Ahhh.. It’s been raining ever since November began! I love rainy days, and I always wish it would rain longer for like a week or something.. The November hit, and everytime I step out of the house, it’s raining cats and dogs. A couple of times was I drenched. But it felt awesome.. through the trouble of drying up and of course the stink that i have to put up with while drying. And taking the bus has been one of the most disgusting experiences I have ever had during a rainy day. *shudders* To escape it all I sit right in front, on the top deck of the bus. Ahh.. it feels good to just let my head blow… *smilez*

Lately, I’ve been “fighting” with my mother like it’s WWIII or something. She thinks I’m from some other planet, while I think she has just gone stark raving mad. I always have. Doesn’t solve anything, does it? But for the past week, she has been saying the most revolting things ever. Like stuff that a daughter should not hear from her Mother. Especially not her Mother. I feel like disowning her. How do i do that? I can’t simply run out of the house. That would be dumb, as I have no other place to go to. I’d just end up making an utter fool of myself, with no where and no one to turn to. I also can’t talk about it to my relatives. I’m pretty sure they know how strict she is. Sometimes, I get pitiful looks from them.. And I just want to hit back, like really hard. Or say something like, “I’m fine. Which part of I’m fine don’t you get? There is no need to look at me like that!” But, they’re family. And I don’t think they mean to appear like that. Gosh, sometimes I drive myself insane. It’s so hard. I don’t what disorder this is, but I tend to “read” alot into what people do and say. Liek there is a separation between “logical” and “absolutely bonkers”, right? I don’t know.. the motives of people just don’t seem right to me. I get so irked out, I stay away from them completely. It’s a hard battle. Fighting with oneself. “I’m fine”, “No you’re not, you’re evil”.. “It’s nothing”, “There’s something here, and it’s not good”… 2 parts of me. At constant battle. Every minute of my life. God knows for how long.. But then, I’ve always been stubborn.. and i’m gonna stick to my guns. No matter what. I know I’m getting better. I feel it. I pray to the Goddess.. Mother Earth.. I take, and I think I give back where I can.. I could do more, but there are things in MY LIFE that I have to accomplish. Till I’m stable, I’m just going to be quite a selfish person. Focus on my needs first.. The only can I do something for another.

Right now, I’m just being a burden to my own family. But screw that, seriously. They can’t help, you can’t help, and please, don’t ever pretend to. The worst thing a person can do is to pretend. I don’t have people who stay in my life.. Just people who come and go. But who are there, but in the background… Never see each other, never talk, but somehow we know what they are going through.. and we don’t do anything about it…

Crap, I’m babbling again. Got a class at 4pm. Jurisprudence. Shit.

>

The oceans let out a deep, rumbling noise, emanating from deep within its depths. It was her last breath, her own breath of life. The sounds her last beatin of the heart. The sea her tears. The barren land her flesh. With a heave, the sea rose, pushing out whatever she had left. In destruction, there is life, they once said…

A huge wall of water of the darkest colour imaginable colour covered the magnificent sun, which in all its glory, stood in stark irony to Mother’s suffering. Nothing would save her now. The Gods, Goddesses, Angels… Where were they? The millions of lives offered to them, the unimaginable horrors wrecked upon her in their names… Where were they? Blood-stained Mother. Who hears her cry of pain?

The mountains shook. Brilliant splashes of fiery colours shot up into the gloomy skies. The mouth of the world opened, unleashing her power, venting her fury at the heavens. Where were they?

Lands split apart, swallowing whatever she had with her. With a deep, heart-wrenching, shuddering moan, she ceased…. The death of our Mother.

Written by: Rubi

Calculating Personal Day:

Personal Year (from later entry) + Current month + Calendar Date

eg. 6+10+20 = 36 = 3+6 = 9

……………………………………………………………………

Personal Day 1

Colour - Red
Gem - Ruby

Time to Begin!
Be independent. Do what you want to do. Go after things. Go to new places. Meet new people. Try out ideas. Begin a new job. Be active. Great for a first date! You will find that men are important in your life today/ Be the leader today. Trust yourself and your intuition. Be original and creative. Be ambitious. Feel your own power. Be courageous. Anger, stubborness, impatience; or worry may tend to undermine your ambitions. Look for the new!

Personal Day 2

Colour - Orange
Gem - Moonstone

Co-operate!
Be paceful. A time to agree with others. DO more than your share. Be patient, tolerant adn diplomatic. It’s time to be receptive. Collect that which you need. Look for that antique. Observe, listen and think. Put others at ease, and be aware of their feelings. Create harmony. Enjoy your women friends. Relax, be gentle, and pleasant. Wait.

Personal Day 3

Colour - Yellow
Gem - Topaz

It’s Party Time!
Laugh, have fun. All people are important. It’s a social day. Sing, dance and play. Express yourself. Love everybody. Today is truly the joy of living. Look beautiful. Feel handsome. Bless everyone and everything. Make others smile. Let your creativity express iself freely. The best day for shopping! It’s a people day! Love them all!

Personal Day 4

Colour - Green
Gem - Emerald - Jade

Time to Work!
It’s time to get up early. Get those chores done. You have lots of energy today. Get going on those projects. Pay your bills. Write those letters. Balance the budget. Clear the house. Wash the car. Be organised and dependable. Do your repairs. The work you do today is lasting. have a health checkup. Get things ready for tomorrow!

Personal Day 5

Colour - Turquoise
Gem - Turquiose/Aquamarine

Change and Surprise!
Look your best. Really dress up! Get out and look for the new. Positive changes are in the air. Today you are free. Expect a good surprise. DO something different. Be flexible. Change your routine. Promote and advertise yourself or your products. Look at another side of life. Give something away. Sell something. The bes day for haircuts or surgery. You feel free today!

Personal Day 6

Colour - Indigo
Gem - Peral/Sapphire/Lapis

Adjustment Time!
Take a personal inverntory. Look at your house. Could you make it more comfy? Enjoy your family. Entertain at home. Fill your day with music. If possible, do not travel. Dave creative writing for another day. Tachers excel, and group work is favoured. A wonderful day for moving into a new home!

