This technique involves surrounding yourself with a brick wall. Each brick is made up of a positive memory or image. Be sure that the shield completely surrounds you (top and bottom included). When building the brick wall, NEVER use negative emotions. It is very tempting to try to use negative emotions to build a brick - it is usually easier to remember negative things than good ones. (When I was first exposed to this technique about 1986 and when I much less experienced, I tried using negative emotion. The bricks built nicely and held until my teacher picked up on one of the images and threw a full life version back in my face with the added impulse that I was to blame and was a worthless piece of SHIT. True, this is not a nice thing to do to someone but it is a VERY effective way to keep someone from making the mistake again. That experience also showed me that I was not ready to transmute negative energy into positive energy.) The problem with a negative emotion is that someone else can pick up on the image and then enhance it while returning it. This will cause your shield to crumble very quickly and enhance feelings of self loathing which is extremely detrimental to magickal workings. The brick wall is a very effective technique and a very time consuming technique. It is also very difficult to maintain the various positive images in the blocks. Of course, when you put a positive emotion into a block it becomes extremely strong. Many people do not feel comfortable inside this type of shield, it is very confining.

All of the non-physical techniques are based on the sphere of light. In addition to attributes, you can create a shield made up of many different shields, layering then one on top of another. It is not uncommon to maintain more than one shield. For example, you may put up a bright white shield close around your body, a black shield on top of that and then an invisible shield on the outer layer. The outer layer will make things ignore you. If something does get through this idea, they are confronted with blackness through which they can not see. If something presses further, they are hit with blinding white light.

Working with multiple shields requires practice. First, be sure that you can maintain and call one shield. When your are comfortable with one, you can add a second and so on. You may wind up with many layers of shields each one doing a different thing.

When learning to shield, maintain the image of the shield as long as is comfortable - if you start feeling weak or dizzy then let the shield fade out and take a rest. You are building up magickal muscles when you learn the shielding techniques. With practice, the shield is there longer and it becomes stronger until you are able to maintain the shield(s) all the time.

The sphere of light also can be used for other things. I tend to keep my personal shields extending anywhere from 1 inch to about 3 or 5 feet from my body. You can extend the outer layer of shields as far as you wish. An extended shield will allow you to pick up more information from your surroundings. It is possible to stand in a room, extend a probe shield outward to another room and know who is in it by reading the energy signatures. You can also pull your shields in tight to you (skin tight) and people will be less like to notice you.

You will notice that your personal shields define your personal space. Other people can instinctively sense the size of your personal shields and will usually not cross into them. In short, you can put up a clear zone around you.

A3. Strengthening your shields by calling for help from other sources

The sphere of light technique uses your own energy. You can however ask that other forces lend you energy to strength your shields. You can ask the Goddess and God force to strengthen your shields, you can call upon the elements, you can use symbols, etc. If you do call on outside assistance be sure that you do have a need, never command or expect and always thank anyone who helps you. It is always better to rely on your personal energy for shielding. Beware of getting into the trap of relying on energy from other sources. You know your personal energy. Of course, there are times when you need that extra bit of help.