Hungry Ghosts
There are a lot of lessons in that piece for occultists and paranormal enthusiasts, both green and seasoned.
Showing posts with label paranormal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paranormal. Show all posts
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
UFOs, Aliens, and the Paranormal
I've blogged extensively about the connections between the UFO phenomenon and folkloric accounts of fairies and spirits. I've also written a little bit about some government conspiracy theories. Now, taking a turn toward unifying all of this strangeness, I present this article that I very much enjoyed reading:
Behind the Mask: Aliens or Cosmic Jokers?
Hopefully you'll all find it as intriguing and interesting as I did. All of this talk of the Nine is new to me which just goes to show that no matter how much you think you've heard of, there's always something else out there.
Behind the Mask: Aliens or Cosmic Jokers?
Hopefully you'll all find it as intriguing and interesting as I did. All of this talk of the Nine is new to me which just goes to show that no matter how much you think you've heard of, there's always something else out there.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Doing Stuff
A problem that I encounter a lot in paranormal or occult groups is a that there is a lot of discussing and philosophizing but not a lot of practice. Granted, it's difficult to do any sort of group practice when the group is hosted on a message board or chat server. However, I feel it's important to guard against armchair occultism which is too easy to fall into. Day-to-day life tends to get in the way of metaphysical efforts but recognizing this is the first step in doing something about it.
Lately I've found myself invested in mundane concerns with not a lot of time to devote to occultism. When I do find time I usually spend it on the computer or in front of the television. Recognizing this, I'm going to make more of an effort to actually do something in the realm of the paranormal and occult. This may start as just reading another book for inspiration but I have a project in mind and a goal I want to work toward. I'm sure that I'm not the only occultist that has had this happen to them. I think that taking a break from occult or spiritual projects is sometimes necessary in order to rest and gain some perspective.
Now I'm ready to pick it back up again. Ready to do more rather than just talk about doing more. Hopefully this can serve as some inspiration to my fellow occultists out there that are tired of just learning stuff and now want to do stuff. Thanks to the people that have stressed doing stuff in the past and tried to get all of us lazy occultists motivated again. You know who you are. So what are you waiting for? Go do something.
Lately I've found myself invested in mundane concerns with not a lot of time to devote to occultism. When I do find time I usually spend it on the computer or in front of the television. Recognizing this, I'm going to make more of an effort to actually do something in the realm of the paranormal and occult. This may start as just reading another book for inspiration but I have a project in mind and a goal I want to work toward. I'm sure that I'm not the only occultist that has had this happen to them. I think that taking a break from occult or spiritual projects is sometimes necessary in order to rest and gain some perspective.
Now I'm ready to pick it back up again. Ready to do more rather than just talk about doing more. Hopefully this can serve as some inspiration to my fellow occultists out there that are tired of just learning stuff and now want to do stuff. Thanks to the people that have stressed doing stuff in the past and tried to get all of us lazy occultists motivated again. You know who you are. So what are you waiting for? Go do something.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
A New Year of Weird Stuff
The New Year is upon us and it should be an interesting one. The culmination of this 2012 business along with the usual paranormal news should keep seekers of the strange busy. Stephen Wagner over at the Paranormal Phenomena section of About.com has compiled a recap of 2011's paranormal news stories and events, some of which I shared here over the course of the year.
Top Paranormal Events of 2011
Reading through the list made me realize how many strange things actually occur that see some kind of news exposure. Speaking of strange things and news exposure, there's already been a strange event similar to one that happened a year ago: another New Years bird die-off in Arkansas.
What a way to start off the year.
Top Paranormal Events of 2011
Reading through the list made me realize how many strange things actually occur that see some kind of news exposure. Speaking of strange things and news exposure, there's already been a strange event similar to one that happened a year ago: another New Years bird die-off in Arkansas.
What a way to start off the year.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Ghost Hunting Apps
I recently downloaded a "ghost detector" application for my Android phone. I had previously heard of these apps and didn't really think much of them but I downloaded one of the many free ones out of curiosity. After looking into how they work and playing with this one for a little while I've decided that it's probably not a reliable tool for paranormal investigation but it is something to get you thinking and hopefully doing.
The particular app that I downloaded has three features. One is a "ghost radar" that uses an algorithm to process faint sensory data and then tells you where spirits may be around you on a classic radar screen, the ghosts represented as white dots. I've noticed that this feature seems to really love background noise and that seems to be the main way it establishes where spirits may be from my observations. I can't say for certain that it doesn't detect ghosts, just that it seems like it would give a lot of false positives.
This app also has an EMF detector. It utilizes the phone's built-in magnetometer to detect fluctuations in the electromagnetic field around the phone. This functions as a basic metal detector as well as a gauge of EMF levels (and indeed metal detector apps also detect changes in EMF). This may be the coolest part of the whole app in my opinion but I found the readout to be really basic. It will only tell you on an arbitrary scale of one to ten how high the activity is. I much prefer a metal detector app I have that gives you the readout in microteslas with a graph of activity over time. That said, the ghost detector app got me interested in experimenting with EMF and paranormal phenomena.
The third and final feature the app offers is an "EVP" mode which appears to show you random words based on some mysterious algorithm. I think it's supposed to function like a K2 meter but I'm not sure. I'm thinking that it just processes subtle auditory data and then churns out something but I don't really know. I've not played around with this feature very much.
