How Empathy Occurs

Part of the reason for empathic responses is the auric field. It has a strong dynamic electro-magnetic quality. We are constantly giving off and absorbing energy. Every time we come into contact with another person there is an energy exchange. If we are not aware of this we can accumulate 'energy debris'. This can make us physically feel funny and create emotional imbalances. We may even begin to feel like we are going crazy. Empathic people usually have a more dynamic magentic quality to their energy.

Empathy is based upon resonance. Resonance is a term most often associated with music. In music, it is the ability of a vibration to reach out and trigger a similar vibration in another body. This is most easily demonstrated through the use of a tuning fork and a piano. If you struck a tuning fork for middle C and felt along the piano wires, you would find that the middle C wire would be vibrating in response to the tuning fork.

Every cell in our body is an energy resonator. It has the capacity to respond to any vibration or energy we encounter. In metaphysics we are taught that we are a microcosm of the universe. This means that we have all energies within us to some degree. Inherent within our physical and subtle energy fields are all the inherent energies of the universe. We have the capacity to resonate and respond to whatever we encounter.

An empathic response or resonance occurs when two or more bodies have similar or identical frequencies. If an individual is angry and their anger stirs you up, you are experiencing an empathic resonance.

Empathic responses usually occur in one of three ways:

Free empathic response: This occurs in individuals who are very compatible on many levels. Couples who have been together a long time enjoy free empathic responses. One partner feels and experiences what the other does. There is an innate resonance. An important factor in this is the readiness and willingness for the individual to respond. For those into metaphysics, in this lies the answer to the occult axiom: When the student is ready, the teacher appears.

Through empathic resonance, group rapport is established, and the individuals of the group are more able to respond to the energies of the individuals within the group. In groups that come together for a singular purpose, that purpose serves as the medium for establishing empathic resonance among the participants.

The second way is through forced empathic responses: Forced resonance occurs when two energy systems have different frequencies, and the stonger is transmitted to the other by force. This has both positive and negative aspects, and it does not necessarily have to be a physical force. A stronger force will move a weaker; an assertive force will move a submissive.

Charismatic individuals are usually those who have a natural ability for stimulating empathic resonance in others. Their energy is so strong and so dynamic that they stimulate responses in others. Sometimes this is free, and sometimes forced.

The third way is through atavistic empathic response: This is an uncontrolled empathic response. Some individuals are extremely empathic due to the circumstances of their lives. Stress, abuse and other forms of trauma can break down your auric field, puncturing it, short circuiting it. Since part of its function is to protect us, when it is broken down, weakened or torn, you are more susceptible to everyone and everything in life. All feelings - physical and otherwise - will play upon you and be experienced by you more intensely and usually in a more unbalanced manner. This is something I can relate to in a very extreme way. Everyone is different, but being an empathic to me means that I feel things more strongly than others. I cry at roadkill and can't even swat mosquitos. Insults affect me in a big way, as do arguments, which I usually physically hide from.

Individuals who experience uninvited intuitive flashes are experiencing an atavistic empathic response. Large numbers of people report having experienced dreams and visions of natural disasters, births, deaths, plane crahses and such, just before they occur. These are atavistic responses. I have never experienced any of these, but many empathics do on a daily basis.

The atavistic response forces us to be more conscious of what we experience. It places greater responsibility on our shoulders for our responses to life. In many ways it serves to protect us, giving us feelings and impressions about new people, places and situations. Unfortunately, most either rationalise or ignore these atavistic responses.

Empathic individuals need to pay attention to and honour what they feel. This is not always easy to do. We have not been trained to honour our intuitive aspects. Someone may appear to be okay, he or she may sound sane, but with an empathic individual, often it won't be until a real life meeting occurs that the true assesment comes. Many empathics find the shaking of the hand, or a brush up against will trigger the intuitive insights. This is not the case for me, but many empathics find that physical touch seems trigger the most intense intuitive flashes.

Often the impressions received are correct and will eventually prove themselves out, even if we don't understand them initially. The more we honour and acknowledge those feelings, the stronger it becomes each time thereafter.