Reddit mentions: The best energy healing books

I know of no kundalini yoga books dealing with sexuality specifically.

Reddit has no kundaliniyoga subreddit, so I'm unsure how many of their practitioners might explore here in /r/kundalini. Kundalini yoga is more about growth over-all in a smoothened gentle but rigorous method. You might google for a kundalini yoga forum and ask there.

I am more than familiar with kundalini, and have explored the tantric path. Most tantric paths and yogas have, as an aim, to awaken or stir up kundalini.

Kundalini isn't usually done in order to improve sexuality nor libido, yet those can be side effects.

Some Tantra-focused books with good foundations for kundalini that I've read which you might find useful. They don't go deeply into the kundalini topic as "an exhaustive treatise".

• Jewel in the Lotus.
  
• The Art of Sexual Ecstasy.
  
• La Célébration Sexuelle Still untranslated - French only.
  
  In my experienced opinion, the best book on kundalini by far is:
  
  Kundalini and the Chakras: Evolution in this lifetime
  
  Tantra comes in three main flavours. White, pink and red. White focuses on spirituality, with increased pleasure as a bonus. Red focuses on increased pleasure, with spiritual growth as a bonus. Pink is the middle ground between the two. Books don't usually claim to be one or the other. Experienced teachers help define it for students.
  
  Any of the tantric or yogic exercises will do several things including decrease stress and increase your prana or life energy. It's not uncommon for those factors alone to raise libido and sex drive, at times unpredictably. Add the exercise, oxygenation, muscle tension release and circulation effects and you have WOW!!
  
  The idea is to let the effects of the energy increase bring benefits to more than just your sexuality. You should be open to benefit on many levels. Yes?
  
  If you're experiencing whacko libido levels, it is also possible that you've stirred kundalini up to the second chakra (counting chakras depends upon the chakra system - there are many variations and understandings), which is responsible for sexuality, reproduction, recreation, creativity, etc. This is the one about half-way between your pelvic bone and your belly button. If so, learning what it means to raise or draw the energy to chakras higher up the body can be useful here.
  
  If one is going to explore kundalini, then it can be more than helpful to be aware of and practicing some of the supporting wisdoms. These can be from either yoga (Namas and Niyamas) or from Taoism / Buddhism / Zen. A glance in wikipedia can get you started, or the sidebar in /r/meditation.
  
  Various kundalini approaches make no requests for you to be a prude. The idea is to find a healthy balance. Occasionally, the practice of Brahmacharya, or non-sexuality, is used to highten the tension and possibly provoke more energy to direct itself in a kundalini-stirring direction. It could be useful for you to understand some of the methods and intentions of Brahmacharya.
  
  Having experience in any or several varied meditation practices is almost an essential prerequisite to a good kundalini experience. Nothing beats taking courses with living beings to build a good foundation to your practice. In this case it doesn't matter as much what form you choose, but that you do choose, learn, play, and develop a deeper understanding of mind, self, etc.
  
  Be aware that the techniques listed in the books can bring about significant advances involving lots of change, and inspire the kind of growth one might prefer to have support going through.
  
  ============
  
  Some books I've only glanced at and was not drawn to buy nor read fully at the time - several on this search list.
  Amazon search
  
  You could explore some Osho books, though I recommend his books with some caution as he was considered by some to not bother passing on the wisdom that was meant to go with the techniques he taught. It's apparently one of the two reasons he was booted out of India, and perhaps related to the paranoia that some of his students expressed in Oregon. Still, his writings are fresh and fun, and he had a brilliant mind. He wrote many dozens or hundreds of books, and I've read but a half-dozen, so you're on your own on this author.
  
  Also to consider: Kriya yoga and pranayama.
  
  I haven't done any Bikram, so have no idea if pranayama is a part of their practice.
  
  Good luck.
  Edit: formatting

> While I cannot assume the knowledge of all people in the hongwanji, the ones I have spoken to have given that specific reason or similar. It is a very small community, and most of them are very old.

Fair enough. I've just seen similar statements before and I tend to take them with a grain of salt because the live Dharma talks I check out on youtube and podcasts reference plenty of Buddhist topics and scriptures.

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> Yes, and I think it's because English doesn't have more nuance in the words we use, so all the services and songs just sound like worship, which has made me more uncomfortable and unsure of myself over time.

There is a devotional aspect; yes, but it may not be what you're thinking. One of the running themes in Shin hymns is that Amida represents the light of wisdom and the great compassion that supports you every moment in your life. Most Shin ministers will point out that this great compassion ranges from the animals that died in the production of your food, to the chain of relatives that led to your mom bearing you for 9 months, to the people that pave the road you drive on to go about your daily business. They will refer to that infinite chain of cause and effect that brings you to this current moment as "Amida". The Midwest Buddhist Temple podcast is a good source for this type of info, I believe there are over 200 episodes available for free.

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> But also, can we not continue to try to follow the eightfold path in hopes that we can entrust Buddha to take us to the Promised Land?

Yikes, what an unfortunate word choice. The Pure Land is either a Buddha-field (field of Buddha perception, adorned with a Buddha's merits from eons of practice) where one directly learns from Buddhas & Bodhisattvas to continue on the path towards Buddhahood (the rather simple understanding), or the Pure Land is the formless realm of Nirvana (the more advanced understanding). In either case, the Pure Land is not a paradise in the Christian sense. Entrusting in the Buddha to enter the Pure Land is following the eightfold path.

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> Or we already have to have this belief before we can really help ourselves?

As I said before, it's very little to do with belief & more to do with overcoming mental chatter. Using the self to transcend the self is a fool's errand according to Shin; but even Shin greats like Kiyozawa Manshi had to exhaust self-powered pursuits before finally realizing to entrust the Buddha. FYI - there are some very strong parallels with Zen here. I recommend Dogen's Zazen as Other-Power Practice by Taigen Dan Leighton

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> For me it is more of a "I think this is an actual thing that can happen, but I don't know if I fully trust Buddha yet." Does that make sense?

Makes total sense. The trust part is the faith of Shin. Once that trust is there, one undergoes a radical shift in perception with regards to one's relationship with the world. It's kind of a radical self acceptance to realize that one is embraced just as one is.

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> Is Shinran even a Buddha?

He would never say so himself, but there's a statue of him at a Zen monastery near Tokyo (called Ho-onji) and they maintain the tradition that Shinran and Dogen were friends. I've run into other Zen people who said Shinran is considered an Enlightened being. I find Shinran fascinating because he's a completely relatable human being, rife with frailties, and brutally honest about it.

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> Then why is it so hard to find any books on it?

Let me give you a quick list of authors so you can find their books on Amazon:

Alfred Bloom

Taitetsu Unno

Jeff Wilson

Monshu Koshin Otani

Hiroyuki Itsuki

Kenneth Tanaka

Mark L Blum

DT Suzuki

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> The minister was going to teach the volunteers; we have a few months under him to learn them. This was moreso the main reason why I thought it might be good to do. I would have more one on one time with the minister. But Now that I word it like this, it seems maybe a little selfish to only volunteer for the chants for this purpose.

Shin patriarch Rennyo is the one that really started with encouraging followers to recite Shinran's hymns as a daily practice. So in that sense it's not selfish to really try to learn the basic doctrines of the sect, expressed in the hymns.

