As you begin to attend festivals you'll also start to notice that there's a lot of psychological and spiritual drama that occurs at these events... typically in the last day or two of the gathering. Why is that? What can you do to protect yourself and help decrease the overal psychic clutter laying about?
Beginning with the first question, people attending festivals have a lot of divergent reasons for being there. Some are anticipating enjoying the drumming, others come to see friends, others want to listen to key speakers, and others still just want to be around those with a like mind.
Any time you have more than 10 people in one place (and sometimes it doesn't take that many) you're bound to have different agendas, needs, goals, and visions. Among Pagans this is even more true. Now raise those group dynamics both spiritually and mundanely for hundreds of individuals and just consider how much random energy that generates. Talk about static!
Now, among the individuals gathered there are bound to be those who are not good at controlling personal energy, those who don't know how to shield, and those who haven't figured out grounding. And even those of us who should know better, often forget about these three key principles until something happens and we say - oops!
By then, however, we're no longer preventing disruption - we're just doing damage control. So, let's consider some proactive measures for the second question - how can you protect yourself and help keep Psychological and psychic dramas to a minimum?
The first (and best) answer to that question is begin by taking care of yourself (and I don't just mean spiritually). Don't get overheated, drink water, rest, and eat right. I cannot tell you how many people forget these simple things. Also, take time every day for some quiet moments where you can center, internalize, and manage personal energy.
Second, beyond this on a personal level I strongly advise keeping your spiritual shielding in place but for those moments when you really want intimacy. Every time you shake hands, every time you hug someone... or even just sit in close proximity, you're exchanging energy (some of which you may not want).
Having your shield in place decreases the chance of picking up someone else's stress considerably. Also, having your aura shielded makes you more aware of other people's personal space (and they of yours) ... something that often gets unwittingly stomped on in a large group environment.
Speaking of which, if you see someone who is distraught or having trouble coping with the energies, take them aside and offer to help. They may refuse the help - but even having someone notice and care often alleviates a lot of tension.
At a large event people can start feeling lost in a human sea, which only stresses insecurities, fears, etc. Newcomers may also find they have a lot of confusing questions about what they're experiencing within and without. When we remember the individual, in all our humanness, such negatives have far less of an opportunity to make headway.
Forth, if you encounter some stray energy and have a moment free, take time to ground it out. I have two ways that seem to work well for me. To ground random energy, I sit down and hold my hands out palm upward, gathering those vibrations into my hands ONLY.
Do not accept it into yourself. Next, I put my hands on the ground and let Mother accept the vibrations (she handles dirt very well).
If it's personal energy that's gone awry, I eat a hamburger or some root vegitables. Meat has the capacity to deconstruct static, and root vegitables represent that "grounding" force for which we seek. The crunchy sound (in raw form) also seems to help.
This approach may not resolve all the bumps and bruises that are natural to group dynamics, but if everyone is doing their part, it WILL help. We are a community - and as such we have a duty to each other to remain responsible and aware, even when we're having fun.
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