What is Attunement?

Attunement is an act of energywork that allows you to connect to and attract specific types or “frequencies” of subtle energy.  In many ways, it’s similar to how your radio can “tune in” to specific radio stations.  Just as tuning into 101.7 on your radio may bring you classic rock to listen to, attuning yourself to fire or water is a way of bringing out those elemental energies to work with.

Attunements are sometimes also referred to as “energy initiations” or “empowerments”, because they are often used by people experienced in working with a certain type of energy to introduce new people to that energy.  This is frequently confused, as in the popular attunements of Western Reiki, with bestowing an ability to work with that energy^,.  However, the ability was always there… you simply hadn’t learned to tune into that “frequency” of energy yet.  Time and experimentation have shown self-attunement to be equally effective^,,.

How Do You Attune?

Close your eyes.  Imagine yourself surrounded by a vast ocean of the energy you would like to attune yourself to. Imagine this ocean as your whole world, your whole universe.  Slowly breathe in and out, imagining the energy flowing into you with each breath, breathing it in through your mouth and lungs, letting it fill you, swirl around inside you, and permeate your entire being, imprinting itself within you.  Imagine the concentration of energy inside you increasing with each breath, until you are a beacon of the energy, radiating it back out into the ocean of energy from which it came in a blinding flare.  Then, slowly, bring your awareness back to your physical surroundings, holding onto the feeling of the energy filling you until you’re ready to let it go.  That’s all that’s really necessary for a basic attunement to any energy form.

It may also help, while visualizing the energy entering you and imprinting itself within you, to visualize symbols or even words connected with the energy imprinting themselves on you as well.  This could be anything from the alchemical symbol of fire (an upright triangle) to the mantra Cho-Ku-Rei, depending on what energies you are trying to connect with.  Just choose something appropriate to the energy you are working with.

Once you’ve been attuned to an energy, it’s much easier to access and work with it even without going through all the steps of attunement.  Having been in that state once, it’s familiar and easy for you to return to without needing visualization to guide you, though going through the process of visualization prior to working with any energy may help deepen your connection.  If you used symbols or mantras during your attunement process these may also help in reconnecting with the energies outside the context of attunement.

What Comes Next?

Attuning to Your Tools

As you continue to work with energy, you may start to collect tools.  Perhaps a wand or athame, if you go the ceremonial route.  Perhaps a piece of jewelry that you wear only during ritual.  Maybe even just a stone that carries a certain feel.  You can attune yourself to the energies of these specific objects, just as you would to more abstract energy forms.  Just close your eyes, hold the object in your hands, and let its energy fill you… each breath deepening your connection to the tool, deepening the resonance between you.  Let it imprint itself within you, as you have imprinted on it already through your use of it.  This connection, this intentional link, will help you call upon the energies of the tool even when it’s not physically present, should you need them.

Attuning Objects

Attunement isn’t a one way street, either.  Just as you can attune yourself to your ritual tools, you can attune ritual tools to various energies as well. For example, to attune a crystal to the energy of elemental fire: hold the crystal in your hands.  Close your eyes, and imagine an ocean of fire surrounding you and filling up the entire universe, as far as you can possibly imagine.  Slowly, raise the crystal up to eye level and imagine a swirling vortex of fire pouring down into it, filling it with flame, the crystal glowing brighter and brighter as the energy concentrates within it, the fire imprinting itself deep inside the crystal, becoming part of its very essence.  It may help to imagine symbols accompanying the fire… perhaps the upright triangle that symbolizes fire in alchemy, perhaps Kenaz rune of the Elder Futhark, perhaps something more personal… and inscribing themselves into the crystal.  Finally, imagine a flare of fiery energy flashing out from the crystal, a sign that the imprint has taken and the attunement is sealed.  As it fades, allow yourself to become aware of your surroundings again, still feeling the new fiery energy of the crystal in your hands.

Attuning People

Before we get into this section, a word of caution: attuning people can be complicated.  Not in terms of the actual attunement process, but in terms of the human interactions it creates.  It’s very easy for a person receiving an attunement to come to the conclusion that the person attuning them is somehow more spiritually advanced than they are.  Such hero worship should generally be gently discouraged.  On the other hand, it’s equally possible for the person receiving an attunement to decide that they don’t like the person giving the attunement, and that the attunement is really an attempt to work harmful magic on them.  And those are just two possibilities, without going into the various ways in which people can react to the energy of the attunement itself (which of course vary depending on the types of energy involved).  My best advice is: tread carefully, and good luck.  And if anyone does become obsessively attached to you, either as a hero or an enemy, try to be a good sport about it.  They may grow out of that stage later, and feel awfully embarrassed.

The easiest way I know of attuning someone is adapted slightly from the process used in Imara Reiki.  Have the person sit in a comfortable chair.  Stand behind them, placing your hands on their head with their ears between your middle fingers and ring fingers and your thumbs meeting at the top of their head.  Close your eyes, and imagine again the ocean of energy surrounding you, of whatever type you intend to attune them to.  If you are including symbols or mantras, imagine them appearing as writing over top of the person’s head, written in glowing letters of concentrated energy, of the same type you are attuning them to.  Now, imagine a spinning vortex of energy coming down and going into the person, filling them until their entire being is glowing with energy.  Imagine the vortex carrying any symbols or mantras that you have imagined down into the person.  Imagine these symbols, and the energy itself, imprinting themselves deeply onto that person… as if they are becoming a part of them.  In reality they already were, but this attunement will help awaken them to that fact.  Finally, imagine a flare of energy spilling from them, sealing the attunement.  The connection has been made, and the energy now issues from them.  Slowly, bring your awareness back to your surroundings, and check on the person being attuned.  They may need some food and water to help ground them, and it’s often a good idea to have them practice “running” whatever energy they’ve been attuned to… connecting with it on their own (you can use the self-attunement visualizations to help with this, or any symbols or mantras used during the attunement) and projecting it into various things.  If the energy is a healing energy like Reiki, this may include doing basic healing sessions for others.  If it’s an elemental energy, I’d recommend sticking with inanimate objects to start.

