1. base umbra energy
well here we go again
hey all, figured i would revive this blog and start fresh with a new up to date umbra write up because i looked through this blog and cringed physically at how old the info was and how often it was getting reblogged still. this is going to just focus on the base umbra energy (the black energy you find in shadows) and there are definitely different strains and elements found in the umbra but i'll get into them in separate posts as well as the plane itself, its inhabitants, politics etc.
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to start off with umbra energy is a rich, thick, dense black energy found in the shadows. it cannot survive in direct light and quickly disappears back to the umbra plane. many people will find the energy uncomfortable however people with umbra energy bodies will (generally) find the energy comfortable. i've heard it described as cold and slimy by people who aren't umbra and warm and like a blanket by other shadow people. obviously there's outliers but this is the most common thing i've noticed.
i've also noticed that people with umbra energy bodies tend to have clearer clairvoyance, hearing spirits, Knowing Things, that sort of thing. i've personally changed my energy many times and when i'm not umbra i find it much harder to divine and hear spirits, i've also given several people umbra mind points and they've almost immediately began to hear spirits and picked up imprints easier. the language used in the umbra is very heavily imprint based so this may have something to do with it but i'll get into that on another post, probably when i write about shadow people.
important note, if you're void you'll struggle with umbra. void energy destroys umbra as a whole very quickly. i've heard several void practitioners over the years call umbra light (as in weight), airy, hard to contain, and otherwise very uncharacteristic of umbra. if you're void and you've tried to work with umbra and this sounds familiar you're most likely just working with your own void or something like the air energy in this plane and not realising it tbh. you'll need to shield the umbra heavily from you or it'll just evaporate. void is very very efficient at clearing umbra out of a room except instead of just returning to the umbra plane, the energy just gets destroyed. likewise if you're umbra it may be best to shield yourself from void. i live with someone who's void and if i don't shield 24/7 they just destroy my energy body, i also have a few void friends and any accidental imprints will literally wreck my mind point.
with all the above in mind umbra can eventually get used to void when forced to. it doesn't attune but it just feels more like a mild sunburn. i've been into the void for a few reasons and while most strains will still destroy my energy body, the spaces that i've spent the most time in have eventually stopped harming me for the most part. it still feels incredibly uncomfortable but it's bearable without needing to shield.
working with umbra is fairly simple and easily available since even in the middle of the day everybody casts a shadow! it's quite literally everywhere and since it's so dense it's easily scooped up and can be felt even by beginners to energy work. it also isn't a dangerous energy so imo it's a good introduction into different energy types if you're only acquainted with the main four on this plane. like everything else i'll probably write up some meditation techniques i use to work with umbra.
umbra also tends to attract a lot of entities heads up, whether that’s good or bad is up to you. mostly curious shadow people and other various umbra entities, you'll also probably find long tendrils snaking around but those are fine, i just call them umbra worms. they're kind of a cleanup crew and return excess energy back to the umbra, sometimes they accidentally latch onto you instead if you’re umbra (they have no eyes or anything) but you can just gently move them, they're harmless. but since umbra is dense and rich many entities will feed off of it so it definitely will attract them to you.
speaking of feeding, if you're a vampire and you're able to feed off of energy types and not specifically psi energy, maybe give umbra a try! if you're a shadow person, heads up, we're essentially energy carnivores. you'll need to feed off of living energy such as emotional energy and other energies coming from the mind point/other points on an entity. i just eat any parasites that come along and it keeps me going (their actual energy body doesn’t feed me at all but the life force does) but i need to feed off of a living person at least once a week, ideally every day or two. keep yourself fed!
i think i'll stop here for now to keep the post from getting too long but i do have several other topics planned, the next one i'll get into will probably either be about shadow people as a species, the umbra plane itself, and/or the elements/different strains of umbra found on the plane. i'll also try and rewrite anything i wrote about on this blog before like umbra hounds but that's a bit further down on the list.