Instructor: RainTurtle
Date: December 07, 2003 (Thursday)
RainTurtle *steps up to the podium, and clears throat* Ehem
Jael 🙂
RainTurtle good evening/afternoon, ladies and gentlemen
Aphanas tips hat to Rain…
RainTurtle Today’s seminar is on the topic of psionic and related methods of moderating and eliminating pain, without recourse to drugs
RainTurtle The reason for the sudden-ness of the scheduling of this seminar is very simple.
RainTurtle Some of the methods we will discuss today take a bit of practice, to be comfy enough to trust them
RainTurtle That isn’t to say that they can’t or don’t work on the first try, because they _do_ and _have done so_ for many people…but if you are sitting there in the dentist’s office wondering if it is going to work, your body’s going to be tense, and your belly will probably be complaining about the French toast you had for breakfast (and alerting you to the probability that it would be coming back the way it came in….)
Jael heh…
Aphanas *snickers*
RainTurtle Being puked-on is an occupational hazard in the health professions, but it is unpleasant for all concerned, so we try to avoid it 🙂
RainTurtle Any questions, so far?
Raven none here
Kitsune not here.
Aphanas None here… but I’d like to note for the record that I pulled some back muscles just in time for the seminar… 😛
Jael no questions yet
RainTurtle Ouch….well, Aphanas, I guess you get to try some of the methods out in class, then
RainTurtle Fortunately, most of them are fast and easy… 🙂
Aphanas Yeah… thought that was kinda ironic. 🙂
RainTurtle Added bonus, most lack side-effects, too
RainTurtle For lack of any better way to order them, I think we’ll start with the methods taught in the local hospital (I found out that they are taught at the hospital many years after learning how to do them….it came up in passing, in a conversation with a friend who was being treated for migraines)
RainTurtle You’ve all “sent” little bits of psi from your fingertip in other classes, so I don’t need to explain how to do that, ne?
RainTurtle (the same concept as “drawing” on your palm…)
Jael correct
Aphanas Yep.
Kitsune rawr.
RainTurtle For some things (minor bruising, and such) where you just want to ease a bit of atemporary ache, sending out a bit of psi from your fingertips in a brushing motion, over the wounded area can help. This is probably where the idea of “auric healing” comes from, clearing out the debris in the field, so the “flow” of the “energies” is unimpeded
RainTurtle The motion of the hand (the psi-stuff is going straight out from the finger tips) is as though you are trying to pull a bit of ivy off some bricks, or making a come-here gesture with your hand
RainTurtle Questions?
RainTurtle Aphanas?
Aphanas Does that mean that pain actually generates a kind of debris in your field, that this removes or brushes away?
RainTurtle hopes you folks aren’t in a hurry….this seminar is almost certainly going to go over the one-hour mark
Jael (we’re not in a hurry, so no problem for us)
Aphanas will work on restraining himself to shorter questions during those parts… 🙂
RainTurtle It appears to do so. When the body is wounded or sick, there is more debris there, than otherwise. Not sure of the mechanics of it, but removing the debris usually eases the pain
RainTurtle As for questions, might as well ask them regardless of probable length….the whole point of the seminar is for you folks to learn how to do this stuff
Aphanas OK, that makes sense on the debris part. Would be interesting to know how it works, but if we know how to remove the debris, not necessary… 🙂 . Thanks.
RainTurtle The “how it works” is a fascinating but frustrating area of study. There is much more data about how it does _not_ operate, than how it does….
RainTurtle …thanks to the poor terrified scientists who had to prove to Stalin that psionics fit into a materialist worldview
RainTurtle “Well, it works…Messing proved that, if nothing else….but it is inconsistent with electromagnetism, because the faraday cage does not interfere, and……”
RainTurtle Next we come to the basic “energy ball” approach. When working on one’s own body, by the way, the “energy balls” don’t even need to be real….
RainTurtle Energy-ball Method #1 (numbers signify only the order in which I am covering them, not importance nor effectiveness):
RainTurtle Conjure or imagine a psishape sitting comfortably in your dominant hand, as though it were a softball you were about to throw for your dog.
RainTurtle It just has to sit there, you won’t be throwing it. Too easy, yes?
