Reclaiming Your Mind: Preface – Conditioning, Influence, and the Return to Self

We don’t always recognize the forces shaping our thoughts, beliefs, and behavior. Much of what governs us operates beneath conscious awareness, quietly influencing how we see ourselves, respond to the world, and direct our lives. The first step toward freedom is learning to recognize these patterns, question their authority, and reclaim the space between what enters the mind and what we choose to do with it.

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We all experience intrusive, distracting, and sometimes debilitating thoughts that affect us in ways both subtle and overt. Perhaps worse is their cumulative effect. What begins innocently enough can snowball before long, effectively using and weaponizing our own minds against us. That said, please don’t become paranoid or afraid. Ultimately, there is nothing to fear. Be empowered. Reclaim your agency, your authority, and your standing through conscious awareness, a better-informed understanding of what may be happening and why, and the recognition that you’re both the source and the solution.

A note on mental health: Nothing presented herein should be considered medical advice. Intrusive thoughts and voices can have many causes. If these experiences are persistent or distressing, consider seeking support from a qualified mental-health professional. You don’t need to settle on an explanation before taking care of yourself.

Related post: Reclaiming the Mind: Deep Dive – Mental Health, Metaphysics, and the Limits of Consensus

What’s This All About?

After listening to a podcast featuring Jerry Marzinsky (Crrow777 Episode 660), in which he discusses his work with people diagnosed with schizophrenia, I was inspired over the following days to write, or at least assemble and format, an offering that might benefit anyone looking for answers, regardless of their beliefs concerning the esoteric, paranormal, energetic, psychic, psychological, or spiritual. The very next episode of the same podcast, “661 – Viewing the Past, No Matter How Far Away: Remote Viewing Space & Time”, expands on the same idea from a different perspective. It’s all energy, after all.

Regardless, this is, in my view and experience, a very real and universal concern, affecting people across races, colors, and creeds, though in actuality, it seems to affect some races more than others. Make of that what you will. I explored this aspect in the deep-dive companion piece to this two-part series, Reclaiming Your Mind.

In a nutshell, this is the aim of this article, and it’s a significant one that reaches into all aspects of our lives: How do we stop surrendering our attention, emotions, and decisions to influences that undermine us?

This article also complements the deep-dive discourse “Beyond the Words: The Power and Meaning of Psalm 23”. In the sections below, we’ll first examine Sherry Swiney’s “That’s a Lie” program, which, though written years ago, remains as relevant as the day it was published. The program spans three parts (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). I’ve asked ChatGPT to help summarize, reformat, and present the material in a more actionable, practical way that anyone can begin applying in their own life today, should they choose to.

After that, we’ll explore Roy Vincent’s account, “Summary of Ploys.” His focus isn’t primarily on challenging negative beliefs. He describes what he experiences as intrusive spiritual influences that can imitate helpful guidance, interfere with concentration, provoke emotional reactions, and gradually weaken a person’s confidence in their own judgment.

Awareness is the first step. It can certainly be shaky, unsettling, or disturbing, but once we become aware of what’s happening, the path forward can seem relatively clear. That doesn’t make it easy, however, or mean there’s a quick, one-and-done fix. Programs and conditioning acquired from our earliest experiences, perhaps even before birth, can persist well into old age. But it doesn’t have to be that way. A single choice, coupled with deliberate, courageous action, can shift our trajectory at any point along the journey, and for the better.

We need a framework, a clearer understanding of what’s happening, perhaps why it’s happening, and what we can do to help ourselves rise out of the muck and mire of that menace, however we choose to frame it.

Sherry’s “That’s a Lie” program focuses on recognizing and challenging internalized beliefs, interrupting automatic reactions, and replacing old conditioning with more conscious responses. Sounds simple enough, right?

Roy’s account describes something broader: the perceived intrusion of thoughts, voices, influences, and presences that seem to undermine a person’s autonomy, even when those influences initially appear helpful or benevolent.