Did you read my post with the two books i recommend? IF NOT THEN READ THIS POST.

Working directly with moving energy while stimulating yourself is not really effective if you don't sense energy deeply enough in the first place.If you do sense it deeply enough you can just stimulate yourself to a 9 then take the pleasure in your genitals and move it in the MCO until you feel in your genitals you're at around a 4 or 5..then begin stimulating yourself again to a 9 and move the pleasure again in the orbit.Don't waste you time with using kegels at PONR...even if you manage to get some orgasm it's weak and some ejaculate gets into your bladder...so it's not that effective to restrain from ejaculating if you're just going to have some of it go into the bladder.

You need to understand that energy orgasms are not about using kegels when you're close to ejaculating...it's about circulating enough arousal and building it up to a point that orgasms just appear as a side effect and you do that without kegeling . You can use mula bandha to shoot energy up your spine...but that presumes you have enough sensitivity to energy in the first place to be able to do it.Otherwise just doing mula bandha for hundreds of repetitions is just going to trigger at some point ejaculations. You use mula bandha not like you use kegels...you use it as a pump for energy....but again it's useless if t you don't feel it well enough to direct it thru your intention+mula bandha.

I just feel like most here try to use a broom without a handle or a handle without having attached the "brush"(I don't know what's it called,English is not my native tongue).

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AND THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP OF ALL...FOCUS ONLY ON ENJOYING THE PLEASURE YOU FEEL MOMENT BY MOMENT(EVEN IF IT'S NOT MUCH)...IF YOU DO THAT HIGHER INTENSITY OF PLEASURE CAN APPEAR WITH PRACTICE...IF YOU FOCUS ON ORGASMING...OR WANTING TO ORGASM...YOU WILL SABOTAGE YOURSELF AND KEEP YOUR PLEASURE CAPACITY STRAINED AND INFERIOR.

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SECOND TIP...SMALL AND MORE SIGNIFICANT TRAUMAS DESENSITIZE YOUR BODY'S CAPACITY FOR PLEASURE...MEANING YOUR PLEASURE IS "BLOCKED"/"CAPPED" AT A SMALL "BANDWIDTH". THAT'S' WHY NEOTANTRA TEACHERS KEEP REPEATING TO JUST STAY WITH PAINFUL MEMORIES OR SENSATIONS AND RELAX INTO THEM,INITIALLY IT DOESN'T SEEM TO WORK BUT WITH TIME YOU CAN SEE PAINFUL EMOTIONS LOOSE THEIR UNPLEASANT CHARGE AND SOME TIMES IT CHANGES FROM UNPLEASANT TO PLEASANT AND CATHARTIC. YOU'LL GET THE MOST BANG FOR YOUR BUCK BY PRACTICING FEELING YOUR UNPLEASANT FEELINGS DEEPLY AND EMBRACING THEM...JUST AS MUCH AS YOU LIKE TO EMBRACE PLEASANT FEELINGS...BECAUSE THEY ARE PLEASURABLE TO FEEL. YOU CAN READ THIS BOOK TO GET STARTED WITH WORKING WITH EMOTIONAL AND PHYSICAL PAIN https://www.amazon.com/Break-Through-Pain-Step-Step/dp/B001CB6A0A

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~MEDITATION MASTERY~MEDITATION IS WHAT BUILDS YOUR AWARENESS AND ATTENTION SKILLS...THE BETTER THEY ARE THE BETTER YOU CAN FEEL PLEASURE.

FOR WORKING WITH SHINZEN'S THOROUGH MEDITATION SYSTEM HERE IS A MANUAL THAT'S QUITE CHALLENGING BUT ABSOLUTELY WORH IT. http://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/FiveWaystoKnowYourself_ver1.6.pdf

Currently, by far the best book for learning to meditate in the Vipassana/Mindfulness tradition is The Mind Illuminated, by Culadasa (John Yates). This massive tome takes you one step at a time through a system of 10 stages—based on your level of concentration.

This book also offers an entire brain-based theory of meditation—catnip for the neuroscience junkies among us (although it’s also problematic as theory) —as well as expert advice on deeper levels of meditation, many additional meditation techniques, and a method of analytical meditation. Furthermore, Culadasa has a whole appendix section that makes sense of the “jhana wars” (my term, not his) by adding a dimension of depth to the usual dimension of the jhana numbers. This is a huge step forward.

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BUILDING YOUR ATTENTION IN A PLEASURABLE WAY THAT DOES NOT INVOLVE STRAINING/TENSING YOU CAN FIND IN THE BOOK BELOW:

https://www.amazon.com/Path-Nibbana-Mindfulness-Loving-Kindness-Progresses-ebook/dp/B06WRPZZQF

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FOR WORKING WITH ENERGY YOU NEED THE PREREQUISITES(WHAT NEOTANTRA AND CHIA DOESN'T REALLY TEACH PROPERLY)-

https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Work-Secrets-Spiritual-Development-ebook/dp/B005EXYB4O

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THIRD TIP...USE VOWELS AND TONE THEM INTO YOUR CHAKRA LOCATIONS FOR 10 MINUTES/PER CHAKRA...UNTIL YOU FEEL THE TISSUE IN THE CHAKRA LOCATIONS VIBRATING,TINGLING. CHOOSE ONE VOWEL AND TONE IT 10 MINUTES AT EVERY CHAKRA LOCATION. THEN CHOOSE ANOTHER VOWEL AND USE IT IN THE SAME DAY OR THE NEXT DAY. A,E,I,O,U and HA( Key Sound Multiple Orgasm Trigger ) ETC. don't use actual sanskrit mantras because you're invoking those deities into you.Stick to just vowels alone or the HA sound as describe in it's modern form " Key Sound Multiple Orgasm Trigger ".

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FORTH TIP-

A) WHILE STIMULATING YOURSELF BREATH VERY SLOWLY INTO YOUR LOWER ABDOMEN...SUPER LONG INBREATHS AND SUPER LONG OUTBREATHS INTO YOUR LOWER BELLY.INBREATHS AND OUTBREATHS STAY EQUAL IN DURATION.

B) THIS IS MORE ADVANCED BUT YOU CAN IMAGINE YOUR BREATH IS YOUR LOVER THAT CARESSES YOUR BODY,YOUR ORGANS,YOUR EVERY CELL...YOU IMAGINE THIS NOT VISUALLY BUT IN A TACTILE WAY.AVOID TO USE YOUR VISUAL FACULTIES,USE ONLY YOUR TOUCH/TACTILE SENSE OF IMAGINING THE BREATH TOUCHING ON AN INTO YOUR BODY. IT ACTS JUST LIKE A FEATHER ACTS WHILE YOU GENTLY MOVE IT OVER YOUR SKIN.

Here is most of my library, broken down, with links and some thoughts on each.

Karate Specific

• The Bubishi by Patrick McCarty (Amazon) - I think this book needs to be in every library.
  
• Classical Kata of Okinawan Karate by Patrick McCarthy (Amazon) - One of the first books I purchased by McCarthy. Details older version of classic kata found in a lot of traditional styles.
  
• Karatedo by My Way of Life - Gichin Funakoshi (Amazon) - Great read! I really nice view at the life of Funakoshi.
  
• The Twenty Guiding Principles of Karate by Gichin Funakoshi (Amazon) - Another great read. While I'm no longer a practitioner of Shotokan, I believe the teachings of Funakoshi should be tought to every karateka.
  
