by FrozenFlames

Your field is a very important aspect of life, especially for that of a psion. With a dirty, sickly field, one's psionics are greatly lessened from their full potential. You also will not feel your physical or mental "best". Although there are many paradigms on the subject, many are false. Quite a few people believe that everyone's field is clean and healthy, unless you are a "bad" person. This is, by far, the most idiotic thing I have ever heard. Just as your body collects dirt naturally (and you take showers to rid yourself of this dirt), your field also collects psionic "dirt" naturally, and you must also rid yourself of this "dirt". However, field cleanliness is the least of your worries. Your field's "health" is the most overlooked aspect of field maintenance, and in my opinion, the most important. Allow me to delve deeper into the subject, as there are three categories to field maintenance: Cleanliness, Condition, and Health. When one cleans their field, I call it simply cleaning the field. When one improves the condition of their field, I call it "buffing" the field. And lastly, when one keeps their field in proper health, I have no name for it. The reason for this being the fact that it is a much longer process. One may sit down, clean their field, and then buff their field. However, keeping the field in good health is something that happens over a span of days and weeks.

Field Cleanliness

Maintaining a healthy field will surely keep one's field clean. Proper shielding will also help the matter. However, even the most healthy of fields, with the best of shields, will regularly get dirty. So the question of "how do I clean my field?" surely comes to mind. There are many methods, all with the same result. Just as there are numerous methods for shielding (in which the same effect is brought about using different methods and visualizations), there are numerous methods for field cleaning. One popular visualization is to close ones eyes, and imagine yourself in a very peaceful place. You are sitting under a waterfall, and it is flowing gently over your body. You then see all the psionic "junk" and "debris" in your field being gently washed away, leaving a clean, glistening field. Another method used by a friend of mine is to visualize all the "dirt" in you field loosening. Then a huge rake comes from above and pulls all the dirt into the earth. Many times you must repeat these visualizations until you achieve the desired effect: a clean field. On rare occasions the debris in your field will not loosen. In these rare occasions, for some odd reason, rattles are known to loosen the debris. Yes, actual rattles. Musical rattles, baby rattles, etc. Just shake the rattle all around your field, then clean, then shake the rattle again, then clean, and repeat until your desired effect has been achieved.

Field Condition

One may boast the cleanest of fields, yet it may still look like garbage. Just as one may thoroughly clean their car, the car itself may still look like junk. Why? Because the car may have dents, holes, and the like. Sometimes a good wax will make a car look brand new, and keep the car clean for longer periods of time. The same applies to ones field. Fields are known to get "dents" and "scratches" in them. When one's field condition is improved, I call it "buffing" the shield. To buff the field, I do not know many visualizations that really work. I only know one, and it works quite well for me. I discovered it by simply experimenting. However, experimenting with a field is something I strongly do not recommend. You can easily make a mistake, screw up, and mess up your field for a long time. Although I believe this exercise to be safe, it is not a safe thing to start messing around with something as important as your field. So, I've been talking about the exercise for so long, how about I actually tell you what the exercise is. This should only be done after one has cleaned their field. Once your field is sufficiently clean, you may move on to buffing it. The method I found to work the best is to sit down, very relaxed, and feel your field. Feel and visualize the entire thing. Then pull the shield in close around you. A normal field may extend approx. two feet out in all directions. However, you want to pull all of that evenly inwards to your body. Then begin to very slowly and steadily spin your field around you. Then visualize all the energy equalizing. Think about it, what would a "dent" be in a field? It is more energy in one area, than another. So by doing this, you are making all the energy go from unequal (concentrated in some areas, not concentrated in others), to equal (evenly spread throughout the field). Then slowly see the energy coming to a stop. Then visualize the energy expanding back out into its original position, but now with no dents. You should now see a perfectly clean field, with energy that is now evenly spread throughout your entire field. However, even with all of this done, your field may still look like a piece of junk. Why you ask? Because there is still one topic we have not covered yet, and that is your field's health. This is something that cannot be fixed as quickly and easily as the other two topics we have covered.

Field Health

This is a much more in-depth topic to discuss. This is where my job gets a little harder. I will break this down into four main sections: Exercise, Diet, Sleep, and Energy Flow. All of these things put together will greatly increase the health of your field. As you will realize, your field is part of you. That means that your bodily health directly relates to your field health. And that means that if you are sick, your field gets sick, if you are very healthy, your field is very healthy, etc. Field health is something that cannot be fixed as quickly and easily as the other two topics we have covered because it takes time to improve your bodily health.

Exercise: Exercise, it is the scary word we fear so much. Not to worry, I'm not going to tell you to go out, buy a whole gym, and work out every day for hours. No, I don't expect that from you. Being a martial artist, I am a sort of "health nut". I am well educated in what you should put into your body, and how you should exercise. So although I myself exercise quite a lot, it is my profession, and I will not demand that of you. However, I do think it a good idea to consider jogging. I'm not talking about running a marathon every day. I mean that you should prioritize your schedule so you can fit in a little extra time. Then take that time to go outside, do a few stretches, a few push-ups, a few sit-ups, jog a mile, and then stretch again. If you can't do a mile yet, then do less and work your way up. You'll realize that you'll start feeling like you have more energy, and you'll feel a lot better physically. If you really don't have the time, than don't exercise. I'd rather you get hundreds on your test scores than be in better shape. But if you really prioritize and work out a schedule, I think you'll find that you have a little extra time that you can use to work out a bit.

Diet: Diet, another feared word by society. Perhaps even more feared than the word "exercise". In my life of martial arts, I have learned to like the bland tastes of proper food. Numerous diets exist, and 99% of these diets are complete crap. A person can be skinny and still be unhealthy. In fact, a person can be slightly overweight and still be healthier than a person who is the proper weight. It's all about putting the proper things in your body. This means following the dreaded food pyramid. The best diet is right in front of us. Just eat the proper things. This means much less sugar and fried foods. Also, try to spread your food throughout the day as much as possible. That means that instead of a big breakfast, lunch, and dinner (three big meals), you should have six small meals spread evenly throughout your day. Your body isn't made to digest large amounts of food at one period of time. Plus, eating like this (six small meals) keeps your metabolism going, which is a good thing. Also, try sticking to water, around eight glasses per day. If you are working out like I recommended, Gatorade is ok too. Now, I realize I just took all the fun out of eating and drinking, and made things really hard on you. I honestly don't expect you to follow this diet at all. But at least try to slim down on how much junk food you take in. Try to drink a few more glasses of water. Just try it out and see how you feel, you'll be surprised. Think before you eat. If you want to know more about the proper way to eat and excerise, check out www.bodyforlife.com . It's a great site and also contains a few healthy recipes, because cooking healthy isn't always easy. And remember, eat your veggies! ;-)

Sleep: Sleep, now that’s a word we understand! You're probably thinking, "Jogging I can maybe do. That diet thing is ridiculous, no way I'm doing that. But sleep, I can certainly use more of that!" And yes, you can. The average person needs a good eight hours worth of sleep. I remember there was one time, a few months ago, in which I got barely any sleep for an entire week. I could barely even make a decent psiball. I cannot stress how important sleep is to a good and healthy field. Once again, prioritize and find time to get more sleep. If that means missing your late night TV shows, than just tape them and watch them later! Not only do you need a good amount of sleep, but you need a schedule. Even if you get eight hours every day, you may still feel tired if you go to sleep early one day, and late the next. Try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time every day. Once again, sleep is a huge factor in a good field.

Energy Flow: Our last topic is energy flow. The reason I saved this for the last topic is because it is not as important as the others. If you get good exercise, eat right, and get a nice amount of sleep, you energy flow will naturally improve. However, for some of you out there that want a really exceptional energy flow, this is something that can be improved further. However, this is no substitute for the previous three topics. Think of it as an extra. Once you do the first three, then you can put more focus on this last fourth topic. So how do you improve your energy flow? The answer is simple, an ancient art entitled: Daoist Qigong. Proper Qigong will improve posture, physical condition, and your energetic flow. However, Qigong is an extremely broad topic and is outside the scope of this article. For more information try searching the internet on google for something like "Daoist Qigong" or "Zhuan Zhuang".

Conclusion

A clean field is marked by a field with no psionic "junk" floating around in it. A "buffed" field is marked by a field with energy that is evenly spread throughout the field. A healthy field is marked by a field that feels "good", looks dense and thick (not skinny, with barely any energy), and just somehow "healthy". When you put all of these things together, you get a perfect field. One that will feel healthy and vibrant. You will most likely feel physically and mentally better, and your psionics will most likely improve. I realize that diet and exercise might be a major pain for you, but if you can manage it, try to do it. For some of you, sleep might be equally as hard. Those of you with a lot of work on your hands may just not have the time. However, I encourage all of you to try to maintain the healthiest field that you can. As for cleaning and buffing, this only takes minutes to do, so I do not see how any of you can have an excuse not to do this. The best of luck to you all.

by FrozenFlames

So what is a sig? It is a psychic fingerprint. Everyone has a unique sig, and it is permanently in their psi constructs as well as in themselves. Nobody can completely remove their sig, even from their constructs. If I want to scan Joey's shields, I must first locate them by using his sig. However, 99% of the time sig location is done, it is subconscious. Most people will simply think, "I wish to scan Joey," so they do. However, if Joey masks his sig, it will become extremely difficult to accurately scan him. The same goes for sending constructs. Most will simply program, "Go to Joey," into their constructs. The construct will then find them by using their sig, and then go to them. However, if their psychic fingerprint is masked, the result is obvious. So that is for what the sig is and does. But what does a sig feel like? That is extremely difficult to describe. Lets use some test subjects: Take a few people you barely know. Maybe look in your school Year Book. Now pick out about five random people. Look at the first person's name, picture, or both. Concentrate on it, but stay relaxed. Think about their name. A feeling may come to you, something that is hard to put your finger on. Now do the same with the other four. All of them should have different "feelings". Some may be similar, but like a fingerprint, all are different. This is their sig.

