Err, technically, no. I don’t, though I did read that material and practice a bit, because, like any proper wannabe Big Trouble in Little China wizard, I wanted to do cool shit and move stuff with my mind.
Shielding? Didn’t care. Psi attacks? Didn’t care. Psi defense? Is that really a thing? – didn’t matter, didn’t care. And I couldn’t sift through what was real and what was bullshit, but I’d guess it was likely more a 20/80 thing looking back.
I wanted to move stuff with my mind. I didn’t think I’d get to Luke Skywalker spaceship levitation stuff (even if spaceships actually existed), but I would’ve given a testicle…or two…or more (someone else’s)…to have that skill. I could win the unwinnable James Randi nonsense challenge and…{insert some amazingly stable and comfortable life here}.
Most importantly, I wanted POWER. I wanted the power that I assumed came with it. Nevermind that it was (more) likely the other way around. I wanted the power to change the things I couldn’t at that time. That was a really reasonable thing to want in that time period. And if my enemies, including family, perished with that power, that was fine.
I would pick it up from time to time, practice a bit, and then get sidetracked. I still have some of the batteries I used to practice with and there’s probably a ping pong ball or two in the dark recessed of stored bins. I still think about it and about practicing, but don’t see myself investing huge amounts of time into it.
It doesn’t progress my other goals.
If you look at my posts through the years, it becomes obvious that I prioritize external energy sources to personal ones. Psionics is mainly focused on personal mental or psychic energy. If I had to rely on my personal energy store, I would be able to go for a while, but there’s a funny thing that’s known to happen when practitioners dip into their energy stores faster than they can replace them – they age more rapidly. Thinking mostly of Chi and Eastern practices, but if you delete your store of available juice and keep going, it will have to come from somewhere. Likely from your Life battery, since the rest is used up.
Take Nina Kulagina, for example. Incredible psychokinesis skills. Terrible repercussions both at the daily level and in shortened lifespan. One could argue that that is unknowable, which is fair. But the strain on her system and recovery times needed couldn’t have been good for her health. You can read more about her at
https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/ninel-kulagina-0
So, no, I don’t practice psionics and likely wouldn’t unless it was for purely passive skills. While I’m not terribly interested in living so long they have automatic diapers for us old folks, I don’t really want to decrease the quality of life remaining for something that may not actually get me something that has the dividends for the cost. There are practices in my current interests that use specific versions of aconite and other things that operate on the toxins for toxins theory. Aconite is terribly poisonous and I’ve had a friend get really sick just from handling it with bare hands. That’s a risk that I’m not sure the reward warrants.
I see Psionics in a similar vein for my personal practice. Much less immediately toxic, of course, and there could be some useful parts, but I haven’t seen much in it I can’t already do using external sources and energy manipulation. What’s the gain to me?
I can see a sort of ego-centric desire to be able to do it with only your own energy. If that’s good for you, then go for it. Remember my warning about using too much juice too often. If you’ve ever done numerous back-to-back heavy rituals for too long, you know the fatigue you run into. Think about if that was coming only from mental energy…
If you’d like to see the video I did on it, it’s below. I figured that since some will consume both, I may as well try to make one a bit more interesting and the other more complete.