Personal Day 7

Colour - Purple/Violet
Gem - Amethyst

Look Within!
Be alone at least for part of the day. Be still. Think. Listen to your innner soul. Drop the business world. If you pursue money it’ll run from you! If you keep still and wait, things will come to you. Study something spiritual or scientific. The No. 7 will always reveal something. Meditate. Be open!

Personal Day 8

Colour - Beige/Brown/Pink
Gem - Diamond

Successful Business!
Ambition stirs within you! It’s a time for advancement. Look and act successful. A big, business day. Be an executive. Best day for signing contracts. Help the less fortunate. Success is already yours now!

Personal Day 9

Colour - All pastels
Gem - Opals/Gold

Humanity!
All the world is your family. Be a humanitarian. Help everyone you can. Give something away. Be generous and kind. No beginnings today; finish things up. No shopping unless it’s a gift. Use your creative talents. Close the chapter, tomorrow you start anew!

Calculating Universal Year
eg. 2009 = 2+0+0+0+9 = 11 = 1+1 = 2

Calculating Personal Year
eg 11 (birthmonth) + 02 (birthdate) + 02 (universal year) = 15 = 1+5 = 6

Calculating Personal Month
eg. 06 (personal year) + 10 (current month) = 16 = 1+6 = 7

Calculating Personal Day
07 (personal month) + 19 (current date) = 26 = 2+6 = 8

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Personal Year 1

Colour - Red
Gem - Ruby
Key Word - Beginnings

This is the year for new beginnings, for new starts, for new ideas, for anything new! Give your ideas chance to take root. Develop a plan for what you want in this nine-year cycle, and begin to work on it now. Be yourself, and push forward with determination. Take control. This is your year to pioneer and break new ground!

Personal Year 2

Colour - Orange
Gem - Moonstone
Key Word - Patience

This year you deserve some rest and quiet. Make sure you have it. Study and acquire knowledge. Practice diplomacy and tact. Sharing and teamwork are best. Be very co-operative. Do not force anything this year. Be patient and wait. Pay attention to details. Love is favoured. This is a very good year for relationships and partnerships.

Personal Year 3

Colour - Yellow
Gem - Topaz
Key Word - Enjoyment

This is your year for fun. Believe in yourself. The birth is evident. All is well, you feel it. Love is everywhere. Go on vacations and holidays. Express yourself creatively as much as possible. Laugh and smile and sing and dance and spread sunshine all around you. Your year will be full of joy!

Personal Year 4

Colour - Green
Gem - Emerald - Jade
Key Word - Practical

Now, it’s time to get back to your work! Be productive and organised. Build your foundation. Take inventory. Get your life in order and attend to the details. Use self-discipline and avoid being lazy. Do things cheerfully, and you will have all the energy you need. Take good care of your health. You are building for the future; so be constructive. The more effort you give, the more rewards you will reap. Everything will turn out well!

Personal Year 5

Colour - Blue
Gem - Turquoise/Aquamarine
Key Word - Change

Freedom and change are in the air. Let this be your year to dress up. Drop the routine. Discard old ideas. Do something unusual. Be different this year. Make sure these changes benefit others, too. Look for good surprises. Yet, don’t throw all caution to the wind! Be active, not restless. This can be a very satisfying year!

This is an inner year. The fruit is just beginning to show. Take time for reflection, study and self-analysis. Spend lots of time alone, and use it constructively. The No. 7 always reveals things we don’t normally see. Meditate, be introspective. Leave the social life for another time. Allow your soul to grow!

Personal Year 8

Colour - Beige/Brown/Pink
Gem - Diamond
Key Word - Achievement

This is the year of success. It’s harvest time. Business and all material things are yours now. Put out some effort and you’ll accomplish alot. Go after what you want. Be efficient and buisiness-like. Be self-confident. Be honest and fair in all your dealings. Look for unexpected money. Business trips are favoured. This is your year to achieve. Go for it!

Personal Year 9

Colour - All pastels
Gem - Opal/Gold
Key Word - Completion

It’s time for completion and fulfillment! The garden is finished for this cycle, yet some of the crops continue to produce. This is your year of spring-cleaning. Get into the corners. Review everything and toss out all that is no longer useful in your life. Don’t hang on. Many things will pass out of your life this year. There is much happiness about you. This is a year for endings. Do not begin new things. Don’t look for new personal love. They won’t last. Give away. Give to others. Be tolerant, compassionate and forgiving. Love must be shared with all. The old cycle closes. Make ready for the new one next year!

EMPATHY

Definition
Empathy is the ability to know someone else’s emotions psychically, during normal conversation and at a distance. Body language and tone of voice are not empathy, only psychic perceptions. Empathy is a limited type of telepathy, which is easier for most people to learn. It is the most common of all psychic abilities.

Spontaneous Use
Many people use empathy without realizing it, especially with close friends and family members. This often occurs as a feeling that a friend is hurt or in trouble. The receiver may also feel stressed because a friend is stressed.
With practice, you can improve your empathic ability. You can begin using it on cue instead of just spontaneously. You can learn to receive detailed emotions and complex situations.

Connecting
Create an empathic connection by focusing your thoughts on your chosen target.
Create a constant stream of energy connecting you to him or her. Let the connection grow and strengthen, like a web or joined hands holding you together.
Emotions flow through the connection in both directions. The target will feel some of your emotions, and you will feel some of the target’s emotions.

Receiving
Be open to receive images, sounds, and feelings through the link. You may feel the emotions as if they were your own, or they may seem like a movie. They may appear as emotional images or as hunches.
As you receive information, watch for related details and subtle feelings. Watch how the target reacts to his or her emotions. Ask questions to navigate through related emotions. Notice how the feelings change in response to your questions.
To be certain you aren’t reading body language, practice when you can not see or hear the target person. Practice at times when you wouldn’t otherwise know what mood the person is in. Then ask the person later what his or her mood was at that time, to see if you received feelings accurately.
Controlled, useful empathic navigation can take a while to learn, but it is necessary. The telepathy section explains techniques for navigation in more detail.