Aphanas Heh… throwing psishapes at people to heal them could be fun though… 🙂
RainTurtle Now, add a bit to the programming, making it “blue-ish” (although not needing to be flared), “cool”, “soothing”…and “to numb anything it touches” if you need the extra oomph
RainTurtle Concentrate on the extra programming for a moment, set the duration and other normal construct bits, and hold it against the sore spot as if it were an ice-pack
RainTurtle “cool and soothing” is usually sufficient for (very) small first degree burns, and for cooling a bruise or pulled muscle
RainTurtle Add the numbing bit, for tooth-aches and so on
RainTurtle For the latter, it can help to add a visualisation of the administration of a chemical pain-kiler, if you want to…..
RainTurtle I personally used the cool-and-soothing bit with that cavity I’d mentioned, right up to the time of the surgery
RainTurtle So far so froody?
Jael raises hand
RainTurtle Jael?
Jael Is the blue color crucial or is it a mental association?
RainTurtle It is a mental association….helps with the “cool” part. There is a tendency for “greens” and “teals” to be associated with re-generation types of healing (never, ever use these for cancer-related workings…..)
RainTurtle And reds, oranges, and yellows are associated with heat, because of their “warmth”
RainTurtle However, if you want to work without colour, or if you prefer a different one, for this purpose, feel free to change it
Jael Okay. Good to know on the greens/teals.
RainTurtle Even with those it is still nothing more than a mental association, but in life-threatening situations, why risk confusing your sub-c?
RainTurtle Any other questions? 😀
Jael No more from me at this point 🙂
Aphanas Actually… not at the moment. Jael’s question answered mine too. 🙂
RainTurtle Method #2, then: basic migraine treatment
RainTurtle Here again, we’ll be using psishapes, real or imagined, and colour-associations….nice and easy, because face it, when you have the divine ancestor of all thudding migraines, you don’t want to do something tricky and requiring a lot of concentration, ne?
Jael heh…very true.
RainTurtle “Imagine” that the part that hurts is red. Don’t make it red, and don’t add any “oomph” to it. Just picture the area as red, as though looking at it one some kind of spiffy medical scanner thing, maybe
RainTurtle Make a nice friendly blue psishape sitting in your dominant hand again. And, once again, hold it up to the part that hurts….Picture it “pulling” the red out, and letting blueness seep into the area….both will turn purply, then blue, while (in theory, anyway) the pain goes away
RainTurtle It works remarkably well for migraines, particularly those which do not respond well to medication. This _might_ be simply a matter of easing the tension in the muscles and blood vessels in the head and neck
RainTurtle This _also_ works for other ouchies….such as pulled muscles, sprains, and so on
RainTurtle Sounds too simple to work, doesn’t it?
Aphanas is noting it seems to work well for pulled back muscles… 🙂
RainTurtle Imaginary “energy ball” work is similar to biofeedback. Using real “energy balls” takes it into psionics. To use it on someone else generally requires the psionic approach
RainTurtle Aphanas: 😀
Jael Since one important aspect of psi-work seems to be communication with the sub-c, simple is best anyway. 🙂
RainTurtle simple = shiny
Aphanas raises hand…
Kitsune also raises hand.
RainTurtle Aphanas?
Aphanas Is there a good way of detecting the difference between normal migraines and psionically-caused migraines? It seems like just dealing with the symptoms on a psionically created migraine could get you in trouble… especially if the cause of the migraine is over-doing it psionically (trying to fix it would make things worse, wouldn’t it)?
RainTurtle Logic, basically. Same symptoms. But if it comes on while you are working on something psionic, you can probably assume if is a psi-related headache. If it comes on out of the blue, or appears to be triggered by caffeine or some such, it is probably a “regular” migraine
Aphanas That makes sense… thanks. 🙂
RainTurtle No prob. If in doubt, rest and have a snack, preferably with something not-alcoholic and not-caffeinated to drink. If that gets rid of the headache –or diminishes it– it was probably psi-related
Aphanas *nods*
RainTurtle Kit, question?
Kitsune that method often increases the pain for me when I visualise it as red. What could be doing that?
RainTurtle Accidentally adding oomph to the redness _will_ do that. It could be that your sub-c adds some oomph, misinterpreting the instructions. In this case, don’t picture redness. Just do the blue part
Kitsune oh. Okay. Thanks.