Wrapping Up

If it hasn’t become obvious by now, I’ve placed attunement here as the third technique of basic energywork for a simple reason: attunement, at its core, is the process by which we build connections with the various energies we work with.  Without such connections, one isn’t going to get very far manipulating energy.

Many systems of metaphysical study lead people through the experience of a connection with energy without discussing the actual processes that are taking place until the student is more advanced.  For instance, in Western Usui Reiki as popularized by Hawayo Takata, the student receives attunements in levels 1 and 2, but only in level 3 (or 3b, depending on the school) are they generally given information about attuning others or what attunement really involves in an energetic level.  Likewise, in other esoteric traditions, neophytes are initiated and in the process symbols are placed within the candidates aura to help connect them with certain energies but information about performing initiations is reserved for higher grades^,.  I’ve chosen instead to make these connections explicit, in the hopes that consciously working with them will allow the seeker both a deeper understanding of the processes involved, and a deeper connection to the energies with which they are working.

I’ve also provided this information as an aide to anyone who may find that they already have a built-in connection to a certain type of energy.  Not all attunements or initiations are the work of human hands; some are worked by entities seen variously as gods, angels, or spirits and some are spontaneous developments that can occur in the heart and mind of any seeker when they’ve reached a certain point in their development all on their own.

As always, if you find more ways to attune yourself (or objects, or other people) or more techniques for taking the process of attunement further, please feel free to share your findings in the comments section.  The next article in this series will be on Thoughtforms.

What is Grounding?

Next to centering, grounding is one of the most fundamental acts of energywork.  It’s used to discharge excess or negative energies safely, and also to replenish your energy if you’re feeling a little low.  Staying grounded also helps one to be fully present in their body, and aware of what is going on around them in the present moment.  If your mind is wandering and you’re metaphorically “off in the clouds somewhere” or otherwise off-kilter, that’s a strong sign that you may need to ground. Grounding, in most cases, is exactly what it sounds like: connecting to the Earth, and sending any excess or negative energy down into the ground to be absorbed by the planet, then taking in fresh energy to replenish yourself, repeating the cycle until you feel pleasantly energized but not “bursting” with energy.

How do you Ground?

A Basic Technique for Grounding

As with centering, there are many techniques available for grounding.  One of the simplest, and the most commonly used, is to visualize oneself as a tree.  Even kids can do this one.  Just close your eyes, perhaps take a moment to center yourself, and imagine yourself becoming a tree. Feel your roots extending deep into the earth, connecting and anchoring you to the planet itself.  Feel the strength of the earth, the stability as it supports you, nourishes you.  Feel yourself releasing any negative energy to sink down and be absorbed by the earth, while taking in fresh new energy through your roots.  Continue the visualization for as long as you like, cycling energy back and forth, until you feel stable… energized, but not overflowing with energy, fully present in your body in the here-and-now.  Other visualizations are also possible… you could visualize yourself as a mountain, for instance, rather than a tree.

Physical Grounding

Visualizations aren’t the only way to ground.  There are a whole host of techniques for grounding excess energy that don’t require any conscious manipulation of your mental state.   These range from activities like physical exercise to simply eating something.  I’m a big fan of walking, myself, though make sure to stay hydrated.  Some people also find working with certain minerals aids in grounding^,.  Iron is one of the most traditional for this, though it isn’t exactly gentle about it.  Personally, I prefer copper if I’m going with a pure metal, unless I can get my hands on Bog Iron from New Jersey.  I’m also a big fan of a combination of iron pyrite and magnetite known in metaphysical circles as “Healer’s Gold”.  Other good stones for grounding include Moss Agate, Black Obsidian, Smokey Quartz, Staurolite, and Black Tourmaline.

What Comes Next?

Grounding in Other Elements

So far, this article has focused on grounding in the element of Earth.  But it’s equally possible to “ground” in any of the elements.  All of them have a physical component capable of anchoring one in the here-and-now, all of them have the capacity to receive and transform unwanted energies, and all of them have the capacity to help refill one’s energetic reserves.

The basic procedure for doing this is very similar to the exercises for grounding in Earth.  If you care to ground in Fire, you can visualize yourself as the heart of a flame, continually releasing energy and taking in new fuel, at once stable and yet always engaged in the act of transformation.  Equally, you could visualize yourself as a phoenix or a star, whatever imagery speaks to you.  If Water is more your style, you might imagine slowly sinking into the ocean and letting yourself dissolve into the foam, merging with the waters, letting them carry any unwanted energy away while at the same time replenishing you, the boundaries between yourself and the larger ocean murky and unclear until it is time to return again to a more tangible form.  For aficionados of Air, you might imagine simply letting a wind blow “through” you, carrying away what is unwanted and filling you up with its own energy.  All of these are equally valid, as are any other methods of reaching a stable “grounded” energetic state.  Nor are you limited to grounding yourself in classical Western elements… wood and metal from the eastern elemental system are just as valid, as are light and shadow.  If in doubt, experiment.  Try grounding in something and see if it works.  If it does, great.  If it doesn’t, try something else.

Wrapping Up

Grounding may seem fairly basic but without it it’s far too easy for someone working with subtle energies to become disconnected from physical reality, overloaded by more energy than their system can metabolize on its own, be impaired by negative energies, and overall simply become a less effective channel for energy.  I strongly recommend grounding both before and after any act of energywork.  During the working itself, it may be more appropriate to center without grounding.

As always, if you find any more ways to ground yourself, or any more techniques for taking grounding further, please feel free to share them in the comments section.  The next article in this series will be on Attunement.

What is Centering?

Centering is the single most fundamental act of energywork.  Grounding may be a close second, and the two are often talked about and even performed together as a single act, but I thought it might be useful to consider them separately.  There may well be times you will want to center yourself without grounding, though I admittedly can’t think of any times the reverse would be true.

