QUOTE(dudeman @ Jun 8 2008, 10:35 AM)
i would like to know a little more about shields, like what types there are, and how to create each type.
I am surprised to find that there's not much on this forum regarding shields aside from the discussion of specific kinds. Try reading everything on the psionics forum, though, for a broad take on psionics and energy work.
Basically, though, shields are constructs applied to your sphere of sensation, or aura, etc., which control what kind, how much, etc., energy enters or leaves that sphere. There are several energetic bodies within which the physical body operates, and the most common levels of shielding are in the emotional and mental bodies. Shielding on the astral body is a little more complicated and gets easier for people who have practiced astral projection successfully.
The higher bodies can be shielded as well, but for this introduction there's no point in mentioning the purposes, suffice it to say this practice deals with karma, spiritual relationships, and issues beyond astral consciousness.
There are three basic types of shielding, at least as I typically categorize them. One type keeps things in or out, a second type regulates what comes in and out, and a third type alters perception in some way. Beneath these are subcategories that are differentiated basically by the specifics of their function.
The ways to make shields are as various as there are traditions of magic in general. Everyone who uses them eventually develops their own method at some point, at least as far as I have ever seen. However, that said a lot of people start out with psiballs, expanding a programmed ball of energy into a shield. Making a shield is not much different than a psiball, it's just on a slightly large scale.
Another way to learn how to effectively shield, however, is to practice the LBRP, GBRP, RC, LBRH, GBRH, etc., and over time observe the changes they make in your sphere of sensation. The QC ritual can also be used as a basis for developing a shield.
One thing that helps is the ability to feel the function of an energy that your call up. Feeling a function is not the same as feeling the presence of the energy, but rather something more akin to feeling it's texture, feeling how it interacts with your sphere of sensation and other energies.
Explaining how to make a shield can be tricky if you don't have experience moving and feeling energy. But the method I use is this: First I expand my awareness into the limits of my sphere of awareness. Then, (a bit advanced but not necessary for practice) I focus on the particular body that I want to shield. I gather energy first into my solar plexus, and then channel it down into my feet and up into my crown. I put the energy in place around the body I've chosen by pulling it down around the perimeter from the top, and up around the perimeter from the bottom, passing the center in both directions up to their opposing points - feet to crown, and crown to feet. After the energy is in place, I alter it's function - this is where being able to feel the function of energy makes the process more efficient. You can set up a shield with intention alone, but it tends to fall apart over time. By becoming more intimately aware of the energy and how it works, you can create a shield that will maintain itself because you've devoted a significant portion of your subconscious to maintaining it.
If you're unfamiliar with energywork and psionics in general, take a look around this forum and read up, get some practice in, and of course I'm sure that other people will chime in with their own methods. It's fairly certain at least one of them will fit your mode of conscious. With energy work, unlike formulaic magic, the way you deal with information consciously has a lot to do with how to create constructs.
Hope this was a good introduction and example to get the thread started with at least.
peace
V