RainTurtle (I’ve been told, lately, by several practitioners of other forms of energy work that psionics seems more logical in approach. The idea of “Hmmm, that didn’t work, let’s try something else” doesn’t seem to occur to the other systems)
RainTurtle No problem. (interruption in the turtle nest)
Aphanas did have time to think of another question while you were away though… 🙂
RainTurtle Now, we get to the more complicated bits, which are worthy of practice if (big “if”) they are acceptable in nature, to you
RainTurtle thx, Raven
RainTurtle go ahead, Aphanas 🙂
Kitsune rehi.
RainTurtle re-yo 🙂
Aphanas I was wondering what are the likely causes of the effect only being temporary? I noticed that my back symptoms came back about 10 minutes after using method #2?
RainTurtle That’s about the standard time, yes…
Aphanas Ahh… good to know. So that is normal then.
RainTurtle That method seems to simply “numb” the pain on contact, rather than actually doing anything about it
RainTurtle That said…
RainTurtle Are you folks relatively familiar with the workings of the human nervous system?
Aphanas Fairly…
Kitsune um… sorta?
Jael I believe so.
RainTurtle “sorta” should be good enough for this….but there is a reason that I don’t generally teach “healing”, which can seriously fluff things up if the biological systems are not very well understood. This isn’t quite at that level
RainTurtle Some nerves carry sensation to the brain, and some carry instructions to the muscles from the brain….and some just go as far as assorted ganglia, without bothering to go all the way to the brain.
RainTurtle The ones which concern us, here, are those which transmit sensation.
RainTurtle It has been demonstrated by means of complicated medical stuff that hypnotic anaesthetic actually affects how the signals are transmitted, in the peripheral (not central) nervous system, as opposed to being ignored in the mind, as was previously assumed by many folk, at least
RainTurtle A rather common effect among psionicists, involves simply blocking the signal in sensory nerves (temporarily….although that can mean “minutes”….or “weeks”)
RainTurtle this can be handy when dealing politely with food that was less-than-expertly prepared, too….can block taste as easily as pain….
RainTurtle =)
Aphanas Hehe…
Jael 😀
Raven so you don’t have to tell a friend’s wife that she is a terrible cook, eh?
RainTurtle Exactly. 🙂
Raven could definitely come in handy…..
RainTurtle I recall reading a set of instructions for this method that involved the visualisation of an old-fashioned telephone switchboard….imagining that each switch governed messages from different spots. At the time the book in question was written, such switchboards were current cutting-edge technology, so I expect the imagery would have worked better then than now
RainTurtle The name of the book and author eludes me at the moment 🙁
RainTurtle If that method appeals to you, it is a basic case of simple self-hypnosis. Close your eyes, take a couple of nice deep breaths, and call to mind an image of such a switchboard….and spend a couple moments thinking about the connection of the switches to the sensory nerves….then simple turn off the one/s you don’t want to function for a while….if you want to add some visual indication, such as an indicator light that goes off at the same time, all the better.
RainTurtle Questions?
Kitsune not here.
Raven none here
Jael raises hand
RainTurtle Jael?
Jael How long does the switch stay turned off, or is that part of the programming?
RainTurtle Until you switch it back on, ideally….although, like most hypnotic, and semi-hypnotic effects, there is a tendency for it to wear off (or switch back on, I guess) within a relatively short time….I believe four days was indicated as average
Jael hmm…this sounds like it’d be ideal for my ortho appointments 🙂
Aphanas No more questions here, at the moment.
RainTurtle *nods* It’s one that works best if you set up the basic visualisation ahead of time, rather than in the waiting room at the ortho….
RainTurtle In a related vein….same idea, different visualisations:
RainTurtle (the more “tranced” you can manage, the more effective it will be, by the way, although any calm visualisation will do the job to some degree or another)
RainTurtle 1) For those who’ve had success in the past with chemical anaesthetics, visualise an injection of that chemical into the area…and “pretend” to feel it going numb
RainTurtle 2) For technophiles, picture a computer display, with little icons for the various nerve connections, and click on the appropriate ones. It will help if there is a little bar-graph thing that gradually fills up over a matter of 30 to 60 seconds, to allow for a gradual loss of sensation…
RainTurtle 3) If you can picture the major nerve pathways (unlikely unless you have a background in physiology, or a handy chart), picture the nerves all in one colour to indicate “active” and simply change the colour of the bits you want to temporarily “turn off”….as always, being very clear of your intention was you do so. Do _not_ use “oomph”…this should be strictly an exercise in something akin to biofeedback
RainTurtle Another option, rather than numbing the nerves, is to substitute another sensation. Replacing the sharp pain of tooth-drilling with mere “pressure” is probably the most common example
RainTurtle All these really just fall into the category of self-hypnosis….a useful skill for psionicists, but not quite psionic of itself
RainTurtle Quiet the mind, take a few nice deep breaths, and either use visualisations (often more efficient) or repeated simple suggestions (usually, positively-worded suggestions work better than negatively….)