Centering is literally a return to one’s center… a place of calm, balance, and focus within us.  It allows us to set aside stray thoughts and external influences, to still our minds, to marshal our energy and concentration, and to prepare a place to begin our Work.  This is the first step in almost any occult procedure, and one it’s helpful to return to during the course of most workings to keep the subtle energies you are manipulating focused for the task at hand.  If your thoughts get scattered, your energy gets scattered too.

How Do You Center?

A Basic Technique for Centering

Luckily, there are lots of techniques you can use to center yourself.  One of the easiest is simply to visualize yourself surrounded by a giant sphere of energy.  Imagine that energy contracting, pulling in until it is a thin shell around your body.  Then, imagine it contracting further, becoming a dense little ball inside of you at a point just below your belly button.  That’s one place you can center yourself, known as the low Dantian.   Hold it there as long as you want, just breathing in and out slowly, until you feel calm and focused.

Standing at the Crossroads

Another technique is to visualize two roads crossing in front of you.  At the center of the crossroads there is a large tree.  Imagine yourself going to sit at the base of the tree, your back against its trunk, the roads stretched out around you.  Cast your mind down each of the roads… one before you, one behind you, one to your left and one to your right.  Imagine what might be down each of them, then slowly allow your mind to return to the crossroads, to the center.  As time passes, allow yourself to become aware of a fourth road… the road formed by the tree… and allow your mind to follow its branches up into the sky, and its roots down into the earth.  Each time, slowly allow your mind to return to the crossroads, to the center.  Finally, become aware of the final road… the road within you.  Follow it to the heart of the crossroads.  Follow it to your center.

Centering with Breath

Still another technique relies on the breath.  Breathe in and out through the nose.  On each exhalation, exhale all the way out to completely clear the lungs.  Then slowly inhale, allowing your stomach to expand as you breath in and the air to settle in the deepest parts of your lungs. Hold it there for a few moments, then continue… breathing out completely, then slowly breathing in deeply so it feels almost like you’re inflating your belly.  Try to keep your chest relaxed while you’re doing this, it doesn’t need to expand along with your stomach.  When you have the hang of this, try visualizing a golden ball of energy growing in your lower Dantian, just below your belly button.  The ball is like a miniature sun inside you, and with each breath you take it grows brighter and brighter.

What comes next?

Obviously, you can mix and match any of the preceding exercises to create a method of centering which works for you.  You can also learn other methods of centering, whether through a google search for centering techniques or just experimenting and following your own intuition.  As long as you end up in a calm, centered state there really is no wrong way to get there.  But what if you want to take things a little further?  Centering may be basic, but there are some more advanced techniques associated with it.

Centering on Something

So far, we’ve taken a look at finding your center. Now, we’ll consider a method of working with that center, by focusing it on something specific.  One of the more common things to center oneself on is the divine, and this practice is often used to facilitate a direct connection with divinity.  To do this, follow the same steps as before to arrive at your center.  Once there, hold an image of the divine in your mind… even if that image is just a clear, pure light.  If other thoughts arise, acknowledge them and then set them aside if they are not relevant, and return your attention to the image.  If it helps, you can also mentally repeat a specific word over and over… perhaps simply “<insert your deity’s name here>”.  Do this as long as you like, and just listen and see what happens.

Centering on the Go

Centering oneself when you’re all by yourself and still and seated and comfortable is fairly easy.  But what about when you’re on the go?  Think you can center yourself while walking around, or in the middle of a traumatic situation?  You may not think you can, yet, but this is generally when you most need to.  Here’s a technique to get you started.  Whenever you become aware of not feeling centered in your daily life, it may be useful to take a few minutes to consciously do this, to create a habit of bringing oneself back to center that will then carry over even into extraordinary or traumatic situations.

Begin walking, at whatever speed is comfortable with you.  As you walk, slowly breath in and out, taking two or three steps as you inhale and then two or three steps as you exhale.  Allow the breath to go all the way down to your belly and push it out, just like the last exercise.  Then exhale completely, emptying your lungs, before starting the process over again.  Become aware of the sphere of light brightening in your Dantian as you walk and breathe.  Each step, each breath, makes it brighter.  Now, center your thoughts on an image of calm and peace held within that sphere of light.  Perhaps a simple scene from nature, perhaps the image you use to connect with divinity, perhaps just the word Peace and the feeling that goes with it.  Feel that image suffusing your center, till the combined energy overflows and runs down your body to your feet, still growing with each step, each breath, an endless inner fountain.  Imagine yourself leaving little puddles of this energy behind you with each step, little seeds of peace planted in the world.

Wrapping Up

Obviously there are many more ways to center, and many more things one can do with centering.  I strongly encourage anyone interested to look into it further.  Sources dealing with meditation may be a great deal of help, as centering lies as the heart of most forms of meditative practice.  If you find any more ways to center yourself, or any more techniques for working with your center, please feel free to share them in the comments section.

That’s about it for centering, and I hope you’ve found it useful.  The next article planned for this series will deal with Grounding.

What is the Matrix?

So, what is the Matrix?  At its most basic level, the Orgone Crystal Matrix is a more advanced and somewhat more portable version of a Crystal Grid.  The original Orgone Crystal Matrix was designed by someone going by the name Leon.  The only email address I had originally been given for him was apparently just missing an underscore, but as a result all of my iniitial attempts to track him down and contact him regarding his original design had met with no success.  As such, attempting to reverse engineer his design was my only option.  As of the first comment on this article, that has changed, and I am very glad to now be able to credit him properly.  I am also going through the article to correct some information that I had gotten wrong; I believe I have now corrected all of the initial mistakes including the proper generic name for this type of device.

Physical Design of the Orgone Crystal Matrix

Physically, the core of the original Orgone Crystal Matrix that I encountered was a small tower-like structure made of two PVC floor strainers connected by four 12″ metal shelving tracks.  In the middle of the structure there were two rubber doughnut bumpers measuring 2.25″ in diameter and between 0.5″ and 0.75″ in thickness.  Embedded in the center of each of these bumpers were two rare earth ring magnets.  The bumpers and magnets were suspended from the shelving tracks by springs arranged in a double-helix shape.  Photos of the core may be viewed below:

The other major physical components of the Orgone Crystal Matrix consisted of four small perimeter units holding 8″ lab-grown quartz crystals.   The crystals were held by loops of what appeared to be plumbing hose  mounted in approximately 2″ lengths of copper pipe bolted to wooden boards.  Photos of these perimeter unites may be viewed below:

Metaphysical Design of the Orgone Crystal Matrix

Of the methods used in the metaphysical construction of the Orgone Crystal Matrix, I was originally able to learn fairly little, though I had been told that Reiki was used in the construction of the device.