All of this from an app that didn't cost me a thing. Keeping this in mind I would encourage anyone interested to try one of these free ghost detecting apps out if they have the interest. Aside from the novelty factor it's got me wondering about what would happen if an EMF detector was set up during an evocation, or the "ghost radar" for that matter. I also wonder if the EMF detector could be influenced by psychic phenomena such as psychokinesis or could be used to test the claims of SLIders. I mostly just want to see if there really is any correlation between EMF disturbances and the paranormal.
Feel free to comment about your own experiences with these types of apps and how you feel about them in general. I'm thinking that some of the apps that cost money probably have more features of better quality but the free ones are all I'm willing to work with at the moment. Happy hunting!
The particular app that I downloaded has three features. One is a "ghost radar" that uses an algorithm to process faint sensory data and then tells you where spirits may be around you on a classic radar screen, the ghosts represented as white dots. I've noticed that this feature seems to really love background noise and that seems to be the main way it establishes where spirits may be from my observations. I can't say for certain that it doesn't detect ghosts, just that it seems like it would give a lot of false positives.
This app also has an EMF detector. It utilizes the phone's built-in magnetometer to detect fluctuations in the electromagnetic field around the phone. This functions as a basic metal detector as well as a gauge of EMF levels (and indeed metal detector apps also detect changes in EMF). This may be the coolest part of the whole app in my opinion but I found the readout to be really basic. It will only tell you on an arbitrary scale of one to ten how high the activity is. I much prefer a metal detector app I have that gives you the readout in microteslas with a graph of activity over time. That said, the ghost detector app got me interested in experimenting with EMF and paranormal phenomena.
The third and final feature the app offers is an "EVP" mode which appears to show you random words based on some mysterious algorithm. I think it's supposed to function like a K2 meter but I'm not sure. I'm thinking that it just processes subtle auditory data and then churns out something but I don't really know. I've not played around with this feature very much.
All of this from an app that didn't cost me a thing. Keeping this in mind I would encourage anyone interested to try one of these free ghost detecting apps out if they have the interest. Aside from the novelty factor it's got me wondering about what would happen if an EMF detector was set up during an evocation, or the "ghost radar" for that matter. I also wonder if the EMF detector could be influenced by psychic phenomena such as psychokinesis or could be used to test the claims of SLIders. I mostly just want to see if there really is any correlation between EMF disturbances and the paranormal.
Feel free to comment about your own experiences with these types of apps and how you feel about them in general. I'm thinking that some of the apps that cost money probably have more features of better quality but the free ones are all I'm willing to work with at the moment. Happy hunting!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Ghost Photos
Photographs of ghosts are perhaps the Holy Grail of ghost hunting. That being so, there are lots of attempts to fake ghost photos. There are also a lot of photos that show natural phenomena that has been misidentified as paranormal. Someone with enough experience in this field can usually pick out when a photo has been tampered with or when the "ghost" is just a trick of light and shadows. For skeptics and believers, knowing how to pick out a fake or misidentification makes it a little easier to determine what is the real deal. To that end, I give you the following link:
Photos That AREN'T Paranormal
To give a taste of what real ghost photos may look like there's this:
The Best Ghost Pictures Ever Taken
And finally, if you're the type that likes to find things for yourself:
How To Photograph Ghosts
I've never been much of a photographer and ghost pictures have never really done it for me, but it's a facet of the larger phenomena that I thought should be explored. Hopefully you find these links interesting, even if all you get out of them is learning how to spot hoaxes or misidentified natural phenomena.
Photos That AREN'T Paranormal
To give a taste of what real ghost photos may look like there's this:
The Best Ghost Pictures Ever Taken
And finally, if you're the type that likes to find things for yourself:
How To Photograph Ghosts
I've never been much of a photographer and ghost pictures have never really done it for me, but it's a facet of the larger phenomena that I thought should be explored. Hopefully you find these links interesting, even if all you get out of them is learning how to spot hoaxes or misidentified natural phenomena.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
To Be Silent
Occultism has never really been in the public eye. However, in this day and age we have the luxury of not being terribly persecuted for an interest in the paranormal or the occult even if it should be made public. We will most likely not be burned at the stake or banished from the community. Even with this relative security there are still reasons why the occult remains a hidden thing.
One reason to keep occult operations a secret is to ensure that they are effective. Letting everyone who will listen know about your recent projects introduces new variables that could cause failure. These people might begin thinking about your occult experiment, they may doubt you or your abilities, or they may even doubt the possibility or existence of anything occult or paranormal. This will not work in your favor as they are essentially devoting attention and intention to your failure, much as you devoted the same to the success of your goal. At best you will still succeed, but this added influence is unnecessary and could cause an operation to be less than effective. I see no reason to risk it.
Another reason to keep your occult interests secret might be the lingering stigma of looking into the "dark arts." Most people will either think you're working with the Devil and going against God or that you're indulging in superstition or dangerous cult activities. This could hurt your social standing and as any outcast will tell you, social standing can be very important depending on what you want to do in your life. To avoid social stigma it may be for the best to keep occult interests a secret from those that don't need to know. Those that do need to know is something you will have to decide for yourself based on your circumstances.
It's important to note that the secrecy surrounding occult pursuits is a big reason why they have to be kept secret from people that think in the above ways in the first place. If these pursuits were not generally hidden then more people would know and understand them and there would potentially be less of a stigma around them. However, not everyone is comfortable with occult teachings and practices and, as I mentioned earlier, telling people about what you're doing can work against you. Esoteric teachings are esoteric because most people are not willing to accept them and are not ready to learn them.
