Is there anywhere I can go from here?

[Feelingunsure]

Yesterday I did a day's course in Indian Head Massage, it has been many years since I had a psychic/supernatural experience, but I had 3 in one morning but rather than being frightening as others have been they were really amazing.

The first was when the teacher passed a crystal round the group, when I held it I had a sense of warmth and of being embraced in a friendly way. We were asked to say what we felt and she heard all of us before telling us more about the crystal. Nobody else said the same things as me and I felt so strongly that I only held it for a moment as I "knew" that was right. She told us that it had been dedicated for her to an angelic energy that was to enfold a group in wings of protection and bring it together. A lady who was sitting next to me remarked prior to this that she felt a strong sense of protection emanating from me.

We went on to do some energy work and one exercise involved placing our hands together and bringing them slowly apart and "feeling" a ball of energy. I really could feel a ball and after a while realised that I could see shimmering between my hands like the sort you can get in the distance on a hot day. I also felt an incredible sense of bliss when we were told to bring the ball back to ourselves giving it the name of an emotion, I chose joy and it was amazing.

After this exercise I asked if anyone else had seen the shimmering and they all looked blank, but the teacher asked me if I had ever shown any clairvoyant tendancies in the past, to which I said yes in view of things that happened many years ago. I did thank her at the end as it was so lovely to not fear this gift anymore. She said that I didn't need to fear it, as I had the protection of my Christian faith and she felt I was very spiritual and able to invoke protection if needed.

My question is really, is there any place for any of this beside my Christian faith, I have always been a very conventional C of E traditionalist and have felt that these things are not for lay persons to dabble in. I feel that perhaps this gift could be used, but I would only want to do that if it was not compromising my deeply held faith. Any thoughts/suggestions?

Why do you feel this would compromise your faith? The Bible is cram-packed with supernatural experiences, from the burning bush, to Mary and Gabriel, to Jesus and his disciples on the mountain, to speaking in tongues, to Peter and the angel helping him escape from prison. What is it about your experiences that you feel is incompatible with your Christian faith?

The only danger to your faith that I can see would be if you were to begin worshipping the objects (eg the crystals) or experiences (the shimmering) for their own sake, rather than as manifestations of God's love and power.

I think you need to ask yourself in depth what it is about these experiences that worry you, and take your time in reaching an honest answer.

I have recently been on a Reiki course with a Christian lady who is also on the committee of her local spiritualist church! I don't feel that there is a conflict there. However I can tell you that you will meet those who strongly disagree. Fortunately I can reassure that they know nowt, as my nan would have said.

I had lots of psychic experiences as a child, but I was told that I 'musn't tell lies' etc and so I stopped talking about what I saw, and like you it was an indian head massage class that helped me to rediscover it all again! We did the energy / chi ball exercise too!

We also did the 'buoyancy test' exercise which is using your hand to feel the edge of the human aura. I realised that I could see the edge of the aura, and the teacher pinpointed it in the exact spot I could see it... I nearly flipped out there and then but managed to keep a lid on it!

I wish you love and light on your exciting journey, and may I recommend a website for free resources and so on, psychicknight.com.

I have recommended them so many times on mnet, I promise that I don't work for them!

I have been a Christian for a long time and I have a couple of thoughts of this. Firstly I don't think there is anything AUTOMATICALLY 'wrong' with exploring this side of your spirituality. God has clearly made you a spiritual, sensitive person, and that is a beautiful part of who you are. However, I would maybe suggest that you should be cautous about the CONTEXT in which you explore these things. The New Testament makes it very very clear that there are some spiritual things which can be dangerous for us, and some spiritual forces which wish us harm. I'm not at all saying that Indian Head massage or the experience you had were harmful, I'm just trying to explain why I think you are being sensible to be cautious. Firstly, are there any mature Christians in your church you coukld discuss these things with and who could pray with you about it? Secondly, have you thought about exploring this side of your spirituality in a Christian context? I don't know what your church is like, but some churches put more emphasis on experiencing the holy spirit in the sorts of ways you have described - maybe you could visit a more charismatic church who perhaps will be more used to discussing this side of faith...?

Certainly sushistar I would recommend to anybody that before doing spiritual work, they say aloud that they intend to only work with the highest energies, and the energies of their guides, and to do work that is for the highest and greatest good of all, and ask that only positive energies be allowed to enter their space etc.

I'm not into angels myslef, but I've heard that they are very effective spiritual guardians in that sense. Check out amazon for books.

Hi, are you still there?

I'd like some advice on starting out on a spiritual path, and going on an Indian Head massage course seems gentle enough for a wimp like myself

I've been brainwashed to believe that anything paranormal is cult-ish and the work of the devil, but I'm being pulled towards all things spiritual.

Any ideas?

I'm a Reiki master and I found that a very gentle way of learning to working with energy. I now work with angels, too, including angel card readings, because I found that angels were using my card readings as a way of communicating to people (I don't describe myself as having a gift, as with Reiki I see myself as more of a channel). I come from a Christian background and can relate to feeling uneasy when starting out on this path, but now I feel very at home and you do not have to choose one path or another but weave different strands together to create something that is unique to you. That said, when I offered free treatments to the mums at my local toddler group the Baptist church that runs it refused me permission. But, the wife of a local CofE minister uses Reiki as part of her ministry supporting her husband, so opinions differ.

I agree with Nemo that it is really important to call on guides and (in my case) angels and acrchangels, and I always state that everything I do is in the name of Christ. I was also taught when I first did Reiki 1 to always call on Mikao Usui (the founder), plus any angels, guides and healing helpers - I also invoke Jesus - and I think ths is why I've never experienced the problems that some Reiki practitioners get with energy draining and pain. Sometimes I also invoke the guardians of the elements, and I thank our Divine Mother...it's what works for you.

If anyone is interested I've got an ad over on Classifieds about a spiritual e-course for mums that I run - it's only £1 at the moment.

Thank you, I'll have a look.