Psychic Attack?

Dear Lynda:
My friend and I have pulled away from the pagan path we were traveling. Since this has occurred, we have both been getting ill and having strange physical circumstances, weird dreams and health issues. We are concerned we are under psychic attack from the teacher or her teacher. Is this possible? And if so, what can we do to protect ourselves from the attack without causing any negative karma?
Cynthia, Denver, CO

Dear Cynthia:
I probably have a different take on this issue than some other intuitives you could consult. I know that many metaphysical practitioners hold fast to the notion that others can send evil, chaos, illness or darkness to us and that we are unwilling receivers.

Years and years ago (I've been involved in the "nontraditional" for over 30 years now), when I spent more time in various groups than I do now (I guess I'm just not a joiner anymore), I witnessed things that seemed to be created/sent from "out there" by some malevolent person or another. Very convincing and dramatic. And, to be honest, quite exciting because we all long for evidence of the extraordinary in our daily (mundane?) lives.

First let me differentiate pagan (Druid, Wiccan, Native American, Goddess) groups from totally unrelated/unconnected groups (satanists/devil worshipers, etc.). These "dark" organizations are a reaction to Christianity and have nothing to do with pagan anything.

Anyway, I noticed that pagan groups (specifically Wiccan) seemed to have a couple of different membership orientations: some people were drawn to the idea of magic as a reaffirmation of life, Mother Earth and celebration of being human; others sought out what Starhawk calls "power over." These lost souls were more interested in the black capes, ritual athames, control/manipulation spells and opportunities to find sex partners.

Reading your letter made me wonder if your group had fallen into the latter category?

So, here's what I've found over the years. Nothing comes to us without our energetic/vibrational invitation. Are we inviting consciously? Not usually.

Does that mean I'm blaming the victim? Not at all. You must have had some interest in the group you joined -- some attraction to magic and power (like all of us). But perhaps you had some conflicting beliefs/ideas that had come from childhood (or wherever), which created a push/pull for you. By giving your attention to those individuals (before you left) and buying into some of their claims about their powers/abilities, you were in alignment with some of their more dramatic intentions.

There is a lot of interesting research about curses, and whether they can do harm without a corresponding belief in the victim. You might want to read some of that research. It's very enlightening.

Now, having said all that, I do recognize that we need to deal with the beliefs you already have. So, with that in mind, I recommend that you perform a ritual of grounding and filling. That differs from "protection" (which is often just giving more attention to that which you don't wish to attend to) because you connect to Earth, then imagine yourself filled with loving/healing energy to the point that it fills you and then pours forth from you, grounding and filling everyone around you. If you are filled with "yes" energy, there is absolutely no room for "no" energy. If you are swimming in healthy energy, illness is a mismatched vibrational frequency.

You might be amazed to discover that turning your attention from what you don't want (your fears about the power of those individuals) to what you do want (it might be good to know what you do want) literally changes your experienced reality. Keep me posted.
Lynda