Negative energy is a hazard of the job. If you practice magic you should (and yes, we sometimes forget to) protect. Like a doctor or dentist wearing rubber gloves, self-protection is necessary. This is particularly true when healing.
There is a great deal of transfer of energy between the healer and the patient and so it is very easy for negative energy to back-flow to the healer and if the magic-user is not very careful to download and get rid of it, there can be a build-up of residual negs which can eventually lead to health problems for the healer.
Again, it is rather like a doctor remembering to wash their hands after an examination.
There are also individuals who give off negative energy or engender it in others. They are sometimes called “emotional vampires” and they are to be avoided at all costs. They are the ones who constantly have “pity parties” sad stories and general misery but do not want to be comforted. If you take away their problems they have nothing to complain about, therefore they will not generate negative energy on which they thrive.
I have recently been doing a great deal of healing, which might not have been very wise considering that my own health is not brilliant at the moment. Like a fool and being somewhat distracted, I did not discharge the negs and I ended up very unwell. I had to take drastic measures to change the situation.
Firstly – a ritual bath. Not just to become physically clean but concentrating on spiritual cleansing too. I imagined all the negatives disappearing down the plug hole with the water and returning to the earth. The house was given a Spring Clean and furniture shifted. I went around the house using salt water then frankincense (salt for earth) sprinkling it around to rid the place of unclean spirits. Thus I had used the four elements, earth, water, air and fire to chase away the negs.
Today everything feels fine – note to self, remember to discharge and cleanse. How easy it is to forget the basics when you have been doing this for so long!
The Bingergread Cottage 
Hi Ailsa. Fascinating piece on cleansing negativity. Well done.
Richard
Thank you, Richard. I’m so pleased that you enjoyed it and commented; It is such a simple and basic thing but so easy to forget! Putz me!
The best piece of advice I was ever given was to ‘wash away’ negs. My way is to imagine the spray from the shower falling as rainbow colours washing the negs down the plug hole to be reformed by the Earth.I always (well nearly always!) imagine myself being surrounded by a huge bubble. It is a one way bubble, it allows everything I send to pass through but prevents negs leaking through.
How lovely to be able to share these ideas! Thank you Ailsa x