Intro to Sig Alteration

Hiding one's sig (or "psionic signature" and "psychic fingerprint"), is probably one of the most overlooked skills. Yet, in my opinion, it also stands strong as one of the most important skills. Imagine yourself a combatant. Now let us hypothesize that you are currently trying to scan your enemy so you may learn about his defense systems. But as a twist, let us say that your enemy has a Masking Shield around him. This shield does not make him "invisible", nor does it make him "unnoticeable", to the public eye. However, that only is true when discussing the aspect of face-to-face encounter. For when you attempt to scan your enemy with this particular shield, you find it impossible to "locate" him. It feels similar to attempting grabbing a fish in the water with your bare hands. It is near impossible to grasp the fish but once you do, it slips out of your grip and swims out of reach. It is very frustrating, to say the least. This is why masking your sig is so vital in certain situations.

A psionic signature is what all psions must use to locate you and scan you, hack you, attack you, etc. There is no other way. If that sig is "masked", then it is very hard to find. Thus, it is hard to do anything to that person. On the psionic/psychic "map", the person has virtually vanished. If one is more trained and better a psion than the person who is masked (or perhaps the Masking Shield was poorly made), it is possible to find them, but it still remains difficult.

Now let us delve deeper into this whole "sig business", and move onto the second topic of Sig Alteration. Imagine, yet again, that you are trying to find this enemy. You believe you have located your prey, when you come to realize that it is a signature dummy! You thought you had found your enemy, but in reality it was simply a replica of their sig sitting somewhere else in time, space, and the psychic realm. So you discard of the dummy and attempt to find your real opponent, in which you cannot because he or she keeps "slipping" from your grasp (the Masking Shield). The whole ordeal would be quite frustrating to say the least.

There remains one more sig altering technique to address: Sig Replication. This is where you replicate a sig (your own or another's) onto something, whether it be yourself, a construct, or thoughtform. This can be useful in many ways for offensive combat. It can come in handy for defensive purposes as well. I will not discuss the offensive purposes, however the defensive purposes I will confabulate briefly here: One purpose is mentioned in my article on last minute defense constructs. I talk about a construct I entitled a "Stamper". This construct has programming to seek out any target construct you give it, and imprint your own sig into it. The senario is that an enemy created attack constructs to destroy your shielding:

"Send this Stamper out, aimed at the attacker's shields. It then goes to his shields and puts your sig into it (a lot of shields actually won't block this, as it isn't an attack). Now that shield has its programming, the sig of its creator (whether hidden a little or not), and your sig (which usually looks like its "smeared" all over it). Now all those nasty little constructs that are aimed at you (your sig) will fly to the assailant's shield as well! It will be quite confusing when the attacker launches a few mean constructs, and he ends up hitting himself. Then he will most likely realize that his shield now has your sig on it (as it will feel extremely different). So now he will have to either: (1.) Remove your sig from the shield (which takes a certain level of skill), (2.) Put special programming in his constructs to ignore anything with his sig in it as well (which takes extra time), or finally (3.) Take down his shielding completely, and then put it up again (which is obviously the most unrecommended plan of action). So Stampers are a quick way to delay the enemies attacks, whether for only seconds or minutes."

Now you see one way in which Sig Replication can come in handy, replicating your sig onto an enemy's shield to trick the enemy constructs. Another way in which this would come in handy is for defending a friend. If you know your friend is under attack, you can replicate his sig onto a simple psiball, then send the psiball away to a random location. This would be Sig Relocation on another person's sig, a form of Sig Replication.

Sig Masking: How-To

So how do you mask a sig? Easy, with a specially programmed shield. If you do not know how to make a basic shield (or how to program one), find out now by means of reading an article on that particular topic. If you already know how to make a basic shield, then continue reading and we shall discuss the process of constructing the shield in question.

You begin by thinking over the programming and the process in which you will construct the shield. All your visualizations and thoughts should be thought over before hand (as with any construct). Then you begin the construction. So first, you will start by picking your preferred shielding method. Once you have picked this out, you will think over your programming words, feelings, or if you prefer, concepts. Along the lines of words, your programming might be something like, "Hide/mask my sig from anyone and everyone". Tactile programming methods might be something like the feeling of invisibility from the psionic community. For visual programming methods, you might like to see yourself unshielded. Then visualize the shielding forming around you, and the shield suddenly turning invisible (along with you inside it). You might like to visualize a psionic/psychic "map" that encompasses every human psionic signature. Then visualize a dot that represents you and your sig. Then visualize that dot "disappearing" and becoming invisible. You might like to use both methods. For this particular shield-type, I prefer the visual method only. I like to visualize myself in a black space, and then the shield forming around me and turning black, masking me into the fabric of the void I reside in. Another visual method might be to visualize people attempting to scan you, and you may visualize those scans at links shooting from their minds. Then visualize those links searching around, but never being able to find you.

Once you pick your method, you can begin. You might also like to "mess around" with different methods, to find the one that works best for you. Start by raising your energy level. You might like to warm up by making a simple psiball, giving it a basic program, and then destroying it. Then begin to form the shield. Once it is formed, program it the way you thought of beforehand. Or if you prefer, form and program the shield at the same time. Some people prefer to do things that way. Once you're done, kindly ask a few people to scan you. If they mention it being difficult because they couldn't "locate" you, then you've had success! Also note that if you do not know how to program or create a shield, as mentioned earlier: read an article on it. Programming and shield creation is outside the scope of this manual.

Remember that it is still possible to locate you while you are masked (whether it be because of poor programming on your part, or because the psion locating you is more skilled). Also keep in mind that, unless programmed otherwise, this shield has no defense mechanisms. That means that if a psion is able to locate you, they can attack the shield and easily destroy it, leaving you openly "visible" once again. One way to rectify this problem is to add extra programming. This programming may be on the lines of: "Reflect all attacks away" -- "Block all bad energy" -- "Do not allow reprogramming from anyone other than me." You also might want to add in a program to made it more durable against attacks. This can be done by simply visualizing the shield hardening into an impenetrable surface, and programming something like, "Become hardened and unaffected by all attacks". These are just a few suggestions to try. This shield can be very useful, don't forget about it.

There is one last method to hide your psychic fingerprint. This method involves the need to actually "tweak" your very energy field. I myself have done this once or twice, but I will not teach it here. Tweaking and messing with your field is a very dangerous thing to say the least. It is very easy to mess up, and even a little mistake makes for large damage (that is hard to fix, mind you). Although this method is very effective, it is very advanced and will not be taught in any article or manual.

Sig Relocation: How-To

So how do you relocate a sig? This involves taking a construct or thoughtform, and programming your sig into it. As you should know, any construct you make will have your fingerprint in it. Though it is possible to mask and partially remove this unique fingerprint from the construct, it is impossible to completely remove its trace. In this situation of Sig Relocation, you will want to purposely implant your sig into the energy in question. To accomplish this you must have a good grasp of two things: (1.) Being able to "just do" things (like the popular telekinesis method), and (2.) have a fair grasp of psionic signatures. Keep in mind that when I first learned this skill, I self-taught it. To be blunt, I "just did it", and then figured out how later on.

The easiest method is to simply take some energy, like a basic psiball, and put "yourself" into it. Think about this for a moment: What are "you"? When somebody scans you, they find "you". When people are around you, they "feel" you. This is the feeling that must be implanted into the psiball. Start by scanning yourself and trying to get a general "feel" for what you "feel" like, and strongly remember that feeling. Then take the psiball in your hand and "imprint" this feeling onto the energy. If you would like to use some visual programming methods, one might be to visualize your "essence". Then visualize part of this "essence" moving into the psiball and merging with the energy. Basically you want to just experiment and feel your way along, try some things out. Just try to "feel" your feeling imprinting onto the psiball. It is far simpler than it sounds once you understand it.

Once this is done, mask your sig (Above: Sig Masking). Then take the sig replicant (the psiball) and move it to a random location. Stick it in your backyard, send it to a friend's house, send it in the middle of the ocean if that's what you want. Then it will appear as if that is where you are located, and you will be effectively hidden. Once again, get some people to scan the psiball and test it out, make sure it all works well.

To make an even more affective "dummy", form the energy into a general shape that looks like you (something of a thought-form). Take a very large pool of energy, and form it into your general size and shape. After that, add in some basic color (skin tone, pants, shirt, basic face parts). All this should be done by simply visualizing it and willing it to be, just like you make a psiball. Once that is done, program it to hold its general shape and color. Now lastly, imprint your sig using the above method. To make it even more believable, shield the fake "you". Once it is shielded with a simple bubble (or preferably mirror) shield, imprint "yourself" onto the shield as well. Then move the entire "you" replica to another location. This is the gist of Sig Relocation, a very interesting and useful skill.

