Extrasensory perception (ESP)

Example of a subject in a Ganzfeld experiment. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Extrasensory perception (ESP) is a type of alleged psi phenomena. ESP is sometimes used as an umbrella term for many types of alleged paranormal phenomena but it properly refers to the ideas of telepathy (reading another’s thoughts) and clairvoyance (‘seeing’ without the eyes).

Some Fundamentalist, Protestant and Catholic Christians have a knee-jerk reaction to this idea, saying ESP is the workings of Satan, a delusion or evidence of mental illness. However, in Catholicism some of the more advanced saints claim to have been given similar gifts, usually called the reading of hearts. Indeed, some Catholic mystics claim to know another’s thoughts and/or feel their emotions near or at a distance with no observable cues.

Reading of Hearts. The knowledge of the secret thoughts of others or of their internal state without communication is known as reading of hearts. The certain knowledge of the secret thoughts of others is truly super-natural, since the devil has no access to the spiritual faculties of men and no human being can know the mind of another unless it is in some way communicated. But knowledge of the secrets of another’s heart may be conjectured by the devil and transmitted to a person, or they may be surmised by a deluded individual who takes his conjectures to be supernatural illuminations.¹

From the above it should be clear that Catholics – or, at least, sane Catholics – are cautious when it comes to mysticism. Central to Catholic mysticism is the idea of discernment or “the discernment of spirits.” Discernment is said to be a gift and acquired ability that enables one to differentiate supernatural experiences and abilities that come from God from those that do not.

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¹ AUMANN, J. “Mystical Phenomena.” New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. Vol. 10. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 105-109. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.

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Empath

The Empath (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

An empath is a person who apparently recognizes, understands and possibly feels the emotions of another person or possibly living beings and organisms, such as animals and plants. Different schools of thought variously try to explain the phenomenon of empathy.

Psychologists say that the empath physiologically copies another person’s emotions based on observable cues. Religious perspectives believe the empath feels another’s emotions due to a mystical connection among all people (some mystical schools would extend this to all living beings, organisms and even inorganic material like rocks, gems, and stones).

In contrast to the psychological explanation for empathy, some mystics claim to know another’s thoughts and/or feel their emotions – called the reading of hearts in Catholicism – near or at a distance with no observable cues.

Reading of Hearts. The knowledge of the secret thoughts of others or of their internal state without communication is known as reading of hearts. The certain knowledge of the secret thoughts of others is truly super-natural, since the devil has no access to the spiritual faculties of men and no human being can know the mind of another unless it is in some way communicated. But knowledge of the secrets of another’s heart may be conjectured by the devil and transmitted to a person, or they may be surmised by a deluded individual who takes his conjectures to be supernatural illuminations.¹

Estimating the prevalence of the gift of empathy is difficult for a variety of reasons, the most obvious being that many people wouldn’t want to talk about their empathetic abilities for fear of ridicule. Not surprising then that the psychiatrist Carl Jung said that most individuals are unwilling to talk about their experience of the paranormal because of potential repercussions.

Empaths are differentiated from psychopaths. Apparently psychopaths often can sense another person’s feelings but try to use that ability to manipulate and exploit. Empaths, on the other hand, try to use their perceptions for the common good.

The idea of empathy has been thoroughly explored in science fiction and fantasy. At top right of this entry we see a scene from the 1968 Star Trek episode called The Empath.²

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¹ AUMANN, J. “Mystical Phenomena.” New Catholic Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. Vol. 10. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 105-109. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.

² Fair dealing / fair use rationale of this low-res copyright image.

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Fallen Angels

fallen angel by Bùi Linh Ngân via Flickr

In the popular sense of the term, the idea of the fallen angel denotes something  gone wrong with a person or with a purely spiritual being who freely chooses to reject and, therefore, oppose God’s will.

Myths, stories and artistic representations about fallen angels abound. John Milton (1608 – 1674)  in Paradise Lost  imagines legions of Satanic angels who rebel against God. Massive wars break out, and St. Michael leads the Lord’s Angels, who must overcome ingenious contraptions built by Satan and his fallen army. While St. Michael is prominent in the battle, the final victory is reserved for Christ. So St. Michael stands aside as Jesus defeats the evil army.

Traditionally, we find the notion of the fallen angel in Jewish and Christian lore, and some  argue that a very similar idea is found in Hinduism. For in Hinduism the asuras are described as benevolent spiritual beings in the Vedas that devolve in subsequent Hindu scripture to become demons.

