"I found that what I had desired all my life was not to live - if what others are doing is called living - but to see and express. I realized that I had never had the least interest in living, but only in this which I am doing now, something which seems parallel to what others call life and of it at the same time, and beyond it. What is true interests me scarcely at all, nor even what is real; only that which I imagine and see interests me, that which I had stifled every day in order to live." - Henry Miller, Tropic of Cancer
The journey of a spiritual seeker is one of self-discovery. Before one can read or heal energy in another person's space, one must know who they are, where they stand, what energy is theirs' and what isn't, and what their perspective is as a seer.
Meditation is the first step on that journey; a practice of discerning energy with clarity within oneself.
I recently had a meeting with a new student at the Academy, she asked me with great seriousness what qualities a successful student had in our training program. I thought this was an interesting question, as "success" at being psychic is not something that I consider important (success by who's measure?)
But I did take a few minutes to consider what qualities I think a great psychic has - here's what I came up with.
- Courage.
- Commitment to oneself and their practice.
- A sense of humor and an ability to find amusement in any situation.
- Honesty, particularly with themselves.
- An ability to communicate with grace, ease, and to someone explicitly - where they are.
- Curiosity, open-mindedness, receptivity to the unknown.
- An extra-ordinary ability to focus their attention for a prolonged period of time.
- A relationship to their imagination and creative energy that enables them to start without knowing where it will go.
The funny thing is, these qualities are the same required for almost any artistic expression. This is what it takes for Bob Dylan to write a song. For a Broadway Actor to perform 8 shows a week. For a writer to deliver their draft to a publisher. For a painter to enter a gallery and hang their work.
No artist has guaranteed repeatable success. Artistry requires a fluid process of creating and destroying, of trying and starting again. It takes years of being amateur at an art form until you find a voice, a style, and what makes you unique as a practicing artist. For the psychic, it is the same.
And in the end, what we celebrate is the individuality of the artist, the thing they do in a way that nobody else does. This is what we teach at AotSA; how to find your voice, your style, as a sensitive. Along the way, you pick up tools and techniques for working with energy - but it's not the tools that make you effective, or magical at it. It's what you bring to the table - and you already have that. You just need a space and a guided practice to un-learn all the ways you've stopped being that.