Energy work: internalization vs. externalization

[Recursive Paradox]

-Introduction-

Going through the link list thread, I happened upon a website called Omnimancy.com. It's interesting in and of itself and relatively newish in terms of magic and energy work practices. Research started in 1992 and practice was formulated enough for a name in 1999 which puts it, as a research and exploration subject, around eight years or so older than Etherism (2000~2001) and about 4 years older than it as an actual defined practice (as Etherism became a defined practice and system around 2005).

Which is nice because it makes me feel like it's a path I can relate to in terms of comparison and contrast.

Arthur, the guy who started the beginnings of Omnimancy (from what little research I am able to do right now) has taken a similar approach as I did Etherism's magic practice elements.

Basically attempting to put together a reasonably practical means of energy manipulation while working as hard as possible to avoid self delusion, social antagonism, egotism and delving into metaphysical areas that are best left untouched for safety sake.

There are a lot of similarities between Etherism based energy channeling and Omnimancy based energy work. Beyond the obvious (they both take energy from one point and use it to do work through will, technique and sometimes even ritual). In both cases there's a lot of stock put on using external sources of energy instead of just using your own energies. The idea being that fatigue is not fun and reduces your capacity to do a lot of energy work.

But there is a striking difference. And that is where you put the external energy that you're working with in order to work with it.

-External vs. Internal Manipulation-

One of the most striking differences between Omnimancy and my own path is that Omnimancy suggests against drawing the energy into you. The reasons for this in their viewpoint are not clear (although I can think of plenty on my own).

Whereas a cardinal part of Etherism based energy channeling (and in fact the reason why it is called so) is drawing the energy into your body as to give you the same control over that energy as you have over your internalized domain.

The reasoning behind this is twofold really.

One, it lowers the need for ritual (beyond psychodrama), as you are drawing the energy into an area where your will is far stronger than normal.

Two, it enforces one of the main philosophical underpinnings of Etherism: That the Self is penultimate and one must be knowledgeable, aware and in control of one's Self. All of these philosophical elements also happen to be requirements to successfully energy channel.

• If you are not knowledgeable of your Self then you will not have a sense of how to manipulate your own energy, much less energy brought into you. It also means you don't have the wisdom to use energy of this magnitude at all if you don't understand your Self. You will also not know your limits, your strengths, the best psychodrama to gain results and the best energies to draw in. The consequences will be severe.
  
  
• If you are not in control of your Self then you will not have the force of Will to channel energy. Basically until you have self control and personal power you don't deserve magical control and magical power. And it won't work for you either. Your lack of power will translate to a lack of will and nothing you try will work.
  
  
• Self awareness is also of immense importance to channeling, simply because lacking that awareness will make it impossible to know if you're doing anything at all. A lack of awareness allows you to become prone to delusions. All of which will interfere with your work.

So the method of magic use in and of itself enforces the philosophy of Etherism. Obviously, because Omnimancy isn't a religion, it doesn't particularly have such reasoning behind its methods. But I feel that it is important to have those philosophical elements as a part of your worldview to practice magic responsibility and capably. So to my thinking, Omnimancy allows a certain level of slack in the area of the Self that Etherism is far more strict on. I can't say whether that has an effect on their magic use in comparison to my own (not nearly enough data exists to claim that) but I do, from a theoretical standpoint, feel that it would cause problems on a personal and practical level.

Of course there are disadvantages to internalizing external energy to use it. For one, you are taking whatever energy that is into you and intermixing it with your own. If that energy is not one that is healthy for a human to be exposed to, well good luck with the damage that will do. You're also suddenly subject to affinities which can make channeling certain energies and channeling in certain places an epic b***h to pull off. Unless of course you get good at paradigm based psychodrama, where you basically reshape your mind for a little while to adjust affinities. But that has its own consequences and unpleasant risks and shouldn't be entered into without foreknowledge and caution in and of itself.

So there are definite disadvantages and advantages to energy channeling and external piping methods like in Omnimancy. Beyond the obvious mention that what's best for you depends on your context and situation, which of these (or perhaps a third means of energy manipulation) would be better or more practical in a general sense? Personally I would say my own methods because, beyond personal bias, they enforce philosophical elements that are truly beneficial and empowering for people to have.

-References-

http://www.omnimancy.com/

-Further reading on Etherism and energy work-

Etherism Pathways thread  

[Recursive Paradox]

As a note: I didn't have time to do the necessary research to add in a third example (I probably would have discussed Reiki honestly).

If you folks have any other practices of energy work you want to mention that take novel approaches or the approaches mentioned here, please do. Just make sure to cite the sources if possible, please.  

[Shearaha]

I'm now going to have to take the time to actually write down how I do my energy work. Other then ground most of what I've done has been trial and error. I'm also going to take a look at that site. I have read through your Pathways thread, but I'm still a bit confused on how you do your energy work. Questions will be forthcoming.  

