Energy is defined by the physical and functional characteristics of how it behaves. Energy is active — it is constantly in motion. It heats our houses and runs our cars. Energy not only changes inert matter, either by moving it, stopping it, or changing its direction, it also animates our emotions and our passion.

Physicists recognize that the universe contains infinite potential energy. Energy is easily moved with intention, and flows through the inter-connected, ever-changing patterns that make up the whole of creation. When our minds envision color, shape, or movement, the energy responds.

The power of our healing work comes from this understanding of energy: we can effect form intentionally by developing our thoughts with imagination, will, and focused attention, and by engaging our senses. The subtle, intangible energies we use in healing are malleable, and if our awareness is trained to sense them, we can mold those energies into tangible, substantial form.

When we work with the energy fields that surround life forms, such as the auric field around a person, we affect a more basic reality than the physical, and as a result, the physical is invited to change. Matter is an end product of the process of giving form to energy. Although we work at an earlier stage of the process of manifestation, when you change the level of the energy, there is a physical effect that you can witness. Consider the process of ice turning to water, and then to steam.

Just as intelligence permeates the universe, energy itself is infused with consciousness, vitalizing the tapestry of life and informing the patterns that connect all things. We are all connected, and we are all affected by the acts and thoughts of others. Life forms that grow in colonies, such as coral, fungi, and ants, exemplify the cooperative effort that produces many individuals as part of a whole. In actuality, all life is composed of cooperative and symbiotic relationships, because energy at its basis is love.

The energy that vitalizes matter is imbued with intelligence that is cooperating to create matter. Simply allowing energy to move through you and out your hands into another form will create an effect. That is its purpose and its joy. With the addition of intention, you give this energy direction (marching orders). We have the opportunity to exercise our choice to empower and direct energy for healing.

A good parallel example can be found in the practice of the martial arts, tai chi and qigong. As the practitioner puts out the call, the energy comes in, focuses and intensifies, often raising the physical temperature of the body of the person, or of the specific place in the body where the energy is being directed. It is most important to develop and attune your abilities to visualize and to focus your awareness and intention through practice.

It must be noted that energy does not moralize. The power to change things is dangerous when wielded by one who is not in service to the needs of the people and the creation. When we set out to change things, even in healing, we must always take care to examine the possible consequences of our actions, and keep ourselves clear and centered. That said, we cannot be attached to the result of our healing work because we do not decide the form in which healing happens. That is decided by all the consciousness involved, including the one who is receiving the healing. Although the same is true when you intend harm — that harm is only received if there is an acceptance of and permission for it to manifest — you are still responsible for your own intentions.

As you develop skill in healing, you will come to realize that it is not possible to act unilaterally, because we are all connected — we are all one. Healing as a creative process is a cooperative venture, the work of a collaborative team that brings about more than the original intention of the instigating healer, and usually surpasses it. A healer who clings to an expectation will be disappointed and will not perceive that her motivating intention has spawned something beyond her original imagining. When you invoke a healing process with this work, you are the person who is presenting an idea to a collective — yourself, your spirit allies, and the higher self of the person you are working with. The collective fulfills that idea in its own way, and what manifests surpasses your idea and is in harmony with the intentions and consciousness of all involved.

As you focus your attention on energy, it begins to reveal itself in various forms. You can walk into a room of people and in an instant know a great deal about them because of an energetic connection that you feel. Certainly, when you are in the presence of deep love, sexual attraction, or acute repulsion, you have instinctive awareness of energy at work. It becomes palpable, tangible. At times it seems as though you could "cut it with a knife."

When you have more energy, you get more work done. On the other hand, when energy is blocked, it stagnates and is hard to move. By involving yourself in practices such as yoga, martial arts, or healing, you honor and develop a more conscious relationship with the subtle energies that move through us all — and you keep them flowing.

Try rubbing your hands together quickly for a moment, and feel the heat that is created from the friction. Continue rubbing for another moment; then hold your hands about twelve inches apart facing each other. Slowly bring them together. What do you notice? Can you feel the pressure as the auric field that surrounds each hand presses upon the other? Does it tingle? Does it feel warm or energetic? Is there a thickness? A tangibility? The energy that you have stimulated is a palpable force that you can develop and direct, and, ultimately, use to effect healing.

There are many ways to raise or develop energy for healing. Rubbing the hands together can certainly give a person the feel of it. Just doing that simple exercise — and directing the energy in your palms toward wherever you wish to send it — can create change. In fact, this is a good way for the uninitiated to begin to experience energy and its movement. You can easily feel its transmission by putting your hands on your own body, especially if you direct it to a place that is in pain.

Our bodies function somewhat like batteries. We expend energy and then recharge through eating, resting, and exercising. When we are in emotional crisis or even near it, we feel drained. Healing energy, on the other hand, comes through you, not from you. Our physical bodies exist in layers of subtle energy fields, called auras, which extend out from our physical form. Those who "see" auras, either naturally or through training, can be informed by the color and animation evident within these subtle bodies. These fields provide information about the physical, emotional, mental, and even spiritual status of an individual. That information can be useful in diagnosis of disease. Often the information in one's auric field precedes the actual physical manifestation of illness or healing.

The clearer your energy field is, the easier it is for the subtle energies to pass through your body, and the better attuned you are to receive them. No matter how much training we have, if we allow static or corrosion to interfere with our connection to source, we will not have access to the fullness of our resources. In this way we are similar to an automobile battery: when the cable gets corroded, the charge cannot get through. If the conduit is kept clean, then we will be more successful at whatever we attempt.

Energy also exists within things, in accordance with their power. You can see energy surrounding plants and trees, even people, especially if you sit with them and defocus your eyes. There is a very subtle glow, a radiance of life that surrounds all living things. When you focus on that surrounding field, you can actually see the movement of prana, as it is called in India, or chi, as it is called in China. You can feel it radiating from all forms of life in nature, from people, and even from so-called inanimate objects that have power, such as art or sculpture that was created with intention.

Intention is a key word here. Intention combined with attention creates opportunity to make something happen, to harness and direct energy to manifest in specific ways, for specific purposes. In the work of Alchemical Healing, intention and attention are keys that unlock the mystery of healing, of co-creating reality, and of manifesting your most fulfilling destiny.

Physical health is directly related to energy, whether it is energy that heals or energy that stops you cold in your tracks. Dealing with energy is the crux of the matter. The more you pay attention to energy, the more aware you become of its subtler aspects. Often in this kind of healing work, less is more: the subtlest energies can make the greatest difference. The primary energy in Alchemical Healing is what we call the Universal Life Force — the infinite activity, the movements of light and vibratory frequencies that are the basic constituents of life. By whatever name it is called, and there are many, this life force energy can be channeled through your body in a way that regenerates you while you are simultaneously directing it out to others or into yourself with intention. This force is activated by intention, and it becomes more accessible through the attunements offered here.

When you have activated this energy within your own body system, you are connected to the infinite source and can now access it more strongly at will. There are many pathways and disciplines through which you can facilitate this connection. Once the connection is made, you will have it for the rest of your life. Because the source is limitless, it will always be there. You cannot use it up, but keep in mind that you must stay aware of the difference between your personal store of energy and the infinite Universal Life Force.

One of the main pitfalls in healing is thinking that you are the one doing the healing. Therein lies the first paradox. You are and you are not. You are the conduit through which the energy flows. There is an important distinction to make between your personal power and the Universal Life Force. If the power comes from you — from your personal store of energy — you have only a finite amount and can use it up, leaving yourself drained and vulnerable. If it comes through you, and you honor the infinite and intelligent source, then it will always be there for the asking, and it will never run out.