Some simple foundations to start your practice.
By myself.
With edits and contributions by someone who I am unsure if they want to be referenced on Gaia.

Please take note the lessons provided are originally written by Sarafiel Angelus. I simply took them and added some more thoughts and a few of my own lessons without altering hers. I sincerely hope this helps everyone.
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A brief explanation of intent. I wanted a crash course tutorial for the person new to magic/energy/psychic stuff. Please, understand I see all these things as the same; energy from a universal source. The idea behind this tutorial is that if you don't know where to start you can read this and grasp some of the concepts that will help you make a good beginning. I am not perfect but I have tried to make this simple to understand. I hope you appreciate what you read.
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To begin with, there are three basic skills that are invaluable to any pathworker or practitioner, they are Centering, Grounding and Shielding. Think of it like this... Centering keeps you aware of yourself so you can be honest with yourself. Lie to as many people as you want. However, if you can't be honest with yourself. The darkness isn't for you. Grounding takes the unwanted energy you're holding onto and gets rid of it. It removes whatever isn't you. It also helps to loosen the grip or kick off energy cast against you. I've also used this to shake the hold of spirits before. Shielding keeps you from being affected by outside energies. Think about this for a moment... Do you really want to be unprotected? Keep your shield up.

Now that I have given reason to study these things. I leave you to the lessons. They weren't written by me but they've proved VERY useful. It may take longer to do these at first. With practice, it can be done in a breath. Let your subconscious maintain the shield once you've gotten the hang of this. That's a good start. Most experienced practitioners keep up a shield, or even multiple layers of shielding at all times, even while they sleep.

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How to Find Your Center: Part 1 of the Basics.
-by Sarafiel Angelus

Your center is the part of you that represents you and only you. Your center is the part of you that does not change to suit your mood or other people's expectations. It is important to be properly centered before attempting any sort of energy work. An uncentered mage will find themselves using too much energy to accomplish very little. Permanent workings like enchantments and shields will fly apart quickly if performed while uncentered.

Sit quietly and reflect on yourself as a whole being. There should be layers of things that make you who you are. On the outside layers are the things involved in your life that are only slightly affecting you. A burnt out tail light on your car, a minor annoyance at work. Mid layers are issues more important to your life. What job you do or what you like in a friend. Inner most layers are the issues that are extremely important to you. A love affair or family troubles. Right in the very middle, located near your breastbone you should see a core of light. That is your center.

Focus on it for a while. Make yourself aware of all the different layers of you. Concentrate on who you are as a person. Steady your thoughts by thinking about that which is you and only you. Find your way into the inner most part of yourself. Dwell there for a moment. You should feel a sense of balance and oneness. If you feel those sensations, you have succeeded. If not, try again until you feel balanced and in sync with yourself.

This concludes the lesson on centering.

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How to Ground Your Aura: Part 2 of the Basics
-by Sarafiel Angelus

The ground is the concept of down. You can ground yourself anywhere you like, even at the top of a tall building or in an airplane. The ground absorbs energy. Any excess energy (positive or negative) you may drain into the ground safely. It is important to do this before you perform any type of magick. Energy work can be dangerous. Energy can have a damaging effect on your mind. If you are ungrounded, you might find yourself having trouble with anxiety, paranoia, delusions, or other unspecified mental problems. Pay attention to your mindset when you begin any magick and if you discover yourself having problems, come back to the grounding exercise and make sure you understand and are doing it every time.

Before you ground, you should center yourself. If you ground without centering it will probably make you dizzy.

After centering, concentrate for a moment on all the energy in yourself that is NOT a part of your center. All the outer layers of things that do not matter much, push them gently but firmly into the ground. All the middle layers of concepts that define you, but do not matter too much, also push them gently but firmly into the ground. Now with everything that is left, take a hold of your center and push ALL other concepts and ideas into the ground. HARD. You will not be completely grounded unless you force yourself a little bit. It shouldn't feel bad, but it will be difficult to let go of those last few things you are worried about. For example, the concepts in the innermost layers next to your center are things like troubles in your love life or family problems. Deep things that very much matter to you. You STILL need to push them into the ground. Your problems will be there when you get back to them. It is important for any working that you perform that your entire focus be on what you are doing.

