The woo with the woo
I've been getting progressively stronger in my spiritual work in a variety of ways. In particular, I've been, for a while, working on methods of marking sigils energetically, rather than through actually drawing the marks. When I was first working this method out, I had problems in that it was significantly more draining on me. Effectively, I would light up the sigils with energy, and where I found them stuck, turning in on themselves, or dead, the natural flows of the person would draw up to the lit mark, and it would wash on through. However, I was using my own energy for this, rather than drawing from a deeper source. Primarily I did this because it was easier and quick - my own energy is right at hand - and the reason that I was trying to develop this particular method was, in part, speed. Marking sigils as I normally do is a slow process and it requires me to have the correct materials at hand. Marking them with just my energy could happen whenever and wherever. In the beginning, if I did work over more than just a few marks, I'd be exhausted.
Progressively, I've gotten better at opening up my energy flow so that I can draw from beyond me. I've gotten pretty adept at reaching out to the greater source in just a few moments; I find that it just takes me a few breaths to center and open to it, and there it goes. With access to the greater energy flow, I can much more readily work over a large area of sigils, doing the whole body. That said, it still leaves me trembling, as I am very actively involved in finding the sigils and guiding the energy. Even so, it's proving to be an effective alternative to the written method.
I have found that I can do this without touch - lighting them up from just off the surface. However, touch seems to be much easier. The sigils are both above and below the visible surface, and lighting with energy has a certain advantage in this regard. The actual contact really seems to assist with the energy getting directly to the problem areas. For folks who are particularly closed, it makes the work more effective. That said, for folks who are more open, they get even more from the experience (so I am told)
The other thing that I've gotten better at is draining off poisonous and stagnant flows without having them pass across my heart. When I was first working on doing this, I'd find it easier to have enough strength to activate and move such energy if I pulled through my core. As I've mentioned before, this left behind some of the drawn energies - which was bad for me. I'd received instruction from a variety of sources in how to better have the drawn energy flow around me rather than through me. At first, this was a lot harder - but apparently, I've developed some muscle with practice. Now, it feels pretty natural to do it, such that the energy flows as if along the outside of my skin, and then up and out of my back. It feels much better, and primarily I'm feeling successful. I still find certain particular deep rooted unpleasantness that seems beyond my ability to draw in this way but I have seen that even this stuff can be moved, with sufficient patience on my part. I can certainly use more practice at patience, so this is likely a good learning opportunity for me.