Chapter 35 Psychic Capacities.
We have seen our conscious and subconscious faculties, now let us go deeper into the psychical field. This is more removed from our daily lives; yet it is intriguing, and adds to our valuable pool of knowledge and abilities. Psychic phenomena generally refer to extra-sensory-perception (ESP), like telepathy, precognition and clairvoyance, as well as other things like hypnosis, psychokinesis, and psychokinematis.
The book Psychic Powers, by the editors of Time-Life Books recounted that in 1955 Joicey Hurth, a girl of 5 in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, USA, was hit and slightly injured by a car as she was running to join her brothers at the theatre. She moved aside, and clamoured, „Mama, Mama. Her mother, at home some distance away, immediately felt her accident and quickly telephoned the theatre! This is a form of telepathy between people who are emotionally attached, and is quite common.
Two American presidents come to mind here, Lincoln and Kennedy. There were stunning coincidences in the calendars and environment of the 2 presidents who were assassinated. Both spoke of their approaching death. Hours before the fatal gunshot, Kennedy said, „If somebody wants to shoot me from a window, with a rifle, nobody can stop it. This is an example of precognition. The Reader’s Digest Book of Strange Stories, Amazing Facts gave an interesting account of the French-Russian battles in 1812. The wife of a General Toutschkoff dreamed 3 times, that her father appeared sadly to inform of her husbands death: „He has fallen at Borodino. She warned her hubby, but they couldnt find Borodino on the map. In September that year, the Russian armies invaded France in an offensive that cost 85,000 lives, at the village of Borodino! Finally, her father entered, in real life, in a sorrowful stammer, „He has fallen at Borodino. This awareness of oncoming events is called clairvoyance.
Hypnosis is different. Started by Dr Mesmer 100 years ago, it is no longer just a stage gimmick for magicians! It is widely accepted as the state of deep relaxation and focus that is most responsive to visualisation and suggestion. It is now used as a cure for bad habits, disorders and illness. The success rate is dependant on the extent of participants belief and submission. Self-hypnosis is also being practised widely for self-healing and improvements.
Psychological journals in large libraries are full of experiments on psychic powers. Nowadays researchers are very confident of the accuracy and unbiased neutrality of their methods. One interesting experiment in New Jersey, USA, came out with a machine called the REG. Resembling computer games, it produced 100% random scores without human involvement. When a candidate was tested, her scores outsmarted the machine against odds of a thousand to one. This confirmed the human ESP and psychokinesis powers. Further afield, CIA and National Security are funding ESP development and testing mind powers, for future usage akin to star wars! As early as the 1970s, the Russians were already spending millions in these areas.
Much scepticism still shrouds ESP and psychokinesis (mind over matter). The Book of Strange Stories, Amazing Facts also documented 2 intriguing incidents: In 1879, the Prince Imperial - the son of the deposed Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie of France - was fighting for the British against the Zulu tribe in Africa. The exiled prince was later killed in battle. His body was retrieved and returned to England. A year later, Eugenie travelled to Zululand to see the spot where her son had died. On arrival, they had trouble finding the stone marking amidst the overgrown bush. Then Eugenie cried out: „I smell violets; they were always his favourite flowers! She then ran precisely to where he had fallen. (There are numerous other incidents of messages, writings, and even musical compositions from the dead. You can read about them in the library). The second incident involved a teenage soldier in the Russian Army years ago, called Ninel. She discovered that things in the house moved around her. She further practised concentration to strengthen her power, which was documented by researchers and film-makers. A Dr Sergeyer measured a high level of electrostatic field around her during her display! A more famous and recent exponent of mind-over-matter is Uri Geller of Israel, who in public appearances bent metals and made watches go crazy.
Anthony Norvell in his book How To Develop Your Psychic Powers... reported on a college girl, who was secretly in love with a boy in school. He was not aware she existed. After 2 disappointing years, she resorted to weeks of psycho-kinematis. She visualised and projected her love incessantly. One day she attended a football game and there he was. She licked her lips; but he was with his other girl friend! In desperation she intensified her psychic suggestion: „You will call me, love me and marry me... She went all out with powerful desire, visualisation and projection. Suddenly, the Boy was standing beside her, asking for a date! They got married eventually.
It is fascinating to note that over the years, a few people emerged with the strange Stigmata. These bodily wounds duplicated those suffered by Jesus on the cross. The Church put forward 3 possible causes: Divine revelation from God; auto-suggestion and emotions; disruption by evil spirits. So far, none of these can be conclusively proven.
Please read more about psychic powers in the libraries. You can gradually learn and capitalise on them in the following ways:
1. Use auto-suggestions to realise your desires and goals.
2. Practise self-hypnosis to erase worry, anxiety and bad habits.
3. Channel telepathy to others for goodwill and co-operation.
4. Cultivate intuition to guide you in decisions and actions.
5. Practise relaxation, meditation to reinvigorate yourself, and enhance your creative endeavours in art, music or literature.
6. Nurture psychic abilities, to warn against danger ahead of you.
Emerson noted, „Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the world. O. S. Marden stated, „The possibilities of thought training is infinite...Yet few take the pains to direct their thinking into channels that will do them good, but instead leave all to chance. We should wherever possible, use our psychic powers, particularly in the easier areas of telepathy, hypnotism and auto-suggestions. Usage gives us the winning edge over others. Let us tell our psyche to think our way and develop our desired future. Think: „I choose to feel happy and rich, and we do! The ability to visualise, plan and organise our lives, and to wield psychic powers may simply set us apart from the ordinary people.