In Islam the personification of evil is Shaytan. In the Koran God commands Iblis to bow down before Adam and serve mankind but through his pride Iblis refuses. God allows Iblis to tempt mankind until Judgement Day, at which time he will be cast into hell. In Islamic thought Iblis is often seen as the master jinn, the head of demons allowed to torment humanity. But there is no concept of the “fallen angel” in the Islamic tradition.

To this coolguymuslim adds:

There is no such thing as a fallen angel in Islam. No doubt, in Islam, Iblis a.k.a. Satan is a jinn and he is most evil. However at the same time, he never is nor was an angel. Angels in Islam do not have free will and they cannot disobey God. In terms of Iblis, he used to be a rightous slave of God so much so that he was elevated to the level of angels before he refused to bow down, however, he was never an angel. Jinn, on the other hand, do possess free will and there are good and evil jinn just as there are good and evil humans.¹

El Ángel Caído (Ricardo Bellver) photo by Luis García via Flickr

Some believe that the powerful “Sons of Man” mentioned in the Old Testament are Fallen Angels. And some contemporary writers believe that aliens are really fallen angels (while others say they are not).

In the fictional Star Wars films, fallen Jedi - like Darth Vader – could be taken as a rough parallel to the idea of fallen angels, mostly because both good and “dark side” Jedi possess paranormal powers and psychic abilities.

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¹ http://earthpages.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/fallen-angels/#comment-2902

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Guiley, Rosemary Ellen

Example of a subject in a Ganzfeld experiment via Wikipedia

Rosemary Ellen Guiley (19?? – ) is an American researcher, author and broadcaster on paranormal phenomena. Dr. Guiley promotes awareness of the paranormal. At her website she writes that her “driving purpose is to help further our understanding of our place and role in the cosmic scheme” (visionaryliving.com). She also addresses issues like communicating with the dead and dealing with malevolent spirits.

This is all very interesting stuff. Unfortunately, it’s still difficult for most people to understand because of the inherent difficulties in the public verification of paranormal reports. In addition, some materialist or (ironically enough) religious reactionaries tend to cast aspersions on anyone interested in trying to understand the paranormal—even though the very same people will often delight at movies like The Exorcist.¹

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¹ The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, of course, would say that the horror movie watcher is momentarily fascinated by the archetype of the shadow. For Jung this is not unhealthy. But in some destructive instances, if left unconscious the shadow archetype apparently can erupt and compel non-integrated individuals to behave in a manner harmful to self or others.

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Stuart Gordon

Stuart (Richard) Gordon in 2007 in Shanghai, China holding two of his earliest works, The Bike from Hell and The Devil’s Rider via Wikipedia

Stuart Gordon (Richard Alexander Steuart Gordon 1947-2009) was a Scottish sci-fi writer who later turned to travel guides and reference books about mythology the paranomal.¹ He also taught English as second language in Europe and Asia, this international experience no doubt broadening his horizons.

Gordon’s reference works reveal his knack for communicating mythology and the so-called paranormal in an accessible and yet comprehensive format. In fact, Earthpages.ca – Think Free makes several references to his The Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends (London: Headline, 1993) and The Paranormal: An Illustrated Encyclopedia (London: Headline, 1992).

However, Gordon’s well-rounded, intuitive and free-floating style seemed to upset some skeptics.

Gordon’s 1992 publication “The Paranormal: An Illustrated Encyclopedia” elicited the ire of Gordon Stein, the director for the Center for Inquiry, a non-profit educational organization whose primary mission is to dispel paranormal claims. Stein wrote a stinging review in the Spring 1994 issue of the Skeptical Inquirer, critiquing Gordon’s usage of “erroneous ‘information’ about the paranormal” and usage of references that “are never to the skeptical literature.”¹

Gordon died in his early 60s of complications following a collapse and heart attack in China.

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¹ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Gordon_%28Scottish_author%29#Publications

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Luke Skywalker

Screenshot of the characters of the film Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977) on the first Death Star: (from left to right) Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) via Wikipedia (click on image for Fair Use rationale)

Luke Skywalker is the hero of George Lucas’ original Star Wars trilogy, played by actor Mark Hamill.