Sig Replication: How-To

So how do you replicate a sig? The replication of a sig involves the beginning skills of Sig Relocation, but upped a notch. You will need a slightly better grasp of sigs. The basics of Sig Replication involves taking another's psychic fingerprint, and replicating it onto a construct or thought-form. Applications are mentioned above, in the Intro to Sig Alteration.

You will begin by building a construct, such as a basic shelled psiball (once again). Keep in mind, though, that you can replicate a sig onto any energy, permitting that the energy does not resist (eg. a shield programmed to not allow anyone to replicate a sig onto its energy). Moving on, you will then find the target sig: Choose a person who's psionic signature you wish to replicate, then scan them. Get a strong impression of their "feeling" and their sig. Once this is done, it is very straightforward (if you can accomplish the previous Sig Alterations mentioned). Simply implant the sig in question, into the energy of your choosing (in this case, the psiball you just made). You do this by using the same method you used in Sig Relocation, but this time with another person's signature, not your own.

Various other applications exist, use your imagination. You can imprint any sig onto any thing made of psi (a shield, psiball, thoughtform, etc.). There also exists the possibility to replicate another's sig into your very energy field. This would be the very best method of making yourself appear to be somebody else (that somebody else being whoever sig you chose to replicate into your field). This is a very useful skill. However, as mentioned with Sig Masking, alteration of your field is advanced and extremely dangerous. Therefore, I will not teach this method either, period. I also do not recommend trying to figure it out on your own, as you may permanently damage your field.

Conclusion

I highly encourage you to read my "Emergency Defense Tactics" article found on this site. It utilizes many things mentioned in this manual in a slightly different way, among other things. It would be very useful to read and learn. Remember, safety comes first. Try not to make enemies, but if you have one, know how to defend yourself by masking and relocating your sig. Other applications apply for all three Sig Alteration techniques as well, and as previously stated, use your imagination. Good luck and be well.

by MindMover

Psi constructs can be programmed to perform a variety of tasks and effects. They can be used in a myriad of ways that can be useful and quite fun. Once you have learned basic programming you will want to expand on it and use it to create some physical sensations. This article is directed mainly at that, the programming of sensations into a psiball. Some examples of these physical sensations are hot, cold, and itches, although I am sure the possibilities are endless. In this article are some of the more useful programs as well as the techniques I use to program them. The below information is what I have found to work best for me, which means it might not be best for you, but either way, I think you will find it extremely helpful. If you are reading this article than I assume you are competent in making psiballs, constructs, and of course, programming. If not, please read those articles first because this will only get you confused and frustrated when you are not able to get results.

In the programs that follow, I will explain a variety of visualizations, and tactile visualization to put sensations into psi constructs. You do not need to use both when you're programming your construct, but you must have a clear idea of what it will be. If what you read does not connect for you then substitute something that does in its place. For example, if I say imagine red psi flowing into your hands to make it hot, it will not work for you unless red means hot to you. If you equate yellow with warmth then use that. Remember, the most important thing when programming is to have clear intentions, and to make sure you understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. Now that you better understand what this article is all about, it is time to learn and experiment. When programming sensations, it is important to understand what the sensation is that you want to program. You need to be able to recall the sensation and then transfer it to the construct. The first step is to get a feeling for the sensation. Remember what it feels like and try to duplicate that feeling.

Here are some ways of getting the sensations. Hot: Breathe warm air on your hand, run your hand under warm water, place your hand under a warm light bulb and feel the heat. Cold: Breathe cold air on your hand, place an ice cube on you hands and move it around, stick your hands in the freezer (don't get frostbite :-P) Itch: just remember what it felt like the last time you had an itch :) Visualization can also be a useful tool. Like I stated in the introduction, people associate different colors with different things. Maybe when you're making your warm psiball you like to visualize yellow psi flow in. However, visualization should not stop at color. Maybe visualize fire pooling and swirling in your hands. Maybe when you are trying to program an itch you can visualize feathers, as long as it connects for you. You must be creative here and try different things out. When programming sensations it is important to use a variety of the techniques described. And yes, combinations work very well. Now that you understand the basic concepts, I will give a brief outline of how I would go about programming a sensation into a psiball, and then put it in an example. First, I would figure out what sensation I wanted to program (it is important to know this from the beginning). Once decided on, I would try to recall the feeling, and if possible, try to feel it using some of the techniques I explained before. I would begin to allow the psi to flow into my hand, using whatever visualization possible, and try to put the sensation into the construct.

At this point, whatever your goal was should start to be felt. If not, then keep practicing. Now to apply this to a sensation. A tickle can be felt easily, so let’s program that. I know what I want, so I’ll identify the sensation now. Simply tickling the palm of my hand helped me to get a hold of this sensation. Now, I am imagining small feathers flowing and forming a ball in my hand. I can start to feel a tickling sensation on both palms and my fingers. I have added enough psi, and my construct is complete. See, pretty easy, huh! Remember to practice this; it will most likely not come the first time. A little effort can go a long way. Have fun, experiment with this, and do what works for you. If you have any questions, you can post them on the PsiOnline forum.

by Anonymous (PsiOnline Donated Article)

Over the course of the past few years I've become accustomed to doing most, if not all of my psionics work in a different manner than most do. I now do psionics by simply thinking. Rather than visualizing, I merely move psi around as if it was my arm. To understand what I'm saying first move your arm. Did you notice how you didn't have to visualize for this to happen? This is what we are going for. Once you get used to this it is not a difficult proccess to master, though it may be a bit hard to achieve at the start when being used in conjunction to psionics.

To first achieve this I reccomend that one first meditates, or at least find a way to calm your mind a little bit. There are various articles out there which teach you how to meditate so I think it's better to now move on. After meditating think about your arm. Think about what you did before, except now pay attention to the different sensations you get. You should hopefully feel differnt things going on in your head, small amounts of pressure here and there. You should feel the pressure in random spots. When making similir movements you should always feel the pressure in approximatly in the same area. Try to duplicate this feeling without actually moving your arms. Once you have this step done move on to the next.

Now, create a simple construct. A psi ball should be sufficient for our purposes. Whilst creating it pay attention to the different feelings you get in your brain. Now, move into your normal position for practicing. Duplicate these feelings, but unlike last time you must actually move something now. This may seem a bit confusing due to the fact that I've not given much instruction, but you should be able to understand what I'm trying to get across. Do this a few times until you can feel the actual psi ball in your hand. Congratulations, you now created a psi ball without having to visualize anything.

If this does not work after the first few attempts I suggest you stop and try again another day. Eventually you should get this to work, and once you do psionics will feel much more natural. Instead of having to visualize everything you want to do you should be able to use psionics as if though it was a limb you've had all of your life.

There is one thing I'd advise you to be cautious of. There is such a thing known as "muscle memory", this is not what we're looking to accomplish. I remember once doing this and it got to the point where my my mind would create a psi ball on it's own as soon as I was in my usual "psi ball creation position." This is not something I particularly enjoy due to the fact that I want control over what I do. If you are looking for this to happen though, you can just keep practicing this one method and it should start to begin happening automatically.

This concludes my small explanation of how to go beyond visualization. Remeber to keep practicing, just don't overdo it. Good luck with your work, be careful, and remeber to have fun.

Disclaimer: PsiOnline has banned the use of any psychic attacks or non-friendly skills. The scope of this article only covers protection ideas, and no "attack techs". Feel free to dismiss this warning, or anything in this article as foolishness, but be warned, your actions may cause you to be banned. This is a borderline article, so read with an open mind.

It has come into my mind that many new psychics do not know the importance of shielding. Yes, there are articles on psipog about shields, but many of the advanced forms of them are not covered in great detail. Obviously a shield is for protection, but one shield won't cover all the psionic threats there are in this world. If we had a better general know how of shields, we could protect ourselves from a very real danger. Note that this is not a "how-to" article, but some simple insight into the world of psionic engagement.

This danger comes in just a few forms, your odd psi-vampire, viral constructs, and the human opponent. Although combat is banned from this site, it isn't banned from real life. It is bound to happen one day even if you know it or not. Here is how to protect yourself.

Most advances made toward a psychic are telepathic scans. I will not go into grave detail on this method, as it is covered elsewhere. I once had a hard time deciding on what shield to use to prevent a scan, and I realized a mirror shield is a good choice. Programming it to "reflect any incoming constructs, thoughts, emotions or thought forms" and most simple telepathic scanning will be no problem.

However, things are not always so passive. Yes, I refer to "Psionic Combat". This subject, although sensitive, must be covered. I've learned from experience, appropriate actions to take. If you can avoid it do so, because it is mentally exhausting in a way that is hard to explain. You cannot concentrate on things you could do normally such as playing an instrument or cooking correctly. Most combat happens between two people that know each other, or who have had previous engagements or confrontations, be it physical or psychic. No matter what the case may be, the act will involve every ounce of your attention, if you wish to come out in one piece.

The most obvious way of self-defense in the psychic world is shielding. If you're reading this, you probably know a few techniques already, but for the slight few that do not, I urge you to learn. However, the average bubble shield is not made for the strains of engagement. Special programming and visualization is usually required to prevent shatter or holes within the shield. Many times, non-friendly scans and/or pings come without much (or any) prior warning, and shielding during these times can be that more difficult. I would recommend that you learn to construct combat shields, and to put them into play before their usefulness is fully needed.