As unfortunate as it may be that not everyone can accept and take advantage of occult knowledge, the relative secrecy around occult knowledge is necessary. Another advantage of living in this day and age is that those ready to seek out the occult can easily find what they're looking for at their local bookstore or on the Internet. I think this shows that the part of the Hermetic Quaternary the title references (To Be Silent) is useful and also not a great barrier to knowledge or understanding for those genuinely seeking it.
One reason to keep occult operations a secret is to ensure that they are effective. Letting everyone who will listen know about your recent projects introduces new variables that could cause failure. These people might begin thinking about your occult experiment, they may doubt you or your abilities, or they may even doubt the possibility or existence of anything occult or paranormal. This will not work in your favor as they are essentially devoting attention and intention to your failure, much as you devoted the same to the success of your goal. At best you will still succeed, but this added influence is unnecessary and could cause an operation to be less than effective. I see no reason to risk it.
Another reason to keep your occult interests secret might be the lingering stigma of looking into the "dark arts." Most people will either think you're working with the Devil and going against God or that you're indulging in superstition or dangerous cult activities. This could hurt your social standing and as any outcast will tell you, social standing can be very important depending on what you want to do in your life. To avoid social stigma it may be for the best to keep occult interests a secret from those that don't need to know. Those that do need to know is something you will have to decide for yourself based on your circumstances.
It's important to note that the secrecy surrounding occult pursuits is a big reason why they have to be kept secret from people that think in the above ways in the first place. If these pursuits were not generally hidden then more people would know and understand them and there would potentially be less of a stigma around them. However, not everyone is comfortable with occult teachings and practices and, as I mentioned earlier, telling people about what you're doing can work against you. Esoteric teachings are esoteric because most people are not willing to accept them and are not ready to learn them.
As unfortunate as it may be that not everyone can accept and take advantage of occult knowledge, the relative secrecy around occult knowledge is necessary. Another advantage of living in this day and age is that those ready to seek out the occult can easily find what they're looking for at their local bookstore or on the Internet. I think this shows that the part of the Hermetic Quaternary the title references (To Be Silent) is useful and also not a great barrier to knowledge or understanding for those genuinely seeking it.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Breaking Down the Barriers of Doubt
Breaking down the barriers of doubt is a very important process for anyone hoping to achieve paranormal or occult feats. Do not get me wrong; doubt is a very important thing to have. However, as anyone that has ever applied for a job or tried out for a team can tell you, doubt can work against you. This is especially true in the field of the paranormal. Doubt can keep us from even attempting anything at all, let alone actually achieving substantial results.
Complete confidence and belief are a prerequisite for many occult and paranormal pursuits, belief in both the sought phenomenon and in one's own abilities. This really isn't that different than more mundane pursuits like shooting a basketball or jumping a hurdle though. However, like with shooting hoops and jumping hurdles, one has to start at the beginning when it comes to the occult. Many traditions and paths have basic exercises designed for new initiates and future techniques build upon these basic exercises. One has to walk before they can run and this applies to occult pursuits just as much as it applies to everyday pursuits.
I bring this up because not only do these beginner exercises build necessary skills (in both occult and mundane examples) but they also build confidence. These exercises or techniques become easy and the practitioner comes to have little doubt in the possibility or in their own ability to perform a given task. To use an occult example, a neophyte will most likely have doubts about the possibility of and their own ability to perform a physical evocation of a Goetic spirit. If they can push their doubts aside long enough to actually attempt the evocation they will likely fail.
More than one seeker has been stopped in their tracks when a spell they attempted failed or they couldn't perform a certain exercise successfully. This causes people to give up on the occult and move on to some other interest. Those that stick with it come to learn why their initial attempts failed and in my opinion it is because the beginner is likely to try to perform a task that is outside of their capability, both in ability and in belief. They have not done much occult work prior and therefore have not loosened the fetters of doubt through experience of occult phenomena. This doubt causes them to fail because they do not really believe it can be done or do not believe that they are capable of doing it.
I am not just referring to conscious doubt either. Conscious doubt is usually pretty easy to dispel. Subconscious doubt is the tricky thing that one has to deal with. Subconscious doubt plays a very prominent role in the occult as the occult is a primarily mental field. Even with all the wands and robes, the human mind is still the center of all magic and mysticism. If your own mind is working against you then you will surely fail at a mental pursuit. How do we get past subconscious doubt then? As the saying goes, "Seeing is believing."
We do the beginner exercises, we build our skills brick by brick. Greater skills lead to more profound experiences and profound experiences lead to the erosion of the subconscious barriers of doubt. The more "impossible" phenomena we experience, the more we weaken that barrier of doubt that has been built up in our minds and thus the more we open ourselves to more impressive experiences. This is why it is important to start at the beginning and build your skills from the ground up.
Speaking from experience, I know that this is not always easy when you first pick up a book on magic or occultism and decide that the basic exercises are boring or stupid. I had this attitude for a long time and that amounted to my becoming little more than an armchair occultist in many respects because nothing seemed to feel right or work right. When I went back and started at the beginning I began to have a lot more success. As I have more successes my doubt erodes, both my doubts in the possibility that these things exist and my doubts in my own abilities to do these things.
These ingrained doubts are no one's fault. Our subconscious mind manages our reality. It keeps track of our everyday concerns, sorts our thoughts and feelings, and makes it so we can function in our mundane lives. Most people are caught up in their everyday societal pursuits and their subconscious minds become attuned to this. Anything paranormal is out of the ordinary and there is a deep reflex to reject these things as they seem to have no place in our everyday reality as we understand it. If you want to become adept at paranormal or occult pursuits then you need to get rid of your doubt, both on the surface and deeper down.
