This article was Not written by me, It was published in the 1999 Llewellen’s Witches Almanac, I have re-typed it into a text document and copied it to my blogs & website with copyright intact.

Psychic First Aid
© 1995 by Therese Francis

We’ve all had days when psychic first aid would have been nice because of nightmares, numerous physical injuries, chronic illness, sudden psychological shock, or working in a stress-filled environment.

The Psychic First Aid Kit

Essential Items
The basic psychic first aid kit contains the following items:
Rescue Remedy or equivalent
Blessing herbs, such as rosemary, peppermint, thyme, bergamot, sage, cinnamon, or sweetgrass.
Drawing herbs, such as Indian tobacco, and American tobacco (do not use standard cigarettes, which have too many additives)
Your athame
Salt or sea salt
Censer or other item to safely burn charcoal and herbs
Matches, lighter, or flint to light the charcoal
Small bowl for water and salt
You might also want to include:
Feather or fan to move the herb smoke
Broom (cinnamon brooms are a favorite)
Rattle or bell
Magical cords from your initiation
Stones, crystals, or pieces of metal that help you focus and direct power
Grounding stones, such as hematite or sodalite

Uses For Your Psychic First Aid Kit
Use your kit whenever you or someone in your family experiences a sudden injury, a chronic illness, a series of bad drams, or when feeling “not right.” Be sure to address the physical issues as well as the psychic, in the appropriate order. For example, a bleeding knee first needs physical attention. Later, soothe the psychic.

Performing Psychic First Aid
Performing psychic first aid is simple. The following is based on the idea that you will do this for someone else; if you are working on yourself, follow the same order.
Protect yourself to make sure you are not influenced by the situation. Do this by wearing your initiation cords, centering, or meditating.

Step One
Seal the area to protect others and to prevent outside influences from affecting the situation further. If you cannot do a full circle, visualize the area in bright light.

Step Two
Stabilize the person. Help them ground and center. Use a grounding stone if you have one (such as hematite). If a person is crying uncontrollably, let him. Crying is cleansing. Just be there and give him your (quiet) attention. If it’s cool, get a blanket to help him stay warm.

Step Three
Review the situation. Now that everyone involved is centered and the area is protected from outside influences, look at the situation. This is a good time to do divination work to determine the root cause.

Step Four
Raise energy. This can be as simple as humming or briskly rubbing your hands together.

Step Five
Perform a cut-away between the person and the outside influence. Use your athame or visualize a bright light separating the person from the outside influence. If the problem appears to be internal, use a drawing herb to bring the influence out, and then do a cut-away. If the problem started as a physical injury, do a cut-away as a symbolic act to prevent the injury from happening again.

Step Six
Seal holes and balance the aura. My favorite is to have the person imagine a paint can filled with all the colors of the rainbow. As this wonderful, warm paint spills out of the can, the aura absorbs whatever color is needed.

Step Seven
Banish any lingering influence. Rattles and bells are good banishers/sealers. This step can be combined with the previous step through smudging with an herbal smoke, such as sage.

Step Eight
Perform any other healing that’s necessary.

Step Nine
Protect the person from any returning influences. Teach her to set up her own shields and to clean her aura (sample below).

Simple Aura Cleansing/Sealing
Briskly rub your hands together until they start to tingle. If you pull your hands apart slightly, you will feel a pull bringing your hands back together. Starting at your crown, clean your aura with a sweeping motion down and away from your body. You can lightly touch your skin or hold your hands two to three inches away from your body. Do your head, neck, chest, each arm, and each leg and foot. Then do a sweeping motion from the top of your head to the ground, first on your front and then on your back. Repeat as needed. Shake your hands out when finished. The whole process takes about thirty seconds.

DISCLAIMER!
The information contained herein is not intended to replace the services of trained health professionals. You are advised to consult with your health care professional with regard to matters relating to your health, and in particular regarding matters that may require diagnosis or medical attention.
© 1995 by Therese Francis