Disconnecting
Closing the link is just as important as opening it. When you are ready to close the link, visualize it gently drawing apart and closing cleanly.
If you try to remove it too quickly, it may hurt like a suddenly broken relationship. You may even feel it physically near the heart, where empathy connects. Be gentle with empathic links because they represent your relationship with that person. You will both feel what happens to it.

Common Problems

Question:
I don’t feel anything when I try to connect. Am I doing it?
What’s happening?

Answer:
Ground and center. Make sure you are relaxed, not scared, and not feeling defensive. If you are tense or scared, you won’t connect well with people. If you feel defensive, you will hold your energy in and stop it from flowing to the target. Make sure you are comfortable feeling close to the target. Make sure the target is comfortable feeling close to you. Gently add energy and strengthen the connection.

Question:
I can connect, but I am not receiving anything.

Answer:
Ask a question and then listen for an answer. If the connection is still quiet, strengthen it and increase the energy flow. Be sure to stay calm and relaxed.

Question:
Receiving too many emotions is overwhelming me.
How do I filter some out?

Answer:
Ground and center very well. If afterward you still need a filter, create a shield around yourself to block all empathy. Then when you choose to receive empathically, tell the shield exactly what to let through. When you are done, tell it to block everything again.

Summary
Create a connection to the target
Strengthen the connection
Receive and navigate
Disconnect cleanly

Success
You can create a link.
You can receive accurate emotional information through it.
You can close the link gently.

From MSN group author unknown

Forget The Garlic: An Introduction To Psychic Vampirism

By Leni Austine

You’re bopping through your day in a great mood and you run into someone you know. They launch into their daily tale of woe: their job sucks, they can’t get a loan, their apartment has roaches, their car’s broken down, their boyfriend left them. You make sympathetic clicks with your tongue, suggestions that you know they won’t follow and end with a promise that you’re there for them.

Your friend walks away smiling, but you feel like you’ve been hit by a truck. Your good mood has evaporated. What gives?

Forget the dark brooding tormentors with fabulous clothes and perfect hair. The modern psychic vampire does not consider him/herself powerful or invincible. Far from it. They are perpetual victims and gravitate to people that further this script, either by victimizing them or by playing the role of rescuer. The psychic vampire is a flaming narcissist. They only want to be near people who can affirm their self concept as poor, suffering souls. It’s all about them. (Although, to be fair, unlike Dracula, virtually all psychic vampires are unconscious of how they affect those they prey upon.)

When we play the role of victim — and I’m not talking about people who have been genuinely traumatized — we give away our power. If we feel that everyone is out to get us, we can feel justified in doing what we have to get our needs met, regardless of ethics. Since every interaction is defined as win-lose, we can only win if we screw someone else over. This attitude keeps us from taking responsibility for our lives.. Everything is always someone else’s fault.

Think about the people you find powerful. Not the bullies or drama queens, but people who seem to have charmed lives. Things go right for them and when they don’t, they pick themselves up and move on to brighter shores. They don’t play the blame game and they surround themselves with other folks who enjoy their lives and their work and make good choices when things don’t work out. These folks don’t envy their friends’ success and they aren’t surrounded by hapless losers who make them look functional in comparison.

On the other hand, psychic vampires bank on the fact that our culture doesn’t teach us the skills to be powerful in our own right. They count on other people being as powerless and luckless as themselves. When we feel powerless and weak, holes open in our psychic energy field: the invisible shield that we use to separate ourselves from emotional or psychic attack. The same way that stress can deplete our physical immunity and make us susceptible to colds, so a depleted psychic shield makes us vulnerable to psychic illness. Gaps in our shield give psychic vampires a nice place to sink their fangs into. And since (unlike the mythical kind of vampire) a psychic attact leaves no visible marks, there is no rational way to say, “Hey, stop drinking me!” Any complaint makes us look crazy. So we doubt ourselves, doubt our perceptions and our psychic shield is further weakened. The cycle continues.

One simple but quite effective piece of psychic self-defense is known as shielding, a much-neglected technique in modern Pagan teaching. But shielding is actually quite important: we don’t go out in nasty weather without a coat; we don’t leave our homes with the door wide open. If we did, we would expect to catch a chill or come home to find the TV set had gone missing. So why, with all the stress and anxiety and downright violence filling our psychic bandwidth, should we can go into the world unprotected?

Some folks advocate what they call a “positive attitude,” by which they mean that the best defense is no defense. (This is usually prefaced with a phrase like “If you think you will be attacked, you will be.”) While there is truth to the idea that a certain type of psychic attack (such as societally supported curses in traditiononal cultures) depend substantially on the fear of the victim for their effect, applied to the effects of non-announced psychic attacks, this stance makes as much sense as saying a locked vehicle is an invitation to grand theft auto. We do have a hand in creating our own luck, but there are people out there who don’t have our best interests at heart. It’s generally believed to be easier to prevent auto theft if you lock your car. Extending the analogy, shielding is the way we do this for our psychic selves.

What about hexing? A cautionary note.
In many cultures, so-called “negative” magics — like hexing — have been and continue to be used to address perceived psychic or physical attack. Often this was because there were no other options available. In some cases, there still might not be — injustice still exists and the system doesn’t work equally well for everyone - but it is fair to say that today, for most people, most of the time, there are many non-magical roads to justice. Police, courts of law and self-defense classes are only a few, and we can use these resources as our first line of defense against being victimized. Before we attempt to use “negative” magic to solve our problems, we must ask ourselves: Have we done everything humanly possible to resolve the issue? If we don’t ask those questions first, any aggressive spellcasting we undertake may be useless or may create an even bigger mess.

The other danger in focusing too much on psychic attack is that of projecting our fears and personal issues onto others. Many so-called “Witch Wars” have erupted because someone accused someone else of psychic vampirism. Since there is no objective evidence of a psychic crime there’s also no way to defend oneself against such charges.

