Predators, Energy Vampires and Astral Irritations
© 2002
There are several ways to view the entities that you and others have described during this thread. One popular way is as you've described and that's to set them up as combatants -- predatory entities that exist outside of one's own self and which seek to parasitize you and draw you down. The great problem with this way of looking at this dynamic is that it places you as the victim and gives your "attacker" the advantage. With this dynamic in place, it is impossible to permanently rid oneself of these pests and one ends up expending all their energy in battle instead of in forwarding their own personal evolution. In other words, to combat them, you expend your energy defensively, if not offensively as some have suggested, and you never seem to have quite enough energy since there's always a bigger, more powerful predator around the next corner.
There is however, another way of looking at this dynamic that will rid you of these pests and which will forward your own personal evolution instead of diverting it. And that is to always look within to the "place" in your own psyche that these entities "attack". In point of fact, an entity can have no influence over you unless you give permission in one form or another. Most often this permission is given at a subconscious level that we're not normally aware of. Hence the need to look within.
From your descriptions, it's apparent that the vast majority, if not all, of the entities you describe are generated by your own psyche. Thus it is doubly important to look within.
It is impossible to *permanently* rid oneself of a part of one's own psyche through the use of the defensive techniques that you (and others) have described. Even if you magically sever the link between you and it, and dissolve the image of it that your psyche has created, it WILL spring anew since the basic environment which created it has not been
changed (i.e., your own psyche). The only method that works for this kind of self-created pest is the soul mirror (or similar) work of self-transformation of the personality. This work directly addresses the unexplored psyche and transforms it into a known thing. It places you into a relationship of true powerfulness in regard to your own psyche and its automatic, subconscious reactions.
The work of self-transformation is not a "War in Heaven" sort of thing. It's not a battle. Instead, it's transformation. Transformation requires first finding a common ground with the thing to be transformed. It means accepting a thing for what it is, not what we'd like it to be or what it appears to be, etc.
The entities you describe are not foes and they are not a threat. What they are are manifestations of your own psyche, generated (by your psyche) as a natural response to the work of self-examination. It's as if your own psyche is saying to your conscious mind, "Hey, look here! This needs work!" In truth, this is a manifestation of your inner or "Higher" guidance which is meant to help you in the work of self-transformation. If accepted on this basis, then the experiences you describe present an invaluable opportunity to work directly with the wisdom of your own guide and focus your attention on the parts of yourself that need the most attention.
>> 1. There are noncorporeal entities which feed off human emotional energy. They attach themselves to you and attempt to manipulate your moods etc in order to siphon off the energy. <<
If instead of reacting with fear and revulsion by pushing these entities away, you were to sit down with them and truly get to know them, you would learn something very valuable about the ways in which we sabotage ourselves. There is almost always some degree of internal resistance to self-change, just as there is to any change. Magic training also tends to stir the internal pot, so to speak, and all sorts of stuff bubbles to the surface. But this is as it should be and if true magical progress is desired then each thing that rises to the surface must be faced head-on and *transformed* (not "destroyed", but *transformed*).
>> 2. They are difficult and tenacious to shake off and the key is PERSISTENCE. <<
Their tenacity is a manifestation of the fact that they're still deeply attached to your psyche. The only way to diffuse their power over you is to transform that part of your psyche that is generating them. You can't just shake them off.
>> 3. the first task of any new magician is to rid himself of these creatures. <<
From a Bardonian perspective, I would phrase that differently and say that the first task of any student of magic is to know and then transform their own self. This is what rids one of these creations.
>> 6. They attempt to prevent your awareness of them.
7. They attempt to pacify you/turn you into a dumb animal.
8. They will attempt to come between you and the divine.
9. They so much do not want to be discovered that they will try to trick you into believing they do not exist. E.g. leaving you for some time so you think you imagined them, or encouraging you into a magickal path that may be wrong for you so you think you're making progress when you're actually going in the wrong direction. <<
What you describe here are the natural mechanisms of the human psyche in action, especially when parts of the psyche are under attack by other parts of the psyche and a schism develops. In other words, the more you try to separate yourself from a part of your psyche and deny that it is a part of yourself, the more manipulative it becomes.
>> 10. They are ugly and ungainly if you meet them on the astral. <<
Yes, the astral is the realm of symbol and these parts of the psyche -- especially when we are afraid of them and are denying that they are a part of self -- translate symbolically as horrific, ugly, "evil" creatures. However, their appearance says more about how WE feel about them than it does about their own true nature.
>> The kind that are inconsequential astral leeches, by the above, coupled with cleansing/light/regular banishings/good astral hygiene. They are like bacteria that one picks up from not washing and from coming into contact with dirty people/places. <<
If , through the work of self-transformation of the psyche, you afford them no place to attach themselves, then they are never a nuisance. And if you are pestered by such things, they can teach you nearly as much about yourself (i.e., where you need to work on yourself) as the self-generated creations of your own psyche. The "trick" isn't to gain ever greater power to fight them with; instead, it's to so transform yourself that they have no interest in you. Then you can co-exist peacefully with them instead of endlessly doing battle.
>> The third kind are the ones that display the most intelligence and cunning and are the largest. I have yet to find a long term solution except the above two combined with eternal vigilance and a good kicking when the opportunity arises. However I am of the belief that nothing works quite as well as purity and a good connection with God and divine energy. The longer you can keep that up the stronger you become and they have a harder time reaching you. They can't approach godliness. <<
What you seem to be describing here are those entities created by the human group-psyche. These are constantly fed by the energy from individual human psyches by way of a common thread, similar to the self-created type. In other words, once again, if you've transformed yourself sufficiently, then these entities have no power over you, let alone any interest in you. Likewise, trouble with them can serve as a guide to what areas of your own psyche need tending to.
The technique of "a good connection with God" works on a situationally temporary basis. The reason for this is that without the aforementioned self-transformation you have not created yourself a vessel capable of permanently retaining this connection. That connection requires a regenerated psyche wherein nothing is left unknown. In fact, the transformation of the psyche and the achieving of the Elemental Equilibrium is what truly causes a permanent "connection with God". It's something one builds from within, not something drawn inward from the outside.
My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
06 Jul 2002
Excerpts from Rawn's public and private correspondence
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