I had been told that it involved three days of energywork to charge after its initial construction.  This turned out to be correct, but somewhat misleading.  The initial charging was spread out over three days as the creator found this to be more practical and less stressful than doing it all in one go, but was not a three-day-long marathon of charging.

I have been told that a wash using moldavite bath salts was used to purify and charge some of the pieces prior to the Matrix’s construction.  Moldavite incense was used, and both have been recommended as useful in preparing an area for working with the device.

I have been told that the crystals themselves were harmonized.  This was not the new-age process of tuning crystals that I originally believed it to be, it was much simpler: the creator selected crystals for the Matrix by tapping them lightly against one another to find four that were harmonically resonant.  Unfortunately this is not practical if mail-ordering crystals.

I have been told that the design was influenced by the work of Charles Cosimano, and that the original designer has been in email conversations with “Uncle Chuckie” for years.  This, along with certain properties of the device’s operation, lead me to believe that the Orgone Crystal Matrix is ultimately based on radionics.  This final clue, and my research into the work of Charles Cosimano, was the most important information for reverse engineering the Matrix on an energetic level, and I would like to thank Mark Buckley for pointing me in that direction.

Operating the Orgone Crystal Matrix

In operation, the Orgone Crystal Matrix was set up with the crystal units set at four points around the core.  If the operator wished, these points could be aligned with the compass directions, but this was not actually necessary for the operation of the device.

If it was desired to create a field of amplified energy the crystals were arranged with their larger flat side facing inward, towards the core.  This was primarily used in circumstances where the operator wished to stand within the field of energy and experience it or allow it to affect themselves.  If it was desired that energy be broadcast instead, all that was necessary was to turn the crystals around and face the larger flat side away from the core.

In order to tune the field of energy created, or the energy broadcast, a small object would be placed in the core, held suspended by the rubber doughnut bumpers and magnets assembly.  Usually this object would be a stone, often a polished stone sphere or egg.

Some people believe that spherical focus stones provide for a smoother energy field, and that the suspension of the stone both allows the crystal to vibrate freely and keeps the energy field from being trapped in the core of the device.  I personally cannot confirm these observations, as I have never had any trouble achieving a smooth field with even such material as a energetically-charged chunk of driveway gravel, and my experiments with Matrixes that do not suspend the focus stone have been quite successful.

I have also been told that stones containing Iron should be avoided as the central stone as it creates a “jagged” energy in the Matrix which is unpleasant to work with.  Again, this is not an observation I can confirm as one of my favorite focus stones is “Healer’s Gold”, a combination of magnetite and pyrite which are both minerals containing iron in their chemical makeup, and I have never experienced its energy as jagged or in any way unpleasant.  I suspect it may be a matter of personal taste and affinity for particular chemical elements.

While in operation, the Matrix can be aligned with different “frequencies” by holding the intention of your operation in mind and rotating the core (or the stone in the core depending on your preference, though I have been told rotating the entire core produces more easily chartable/reproducible results) until the energy of the Matrix feels like it has harmonized with your intention.  This is one of the effects that makes me believe the Matrix to be radionic in principle, as similar means of tuning are used in many of Charles Cosimano’s radionic devices.  It was also reported to me that the settings for these frequencies could not be mapped onto a physical chart of dial positions, which suggested to me that it is not physical properties of the focus stone that are being aligned but that the physical process of dialing is, like in radionics, an aid to mentally tuning the device.

Much like the Crystal Grids, the Matrix has many uses, possibly limited only by the imagination of the operator.  It is known to have been used for healing, for intensifying Reiki attunements, for Enochian workings, for charging talismans and sigils, for sex magic, for enhancing the manifestation of otherkin traits, for promoting Awakening and the recovery of otherkin past-life memories, and for gateworking.  Over time, the Matrix tends to attune to the energies used with it most.

To further boost the effect of the Matrix, it can be helpful to provide an additional power source.  The Orgone Crystal Matrix was most frequently operated in conjunction with a small hand-sized Orgone Shooter as that power source, collecting ambient energy and directing it in a stream towards the focus stone in the core.  Photos of the shooter used with the original device may be seen below:

A small krypton or argon light has also been used in place of the Orgone Shooter to enhance the effect of the Matrix.  Other tools, including such traditional tools as wands and staves, may also be used to provide a stream of energy to the core.

Symbols can also be placed below the Matrix, and other stones or charged items placed in the bottom PVC floor strainer, to increase the field or combine energies.

Photos of the full Orgone Crystal Matrix during its operation may be seen below:

The Secret of the Matrix

Ultimately, I found the key to reverse engineering the Matrix in the works of Charles Cosimano.  While they can be a rather odd read, particularly “Psionic Terrorism”, there is a great deal of very useful information contained in his writing and I cannot recommend it too highly.  There I found the idea that what makes Radionic devices work is, in his words “ultimately the relationship between the mind of the operator, the machine and the subject”.  This is what allows even radionic plans drawn on paper or fashioned from cardboard to function as well as more sophisticated models.

Put simply, a radionics device is a physical focus for a thoughtform.  This is an energetic construct shaped or programmed by thoughts and emotions (hence the name) and imbued with energy by its creator.  It is related to the Tibetan concept of the Tulpa.  It is also related to the Western magical concepts of Servitors and Egregores.