Very often the people who push our buttons are mirrors for the parts of ourselves we don’t like. The old adage about pointing fingers still holds true: one finger points at the one we accuse - but the other three point back at us.

Benefits of a sturdy psychic shield
A good shield emanates from our positive attitude. When a psychic vampire wants to pass along their lousy mood, our positive attitude about ourselves makes it impossible to take this on. Showing our light when they want us to feel bad makes it impossible for them to get what they want. It’s like psychic aikido - using the energy of the assailant’s attack to throw them off balance.

A psychic shield can be “made” of whatever material you can visualize. Some folks see it as a wet blanket that gets thrown on whatever nasty thing comes at them, while others envision a Star Trek-style force field. Still others imagine a semi-permeable membrane, like that used in dialysis - blood flows through easily but all toxic materials get filtered out. This image allows us to set the level of protection to let good things (love, lottery numbers, positive energy) through but keep out the crap. My personal favorite is an image of garage doors, slamming down around me to block the stuff I don’t want. Depending on how vulnerable I feel, the “doors” can be made of white light - or solid steel.

The best part of constructing shields against psychic attack is that by developing your defenses you are increasing your self-confidence and magical skills. Keeping the “vampires” at bay is just a really cool side effect. After all, garlic is much more fun to cook with than to hang around your neck.

Leni Austine is a freelance writer, ritualist and fulltime mom who practices Santeria and Wicca in Miami, Florida.

Psychic Vampires - And How To Deal With Them
By Dr van Neümig

Throughout recorded history and probably back beyond that, the idea of the psychic vampire has haunted mankind’s dreams. Strange mystical, mythical creatures who lurked in the darker recesses of the human mind, these beings were thought to sap the energy of living mortals, reducing them, unless stopped, to shadows of their former selves. People who, for no apparent reason, became continuously tired, listless and lethargic were often thought to have been visited by vampires or evil spirits.

The medieval Christian Church, always eager to give shape and form to such things as a means of keeping their congregations in line, called them incubi and sucubi, male and female forms of the evil demons (medieval psychic vampires) to which they added a sexual context. Anyone having dreams of a sexual nature were said to have been visited by either an incubus or a sucubus who planted the sinful ideas in the minds of weak mortals as a means of ensnaring them.

The psychic vampire is, of course, a very close relation to the more widespread and “popular” blood vampire that appears in literature, film and popular drama, the epitome of which is Count Dracula. The principle remains the same from physical blood-lusting vampire to psychic energy-grabbing vampires in that the Count drains the life force through the actual physical blood whereas the psychic vampire is more subtle, draining the life force by destroying the “will” of its victim.

In many ways, the typical vampire scenario such as Count Dracula, casts the vampire in the role of ultimate incubus. It is a creature of the night (darkness), evil in “human” form. Its victims are invariably young, attractive women, although it is not averse to the odd male now and again should the need arise or should there be no other available source. Like its cousin, the Psychic Vampire, (who is not so fussy as to the gender of its victims) Dracula and his ilk are after your immortal soul. By “killing” its victims either actually or metaphorically, it makes you its slave, doomed and dammed spiritually, morally and physically to spend eternity feeding off others to perpetuate the species. Each new “convert” becomes a soldier in the legions of the damned, another “servant” for the “master”.

The history of vampirism is a long one and no one can say, with any degree of certainty, where the idea originates. Bram Stoker penned one of the first in a long line of descriptions of this beast as “a tall, thin man, all in black…[with a] waxen face, high aquiline nose…parted red lips, with sharp white teeth showing between…”. In this modern day and age, it would be easy to dismiss such ideas as stemming from illnesses and diseases which we may now understand but which our ancestors would have had no concept of.

The person who, today, is always tired and lethargic, lacking in energy and enthusiasm is likely to be diagnosed as suffering from ME (Yuppie Flu), iron deficiency or leukaemia and treated for such. But to our ancestors, these illnesses, which have no outward physical symptoms, no rashes, boils and pustules, and which can seems to suddenly strike their victims out of nowhere but could not be treated through “normal” medical methods, would be attributed to another source - The Devil, evil spirits, the evil eye or a witch’s curse.

As a result, these “illnesses” assumed a spiritual aspect. Anything that could not be otherwise explained away was attributed to Satan and his legions of demons all of whom were hell bent (no pun intended) on doing their Master’s bidding and trapping the unsuspecting victim by sapping their will to resist. And so, the whole mythology of vampirism began to grow.

But to dismiss the whole idea of vampirism, psychic or otherwise, as being nothing more than an uneducated explanation for things which could not otherwise be explained is perhaps being over simplistic. Could vampires, especially psychic vampires, actually exist today, in this modern, scientific age?

The answer surely has to be yes.

Think about it. We probably all know someone whose company we find difficult. Not because they are necessarily unpleasant or because we simply can’t get on with them but because they leave us feeling tired and drained for no apparent reason. Often you may really like this person and are unable to understand why he or she leaves you feeling so tired and out of sorts. They sap your energy, asking continual questions, seeking opinions and ideas from others which they soak up, re-arrange and present as their own while never really contributing anything new, different or original to whatever they are involved in. Then, once they have assimilated all the information they can leech, they move on.

Invariably, this sort of vampire is unaware of the effect they have on others. They are unconscious vampires and, as such, they are basically harmless. While they may be extremely draining while they are around, once they move on or even leave the room, their “target” or “mark” will gradually begin to get their “strength” back.

Dealing with this sort of vampire is fairly easy once you have realised what they are because all you have to do is simply refuse to deal with them. You can avoid them or, if cornered, you can avoid their questions. This tactic will see them off fairly rapidly as they are invariably only interested in you as a source of energy, knowledge or experience.. If they don’t or can’t get it from you, they will quickly move on to someone else.

The danger from this sort of vampire arises when it gathers enough information together to enable it to present itself as some sort of leader, figurehead or expert. Then they will begin to feed off those who (ostensibly) know less than them including newcomers to the group and those who, in the normal course of events, tend to look to others to make decisions. If the vampire manages to establish itself in any sort of position of authority, power or control, it can be very difficult to dislodge and it is only if it gives itself away or comes up against someone who recognises it for what it is and confronts it, that it can be got rid off although the damage it can do in the meantime can be considerable.