Combat Shields usually are not one shield, but a "shield system". Perhaps your outer most shell consists of a tough mirror form, or some kind of telepathic filter. Your inside layers could contain marshmallow shields, or something of that nature. Your layers should be made with a great deal of though ahead of time. Ex. Putting a mirror behind a cloaking shield would only cause the attack to bounce back into the cloaker. Foolish mistakes like this can be costly.

There really is no set standard for defensive shielding, as environments vary greatly place to place, and situations are different for everyone. It is up to you to decide what is right for you, and what is not. I bet you're wondering, "So what exactly are these 'costs' of engagement you keep speaking of?"

The costs of engagement differ from person to person. Shielding seems to heed the greatest differences in your safety and well being, but other things like physical fitness and wellness, stress, and past experiences come into play as well. Non destructive attacks usually only damage your shields, and are used as "warnings" or "step off" type of remarks. Destructive attacks are aimed at the psychic, with the intent to injure. Such devastating attacks can lead to serious medical issues. These range from light-headedness up to severe vitamin and mineral deficiencies and nerve damage. Although it is highly unlikely, death is a real possibility.

Preparing yourself is the key to survival. Proper shielding, diet, and overall life choices will allow you to continue your training without much hassle. Perhaps the best way to avoid any confrontation is to act respectfully to others, notably other psychics. Using proper etiquette in the psychic community should earn you respect and safety. The final point comes down to this: don't be a jerk, and nobody will be a jerk to you.

by FrozenFlames

In all of life we realize that weaving brings strength and stability. Every day we rely upon the intricate fabric that makes up the simplest things, such as our clothing. Each thread, woven in a labyrinthine manner. And yet, some weaves are as simple as a crossing, interwoven layer. Some weaves even make up yet another weave, such as a braid constructing a single thread that lies as part of a larger weave. However, one thing that stays the same with any weave: A proper weave brings strength and stability.

This common factor is something we all take for granted, I'm sure. But when it comes to the realm of parapsychology, the realm of psionics and energy manipulation in particular, many of us do not even think of how a weave might come into play. As it strengthens many things in our physical life, why not strengthen things that many would consider "non-physical"? Well, it can.

Weaving + Shields and Constructs
Although there are some other instances this may come in handy, we'll only discuss these two main ones.

Shields: Allow an easy example, than you can apply all of this however you like: One of my popular shield types is something I created entitled "The Vine of Thorns" shield. Although it has a very "lame" and "corny" name, it is fitting and the shield itself works quite well. One of the reasons for the shield's success is the weave. I use thick vines and weave them around me into a shield, though I think a "tangled mess" is a better way to describe how they look. Either way, the shield is the average shape (oval) and size, but instead of being constructed as one solid wall, it is a thick woven mess that is so tight it becomes impenetrable. The weave gives the shield "extreme strength and stability". Another factor is filtering. I can have the weave retract in one spot to let good energy through. Once that energy is through, the shield weaves itself back together. Or if a section of the shield is damaged, it simply extends the weave to cover up the hole (if it has a self-heal program). Mess around with these ideas and see what you get. One good way to test weaving is to make a mini-shield. Take a water bottle and put a shield around that (using thick woven strands rather than a solid wall). Than play with the shield, applying pressure and seeing how it responds. Once you're done with learning and experimenting on the small one, make a real shield around your body and see how it works. Just note that the weave must be tight, if it is not then two bad things can happen. The first, the weave might fall apart (much like Thread constructs will). The second, energy can pass through the holes in the weave pattern.

Constructs: The first idea that comes to mind is a shell. If you need a good shell, weave it. Basically a shell is like the reversal of a shield, in mini form (a shell's program is "hold stuff in", while a shields program is "keep stuff out"). The second idea that comes to mind are Threads (if you haven't read Cullen's Thread Construction article yet, do so now and then come back). Threads are very thin and dense strands of energy, with programming to enforce its program on surrounding raw energy. Sometimes threads are used as singular strands, other times they're used as a braided strands (for more stability), and other times they're used as woven shells (like I mentioned previously). One large factor of threads is how well they work, and one of the reasons for this is because they're woven. Cullen likes to use intricate and confusing weaves, but I like to stay on the simpler side of things (even if they don't work quite as well). Although, Cullen is a better energy manipulator than me, so perhaps what I think of being complicated, he thinks of being easy.

Conclusion
This article wasn't meant to be anything awesome, it isn't some huge "breakthrough". It's just here to give you some ideas to work with, and to realize that a lot of things that help you in life can help you in psionics. For example, weaving. Some other things that come to mind are shield shapes. Don't be foolish and make your shield in the shape of a square. When pressure is put on a physical square, it cannot support itself as well as if it was a sphere (because of how the weight is distributed). Remember, think before you construct.

by InnerFire

I've finally pooled enough data to do at least an add-on if not a sequel to the first troubleshooting article. I hope this continues to be useful for people. This will try and follow the same format and general feel of the first article.

What More is There to Know?

First off slap yourself for asking this question, there's *always* more to know. This guide will cover more on what wasn't in the first article. Some topics may be just information that was not included in the first article, but in general more advanced and complicated topics will be covered herein. Considering that, it would be advisable to find and read the first article if you haven't yet. For those who are still having issues performing various activities, the first section contains more information on overcoming some mental roadblocks. For those of you looking for more help on general advancement, the second section contains information on how to better manage your energy, how to use some techniques better, and includes a set of basic guidelines on how to progress in most areas of psionics. The third section contains additional information about special situations, states, etcetera.

I. Trusting Yourself

A New Prelude

The mind is a funny thing. A problem can either be more complicated than it seems or a lot more basic than it seems. This section will go over a lot of situations like that, and also some more common problems. If the information in this section and the information in the last article does not help you, direct your attention to the "How to Ask for Help" section in the third part of this article. So I don't have to put a note in every section here, remember that some of the topics contained pertain to rare or uncommon problems, so you should remember to consider more likely problems first. Hey, and after reading through this far you thought I was going to cheat you out of a random show quote that was oddly applicable... Hell no! It just turned out to be so big and profound that it gets its own section this time.

Truth

"Sunny days make you happy, rainy days make you sad. But you can have fun on a rainy day too." "Your truth can be changed simply by the way you accept it, that's how fragile the truth for a human is"

This particular tidbit is from the last episode of Evangelion, (one of my favorite animes), and I find it particularly useful in many parts of life, not just for psionics. While it is likely that there are *some* absolutes, a great deal of things in life function based on how you perceive or think about them. Without any thought you trust that you're capable of walking when you get out of bed in the morning. It is second nature to you. Now that's a bit of an extreme example, but consider this: especially in athletics, when you go into a situation all psyched and ready to destroy, you can do more. However, when you go into a situation where you think that you can't or don't want to accomplish your goal, you feel like you can't do nearly as much. You are in fact making your own truth, and because of your profound acceptance of it (you usually don't stop to consider these kinds of feelings so your mind lets them in easily), your body changes to match what you accept..

At this point you are probably thinking something like "well if that's true why can't I just levitate that object sitting next to me into the air, I think it's 'truth' that I can do it" or something similar. Unfortunately it is not that easy. Even if you rule out the necessary focus and energy needed to do such an action, as you say or think that statement another part of you doesn't accept it. Although for some things you can do it easily and without much thought, 100% acceptance of an idea is incredibly hard to pull off (as most of the times when it is done easily, it is done on a subconscious level). There is good news however, you rarely need to believe 100% in something. The more you believe in it the easier the action becomes to do, but this does not mean you always *need* a great deal of belief. The next thing is pretty good news too, even if it doesn't count for much, in performing an action you are accepting that it could be possible. If you didn't have any acceptance of the idea, you would not even consider trying it. The point where an action is possible is determined by a possessing a certain amount of trust that the action possible, then of course whether you have the ability to do it. For most situations this is not an issue, since for physical activity you are fairly certain of about most actions being possible or not possible, there are lots of fun medical diagrams demonstrating the proper muscles and such needed to accomplish different activities. What's more theres always people telling you and showing you that it is possible, your friends, relatives, coaches... Psionics typically doesn't have that.

So where's the point in that paragraph? Well, the point is that while belief is not the absolute cure for everything, it does matter. Not in the cliche application you see in most movies when someone starts talking about belief, but in the sense that if you don't want to do the action or think you can't do it, you will not be able to do it even if you are fully capable of doing that action. However, you can change this. Just by knowing this concept you can change the situation, since usually the thing telling you that you can't do it is the result of your own perception. You simply must think of that fact, maybe even think of the quote at the beginning of this section. (Before psionics you might want to try this with some regular real world thing, so you can see whether the idea works for you)

Again don't think of this as an end all cure, if that was true there wouldn't be any sections after this one. Besides just the difficulty of convincing yourself enough, theres other issues that will hinder your ability to gain that necessarily belief. Like I said before, if you don't think you can do it, you have no hope of doing it no matter how good you are. Now having no belief at all is rather rare, or even so little that it would a problem that you could not get over given time, the problem is when a belief problem combines with other problems, then you will have to learn to control this to your favor. This also has some application with emotional issues which we'll talk about more in part three.