You do not do this by having blind faith or deluding yourself; you do it by having genuine paranormal experiences. This is empiricism in its purest form, an experiential approach to the paranormal (and reality for that matter). Start from the beginning of the book and learn the basics. Do the beginner exercises until you are confident in your abilities. Only then will you be able to progress to truly amazing experiences.
Good luck to all of you out there that are brave enough to try these things for yourselves and get your own proof.
Complete confidence and belief are a prerequisite for many occult and paranormal pursuits, belief in both the sought phenomenon and in one's own abilities. This really isn't that different than more mundane pursuits like shooting a basketball or jumping a hurdle though. However, like with shooting hoops and jumping hurdles, one has to start at the beginning when it comes to the occult. Many traditions and paths have basic exercises designed for new initiates and future techniques build upon these basic exercises. One has to walk before they can run and this applies to occult pursuits just as much as it applies to everyday pursuits.
I bring this up because not only do these beginner exercises build necessary skills (in both occult and mundane examples) but they also build confidence. These exercises or techniques become easy and the practitioner comes to have little doubt in the possibility or in their own ability to perform a given task. To use an occult example, a neophyte will most likely have doubts about the possibility of and their own ability to perform a physical evocation of a Goetic spirit. If they can push their doubts aside long enough to actually attempt the evocation they will likely fail.
More than one seeker has been stopped in their tracks when a spell they attempted failed or they couldn't perform a certain exercise successfully. This causes people to give up on the occult and move on to some other interest. Those that stick with it come to learn why their initial attempts failed and in my opinion it is because the beginner is likely to try to perform a task that is outside of their capability, both in ability and in belief. They have not done much occult work prior and therefore have not loosened the fetters of doubt through experience of occult phenomena. This doubt causes them to fail because they do not really believe it can be done or do not believe that they are capable of doing it.
I am not just referring to conscious doubt either. Conscious doubt is usually pretty easy to dispel. Subconscious doubt is the tricky thing that one has to deal with. Subconscious doubt plays a very prominent role in the occult as the occult is a primarily mental field. Even with all the wands and robes, the human mind is still the center of all magic and mysticism. If your own mind is working against you then you will surely fail at a mental pursuit. How do we get past subconscious doubt then? As the saying goes, "Seeing is believing."
We do the beginner exercises, we build our skills brick by brick. Greater skills lead to more profound experiences and profound experiences lead to the erosion of the subconscious barriers of doubt. The more "impossible" phenomena we experience, the more we weaken that barrier of doubt that has been built up in our minds and thus the more we open ourselves to more impressive experiences. This is why it is important to start at the beginning and build your skills from the ground up.
Speaking from experience, I know that this is not always easy when you first pick up a book on magic or occultism and decide that the basic exercises are boring or stupid. I had this attitude for a long time and that amounted to my becoming little more than an armchair occultist in many respects because nothing seemed to feel right or work right. When I went back and started at the beginning I began to have a lot more success. As I have more successes my doubt erodes, both my doubts in the possibility that these things exist and my doubts in my own abilities to do these things.
These ingrained doubts are no one's fault. Our subconscious mind manages our reality. It keeps track of our everyday concerns, sorts our thoughts and feelings, and makes it so we can function in our mundane lives. Most people are caught up in their everyday societal pursuits and their subconscious minds become attuned to this. Anything paranormal is out of the ordinary and there is a deep reflex to reject these things as they seem to have no place in our everyday reality as we understand it. If you want to become adept at paranormal or occult pursuits then you need to get rid of your doubt, both on the surface and deeper down.
You do not do this by having blind faith or deluding yourself; you do it by having genuine paranormal experiences. This is empiricism in its purest form, an experiential approach to the paranormal (and reality for that matter). Start from the beginning of the book and learn the basics. Do the beginner exercises until you are confident in your abilities. Only then will you be able to progress to truly amazing experiences.
Good luck to all of you out there that are brave enough to try these things for yourselves and get your own proof.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
My ambiguous stance regarding some paranormal topics.
I've been told that when it comes to some paranormal topics that I'm very ambiguous about where I stand. There is a reason for this and it is mostly because I'm not sure where I stand on a lot of things. I believe that the UFO phenomenon is a reality. However, I do not know what is causing it. I believe that Bigfoot may exist but we won't know for sure until we find one.
There are some topics that I'm less ambiguous about because I have more knowledge or experience with them. ESP and PK are two things that I am a strong believer in as I've seen the research that supports both and I've had personal experiences with both. Magic(k) is another thing that I believe in (to some extent) as I have some experience with it. In all of these cases, I don't claim to have the absolute answers of how they work; I just know that they do.
Another reason that I hold to some ambiguity is that I don't want to shove my opinions down other peoples' throats. I'd rather just give my readers the information and let them decide for themselves (which I hope they do anyway, regardless of how I feel about a topic).
I guess the point of all of this is that if you see that I'm not taking a solid stance on some topic or other that it's not because I don't care about it or don't know anything about the topic; it's because I'm trying to remain as impartial as possible for the reader or because I simply can't say for certain. Who can really say much for certain about the paranormal anyway?
There are some topics that I'm less ambiguous about because I have more knowledge or experience with them. ESP and PK are two things that I am a strong believer in as I've seen the research that supports both and I've had personal experiences with both. Magic(k) is another thing that I believe in (to some extent) as I have some experience with it. In all of these cases, I don't claim to have the absolute answers of how they work; I just know that they do.
Another reason that I hold to some ambiguity is that I don't want to shove my opinions down other peoples' throats. I'd rather just give my readers the information and let them decide for themselves (which I hope they do anyway, regardless of how I feel about a topic).