The common ground is the reclaiming of agency. Whether someone understands these experiences through psychology, childhood conditioning, spiritual interference, archons, demons, or some other framework, the practical question remains the same: How do we reclaim that agency?

Recognizing a pattern may be simple. Changing one that’s been reinforced for decades is another matter. The objective shouldn’t be to wage war against every unwanted thought. Like attracts like, as the saying goes: war invites more war, resistance invites more to resist, fear invokes more to fear, and so on. The idea is to become less reactive, less inclined to mistake the incessant noise for truth, and more capable of choosing what happens next.

It’s important to understand that becoming less vulnerable to destructive thought patterns isn’t the same as trying to eliminate every negative emotion. Anger can signal a violated boundary. Fear can alert us to genuine danger. Doubt can prompt useful reflection. The problem isn’t that these experiences arise; they’re inevitable and to be expected as an integral part of the human experience. The problem is when they become habitual, unconscious, disproportionate, or disconnected from the circumstances at hand.

Seen in another light, I’ve been considering an idea I’ve also touched on in the Psalm 23 discourse: the possibility of changing our attractiveness, magnetism, or even our perceived visibility to these purported elements of our reality. In a material sense, I think this relates to our physiology and how it changes in response to our psychological and emotional states, as well as our most deeply practiced mindsets and beliefs. If we choose to entertain the idea of becoming less palatable to dark energies, archons, demons, egregores, or other perceived influences, we can frame it as a spiritual interpretation of the same broader objective: becoming less reactive, less fearful, less easily manipulated, and more firmly grounded in our own judgment. Again, however, we don’t need to establish the existence or behavior of such entities for the underlying exploration to be meaningful.

Perhaps the most important point, particularly given my own long-standing interest in nefarious programming and conditioning, is that this isn’t a problem we solve once and leave behind. We practice. We catch ourselves falling into familiar patterns. We begin again.

The aim isn’t to become someone who never gets pulled off course. That would be exhausting and virtually impossible. It’s to become someone who recognizes it sooner and knows how to return to what’s authentic, real, and true.

Reclaiming Your Mind: Breaking Old Programs and Resisting Intrusive Influences

The “That’s a Lie” Program, as offered by Sherry Swiney

1. Recognize the program

Begin by paying attention to the thoughts, beliefs, and reactions that seem to run your life without your conscious consent.

Notice the recurring messages: I’m not good enough. Nobody cares about me. I’ll never get anywhere. I always ruin things. I should know better. Something is wrong with me.

Where did these ideas come from? Were they formed through experience, inherited from family, reinforced by society, or repeated so often that they became familiar enough to feel true?

Don’t assume that everything you think is necessarily true, or that every emotional reaction accurately reflects the situation in front of you. Some of our most deeply held beliefs are learned patterns, not considered conclusions.

Practice: When a familiar negative thought appears, pause and ask, Is this actually true, or is this an old program running again?

You don’t need to know precisely where the thought originated before you can begin responding to it differently.

2. Separate yourself from your thoughts

A thought can arise without your invitation. It can be disturbing, absurd, cruel, frightening, or entirely contrary to your values. Its appearance doesn’t make it a reflection of your character, an intention, or a command you must follow.

This distinction matters because we often give thoughts more authority than they deserve. We believe them, argue with them, become distressed by them, and build entire stories around them.

Learn to become the observer rather than the automatic participant. Notice what has appeared in your mind without immediately identifying with it or trying to explain it away.

Practice: When an intrusive thought appears, try saying, I’m noticing a thought. I don’t have to accept it, follow it, or act on it.

This isn’t about suppressing thought or pretending that nothing bothers you. It’s about creating a little space between what arises in your mind and what you choose to do.

3. Call out the lie

Sherry Swiney’s “That’s A Lie” program offers a simple response to harmful, habitual messages: recognize them and challenge their authority rather than allowing them to dictate your self-perception.

If the thought is I’m worthless, you don’t have to argue with it for the next hour. You can recognize that worthlessness is a judgment, not an established fact, and refuse to treat the thought as a verdict.

