We now come to an interesting topic related to the etheric envelope and the matter that goes into its construction. There are certain circumstances in which it is both permissible and desirable to form either a shell or a shield of etheric matter, to protect oneself or other people from unpleasant influences of various kinds. As an example, in a mixed crowd, there is quite likely to be present some physical magnetism that is distasteful, if not positively injurious, to a person who has begun to refine their etheric envelope using focused living, including abstaining from eating meat and the reduced consumption or total abstinence of alcohol. Some people who are low in vitality, have the faculty, usually unconscious, of depleting others in the vicinity of their stores of Prana. Provided these vampire-like people took from others only those etheric particles, which are normally expelled from the body as not needed, no harm would be done. Often, however, the suction is so intense that the whole circulation of Prana in the victim is increased, the rose-coloured particles also being drawn out of the system before their Pranic content has been assimilated by their owner. A capable vampire can thus drain a person of all their strength in a few minutes.
The vampire is not appreciably benefited by the vitality of which they have robbed others, because their system tends to dissipate what they acquire without proper assimilation. A person in this condition needs mesmeric treatment, with strictly limited quantities of Prana being supplied to them until the elasticity of their etheric double is restored so that both the suction and the leakage cease. The leakage of vitality, in these unfortunate people, takes place through every pore of the body rather than through any specific part of it. In certain abnormal cases, another entity may attempt to seize and obsess over the physical bodies of others. In your daily life activities, it may be necessary to sleep, e.g., on an aeroplane, near people with vampire tendencies or whose emanations are coarse and undesirable; I am not just talking about body odour! Another situation which may occur is that the person may have to visit people or places where disease is rampant. Some people are so sensitive that they are likely to reproduce in their bodies the symptoms of others who are weak and diseased. Yet others suffer considerably from the incessant play of the multiplex vibrations of a noisy city.
In all these cases, an etheric shell may be utilised to the benefit of the person to protect themselves. It is important to note, however, that an etheric shell, which keeps out etheric matter will also keep it in and that therefore one’s etheric emanations, many of which are poisonous, will be kept within the shell.
The habit of pulling a shield around myself is something I have practised for decades. I say a silent invocation to my devas when entering a crowded environment, asking them to put a shield of blue light around me. I also deliberately shun environments that I know will be discordant, like loud raucous events and places where alcohol consumption is the primary activity. Why avoid pubs and bars? It is to these environments that discarnate vampires are particularly drawn. Alcohol punches holes in your etheric shield, as we have already discussed. You then start to leak energy and there are a class of nature spirits, as well, in the worst case, discarnate humans, that are ready to take advantage of this breakdown in a person’s defences.
So, let’s get back to this shell. How is it made? The shell is made by an effort of will and imagination. It may be done in two ways. Either the periphery of the etheric aura, which follows the shape of and is slightly larger than the physical body, maybe densified, or an ovoid shell of etheric matter may be manufactured out of the surrounding atmosphere. The latter is preferable, though it demands a far greater exertion of the will and a more definite knowledge of how physical matter is moulded. However, I am of the opinion that if you train your devas well, they will do most of the work for you. The objective is not just to strengthen your shell when you enter a negative environment or situation, but to habitually strive to maintain strong defences by healthy habits and good and balanced nutrition. Imagine this shell around yourself at all times. Realise that it is there and reinforce your conscious perception of its existence. Thought and intent have powers beyond our imaginings. It is for this reason that we are warned to guard our stray thoughts because once you begin to walk The Path, your thoughts take on an energy that can backfire on you and harm others if you are not continually vigilant.
Students of esoterics, who wish to guard their physical bodies during sleep employing an etheric shell, must be careful to make the shell of etheric, not emotional matter. A case is recorded of a person who made this mistake, with the consequence that the physical body was left entirely unprotected, while he floated away in an impenetrable emotional shell, which permitted nothing to pass either to or from the consciousness imprisoned within.
The formation of an etheric shell before going to sleep may be of assistance in helping the experiences of the persona to come through into the waking consciousness. It does this by preventing the thoughts, which are always floating in the etheric world and which are constantly bombarding the envelopes, from entering the sleeping etheric brain. These thoughts become mixed up with the thoughts of that etheric brain itself. Imagine being in a city like Las Vegas, which is very focused on materialistic indulgences and the people there are emitting a whole spectrum of negative emotions and etheric emanations, not to mention being overly saturated with alcohol. To a clairvoyant, such cities have a pall of negativity over them that extends beyond the individual and encompasses the whole environment. Chicago was the centre of the meat trade in the USA and millions of animals were slaughtered annually. The fear they emitted as they were led to their slaughter permeated the whole environment and it is by no accident that this city was plagued with violent gangsterism in the 30s.
The etheric part of the brain, being the playground of the creative imagination, takes an active part in dreams, especially those caused by impressions from outside, or from any internal pressure from the cerebral vessels. the sleeping person’s dreams are usually dramatic, for they draw on the accumulated contents of the physical brain and arrange, dissociate, and recombine these according to their own fancies, thus creating the lower world of dreams known as REM sleep. The best method of remaining, whilst awake, practically impervious to the impingement of thought from without, is to keep the brain fully employed. This avoids leaving it idle and the door wide open for the streams of inconsequent chaos to pour into it. This is also why one should not meditate for too long. There is the risk that focus can be lost and the etheric web weakened, so that chaos can enter the physical/etheric brain from the lower realms of the Emotional World.
In sleep, the etheric part of the brain, is of course, even more at the mercy of outside thought currents. By the means suggested above, an individual should be able to keep themselves free from such troubles. In some cases, it is not necessary to make a shell to surround the whole body, but merely a small local shield to guard oneself against a special contact. Thus some sensitive people suffer acutely by merely shaking hands with others. In such cases, a temporary shield of etheric matter may be formed, by an effort of will and imagination, which will completely protect the hand and arm from the entry of a single particle charged with undesirable magnetism. This may sound excessive but tell me how many minor colds you suffer every year, not to mention headaches? How many of these conditions are brought on because you have not been able to maintain a strong protective shell around yourself?
Similar shields are used for protection against fire, though for this purpose a far greater knowledge of practical magic is needed. Such shields of etheric matter, the thinnest layer of which can be manipulated in a manner as to be impervious to heat, may spread over the hands, the feet, or over the hot stones or other substances used in fire walking ceremonies. These ceremonies are still practised in some parts of the world. This phenomenon is occasionally seen at spiritual séances, the sitters being enabled to handle red-hot coals with impunity. Exhibiting such phenomena was all the rage in the first half of the 20th Century. Mercifully this fascination with somehow proving the existence of supernatural forces is no longer desired by most students of esoterics.
It will, of course, be recognised that the shells and shields we have been speaking about are purely etheric and therefore have no effect on us from emotional or mental influences, for which purpose shells of the material of those planes would have to be employed; with these, however, we are not here concerned in this series of presentations.
In the next presentation, we will dip our toes into the waters of mediumship, the one occult practice that the general public is aware of and often seeks out.