Defending Against the Dark Arts

How to identify and survive targeted psychic or spiritual attack

I imagine that it is fairly safe to say that at some point, we have all experienced undesirable, even toxic dynamics within a relationship, be it work related, an intimate/romantic partner, platonic friend, or with a family member. These situations may might be obvious and heated, or stealthily guised as friendly and supportive while feeling anything but, or perhaps they become overly co-dependant or emotionally manipulative. The most straightforward way to keep clear of unwanted effects from these sorts of dynamics is to step out of the relationship altogether, which admittedly, isn’t always wanted nor is possible. In most cases, if we choose to, or must continue to keep in contact with these challenging people we can maintain our well-being though keeping good boundaries, monitoring that we don't get sucked into their vortex of manipulation, chaos, gossip, judgement, hostility (or however their disharmony manifests), adhere to good personal energetic hygiene through practices such as grounding or cleansing, and supplement our logical approach to handling it with some understanding of the "Drama Triangle".

However, sometimes we encounter a highly volatile, direct and focused harmful attacher requiring a more robust and multi-faceted approach to protecting our well-being. Situations where we might find ourselves having to defend against the dark arts of intentional ruination, or navigating the extreme level of someone acting on under the influence of an unseen entity.

What I am sharing here today is support for discerning between the more common level of dysfunction and a full-on sustained psychic and/or spiritual attack, particularly by those skilled in spell craft, spiritual warfare, or are fuelled by other realm forces or demonic possession.

A version of this article originally appeared in the second year of my Return to Reverence immersion program, but has now been augmented and expanded upon to share here with you all. If the timing of its arrival isn’t currently relevant for you, it may be well suited for saving to later consult and revisit should a time of need ever arise. A time when one might find focused deleterious poison is being sent our way either consciously or subconsciously in a sustained and prolonged manner.

In this piece, we will cover:

• Discernment between ordinary conflict, intentional and unintentional energetic/spiritual attachment, and a sustained targeted attack

• Additional situation assessment factors to consider

• Signs ongoing psychic or spiritual attack may be afoot

• Defence planning and critical measures to take should there be need

• What to watch out for once defensive actions commence

• When to seek professional support

• Signs of victory - how to tell when the attack is over

Now for two very important housekeeping items before we continue:

1. If you ever feel your safety is in jeopardy, please contact the police immediately.

2. Trigger Warning - this may be a hard read for those currently experiencing or recovering from PTSD, abuse, or emotional or mental wellness challenges.

Discerning between situations: Attachments, attacks, or simply irritating?
Most of the time when people come to me feeling they are on the receiving end of nefarious intentions, they actually fall into the category of mundane level conflict. Yes, the continuously argumentative neighbour who seems to always complain about you. Yes, the domineering boss with inhumane expectations. Yes, even the ex who refuses to co-parent and disrupts every holiday. These abrasive, irritating, thoughtless, jerkish personalities that we encounter can really unseat our sense of well-being. Being in situations with people who we don’t get along with can easily leave us feeling the residual effects of disagreements or arguments, perhaps we find ourselves with a lingering sense of intrusion, we may be in legitimate shock over their behaviour, and we may even lose some of our personal power or pick up some of their projected energy. Remedies on an energetic level revolve around setting good boundaries and maintaining our energetic hygiene. Some excellent tips may be found in this video with a few more tips added in the description.

Sometimes however, we feel there is something a little extra sticky within a relationship - even sometimes when it’s a friendly one. Or we might find something is particularly hostile about the conflict that we are experiencing. These situations might even reach a level that logically seems a bit baffling. Perhaps the actions from the other person are over-the-top bizarre and completely out of scale to the situation, things like social ruination attempts over a missed party invitation or calls to child protective services after seeing a kid dressed in mismatched socks, trying to get you fired from your job after a disagreement. Sometimes actions may even appear innocuous at first glance, like always “forgetting” items in your space, perhaps a water bottle left behind after a visit, then a sweater in your car, perhaps unexpected gifts begin coming or unasked for books start being lent - all accompanied with a casual air or even joked about as another reason to see you again. Or it might show up as a tendency to ask deeply personal questions, seemingly out of the blue, before a close friendship has been established. Perhaps it shows as a bit more possessive, calling to see if you’re okay if your car isn’t out front when they think it should be, getting upset with you for not being available when they want you to be. Curious oddities that if looked at a little deeper or are placed in the context of a fuller picture might reveal things are actually a bit strange, maybe the attention is a little more targeted than a disgruntled or interested person would generally be, and somehow there is a sense of it being unusually personal. We might even literally feel like they have “attached” themselves to us in a certain capacity. When describing the situation, in best case scenarios, we might use words like “latched on”, “smothering”, “overwhelming”, “draining”, or  “clingy”. In worst case scenarios we might say they are “obsessed”, “possessed”, “unhinged”, “psycho”, or simply “dangerous”. When reading on, please keep this range of intensity in mind.