I guess the point of all of this is that if you see that I'm not taking a solid stance on some topic or other that it's not because I don't care about it or don't know anything about the topic; it's because I'm trying to remain as impartial as possible for the reader or because I simply can't say for certain. Who can really say much for certain about the paranormal anyway?
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Creepypasta
For those of you that don't know, creepypasta are essentially short horror stories that proliferate on the Internet. Many of them are uncredited and posted over and over again on anonymous message boards. Some of them even take on the status of urban legend as they have managed to blur the line between fantasy and reality. My best guess is that the name derives from "creepy" and "copypasta."
I am not really a fan of creepypasta myself. I think that this is mostly because these things tend to proliferate on paranormal boards and when I'm on those boards I'd rather discuss actual paranormal things rather than fiction. Sometimes most of the threads can be creepypasta, attempts at creepypasta, or discussions of favorite creepypasta. That's when it gets annoying and that's probably why I have no taste for it.
In the future I may end up giving creepypasta a chance as I do recognize the creativity and effort, but right now I just find it a distraction to other pursuits. For those of you that are interested, I present this link: http://www.creepypasta.com/.
I am not really a fan of creepypasta myself. I think that this is mostly because these things tend to proliferate on paranormal boards and when I'm on those boards I'd rather discuss actual paranormal things rather than fiction. Sometimes most of the threads can be creepypasta, attempts at creepypasta, or discussions of favorite creepypasta. That's when it gets annoying and that's probably why I have no taste for it.
In the future I may end up giving creepypasta a chance as I do recognize the creativity and effort, but right now I just find it a distraction to other pursuits. For those of you that are interested, I present this link: http://www.creepypasta.com/.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Poltergeists: Spirits of the Dead or Uncontrolled Psychokinesis?
Of all ghostly phenomena, poltergeists are the most startling. Objects move, appear and disappear, and the poltergeist may even lash out at people violently. The popular notion of the poltergeist is reflected in the meaning of its name: "noisy spirit." There are some that believe that poltergeist activity may actually come from a living human being. How is that possible? Spontaneous recurrent psychokinesis (RSPK).
The trend in parapsychology in recent years has been to lean toward the RSPK explanation for poltergeist activity. This makes some sense as poltergeist activity is commonly focused on one person, the activity only present in their vicinity. This explanation proposes that some individuals, when under emotional distress, will release that tension through psychokinesis. These people are usually completely unaware that they are causing these strange events and many are terrified of what's happening. This leads to the belief in a noisy spirit haunting the person or place.
This implies that people are capable of amazing feats of psychokinesis when under stress, but they are not in conscious control of what happens. This explanation also requires no idea of an afterlife to explain poltergeist activity. Poltergeist activity, however, is only one small part of the greater realm of ghosts and hauntings.
Then again, maybe both the spirits-of-the-dead and the RSPK theories are accurate. If a deceased person is able to perform the seemingly impossible feats of a poltergeist then why wouldn't a living person be able to do the same? I have no preference, myself. I think that one is just as likely as the other and that they are not mutually exclusive. I am convinced of the human capacity for psychokinesis and I also find it likely that we continue on in some form after death. I hope that future research will shed light on both of these subjects.
If you would like to read more about ghosts, poltergeists, and the quest for answers then please see this article.
The trend in parapsychology in recent years has been to lean toward the RSPK explanation for poltergeist activity. This makes some sense as poltergeist activity is commonly focused on one person, the activity only present in their vicinity. This explanation proposes that some individuals, when under emotional distress, will release that tension through psychokinesis. These people are usually completely unaware that they are causing these strange events and many are terrified of what's happening. This leads to the belief in a noisy spirit haunting the person or place.
This implies that people are capable of amazing feats of psychokinesis when under stress, but they are not in conscious control of what happens. This explanation also requires no idea of an afterlife to explain poltergeist activity. Poltergeist activity, however, is only one small part of the greater realm of ghosts and hauntings.
Then again, maybe both the spirits-of-the-dead and the RSPK theories are accurate. If a deceased person is able to perform the seemingly impossible feats of a poltergeist then why wouldn't a living person be able to do the same? I have no preference, myself. I think that one is just as likely as the other and that they are not mutually exclusive. I am convinced of the human capacity for psychokinesis and I also find it likely that we continue on in some form after death. I hope that future research will shed light on both of these subjects.
If you would like to read more about ghosts, poltergeists, and the quest for answers then please see this article.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Levitation
Levitation is typically viewed as the fare of mystics and ascetics that have dedicated themselves solely to their practice and acquire this ability through experience. Levitation may also be demonstrated by saints or other holy figures. One has to ask themselves if levitation isn't perhaps an allegory for spiritual attainment.
Another possibility for explaining the phenomenon of levitation is that it is a feeling of levity, rather than actually rising into the air. I have experienced a sensation of levitation while meditating before. I felt as if I was floating in the air above where I had seated myself. However, it was obvious that I had not left the ground when I came out of my meditation. If I had more skill in this, would I be able to actually levitate? I don't know. I've only had this levitation sensation happen once before and I don't meditate as much as I should anymore.
What about true levitation then? Does it exist or is it just an allegory or symbol for some psychological or spiritual process that is internal? There are plenty of accounts throughout history from those that have witnessed levitation. There were many mediums in the days of spiritualism that were said to be able to levitate objects or themselves. Many of these were proven to be frauds, but there are a few cases that were not so easy to write off. One such case is that of D.D. Home. Home had many powers but his most impressive feats were those of levitation; both of objects and of himself. Home, while accused of being a fraud, was never caught performing any kind of trickery despite being examined by scientists and performing his feats in normal lighting.