• Okinawan Karate : Teachers, styles and secret techniques by Mark Bishop (Amazon) - Great amount of historical content, and helped link a few things together for me.
  
• The Study of China Hand Techniques by Morinobu Itoman (Lulu.com) - The only known publication by Itoman, this book detains original Okinawan Te, how it was taught, practiced, and some history. This was one of my best finds.
  
• The Essence of Okinawan Karate-do by Shoshin Nagamine (Amazon) - Great details on Matsubayashi Shorin-ryu kata, and some nice historical content.
  
• The Way of Kata by Lawrence Kane & Kris Wilder (Amazon) - Fantastic book on diving deeper into kata to find the application of the techniques.
  
• Classic Kata of Shorinji Ryu: Okinawan Karate Forms of Richard 'Biggie' Kim by Leroy Rodrigues (Amazon) - Not quite accurate as to the title, this book details the versions of shorinji-ryu kata as if they were taught by a Japanese school. Still able to use, as long as you understand what stances and techniques have changed between Okinawa and Japan.
  
• Black Belt Karate by Jordan Roth (Amazon) - This was a gift from a friend. I have a First Edition hard cover. Shotokan specific, and has some nice details on the kata.
  
• Karate-do Kyohan: The Master Text by Gichin Funakoshi (Amazon) - Love this book, especially for the historical content.
  
• Kempo Karate-do by Tsuyoshi Chitose (Shindokanbooks.com) - The only known book from Chitose, highlights his history, his thoughts and ideas for practicing karate-do as a way of life, and contains steps for practicing Henshu-Ho. Chitose is the creator of the style I study. I have this book for obvious reasons. Your mileage may vary.
  
  Kobujutsu Specific
  
  
• Okinawan Weaponry: Hidden methods, ancient myths of Kobudo & Te by Mark Bishop (Amazon) - Really great detail into the history of some of the weapons and the people who taught them from Okinawa.
  
• Okinawan Kobudo Vol 1 & 2 (Lulu.com) - Fantastic books detailing the kihon and kata of Okinawan Kobudo. Anyone who takes Ryukyu Kobujutsu, and doesn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on the original texts by Motokatsu Inoue, this is the next best thing.
  
• Bo: Karate Weapon of Self-Defense by Fumio Demura (Amazon) - Purchased it for the historical content. Doesn't actually apply to anything in Ryukyu Kobujutsu, but still a decent read. I also have his Nunchaku and Tonfa books.
  
  Other Martial Arts
  
  
• Applied Tai Chi Chuan by Nigel Sutton (Amazon) - A great introduction to Cheng Style Tai Chi, detailing some of the fundamentals and philosophy behind the teachings.
  
• Tai Chi Handbook by Herman Kauz (Amazon) - More Cheng Style Tai Chi, but this one has more emphasis on teaching the shortened form (37 steps).
  
• Tai Chi Chuan: Classical Yang Style: The Complete Long Form and Qigong by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming (Amazon) - Just received this for Chirstmas, and looking forward to diving in. Includes some history of Tai Chi Chuan, Yang style Tai Chi, philosophy, and has instruction on the complete long form (108 steps)
  
• The Text-book of Ju-Jutsu as Practiced in Japan by Sadakazu Uyenishi (Amazon) - I have a very old version of this book (1930ish). Picked it up for the historical content, but still a great read.
  
• Tao of Jeet Kun Do by Bruce Lee (Amazon) - Notes on technique, form, and philosophy from Bruce Lee. Another must read for every martial artist, regardless of discipline.
  
• Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: The Ultimate Guide to Dominating Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Mixed Martial Arts Combat by Alexandrew Paiva (Amazon) - Excellent step by step illustrations on performing the basic techniques in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Easy to understand and follow. Contains several tips on what to watch out for with each technique as well.
  
  Health and Anatomy
  
  
• The Anatomy of Martial Arts by Dr. Norman Link and Lily Chou (Amazon) - Decent book on the muscle groups used to perform specific techniques in martial arts. On it's own, not totally useful (but not useless), but with the next book, becomes gold!
  
• Bodyweight Strength Training Anatomy by Bret Contraris (Amazon) - Brilliant book that details what muscles are use for what type of action, and gives examples on body weight exercises that pin-point those specific muscle groups. My best purchase of 2014, especially when paired with the previous book.
  
• Martial Mechanics by Phillip Starr (Amazon) - Slightly Chinese Martial Arts specific, but contains great material on how to strengthen stances and fine-tune technique for striking arts.
  
  EDIT: I can't believe I forgot this one...
  
  
• The Little Black Book of Violence by Lawrence Kane & Kris Wilder (Amazon) - Fantastic book about situational awareness, what happens during fights, and the aftermath. LOVED this book.
  

I don't really like the other book recommendations in here (no comment on Livia Kohn's book, never seen it). None have very clear instructions or progressions.

Opening The Dragon Gate is an entertaining introduction into the practices - it's a biography of one of the practitioners. That lineage has a book out with specific practices and it has a comically long name.

While I think the lineage sucks, John Chang - Magus of Java - is very interesting. They don't accept students, so don't fall in love with this one. I found out about this lineage form this video. Take it with some grains of salt.

I think those are pretty solid representations of the practices. Mantak Chia is kind of new age, senior citizen practices.

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You asked about specific practices though and I just gave you a list of books. So I'll try to address your actual question.

The main practice is meditation. Different schools have different meditations. Some of them are steeped in ritual, some are pretty bare bones.

Exercises refer to qigong and martial arts. Qigong is best understood as holding stances, focusing on breathing, and energy.

As for diets, Taoists traditionally abstain from grains. I know the esoteric justification for this, but it's hard to explain without defining a lot of terminology. I pass it off as a bit of dogma - even though I eat gluten free for other reasons. The gist of it though, not eating grains makes your mind more clear and makes you more balanced mentally and emotionally.

Sexual exercises are something popularized by Mantak Chia through a few books. I don't think it is inline with real Taoism. Most the hard core Taoists go celibate for some time to benefit their practice.

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The theory behind all the practice is that they wish to change physical energy (jing), to energy (chi), and energy to spirit (shen) - through energetic practices, mainly meditation. They believe strengthening their spirit will allow them to attain consciousness after death and continue their practices, refining their spirit and reaching higher planes. They believe that without these practices you are continually shuffled through a cycle of reincarnation.

Basically, they go for a promotion in the spirit world.

Hope this helps.

I am a beginner as well, but I will share the books I'm working my way through. They are not necessarily all beginner books as they range from general overviews to very thorough reference manuals. I hope you find something on the list that helps.

Most have Kindle samples you can download if you use Amazon.



Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F8FA6ZG/


The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00XAZ625E/


The New Chinese Medicine Handbook https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0179ZS8R0/


The Spark in the Machine: How the Science of Acupuncture Explains the Mysteries of Western Medicine
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ICS8MIE/


The Healer Within: Using Traditional Chinese Techniques To Release Your Body's Own Medicine Movement Massage Meditation Breathing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D184QVW/


Optimal Healing: A Guide to Traditional Chinese Medicine https://www.amazon.com/dp/0979948495/





Healing With Whole Foods: Asian Traditions and Modern Nutrition (3rd Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1556434308/


Recipes for Self Healing https://www.amazon.com/dp/0952464020/


The Ancient Wisdom of the Chinese Tonic Herbs https://www.amazon.com/dp/0446675067/


The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345421094/


Fundamentals of Chinese Medicine: Zhong Yi Xue Ji Chu (Paradigm title) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0912111445/


Secrets of Self-Healing: Harness Nature's Power to Heal Common Ailments, Boost Your Vitality,and Achieve Optimum Wellness https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000ZJY5X4/


The Acupuncture Handbook: How Acupuncture Works and How it Can Help You https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GW4MG3W/


The Chinese Way to Healing: Many Paths to Wholeness https://www.amazon.com/dp/0595399509/


Acupuncture Points Handbook: A Patient's Guide to the Locations and Functions of over 400 Acupuncture Points https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D35N6SJ/


The Root of Chinese Qigong: Secrets of Health, Longevity, & Enlightenment https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01FIICLXC/


Chinese Medical Herbology & Pharmacology https://www.amazon.com/dp/0974063509/


Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, Third Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0939616424/





Finally, here's a few books by Mantak Chia that are profound, enlightening, vulgar, dangerous, or just aweful, depending on who you ask. I haven't read any of them but they made my list for some reason just to check out. I have a feeling he's an author people very much either like or dislike:

Chi Self-Massage: The Taoist Way of Rejuvenation https://www.amazon.com/dp/1594771103/


Awaken Healing Through the Tao: The Taoist Secret of Circulating Internal Power https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NGTUSV4/


Awaken Healing Light of the Tao https://www.amazon.com/dp/0935621466/


Healing Light of the Tao: Foundational Practices to Awaken Chi Energy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004J4WM6S/

Sorry for the delayed response. Honestly, after reviewing the book again, I have to say it's actually one of the better ones out there as far as REAL witchcraft goes. Witchcraft is not a religion, and it isn't politically correct. It's simply a set of practical methods to achieve one's goals, whether they be healing, defense, finding love etc. Though some of his ideas at the time are a little dated now, Paul Huson did an excellent job of laying out the principles of effective magick in simple terms. He even touched on elements of Hoodoo i.e. southern African-American folk magick, derived from African, European witchcraft, and Native American practices - see This Website for a thorough introduction to Hoodoo. This book by a real practitioner is also very good, though badly in need of editing.

Now that I've re-read sections of Mastering Witchcraft, I'm almost wishing I'd had it as my first book nearly 30 years ago heh. If you were to study and learn everything Huson's book has to offer, you'll have a better foundation in effective witchcraft than most Wiccan manuals out there today, many of which are extremely watered-down and geared more toward practices that make a person feel good about themselves without requiring much effort, or worse yet, practices that indulge a practitioner's need for attention or escapism. Pay particular attention to what he has to say about states of consciousness. Try to grasp the essence of why/how magick works as you read books such as this. Much of witchcraft/magick/ritual is done for symbolic purposes, with the physical objects/tools being used to focus and direct energy and intent, or as vessels for anchoring energy/intent to. Systems of correspondences help to link levels of reality and act as mental triggers to help re-enter specific states of consciousness.

At its core, magick is a Psychic skill. It is postulated that there are various levels of reality, from Oneness/God/Tao down to the Physical World and various points in between (see Yggdrasil, Tree of Life, Enneads of Plotinus, Plato's theory of forms etc. etc.). The most common forms of Magick work by injecting one's spell/intent into a higher level of reality (Astral Plane, Yesod etc.) in an effort to rewrite or reprogram the reality that is about to manifest. The effects then trickle down into manifestation through seemingly 'natural' means. Other forms involve creating energy links to targets and injecting power/intent through them while using poppets, photos, and other physical objects to help direct and focus the intent. Even more direct forms of influence can be performed through deliberate, conscious real-time energy manipulation, and this can become quite advanced.

Suggested books for developing your energy sensing/directing abilities include Franz Bardon's Initiation into Hermetics (he provides a fantastic though difficult set of exercises for self development) and Robert Bruce's New Energy Ways (ignore the new-agey way he writes - the methods are VERY effective for learning to sense and direct energy). To get ideas of what to do with energy for healing purposes and what energy might 'look like' to clairvoyants (or to you after you develop your clairvoyant skills), this book and this book may be very helpful. Ignore her new-age spin on the material. Her perceptions are pretty accurate.

I should mention that Paul Huson continued to produce useful books, btw. His book on the history of the Tarot is fantastic! There are other authors out there on Witchcraft that are worth perusing, but it is difficult to find authors who don't pander to new age feel-good beliefs. I tend to look for historical or anthropological works. Other areas that can be helpful are related topics such as Norse trancework and Runes (Jan Fries, Edred Thorsson), folk magick from various parts of the world, shamanism, hoodoo, brujeria (there are YouTube channels by serious practitioners of this), Egyptian and Greek religion/magick (again, look for serious scholarly books), and of course, Ceremonial Magick/Hermeticism. The origin of much of European occult terminology can be found in Agrippa's Three Books of Occult Philosophy, published in 1531.

Anyway, I hope that random collection of thoughts gives you some ideas for research. Mastering Witchcraft and similar books published in the 1970s are actually quite good introductions. I recommend absorbing what they have to offer, and looking deeper into the origins of the practices described.

Yes, but they're not public and are in the hands of powerful sorcerers. Your popular grimoires are relatively harmless. For example, my personal grimoires, containing knowledge given to me by demons, written in magical ink containing blood is quite dangerous. Considering the grimoire is written with a variation of a magical formula, my blood is added to it, and it the ink is enchanted, the grimoire is a talisman in itself where the magic in it was communicated to me by demons where the symbols and formulas reference that knowledge. This means the grimoire contains magical power in itself, but it has a will on its own, so anyone who has it has direct access to the magic, but there is a real risk of demonic possession. Those grimoires stay locked in heavily warded vaults and/or safety deposit boxes. But copies of popular grimoires, like The Lesser Keys of Solomon, are harmless. Yes, there are forbidden and locked away powerful and dangerous books but they're in the custody of powerful magicians. Ones in the public domain, like Abramelins stuff, are signs to knowledge and power but, in themselves, are just copies and are thus magically inert.

Yea, there are magic books out there containing a lot of magical power where all you have to do is do the incantation and stuff happens are a thing, but you won't likely find them because they tend to be rare and heavily secured. I have created volumes myself, but they are all heavily secured, physically and magically.

If you're interested in the history and lore of grimoires, check out:

Grimoires: A History of Magic Books

https://www.amazon.com/Grimoires-History-Magic-Owen-Davies/dp/0199590044

Tariki. I love this book because it articulates a philosophy I already felt in my heart.

Guns, Germs, and Steel. A whirlwind, eye-opening take on world history and how we really got to where we are today. Useful for understanding your country's place in the world. It's counterpart, Collapse, is also a great read. It's about how societies fall.

Justice. I'm an unabashed liberal who has wrestled with libertarian ideas lately. I wanted to read and learn more about critiques of libertarian ideas and this is a great book, not just for that, but for the broader understanding of society, justice, and how a proper society should function.

Reunion. A beautiful love story from a male point of view. I strongly identify with the protagonist for some reason.

As far as I'm aware he works with energy beings he calls "guides" that are among us in some way. He calls on them mentally/spiritually to share their energy, and he serves as the bridge connecting you to the energy. Not very sure of the origin of the practice. It does involve a bit of being chosen by the guides but I'm not sure about the exclusivity. He does have children, and also some students he informally teaches to connect his way. Don't know where he started from yet.