Far more difficult to deal with and far more dangerous is the psychic vampire who knows exactly what it is doing and why it is doing it because, by the time any-one realises what’s going on, it can be too late!

The intentional psychic vampire is clever, devious and manipulative. Its main objective is often to ingratiate itself into a group of people through one member of the group. Having achieved that objective, it will then set about controlling the individual and/or group for its own ends, bending the group or individual to its will and using them to promote itself as some sort of powerful authority figure or “leader”..

The intentional psychic vampire will select a member of a group who it identifies as being both significant to the group (well liked, popular) yet is also vulnerable in some way (perhaps having just had a serious illness, an upsetting career change, house move, nasty divorce or death in the family). Having done this, it will set about making itself invaluable to that person who it defends and supports in all situations. It will take the individuals problems, fears and insecurities on board and offer advice, help and guidance, which often appears to be good and sensible. But more significantly, it will gradually isolate the individual from the group socially and emotionally by making their “mark” or target dependent on it and it alone.

The psychic vampire will also court the leader of a group and do everything it can to appear to be a positive influence upon the group until the leader seems to rely on the psychic vampire so much so that he or she cannot make any decisions without consulting it first. At the same time, it will carefully create the impression that it is “powerful” in some way. Within the context of an occult or pagan group, it may well promote itself as being some sort of expert in an obscure aspect of the main interests of the group and/or individual it is targeting thereby appearing to make itself of value to the group. But it will also maintain an aura of mystery about itself and its ideas and opinions, never giving too much away about itself.

In this way, it will gradually and carefully establish itself as an authority within the group taking the knowledge that it gains from the group and using it for its own ends, which are almost always to extend its field of influence and list of contacts that can then be used to increase its influence even further. The intentional psychic vampire can be a hopeless name-dropper. Often the psychic vampire in an occult group hints and alludes to its seemingly unending magical powers or psychic talents but rarely gives any concrete evidence of these psychic abilities or manifestations of the magical feats.

The really clever vampire will seldom try for all out power within a group. They will establish themselves as the main authority figure whilst at the same time giving the impression that they are not actually “in charge”. In fact, they will often defer to the nominal leader of the group but only on unimportant issues such as when and where meetings are to be held and who will bring the wine. All other decisions affecting the actual running and working of the group will be offered up for discussion in a manner that effectively leaves the real control firmly in their own hands.

And woe betide any one who shows signs of rebellion or resistance.

Immediately the vampire detects any sort of resistance to what it is doing it becomes angry to an extent that is hard for them to hide or keep under control. It will also become violently angry if you surprise the psychic vampire with a piece of information that it didn’t reckon on—there is nothing it hates more than being left in the dark on important issues. It may well start voicing doubts and concerns as to the ability or knowledge of the individual(s) concerned and will probably start spreading rumours intended to cast doubt in the minds of others as to the integrity, or even the sanity of the “rebel”.

It will also increase the isolation of its chosen “mark” or target by telling them that their friends are not to be trusted. Having carefully created the idea that it is magically powerful, it will drop comments into conversations to the effect that anyone who opposes it will be “dealt with” magically. It may well leave things lying around which will add to the idea that magical “revenge” will, or is being taken; such as locks of hair, bits of paper with odd sigils on or even photographs of itself or those who are the victims of their control or anger..

Clever or not, the intentional psychic vampire is usually arrogant. Extremely arrogant. It regards itself as being outside the constraints of normal society and sees nothing wrong in using others to achieve its goals because all that matters is its goals and the furtherance of itself and its sphere of influence.

And it is usually this high level of arrogance that can bring about the downfall of the less clever psychic vampire.

As is the case in many magical situations, the psychic vampire operates on the basis that their targets will believe that it is capable of exacting revenge and assuming that it has managed to create this impression, it relies on the imagination of its targets to do the rest. Whether or not it is actually capable of exacting magical revenge for what it perceives as a slight or an attack is neither here nor there. Often the psychic vampire has little or no real magical ability, but is a clever psychologist and knows that human nature is such that if the target believes in something then it can happen as far as that target is concerned.

How to recognise Psychic Vampires

Psychic vampires will probably exhibit several of the following characteristics, the more of these behaviours, opinions, obsessions or characteristics they display the more likely it is that they are psychic vampires. If any of these traits feel uncomfortably close to home you may yourself be a psychic vampire without realising it. Having one or two of the traits that you do recognise does not make you a psychic vampire per se, but may indicate that you should look carefully at changing this particular unconscious behaviour if it is afflicted upon or affects another human being. Unfortunately psychic vampires generally do not or are not able to recognise or realise these traits within themselves. Remember, the psychic vampire does not have to have any occult connection whatsoever, it can be a person you meet in your mundane life, but as this article is specifically geared toward a Pagan audience, the traits are given from a more occult perspective. These main traits are:

1. An uncontrollable urge to dominate nature, it may speak boastfully about controlling the weather or that it has powerful elemental spirits under its control.

2. A self-righteous compulsion to help others offering healing and advice to the point that their victim will become hooked on the consultations or sessions. In a lot of cases the psychic vampire offers no real help at all, causing the victim to be entirely dependent upon the psychic vampire’s aid. If the victim decides to seek help elsewhere the psychic vampire will be quick to point out “all they have done” for the victim in the past.

3. Creating living and working environments that are fast-paced, somewhat secretive and chaotic in an attempt to throw other people off guard. Their lack of true communication allows the psychic vampire to manipulate all situations so that others are overtly overwhelmed and anxious when trying to live or work in these environments whilst the psychic vampire will appear to be particularly well organised and calm externally.

