What is this book about?
Firstly before we step much further into the discussion we must ask ourselves some fundamental questions. What is Energy? and What is Energy Work?
Well, we don’t objectively understand what Energy is at the present. We do not have the technology to thoroughly explain or track it, but what I can say is, “it is the key to all magical and spiritual practices.” If you practice Energy Work, you will not only do magical rituals, but you will feel how they work. You will be aware of the connection between yourself and other people.
If you can do Energy Work, then you can be considered psychic. If you experience energy then you can experience spirits. Energy is the intermediary because it seems to be accessible to both. So working with Energy is being psychic and you can to play with toys that most people do not even know are there!
Energy is like floating clay which can be moulded by the human mind. Spirits seem to be made of this energy stuff or at least manipulated with it and they can manipulate it. If we reach a certain meditative mental state, we can experience this stuff all around us and we believe that experiencing this stuff allows one to be psychic. Of course, if you’re not psychic you can’t do magic.
What is this book’s goal?
It would seem that this author felt that his tactile energy work system was very useful for people, but having it limited to a small section of his astral projection book “Astral Dynamics” kept it quite limited. He felt the market lacked a no-nonsense energy workbook and sought to fill that gap.
His techniques use tactile imaging where you visualise sensations in your skin rather than pictures in your head about what energy looks like.
Did it achieve this goal?
Well, I think the book successfully provided a no nonsense approach to energy work using a tactile system of energy work rather than a visualisation system. I am somewhat dubious about the gap in the market I think there are plenty of books which cover that gap however many of the books are popular for a time and then they go out of print. I think when this was published it is possible that there was a gap in the market particularly for tactile imagine. Bruce implies he made it up, but everyone in the Psi / Psy groups were doing it from the early 90s.
There is also a possibility that there were many people who did not trust other writers who were available at the time who were part of Bruce’s astral projection follow. Bruce’s astral projection books are recommended indeed.
Did this book help anyone?
Yes this was a commercial book out there to make money. But did it help anyone or just make money.
This book provided an easy step-by-step approach to energy work. Taking people through the complicated and difficult period where they can’t feel anything right up to the point where they can do things more easily. So this book did help people.
Did this book try to rebrand a re-invented wheel?
Many books try to do this sort of thing. Reinvent the wheel and put a new badge on it. Then make out, it is a totally new thing so they are not beholden to the people who did it before for not knowing what they are talking about. Well, luckily Robert Bruce doesn’t do this!
Did I lose you? A good example of this is “Egyptian reiki”. You can totally make it up! Why? Because there is little evidence of it existing before and you just need to throw in a few loose tie-ins like snakes on people’s brows to tie in with kundalini and boom. You can pass it off as if it has existed for thousands of years. Also, no-one who teaches Reiki can complain because you don’t know your chokurei from your seheiki because this is not “Reiki” this is “Egyptian reiki” so without knowing what you are talking about you’re suddenly permitted to talk all kinds of rubbish you just made up and no preexisting tradition benefits from any writing you did.
Well, I can tell you, with a hand on my heart, that Robert Bruce did not do that! He just took you by the hand to the very untraditional umbrella practice that is “energy work” and showed a new way to do it. He didn’t need to reband and make up something new like “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Energy Work” or even smash together two or more things that exist but which the author knows very about each of them and then make up a new things like “Celtic Shamanic Qi-gong Alchemy” and then claim you don’t need to know about alchemy, celtic practices, Siberian shamanism, or qi-gong because this is Celtic Shamanic Qi-gong Alchemy a new brand. No Bruce didn’t do that. He actually contributed to the information we have available. Well done Bruce.
Check out some other books by Robert Bruce:
Comments
One response to “Energy Work by Robert Bruce – Book Review”
This book emits a very important part of energy work, which I like to call “syncing up”. I noticed this was important recently when working with a student of mine and remembered how important it had been for me when I did more healing of others and reading others’ energy bodies.
It’s become more of a habit for me so I don’t pay attention to doing it anymore. After I tried to write it as a comment I realized it was too long so I posted it in the section on tips and methods. See the link above.
– Hadron