Note: My 'don't get people hurt' sense is tingling so its time to give some kind of warning. Be careful what truth you challenge. In the end I can only say so much, but remember that although belief is really important, you still need the necessary ability ability to do the action after you got belief squared away. Also warning signs (i.e. feeling pain in some form) are typically not what you want to dispute. Although you might be able to get more performance in the short run, in the psychic realm of activity you are much more likely to hurt yourself. Now you might surprise me with what's possible, I just want to say 'be careful', for when you challenge something you accept the consequences. When you jump off a cliff to challenge the notion that you cannot fly, you take the risk of hitting the bottom. Take careful consideration of what you go after with the ideas I placed in this section.

Underlying Issues

In most situations it is common sense to go after the source of a problem instead of just repeatedly fighting the effects. You will sometimes have to do this in psionics as well. If a mental block you have seems incredibly resilient there may be some deeper cause for it. If deep down you have some problem with the activity you wish to do, you are going to have trouble doing it. This is where self examination comes in, make sure you have no problems with whatever you're doing. I obviously can't predict every single issue but just to give you an idea some stuff would be:

1. Not wanting your parents/friends/gerbil to find out, thus you should never get to the level where there is something to find out
2. Being scared of what you might be able to do if you continue to advance
3. Deep down not wanting to do that skill in the first place for some reason
4. Having some religious conflict with what you're doing

Mine was incredibly specific but I did have this problem myself. From experience I can say that although treating the underlying issue doesn't instantly fix everything, it certainly does help.

The Good and Bad of Imposing Limits

At the basic level, putting reasonable limits on yourself is a good thing. Control keeps you from going too far and suffering injury. And we all know that hurting yourself is bad. However, you have to remember that sometimes a limit can start to mean to you that it is the highest level you can ever achieve. Going back to the section 'Truth', if you limit yourself enough enough that way, that limit will become your truth and it will become a wall you will have great difficulty getting over. Limits are good as a safety measure, but you should never set them so rigid that you come to believe that it's impossible for you to do anything beyond your limit. Also remember to over a period of time carefully allow yourself to do more, because after a while you should be stronger and able to practice *slightly* longer.

The opposite of that idea applies as well. You can do just as much damage by not setting a limit or setting it too high. A lot of people use the muscle analogy and think that the longer they practice the better they will be. Because of this they strain themselves severely. First off, it is very rarely that simple, there are a lot more factors than just hammering as long as you can to psychic progression. Sometimes you have to stop and take a break, so your mind can process what you have done. Also you must remember to take the muscle analogy the rest of the way, if you practice too hard you'll injure yourself. When you seriously overstrain yourself you get what is called a burnout. If you hit this you'll know it because you'll typically become very tired and be incapable of doing any significant psychic activity until you recover. Note that this is not always only temporary damage, if you manage to overwork yourself enough, you can cause permanent damage. So don't think you can work really hard, wait through the burnout, and then keep going. It will not work. For our readers that worry a lot relax, you have to overwork yourself to a pretty boneheaded level to manage hurt yourself that way. Unfortunately there are some people that do just that.

*Responsible* Forcing

Heads up as there will be a lot of cautions in this paragraph as you can seriously hurt yourself if you do this incorrectly

First before I say anything else note the RESPONSIBLE tag. Ideally nothing or almost nothing should be reckless, angry, or done with frustration, your actions should be controlled. However, sometimes there is a time to apply additional focus. Extra focus at the base level increases the amount of force you're applying on something and thus you can get better output. Also it strengthens your resolve and can help resolve some minor subconscious issues. This should never be too intense, it should be above a relaxed state but below frustrated or agitated. If you get a headache you should cease this IMMEDIATELY. In some areas, especially TK, although this can be helpful, the added strain it puts can be rather dangerous.

Relax (Again)

I know this topic was covered in the last article, but this is just something so important that it can't be overstated. So many people overlook taking time to relax. If you start to get frustrated, trying to struggle through is the worst thing you can do. Your frustration will cause you to do less, which will add more frustration. Eventually you'll follow that loop down to the point where you don't think you can do anything (also you'll probably feel like crap at that point). Take a second, stop, relax, maybe meditate a little, then go back with a fresh mind. Getting frustrated only serves to heighten any problem you might be having, so it should be avoided at all costs. Don't make your break too long however, or you might label it as giving up. And that is bad because it will leave you with a little lingering frustration when you try again, since you will remember failing the last time.

Coincidental Reinforcement II

Last time I touched on what Coincidental Reinforcement was, but not so much on how to respond to it. Throwing aside the issues about it messing up your energy consumption (since that was sufficiently discussed in the last article), there are some general rules on how to deal with it:

1) It's a lot harder than it sounds, but try to avoid frustration. Refer to the Relax section about that. Coincidental Reinforcement tends to largely correspond to your frustration, so a good way to control it is to avoid getting frustrated.

2) As an alternative to just relaxing (which you might not always be able to do), find a way to bend the 'screwed up' results to fit what you want. You feel frustrated and make the problem worse *because* you see it as a problem. If you try to make it no longer a problem, things will become much better. In my experience this was a big problem in micro-tk. When I was rolling a dice, another number would get forced instead of my intended number. I figured out that it was a response because I was expecting not to have a successful test, and once chance had laid the seed that another number might come up a lot more, the effect kicked in to fulfill my expectation. This died down though after I started taking the Coincidental Reinforcement results when they were really high and counting them as a significant result and walking away happy with the test. Now this problem still can happen but its a lot less common now that I did that. Also the plus with this is even if the problem continues like it did a little for me, you're no longer letting it get to you :)

3) This one will probably not work for some people but it is worth mentioning, Coincidental Reinforcement also comes from the idea that you're expecting it to happen but think you can't stop it from happening. However, if you start experiencing this problem often, you should be able to look at it and see that you do have some level of control, after all at the base level you are expecting something to happen and it happens like you partially wanted. Ignoring the fact that its routed through your subconscious you are in a way controlling things (you can even sometimes purposely start the Coincidental Reinforcement process, and that definitely is controlled). You have to realize that your lack of control is an illusion. Although not being able to stop something is not *good* control, it is not no control at all. If you had no control over the situation you would not be able to anything at all, the fact that you can effect it shows you have some control.

Finishing on a High Note

One of the best ways to avoid frustration is to always try to end your practice with a success (when applicable). It sends an entirely different message to your subconscious then ending with a neutral result or a failure. The last two situations leave you with the expectation that the next test will be just as messed up, and you focus on the negatives. However if you end with a success you end up expecting to do the same or better in your next practice. This is also easy to do, either don't stop (provided that you still feel able to go on; generally spending too much time trying to do something can cause strain) or stop when whatever you were trying to do works. So thus with a little maneuvering you limit frustration and potentially boost your rate of success in the next practice instead of lowering it.

Pulling it All Together

A lot of the stuff in this section is easily said but hard to actually accomplish. From deep down believing what you think you believe to just relaxing, following this advice is going to take some work. *But* if you really work at it you will get a level of control that will carry you through almost anything. At this point if you're still having a problem, I have no clue what is going to fix it, either you're not doing something properly or you are the lucky person that has whatever isn't 'almost anything'. Either way I wish you luck, and for the second case, that's what the asking people for help section is for in part 3.

II. Making Things Work

Opening

A lot of places have articles or documents where you can learn the basics of a technique, or maybe some more advanced applications of it, like after you learn how to make a psiball you can look up an article on how to make a shield or something, but there are so many gaps in between and also so much left out in how to get better with each technique. This I believe is the other part of making things work. In the last article I touched on the basics, understanding energy, practicing, realizing bad times/conditions, this time the focus is more how to progress instead of how to avoid "lack of progression".

Visualizations

Visualization plays a big part in psionics. At the minimal interpretation it just helps you apply your focus better, but however it works it appears to play big role, especially in energy manipulation. For example in building a construct, if you just blandly form a psiball with no special structure or 'feel' put into it, and I go ahead and use one of my designs picturing a slightly complex structure to compose the construct, mine is likely to be much stronger. Since the difference is so easy to see, energy manipulation is a great example to study the effects of visualization, and so I'll focus on that example. However, remember that a good deal of what's said in this section probably extends to other skill areas as well.

There are a couple things to consider in approaching this topic. As you can see from the example mentioned above, you really don't want to apply minimal visualization. That's probably causing minimal focus and thus very poor energy applied and poor energy efficiency. (We'll talk more about those two terms later in the energy section, for now just get the general gist that energy applied is how much you use, and efficiency is how well you use it). However, you also don't want to go overboard, if you try to do an insanely complex visualization or design it is more likely to screw up (if you can't focus enough to properly form the visualization, the construct will be malformed and unstable). You want to find a middle point, something that's *slightly* complex, but not above your ability to do. It should be a little difficult the first couple times you do something like that, and that's a good thing. Besides just lending a more solid 'structure' to your construct (higher energy efficiency), to pull off the visualization you're forced to sit down and focus better. You direct more attention to your construct because you have to in order to properly make it (higher focus leads to being able to devote more of your energy to the task).

Although slightly complicated is good, the most important thing is your visualization has to have meaning for *you*. Since the visualization is the mechanism your subconscious works with, the more meaning or affection you have for the visualization, the better it will work (this goes back to believing it will work). Energy manipulation demonstrates that idea well. When you choose some material for the structure of your construct it has to be something that *you* think will work well. For strength and support it should be something you think is strong. I don't know why but I like reinforced glass (the glass you see with the metal wiring running through it). That might work for you too, or cheese might work for you, I don't know why, maybe you've encountered a rare form of cheese that can stop bullets or something, its what *you* think will fit the purpose. The same idea applies for any other purpose, flexibility, heat resisting, frog catching, etc.