Empowering a Matrix

Creating the thoughtform for a Matrix is a lot like creating and empowering a sigil.  I recommend starting by creating a physical form for it… the Matrix structure itself, or at the very least the Matrix core.  This core serves roughly the same function as the physical glyph of a magical sigil; providing the thoughtform with a physical focus to house its energetic form.  Set it up, along with the perimeter crystals (or whatever objects you have used for your perimeter-it is not necessary that they be crystals) facing inward to create a contained field.  When I did this part, I placed the crystals very close to the core and stood outside of them, but that is a matter of individual preference.

From there, I recommend linking up the core and the perimeter crystals much as you would for the creation of a Crystal Grid.  Really visualize the structure of energetic links glowing between the parts of your Matrix, connecting the pieces together and creating the field of energy you desire.  Let the energy build until it is as strong as you can make it, the links between the physical components searing into their essence, binding them together.

Now, while holding these energies in place, focus on the core. Feel its energy, feel its connection to the outer crystals.  Feel the field generated by the Matrix, and notice how the field is originating from and being modulated by the core, the outer crystals providing a boundary for the field.  Affirm to yourself that anything you place in the core will cause the field to attune itself to the energies of that focus object.  Affirm to yourself that you can tune the field simply by rotating the focus object until the field matches your intention, like tuning a radio.  Affirm to yourself that you can cause the device to broadcast energy rather than creating a field of energy simply by turning the perimeter crystals in the opposite direction.  Dwell on all of these things, repreating them over and over in your mind, until they are burned in as fact.  This is how your device operates.  There is no question, it is simply how you know it to be.

Now, building the energy of the device up again as high as you can comfortably maintain it, give your Matrix a name.  It can be anything you like, as long as you can remember it.  Repeat it in your mind, while focusing on the Matrix and the energy flowing through it, until you feel it kind of settle into place, as if it had sunk into the device and become a part of it.  This name will serve as a key, and will help to keep the Matrix charged as well as providing an easy means to access the thoughtform in the future should you wish to give it additional or more advanced programming, or even just to wake the device back up after a period of disuse.

Since this is clearly not three days worth of energywork, I will state my belief that this is the core of the process and that any further preparation likely involved charging it up further, exercises to further solidify the thoughtform used, and aligning/attuning it with various metaphysical systems that the creator worked with.  In my experience all of those can be done over time through working with the device regularly, and it is not necessary to do them all at once at the beginning, though some may find it helpful for their purposes to do so.

And that’s how I create Matrixes.  There are, of course, as many other methods as there are methods of sigilization or creating Servitors.  The point really isn’t which one you choose to use, so much as it is finding one that works well for you.

Mutating the Matrix

So far, I’ve created three main Matrix prototypes.  Each of them have a slightly different design, both physically and energetically.  I’ll briefly go through them and their construction details in the hopes that it will give some small idea of what is possible with regard to Matrixes, in order from my least favorite to my most favorite.

Matrix Prototype – “Elvendreams/Da’Learn”

Physically, this prototype was very simple.  It’s made of two circular pieces of wood connected by seven wooden dowls.  The dowls were glued to the wooden pieces using epoxy.  German silver wire has been looped between the dowels to form a seven pointed star.

It was conceived as an attempt to make the Matrix design more elven, using more organic components.  That is also why it was named after the first Reiki symbol which I channeled, the english name for which is “Elvendreams”.  This concept also influenced it on an energetic level, as I tried to make the thoughtform behave somewhat like a tree.  Instead of requiring an external orgone shooter or similar artificial energy-input device, I tried programming the thoughtform to take in energy from the air around it, the sun, and the earth upon which it was set.  I also programmed it to use its flat upper surface as the area upon which focal items are to be placed.

It functions, and some people do seem to prefer it, but ultimately I have not found this design to be one that I have any great affinity for.

Matrix Prototype – “TechnOneiron”

This Matrix was meant to be my Masterpiece, and as such its design was much more complicated.  I took the donated motherboards of three computers and connected them together using copper tubing into a roughly pyramidal shape.  This was not easily done, and I had to significantly bend most of the copper tubing to accomplish it, though it remains capable of supporting some degree of weight, including a wholly independent copper wire-frame pyramid at the topmost level.  I placed an orgone shooter in the bottom section.  I was out of project boxes, so the guts of this particular shooter are simply wrapped in tape to hold it together).  Finally, I used twisted german silver wire to create a stand for a dvd, placed purple data-side out, which I intended to function dually as either a scrying mirror or a projector.

Energetically, I went a bit more traditional with this design.  The only really different aspects were the scrying/projecting function that I intended the DVD to have, the fact that I wanted the uppermost tier to be able to serve like the witness plate in a radionics device, and the fact that I wanted the lower two levels to influence the focus, somewhat like a multi-tiered altar, though there would still be one central focus point located in the center of the middle level.

Again, it does work, and I do connect to this one somewhat better than to the Da’Laern model.  But ultimately I have not been satisfied with it.  Perhaps it is the misshapen physical construction, or perhaps my ideas for it were somewhat too unfocused for creating a strong thoughtform, but I do not have nearly the affinity for it that I do for my remaining prototype  Ironic since TechnOneiron was the last Matrix prototype I created, and that was the first.

Matrix Prototype – “Promise”

Physically, “Promise” is the best looking of my Matrixes.  The core is a candleholder with the glass panes removed.  I used german silver wire to suspend an orgone shooter from the frame of the candleholder, with additional silver wire at the top helping to hold the shooter in alignment with the center of the area a candle would normally rest in.  As with all of my designs, the perimeter crystals are simply being held in small plastic “easel” frame holders, which hold them in the proper alignment and allow free and easy rearrangement, as well as folding flat for storage or transportation.

Energetically, there are precisely two things which differentiate Promise from a standard Matrix.  First, I programmed it so that energy from the orgone shooter will pass down through the focal point, picking up its charge, then proceed down to the spherical metal ball underneath the candleholder where it will be radiated out in all directions forming the field.  So far, I very much like the effect caused by this alternation.  It feels more like the device “owns” the field, rather than the focus stone being treated as the true core of the device.  This relegates the focus stone back to a role more akin to a filter, attuning the energy of the field but not the field’s point of origin.