[Recursive Paradox]

Shearaha

I'm now going to have to take the time to actually write down how I do my energy work. Other then ground most of what I've done has been trial and error. I'm also going to take a look at that site. I have read through your Pathways thread, but I'm still a bit confused on how you do your energy work. Questions will be forthcoming.

I really should make a few posts dedicated entirely to channeling. Might be time to merge a few.  

[Maze]

I should read your pathway thread. o:

It sounds like it might be useful for my own stuff.  

[Recursive Paradox]

Maze

I should read your pathway thread. o:

It sounds like it might be useful for my own stuff.

I can't remember what path you follow actually... >.>  

[Bjornhona]

I have always been really involved in Reiki, just because I associate it with massage therapy, which I am going to school for come this summer. Reiki was introduced to me by a healer and masseuse, hence the association. She showed me how to uproot negative vibes and replace them, or send them away from my energy. She is really helpful and a very, very experienced massage therapist.
I think it is a very effective means of balancing energies and helping others if you have the ability to understand it. Of course, you have to be balanced yourself before trying to balance out somebody else.
The flow of energy is really palpable when you are open to its reception and pressure. Other than what I read on this, I was not aware of other forms of its practice. ( I am a newb to this guild and Paganism. -sigh-)
Do you yourself practice energy manipulation? I think it's very valuable and it's part of my meditative practices!  

[Recursive Paradox]

Leaf Worship

I have always been really involved in Reiki, just because I associate it with massage therapy, which I am going to school for come this summer. Reiki was introduced to me by a healer and masseuse, hence the association. She showed me how to uproot negative vibes and replace them, or send them away from my energy. She is really helpful and a very, very experienced massage therapist.

What school/lineage of Reiki if you don't mind me asking?

Negative vibes sounds unfamiliar from what I understand of Reiki as an energy channeling method. Are you discussing another system in conjunction with Reiki? Or am I just misunderstanding you?

Quote:

I think it is a very effective means of balancing energies and helping others if you have the ability to understand it. Of course, you have to be balanced yourself before trying to balance out somebody else.

Not necessarily.

It probably does help though from the simple standpoint that your own body, mind and spirit works more effectively when you are in a state of appropriate energy balance.

You know, one for your needs as a given human with a given personality type, biology, mental state, emotional state and spiritual state.

Quote:

The flow of energy is really palpable when you are open to its reception and pressure. Other than what I read on this, I was not aware of other forms of its practice. ( I am a newb to this guild and Paganism. -sigh-)

There are signs of energy movement that I have learned to recognize, yes, but I couldn't say if they are the same for energy channeling in Etherism and Reiki as I haven't done Reiki before.

There does seem to be a similarity in directed energy flow between Reiki and energy channeling though, in that my hands also become warm and sometimes uncomfortably so when directing energy through my hands into something.

Generally though, my entire body does when it's more omnidirectional. To my knowledge Omnimancy does not bring the energy internally, so I doubt they would feel any effects directly.

Quote:

Do you yourself practice energy manipulation?

Yes. I practice a variant tied to my path, Etherism (currently in progress of being built over the period of the last 5 years or so), that is currently unnamed (I call it energy channeling in a general sense).

I'm still working the kinks out but I've had some pretty striking successes, especially lately as I've practiced more.  

[Bjornhona]

Wow, you guys are really thorough!

Why would I mind you being curious? -bonks- :] I dabble in a practice called Rainbow Reiki. It's a branch off of Usui Reiki, which is sort of a trunk for a lot of Reiki practice. It utilizes chakras and four elemental symbols to bring about balance in others and yourself. I don't know a lot about it from a textual standpoint; I mostly just learn by practicing and being practiced upon. Maybe my knowledge will expand with schooling. (I hope!)

And, about the negative energy...that is just something I was taught. I was told by my therapist/mentor that if you are not feeling balanced yourself that it is unhealthy to try and 'fix' other peoples' energies. I mean it makes sense to me. It feels hypocritical to fix something if you're not fixed up yourself.

It's so nice that you've had success with your practice! I hope your positive experiences will flatten out any problems that you face.  

[Bastemhet]

Recursive Paradox

As a note: I didn't have time to do the necessary research to add in a third example (I probably would have discussed Reiki honestly).

If you folks have any other practices of energy work you want to mention that take novel approaches or the approaches mentioned here, please do. Just make sure to cite the sources if possible, please.

I would love if you could talk about Reiki. This post was very interesting. I wasn't familiar with other philosophies concerning energy work as I've only had a Reiki 1 attunement and that's about the extent of my energy work experience, but it is interesting to hear about others. Do you mind my asking what you use your energy work for?  

[Recursive Paradox]

Leaf Worship

Wow, you guys are really thorough!

Why would I mind you being curious? -bonks- :] I dabble in a practice called Rainbow Reiki. It's a branch off of Usui Reiki, which is sort of a trunk for a lot of Reiki practice. It utilizes chakras and four elemental symbols to bring about balance in others and yourself. I don't know a lot about it from a textual standpoint; I mostly just learn by practicing and being practiced upon. Maybe my knowledge will expand with schooling. (I hope!)

