This is a technique I felt the need to share with ya’ll. This is a technique I developed as a result of my failed experiments at PK.

During these experiments, I would try to reach out to the object and touch it, but not physically. I started by doing this astrally. As soon as I remembered at how horrible my accuracy at astral projection was, I decided to try something else.

The technique originally involved me visualizing an energy field around my body. I would feel anything that passed through this energy. Obviously, the physical feedback of mundane nerves in one’s mundane body is how the body will initially register these sensations. However, I tried to expand this energy to start sensing things without them actually touching me. I started with touch because… well, it made the most sense to me as being the easiest sense to work with. After all, I had previously felt the sensation of people’s energy entering my own while being several inches away from my body, so there wasn’t much of a mental leap of faith to be made here.

I practiced with this technique for a while, expanding my energy, contorting it into different oblong shapes etc. Eventually I came up with the idea of having a protruding beam of energy. This would be like a metaphysical walking stick, except that instead of just whacking things to *something* was there, I’d be getting useful sensory input to determine *what* being detected by this energy.

I would experiment with sitting on one side of a room, and “touching” objects on the other side of the room - trying to feel them with just my energy. Of course, you can argue one’s previous sensory input can affect the results - but at this point in the learning process, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing, just a likely rational explanation.

From here I made a leap. I thought about sensing everything in a room rather than just 1 thing at a time. From that I developed a technique I call The Sensory Net. I have what are like ropes of energy coming from my physical body forming a pattern of a stereotypical rope net (with 90 degree intersections). I’m not sure if the cross-sections are truly needed, but it works for me so I don’t plan on changing any time soon.

As I became more efficient at this technique, I started to experiment with larger and larger sensory nets. Now, the interesting thing is to have a sensory net that isn’t attached to you. I have used this technique to sense when someone entered an area that I couldn’t physically sense (e.g. being at the dead end of a frequently path and sensing approaching individuals).

My current use of this technique has replaced sensing physical objects with sensing the energy of my surroundings. I can just use more traditional methods (sense using receiving hand), but I feel this technique offers a better degree of security by obscurity and this technique doesn’t drain me nearly as much.

Just throwing that out there. Feel welcome to modify as you desire.

I sometimes think back to the events that led me winding up in Texas. To be honest, it boiled down to 3 spur-of-the-moment completely random decisions that either way could have drastically changed where I am today. The latest episode of Doctor Who reminded me of this.

Combine this with the fact that I watched this on the night where we were discussing time magic (specifically, drawing energy from another time) on the podcast (Episode 73 recording) and I began to wonder about how far could we manipulate the past?

Personally, I’ve always found a lack of ability to modify the past when I knew what happened and the outcome. However, if someone tells me to do it, then I do it after the fact to have a retrospective effect, then only after that hear what happened and the results, then everything seems to work. Maybe it’s my inability to mentally overcome a barrier to believing the past is as flexible as the future.

Though, I will admit, my theory on time is that there are certain critical points, and a lot of other stuff is just filler and backstory. The filler can change without affecting anything, but the critical points - if manipulated, can change substantial things. Which is why I loved how this was portrayed in science fiction. Change 1 thing and you change the basis for a series of events that occurred afterwards (for better or worse).

That’s just my random rant I felt like posting. Feel welcome to share your thoughts.

If you read between the lines (or are particularly attentive) to the outros, you may have noticed I’ve been going through some weird metaphysical stuff lately. Since I’ve moved to Houston, I’ve suddenly begun hating what was, a few weeks ago, one of my favorite food groups: crab. Crab rangoon, crab casserole, crab cakes, crab dip… you name it, I loved it. Now I can’t stand the taste of it. Combine this with very weird metaphysical things that I’ll just skip over in a public forum such as this (until I am comfortable disclosing such things here).

I am very thankful to all those who directly or indirectly helped me to be where I am today. I sent letters to all I still kept in touch with after moving down here with my latest contact info and a personalized note. However, it’s one thing to feel thankful and say thanks - but it’s another to express that wholeheartedly.

So I was on the phone with my grandmother the other day. She was proud of me for the circumstances that led to me now living in Houston. I usually pray for her health in my own little way and I make sure to mention such things in my greeting cards to her. However, this time she was emphatic that I thank God for everything. She repeated this a couple of times… and this is abnormal for her so it really sunk in. Obviously she doesn’t know I’m no longer Catholic and to be quite blunt, I don’t see the point in telling her. What possible good could come of that?

Getting back on track, I took her words very seriously. I had been contemplating a ritual giving thanks to all that has gotten me here. I was like “YES! Finally get to light some incense and candles…. FUCK!” Ya, I totally don’t have any lighters in the apartment. I have an electric stove so that wasn’t an option. I wasn’t about to think of causing a fire just to do ritual so… Plan B.

Plan B goes back to my personal favorite way of setting up sacred space: stones. This ritual was weird though. Often there’s the grand illusion that humans are controlling the ritual and controlling the outcome and so forth, especially in the Wiccan community. In this case, my stones were guiding me. It’s weird how different stones… heck even things I know just to be colored glass… would trigger meanings in my mind. Well heck, who am I to argue with my own mind?

The ritual in itself was a learning experience. While I obviously had gratitude for those that overtly helped me get here, I didn’t realize all the elements of the equation… no pun intended. For example, there was a stone given to me by the one ever affectionately known by names such as “Dumb Bitch,” “Fat Whore” and combinations thereof. Those who hurt me triggered a series of events, which ultimately led to me being here today. The locations I lived in also led me to where I am today. Family, friends and those I have adopted as family all played a role in where I am today. Illness as well as health both led me to where I am today.

By the time I was done, my makeshift alter had a complex, yet ultimately crude, equation indicating all the factors in this timeline that led me to where I am today. There were also stones that I felt should be there, but I don’t know why or what they represent. Perhaps I will eventually understand these - or perhaps they represent the abstraction of things that resulted in me being here that I am not aware of and perhaps may never come to know about.

Once the equation was set on my alter, I did my energy-based ritual and wow. That was good stuff. I pushed more energy through me than I have in about a year. Afterwards, I was very happy, downright ebullient. I also felt less burdensome. I’ve also noticed some of the metaphysical stuff I don’t talk about publicly has gone away. Apparently when you need something, it’ll be there. When it’s no longer needed (as determined by your physiological state), then there’s no need to overwhelm you with this stuff anymore so it just goes back into the subconscious.

It was weird. I am one for eclectic rituals, but this is the first formal solitary ritual I have done in years. I have to admit, I miss doing this - especially when it is done for a meaningful reason.

Well, not often that I add a new category to the website but here it is: “Specific Insanity.” I’ve been wanting to add a “Specific” section since “General Tomfoolery” was added. And keeping with our trend of using abnormal category names, I figured to use “Insanity” to describe posts relating to metaphysics and personal metaphysical experiences. My posts here will contain material not quite personal enough to require posting to a preferred-list post on my MySpace but not quite mundane enough to post to the blog everyone I know can read.