Second, this is the only one of my Matrixes for which I have made an energetic modification to the original thoughtform.  The modification was to allow the silver wire to pick up energy, particularly energies associated with the stars and other extra-terrestrial sources, as though they were an antenna receiving radio waves and focus that energy into the Orgone Shooter.  This modification has settled in splendidly, and Promise is certainly the best of my Matrix prototypes.

I knew from the moment I put it together that it looked promising.

Where do we go from here?

Obviously, these are just some of the things that can be done to modify Matrixes.  There are many others, both physical and energetic.  At the time of this writing, I have already created a staff that can create a field similar to a Matrix, though it does take a bit more conscious effort to maintain without the use of boundary crystals or similar perimeter markers.  I also have a ring that, when a focus stone is set atop it, functions as a broadcast Matrix without the need for perimeter stones.  I have been experimenting further by placing this ring, with a focus stone atop it, in the Promise Matrix to combine the effects.  I have been quite pleased with the results.

In theory, it is possible that one can duplicate all of the effects of a Matrix using nothing but a paper drawing to house the thoughtform.  It is even theoretically possible to have the thoughtform exist without any corresponding physical focus.  Like an egregore, it could just have a name and perhaps a sigil.  I believe it would be difficult to sustain a complex thoughtform such as the Matrix without a physical focus, but with sufficient practice it is well within established occult tradition.

Beyond that, who knows?  I’d love to hear other people’s ideas, either in the comments below or through private email.

What is a Crystal Grid?

At its core, a Crystal Grid is a way to arrange and link crystals to create a field of energy.  This energy can then be applied for purposes such as healing, protection, manifestation, and many other things.  Quite possibly the only limits on what they can be used for lie in the imagination of the practitioner.  If there is something that you would like to direct intense, sustained energy towards, crystal grids may be the perfect tool.

Constructing a Simple Grid

The simplest form of grid that I’ve worked with uses five crystals.  It is laid out in a circular pattern, four crystals forming the border of the circle and a fifth at the center.

If you like, the four boundary crystals may be aligned with the four cardinal or magnetic directions, or to any other external reference points you would like to work with metaphysically.  This is optional, and the grid will function just fine without such alignment.

Activating the Grid

Activating the grid is a simple matter.  Starting at the central stone, visualize drawing a line of energy up to the top stone, connecting them together.  Then, draw a line of energy connecting the top stone to the stone on the right.  Next, draw a line of energy connecting the stone on the right back in to the center stone.  This process is then repeated: draw a line of energy connecting the center stone to the stone on the right.  Then draw a line of energy connecting the stone on the right to the bottom stone.  Then draw a line of energy connecting the bottom stone to the center stone.  Continue around until all stones have been connected to their neighbors and in to the center stone.  You may also repeat the entire circuit to help strengthen the connection between the stones.  I often redraw the links about three times until I feel a strong aura of energy surrounding the grid.  If you’d prefer, you can also use tools such as a wand or crystal point to draw these links.

If you are a reiki practitioner, it can be helpful to attune the stones before using them in the grid.  Alternately, you can attune the grid itself once the links are created.  However, using Reiki with the grids is not necessary, and they will function for anyone.  For those who are not Reiki practitioners, charging the stones or grid with whatever forms of energy you work with may also serve to help empower the grid.

Using the Grid

Now that you have the grid, you’re probably wondering how exactly you use it.  Focus on the center stone.  It’s the core of the grid.  Try to connect with it, communicate with it, ask it to help you manifest your intention.  I don’t personally recommend the practice of “programming” crystals, as I view all stones as alive and intelligent and far older than any of us, but if that’s a practice you work with it could be used too.  My own practices tend towards working with the stones as conscious allies.

If you’re using the grid for distance healing, it can often be helpful to have set it up so that the center stone is resting on a picture of the person to be healed, or other physical link to the recipient.

Once you feel that you have aligned the grid with your intention, focus on the center stone again and slowly feed it as much energy as you can create or pull in from external sources.  Visualize it and the other stones of the grid and the lines connecting them glowing brighter and brighter as energy is added.  When you feel that you’ve added enough, stop and just hold the glowing grid in your minds eye for a few more moments.

You may want to take this time to state any affirmations you may have for the working, or even simply “so mote it be”, though such affirmations are not necessary.  Then just leave the grid in place, and as long as it is not significantly disturbed it will keep running, though it can be a good idea to occasionally add fresh energy as guided by intuition for a grid that is set up for an extended period of time.  Significant disturbance will require that the grid be reactivated, but is otherwise not a cause for alarm.

Mutating the Grid

Once you’ve worked with the standard grid for a while, you’re probably going to want to move on to more advanced grids.  Here you have a lot of options.  You can change the types of crystals you’re working with.  You can use stones that are not crystals.  You can even use objects that are not stones at all.  I have used as elements of grids everything from ritual weapons to candles to animal bones to charged chunks of driveway gravel.  Use your imagination and see what works for you.  Anything that can take an energetic charge can be used.  Nor are you limited to the basic pattern that I have given here.  There are many other popular grid patterns based on sacred geometry.  Any of these will work.  It is also quite possible to create grids using no set geometry, and just feeling intuitively for patterns that will work and balance the energy in the right way for your working.  You can even set up multiple grids, and link them together.  I find this creates an effect that I can only describe as resonance that strengthens the fields of both grids dramatically.  Finally, you can link your grid to external energy sources such as the sun by visualizing a line of energy linking these energy sources into the grid much like the lines linking the stones.  This will allow them to remain active longer, and the link will dissolve on its own if the grid is dismantled.

A Case Study

In July 2007, my grandfather was in a nursing facility for physical therapy following cancer surgery.  He was 93 years old, and he was not facing the situation very well.  He very nearly gave up hope, thinking he would be stuck in the nursing facility for the rest of his life rather than being able to go home again.

I went up to New Jersey to visit him in the nursing facility.  My parents were, at the time, visiting from Minnesota as well.  My grandfather wasn’t looking so great.  I barely recognized him when I first saw him; he looked more like my memories of his father, my great-grandfather, than I had ever seen him looking before.  He was complaining that whole day about having to sit up all day rather than being allowed to take a nap.  The staff were trying to build up his endurance again, and he wanted no part of it.  He didn’t think he was going to get well.  He was dealing with depression.  And from what I was told, he had been for weeks.