Your Own Way

A lot of articles and people give the impression that theres a way to do something and that way works. They leave it at that. That way might work great, but theres a great deal of ways to do something in most cases. The best way to progress and make things work is to find your own way to do them. Play around, experiment, look for new stuff, or take someone else's idea and see if you can make it better. There is nothing to lose, at the very least you're going to get some good practices in. I said before that there are gaps and missing stuff in the articles and site information, one way to solve that is to try and fill them yourself.

This example relates a lot to sensitivity,which as a passive skill is hard to directly practice. Although there might be a guide or two about it (I think PsiPog has one), the best way to work on your sensitivity is to find your own ways to develop and use it. The skill will develop naturally for most people, so you don't have to really hammer at it to get it to advance, it just needs some form of guidance and practice. This means that you can find your own way to guide it without too much trouble.

Note: This is not permission to be reckless. (This is another 'don't get people hurt warning', whether you listen or not, saying these makes me feel better :) ) If you have any qualms about something you want to attempt, talk to someone experienced about it and see what they think. They might even give you some tips with what you want to do. Experimentation should always be careful and well planned.

Energy II

Last time we talked about how to be aware of energy/energy consumption, and how it plays a role in psionics. In this section we have an equally important idea to talk about, energy efficiency. Although energy consumption relates to the expenditure of an activity, energy efficiency relates to how well the energy is being used, how much is being wasted, etc. A lack in energy efficiency can make it seem like an activity takes more energy than it requires.

A perfect example of this is one of my early attempts at healing (whether this works well is not part of the example so don't nitpick). Part of it involved directing a flow of energy to where I was trying to heal, which I think worked on a small scale. The problem was just holding my hand over the target area and sending the energy left me considerably tired afterwards. It took me a while to realize the problem, just projecting the energy at something meant that it was also spilling every which way thus wasting a good amount. Thus, a lack of efficiency in my process made it take more energy than it should, giving it a seemingly higher energy consumption. Now there are a couple ways to fix this: use better focus to actually target the energy being projected where I want so it wouldn't spill, or the one I chose, put it in a construct (for a contained delivery system). Confirming my theory, the construct packaged variation of what I was doing used a lot less energy and got a comparable effect.

So thus you can make activities consume less energy by making the process more efficient. To help with how to more commonly think 'efficiency' lets go back to the Visualization section with our energy manipulation example. A lot of energy used poorly is outclassed by a little energy used well. Your first step is to look into visualizations that seem to work better with the same amount of energy, this may be more difficult with other areas but for energy manipulation you can just follow what's said in the visualization section. You want to pick a structure to mold your energy into that's resilient as opposed to just doing whatever. Its like using triangles as your building units when making a bridge, its the best use of material. The general idea of how to apply this outside of energy manipulation is just really to think it through, usually the more controlled and/or contained the process is the better (unless it has to *not* be one of these things). To help you learn how to do that there are a couple flags for when you risk wasting energy either directly or through inefficiency:
1)Any process where you don't have full control over an amount of energy being directed to something, if you're not holding onto it, some energy can leak away
2)Not properly shelling a construct, this is why new people's psiballs eventually fade away, they don't keep the energy that composes them inside themselves, slowly but surely it leaks out
3)Anything that uses an extremely complex mechanism that's probably beyond your ability to handle will be prone to inefficiency, either you won't create it properly and it will be the result of faulty construction, or your lack of control over it will leave the creation unstable and the programming will likely degrade and mutate and bring about the same result A lot of it just comes down to being smart with your planning and execution of techniques. Side note, while I cannot *confirm* this it seems that in a lot of cases the first time a new technique is executed it can take more energy to pull off. Considering this, don't jump to conclusions about energy use the first time you use a technique. It is better to take a couple tries and then consider the use again (average the couple trials together). This does not mean throw out the expenditure the first time, as that you should still use to consider any future tries (to properly handle safety concerns and such). Just remember, because of this effect you should save the *final* judgment for later. Also, this does not just apply to the first time you're starting a new area like telekinesis but just anything that's just sufficiently different from any technique you have tried before. Like a shield design different than anything you've attempted before is likely to use more energy on the first try.

Pulling it All Together

If you think this part seems kinda similar from section to section, then you're probably right. The same mindset helps work through all the issues here. You use your own way to find the fitting visualization which if you do correctly leads to a greater energy efficiency. Theres really not much more to say on progression, as the 'Your Own Way' section says, there is a point where you just have to figure things out for yourself.

III. More Extenuating Circumstances

Emotions

In the last article we talked about more permanent and long term mental states that could complicate things, this time we'll touch something more people can understand, how everyday emotional changes factor into psionics. Happiness and Sadness are the two common elements that can effect your actions. Now both have some effects that should be able to guess pretty easily. Happiness typically increases your confidence, energy is easier to access and move, and such. Sadness does the opposite, it lessens confidence, energy is harder to move, you get the point. Now there is one distinction most people miss, sadness when it takes on more of a light depression can have its advantage to be yoked as well. After a certain point you *can* (I'm going off experience so this might be different for others) get to a state where you are more largely apathetic. The beauty of this is that at this state your subconscious is going to put up much less of a fight (the effects from any mental blocks you have will likely be reduced). So if you can still get over the reduced ability to pool energy this can be helpful. This also can happen from being tired or a combination of the two. Note practicing while tired means a LITTLE tired, if you're exhausted it is most likely a bad idea to be trying anything. Also note that generally happiness is more valuable to work with (is it just me or does that sound really cheesy? But seriously it is), so you want to do stuff to keep that going. Go back to the 'Finishing on A High Note' section as that's a big part of getting excited/confident/etc. Keeping that state is more tricky, if you instantly get depressed at your first mistake, that's going to make any bonuses rather useless. Part of maintaining your focus during practices is learning how to take a punch, if you screw up, get over it, it's not the end of the world. If you continue to hang on every small problem it will mess up your future attempts (you start to believe that things *are* most certainly going badly even if they weren't, which screws things up, reread the truth section for help on this). Remember the one bonus from sadness is more of a last resort thing, you shouldn't *need* to use this. Don't purposely try to depress yourself to try it out, you can always get the similar effect from just waiting until you are a *little* tired.

Special Subconscious Actions

Along the way we've touched on but not really fully discussed some of the strange things the subconscious can do to either help or hurt your progress. If yoked right the subconscious is a powerful part of yourself that can be very useful, if let run crazy it can be very annoying. The best way to avoid a problem starts with understanding, so even if there isn't a known solution in this section hopefully you can at least take the first step in understanding the problem.

First we have Coincidental Reinforcement, which of the various subconscious actions is the one I've mentioned the most. In reality it is just a blanket term for when you think something is going to happen, you transfer that feeling to the subconscious, and your subconscious fulfills your expectation. While almost any subconscious action could be described this way, it is made special because for some reason you believe that a one-shot action is a constant, which starts a cycle that heightens the effect each time. This ties in a lot to the 'Truth' section, its just a simple case of your mind making something you believe real. The way to avoid this has already been discussed.

Another really fun one is sensitivity effects. This is where you expect to feel something and with nothing there to actually feel (or just not what you want to feel), by various means you change something about your surroundings or yourself to provide the feeling you were expecting. A lot of times this is labeled as Analytical Overlay, where it is the case in parenthesis in that you make yourself perceive what you want to be there instead of what might *actually* be there. However it is not always that. Anyone that's seen a new person come into a chat and complain about someone attacking them is almost always (90-99%) suffering from some form of subconscious sensitivity effect. They don't actually want to feel like they're being attack obviously, but their mind is fearing so strongly that they're receiving some form of attack that their subconscious either makes one for them or makes them feel like they are being attacked. This is how you can give yourself a headache.

Note: The subconscious is the medium from where you do a lot or all psychic actions. That means that it has access to all your abilities. A lot of us know about gheists where telekinesis is randomly and unintentionally used and from my personal experience I know that the subconscious can make constructs on its own (although the 'constructs' usually are just fragments) It applies to other areas areas as well. So don't think all it can do is just mess with the way you're feeling. The subconscious can muck with almost any ability.

On a side note be aware that it usually heightens the problem if you personify the subconscious as another being that's out to get you (which you could get that impression from reading these past paragraphs). That feeds more belief (Truth section again) and gives it more power with which to screw you up more. Also if you see your subconscious as a different person you immediately lose a lot of control over it. Its like comparing the amount of influence you might have over a close friend vs your control over yourself, they don't even begin to compare. Keep the subconscious as a part of yourself, avoid seeing it as a separate thing/person.

People and How to Ask for Help

It is inevitable that there will be a question that does not have an answer in this article or in other sites or articles. This means that you get to go through an experience that can either be incredibly rewarding, incredibly frustrating, or both: asking someone else for help. First off you have to find a person to ask, which can be a task in itself. While I can't make people randomly appear to help you, I have two pointers for what you should be looking for:
1.Before you even consider skill level you want to find someone that you are pretty sure is trustworthy, so you avoid getting told total crap.
2.The next step is to find someone whose skill level is appropriate to answer your question. This should consider who is under-qualified *and* who is overqualified. Most people get that the person has to be knowledgeable in what you're asking (or why else would they be any better than what you could think up on your own?), but the other part is making sure you're not killing someone's time with something really basic. This mainly applies to community leaders, while they're usually the best and brightest, they're really busy. Although they're usually happy to answer your questions, remember that they usually have have things to attend to, so if there is another suitable person you can ask you should probably ask them.