Luke displays many of the qualities of the mythic hero, as outlined by Carl Jung and, later, Joseph Campbell. He’s born of humble origins and grows up with a missing father. He’s invited to embark on a dangerous quest or mission, on which he receives paranormal help from a spiritual teacher (i.e. Yoda) and a wise old man (i.e. Obi Wan Kenobi).

Also, he has a female helper (i. e. Princess Leia) with whom he perhaps falls in puppy love until realizing she’s his sister.

Moreover, he undergoes a spiritual transformation, enabling him to succeed in overcoming evil (i.e. the dark side of “the force”) within and without. And he becomes a select knight of goodness possessing supernatural powers (i.e. Jedi).

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Psychokinesis

Psychokinesis in Orange: needoptic / Aurimas

Also called PK, psychokinesis is a form of psi in which a person’s thoughts allegedly affect objects in an observable manner.

This includes moving or transforming objects in space. One of the most famous exponents of transforming objects is Uri Geller, who has bent spoons in public, apparently with the power of his mind.

Detractors such as James Randi suggest that Geller is a fraud, using trickery without the revealing the integrity to call himself a conjurer.

Since many PK performances are on TV or seen on the internet as video clips, it’s virtually impossible for the ordinary person to ascertain their authenticity. A movie editor with even the simplest video editing software could produce the illusion of, say, spoon-bending.

The scientific community generally agrees that there’s no conclusive proof for psychokinesis. However, many have reported spontaneous instances of objects moving (or appliances switching on or off) in relation to severe emotions of anger or fear. For instance, someone gets angry and all the stove elements turn on.

As a volunteer working in the paranormal section at allexperts.com, I have received countless reports of psychokineses-like phenomena. Whether or not all are authentic or the result of wannabe fantasy writers cannot be determined. But from a sheer statistics perspective, it would seem that at least some of the fantastic accounts I’ve read and replied to are authentic.

Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion by leaving a comment

Psi

Psychic World: Roadsidepictures / Allen

Psi (Ψ, ψ) is a letter from the Greek alphabet, which in the 20th century came to refer to so-called paranormal phenomena.

The term was coined by Bertold P. Wiesner and was first appropriated in 1942 by Drs. Robert Thouless to designate ESP.¹ It later became something of an umbrella concept for a wide range of alleged abilities, to include psychokinesis.

Psi was also popularized in a Canadian TV program, Psi Factor (1996-2000), hosted by Dan Aykroyd, that dramatized the pros and cons of alleged psi abilities.

The status of psi remains controversial. Skeptics argue that no hard scientific evidence supports the idea. By way of contrast, enthusiasts say that psi is not amenable to science as currently understood and practiced.

Meanwhile, middle ground theorists like C. G. Jung claim, rightly or wrongly, that some published experiments yielded significant results.²

More recently, depth psychologists and cutting edge thinkers are calling for a new type of science that (a) would include diverse accounts of personal spiritual and paranormal experience as legitimate data for scientific study and (b) redefine what we mean by science to enable more holistic schemas, which would be considered scientific and not just examples of scientism.

In addition, some religious thinkers rightly question the ethical aspects of psi. While psi may exist, they argue, we’d do well to ask whether or not these abilities are in line with the Good, and more precisely, God’s will. This question opens the door to the possibility that evil agencies may endow individuals (or appear to endow them) with psi.

With regard to the idea that individuals may be deluded about their belief in psi abilities, psychiatry tends to view the issue in terms of mental health and illness. While not absolutely negating the possibility of psi, contemporary psychiatry would also consider whether the brain is creating some kind of hallucination which could give patients the false belief that they had special psychic powers.

Interestingly, in the Catholic fold there’s a curious presence of traditional religious and modern psychiatric perspectives. Exorcism prayers are still read over those deemed possessed or obsessed by an evil spirit. But at the same time, afflicted individuals may be screened beforehand to ensure that the issue is a spiritual and not a psychological one.

While this approach is not without merit, it seems to reflect the same kind of compartmentalized and, perhaps, politically expedient thinking and practice that the Catholic Church has exhibited over the centuries.

Instead of an either/or situation, it seems reasonable to suggest that spiritual deception could result from some combination of both psychological and spiritual issues. And effective treatments may require both religious and psychological procedures.

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¹ Thouless, R. H. (1942) cited at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psi_%28parapsychology%29, “Experiments on paranormal guessing”. British Journal of Psychology, 33, 15-27.