Practices generally involve the patient standing with eyes closed while he stands by arms wide open. Next thing you know he takes a deep breath and exhales and you're spinning/twirling like a top involuntarily and your hands want to come up as if under water. If you don't twirl the force of the energy will make you fall over. This process connects you to the universe/guides opening up your crown. Always makes you giggly because the energy comes as a shock as it pushes you.

Then he will have you lie on your back and he'll place his hand on your head. His hands gets very hot as he guides you through a meditative journey to receive the energy you need. Meanwhile you see bright colors while eyes closed and you feel like you are radiating with energy/light. It feels amazing and your mood improves dramatically as your physical pain fades away. This practice may be different in some cases with specific illnesses.

Look up "subtle energy" and this book called "Hands of Light" both his suggestions. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0553345397?pc_redir=1404445078&robot_redir=1

Aaah!

As someone teaching myself, I should let you know, you already know how to do Tai-Chi! You just don't know that you know. ;)

Let's try some right now!
To start out, the element of tai-chi is water, and when you move, it will feel like water; With 'PUSH' and 'PULL' - like the moon's effect on the ocean.

The three main parts of your body that move with tai chi are the legs, the arms and the hips (later your entire spine starting from the hips).

The easiest way to feel tai-chi at any moment is in the wrists (later the hips).

try moving your hands back and forth from your wrists as if you were moving water between them (like a water bender). One wrist pulls, the other pushes. try this until it feels fluid.

now try this with your elbows and wrists.

now try this with your fingers palms and elbows and wrists.

now try this with your shoulders, elbows, wrists, palms, and fingers.

okay! now try with your S, E, W, P and F's.... but leading with your hips!! so you move your hips to lead your arms. It can be quite powerful :)

Edit: if you want to sincerely study tai-chi, I would recommend learning from Bruce Kumar Frantzis. He is a taoist lineage master (inhered the title from learning from masters) in the arts of bagua zhang (air bending) and tai chi chuan (water bending). He has a book out on learning BOTH of those art forms. I am reading it right now and its a great place to start! book

I agree with everything u/Dr_Shevek said. I think it would be best to find a good tai chi or qigong instructor to work with. I haven't been able to find many helpful how-to guides online, and energy work seems to be more of an art than a science in a lot of ways. I personally don't have much money to spare, so I've been using the free Zhan Zhuang videos Dr_Shevek mentioned. Before my first sit of the day, I'll do a few minutes of the warm-up exercise, 5-10 minutes of the posture, and a couple minutes of the cool-down exercise. I feel like it's helping so far!


As I mentioned in response to another comment, I've also been practicing ashtanga yoga for a while now. I don't see as much of a correlation between my yoga practice and these energetic phenomena, but I've also been practicing ashtanga since I was in stage 4, so maybe the energy stuff I'm dealing with now would be a lot worse if I hadn't haha. Ashtanga in particular seems to have a pretty steep learning curve wherein you're just trying not to pass out and/or fall over before you can actually "flow" through the poses with your breath, which is the main goal of the practice. I've gotten a lot better at this over the past couple of months, and have felt some energetic stuff happening during my practice and more relaxation/groundedness after my practice during this time. But I'm not sure if this is an effect of the yoga itself, or just my increased perception leading to me noticing what has been happening all along.


In terms of books, here is the book written by the gentleman who made the Zhan Zhuang videos. I've heard good things about it. I've also seen Energy Work recommended quite a few times.

Although I don't neccessarily say you need to shop here, this ladies work rocked my world, and also gave me excellent visuals to show students.
https://ssl207.chi.us.securedata.net/barbarabrennan.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?products_id=1
https://ssl207.chi.us.securedata.net/barbarabrennan.com/merchantmanager/product_info.php?products_id=3
Both of those are excellent reads for light workers / healers.
I can also recomend this one - http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Reiki-Complete-Ancient-Healing/dp/0895947366. I have a few other books that may help but those are the ones that most of my friends look at and say "can I borrow this?". I can't condone anything illegal, but you may try searching a few torrent sites with these ISBN's. You never know what people are sharing now days. But eventually you are going to want your own copies. Because, yeah, they're good. :)

Well there are a ton of books on the subject. The Serpent Power is probably not the best place to start because it is highly technical. I will recommend a few books to get you started. The thing is that books on this subject range greatly on topics covered. And there are a lot of "new-agey" type books also. They all range from technical instruction to feel-good stories about the authors life. If you let me know specifically what you are looking for, maybe I can provide more specific knowledge. Anyways, here are a list of books to get you started.

Kundalini Rising: Exploring the Energy of Awakening This is a great book because it is a collection of articles that cover all sorts of topics relating to Kundalini. You have a spectrum of new-agey authors to the scientifically minded authors, and all the gradations in-between. Highly recommended to get started.

The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga, C. G. Jung Transcript of a lecture given by Jung regarding Kundalini. Also a great starting point. He talks a lot about the chakras as well.

Kundalini & the Chakras: Evolution in this Lifetime was recommended by /u/Marc-le-Half-Fool above. I bought it and do recommend it myself.

The Biology of Kundalini This book in invaluable. It is available for free online as well as available for purchase. It contains very detailed descriptions of properly living with Kundalini (mindset, diet, exercises, much more).

Let me know if I can offer any other suggestions.

First, RESPECT, for working with the dying and grieving. That is profound, and highly important work.

To reiterate other's here, you don't sound 'crazy', only opening to something that had value and an accepted place in antiquity and pre-modern societies (arguably it does now also, but not necessarily through any official institutions, it still seems to be a fringe activity and 'gift' not accepted by the sciences).

A starting point to placing your inner experiences into a broader context, which may help with self-understanding and integration through the process, might be:
Channeling. There are numerous other texts of similar material around. Check them out?

As to matters of grounding, other's advice here seems sound.
A somatic practice might prove helpful, like hatha yoga, or perhaps continuing meditation but practicing it in a different way, seeing as you are already meditating? Anapanasati, how to practice breath meditation, which focuses on the breath and thus has more of a grounding and bodily based attention brought to the process could be useful in this context. I've personally had trouble with dissociation and found sitting with a piece of obsidian and/or black tourmaline held in both my hands while sitting cross-legged or lying flat on my back, and focusing into the stone with my mind while being mindful to both my breath and body a helpful way of grounding and generating containment in/as my body.

Although the following book is primarily about working with energy healing it discusses channeling and contains diagrams of exercises that help a practitioner working with subtle forces to stay grounded and balanced, it might also be worth your time Hands of Light.
Salutations!

Welcome, and to answer your implied first question...yes. It is a lonely path. While you could find a guru, instructor, or teacher that can help guide you and help you understand when Kundalini is awakening, it is basically what you do in your meditation and what you choose to do to aid in that release.
All the above people can only give you the tools for awakening the Kundalini, you have to be the one to actually use those tools. One such tool that has been recommended in a few threads is a book called Kundalini & the Chakras. I have it myself and it is a good book. It teaches you many techniques to practice to initiate Kundalini awakening. But there are some things in the middle of the book that give too much information, I can see you needing those skills sometime after you have achieved the awakening.
Also there are a lot of really good people in this forum that are more than willing to help you. Good luck on your path. Namasti!!

