“Yeah. So?”
“It means you tense up instead of relaxing the way you do when you’re working your rings. Tensing blocks the flow of the energies, so you end up with less power at your disposal than you have when you’re just walking around. The idea of casting a spell isn’t to tense up, it’s to relax … if anything, it’s an exercise in forced relaxation.”
My apprentice bit at her lower lip. “I don’t know. That sounds too easy.”
“On the one hand it’s easy. Viewed a different way, one of the hardest things to do is relax on cue, especially if there’s a crisis raging around you at the time.”
“So all I have to is relax?” she asked skeptically.
“Remember that ‘hose’ feeling you get when you use the ring? That’s the energies being channeled through you and focused on your objective. If you pinch off a hose, how much water gets through?”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Try it … now. Reach out your hand and focus on the candle wick as if you were going to use your ring, only don’t activate it. Just tell yourself that the ring is working and relax.”
She started to say something, then changed her mind. Instead, she drew a deep breath, blew it out, then pointed a finger at the candle.
“Just relax,” I urged softly. “Let the energies flow.”
“But. ..”
“Don’t talk. Keep your mind on the candle and hear me like I’m talking from a long way off.”
Obediently, she focused on the candle.
“Feel the flow of energies . . . just like when you’re using the ring. Relax some more. Feel how the flow increases? Now, without tensing up, tighten that flow down to a narrow beam and aim it at the wick.”