Now that you've found your person here is some things that will help you act in a way that won't annoy people:
1.Remember a lot of communities get a great deal of traffic that tend to ask really basic questions. The first thing most of these guys will do is try and point you to an article. Now if you're asking someone in one of the communities you frequent you should have already read most of the articles, but if that's not the case you should read the articles there, if nothing else you'll be able to say that you have read them and you avoid losing time there.
2.While you shouldn't blindly accept everything thrown at you, when you respond to suggestions that they give remember that YOU are asking for help, so tread very lightly about correcting or disagreeing with people. If you do this a lot in the wrong way they'll get annoyed because it seems like you're asking for help but thinking you're smarter than they are.
3.Avoid melodramatics. Don't overstate your problem, most people will be able to see through this anyway, so it is not going to help you.
4.Be patient. Especially if you are talking to a community leader these people are often very busy, so it may take them some time to answer.
5.If you think you are being looked down on, thought to be just melodramatic, or something similar the worst thing you can do is to show that you're pissed off, that will just make things worse. Keep your cool and try your best to correct the misunderstanding. If you start acting disagreeable, from their perspective it will only confirm what they were thinking about you.
That is all I can pull together, if you follow this stuff you'll at least be on the right track.

Pulling it All Together

This was a wildcard section so it's less fitting to have a conclusion, but I just want to take the time to emphasize there is some very good stuff to consider here. The main idea to look at is when you have a problem that just doesn't seem to add up, look at yourself, then turn to others for help.

Closing

Like before I really hope that you'll find some use out of this, there is really not much more I can think of adding so there is probably not going to be another article like this unless I get a lot more knowledge to impart. If you are really stumped you have the 'how to ask for help section' and my best wishes. Good luck.

by InnerFire

Well here it is I guess, while not as definitive as a guide, this is designed to be a help resource to other people struggling with various issues in psionics.

What's Your Boggle?

Mellow greetings sir or miss, that's what it boils down to for this, you gotta figure out what you need help with. If you got something in mind already, good for you, if not take a look at this part and see if anything lights up. This resource is going to go over areas I've either personally experienced or have a good amount knowledge with. Suffering from the problem myself, the first section will deal with issues of the mind blocking your efforts in psionics to some degree. The second section deals with progressing with psionics, you're somewhere and for some reason you're not getting any farther. The third section deals with those oh so fun anomalies life can throw your way: born with altered energy production (or worrying about being like that), personality issues, and whatever incidents life can throw your way.

I.Trusting In Yourself

Prelude
MONK: Put your hand in the flame.
DANIEL: What?
MONK: Place your hand in the flame.
DANIEL hesitates, then holds his hand over the flame, before pulling back in pain.
DANIEL: Ah! Why did you tell me to do that?
MONK: Why did you do it?
DANIEL: Because you told me to.
MONK: Because you trusted me.
DANIEL: Yes.
MONK: Within you is the capacity for trust. Trust OMA DESALA. Do not believe you can light the candle, believe she can light the candle.

Now for those of you (probably most) that are confused, that's part of a Stargate episode, but forget that and look at the point of it. Replace OMA DESALA with yourself and omit the next line. For a good bit of people including myself, there is more than enough ability there, there just isn't self confidence. You may have had a situation not too different when someone told you to do something a certain way, you did it, and WOH!, it worked incredibly well. Then later it doesn't work as much. The likely reason for this is you trust that person more than you do yourself, and since they said it would work right a certain way way, you believe it will work and you can do it now. You have to look at this and figure out how to skip the middle man and just believe you can do it.

Your Mind and You

The first thing you have to realize is that for many people, your unconscious self is going to try and block you from doing anything "concrete" in psionics, you might be able to do stuff like psiballs, shielding, etc, but you find yourself not able to do stuff like healing or tk that you can you can see and instantly say: that was psionics, it worked, and I did it. That's not uncommon, your subconscious is going to take everything it knows about the world, and say "you can't do that." Don't find it so hard to believe, you were probably thinking it the first time you heard about the "concrete" skill you're having trouble with, you were almost certainly thinking it when you were unsuccessful, and somewhere in your head you might even be thinking it right now. Its not easy to handle, but by reading this you've already got the first part of the battle down. You know what you're fighting against, what you have to direct your focus to change, for a while that alone can improve things but it might not solve everything forever. That's what the next couple parts of this section, here are gathered several methods for trying to defeat that unconscious part of yourself once and for all and win it to your side.

Bash it to Death with Reason

This is the most common method, it will work for some people, but not for all. It's still worth a try however. The method itself is self explanatory, go through every doubt you have one by one and reason it out until you can get past it, if you can do this well enough it should at least make some kind of dent in your problem that is if it is because of a rationally based doubt, reason can beat out reason but reason vs lack of reason can be a different story.

Affirmations

And that's where affirmations come in. Affirmations are another "bash it into submission" technique, but unlike the last, this one can fight lack of reason. Just repeat a single phrase to boost your confidence over and over again. Some tips: don't use negatives, only positive statements, make all conditions immediate not "I will be able to do it", and don't sweat if it doesn't work 100% (like rolling a dice for micro-tk or something similar), if you stop your thought train to get angry or frustrated its going to get you back to doubting again, and that will be taking steps backwards when you're trying to walk forwards. Now for just some examples to illustrate:
I can do telekinesis
I can do telekinesis
I can do telekinesis
(credit: I did pull on some of this from a forum discussion on psipog: post starter Kushimaster )

Tricking Yourself

This is one technique of my own invention. Go back to the first part of this section about being able to believe when you had a middleman that you trusted. Well sometimes you can make yourself the middle man too. Think things like "if I do this in this particular way it will work", like (can you guess how I practice yet?) again with the dice rolling for micro-tk, get yourself to think it will work if you roll the dice a certain way, or hit the dice in the air, or some other clever little action. If it works when you do that you got yourself baited and you can run off that for a little. Now unfortunately if you keep doing this you're not solving anything and it will almost certainly fail given enough time. The way to use this as an actual fix is to look at it after a time and notice that you could do it.

Relax

This is important enough to deserve its own section. Really, relax, chill out. Anger and frustration can hurt your progress by breaking your focus and instilling doubt. You don't have to give up focus, there's a difference between being focused/motivated and frustrated, the first one is good, the other not so much.

The Goods and Bads of Planning

Planning or expectation can be a good or bad thing depending on the way you use it. It follows a general rule, when you think you shall will well you may find that you will do well, but more likely when you think you shall do poorly you will do badly, maybe even very badly. So try not to think you shall do badly as that will sabotage your efforts.

Coincidental Reinforcement

Ah, I've personally had a lot of issues with this one. Coincidental Reinforcement is what I call when randomly a certain event in your practice comes up a couple times, there is a chance if you're frustrated or quick to label things you'll see this not just as random activity, but some constant action. By doing so you will make it real so to speak. Your mind will try to fulfill your expectations (think the Matrix, the mind makes it real). This can be both a plague in general energy use (I'll make mention of that later) and micro tk (for me personally I've gotten a bit of a quirky number that I got into believing it would randomly come up a lot whenever it was not what I wanted. It really throws off results).

Pulling it Together

Hopefully though one of these techniques you'll be able to finally silence that annoying voice in your head, no not the one that tells you to do bad things to that guy you don't like :P , the one that tries to tell you that you can't do that one skill for whatever reason. Remember also the lessons of coincidental reinforcement and expectations, and how these two things can seriously hurt your efforts. If this doesn't work, don't give up, theres enough people with this problem that someone will eventually think up something that will work, or maybe you'll just get lucky one time, or see someone else do it--that will usually melt the problem for you if you're lucky enough to meet another psion in person.

II.Making Things Work

How Psionic Progression Can Work

Sometimes multiple times a day I'll see newbies come out in chats and forums and go into a medium sized thing asking why a particular technique isn't working out fully, commonly its stuff not completely working out for psiballs, they got some stage of it but can't get any farther. Common problems being either they can't get it to maintain its shape for more than a couple seconds, or maybe the psiball sticks around for a little but eventually fades away. These people *could* be doing everything right, which is the hardest thing for them to understand, as they really don't want the answer to be as simple as it is. You probably already know that magical word I'm going to say but lets give it a dramatic pause...
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Practice!

In all seriousness I found this truth out the hard way, sometimes you just need to hammer it in and things will get better. That's how I was first able to eventually get to where I could make a stable temporary psiball on each try, then I found myself practicing hard again to raise it up to something that would stay together over long terms. Its not as hard as you think, not just for psiballs but for most things we're talking for minimum maybe 2-3 times a week. There is more than enough time to put into practice if you really want to get farther. I know it should seem like its some elusive tweaking you have to do to your technique, but a lot of times psionic progression relies on practice and repetition, which lets your body get used to what you are working on. As a side note you will also notice that enough practice can slowly get you through a mental block, but not always.