After you do this properly you will feel very stable. You will also notice a dramatic increase in your ability to focus your thoughts. If you don't feel this sense of stability, look closer at your center and see if there are a few things you might have thought were part of your center that really don't define you as a person. Sometimes those last layers next to your center are difficult to get rid of...or even notice at all. This is particularly common for people with weak centers. If you find you have this problem, just keep at it. Do it a few times, you will feel yourself becoming more stable and grounded each time. Eventually this and the centering exercise will be just a moment's thought. In the beginning take as much time as you need.

This concludes the lesson on grounding.

(Editor's note: Grounding is the agreed upon term for this method of ridding one's self of unwanted energies and emotions for better working, but one is not required to use the element of Earth for the technique. If you feel naturally more attuned to another element, it is a simple matter of picturing a Fire within you to feed the excess into, turning the excess into mist and breathing it out into the Air around you to be replaced with clean, pure air that has none, or, as is common practice among some traditions, pushing it all out onto the surface of yourself and washing it away with Water in a ritual bath)

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How to Shield Yourself (and Others): Part 3 of the Basics
-by Sarafiel Angelus

A shield is important to protect your aura from outside influences. If you go unshielded it does not matter how much you center and ground yourself, you will still accumulate negative energy at an alarming rate. Always center and ground yourself before shielding. If you put up a shield while uncentered, it will fly apart. If you put it up while ungrounded, the shield will quickly deteriorate from the negative energy trapped inside it. Once you have centered and grounded, constructing the shield is fairly simple.

Picture an indestructible barrier around your aura. Only you decide what comes in and what does not. This shield can not be broken. It can not be penetrated. It is completely invulnerable. It does not give off any energy, it does not glow or shine. It can not be attached to by anything, the outside is slippery. It draws energy from you and only you.

You can shield others this way, but it is much more difficult. I suggest not doing so, and simply directing them to me and my basics lessons so they can shield themselves.

A FEW WARNINGS ABOUT SHIELDING!!!

When you shield for the first time if you are empathic you might not like it. It will feel VERY quiet. It is still best to learn how. Remember, you may take down the shield any time you wish. In situations where you want to take advantage of a natural empathic or telepathic gift, you might want to for a small while. Overall it is healthier to get used to being shielded. You will find yourself much more comfortable as YOU if you get a clear idea of what you really are without the interference of other peoples feelings in your mind.

The way I tell you to picture the shield is very specific for a reason. If you have specific questions about different parts of the image, please ask. Otherwise do it AS I SAY!!! This is the single most important thing I can teach you. It can literally mean the difference between being at the mercy of another mage's spell and not. Ask me for stories if you like. This shield has rescued me more than once.

(Editor's note: This is a very simple form of shielding. It will serve well for the beginner, but if one advances in Goetic or Enochian systems, or draws negative attention from other practitioners and spirits, they would do well to construct their own forms of shielding based on individual visualizations with different features specific to them. Once you have your personal shield(s) do not share the specific methods and details with others, as doing so well make you more vulnerable. As a rule, the harder it is for another person to visualize your shield, the harder it will be for them to overcome it, and the more personalized your shield is to you, the better job it will do at protecting you from directed forces like the attentions of spirits demons and gods, as opposed to the general sort of negative energy and passive empathy this basic shield is designed for.)
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If you take stones and place them in a geometric pattern around your house. preferrably hidden so they aren't disturbed. Then take some kind of power source be it a statue, personal power sigil, or something to charge the stones. You can shield your house. With that being said, I've also organized some simple concepts that may help you. Also, look into various tools and practices. Put in your own work.