If the thought is I’ll never change, remember that this, too, is a prediction, not a certainty.

The aim isn’t to replace every negative thought with forced positivity. It’s to stop treating every thought as an unquestionable truth.

Practice: Use a brief response such as That’s an old belief, I have no reason to accept that as fact, or simply That’s a lie. Then redirect your attention toward something constructive.

Be specific when you can. Identify the belief, examine the evidence, and formulate a more balanced alternative. Repeat the process whenever the old pattern returns.

4. Interrupt the automatic reaction

Awareness is useful, but it becomes transformative when it changes what you do next.

Perhaps someone makes an innocent remark and you immediately feel criticized. Perhaps an unexpected setback triggers shame, anger, or the familiar conviction that nothing ever works out. Perhaps you find yourself abandoning a worthwhile plan because an urgent alternative suddenly seems more important.

Instead of allowing the reaction to carry you away, stop.

Take a slow breath. Relax your shoulders. Feel your feet on the ground. Give yourself a moment before speaking, deciding, or acting.

If you’ve already reacted, you can still interrupt the pattern. Apologize if necessary, ask for a do-over, or return to the task you abandoned.

Practice: When you notice yourself reacting automatically, pause and ask, What is actually happening here, and what response would I choose if I weren’t running on reflex?

The point isn’t to achieve perfect composure. It’s to recover the ability to choose, even when you don’t get it right the first time.

5. Stop feeding the cycle with attention

Some thoughts become consuming because we repeatedly return to them. We replay conversations, rehearse imagined confrontations, revisit old grievances, anticipate disasters, and search for certainty where none is available.

The more time we spend caught in these loops, the more difficult it can become to direct our attention elsewhere.

Not every thought deserves investigation. Not every question needs an answer. Not every provocation requires a response.

When you recognize a repetitive, unproductive loop, you can acknowledge it without continuing to participate.

Practice: Ask yourself, Is thinking about this helping me understand something or take useful action, or am I simply repeating the same cycle?

If it’s the latter, gently disengage. Go for a walk, work with your hands, prepare a meal, spend time with someone you trust, or return to the task that matters to you.

This isn’t avoidance when you’re consciously choosing not to rehearse something that offers no useful resolution. It’s a way of reclaiming your attention.

6. Reconsider the apparent source of the intrusion

This is where Sherry’s account and Roy’s account take different directions.

Sherry interprets persistent negative thoughts and voices as the work of parasitic spiritual entities, including archons and demons. Her proposed response is to recognize their messages as lies, refuse to engage with them, and cultivate what she describes as a state of unconditional cosmic love.

Roy describes a more elaborate pattern of perceived intrusion. In his account, the influence can appear as a stream of helpful advice, an apparently benevolent guide, a sudden sense of urgency, an internal conversation, or even an apparent source of inspiration. He believes such influences can gradually undermine independent judgment by encouraging dependence, distraction, anxiety, and self-doubt.

We don’t have to accept either author’s explanation of the source to consider the practical questions their accounts raise.

Does this thought encourage independent judgment or undermine it? Does it help you act with greater clarity, or leave you increasingly anxious and dependent on further guidance? Does it respect your values and boundaries, or pressure you to act against them?

Practice: Evaluate the content and consequences of a thought rather than assuming that it must be obeyed because it feels compelling, authoritative, or unfamiliar.

You can appreciate a useful idea without surrendering your judgment to its perceived source. You can also decline to follow an unhelpful thought without needing to determine where it came from.

If you understand these experiences through a spiritual framework, you may find prayer, meditation, compassion, or a sense of connection meaningful. Treat these as ways to ground yourself, not as proof that an external entity is present or that you must defend yourself against one.

7. Cultivate the opposite of the state that diminishes you

Fear, resentment, shame, and hostility can become self-reinforcing. So can calm, gratitude, compassion, courage, and a sense of purpose.

