I’m often asked how one can be protected from “dark energies”, there being many theories about how energy is transferred, emotional vampirism, the enmeshing drama of addiction, entities, possessions, sticky passengers, spirits who haven’t released their attachment to the earth or have not been welcomed into another dimension yet. Dark energies are better described as negative forces or negative energy.
The first step I can offer is to build your resilience from the inside out. A flimsy foundation will not help a house stand in a strong wind.
A personal story may help to demonstrate:
Once I was horseback riding with my sweetheart. It was his birthday and we were asked to ride around where a mama mountain lion had been seen with two kittens: to bring the dogs, to pee on the land and help her relocate for a short period of time while a special event took place. We entered through a keyhole which opened to a wooded area and followed it around the perimeter with the intention of making a circle and back out the way we came.
Half way around the circle, I was gushing tears. The thoughts in my mind were inorganically erosive, tearing down what I later referred to as the seven entry points: attacking who I was as a mother, a daughter, a lover, a friend, a co-parent, a teacher, and a woman.
At first, the thoughts were momentary insecurities, grounded in recent events from memory. Very quickly they devolved, digging mercilessly into my history and began ripping at the pages of my life, showing me the mistakes I’d made and how undeserving I would be of the love and life I thought I was building. What an inconvenient time to spring up, for the floodgates to open and to feel so vulnerable! The land we rode on was held sacred by many, and not knowing the history of the area, I began to question whether there was a co-creation of negativity occurring between myself and the spirits who possibly still inhabited the land.
What I knew for sure was that I didn’t feel at all safe. In fact, I felt under siege and I didn’t know exactly how to fend off what was coming at me-and whether it was internally manifested or externally, whether valid or needing to be dismissed.
There is a tendency is to blame what is outside of us: other people, a place, for the chills that run up our spines when we engage with negative sensations. We get a funky feeling and as we work through it to determine what is eating at our core stabilizers, we discover a desire to quickly place it somewhere. Our brains seek to organize the cause, and either we will be to blame (fulfilling our fears) or the something else will (causing reactions to fight or flee).
When we reached the opening to the forest again, after processing a bit of what was happening in the most observant way I could with my mate, I dismounted and made prayers on the ground for the security of the land, the creatures and the people on it. Still not certain of what I was sensing so strongly, and in quite an emotional state, I created a small circle of juniper berries and poured the rest of my water in it to create a drain. I swept myself off with a broom of plants I quickly made and then placed it inside the small circle. Mountain Lion was once again working her magic on me: a test of my foundation and how I would handle an unexpected big wave of negativity.
I have thought for many years about what might have been at work on this particular day, and have reflected on what it felt like to be “under attack” so intimately, in all of my soft places. It would be easy to say that it was an outside offender, and possibly, depending on one’s maturity and willingness to stand up to the shadows, just as easy to allow myself to believe the lies and come crumbling down. Either way in this line of thinking, someone has to pay.
Once home, I smudged, disrobed, stood on the steps and allowed the high winds to blow through and over me. I considered burning my clothes. I was hesitant to go inside the house as I continued to investigate what was happening. Was it something I could carry in with me? Within an hour or so, the worst of the sensations had passed. I took a salty shower, re-hydrated, brushed off and flushed out with more plants, until I felt like myself again.
These archetypal battles with the shadows are meant to be faced. We do not know when it will happen, and most commonly, you cannot do much to prepare except to have a plan for how you want to be during and on the other side of it. While I wouldn’t want to invite these experiences to me, I am grateful for the opportunity to put my tools to work, and to allow my higher mind to be a part of it, too. What builds good boundaries is having them tested in unwanted ways and passing.
Questions to consider:
What light have you been tending that you might use it as a resource during difficult times?
What do you have to fight back with?
How willing are you to build strong foundations under yourself?
What is the tone of your quiet inner dialogues on gloomy or big wave days?
Is it important to identify the cause, or is it of more value to focus all efforts on overcoming it?
Boundaries & Protection is foundational soul work we engage in to neutralize the effects of natural and seemingly unnatural occurrences of negativity-coming from inside and outside of us. What we know is that it exists, and there are many ways to become sturdy for when it comes calling.
Beautifully said Pixie, this is why I love you so…the truth you carry and share…it’s so needed, it’s inspiring, I am sad to know you are taking a break, but have reverence….I understand….and look forward to all the new medicine stories you will have to share sistar, Aho!
I have had a few similar experiences over the years, some of them verging on tangible in their intensity, some of them visible. I think it’s important to deal with one’s own shadow content, but also important to recognize that the predator archetype exists and that an individual may not have solo powers adequate to coping with it. We have to trust our sense of threat sometimes, as we have been given that instinct for a reason. Most of all, it’s important to remember that one can ask for outside help to remove the perceived threat, blunt its power to do harm, and provide sturdy, robust protection. The Highest Power always stands ready to come to our aid. One can ask for helpers to come and protect a place, cleansing it of any improper influences and shielding it from further harm.
I have lived through intense waves of grief and self doubt since I lost my husband almost 4 years ago. My life had existed though a filter of my preciously built partnership and demons I had left to work with leftover from my childhood and life experiences. As I stood alone against all that came at me, I had no choice but to surrender to my own feelings. There was no ways out but through. The 7 entry points you speak of – speak to me because energies came in through all directions. No interior stone or feeling was left unturned. The only thought that saved me and saves me still as I navigate this uncharted interior terrain is that I am doing my best;I am putting my face to winds as they blow and that I must sit with what is and know that it is leading me somewhere and that somewhere is not dark. Like a sunflower in the field , my face my heart yearns with every inch to face the light. Thank you Pixie for the pixie dust, Always!
To answer on of the questions at the end, I think safety first, then full understanding later. Fwiw.