Bad Days and Bad Times\Conditions

Yes, most of us have heard it mentioned but I think it needs some more explaining. Bad days are probably unavoidable, maybe it was the weather, maybe you didn't sleep well, maybe little green men from Mars had something to do with it, who knows? Whatever the reason, we all just get some days where we're not at top strength. All across the board we can't do psionics as well. This can put some real issues into progressing, not because it takes a day away, but because if you're like me you are not going to notice it and think you're just doing something wrong. Now you shouldn't blame everything on 'bad days' but you got to be careful in instantly labeling one trial as bad for this reason. Now the other thing, you probably want to know how to cancel these bad days out, I probably can't give a straight answer on that, basically just do whatever you do to get yourself up and going, I'll talk about optimal conditions later so also take look at that since that information can help.

Now bad weeks/months are another story, there it is more likely that there something messing with your ability to generate energy. That you'll likely have to figure out on your own, there's too many causes to go into here, and each one would need a specific solution.

Now for Optimal and Reduced Conditions: This can be key for getting good results when you're starting out. When you're newer to psionics while you have the capacity for psychic activity, your body is going to be undeveloped for the job. This means you're going to have to rely on treating your body well if you want the best possible result. What you need to do should be pretty obvious: reduced conditions can be caused by any lack of a basic bodily need; food or sleep, or by emotional problems (depression). Optimal Condition is when you got everything worked out, you slept well and for a sufficient time (I like a min of 8 hours and ideally around 9 hours), you're feeling alright, you're eating properly, etc. You might also want to avoid activity directly before any session that you think is going to be taking a lot out of you, since psi/energy use if not being directly related runs off the same bodily resources as some physical activities.

Energy

Belief and focus are great things to consider, but let's take a moment to talk about energy, since some people don't fully grasp energy/psi's role in psionics. As far as we know, everything or almost everything in psionics has some amount of energy consumption, while some are negligible amounts. Now don't feel too limited by it, you are going to run into problems in your practices if you worry constantly about the energy consumption. Coincidental Reinforcement can make an activity take more energy than it needs to if you start to think that it will take a ton of energy *when it won't*. Still, be aware there is a difference between knowing how much energy it will take and really worrying about how much energy it will take. While the second thing is harmful, the first is helpful. That said, you should have some understanding about the energy consumption of whatever you do for two purposes. The first is so you can avoid overextension: once you have an idea about how a particular activity will affect you, you can properly plan how much you can do. Ask around, most people can give you some kind of estimate on what a particular activity will take. The second reason is for more advanced purposes. When you start experimenting on your own you will need to do be aware how much a new technique takes out of you. The last thing I personally worked with turned out to be an extremely high energy cost, so I had to be very careful with practicing it. The same idea basically would apply with exploring anything else new.

Pulling it Together

Meh, I don't really have much to say on this one, its three in the morning right now. Maybe you should just pretend you read this section... Nope just kidding. Anyways, you should understand that there are a lot of things that you may not consider that could affect getting what you are practicing to work. Freaking out about one unsuccessful practice is not healthy, while you shouldn't immediately blame anything in this section as always the problem, remember them in the 'no one's perfect' kinda way and try not to stress out. Remember the key lessons of the need for practice and repetition, and how energy use can factor into things, as these are the two things that most newbies do not fully consider.

III.Extenuating Circumstances to Deal With

Profiles

We all understand that all people are not born the same: some are taller, some are shorter, etc. This applies to psionics as well. As a part of understanding energy and energy consumption, you have to realize the way *you* uniquely work. Just as people can be short or tall, your ability to produce energy or psi can vary. For most people there isn't anything to actually worry about, just remember to get a feel for what you are capable of.

Now the problem is when people *do* over worry about things. Every so often in the psychic community we have a influx of people thinking that they are a 'psi-vamp', i.e. someone born with little to no ability to generate energy, and thus they have to acquire energy from external sources. While there are some actual cases of this happening (I know one but that's a story for another article), they are EXTREMELY rare. Most people just think they are one for various reasons. Now whether you are worrying about being a psi-vamp (or believe you are one), or just think you are a little below average in energy capacity, realize that when that is not the case such beliefs are harmful to your progress. If you have low self-confidence in that way, you won't be able to do nearly as much. Don't jump to conclusions, talk to people and reason it out if you suspect you have a problem.

Now if you actually *do* fall into one of those two cases, being a true psi-vamp is not so easy to help, there might be ways but they're beyond my knowledge, so look around and see what you can find. However, having just slightly below average energy production is fixable. In such as case you may be born like me. In keeping the physical analogy, just like someone that was born a little lacking in physical strength, you are going to have to work harder for a while to get your body into proper shape. Energy manipulation is recommended for this, (slowly at first so you don't overtire yourself) start doing a lot of energy working. This is shown to build up your capacity over a period of time. There are more dramatic ways to fix this problem more quickly, but trust me, coming from someone that's done some of these things, you are much better off just working out with energy manipulation.

Personalities (and mental problems)

Aside from short term emotional problems, some personalities or mental conditions can also give added annoyances to you in your practices. First obvious point, if you have any serious mental conditions, you are practicing at your on risk, we probably don't know everything about what you're suffering from, and we certainly don't know enough about psionics to understand the potential interactions between the two. That aside we go to things that are a little less serious. Depression can put a big cramp in your practices, everyone knows in general when you're feeling sad you're not going to be doing your best in whatever you try to do, also in one of the Psionic Social Club logs, Rainsong cautions that biofeedback it is not recommended is those who are seriously depressed (http://www.psc-online.org/logs/RainTurtle-2004-07-28-Norcan_Conference.html ). There may be (and probably are) other areas also effected that you should look into. Now since I am NOT a psychiatrist I am not capable of going into how to handle depression, so I have to leave solving that to you.

Now personalities are just the way you are, you can't change that most times, but you can be aware of the way they'll effect you, heres some:

Fluff-bunny (my thoughts, other's have their own definition): These are basically a wide category for annoying newbies in the psionic community, they either lie about themselves to try and impress people, expect the people in chat or forums to tell them how to do everything when most of the stuff they want to know is already in articles and we just don't feel like retyping it, those who want unreasonable amount of attention every time they're around (hey we're human we can't be killing every minute on everyone that walks in) , and/or people that come in and in the first hour want to know everything and do it.

Ambitionist (my word damnit): I once described this as wanting to know and be good at everything, and have done so yesterday. Now this is fundamentally different from a fluffbunny as ambitionists can be clever/intelligent, reasonable, and *somewhat* realistic in that unlike the fluffbunny they know they can't learn everything in an hour (they're still going to get angry about not being able to do so but thats in their nature). To some extent this is fine, ambition can be a great motivator in your practice, just don't beat yourself up too much as that can be counter productive. Unless you have some mission I don't know about you really don't need to put yourself under this kind of strain in my opinion.

Scientist: This can cause some serious self-confidence issues. A scientist is not necessarily someone in the actual career but a psion that has a strong scientific or highly logical thinking process. They've been drawing conclusions and finding things out from reason all their life and now although they might believe in psionics, part of them is still going to fervently resist "this bunk" This part of yourself you're going to have to sort out if you're one of these, your best hope is to go back to the Trusting in Yourself section.

Proofer (another one of my words): These are the people that think it is their mission to learn psionics then "prove it" to the world. Either slowly or quickly they want to learn psionics then use it to show enough people until they think the world will accept it (in the case of quickly this becomes very similar to the ambitionist). Now all I can say about this is consider very carefully what you want to do, if you really think the world *needs* to know about all this stuff then so be it, good luck.

Resilient Adaptable Stubbornness: Ah, this is was me for a while. It incorporates the scientist profile along with some other stuff. It is the result of a very strong and stubborn mind. Basically all of the methods in this article will probably have limited effect. Something will work for a while then will slowly reduce effectiveness until its worthless, so you'll find yourself after a while not being able to find a way to do what you want to practice. There are two ways to go about handling this. The first is you have to look at this intelligently, if your mind is being so resistant there is most likely a reason, go over anything you think might be bothering you, both on your own and in talking to people since they might see an issue where you don't. The only other way is through the tricking yourself method, but keep rapidly changing the trick so your subconscious doesn't catch on to any particular one. Remember this is *not* a permanent solution in itself, you have to be able to look at the data afterwards, and use it to reason with yourself.

Ah, Life

That can sum it up a lot of times, life can really put a monkey wrench in your practices. Again obviously depression is going to screw you up, but you also have to look at stress. Stress can do oh so much fun things outside of psionics, and inside psionics it gets even worse. You have to be very careful if you're still trying to practice through times that are high stress (stuff at work, exams, etc.). Some things can fail and/or become downright painful when you try to do them under high stress. Most of the time it will just cause what you're doing to be less successful. This isn't really solvable unless you can eliminate the stress, this is just one of those things you have to be aware of so you don't beat yourself up over not doing as well when its not entirely your fault.

Pulling it All Together

This section was all about things that are naturally a part of you that can affect your psychic activities. Some of it you can solve or compensate for, some of it you can't. If you have any of the problems here take the information in and use it to help you, even if it can't be truly solved, knowledge is half the battle of a lot of times. Take what you learn here and use it to your advantage, and oh yeah, take this as another reason why not to beat yourself up over a single bad practice.

IV.Closing

Well there it was, for right now this is my best attempt to try and help people out through what I've experienced or some nice tidbits I've encountered that I didn't think were emphasized enough in other people's work. At the time of this last revision there's a sequel to this in the works, so hang tight for more information if you are still having trouble