My parents know about my metaphysical practices to some degree, and my mother at least believed in them enough to ask me to do what I could.  Direct Reiki work at the nursing facility did not seem to be helping much.  So, when we got back to my grandfather’s house that evening, I decided to approach the situation from a different direction.  I created a grid for him, and used it to empower a ritual asking his departed wife and other departed friends and relatives to do whatever they could to help him.

The next day, when we went back to the nursing facility, my grandfather was in a much better mood.  He told us that he had gotten a great night’s sleep.  And without prompting he started talking about a dream he’d had.  A dream involving his wife, and his departed friend Sam Shore, and a bunch of his other old friends coming to visit him.  Many of whom we’d invoked by name the night before.  Then out of nowhere he started singing an Irish drinking song and talking about an Irish relative we’d also very explicitly invoked the night before.  The look on my father’s face at this was priceless, and my grandfather’s recovery progressed much more rapidly after that.

Below is a picture I took of that grid.  Obviously, it’s a lot more complicated than the standard grid layout, but basically the same principles were used to create and empower it.  It should stand as an example of some of the more advanced grid work that is possible.  And it will help me illustrate one last mutation:  pictures of charged grids that have existed previously can serve as proxies for physically recreating the grid.  In a way, the picture captures something of their “soul”, and provides a link into their energies, even if the grid no longer exists.

Originally posted on March 27, 2007 on http://jarandhel.livejournal.com

I’ve been having a lot of trouble writing this post about the basics of orgonomy. Originally, part of the problem was that I was finding conflicting reports about how orgone was discovered, and I needed to sort through them to find the most authoritative sources and establish the correct time-line of events. Unfortunately, from there, I found another problem: orgone wasn’t discovered as a single event, it was discovered in stages along a line of exploration that led from psychoanalysis to biology to (apparent) bio-genesis to finally discovering and working with the orgone energy itself.

The discoverer of orgone, Wilhelm Reich, started out as a psychoanalyst, a student of Sigmund Freud. A particularly brilliant one, as he was one of the first people to realize that the human body stores repressed emotional energy in the form of muscular tension, what Reich referred to as a process of “armoring”. This is something that is quite commonly acknowledged in massage and other forms of bodywork in the current day. He was also one of the first people to realize that one can psychoanalyze a person’s entire character, rather than just outward symptoms, and that many people showed signs of this emotional armoring even if they had not yet reached the point where it was being expressed as an aberrant behavior pattern. At a certain point in his studies, he became convinced that the human orgasm serves the biological function of releasing this energy, like a built in safety valve, and that people with better sex lives showed a corresponding decrease in neurosis. This prompted his research into biology, literally looking for the biological origins of neurosis.

As his research progressed, he came to believe that this energy (possibly the Freudian libido, though more a literal energy than the Freudian metaphor) was distinct from electricity in the human body. He found that the free flow of this energy was associated with life and growth. His researches finally led him to wanting to locate and study the same energy in paramecium. He tried to obtain a culture of them, and was informed that nobody kept cultured specimens of them since they can easily be cultured from moss or grass. He tried to do this, but without formal training in the procedures of the day went about it a bit oddly. He ended up observing at very high magnification particles breaking off of the decaying grass, forming into blue “vessicles” which displayed the properties of life, and these vessicles eventually forming into paramecium. He named the vessicles “bions” and believed they were the smallest units of life and explained the origins of life. Due to various problems with his experimental set-up, it is *extremely* likely that he didn’t see what he thought he saw. (Light microscopes are not especially accurate at the magnifications he was using, and he did not have knowledge of proper laboratory sterilization procedures.)

But the story doesn’t quite end there… he ended up culturing batches of bions from beach sand that had been heated to incandescence, and found something very strange: these samples gave off a sort of energy. Metal objects in the room were magnetized. Human skin was irritated and reddened if held near the sample jars too long. Working long hours in a windowless laboratory in winter with them, Reich himself developed a deep tan. Whether the “bions” themselves were the answer or not, clearly some form of energy was being emitted by the samples. From observation, Reich noted that it was attracted to metal, but then reflected again rapidly. It dissipated quickly in the open air, but was apparently absorbed by organic material. So he built a metal-lined box to store it and study it. And then he found something really interesting: even with the bions removed from the box, the energy was still there. It couldn’t be removed, actually. Something about the box itself seemed to accumulate the same energy from the surrounding air. Increasing the number of layers of metal and wood increased the effect. And that was the beginning of the orgone accumulator, and the real beginning of Reich’s researches into the properties and uses of this energy, which he named orgone, and came to believe was the same energy he had found in the human body and had first referred to as “vegetative current”.

The exact properties of orgone I will leave to another time, but one interesting little fact I will note: Reich’s device with alternating layers of metal and organic insulators has certain similarities to a faraday cage, but it also has properties in common with another electrical device: a Leyden jar. Food for thought?

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the subject of Shamanism recently. Particularly the question of how a Shaman relates to the gods/spirits they work with. I have to say, I completely agree with per_akh‘s statement that completely giving oneself over to the dictates of the spirit world to point where it eclipses your work, your relationships, and even your responsibilities to your children sounds extremely unhealthy. Some people have suggested that this attitude is what distinguishes the Shaman, in service to the spirits/gods, from the Shamanist. So far, I’m not really convinced by that line of reasoning.

Shamans in the modern world do not generally get paid by the tribes they serve for their service. Certainly they are rarely, if ever, paid a sufficient amount to support themselves wholly on their income as Shamans. They are also rarely independently wealthy. This means in order to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves properly they need to work for a living at a mundane job. If their Shamanism interferes with that mundane work, it directly interferes with their ability to meet their most basic human needs. A Shaman who is left constantly struggling to meet the most basic elements of survival is not going to have much energy left to serve others, let alone be in the proper state of mind to journey to the otherworld and deal with the beings and dangers there.

