(idea) by Wuukiee Mon Dec 03 2001 at 22:11:08
Energy catch is a fairly commonly used training exercize for enhancing the ability to sense energy, to increase "psychic" talents, and in many magic workshops. Best played in a small group of at least four, but can be done with as few as two people. There are many varients of the game, but all are equally as valid. For a more advanced form, all the individual parts can be combined. Very frequently this exercise will make "believers" out of doubtfuls because if done right, it gives them some actual "proof" of the existance of maniputable energy and hence "magic". It's one of the easiest things for a non-trained or non-sensitive to experience, which is exactly the reason it is so good as an introductory exercise. It is important to note that most people cannot SEE this energy but instead sense its presence.

One person, generally the leader of the workshop, or one of the more advanced magic workers, manifests an energy ball. Hopefully, someone in the group knows how to do this, as it's slightly tricky to explain. Ideally you want a ball at least the size of a tennis ball. Some people prefer to work with a ball closer to soccer ball size for this. If there is no leader, and if you need to manifest a ball and have no idea how, you can try:

1) violently snapping your hand down quickly, palm up. This works well for a lot of people, 'jarring' energy out of the hand chakra into a smallish sphere in your hand.
2) rub your palms rapidly together for about a minute, or until they start to tingle and buzz. (This process opens the hand chakras and allows energy flow. Then hold your hands together, palms facing one another, about three inches apart until you feel energy building up between them.

After the ball is made and sufficiently resized to whatever size the group wishes, you start playing catch. Here's the fun part. You're taking this ball of energy and CHANGING it. The person you throw it TO has to tell you how. (To change a ball of energy, just vizualize it. See it in your hands as it is now, and will it with your mind to how you want it to be. Feel it change and it will change.)

The easiest things to start with are size or weight. Ie, you take a tennis-ball sized thing and make it like a soccer ball, then you throw it. Or you can take the same-sized ball--say a soccer ball, and you can make it balloon weight, or make it heavy like a medicine ball. They catch it, tell you what size it is, visualize resizing it, and throw it on. Many times, they're goin to *subconsciously* catch it correctly for its size before they realize what size it is.

An alternate version for the fully doubtful is to have the former write down what it feels like, throw it, have the catcher write down what it feels like, then compare notes. This prevents "influencing" opinion by the other person. As a training exercize you might want to have all members write down how they sense it, and compare notes.

Once you have size OR weight down well among the group, go for both. The next advanced step after that is COLOR. You set a size, usually soccer ball size for ease of seeing, and you make it a color, or a pattern. Hot pink, blue and silver swirls, green with ugly sylized flowers on it, doesn't matter. But you catch the ball, tell the group what color it is, then make it your color then throw it on. (again, for "proof" have the whole group write it down.) The most advanced form, of course, is size, color, and weight. Changing shape is not recommended, in general, as it's harder to catch, say, a pyramid. ^_^

However, having mentioned shape, shape was part of the FUNNIEST game of catch i ever played, and the one that probably made me believe more than anything else. I was at a "Magic 101" workshop last year, and we were playing catch as a warmup. It went as normal--we'd played before, so everyone was getting pretty good at the game. Then suddenly, the "TA" of the workshop, as it were, decided to be truly evil. (She's really good at truly evil *grins* ). She threw the ball at one of the guys in the group, and instead of catching it like a soccer ball like everyone else, he made this odd grabbing motion like you'd make to catch a tube sock thrown at you, snatching it out of thin air. He blinked, having no idea why he'd just caught a BALL like that, then looked. We all looked. And dangling from his hand was a "bunny-ball." Not an energy rabbit. a BUNNY-BALL. Soccer-ball shaped, sized. But it had fur. A tail. and Ears. And it was dangling oddly from his fist, by its ears. This ended the game, of course, since after we realized what happened no one could BREATHE from laughing os hard for a good five minutes...

I like it!