I was working as a tarot reader at a Ren Faire a few summers ago, when a woman asked if I knew anything about psychometry.  At the time I had no idea what it was, and answered her honestly.  The word alone intrigued me, and it prompted me to look into it.

Psychometry is defined as the ability to discover facts about something or someone by touching an object associated with them. 

Of course being the inquisitive type that I am, I wanted to try this newfound art (at least new to me), so I went to my ever patient cousin.  I asked her if I could hold something that I did not know the history behind, and see what I could find out.  Like normal, she went along with my quirkiness, and took off the ring she was wearing.  I focused on being receptive to the energy of the ring, and all of a sudden I was getting flashes of images.  I was able to sense that the ring was a gift, and was also able to describe where she was when she received it.

Needless to say, she and I were both a little surprised.  I did this a few more times with other people and other objects, and noticed a few things that I needed to work on.  Point of view was the first, since I was seeing it as a third person I always felt a little turned around.  The second was being able to stay focused and not lose the images.  With practice I was able to overcome those obstacles, and now I am working on a new one regarding time frame.  The older the object is and the more hands it has been passed down to, the harder it is to pinpoint the history of the current owner.

If you are interested in trying this form of divination, I recommend an exercise I recently read about.  It requires a group of people to participate, but may make for an interesting outcome.
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• Have each person bring a small object, but make sure the objects are kept hidden from you
• Leave the room, and have everyone put the objects on a small table
• When you re-enter the room, try to match the object with its owner

Pick up each object; use your senses and emotions to determine who the owner is.  You may see images, you may feel emotions that remind you of the person, or even hear some whispers; all of these hints will guide you to the answer.

Have you ever completely zoned out, and felt you were in another place entirely?  Where your body feels one place, while your spirit feels somewhere completely different?

I’ve had instances where I’m on the phone with someone, and all of a sudden I can describe their backyard, even though I have never been there.  I feel as if I am floating over it, and can see every detail.  Once you come back, you feel tired and drained.  I believe this is a form of astral travelling.  An out of body experience that is unexplainable, but intriguing nonetheless.

After much practice, I have been able to consciously travel by focusing on where I want to be, or the person I want to see.  I’m still working on being able to communicate to the people I am visiting. 
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A lot of what I do is power over the mind, and complete focus.  Almost like unlocking a section of the brain that is not normally used.  If you find yourself travelling while zoning out, try to focus on a place or person you want to see.  See if you can control your astral travelling, and hone the skill of power over mind.

Messages are all around us.  They are in our dreams, in nature, in our thoughts, or even through others.  The first difficulty is recognizing the message, and unfortunately they are not always straight forward, which makes the hardest part interpreting the messages we recognize.

The most common messages I receive are in the form of animals.  In order to know if the animal is a messenger or not, you should ask yourself a few questions:

• Is this an animal common to my area, or something I commonly see? – I often see deer, so to me this would not be a messenger.
• Have I seen this animal only once, or have I seen this type of animal in different locations? – I live far from where I work, so seeing the same animal in multiple locations usually signals a message.
• Are there groups of this type of animal? – If I see a group of ravens or crows, that usually is a sign to me.

Once I have determined that a certain animal is a messenger, I refer to books or online research to see what they symbolize.  The book I turn to most is Animal Spirit Guides by Steven D. Farmer, PH.D.

My second type of message would be through dreams.  I specifically look up symbols or circumstances that stick out in my dreams.  Once again, I refer to books and online research to find the meaning.  Since I like to get different perspectives I have three books I use: Gypsy Dream Dictionary by Raymond Buckland, Dream Dictionary by Tony Crisp, and The Dictionary of Dreams by Gustavus Hindman Miller.
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Any thought that seems out of place, or any object that looks interesting, can be a message in disguise.  When in doubt, try to look up the meaning, and see if it applies to any current situations in your life.  You’ll be surprised what knowledge you will gain.

When all of my new gifts started developing, I found it a little hard to keep control of my focus.  That’s when a friend told me about the concept of ground, center and shield.  I’m going to give you the way I perceive these core skills and some exercises that can help you in your journey.

Grounding – This is what keeps you focused and in the now.  Think of it like a kite soaring in the sky.  If you don’t hold onto it, the wind will blow it around without any control or direction.

In order to ground yourself, stand or sit with your feet planted firmly on the floor.  Close your eyes and imagine your body as a tree trunk with roots forming from the top of your head going through the center of your body and extending into the ground.  This will keep you from feeling like you are in a daze or fog.

Centering – This is your internal calm place.  It helps you to manage the hectic parts of life anywhere you are.

Imagine your entire body is filled with light.  Now imagine that light slowly compressing and moving towards the center of your body forming a sphere of golden light.  The sphere is your safe spot, your inner utopia, a place where you can go internally to calm down and let go of all of the craziness.

Shielding – This is what blocks any negative energy from affecting you.  Think of it like a force field repelling and stopping an attack.