Human needs are an important point. Shamans, whatever gifts they may have which set them apart, are not immune to basic human needs. And one of the most basic is love and companionship. And while relationships with nonphysical entities are certainly possible, they are not generally as fulfilling as those in which you can touch your partner, hear their voice, hold them or be held by them at night. A Shaman who is denied the fulfillment of a relationship outside of their Shamanic work may have all of their physical needs met, but they are being starved emotionally. Would you want someone who is mentally and emotionally off-balance, for whatever reason, mediating between you and the spirit world?

The same point holds true when it comes to one’s children. There are very few emotional bonds stronger than those between parent and child. Interfering with that bond necessarily creates distress and interferes with the emotional stability of both parent and child. And interfering with the parent’s ability to meet their responsibilities to their child creates an even more obvious threat to the child’s well-being. I can’t help but wonder if any god or spirit which essentially demands one’s child be sacrificed (either by forcing the parent to give them up, or by denying the child proper care to their physical and mental detriment) is actually worthy of service.

Service. That is another important point: to what extent are Shamans in service to the gods and spirits they work with? There is a word in the English language for someone who is in service to another being so completely that the being they serve controls their work, their ability to meet their basic needs, their relationships, and even their custody of their children. That word is slave. So the question must be: Are Shamans the slaves of the gods and spirits they work with? I don’t think so, and for a very simple reason: it is not possible to truly serve two masters. The nature of a Shaman’s work is to be in service to the tribe. They mediate with the spirit world on behalf of the tribe. They go before the gods on behalf of the tribe, to plead the tribe’s case and ask for aid for the tribe. They are the advocates of their tribe in the spirit world, not the advocates of the gods in the physical world.

Advocates… that may actually be a good model with which to look at it. It is possible there are people who engage in shamanistic practices who are in service to the gods in this manner, who act as their hands in the physical world. But can they really be in service to the tribe if their loyalties are to the spirit world? I tend to think confusing the two is rather like confusing a prosecutor and a defense attorney. They may both be lawyers, but their roles as advocates are very different. Similarly, both the person who advocates for his people before the gods and the person who advocates for the gods to his people may serve as mediators between the two realms, but their focus is very different.

I believe it is the Shaman’s job to advocate on behalf of his tribe when he journeys to the spirit realm. To bargain with the gods, spirits, ancestors, etc on behalf of his people. Even to fight with them on his people’s behalf, if he must. To be Prometheus, stealing fire. To be Raven, stealing the sun and the moon and the stars. To be Loki, descending into the realm of the dwarves and bargaining with them for the greatest treasures of his adopted tribe. The Shaman, acting in this role, only obeys the gods and spirits to the extent which it is in his tribe’s best interest to do so. They work with them, they may build alliances with them for the benefit of the tribe, but their primary concern is the tribe’s benefit rather than the gods.

Taking the opposite role of advocating for the gods to man, especially to the point where one is giving control of one’s life over to them to the point where one could be considered their slave, requires a fundamentally different understanding of the relationship between man and the spirit world. It requires the shaman to see the gods as fundamentally superior beings to man, beings which have a divine right to command the lives of men, beings which are infallible in their instructions, and beings which are always good. It requires a belief that the gods have a right to be lawgivers and judges, juries and executioners, over man. In short, it requires the tribe to submit to the gods in much the same manner as the spiritual advocate who considers himself the slave of the gods.

This is a position which is fundamentally incompatible with much of pagan theology. Historically, pagan myths are full of tales of gods with just as many flaws as human beings themselves. They are full of jealous gods, lustful gods, angry gods, petulant gods, kind gods, gentle gods, and above all fallible gods. They are full of tales of the gods warring with one another, tricking one another, interfering in the lives of man to their benefit and their detriment, of being tricked and challenged and aided by man. From Orpheus to Maui, from Coyote to Ama-no-Uzume, the myths of the world are full of such tales. And if you accept that as an accurate depiction of the gods… if the gods are not perfect, not infallible, not all-knowing, not eternally benevolent… then the only way it really makes sense for the Shaman to work with them is as consultants, co-workers, friends, or adversaries as the situation warrants. Just like they would any living being.

For my part, I join my brothers in their defiance of any god or spirit which would make such demands. I will take care of my physical, emotional, and mental well-being. I will work a mundane job, maintain my relationships, and live my life. I will do anything I can to help those I consider Family, both mundanely and through my work with the otherworld, but in order to do that I need to be in a position to help. And I will not be in that position if I am incapable of caring for my own needs. The best way I can get to a position where I can take care of my Family, my chosen “tribe,” is to take care of myself first. And my life-partners and children, should I ever have any, are part of that tribe rather than separate from it, and I will fight to keep them with no less devotion than I will fight on behalf of the rest of my Family. To do any less would be a betrayal of both my Family and myself.

Doubled Flow DNA-Strand Amplifier

• Produce Reiki flows from both hands at once. Optimal Diameter is six inches.
• Weave these together in a DNA strand-like pattern.
• Functionas as an amplifier for Reiki healing.
• May also be useful for work done along bloodlines, or at the genetic level.

Soul Massage

• Produce thin energetic strands, almost like puppet strings, from the fingers touching your patient’s soul/aural self.
• Use these strands to massage the patient.
• Reportedly a very relaxing effect.

Vortex

• Hourglass shaped, made of hundreds or thousands of tiny strand-like flows of reiki energy, woven together in a basket-weave.
• The vortex spins and contracts/expands slightly at the center while spinning.
• When placed around someone or something it removes negativity and infuses positive energy.
• Good for using for a base or anchor weave in advanced or distance healing.

Honsha

• An alternate, modern version of Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen.
• Feels to the kanji versions of Hon-Sha-Ze-Sho-Nen as the spiral Dai-Koo-Myo feels to the Kanji versions of Dai-Koo-Myo.
• The first honsha is the original, the alternate is a version Eshari drew in my notebook at Walking the Thresholds Seven. The differences seem to have been unintentional, but the alternate version connects more strongly with me.

1. Alternate Honsha