I have found from personal experience that there is power in simplicity. The reason for this is because concepts have power. Since concepts have power, you can also use fictional material to draw power from the collective subconscious.
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Basically, Ideas/emotions=energy. Directing energy=action. Controlled/practiced actions=results.
Concepts focus, feel, and know ideas. Empathy focuses on, feels and knows emotions traditionally. Concepts tend to be emotionless, passive, or detached. Empathy tends to be emotional, active, or attached. Both of these crisscross and intertwine.
Tools help direct energy though practice and controlled actions you get results, a tool relied on too heavily can become a crutch. Results change the world and your environment along with you or others, and bring you back full circle to new ideas and emotions.
Since power is taken from emotions and ideas this is why personalized workings or tools usually hold a lot more power.
Concepts control the chosen specifics of a casting. Emotion is the raw energy. You channel the emotion that's appropriate for the working into the working.
Think of a car and a driver. Usually, we have no direction and we are the car. Tools help us achieve a driver mindset where we chart the course instead of just going with the flow.
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Understand these concepts then move forward.
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On the making of magical tools. (You use visualization and energy)
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Conceptually, tools are meant to focus and direct. Also, they make tasks easier to accomplish. People, places, and things can be tools. When you think something or feel an emotion. It is energy moving. Focus the energy inward, and you affect yourself. Focus the energy outward, you are sending energy. Many people send energy to others without ever being aware. Take note, the worst psychic vampires are the co-dependent that have no clue they're doing it.

This is why you should practice centering, grounding, and shielding daily. Centering keeps you aware of yourself. Grounding gets rid of any energy that isn't you. Shielding keeps other people's energy from affecting you. If you use other methods, that's ok. As long as you take care of you and your energy, stay aware of yourself, and stay protected effectively. Think of these practices as powerful focus tools that work on your energy from the inside.

When a tool is used so often it turns into a crutch. It becomes nothing but a hindrance. The important part is to use the tools that work for you. Anything that is personalized will hold more power. The reason behind this is simple. The energy is coming from you. The tools you choose simply help to direct the energy. The hands that heal can also harm. Remember that, with the exception of other people used as tools, a tool is only that, don't ascribe emotions and personality to it, all you're seeing is a reflection of yourself, and detaching from that weakens you.

Choose an object that means something to you for this exercise. Hold it, and think of the emotions and thoughts you want in the object. Take however long you need to be sure of your intent with the soon to be tool. Tell your energy to raise within you and focus. Do not ask, tell.

Think of a video or a song. It has a start and an end. However, if you loop it. The media will keep playing. When you feel your energy has focused to a satisfactory level. Force the energy pattern you are feeling into the object. Picture it getting sealed into the object if that helps. It is that easy to enchant items. However, it is the powerful and practiced that make truly enchanted items. What this means is you should keep practicing this.

Here's where things get really fun. After you master these basic concepts. You can pour whatever magic you want into practically any item. There are a few things you should be wary of. Any object in the field of your aura can and probably will affect you. Should someone plant a magical object in your purse, pants pocket, or personal living space. This forms a connection for the person to cast a spell on you.

Try thinking of it like this. Your shield covers your aura. Your aura surrounds you. In the center of your spiritual body there are energy centers. Some people call these centers chakras. Some people call these centers meridians. Whatever you call them, it is important you work with them. Both chakras and auras are a study within themselves.

The important part is that you get creative and personalize your tools. They are extensions of yourself. Treat them as such. Here's where things get really fun. You can dedicate tools to specific spirits. I would reccomend starting simple. Create magical tools to work with yourself first. If you make a ritual of something, make sure it means something personal to you.

That's all there is to this lesson. These are the simple concepts. Learn them, know them, and use them well. Then put your own touch on them. A lot of people overcomplicate this process. I have personally found a lot of power in starting with simple concepts. After you have mastered these, add complexities as you desire. Be careful. Don't get too caught up in details. Have fun with this.

One last note. When you think there is nothing else left to learn. Start over. You will always find more. There is another useful lesson within this paragraph. I sincerely hope these lessons have been useful. I wish you luck in your endeavors.