by Michelle Belanger
We may gain what we need through feeding, drawing in life as we
would breath.
When we are the center of attention of a whole group, we may
feed upon the emotions of those around us as they are directed
toward us. Those involved in the group are unlikely to notice the
loss of energy, and oftentimes feeding in this way only increases
their focus upon you.
This is an activity many Potentials engage in, though they do
not often consciously understand what it is they do. This is one
of the main reasons many Potentials are drawn toward the stage.
Many become actors, storytellers, musicians or other performers so
that they may achieve the kind of focused attention they crave.
For those who have Become, this is a pleasing activity, but
rarely satisfies more than the most superficial of needs.
Even when a group is not focused upon us, we may feed generally
upon them. No physical contact is necessary: we simply expand our
awareness to encompass the group around us as if throwing out a
net, or visualize ourselves at the center of a whirlpool, drawing
everything in. Thus our energy extends beyond ourselves and, like
embracing good friends, we pull bits of everyone about us into
ourselves, breathing them deeply.
This is less satisfying than a focused group draw but can
sustain us in a time of desperate need when no other option is
available. Places with high energy and many emotions are
preferable for this activity, and thus we are often drawn to dance
halls and clubs. Once again, this manner of feeding is subtle and
easily overlooked, and those being fed from are unlikely to notice
the loss. High energy places often have enough ambient energy
floating loosely in the atmosphere that you are truly taking
little from any of the individual people there.
The two above techniques may be focused variably upon a single
person for a slightly more intense effect. The individual in
question does not have to be aware of your activities, and they do
not even have to be close for you to feed from them. With
concentration and focus, you can easily reach out across a room
and draw off energy from a specific individual. At most, this
person will feel a little tired from what you have taken, but most
people are so desensitized to the subtle reality that they will
pass this off as ordinary fatigue, stress, or too much drink.
Taking from unawakened individuals has its drawbacks, however.
Certainly there are more of them, and they are far less likely to
notice what you are doing than Awakened individuals. However, they
are almost wholly ignorant to the energy that courses through them
and they do little or nothing to cultivate this aspect of their
spiritual selves, and so the quality of their energy is very poor.
Feeding from the Awakened is far more rewarding, as they
cultivate their energy bodies, and so the quality of energy is
purer and more intense. However, feeding without permission from
the Awakened runs you the risk of getting caught. Many also
perceive this as a psychic attack, and your actions will rarely be
responded to kindly.
To this end, willing partners are the most advisable as they
will not retaliate for anything which they consider an
infringement on their person.. Having a willing partner who is
Awakened is more fulfilling anyway, since the more feedback you
receive from your targets, the more satisfying the drain,
especially if they have some awareness of what is happening to
them. It is like making love: the best partner is the one who
responds to your touch, whose reactions guide you in increasing
their experience of the exchange.
Single target, long-distance draws are convenient for
establishing a connection to someone in order to draw them closer
to you but before it is socially appropriate to engage in actual
physical contact.
In general, energy coupled with some strong emotion is more
fulfilling than simple energy alone. One of the most intense
emotions we can feed upon is fear, but the negative repercussions
associated with inspiring this emotion make it inadvisable to
pursue. The next most intense emotion is passion or ecstasy, and
this can be very fulfilling for both you and your partner. Any
emotion that is transformative in its power and depth pleasantly
satisfies our needs.
We may also feed upon energy gathered for religious purposes.
This will sustain us in a time of need when no other sources are
available, though often it is meager fare.
When people gather to worship, they generate a strong force of
energy but few, if any of them, ever know how to properly direct
it. Thus it curls up like smoke directionlessly through their
place of worship or clings around those items which served as the
foci for the group's attentions.
Whether we sit in on the actual worship or appear shortly
thereafter, we may affect a general draw using the net technique
which pulls the undirected energy into ourselves. The objects
which were focused upon by the crowd can also be drained of the
energy endowed in them, either from a distant, general draw or
from the more direct drain of physical contact.
Many find such activities scandalous and unforgivable, but in
truth the groups that can be preyed upon in this fashion have
little awareness that they have been victimized and suffer not
from our predations. The energy of their worship was undirected
anyway and would dissipate eventually on its own, having served to
benefit no one.
Next: XIII.
Breath and Life
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