Sherry recommends responding to perceived entities with love rather than fear. Within her worldview, love is a frequency that repels them. Whether or not the claim is independently established, the underlying practice of returning to a calm, compassionate state can be useful without requiring belief in it.

You don’t need to feel loving toward every person or every thought. You don’t need to deny anger when you’ve been mistreated. You can acknowledge difficult emotions without allowing them to dictate your behavior.

Practice: When you feel overwhelmed, pause and ask, What would a response grounded in clarity, self-respect, and compassion look like right now?

Sometimes the answer will be patience. Sometimes it will be a firm boundary, a difficult conversation, or walking away. Compassion doesn’t require passivity, and calm doesn’t mean surrender.

8. Reclaim your own judgment

Roy’s account repeatedly returns to the danger of becoming dependent on an apparently superior source of guidance. Whether that source is understood as an external influence, an authority figure, or one’s own internalized critic, the result can be similar: a growing reluctance to trust one’s own thinking.

You begin waiting for permission, reassurance, inspiration, or a sign before doing something you already know how to do.

The remedy is not to reject all advice. It’s to recover your capacity to consider advice, weigh it against your experience, and decide for yourself.

Practice: Make small decisions without repeatedly seeking reassurance. Develop your own approach to a task before asking for suggestions. Allow yourself to make ordinary mistakes and learn from them.

Seek counsel when you need it, but don’t confuse support with surrendering responsibility for your life.

9. Rebuild the habit through repetition

Understanding a pattern intellectually doesn’t mean you’ve changed it.

You can recognize that a belief is irrational and still react as though it were true. You can decide to stop ruminating and find yourself doing it again ten minutes later. You can resolve to respond differently and discover that an old trigger has already set the familiar reaction in motion.

This is normal. Established patterns are reinforced through repetition, and new responses require practice.

Sherry describes this as creating new mental pathways and allowing old ones to weaken. That is a useful metaphor for habit change, although the brain is more complex than a recording that can simply be overwritten.

Practice: Choose one recurring pattern to work on. Notice when it appears, interrupt the automatic response, and rehearse a more useful alternative. Keep doing so, including after setbacks.

Measure progress not by whether the thought ever returns, but by whether you recognize it sooner, believe it less readily, recover more quickly, and have greater freedom over your response.

10. Build a life that supports your independence

Our mental lives don’t exist in isolation. Lack of sleep, prolonged stress, loneliness, unresolved difficulties, and an environment that keeps us on edge can make it harder to think clearly and regulate our reactions.

Likewise, ordinary activities that reconnect us with the present can help restore perspective.

Spend time outdoors. Move your body. Make something. Read, write, play music, or engage in work that absorbs your attention. Maintain relationships with people who respect your independence and can offer an honest perspective. Establish boundaries where necessary.

If intrusive thoughts or voices are persistent, frightening, disruptive, or difficult to manage, seek appropriate professional support as well. You don’t need to settle the question of their origin before asking for help, and seeking help doesn’t mean surrendering your autonomy.

Practice: Identify one thing you can do today that brings you back into direct contact with your life, rather than keeping you trapped in your head.

Then do it.

The underlying principle

Neither awareness nor personal agency requires that we control every thought that enters our minds. We cannot always choose what arises, what memories surface, or what emotions accompany an experience.

We can, however, work toward greater freedom in how we interpret those experiences and what we do in response.

The practice is straightforward, but not necessarily easy: notice the thought, question its authority, interrupt the automatic reaction, and choose your next step deliberately. Repeat as often as necessary.

Over time, the objective is to become less vulnerable to old conditioning, less easily diverted by mental noise, and less dependent on external validation or internal narratives that undermine your confidence.

Whether you understand the challenge as psychological conditioning, intrusive thought, spiritual interference, or some combination of these, the goal is to reclaim your attention, judgment, and capacity to act in accordance with your own considered values.

You don’t have to win an argument with every thought. You don’t have to explain every experience. And you don’t have to wait until you feel completely free of doubt before you begin living differently.