4. An obsession to achieve all of their personal desires (gain of money, powerful careers or social lives, sexual fulfilment, etc.) without considering the cost to anyone else—and in this oftentimes creates its own self-undoing. Often the psychic vampire forgets to consider all the consequences of its actions even on its own life, focusing only upon the quenching of its all-consuming desires. This inability to consider the consequences of its actions often lands the psychic vampire in places and situations that it had no idea would occur and when this happens, watch out, for its anger can be violent when finding itself in negative situations of their own making because it will take no responsibility for its actions and blame all responsibility on others. Often psychic vampires will take out their own misery, responsibility and blame on the weak, ill, or someone much younger (like children or young adults), unable to transfer these feelings of inadequacy onto anyone it deems to be as experienced or powerful as itself in any way..

5. An innate desire to control its personal and intimate relationships down to the last detail. There can be sexual dynamics in all its relationships (even relationships that are not sexual ones) that border on the sado-masochistic. “[S&M] provides sexual pleasure to dominate the partner completely, to play with him [or her] like a cat with a mouse”—Adolf Guggenbühl-Craig. This is not to say that people that enjoy sexual play like S&M are psychic vampires, but this trait may be apparent in a psychic vampire if it is found in combination with several of the other traits.

6. Severe outbursts of anger or rage or violence in the face of insignificant or mundane annoyances. When the psychic vampire needs to feed it will explode all small or petty problems into traumas of major proportion. This instantly transforms the psychic vampire from the nice, serene person you thought you knew into an angry, venomous volcano that you’ve never met before.

7. A fear of change (death) or rather an undeniably overwhelming fear of being unable to manipulate and control all the details of any change in their lives, either major or mundane. Because the actual fear is the inability to control the “deaths” in its life, they may embrace a romantic preoccupation with art, literature and popular entertainments that involve death as the major theme and may even dress or costume itself in this romantically dark style, sometimes termed as Gothic. (This is not to say that all psychic vampires dress as Goths or that all Goths are psychic vampires and should not be taken as such.) Many psychic vampires may even occasionally, subtly allude to failed suicide attempts or close brushes with death. The preoccupation with death can be what has led it to a resistance to life. “Life is a dynamic, pulsating force; it is energy and consciousness manifested in many ways; and there is no evil as such unless there is a resistance to life. The resistance is the manifestation of what is called evil”—John C. Pierrakos.

8. A lack of a sense of humour or the inability to tell jokes. The psychic vampire may be able to make jokes at others’ expense but will either not acknowledge a joke at itself or will become quite angry if one is made of it.

9. Projecting its feelings of being bad, ashamed, or even actually evil upon another person or group of individuals. They may appear to be “perfect” or meticulous in their actions, manners, and physical appearance and above reproach in all of their activities whilst subconsciously suspecting that they have an evil nature. This causes the psychic vampire to project its fear-driven subconscious wrath onto another. If this is the case you may hear the psychic vampire say things like:

o “I am totally innocent and justified in my actions whilst THEY are guilty and bad and wrong in everything that THEY do.”

o “I simply inform others of the truth and THEY lie and use propaganda.”

o “I am only defending myself, THEY are making my life continually a misery.”

There is no conclusive physical description of the psychic vampire because anyone can be one (whether they know they are or not). If you found yourself thinking that some of these above traits seem very familiar to you, then turn around and look for the psychic vampire among your circle of associates for they may be close by…or if these traits hit even closer to home, then perhaps you should go and look into a mirror to see if you can find the reflection of the psychic vampire looking back at you. For unlike the fictional blood vampire, the psychic vampire can see their reflection in a mirror, if only they’d look hard enough.

I recently came across a case where precisely this had happened. The psychic vampire locked on to a member of a (largely social) group who could offer them an “in” to what it thought might be an influential occult group. Other members of the group came to question what was going on and confronted the psychic vampire, whose reaction was to do exactly what has been outlined above. It persuaded its victim that his friends were not to be trusted, made unspecific dark threats against other members of the group and left apparently magical “calling cards” in rooms where they had been staying. Understandably, the victims of this unpleasant attack were concerned and mentioned the matter to me.

So, how does one deal with a situation of this nature?

How to Deal with Psychic Vampires

In the main, the intentional vampire depends on the belief that their targets or victims will believe that it is capable of exacting magical revenge. Remove or reduce that belief and its “power” (such as it is) can be greatly reduced if not destroyed altogether. “Thought of others cannot penetrate our consciousness and compel us to act contrary to what we conceive of as good actions if our own motives oppose them…”—Ralph M. Lewis. If you have little self-confidence in facing a psychic vampire and think you might be especially vulnerable then you can actually help the psychic vampire to influence or control you in some way. This type of thinking can be very dangerous. Belief is the dangerous factor—if you believe that the psychic vampire can manipulate you magically or infest your dream state then you will open the door to them just as readily as Mina invited Count Dracula into her home.

All thought is vibratory, regardless of its content (positive as in healing energy or negative as in cursing or abusive energies). Adverse thoughts can be extended from a psychic vampire or a mean-spirited individual onto you. Yes, it can and does happen. To ignore the fact that it occurs is nearly as dangerous as believing in the psychic vampire’s abilities to control your thoughts and actions. Depending on the talents and abilities of the psychic vampire, their thoughts can reach out to others. Just keep firmly in mind that your own thoughts are far more important and strong within you than any thoughts that others place upon you.. You must not allow psychic vampires to have any kind of control over you by handing it to them on a silver platter, just refuse to let them in.

If you simply refuse to accept that the vampire can harm you and actually believe this to be true then little or no harm can come to you and the psychic vampire’s efforts will either dissipate into the ether or, having nowhere else to go, will return to the sender - the psychic vampire.

This may seem simplistic, but it works and the rebound can cause considerable problems for the psychic vampires who will find themselves beset by the troubles they have tried to cause for others. However, it takes a strong mind to adopt this sort of attitude and, in cases where the powers of the vampire are genuine, more practical defence mechanisms may be needed. If you feel you are particularly vulnerable to the thoughts or actions of another then it is very important for you to act in your own defense, others can help you but you must make an effort as well.

