One of the first concepts I came across when I started along my metaphysical path was that of energy.
That was a good thing, since I came to metaphysics through science. Science has a lot to say about energy. Most of what it says is echoed in metaphysical teachings.
Energy can neither be created nor destroyed. It can be changed.
Energy has a frequency. Even matter has a frequency. Matter and energy are interchangeable (though the exchange rate isn’t always equitable).
Energy is all around us in many forms.
The little bits go on and on, but it all adds up to one big thing: Everything that happens involves the movement of energy.
Many metaphysical practices, from precognition to reiki, in theory involve taking some control of the energy within and around us. The methods differ by tradition, but the desire for results is always the same.
The different interactions of varied forms of energy weaves a kind of web that we are all constantly walking through, tugging at it as we go. Every action causes a change in the vibrations around us. Those changes cascade and resonate with other changes. That ever-changing and always vibrating web connects us all.
That connection is the basic concept behind all magickal working.
We can affect things because we are connected to them. Not in a physical way. Not in a tangible way. Not even in an exceptionally scientific way (though quantum physics may say differently). Through practice, we can come to understand and make use of those connections.
But how do you work with energy?
In his novel The Celestine Prophecy, James Redfield sums up the most basic rule of energy work by saying “Where attention goes, energy flows.”
In other words, wherever our attention is most directed is where we’re sending our energy. How we shift our attention is completely up to us. Visualization is popular. Physical movement works, too. Audio cues, scents, basically any of the sense can be used as a focus. This is why so many mystical practices involve body position, repeated words, visualization and incense. The more sense you get involved, the more fully you can focus your energy on something.
Of course, there’s also another rule that generally applies: what comes around goes around. Unlike the physics principle of an equal and opposite reaction for every action, metaphysical energy working follows the principle of like attracting like.
If you do good things, more good things will come to you. If you do bad things, bad things will come to you. (The definitions of “good” and “bad” are an entire discussion in and of themselves.)
Nature likes to keep things in balance. Since energy can neither be created nor destroyed, it has to change often. There is a balance, but it is not a static balance. There is a dynamic equilibrium to the energy around us.
That keeps life interesting.
There is more, but that is for another time.
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