If you want a simple how-to guide for a western audience this is what you are looking for.

If you have an interest in yoga, you will want to learn about it as part of the whole vamachara or "left-handed-path" (in yoga, having sex is plan b - the right handed path is celibate. most choose the middle way). The best intro to that is through kundalini. This is a good intro text if you want a book. If you just want straight info this website is great.

I'm afraid I can't give you a book that functions as a good and popular introduction to the history of Alchemy – there's one for the Grimoire tradition, for example. My interests are more academic, so my recommendations are going to be academic works. That being said, the history of alchemy intersects very well with other interests (say, the development of Renaissance Humanism, or medieval philosophy). My own focus is the development of Boyle's New Science, and so a figure like George Starkey is of particular interest. Despite my own reservations regarding their work, William Newman's Gehennical Fire, along with his and Lawrence Principe's Alchemy Tried in the Fire serve as excellent introductions to this particular era (17th century).

But I'll do some digging through my own notes in a few hours, and see if I can't come up with some more recommendations.

Having been to Asia a few times for similar reasons, I can say that having backup plans and objectives might be good. If you can't find the guy, what else could you learn while you're over there?



The Shaolin monks accomplish feats nobody else on the planet are doing through two main factors: obsessive, ridiculous work ethic, and mastery of chi / internal energy. Standing chi gong postures build up unbelievable internal strength. If I were you, still 20 and motivated, I'd start working on "holding the ball" posture until you get up to around 45 minutes. You could try to find a Yiquan instructor in Hong Kong or XingYi instructor in Shannxi or Hubei province. They will make you stand holding one posture for hours at a time. All the best martial artists coming out of China, the legendary ones, practiced the living hell out of the standing chi gong postures to build a strong foundation before moving on to the martial techniques. If you find anyone who is the real deal over there, this is what they'll make you do. So, be prepared for that.



On the deeper level, chi gong has the ability to create "lighter body" which gives them the ability to jump super high, do incredible balances on their head or other parts of their body (like a few fingers), and so forth. This is probably what's happening with the guy who can do a two finger pushup. And this is why not everyone who's training can do it. Chi is a real energy in the body that can be cultivated for many different uses, but there is a mental component. It's why when confronted with a monk who was struggling with muscle tightness, his master asked him right away, "what are you thinking?" The mind and body are one connected unit.



Finally, there are many, many martial arts schools over there that offer immersive training, in places like Wu Dang mountain and elsewhere. A lot of them are basically tourist traps. I would spend as much time as you can looking into reviews of various places, because the most likely outcome of your trip isn't finding that wandering taoist who will take you under his wing and teach you mega secrets. Especially if you're hanging with your mom lol :) More likely is that you could find a place to enroll and go get your ass kicked for a period of months. But a lot of these places make you pay upfront, and once the money is paid, then the quality goes way down. Haggling and getting your money's worth is another kind of martial art that you'll learn when you visit China. There are forums like rumsoakedfist and thetaobums that discuss these places in detail. Basically, the amount of time you spend researching will reveal your real level of commitment. These arts are over there waiting for you, but they have some very annoying barriers to entry - racism, language barriers, obscurity, and straight up bitter, hard work. But if you really want it you can get it.



Also go read The Power of Internal Martial Arts and Chi by Bruce Frantzis. He spent 11 years over there training with some of the best masters who ever lived. He breaks down the main internal arts of China - tai chi, xingyi and bagua, discusses what you should look for in a master, the cultural revolution, and so forth.

Yes. Watch from 1 hour and 17 min in:

r/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhtU5ei6YaM&t=247s

In terms of learning to work with energy the number one most important thing IMO is to learn to really ground/root your energy. That can be done very deeply through standing meditation postures from qigong (called Zhan Zhuang). You can also directly learn to sink your energy.

A few good books for learning to do standing meditation and to ground

https://www.amazon.com/Way-Energy-Mastering-Internal-Strength/dp/0671736450/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536310978&sr=8-1&keywords=way+of+energy

https://www.amazon.com/Opening-Energy-Gates-Your-Body/dp/1583941460/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536311094&sr=1-1&keywords=opening+the+energy+gates+of+your+body

And for working with energy in general:

https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Promise-Qi-Creating-Extraordinary/dp/0809295288/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0809295288&pd_rd_r=f2a13599-b27c-11e8-ad5d-f9d1f1abea37&pd_rd_w=jSsme&pd_rd_wg=PHn62&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=6725dbd6-9917-451d-beba-16af7874e407&pf_rd_r=4E6D4PWEM54GBZ9TJKQP&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=4E6D4PWEM54GBZ9TJKQP&dpID=51wRmSyNaFL&preST=_SX218_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=detail

https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Light-Tao-Foundational-Practices-ebook/dp/B004J4WM6S/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536311129&sr=1-1&keywords=healing+light+of+the+tao

https://www.amazon.com/Way-Qigong-Science-Chinese-Healing/dp/0345421094/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536311155&sr=1-1&keywords=way+of+qigong

The symbols and such are pretty much available online or in various books; it used to be much more like a secret than it is now. It's easy enough to find them.

For example, this book has pretty much all of what you'd learn from any instructor you'd paid to teach you. In fact when I went through my training for the first and second levels, a lot of what was in our hand books came directly from this book. I had been reading this book before I attended any classes and recognized some of it word for word.

Ok, I can tell you that that sounds exactly like kundalini awakening. I've had symptoms too, but not that severe. It's going to be a wild ride for you, let me tell you, but at the end of it all you will be enlightened and be in constant bliss. Make sure you try and aim the energy up your central channel called the sushumna. it can be really bad if it gets forced up the left or right sides. I'd recommend getting in contact with some kind of kundalini yoga teacher to help guide you through this. Usually only advanced yogis attempt to raise their kundalini. The goal is to get the kundalini to go to the top of your head where the energies will merge and change your whole body and consiousness. I'd recommend reading these books:

http://www.amazon.com/Kundalini-Rising-Exploring-Energy-Awakening/dp/B0054U5DXU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1334630716&sr=8-2

http://www.amazon.com/Kundalini-Tantra-Re-print-Satyananda-Saraswati/dp/8185787158/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1334630716&sr=8-4

http://www.amazon.com/Kundalini-The-Evolutionary-Energy-Man/dp/1570622809/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334630754&sr=1-1

These sites will also give you a good idea:

http://swamij.com/index-yoga-meditation-kundalini.htm

http://www.aypsite.org/index.html

http://www.kundaliniawakeningsystems1.com/index.html#.T4zZ1TJYv-I

YOU'RE NOT CRAZY. This is very real and serious and you have to educate yourself. Send me a pm if you ever have any questions. I've read a lot about this and can give you advice. If you could find some kind of spiritual teacher that would be great. This can be very dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Read the Gopi Krishna book. He gives his account of how he accidentally had a kundalini awakening and it totally fucked him over for 10 years. He almost died, but that's because he didn't know what it was and had no info available to him. God speed bro.

One of the best books on the subject is on Amazon:
Essential Reiki: A Complete Guide to an Ancient Healing Art [Paperback]

A few of my friends' grandmothers use reiki on their children and grandchildren primarily, but also their pets. One of the best things about the practice is it doesn't require tools so you'll always be ready to administer it if the need arises. You can read the intro and first chapter which has a lot of background information on the practice. The practice has existed for quite awhile, but detailed records weren't written down until about one hundred years ago so there are some differences between the Japanese and the American systems.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0895947366/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00

Don't bother buying an instructional book that attempts to show you where your hands and feet go--these never end up being useful.