This is something the psychic vampire rarely considers (that you will be able to defend yourself) and so your actions in reversing their influence over you will be even that more strongly and rapidly manifested.

Most people will have heard of the Law of Threefold Return, a basically Wiccan concept that says that whatever the sender sends out, whether it be good or bad, will return to them, threefold. There are various formula for using this but one of the most effective I have ever come across was told to me by a close friend. It’s simplicity is really rather good.

If you think that you are the target of malicious magic, whether or not you know who is sending it, simply say three times:

“Whatever it is you sent to me

I send it back, three times three.

Don’t mess with me.

Don’t mess with me.

Don’t mess with me.”

(The word “mess” replaces the four-letter word used in the original version as told to me, which was far more emphatic and began with the letter “f***” but the principle remains exactly the same.)

It helps considerably if the person reciting this spell has worked himself or herself up to feel angry about what is being done to them before reciting it. If, at the same time as the spell is recited, the user holds a mirror up in front of them with the mirror side facing away from them it can aid the success of the action but this is not essential. Alternatively (if you are particularly good at visualisation) you can instead, picture in your mind’s eye, mirrors all around you, covering you, reflecting outwards from you in all directions whilst repeating the above charm. It goes without saying that if the victim knows whom the vampire is, then he or she should visualise the face of the psychic vampire as strongly as possible onto the reflective part of their protective “mirrors” while reciting the spell.

It can also help if the psychic vampire is made aware of the fact that you are on to them even if you do it anonymously, if you know for a fact who the psychic vampire is. But do not specifically aim the work on any individual that you do not know for sure is the psychic vampire for the spell can rebound back on you if the individual you are focusing upon is innocent.

You may learn a trick from Hoodoo and Voodoo practitioners who believe that a spell will not work unless the person it’s aimed at knows that the spell has been done. You may send the known psychic vampire their “magical calling card” back encased in a box of sea salt. You might send them the ashes from a hand-written charm in a plain envelope. Possibly, in a more humorous vein, you could send something directly related to blood vampires, such as a crucifix, a clove of garlic or a wooden stake, the stereotypical popular-culture defensive weapons of the vampire hunter. It’s symbolic of course, but the effect can be worthwhile. This kind of action tells the psychic vampire that you are on to it and warns it to be careful, that you may not be the soft target that it had assumed you were. Either that or that you’ve got help from someone who is more adept than it is.

Other actions that can be utilised include a traditional folklore one. Based on Romany legends surrounding blood vampires, there were two things that vampires could not do. “The area in which a vampire could operate was limited by two factors; it was unable to cross running water and it had to be back in its grave by cockcrow”—Dennis Wheatley. This could indicate that using running water for creating a spell against the influence of the psychic vampire, may include a magical shower (standing bath) whilst reciting an appropriate charm. It might also suggest that spells against psychic vampires ought to be performed in darkness (the night-time) for them to be more successful.

The Romany people believed that if you spread poppy seeds from the coffin of the vampire to the gates of the village, you’d avoid being a victim of the vampire that night. You might do this today by scattering poppy seeds from its front door to your front door. It was thought then that because vampires were known to be so fastidious and obsessively control-seeking that the vampire would be impelled to pick up every single poppy seed, thus keeping the vampire so busy all night that it would be unable to bother the community that night..

You could (if you have one) send it a photo of itself with some magical marks, symbols or sigils on it. If this can be one of your own construction that it won’t recognise or understand, then so much the better, because it will worry about what the symbols mean and this will distract its attention away from you.

And if you are unfortunate enough to suffer from bad dreams as a result of the psychic vampire’s attentions and suspect that it may be responsible (bearing in mind the psychology involved) then simply put some sea salt crystals under your mattress and inside your pillowslip keeping your intent firmly in mind when you do so.

There are of course any number of other, fairly standard, protective mechanisms you can use including constructing a doll or poppet of the vampire concerned and driving a wooden spike into it, the intention here is to stop them from affecting you rather than inflicting actual physical death. Again, the Hollywood symbology is obvious, but it can be effective. But in my personal experience, the fairly simple methods outlined above can be pretty effective in most cases in both getting rid of the psychic vampire and also increasing the self-confidence of the victim, this latter being an important aspect of the whole.

Help for Psychic Vampires

”…The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”—Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Nature is uncontrollable, life is organic and mostly unpredictable. By trying to minutely manipulate its own life and the lives of its close associates (or victims), the psychic vampire acts against the natural flow of life.

“A negative path is any action followed or adopted that opposes or arrests a constructive cause, the question of motive is involved. If the thought [motive] is prompted by jealousy, avarice or revenge with the intent to hurt, enslave or suppress truth, then it can be called negative”—Ralph M. Lewis. The psychic vampire can then be involved in going against the flow of life without actually dying, this then causes the state of being the “undead”.

The blood vampire of literature exists in the world of the undead—unable to die and unable to actually live. Is this such a different state for the psychic vampire? The psychic vampire may long for “death” (change) in a very dreamy and romantic way—yet are terrified to live with the flow of life, afraid to live without absolute control in their lives so they too exist in the world of the undead as well. Are they not then, above all to be pitied?

Don’t psychic vampires need some kind of understanding and concrete aid? Don’t the hidden motivations and secret desires of the psychic vampire need to be evaluated and understood for what they are? Don’t the psychic vampires need help to accept their need for parasitic fulfilment from others so that they can learn to feel full within themselves?

Unfortunately most psychic vampires will not be able to ever ask for help. A noted psychologist, M. Scott Peck made these notes involving hundreds of case studies of people exhibiting evil behaviours, similar to those of the psychic vampires. He noted that they are “utterly dedicated to preserving their self-image of perfection, they are unceasingly engaged in the effort to maintain the appearance of moral purity. Their ‘goodness’ is on a level of pretence, it is, a lie. This is why they are the ‘people of the lie’…they will do almost anything to avoid the pain that comes from self-examination, under ordinary circumstances the evil are the last people who would come to psychotherapy.”