Knowing this, I have to say that I don't think that true levitation is impossible.
If you would like to learn more about the feats of D.D. Home then please see this page at paranormal.about.com. You may also be interested in my post about the siddhis.
Another possibility for explaining the phenomenon of levitation is that it is a feeling of levity, rather than actually rising into the air. I have experienced a sensation of levitation while meditating before. I felt as if I was floating in the air above where I had seated myself. However, it was obvious that I had not left the ground when I came out of my meditation. If I had more skill in this, would I be able to actually levitate? I don't know. I've only had this levitation sensation happen once before and I don't meditate as much as I should anymore.
What about true levitation then? Does it exist or is it just an allegory or symbol for some psychological or spiritual process that is internal? There are plenty of accounts throughout history from those that have witnessed levitation. There were many mediums in the days of spiritualism that were said to be able to levitate objects or themselves. Many of these were proven to be frauds, but there are a few cases that were not so easy to write off. One such case is that of D.D. Home. Home had many powers but his most impressive feats were those of levitation; both of objects and of himself. Home, while accused of being a fraud, was never caught performing any kind of trickery despite being examined by scientists and performing his feats in normal lighting.
Knowing this, I have to say that I don't think that true levitation is impossible.
If you would like to learn more about the feats of D.D. Home then please see this page at paranormal.about.com. You may also be interested in my post about the siddhis.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Skepticism and the paranormal.
If you're a student of the paranormal then seeing the word "skeptic" probably causes you to recoil a bit. Skeptics are seen as those debunkers and deniers for which no evidence is good enough. I am pleased to inform you that these people are not skeptics. These people give skepticism a bad name.
For your consideration here is a definition:
skepticism (uncountable)
1. (US) The practice or philosophy of being a skeptic.
2. (US) A studied attitude of questioning and doubt
3. (US) The doctrine that absolute knowledge is not possible
4. (US) A methodology that starts from a neutral standpoint and aims to acquire certainty though scientific or logical observation.
5. (US) Doubt or disbelief of religious doctrines
(From Wiktionary.)
To me, the overall meaning of skepticism, based on this definition, is that of one that considers evidence and then makes a decision accordingly. This means not jumping to conclusions and, most importantly, not dismissing something out of hand. It is unfortunate that modern skepticism has been co-opted by dogmatic thinkers who are no better than the dogmas they are so proud of opposing. I tend to think of modern skepticism as making a negative assumption, whereas belief is a positive assumption. They're still both assumptions though. Belief is "Mental acceptance of a claim as truth regardless of supporting empirical evidence." (Again from Wiktionary.)
If a negative assumption is a belief just the same as a positive assumption then what is the difference? Well, as any skeptic will be sure to point out, the burden of scientific proof is on the person making the claim and they are exempt from this because a negative cannot be proven. This leads me to my point: If a negative cannot be proven, why hold a negative assumption about something? To make a claim and then fail to back it up without any evidence sounds ridiculous to those that are expected to believe it no matter what the claim is (unless those people have faith). If there is no evidence to support a positive claim then there is obviously no evidence to support the negative claim either. So why assume the negative position? Why not simply say "I don't know," or "We don't know"?
In the case of paranormal claims that have some evidence, whether it be eyewitnesses, photographs, videos, etc. the "neutral" claim is that it must be trickery or illusion. Why? This is not to say that all such things should be believed because many of these things do turn out to be frauds or hoaxes, or less sinisterly, misunderstood natural phenomena or optical illusions. Perhaps this is why some people immediately jump to the conclusion that all such activity is fake. This is perhaps not so bad. The bad part is that when a natural explanation is not forthcoming and no evidence of trickery or illusion is discovered, the pseudoskeptics still cry hoax. What is the difference between this kind of clinging to faith and the clinging to faith of one who continues to believe in a proven fraud?
Then we have events that are seemingly supernatural but can be replicated by trickery. We can present a scene from the Civil War on the big screen, complete with big-budget CGI. It looks like the Civil War but it is not the genuine article. Some propose that the telekinetic feats of Nina Kulagina can be replicated with string. Big deal. Knowledge of the principles of multiplication can be replicated by simply memorizing multiplication tables. My point is that just because something can be emulated through trickery does not mean that it was trickery to begin with.
We must also take into account how many things are known to exist that were previously unknown to us because of the limits to our knowledge and technical capability. X-rays were once denounced as a hoax by Lord Kelvin but with more demonstrations X-rays became accepted and understood and now the majority of people have some understanding of something that perplexed the greatest minds of that time. Did X-rays not exist before they were demonstrated? While a possibility, this seems unlikely and I think most self-styled skeptics would agree.
A key tenet of the scientific method is that a hypothesis must be falsifiable. You must be able to show that the hypothesis is true or false in definitive terms. I can say that the entire universe is contained within an invisible snow globe, but there is no way to prove this. This is not a testable hypothesis and therefore not a valid one as it doesn't allow us to gain any further knowledge or understanding. The lack of existence of something is not testable, so how can we say with any certainty that something does not exist? At best we can say that it has not been conclusively proven to exist. The belief that something does not exist because we can't detect it is just that: a belief. It is an assumption upheld by faith. It is impossible to prove a nonexistence, so how can any skeptic possibly claim with certainty that something is nonexistent?