Start with the next thought. The next reaction. The next choice.

That is where the work begins.

Roy’s “Summary of Ploys”: Recognizing and Resisting Intrusive Influences

Roy’s Summary of Ploys describes what he believes are the tactics used by intrusive spiritual entities to interfere with independent thought, emotional stability, creativity, and personal autonomy. His account is based on decades of experiences involving what he describes as intrusive voices, thoughts, and physical presences.

Although Roy interprets these experiences through a spiritual framework, many of the patterns he identifies can be considered independently of that explanation. The central question is how to recognize influences, whether internal or external, that leave us less confident, less focused, and less able to direct our own lives.

Here are the principal patterns he describes, along with practical ways to respond.

1. Recognize when helpful advice becomes dependence

Roy describes an apparent source of guidance that offers consistently good advice and encouragement but gradually intrudes into every thought, plan, and activity. What initially feels supportive can become so persistent that a person begins to rely on it, losing confidence in their own judgment.

What to do: Appreciate useful advice without surrendering your independence. Consider suggestions on their merits, make your own decisions, and resist the urge to seek reassurance before every action. Support should strengthen your ability to think and act for yourself, not replace it.

2. Question unnecessary urgency

He describes sudden feelings of urgency that push a person toward alternative plans, distractions, or activities that seem more important than the task already chosen. One interruption leads to another until the original intention is abandoned.

What to do: When something suddenly demands your attention, pause and ask whether it genuinely requires immediate action. Return to your priorities and distinguish a real deadline or danger from a passing impulse.

3. Interrupt distraction and indecision

Roy describes a pattern in which a person begins the day with a clear plan but becomes caught in a succession of competing suggestions, doubts, and alternatives. The result is anxiety, paralysis, and little meaningful progress.

What to do: Reduce the number of decisions you need to make. Choose one manageable task and begin it before reconsidering the entire plan. When your mind becomes cluttered, a simple physical activity or a conversation with someone you trust may help you regain momentum.

4. Refuse to become trapped in shame

Roy describes intrusive thoughts that provoke sexual embarrassment, guilt, or a sense of spiritual unworthiness. In his account, these experiences can alternate between temptation and condemnation, leaving a person feeling that their thoughts have somehow made them impure or undeserving.

What to do: Distinguish between a thought and an action, and between an unwanted mental experience and a deliberate choice. An intrusive thought does not define your character. Avoid turning every passing thought into a moral investigation or treating shame as proof that you have done something wrong.

5. Be cautious of authority that undermines your autonomy

Another pattern Roy identifies is the appearance of an apparently superior or benevolent guide who implies that the person should become a receiver of instructions rather than an independent thinker. He also describes apparently knowledgeable advisers who encourage dependence by presenting themselves as indispensable.

What to do: Be wary of any source of guidance that discourages independent thought or makes you feel incapable of deciding for yourself. Seek different perspectives when appropriate, evaluate claims critically, and retain responsibility for your choices.

6. Don’t let internal conflict consume your attention

Roy describes apparent exchanges between competing voices or personalities that provoke arguments, contradictions, and uncertainty about which influence to trust. He also describes thoughts that seem designed to provoke confrontation or keep the mind occupied with pointless internal dialogue.

What to do: You don’t have to resolve every internal disagreement. If a line of thought is repetitive and unproductive, acknowledge it and redirect your attention. Focus on what you know, what matters in the present situation, and what action, if any, is actually required.

7. Resist the endless recycling of the past

Roy describes experiences in which embarrassing memories, old grievances, past relationships, and imagined judgments from others repeatedly return to consciousness. These recollections can generate shame, resentment, anxiety, and a sense of being perpetually judged.

What to do: When an old memory surfaces, ask whether there is something useful to learn or address. If there is, take appropriate action. If not, recognize that revisiting the memory does not require you to relive it. You can acknowledge the past without allowing it to dictate your present.