² Clark, Michael. Synchronicity and poststructuralism: C. G. Jung’s secularization of the supramundane, 1997: pp. 72, 119-122, 130, 156-157, 177-179.

» Akashic Records, Aliens and Extraterrestrials (ETs) , Clairvoyance, Psi Spies, Pyramids, Talbot (Michael), UFO

Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion by leaving a comment

Clairalience

Psychic house: Nick Douglas via Flickr

Clairalience is an alleged psi phenomenon, usually described as a type of clairsentience.

Clairalience is the apparent smelling of odors and scents beyond the usual range of human perception.

Reports of clairalience take three main forms:

1. Smelling a familiar odor or scent associated with a loved one who has passed.

This often occurs sometime shortly before, during or not too long after the loved one’s passing.

In parapsychology it’s hypothesized that this type of clairalience takes place to warn, prepare or possibly reassure friends and family that departed loved ones are still with them but in another realm.

2. Smelling a hellish, rancorous odor such as burning sulphur, or heavenly scent such as roses.

In parapsychology it’s hypothesized that this type of clairalience occurs to warn of the dangers of hell and, conversely, to reassure of the joys of heaven.

3. Smelling another living person or thing at a distance beyond the range of the normal senses. This may be further differentiated into smelling at a distance (a) a physical body or ‘gross’ environment or (b) a spiritual body, essence or ‘subtle’ environment.

Psychic Spell Breaker by Metrix X via Flickr

Parapsychologists hypothesize that type three takes place to teach human beings that all of creation is connected in some fundamental way, with the implication that we should strive to behave responsibly toward others, our planet and beyond.

As for the mysterious connecting principle implied by the idea of clairalience, tentative explanations vary according to the worldview of the theorist.

For instance, a Catholic might talk of The Holy Spirit or Satan whereas a sub-atomic physicist or futurist might invoke concepts such as wormholes, quantum non-locality and quantum interconnectedness.

Meanwhile, a psychiatrist would likely want to check for physiological factors contributing to so-called olfactory hallucinations (phantosmia) before considering the possibility of psi.

And individuals with a strong materialist bias might entirely dismiss the idea of psi and prefer to explain according to a neuropsychological model.

To this Art Garza adds:

What sort of smells occur in your type three clairalience? And would the smells be all different or occur all at once? And as far as purpose goes, is there any purposed idea on what the individual smells mean? What are they smelling? the souls, essence, psyche… i know they are all related in some way but certainly there is a name which works best… personality? » See in context

Michael Clark replies:

I think you are pointing toward a distinction that could be made in type 3 between smelling at a distance (a) a living person’s spiritual essence or environment and (b) their physical body or environment. » See in context

 

Paranormal

Vallisca Paranormal Journalism: billnwmsu / Will Murphy

The Latin prefix para means beside or beyond. Not unlike the word supernatural, paranormal refers to any phenomenon that eludes explanation through science or conventional wisdom.

It can be a misleading term because the idea of ‘normal’ is open to debate. At what precise point, for instance, does mere intuition or insight become ESP or clairvoyance?

Funnily enough, the US courts still provide the option of placing the right hand on the Bible when taking an oath—and the Bible is a book premised on, and which invites believers to enjoy eternal rest in, a ‘paranormal’ realm called heaven.

Likewise, the more recent versions of the psychiatric diagnostic manual accept as normal those religious beliefs, which sometimes include the paranormal, that are well-established and actively practiced within a given culture.

Traditional religious persons tend to look down on the paranormal, saying that it deals with magic, evil spirits, the occult and demonic realms, while heaven is said to be a faith-based concept denoting God‘s realm.

Many who believe they have psi abilities apparently don’t report them for fear of the repercussions–i.e. they don’t want to be ridiculed, bullied, harassed, stigmatized or marginalized.

We can only wonder how many might possess genuine psi abilities yet go unrecorded by statistics, which in turn contribute to the definition of the ‘normal.’

The issues of social visibility and unreliable statistics compel us to ask whether ‘normal’ and ‘paranormal’ are relative instead of absolute categories. Just as postmoderns deconstruct the notion of “the natural,” it seems that the line between normal and paranormal could be a historically relative and situation-specific one.

At Earthpages.org:

• Science journalism faces media changes, emerging discoveries – Article by Steve Hammons that questions the cut and dried distinction between normal and paranormal, outlining the need for science to be more inclusive of so-called paranormal phenomena

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