Isn’t the most pitiable point of all, that those who need the most help to confront their own darker natures and even more aid in positively incorporating these valid parts of their personalities will not be able to ask for this help? They fear that their evil side will get out of control and land them in an institution or that they will be pursued or imprisoned by those demonically evil spirits they thought they could control when they initially created them. The ONLY way that a psychic vampire can be helped is to make full and complete self-evaluations. This is nothing new to anyone following a magical or mystical for “’know thyself’ applies broadly to the task. Know all of yourself, the priest of the god of light advised, which could be translated as, know especially the dark side.”

“Darkness call me brother!

That I may not fear

Which I seek”—anonymous

To know and accept the dark side of one’s nature is the antidote to the influence of the psychic vampire. Some say that it takes one to know one, and so don’t we all demonstrate some psychic vampire traits at certain points in our lives? If this is the case then a continual self-analysis of our own actions (magical or mundane) will help to cause us all to be far more self-sufficient and healthier magically, emotionally and spiritually. Know thyself and seek the balance of the light and the dark and you’ll have no need of a room full of cloves of garlic.

Bibliography

Lewis, H. Spencer, “Mental Poisoning, thoughts that enslave minds”, Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC, San Jose California, USA, 1951.

Lewis, Ralph M., “Mental Alchemy”, Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC, San Jose California, USA, 1979.

Stoker, Bram, “Dracula”, Book Club Associates by arrangement with Doubleday & Co. Inc., Trowbridge, Wiltshire, 1971, originally published in 1897.

Wheatley, Dennis, “The Devil and all His Works”, Book Club Associates, George Rainbird Ltd, London, 1977, originally published 1971.

Zweig, Connie and Jeremiah Abrams, “Meeting the Shadow: the hidden Power of the Dark Side of Human Nature”, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Perigee Books by Putnam Publishing group, New York, USA, 1991. Within this text, the following essays have been used in this article:

Eichman, William Carl, “Meeting the Dark Side in Spiritual Practice”

Green, Liz, “The Shadow in Astrology”

Guggenbühl-Craig, Adolf, “The Demonic Side of Sexuality”

Keen, Sam, “The Enemy Maker”

Kopp, Sheldon B., “A Tale of Descent into Hell”

Miller, William A., “Finding the Shadow in Daily Life”

Peck, M. Scott, “Healing Human Evil”

Pierrakos, John C., “Anatomy of Evil”

Stevens, Anthony, “The Shadow in History and Literature.”

*Rituals and magical attempts should be attuned to the seasons, the phases of the moon, and the personal feelings and emotions of the practitioner.*Nature and the Earth (and everything contained therein, including you and I ) are sacred manifestation of the Divine Goddess (or God, or Goddesses and Gods)

*Everyone needs to follow the best spiritual path for his or herself.

*Each and every one of us has within ourselves the capacity to develop magical abilities.

*It is not only possible but highly likely that we can and will be able to alter the course of events with the proper amount of will and focused intent.

In addition to these beliefs, many modern Wiccans also incorporate the traditional beliefs and practices of many ancient or traditional forms of paganism into their beliefs as well.  Some of the most commonly referred to spiritual pantheons within moderns Wiccan practice are those of the ancient Greeks, Celts, Romans and Egyptians.  In addition, many modern Wiccan groups also reference Shamanism and even Native American spiritual practices and beliefs into their worship as well.  The one universally constant belief that unifies Wiccans (regardless of their specific personal beliefs) is the belief that we must live in harmony with the Earth (a physical manifestation of the Divine Goddess).  Additionally, most modern Wiccans share the belief that to be truly healthy and happy a person’s mind, body and spirit must be equally tended to and supported.

Additionally, not all modern Wiccans practice magic or divination, but many do.  Some of the most common forms of divination among practicing Wiccans and witches include the use of runes, tarot cards, clairvoyants, and/or Ouija boards.  As previously stated, while not all Wiccans and/or witches use these methods, many do; and the method used is as uniquely personal as anything in the Wiccan’s life and often each witch will choose her own preferred divination method and use it exclusively.

There are some symbols and symbolism that are common to modern day and ancient Wiccans.  For example, the pentagram and pentacle are often integral to spell and ritual work (contrary to popular belief, there is nothing satanic about them. The five points represent earth, air, fire, water and the Divine Goddess), the crescent moon (a symbol of the Divine Goddess), The Ankh, and the serpent (a symbol of female spiritual awakening or eternal life).

(Please note that the 7witches Coven is not specifically a Wiccan Coven - each witch has his or her own set of beliefs. These articles are meant only to educate you about various occult beliefs and practices)

J. Roslyn Antle, High Priestess
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The heart chakra creates balance in our life – it is located in the area of our heart, and when it is unbalanced, we may not be kind to others or find peace in our own lives.  The heart chakra is associated with the diamond, rose quartz and peridot; its element is air, and it is associated with the thymus.

The throat chakra is located in the throat, and when it is balanced we are able to communicate properly and share our true life perspective.  When it is unbalanced, we may not be able to accurately choose our words or bottle up our true emotions.  The throat chakra is associated with aquamarine, turquoise, and blue agate, its element is sound, and it is associated with the thyroid gland.

The third eye chakra is located in the center of our forehead, between our eyebrows.  It affords us the ability to look inside ourselves when we need to do so.  When this chakra is unbalanced, we may forget that everything we need to get through the trials and tribulations in our lives is inside of us all the time.  It is associated with sapphire, lapis lazuli, and tanzanite; its element is light, and it is associated with the pituitary gland.

Finally, we come to the crown chakra, which can be best described as a white light radiating from the top of our head.  When the crown chakra is well balanced, we are well grounded and able to handle gracefully the ever changing world that we live in.  We can realize and love the fact that our bodies, minds, and spirits are all of equal importance in our lives, and that our lives are of the same level of importance to the universe around us. The crown chakra is associated with amethyst and alexandrite, its element is thought, and it is associated with the pineal gland.

Additionally, the colors associated with the chakras (in the appropriate order from the root chakra to the crown chakra) are as follows: red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, blue, and purple.

 
J. Roslyn Antle, High Priestess

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