I am not advocating credulity. I am also not advocating denial. I'm fully aware that nothing I've written here will stop the ongoing battle between believers and nonbelievers. My intention is to get you to think about why you believe the things you believe. There is nothing wrong with belief, but we must be prepared to examine our beliefs as objectively as we possibly can from our subjective human perspective. This includes accepting that sometimes that awesome ghost photo or that UFO sighting is a fake or a hoax.
If you would like to read more eloquent observations on skepticism and the paranormal then please see this article written by the true skeptic Marcello Truzzi. I believe you will like it. If you would like to report your thoughts on what I've written above then leave me a comment below. See you next time.
For your consideration here is a definition:
skepticism (uncountable)
1. (US) The practice or philosophy of being a skeptic.
2. (US) A studied attitude of questioning and doubt
3. (US) The doctrine that absolute knowledge is not possible
4. (US) A methodology that starts from a neutral standpoint and aims to acquire certainty though scientific or logical observation.
5. (US) Doubt or disbelief of religious doctrines
(From Wiktionary.)
To me, the overall meaning of skepticism, based on this definition, is that of one that considers evidence and then makes a decision accordingly. This means not jumping to conclusions and, most importantly, not dismissing something out of hand. It is unfortunate that modern skepticism has been co-opted by dogmatic thinkers who are no better than the dogmas they are so proud of opposing. I tend to think of modern skepticism as making a negative assumption, whereas belief is a positive assumption. They're still both assumptions though. Belief is "Mental acceptance of a claim as truth regardless of supporting empirical evidence." (Again from Wiktionary.)
If a negative assumption is a belief just the same as a positive assumption then what is the difference? Well, as any skeptic will be sure to point out, the burden of scientific proof is on the person making the claim and they are exempt from this because a negative cannot be proven. This leads me to my point: If a negative cannot be proven, why hold a negative assumption about something? To make a claim and then fail to back it up without any evidence sounds ridiculous to those that are expected to believe it no matter what the claim is (unless those people have faith). If there is no evidence to support a positive claim then there is obviously no evidence to support the negative claim either. So why assume the negative position? Why not simply say "I don't know," or "We don't know"?
In the case of paranormal claims that have some evidence, whether it be eyewitnesses, photographs, videos, etc. the "neutral" claim is that it must be trickery or illusion. Why? This is not to say that all such things should be believed because many of these things do turn out to be frauds or hoaxes, or less sinisterly, misunderstood natural phenomena or optical illusions. Perhaps this is why some people immediately jump to the conclusion that all such activity is fake. This is perhaps not so bad. The bad part is that when a natural explanation is not forthcoming and no evidence of trickery or illusion is discovered, the pseudoskeptics still cry hoax. What is the difference between this kind of clinging to faith and the clinging to faith of one who continues to believe in a proven fraud?
Then we have events that are seemingly supernatural but can be replicated by trickery. We can present a scene from the Civil War on the big screen, complete with big-budget CGI. It looks like the Civil War but it is not the genuine article. Some propose that the telekinetic feats of Nina Kulagina can be replicated with string. Big deal. Knowledge of the principles of multiplication can be replicated by simply memorizing multiplication tables. My point is that just because something can be emulated through trickery does not mean that it was trickery to begin with.
We must also take into account how many things are known to exist that were previously unknown to us because of the limits to our knowledge and technical capability. X-rays were once denounced as a hoax by Lord Kelvin but with more demonstrations X-rays became accepted and understood and now the majority of people have some understanding of something that perplexed the greatest minds of that time. Did X-rays not exist before they were demonstrated? While a possibility, this seems unlikely and I think most self-styled skeptics would agree.
A key tenet of the scientific method is that a hypothesis must be falsifiable. You must be able to show that the hypothesis is true or false in definitive terms. I can say that the entire universe is contained within an invisible snow globe, but there is no way to prove this. This is not a testable hypothesis and therefore not a valid one as it doesn't allow us to gain any further knowledge or understanding. The lack of existence of something is not testable, so how can we say with any certainty that something does not exist? At best we can say that it has not been conclusively proven to exist. The belief that something does not exist because we can't detect it is just that: a belief. It is an assumption upheld by faith. It is impossible to prove a nonexistence, so how can any skeptic possibly claim with certainty that something is nonexistent?
I am not advocating credulity. I am also not advocating denial. I'm fully aware that nothing I've written here will stop the ongoing battle between believers and nonbelievers. My intention is to get you to think about why you believe the things you believe. There is nothing wrong with belief, but we must be prepared to examine our beliefs as objectively as we possibly can from our subjective human perspective. This includes accepting that sometimes that awesome ghost photo or that UFO sighting is a fake or a hoax.
If you would like to read more eloquent observations on skepticism and the paranormal then please see this article written by the true skeptic Marcello Truzzi. I believe you will like it. If you would like to report your thoughts on what I've written above then leave me a comment below. See you next time.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Extraterrestrials as demons?
UFOlogy is a very deep and complex subject and I expect to discuss various aspects of it as I post more blog entries. The specific topic I'm going to focus on now however is the view that what are commonly seen as extraterrestrials and their spacecraft are actually demons. To clarify, I mean demons in the sense that most of Christianity knows them (and demons are a whole topic all by themselves). I'm talking about malevolent supernatural entities, commonly seen as the antithesis of angels.
I think I was first introduced to the idea that extraterrestrials (aliens, if you will) are actually demons about eight or so months ago at a UFO/Paranormal lecture. The speaker was a religious man, having gone to divinity school if I'm not mistaken. Since I don't get the opportunity to attend such lectures very often I thought I'd check it out even if I thought it was a little strange that someone with that background claimed to be a paranormal scholar of this variety. Without going into too much detail (this story could provide a completely separate blog post of its own), about halfway through the night the speaker began to "get down to business," so to speak.