Instead look at books that discuss theory/principles, or biographies of past masters or training experiences. These are more useful since they'll inspire you to practice more and become more skilled.

Some good books to start are

Neijiaquan: Internal Martial Arts - Jess O'Brien


Chinese Boxing: Masters and Methods - Robert Smith

I am a big book reader, specifically on energy healing and understanding how energy creates health or illness. I am a fully recovered bulimic -- and swear that these books changed my entire view and relationship with myself.

Here are my top 3 favorites, one is available for free as a digital book so I included that link.

xo tracey

Light Emerging - Barbara Brennan, free digital book http://t2mh.com/inspiring/Barbara%20Brennan%20Light%20Emerging%20-%20Journey%20of%20Personal%20Healing.pdf

Hands of Light - Barbara Brennan
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hands-Light-Healing-Through-Energy/dp/0553345397

Caroline Myss - Anatomy of the Spirit: Seven Stages of Healing
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Anatomy-Spirit-Seven-Stages-Healing/dp/0553505270/ref=pd_sbs_14_t_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=FMJ18K9R9ZHN2Y8BFSWX

Here are a few good titles that come to mind. Some are older:

• Nei Jia Quan by Jess O'Brian
  
• Way of Hunyuan by Chen Zhonghua
  
• T'ai Chi's Ancestors translated by Douglas Wile
  
• Lost T'ai Chi Classics from the Late Ch'ing Dynasty translated by Douglas Wile
  
• Xing Yi Quan Xue The Study of Form-Mind Boxing by Sun Lu Tang
  
• Xing Yi Nei Gong Xing Yi Health Maintenance and Internal Strength Development by Dan Miller and Tim Cartmell
  
• Combat Techniques of Taiji, Xingyi, and Bagua by Lu Shengli
  
  They are fun to read, but no replacement for a good teacher.
  
  Enjoy!

If you can get it shipped on time: this
is a pretty good video. There's a nice explanation for each movement in the 24 form, and it gets into basic postures and such. As far as books go, Yang Jwing-Ming is pretty popular, and most of his books are available for kindle. He also makes videos, I have never seen one, but this one sounds good for beginners.

If she's a good reader, I'd recommend Grimoires, one of the smartest non-fiction books I've ever read on the subject. About 1/5 of it is references/bibliography. Advanced my knowledge by more per hour than anything I can remember reading.

I really like Grimoires: A History of Magic Books by Owen Davis. It covers magical books that were influential in western Europe, and is a good place to start for people interested in reading old grimoires.

The books listed so far are good for philosophy and contemplation. Try some internal energy cultivation. See what happens. These books are very good, legit quality information and instructions, not new-age fluff. But they are still appropriate for a beginner. Yudelove's book is nice because it has a structured 14-week course with exercises to do on your own.
Yudelove
Frantzis

Yes, it sounds/looks to me like you see energy ("chakras" are part of that). I could be wrong, but I'd look into it more if I were you anyways. You would probably make a really good energy healer and/or medical intuitive. Check out the Hands of Light book (http://www.amazon.com/Hands-Light-Healing-Through-Energy/dp/0553345397/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347945502&sr=1-1&keywords=healing+hands). I also prefer Pranic Healing over Reiki (Reiki is more commonly known). http://pranichealing.com/

I can send more info on people/books/etc if you want.

Google up "Nei Kung" and read this book for an introduction to the martial arts aspects. There are also a couple of mediation books translated by Charles Luk which relate to the Toaist philosophical context. Also, Wilhelm Riech has some interesting theories - not to mention his life is an example of Western bias against the subject. For Indian as opposed to Chinese, look up kundalini meditation.

For occult sources, the OP already metioned a couple, plus there are the obvious mentions for Aleister Crowley in the blog post.

Currently I am studying The Secrect of the Golden Flower which I found an excellent copy of at my local bookstore. Once you go through this and get the gist of what the practice entails you'll find all sorts of interesting findings in neuroscience as well.

It's really not easy to describe, as I can trigger the phenomenon at will to either flood my body or direct it to a specific point, but not always easily or with a very high level precision. I think that's due to a kind of "exhaustion" if done too frequently or too intensely. I don't really think about something while doing it, more just "willing" the experience to occur.

I can personally attest to an adrenaline component involved in at least triggering a full body rush. My pupils will dilate and holding it too intensely for too long, or rapidly triggering the full body rush leaves me feeling uneasy/anxious. I have in fact triggered a full blown panic attack before when I was bored one day and rapidly triggered it as intensely as I could.

I can also attest that the relaxation response is the complementary "opposite" to this phenomena. It is the tool I use now if I ever push the experience too far.

I believe this may be the qi energy that is worked with during qigong. The best western description I've found of training/practicing using and gaining precise control over something that is at least very similar to this is Robert Bruce's method in his book Energy Work. The best verbal description of how this works I've found is from qigong instructors talking about "Yi" leading "Qi."

This is about Shin Buddhism specifically, but is pretty exceptional:

https://www.amazon.com/Shin-Buddhism-Bits-Rubble-Turn/dp/0385504691

This is a novel, and also about Shin Buddhism, but:
https://www.amazon.com/Tariki-Embracing-Despair-Discovering-Peace/dp/4062099810/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520609290&sr=1-1&keywords=tariki

I've never experienced a kundalini awakening. I do really like how kundalini-style yoga stirs the energies in the body though.

Kundalini yoga is said to be a more direct path to a kundalini awakening, but a kundalini awakening can arise in any form of yoga, it's certainly not unique to kundalini yoga only.

The book Kundalini Rising, a collection of essays on this understudied area, is probably the best source of information on this topic.

Gopi Krishana's autobiography of his kundalini experiences, in _Kundalini: The Evolutionary Energy in Man_, is also interesting reading (which he attained through hatha and primarily seated meditation). I've got a copy of this book, and kundalini awakenings are very rare and generally require a very dedicated practice, e.g. usually at the level of 2-4 hours yoga/meditation per day sustained for at least five to ten years.

Gopi's kundalini awakening nearly killed him. It made him extremely depressed for years. There are cases of permanent mental health disabilities and even death arising from a kundalini awakening. However, Gopi's book is also accompanied by psychological commentary by James Hillman, who posits that Gopi may have had pre-existing mental health issues before his kundalini awakening and his awakening may have helped him cope and be better able to live with those conditions.

For low magic, there is a wealth of witchcraft and folk magic that predates Gerald Gardner. It is not really initiatory, despite what a few people claim about coming from a long line of witches. Historically, it mostly came from books, folklore, and local customs. This book by Owen Davis is a great way to learn about magic and witchcraft that existed prior to Wicca (and was largely appropriated by Wicca).

The African diaspora in the Caribbean and the Americas created numerous magical practices (some associated with religion, some not). This includes hoodoo, Palo Mayombe (the black magic side of Santeria), Maria Lionza, and probably others that I don't know about. Magical practitioners in these traditions typically don't call themselves "witches," but their practices definitely fall under the category of witchcraft.

