Chapter 18 – Protection: Sealing the Aura (1)
18.1 The fight or flight reaction
Before going through techniques of protection, it may be
interesting to have a look at what nature does when she wants us
to be protected. What is the natural reaction when the life of a
human being is threatened by great danger? It is the ‘fight or
flight’ response, which is mediated through a massive discharge of
secretions of the sympathetic nervous system, involving the
adrenal glands. The arterial pressure is increased, the heart beats
faster and more strongly, and a number of drastic physiological
changes take place that increase your muscular strength and
mental activity. Suddenly you are fully awake.
What does this mean in terms of subtle bodies? Remember what
we discussed in section 13.5: When the astral body (layer of mental
consciousness and emotions) is floating, away from the etheric and
physical bodies, you are asleep or sleepy, or in a deep state of
meditation. Everything in the physical body is very relaxed and
the etheric body is dilated and spread out to a certain extent.
From what we have just described, you can readily conclude that
exactly the opposite takes place in the fight or flight reaction. The
astral body is pulled strongly into the etheric and physical bodies
and exerts its action, which tends to make everything contract.
Of course, it would not be appropriate to trigger a big shot of
adrenalin every time you wish to induce psychic protection. Yet it
is important to notice that in terms of subtle bodies, the natural
response when physical protection is needed is a vigorous
impaction of the astral body into the etheric and physical bodies.
18.2 Sealing the aura: why and when
We are permanently exchanging energies with our environment,
the same way as we inhale and exhale air, ingest liquids and
foodstuff, and pass out urine and stools. In our present framework
of existence, no life is possible without exchange. But that does
not mean we should take just anything in. For instance, inhale
enough carbon monoxide, or swallow just a little cyanide, and your
physical body is dead! Just as some physical substances are
poisonous to the physical body, so some etheric and astral energies