usual.
<Jael> Thanks for the class. Very helpful
<Rock> Thanks Rain.
<PsiScythe> Yup, thanks
*Rock wonders if Sleepy fell asleep.
<PsiScythe> Was it him who had to go eat?
<PsiScythe> or her…
<eversosleepy> I am alive!
<Raven> Thanks, Rain.
<Eventide> PsiScythe: nope
*Levi shall return a bit later..
<Levi> Hope to see you all again! 🙂
<Rainsong> Thanks for participating, all.
The book I mentioned is “How to Read the Aura” by W.E. Butler. It is also published as part of “How to Read the Aura, Practice Psychometry, Telepathy, and Clairvoyance.” It has been reprinted several times, by a couple publishers.