I've honestly never heard of Rainbow Reiki. Usui Reiki I'm familiar with though. I couldn't say whether Rainbow Reiki has lineage issues because of my lack of background but I do feel the need to warn you that there are zones of healing magic that call themselves Reiki and claim lineage without actually having it.

So just be mindful and keep your eyes open. I'll go ask around and make sure you're not being misled or involved with people who are, themselves, misled. *nodnod*

Quote:

And, about the negative energy...that is just something I was taught. I was told by my therapist/mentor that if you are not feeling balanced yourself that it is unhealthy to try and 'fix' other peoples' energies. I mean it makes sense to me. It feels hypocritical to fix something if you're not fixed up yourself.

I could see how some methods, that take in problematic energy flows and stabilize things by hooking them into your own system, could present problems if you were not in a good state yourself.

Like causing you to do more harm than good or to injure yourself.

That really doesn't sound familiar in terms of Reiki though. Is it possible that your teachers have meshed multiple methods of energy channeling into one? It's not unheard of and it certainly isn't invalid (although calling it Reiki if they were aware of that meshing would be a bit dishonest in such a case).

Quote:

It's so nice that you've had success with your practice! I hope your positive experiences will flatten out any problems that you face.

Mistakes just help us grow. ^^

My scars are merely one part of my forward progress and growth. But the positive experiences have certainly outweighed the negative now.  

[Recursive Paradox]

Sophist

Recursive Paradox

As a note: I didn't have time to do the necessary research to add in a third example (I probably would have discussed Reiki honestly).

If you folks have any other practices of energy work you want to mention that take novel approaches or the approaches mentioned here, please do. Just make sure to cite the sources if possible, please.

I would love if you could talk about Reiki. This post was very interesting. I wasn't familiar with other philosophies concerning energy work as I've only had a Reiki 1 attunement and that's about the extent of my energy work experience, but it is interesting to hear about others.

Well part of the problem is that I don't know nearly enough Reiki. Which is why I cited the research issue. I haven't been attuned and I am certainly not a Reiki practitioner.

I was more hoping that other knowledgeable folk would come in and bring some stuff up, so it wasn't just my path and Omnimancy.

Quote:

Do you mind my asking what you use your energy work for?

Protection, metaphysical defense, sometimes metaphysical attack ("curses/hexes" referred to as attack channeling by me), mild boosts to luck and as accentuation to my body and mind when I need a little extra help for healing or getting tasks done. I've only recently starting healing with it. I also restored part of the function of Gho's car's window's electronics, allowing the window to go up.

So apparently I have an affinity with machines. o_O Either that or there's been a hell of a lot of coincidences lately.  

[MoonJeli]

I was great friends with one of the people who has been a member of Omnimancer Core for more than 6 years. At the time they would not allow multiples as students for safety reasons, so they wouldn't let me in. Heh. I don't know if their policy has changed since then.  

[Maze]

Recursive Paradox

Leaf Worship

And, about the negative energy...that is just something I was taught. I was told by my therapist/mentor that if you are not feeling balanced yourself that it is unhealthy to try and 'fix' other peoples' energies. I mean it makes sense to me. It feels hypocritical to fix something if you're not fixed up yourself.

I could see how some methods, that take in problematic energy flows and stabilize things by hooking them into your own system, could present problems if you were not in a good state yourself.

Like causing you to do more harm than good or to injure yourself.

I thought that was common sense? I suppose that for some traditions, with particular ways of working, this wouldn't apply, but it always struck me as logical. XD

I can't do anything worth s**t if I feel like crap either.

Also;

Recursive Paradox

I can't remember what path you follow actually... >.>

Pokerism. XD;

My path doesn't really have a name. I follow the river, as it were. If I need/want something, I poke the universe and sigh/smile and shake my head when the universe gives me exactly what I asked for.

.. but not quite what I meant. XD;

Like my current job. *snerks*

Obviously, I'm still learning, hehe.

I'm trying to find a place where they can teach me Tai Chi so I can learn how to better control my energy, as I appear naturally capable of making minor aches go away every so often.

From the lack of success I'm having so far, though, it looks like I'll have to teach myself that, too.

No biggie there, as I lack discipline like whoah, and I can use the practice anyway, but, you know, it'd be easier with someone showing me. sweatdrop  

[Bjornhona]

Quote:

That really doesn't sound familiar in terms of Reiki though. Is it possible that your teachers have meshed multiple methods of energy channeling into one? It's not unheard of and it certainly isn't invalid (although calling it Reiki if they were aware of that meshing would be a bit dishonest in such a case).

That is absolutely possible. Her personal nature is sort of like that. I think she pulls from a lot of different sources and just teaches what she feels is proper to teach as well as what is necessary and required to learn. I think maybe she includes outside associations because I've known her personally for quite a while and she wants to be a good mentor. :]