By Dr. Carol Pollio
Do You Practice Spiritual Protection? Why It’s More Important Than Ever Today!
All it takes is turning on the TV to witness violence and negativity. In fact, watching the news is like trying to drink water from a fire hose, as hard and fast as the bad news keeps hitting us. We are surrounded day-by-day with colleagues at work that plod through their lives full of negativity and despair. Some of us care for elderly parents, draining us on a daily basis of our energy, even though it’s an important and meaningful responsibility. Another trend that I see is the popularity of ghost hunting. People are spending a lot of time and energy visiting haunted locations, including abandoned asylums and prisons, where they open themselves up to spiritual attachment by negative energy and entities. The bottom line is that we are surrounded by negative energy more than ever today!
Why is this important for a tarot reader?
We interact with many different types of people while giving tarot readings. As a group, we are quite empathic by nature, which leaves us more open to psychic or spiritual attack. Perhaps you have experienced an increase in requests for tarot readings or intuitive guidance. This time of year interest in having readings increases and in general, demand for all types of psychic services is increasing. In fact, the firm IBISWorld found that during tough economic times, consulting with psychics increased 2% per year (2007-2012). The combination of negative energy in our daily lives and the increase in those seeking our advice has created a “perfect storm” that strongly suggests we take steps to ensure our spiritual protection.
Methods of Spiritual Protection
There are many methods of spiritual protection, but the most permanent and strongest of these is self-confidence. This is not arrogance or a complete disbelief in negative energy or spiritual attachment, but a centered, confident and emotionally secure individual that can set strong boundaries around themselves to protect their energy and well-being. It is what I would call the ultimate “Spiritual Teflon” – the ability to create a natural barrier that repels negative energy and deters spiritual attachment. Negative people and entities seem to sense vulnerability or weakness. Being confident and setting healthy boundaries is like walking around in a suit of armor – very little can penetrate it.
Another commonly used tool in spiritual protection is visualization. Many experts in the area of spiritual protection recommend visualizing a bubble of protection or surrounding oneself with white light. I have to admit that I personally use a version of white light visualization whenever I give tarot readings or conduct paranormal investigations. It includes starting with a few deep breaths and then a visualizing white swirling light that starts at my feet, surrounds me, and continues up over my head. I then visualize gold sparkling light (from the heavens or the universe) swirling down and mixing with the white light, swirling back down around me to the ground at my feet. I’ve become so quick at doing this that it is like drawing window blinds up and down – very quickly employed if I need protection.
Smudging is also a great tool to dispel negative energy and is something I do routinely (usually weekly). The most important aspect of smudging is setting your intent. As smoldering white sage is fanned into all corners of a home, stating verbally or in your mind your clear intent to send all negative energy and entities out and reclaim the space as your own is the most important aspect of the process. I had a client recently who took my advice and smudged her home, but left out this step. Her results were much better when she repeated the smudging with a clear intent. I now make a point to explain in more detail how to set the intent and why it is important.
Finally, there are many crystals, sea salt, blessed or holy items or other talismans that can be used for spiritual protection. I keep selenite and clear quartz crystals in my tarot bag to charge and clear my cards between readings. If entering other people’s homes or conducting investigations where spirit or negative energies are potentially present, I put sea salt and a black tourmaline crystal in my pocket and carry blessed medals of St. Michael and St. Raphael for protection. When emotional events occur in my life that would make me more vulnerable to psychic attack (death of someone close or family emergencies, as examples), I take a break from readings or investigations until things have settled down.
Ultimately, it’s up to you to choose the protection you feel most comfortable with or that complements your personal beliefs. Even though I firmly believe that attitude is everything when it comes to spiritual protection, I don’t take chances when it comes to the possibility of bringing negative energy or an entity home to those I care about. Frankly, it’s not worth the risk. And in a world that surrounds us with negative energy and increased chances of spiritual attachment, I believe using spiritual protection is more important now than ever!
Image: Golden Light (Creative Commons).