RainTurtle Questions?
Aphanas raises hand…
Jael raises hand too.
Raven *shakes head*
RainTurtle Aphanas?
Aphanas How would that method work psionically, say.. used on another human being (rather than using self hypnosis)? Will the same visualizations work if you add psi to the construction of the visual? And… is there an inherent danger in doing that to someone else?
RainTurtle If you are going to do that to someone else, make sure you are familiar with the nerves in question, and I don’t recommend that particular method in any case, if you want to do something requiring psi.
Jael had basically the same question as Aphanas 🙂
RainTurtle There are a couple risks that boil down to the possibility of damaging the affected nerves – permanently
Aphanas That would *not* be good… 🙁
Jael raises hand again
RainTurtle Jael?
Jael Is it possible to damage your own nerves using those methods if you use psi rather than self-hypnosis?
RainTurtle It is.
Jael okay. no ‘oomph’ for me. thanks 🙂
RainTurtle If you want to do roughly that, with psionics, affect the area around the nerve, instead of the nerve itself….It gets back to the “cotton wool” idea….Wrap the area in “magical cotton wool” that numbs the area. _Or_, for affecting someone else, use a telepathic variant to “hijack” their senses, either replacing the painful sensation with something else, or blotting it out
Aphanas OK… that idea makes sense. Thanks.
RainTurtle Questions?
Aphanas No more here… 🙂
Jael raises hand
Raven *shakes head*
Kitsune not here.
RainTurtle I realise I tend to sound “alarmist” about nerve damage and so on….It is entirely possible to be lucky and _not_ cause damage. It’s been done. the risk remains, though, and nerve damage, permanent and otherwise, _has_ happened sometimes
RainTurtle Jael?
Jael Are there times when would using these be ill-advised?
RainTurtle “These” being the last ones mentioned, or painblocking in general?
Jael Painblocking in general. The concern is one I have with normal pain meds…masking something more serious that should have medical attention.
RainTurtle *nods* Same applies to these methods. If you don’t know what is causing the pain, get it checked out by someone qualified to pin-point the problem and hopefully do something about it.
Jael Okay. Kinda figured, but thought I’d double check.
RainTurtle The kinds of uses I was thinking of, for this class, are toothaches, pulled muscles, and so on….you know what the problem is, and so the pain is serving no useful purpose unless you will be stupid enough to aggravate the pulled muscle with further furniture re-arranging or somesuch
Aphanas Heh… *Aphanas takes note… and cancels his furniture re-arranging plans for after the seminar…* 🙂
Jael has one more question 🙂
RainTurtle Speaking of the chemical alternatives, I expect you know that your body produces chemicals that work as pain-killers. You can “encourage” the release of more of these, in much the same way as you would affect the release of interferon when dealing with a virus. Be careful not to over-use this though….opiates are addictive
RainTurtle Jael?
Jael You mentioned at the beginning of class that most of these methods lack side-effects. Is the primary side effect (other than lack of pain/sensation) nerve damage or are there other side effects?
RainTurtle The last method I half-mentioned (with the opiates) has chemical side effects…
RainTurtle Trancing too long over an extended period of time (more than an hour a day, for more than two weeks, if memory serves correctly) can entrain your brain to stay in trance between such sessions
RainTurtle “Nerve damage” is a side effect that ought only happen if you mess up royally…..as opposed to the usual chemical pain killers employed in dental surgery, for example, which interfere with the healing process.
Post-class note: using the cartoon-illustrations from the advertisements for pain medications, the ones where the sore spot is depicted as a rough diagram of a nerve bundle which is blinking on and off like a neon light, is also effective in the “turning off the senses” approach. Just make it stop blinking, and stop glowing….“turn it off” 🙂