None of those kata are unique to your style. Mark Bishop wrote an excellent book on Okinawan karate that you might find enlightening.

Sorry I'm late to the party.

This book has been the single best resource on the different bodies and traditions I've ever seen. If you were to take a course on the questions you asked, this would be the textbook.

You CAN learn some of it from books - the rest you'll have to do through spirit work and guidance. There are 2 books by Barbara Ann Brennan that will get you started on viewing and manipulating the aura and structures within it. They're a little new agey, but the info is fairly solid and effective, and they're regularly used as part of the teaching curriculum for naturopathic/alternative health/massage/reiki type courses at accredited colleges. Go through her first book before delving into her 2nd book. As a supplement, you should also read and practice Robert Bruce's New Energy Ways material. It will get you in shape for energy sensing and manipulation. MUCH magick and healing can be done with the techniques in his book alone!

I would say that it was widely used. I’m reading through Owen Davies’ Grimoires: A History of Magic Books right now and he has a whole section dedicated to the SATOR square. It shows up in grimoires all throughout the Middle Ages from the Arab world to Spain and continues to appear all the way up until the 18th century. You’re correct that no one now has any idea why it was so important but it’s clear from the historical record that it was important enough that magicians kept spreading it about. No one thought to write down, however, why the SATOR square exists, what it means, or how to use it so it exists an enigmatic and intriguing magickal artifact, much like these items from Pompeii.

This is one of the best energy medicine reference tools out there.

https://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Body-Encyclopedia-Energetic-Anatomy/dp/1591796717

Hands of Light by Barbara Brennan - Read this for a class while in Massage Therapy school. Really made me look at things in another light. Might be a little heavy to digest, but lots of wonderful information.

Down vote when the post doesn't offer anything to the discussion, not when you don't like someone(s) mentioned in the post. I'm sorry to see closed minded actions on this reddit. OP asked for any help. Only one other reply gave a definite reference. Here's my third for anyone interested in this subject:

Another book to consider is Barbara Ann Brennans Hands of Light.

Damo Mitchell is the closest I've ever seen to someone putting out a significant amount about Nei Dan practice. Bruce Frantzis has a good amount of teachings on qigong. If you just want lots and lots of techniques, there's this, although I suspect you'd have a rough time making progress with it.

Not all scam artists; Diane Stein is still alive and well and offering half hour sessions for $125, and workshops for $600.

Pretty steep, but given that she was the first to make Reiki widely accessible via print and her book on Reiki is a modern classic, I don't see her fees as excessive for those who can afford it and want to go that route. But then again, that's Diane Stein, and she's more than established her creds, IMO.

You should start with basic standing qigong and a beginners qigong set. This will help you learn to feel and sink your chi a bit. From there you can move into more complex chi practices like tai chi.

I am a practitioner and proponent of the Bruce Frantzis system, which Bruce co-designed with Daoist master Liu Hung Chieh while he was studying in China.

His intro to standing and the first qigong set is this book: http://www.amazon.com/Opening-Energy-Gates-Your-Body/dp/1583941460

He also has a lot more content on his website related to various chi practices and meditation: http://www.energyarts.com/

This is my favorite book on energy work.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/157174665X/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1395319623&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

Good resources on the relationship between meditation, energy work and the martial arts (bagua, taiji, xingyi)

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Internal-Martial-Arts-Chi/dp/1583941908

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1583943595/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_2/161-1192734-5234966?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_r=T27FCK55Z34DJDVA8690&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_p=1944687702&pf_rd_i=1583941908

And some good books to start with:

https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Promise-Qi-Creating-Extraordinary/dp/0809295288

https://www.amazon.com/Way-Qigong-Science-Chinese-Healing/dp/0345421094/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525452385&sr=1-1&keywords=ken+cohen

https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Light-Tao-Foundational-Practices-ebook/dp/B004J4WM6S/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1525452407&sr=1-6&keywords=mantak+chia

Oh! Another one I read that was fascinating was Grimoires: A History of Magic Books. As it gets closer to modern day, it shows how capital M Magic (spells and such) started to intersect with magic and illusion.

Read "Energy Work" by Robert Bruce, it's a system that uses "tactile imaging" instead of regular visualization, it's great for people who have trouble visualizing.

https://www.amazon.com/Energy-Work-Secrets-Spiritual-Development-ebook/dp/B005EXYB4O

The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy

Autobiography of a Yogi

The Field,
The Intention Experiment, The Bond

Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah

A couple books to get you started:

Yoga of the Subtle Body - Tias Little

The Subtle Body: An Encyclopedia of Your Energetic Anatomy - Cindy Dale

If you want to learn more about his practice, I suggest you read a few books written about him by his students.

The Magus of Java

http://www.amazon.com/Magus-Java-Teachings-Authentic-Immortal/dp/0892818131/

Nei Kung


http://www.amazon.com/Nei-Kung-Secret-Teachings-Warrior/dp/0892819073/

There are more video's of Chang on youtube and his top western student Jim McMillan

Video of Jim passing his level 3 test.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKuXuDCPfds

This is an interview with his top western student Jim.

http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/five-questions-with-mo-pai-nei-kung-expert/

1. Line up some people to practice on while you are awaiting reiki II.
   
2. Do your self reiki and gassho every day
   
3. Start reading about reiki history and theory so you can contextualize what you've learned and what you are going to learn. I recommend "The Reiki Sourcebook" (https://smile.amazon.com/Reiki-Sourcebook-Revised-Expanded/dp/1846941814?sa-no-redirect=1) and "Essential Reiki" (https://smile.amazon.com/Essential-Reiki-Complete-Ancient-Healing/dp/0895947366/ref=sr_1_1?)

Here are some that haven't been recommended:

• Qigong The Secret of Youth - Yang Jwing Ming http://www.amazon.com/Qigong-Secret-Youth-Changing-Classics/dp/1886969841
  
• Scholar Warrior - Deng Ming Dao http://www.amazon.com/Scholar-Warrior-Introduction-Everyday-Life/dp/0062502328/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324789854&sr=1-1
  
• The Power of Internal Martial Arts and Chi - Bruce Frantzis http://www.amazon.com/Power-Internal-Martial-Arts-Chi/dp/1583941908/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1324789889&sr=1-1
  
  Yang is very scientific. Deng is practical, some of his other books are more spiritual and one chronicles his master's life and more like a crazy novel. Frantzis is also quite practical and most informative regarding martial arts. All three have classic understanding of Chinese medicine, haven't come across any new age BS in their writing.
  
  Each author has other books that you should look into.

Barbara Brennan's Hands of Light and Light Emerging are two classics --highly recommended.

On my list is Grimoires: A History of Magic Books.

I read all the major medieval grimoires, and have read even Owen Davies academic book on the history of the occult.

https://www.amazon.com/Grimoires-History-Magic-Owen-Davies/dp/0199590044/

So tell me what I don't know.

Hey I actually had really bad pain in my lower back for ages and then I started practicing Ni Kung which is basically the ancient Chinese art of standing the fuck still for 30 minutes and paying attention to how you hold your body. Or it is wu wu energy chi magic, you can believe that too for sure.

Either way I no longer have back pain and I'm learning how to release tension in my neck and shoulders and it's pretty rad. Check out this book if you want. I almost guarantee-ish that it will help.

http://www.amazon.com/Opening-Energy-Gates-Your-Body/dp/1583941460