People are increasingly aware of the need to protect their energies, this is especially needed at this time as so many of us are developing spiritually. You can more in my article Psychic Protection. If you’d like to read around the subject there are a wealth of good books about psychic defence.

By intuitively applying what feels right for you it is possible to build a strong personalised system for any eventuality. You can have a light method you use for every day, one for scary situations, another for dealing with energy vampires and so on. You’ll probably feel a need to swap methods for different eventualities. After all if everyone was relying on just one method it would be very easy for anyone with malevolent intent to crack…a bit like a burglar alarm code set for 1,2,3,4!

Here are some of the books that I have found helpful over the years:

The Art of Psychic Protection by Judy Hall is a very good introduction to this area. Hall’s advice is sound and many of the techniques are simple but powerful. This one would be my first recommendation if someone felt they needed to bolster their psychic defences, but wasn’t particularly used to working with energy, as she is clear in her instructions and you do not need prior experience or any particular belief system to try most of these exercises.

For those a little more conversant with energy work I can heartily recommend The Psychic Protection Handbook by Caitlin Matthews. This is a solid piece of work containing a huge amount of good advice for maintaining the integrity of your energy field under all sorts of circumstances. Caitlin largely works from a Shamanic perspective & guides you through many methods of calling on help. She speaks a great deal of sense to me & I find that when in need I can open this book ‘at random’ and find a passage that fits the situation in hand. She is strong on self-responsibility too. Don’t expect to get let off the hook in this book! Some of the examples and case studies may seem weird for those who are new to the area, but for those with an open mind, or more experience, it is easy to see that Caitlin writes from genuine experience and her feet are firmly on the ground.

If you are interested in folk medicine and traditional cures you may like Spiritual Cleansing by Draja Mickaharic. He draws on age-old methods particularly from Europe. This is a fascinating read, though I confess I haven’t tried many of the methods, which range from immersing yourself in especially prepared nut baths to cleansing with eggs. I really enjoyed this book and do feel that many of the methods though strange may work. It was written in a slightly less health & safety conscious age & I was a little alarmed by the placing of flammable liquids in the corners of a child’s bedroom for example! What was fascinating was the chapter on Malochia, the evil eye, as though this is seen as superstition by most Westerners today it is strongly believed still in some cultures. When I visited Turkey last year the shops were full of devices for turning away the evil eye. Whether it is part of your own belief system or not it is certain that those who believe they have the evil eye put upon them feel the need for help & this book provides some remedies that would counter the ill effects.

Psychic Self-Defense by Dion Fortune is still perhaps the classic work in this area. It is certainly one of the first published and despite being over 70 years old now it is still highly relevant to all those who are working in the field of healing, clairvoyance or other areas requiring psychic awareness. This is a fascinating, slightly scary read and though sometimes archaic in language at times it contains information that you would be unlikely to find elsewhere. She writes very much from first hand experience, much of which tallies with cases I have come across & I found myself feeling that she & I would understand each other and get on seriously well!

Finally for energy workers Dancing with the Devil as you Channel in the Light is a manual written especially for Reiki practitioners by crystal healer & Reiki Master David Ashworth. This is a book that opens your eyes to the reality that the more light you work with the more attention you draw towards yourself from ‘both sides’. It isn’t meant to scare, but it is meant to counsel caution, especially for those who want to ‘fast track’ Reiki and other energy therapies. David runs a very busy spirit & entity release & clearance practice here in the UK. I’ve met him & he seems a down to earth & well balanced guy. I called on his services some years ago when I came across a situation that was beyond my experience to deal with at that time. He certainly knew what he was doing!