I will generalize here, but when looking at the energetics of these types of attachment attempts and/or targeted psychic attacks, they typically tend to come from someone who falls heavily into one or more of these scenarios:

1. "Energy Vampires" who target you in an attempt to "feed" themselves on your energy and life force. They might be regarded as "drama queens" or "shit disturbers" but also sometimes call themselves “truth tellers” or “tricksters” even “healers”. Energy and emotions, particularly intense once like fear, grief, or anger create an abundant and charged supply for them. Especially as we tend to project and send out those feelings out with potency while we are feeling them in the moment. We might notice through our interactions with them that the conversation always turns negative or focuses on appalling events. The opposite may be true too, where they amp up the energy in every room they enter, or stir up people’s excitement beyond a usual cheering up or lightening the mood, into almost a frenzied level. A couple of clues that we may be dealing with an energetic vampire might be feeling drained of energy after being in their presence, and noticing they have a tendency to ramp things up, escalating situations or feelings to an intensity of any kind. 

2. People who live with and/or work with spirits of the deceased who have not crossed over - unless of course they have been well trained in the profession of psychopomp or mediumship and hold high safety standards and strong boundaries in place. They may strongly insist that they are not being affected, or that the spirits are friendly, and perhaps feel it is their calling to "help" them, at the same time as exhibiting frenetic energy, unexplained illness, regularly experience odd happenings occurring in their life, or have curiously bad luck. The two (their profession and their ailments) may appear unrelated, yet can be intrinsically linked, creating instability in energetic fields and un-boundaried spiritual openings or portals.

3. Those dealing with entity possession. A lot of people fear they have an unseen spirit attachment or are being possessed by an evil entity. Typically this is not actually the case and more often than not those feelings stem from poor energetic management, taking in someone else’s projected emotions, high levels of sympathetic nervous system activation/fight or flight response, inadvertently cultivating fear in oneself (accidentally scaring or “psych-ing” themselves out), or are attracted the seductive novelty of the idea (not a judgement, some brains are hardwired for it). True possession is more rare - even among those who dabble in the realm of ghost hunting or suffer ill after effects of ouija board use. There are a few telltale signs of possession such as uncontrollable facial expressions and unintended body movements that help distinguish if this is truly the case.

4. People who we might consider as psychopaths, are living with certain personality disorders, or those who are narcissists. These folks tend to live with very dense shadow aspects, high trauma wounding, "trauma imprints" on brainwave activity, and often run with a mix of points 1 and 3. Some telltale signs are stalking, harassing, obsession and infatuation with you (either Love or Hate based), inappropriate gift giving/leaving things in your possession or space, hair collecting/saving, and excessive hoarding. In its extreme or in certain cases of familial history, this essence may coalesce to form its own consciousness, and “drive” people to act in unpredictable and surprisingly hostile ways.

5. Active addicts and alcoholics who desperately seek something from you or are very angry with you, particularly if lasting over an extended period of time. The substance itself here can sometimes act as a fuel and much like point 4, it may seem to take on a consciousness of its own. If you are close with someone suffering from extreme addiction challenges, you may recognize their loss of self, change in personality, or out of character behaviour, at this level, openings to take on other people’s projected energy or fall victim to entity attachment can occur. 

6. Someone with real time spent raging towards you, giving "dagger eyes" every time they see you, and/or actively wishing you harm, sabotage, ill-will, illness or death in a direct and focused way. They may be versed in energy manipulation, spellcraft, or spirit journeys - or they may simply be unaware of how potent their words and intentions can be, while using them nonetheless. It’s more than a nasty look or giving you the cold shoulder, it’s active and sustained efforts to thwart your well-being. This scenario may of course be combined with any of the other points mentioned above.

Additional Assessment Factors to Consider

Simply because we may be able to identify someone in our life who fits a point or few from the list above does not necessarily mean we are a target or at risk. However, if we find ourselves in a situation where something(s) from the list above, plus something(s) each of the next 2 lists apply - my recommendation is to then begin a rigorous and focused application of the routine listed in the section for Critical Safety Measures.

Some additional factors to include with our situation assessment are:

• This person is or was our lover/partner/spouse/romantic interest

• We see them in a professional capacity, particularly if seen regularly such as a health practitioner, spiritual advisor, healer, councillor, or we have a student/teacher dynamic