8. Notice when your emotions seem disproportionate to the situation

Roy believes that intrusive influences can provoke laughter, tears, anger, embarrassment, or anxiety that seem disconnected from what is happening. He also describes persistent negativity that makes ordinary activities feel oppressive and undermines confidence.

What to do: Pause before assuming that an intense feeling accurately reflects the situation. Identify what you are experiencing, consider possible explanations, and give yourself time to respond. Emotions deserve attention, but they do not always provide a complete or accurate account of reality.

9. Protect your concentration and creative independence

Roy is particularly concerned about apparent interference during writing, artistic work, and other creative activities. He describes experiences in which an idea, word, or suggestion seems to arrive from elsewhere, potentially creating dependence on an outside source of inspiration.

What to do: Allow ideas to arise without needing to settle their origin. Record them, examine them, and develop them through your own judgment and effort. You can appreciate inspiration without surrendering ownership of your work or believing that you must wait for an external source before creating.

10. Avoid unnecessary conflict and manufactured anxiety

Roy describes apparent provocations that encourage irritation, resentment, and arguments, as well as recurring worries about uncertain future events. He believes these experiences can divert attention from meaningful activity and leave a person feeling perpetually on edge.

What to do: Before engaging in a confrontation, ask whether it serves a worthwhile purpose. Separate what you know from what you imagine might happen. Address genuine problems when necessary, but don’t mistake repeated worry for productive preparation.

11. Be especially attentive when driving or doing hazardous work

Some of Roy’s examples involve apparent mental distractions while driving, including thoughts that provoke resentment or competing dialogue just before a difficult stretch of road. He also describes experiences that he interprets as physical interference while working alone or using tools.

What to do: Treat attention as a practical safety requirement. When driving, keep your focus on the road rather than pursuing internal arguments or distracting thoughts. If you are too distracted to drive safely, pull over somewhere safe. When working with tools or in isolated locations, follow ordinary safety precautions and let someone know where you will be.

12. Recognize the difference between support and intrusion

Roy draws a distinction between guidance that helps a person develop their abilities and what he experiences as an intrusive presence that attempts to take over. He compares the former to a good teacher who offers advice when needed but respects the student’s individuality and creative freedom.

What to do: Evaluate guidance by its effects. Does it help you become more capable, confident, and independent? Does it respect your boundaries and allow you to disagree? Or does it leave you increasingly dependent, anxious, and uncertain of your own judgment?

Healthy support makes room for autonomy. It does not require you to abandon it.

13. Reclaim your right to mental space

Perhaps the most persistent theme in Roy’s account is the longing for a mind in which a person can think, feel, remember, and create without unwanted interference. He describes the exhaustion that can result when attention seems perpetually occupied by intrusive thoughts or an internal dialogue that never stops.

What to do: Create opportunities for undistracted activity. Spend time walking, working with your hands, writing, making art, or engaging in something that brings you into direct contact with the present. Establish boundaries around unproductive conversations and demands on your attention.

If intrusive thoughts or voices are persistent or distressing, consider seeking professional support. You don’t need to determine their ultimate cause before taking your experience seriously and getting help.

The underlying principle

Roy interprets these experiences as the work of intrusive spiritual entities, but the existence of such entities is not established by his account. Readers can nevertheless examine the patterns he describes: distraction, excessive urgency, shame, anxiety, repetitive internal dialogue, dependence on apparent authority, and the erosion of confidence in one’s own judgment.

The practical response is to become more discerning about what receives your attention and what influences your decisions. Question urgency. Challenge unfounded self-condemnation. Avoid unnecessary conflict. Protect your concentration. Seek guidance without surrendering your autonomy.

Above all, remember that a thought does not become an instruction merely because it appears in your mind, feels compelling, or presents itself as authoritative.

You can notice it without following it. You can consider advice without accepting it. You can experience uncertainty without allowing it to dictate your next move.

Whether you interpret intrusive experiences psychologically, spiritually, or through another framework, the goal is the same: to regain the freedom to think, choose, and act with greater clarity and independence.

Solvitur ambulando