There are so many ways that you can shield.  Sometimes I imagine a bubble all around me, and others I imagine being in the center of a swirling spiral of colored flame.  Depending on the element you identify with you can also try a spiral of ivy, wind or water.
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The methods above are what I have found worked for me, but understand these are not the only ways.  Research other techniques, practice them, make some changes, and see what works for you.

Do you ever get a gut feeling about something?  Maybe you have a feeling that something is off, or maybe even that something will work out fine.  Those feelings or thoughts with no factual background are what I would call intuition.  We all have some form of it, but most of us ignore those psychic sensations.

Once I realized to trust my intuition, it transformed into something new.  Soon those feelings were turning into flashes of images in my mind.  It was like seeing a still frame from a movie or TV show.  Not only was I seeing things for myself, but for others as well.

This is when I first lost my filter; that part of your brain that stops you from saying something out loud.  I would see something about someone, and instantly tell them without thinking of the repercussions.   I remember walking into a shop, and as I was paying for something, I saw an image.  I asked out loud, “Why am I seeing a duck?”  I thought the woman behind the counter was going to fall over.  She explained to me that she had a pet duck that had recently passed.  She started to get a little teary, and I felt really bad for upsetting her.

I have since learned how and when to turn that filter on and off.  Not everybody is comfortable with someone knowing there hidden thoughts or emotions, and not everybody is willing to take unexpected advice.
 
Now you may ask, “How can I tell if the person will accept what I am seeing?”   I trust my gut, and only give the information if I sense the person will be receptive.

It’s amazing, and a little scary, how magick is all around us.  It doesn’t take much to tap into this energy, and if you’re new to it you may accidentally use it without realizing.

A little over a year ago, I kept saying, “I’m never going to cast; spells scare me!”  Then one day I “accidentally” cast a spell.  Now you may be wondering how anyone can accidentally cast something.  I blame multi-tasking.

Earlier in the day, I had worked on a poem.  I love writing, and sometimes just randomly sit by the river and write whatever comes to mind.  That evening I was testing out a new concept with our incense.  In order to get a few things done, I also started reviewing my poem.  The poem was specific to a personal problem I was having, and was written almost as a wish or prayer to assist me in finding a resolution.  Well, little did I know the combination of my written word and the incense was a mini spell in itself.  Literally within days what was written had become reality.

Now on one hand it was a little scary how easily this could happen.  On the other, it got me past this fear of casting, got me to think of alternate ways of doing things.  Now, I consider spell creation one of my strengths, and tend to help others when they are stuck or need a little guidance.

Call it magickal intervention, help from spirit, or pure luck; either way it was the push I needed to get past my own insecurities.
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Later this month, I will be teaching a class on spell creation.   Please feel free to contact me at Jessica@salemsmoon.com if you are interested in learning more about the way I do my spell work.

I know it’s been a while, and I truly apologize for the long silence!  When I wrote The Awakening, I had no idea how fast things would change when I embraced the magickal side of me.

No one can prepare you for what you experience; mostly because each one of us experiences something different.  We are all unique in general, so it makes sense that we would have different things occur. 

The best thing I can do is give you a little bit of what I was feeling when these strange and unusual events happened.
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Uncertainty – “Wait… What? Did that just really happen?”
Denial – “I must be overtired, there is no way that just happened.”
Acknowledgment – “Yup, that just happened!”
Panic – “What do I do now?  What does this mean?  Is this normal?”
Acceptance – “Ok, this is interesting.  How can I use this?”

Being a logically minded person, I found it very difficult to accept what was happening.  I was taught that this wasn’t real.  I remember one particular day that I completely freaked out while talking to a friend.  I kept on saying “My whole life has been a lie!”

After a few times (or maybe a lot more than a few), you get used to the appearance of new abilities.  If you’re like me, you want to know how you can hone these skills, learn everything you can about them.  I’ve bought so many books on different magickal subjects, that I have a whole section of my bookshelf dedicated to just that.  As much as I love my books, they can only get you so far.  I use a lot of them as reference material, and tend to pull a book or two out at least twice a day. 
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Ultimately, I tend to go with what I feel works best for me.  If you happen to be going through your own awakening my advice is this:  Hold on! It’s one crazy ride, but in the end it’s well worth it!

This year has been a whirlwind for me, as I am coming into my own as a practitioner of magic.  Many call this time period an awakening, and at first it can seem a bit scary.  One thing that may be helpful is that there is a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips. 

I started with Scott Cunningham’s Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner.  Although I do not identify with Wicca, and do not see it as my path, it is a good starting point for those interested in learning more about meditation, visualization and many of the basics.  There are numerous books centered toward the subject of magic, but books are not your only source.  Workshops, classes and retreats are beginning to become a bigger aspect in the pagan community, and can come in handy for the beginner.

Along with the above mentioned, there are many people that are willing to guide or assist in your learning experience, as well as forums or social media groups.  I just give a word of caution, many will give you opinions or ideas, but only you can choose your path.  Be it Wicca, Elemental or nature based magic - follow what feels right to you.