At this point we had discussed predominantly UFOs and extraterrestrials, covering all the major bases of the UFO/alien lore. Then this lecturer dropped a bit of a bomb on me. He suggested something that seemed completely strange and absurd to me at the time because it seemed very foreign to my way of thinking. He suggested that aliens were not actually creatures from another planet and that they were actually demons. Malevolent spiritual entities taking the form of "aliens" in order to corrupt and damn us. I won't go into all of the intricacies of this because I honestly can't. At this point the night seemed to take a more evangelical turn and that had me in something of a squirm-in-your-seat kind of uneasiness that lasted until I left the building. That said, this lecturer brings to mind an interesting suggestion.
Typing this now, I remember seeing references to extraterrestrials (or at least the "bad" ones) as being evil, followers of Satan, working against God, etc. prior to this lecture but I can't recall someone ever stating that ETs were literal demons taking form to torment and deceive mankind before this. While studying Fortean lore, I came across the concept of one being taken away and brought back by fairies. Again, fairies may even merit their own individual blog post; there's a lot more to fairies than Tinkerbell. Anyway, when looking over these accounts, there are a lot of similarities between ancient encounters with fairies and modern encounters with UFOs/aliens, abduction being just one of the commonalities. Could extraterrestrials be supernatural entities rather than flesh and blood creatures from other planets?
Everything we claim to know through science suggests that it is very, very unlikely that extraterrestrials are visiting or ever have visited Earth. The vastness of space and the technology required make the possibility of aliens visiting our planet a very slim one indeed. This is what science tells us. But what if the "aliens" are already here? There are a number of avenues to go from this question, but for the purpose of this post I'm going to choose the fairy folk/demon avenue. Suppose these entities are supernatural beings, mostly native to our planet (or at least our general level of existence) that have been here as long as we have or longer. What if only our perception of them has changed? In the past it was fairies and magic; in the modern age it is extraterrestrials and spacecraft. Perhaps this is how we rationalize these experiences in the the current age.
None of this really sheds any new light on the subject of UFOs/aliens and I'm certainly not the first person to propose this line of thinking, but it does give one something else to consider. Personally, I'm on the fence. I'm convinced of the reality of the UFO phenomenon but I have absolutely no idea what is behind it, whether it's extraterrestrials, fairies, demons, Earth energies, or any of the other less-than-conventional ideas. I can't throw down an opinion one way or another. Maybe you can though.
Let me know what you think in the comments or use the poll to the right. Or you can do both if you're so inclined.
I think I was first introduced to the idea that extraterrestrials (aliens, if you will) are actually demons about eight or so months ago at a UFO/Paranormal lecture. The speaker was a religious man, having gone to divinity school if I'm not mistaken. Since I don't get the opportunity to attend such lectures very often I thought I'd check it out even if I thought it was a little strange that someone with that background claimed to be a paranormal scholar of this variety. Without going into too much detail (this story could provide a completely separate blog post of its own), about halfway through the night the speaker began to "get down to business," so to speak.
At this point we had discussed predominantly UFOs and extraterrestrials, covering all the major bases of the UFO/alien lore. Then this lecturer dropped a bit of a bomb on me. He suggested something that seemed completely strange and absurd to me at the time because it seemed very foreign to my way of thinking. He suggested that aliens were not actually creatures from another planet and that they were actually demons. Malevolent spiritual entities taking the form of "aliens" in order to corrupt and damn us. I won't go into all of the intricacies of this because I honestly can't. At this point the night seemed to take a more evangelical turn and that had me in something of a squirm-in-your-seat kind of uneasiness that lasted until I left the building. That said, this lecturer brings to mind an interesting suggestion.
Typing this now, I remember seeing references to extraterrestrials (or at least the "bad" ones) as being evil, followers of Satan, working against God, etc. prior to this lecture but I can't recall someone ever stating that ETs were literal demons taking form to torment and deceive mankind before this. While studying Fortean lore, I came across the concept of one being taken away and brought back by fairies. Again, fairies may even merit their own individual blog post; there's a lot more to fairies than Tinkerbell. Anyway, when looking over these accounts, there are a lot of similarities between ancient encounters with fairies and modern encounters with UFOs/aliens, abduction being just one of the commonalities. Could extraterrestrials be supernatural entities rather than flesh and blood creatures from other planets?
Everything we claim to know through science suggests that it is very, very unlikely that extraterrestrials are visiting or ever have visited Earth. The vastness of space and the technology required make the possibility of aliens visiting our planet a very slim one indeed. This is what science tells us. But what if the "aliens" are already here? There are a number of avenues to go from this question, but for the purpose of this post I'm going to choose the fairy folk/demon avenue. Suppose these entities are supernatural beings, mostly native to our planet (or at least our general level of existence) that have been here as long as we have or longer. What if only our perception of them has changed? In the past it was fairies and magic; in the modern age it is extraterrestrials and spacecraft. Perhaps this is how we rationalize these experiences in the the current age.
None of this really sheds any new light on the subject of UFOs/aliens and I'm certainly not the first person to propose this line of thinking, but it does give one something else to consider. Personally, I'm on the fence. I'm convinced of the reality of the UFO phenomenon but I have absolutely no idea what is behind it, whether it's extraterrestrials, fairies, demons, Earth energies, or any of the other less-than-conventional ideas. I can't throw down an opinion one way or another. Maybe you can though.
Let me know what you think in the comments or use the poll to the right. Or you can do both if you're so inclined.
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