A Ghost in the Country - The Haunting in Eads, TN

The Parapsychic Sciences - Parapsychology

Psychic phenomena are controversial, and any discussion of the paranormal provokes debate. For more than a century psychical research, or parapsychology as it is called today, has been attempting to use scientific methods to unravel the mysteries of psi (psi is the first letter of the Greek word psyche and is used to denote any type of psychic phenomena). Recent developments in parapsychology and neuroscience have revealed new clues about the way ESP and other psychic abilities are processed by the brain. Parapsychic science is the unity of contemporary science and philosophy with metaphysics to provide us with the ability to understand and communicate with the spiritual realm. It covers many areas of psychic science including the investigation of psychic phenomena, extra-terrestrial activity, telepathy, near-death experiences, and parapsychology.

Psychic abilities and experiences are much more common than most people think, and involve a wide variety of seemingly unrelated experiences including precognition (dreams or visions of the future), telepathy (mind to mind communication), clairvoyance (receiving psychic impressions from a location or object), psychokinesis oe PK (mind over matter), as well as hauntings, poltergeists, reincarnational memories and a variety of other paranormal events. PK, psychic healing and poltergeist-type phenomena are referred to as projective (or expressive) psi, since they seem to involve some type of force or energy directed by the human mind, interacting with the external environment.

ESP, precognition and some types of haunting are referred to as receptive psi, since they involve receiving information without the aid of normal means of communication. One of the most interesting discoveries in the field of parapsychology is that environmental factors, particularly magnetic and electromagnetic fields, apparently affect the brain’s ability to produce psychic effects or receive psychic impressions. The Earth itself produces its own magnetic field, which varies in response to a variety of climatic and geological factors. Sun spots and solar flare activity, for example, in addition to causing radio and TV signal interference, the aurora borealis, and other straight-forward physical effects, also has an effect on paranormal phenomena and experiences.

Several recent studies have shown that projective psi phenomena, such as psychokinesis and poltergeist effects, are more active when the Earth’s geomagnetic field is high, as ist is during solar magnetic storms. Psi receptive phenomena such as ESP and precognition, on the other hand, seem to be inhibited during times of high geomagnetism and increase when the Earth’s magnetic field is at its lowest ebb. Hauntings and other types of spontaneous paranormal phenomena such as UFO encounters, also seem to be more prevalent in the presence of man-made electromagnetic fields of high intensity, such as those produced by high-voltage electrical transmission wires and household appliances.

Parapsychology is a branch of psychology specifically involved with the studies of paranormal events. The parapsychologist ascertains the history, principles, and theories behind psychic phenomena involving telepathy, clairvoyance, sensory awareness, psychometry (psychoscopy or "psychic touch"), dermo-optic perception, spiritual healing, auras, mediumship, and so forth. A parapsychologist can also counsel individuals who have suffered trauma due to alien and spirit encounters and other paranormal experiences.

The parapsychic sciences and parapsychology are very extensive fields of study. I have provided some basic information within this blog.

 

The Parapsychological Association is an international professional organization of scientists and scholars engaged in the study of psi (or 'psychic') experiences, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, psychic healing, and precognition. The primary objective of the PA is to achieve a scientific understanding of these experiences.

First established in 1957, the PA has been an affiliated organization of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) since 1969. The PA is a non-profit, non-adjudicating organization that endorses no ideologies or beliefs other than the value of rigorous scientific and scholarly inquiry.

Many feel that the strangest, and most interesting, aspect of parapsychological phenomena is that they do not appear to be limited by the known boundaries of space or time. In addition, they blur the sharp distinction usually made between mind and matter. In popular usage, the basic parapsychological phenomena are categorized as follows:

Psi : A neutral term for parapsychological phenomena. Psi, psychic, and psychical are synonyms.

Telepathy : Direct mind-to-mind communication.

Precognition : Also called premonition. Obtaining information about future events, where the information could not be inferred through normal means. Many people report dreams that appear to be precognitive.

Recognition : Obtaining information about past events, where the information could not be inferred through normal means. Many people get this information by touching objects or just by visiting a location.  Often a feeling of De Ja Vu. 

Clairvoyance : Sometimes called remote viewing; obtaining information about events at remote locations, beyond the reach of the normal senses.

ESP: Extra-sensory perception; a general term for obtaining information about events beyond the reach of the normal senses. This term subsumes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition.

Psychokinesis : Also called PK; direct mental interaction with physical objects, animate or inanimate.

Bio-PK : Direct mental interactions with living systems.

NDE : Near death experience; an experience reported by those who were revived from nearly dying. Often refers to a core experience that includes feelings of peace, OBE, seeing lights and other phenomena.

OBE : Out-of-body experience; the experience of feeling separated from the body, often accompanied by visual perceptions as though from above the body.

Reincarnation: The belief that we live successive lives, with primarily evidence coming from the apparent recollections of previous lives by very small children.

Haunting : Recurrent phenomena reported to occur in particular locations that include apparitions, sounds, movement of objects, and other effects.

Poltergeist: Large-scale PK phenomena often attributed to spirits, but which are now thought to be due to a living person, frequently an adolescent.

Who is interested in Parapsychology?

Physicists tend to be interested in parapsychology because of the implication that we have a gross misunderstanding about space and time and the transmission of energy and information.

Biologists are interested because psi implies the existence of additional, unexplained methods of sensing the world.

Psychologists are interested for what psi implies about the nature of perception and memory.

Philosophers are interested because psi phenomena specifically address many age-old philosophical problems, including the role of the mind in the physical world, and the nature of the objective vs. the subjective.

Theologians and the general public tend to be interested because personal psi experiences are often accompanied by feelings of profound, ineffable meaning. As a result, psi is thought by some to have "spiritual" implications.

From the materialistic perspective, one of the foundations of the current scientific worldview, human consciousness is nothing but an emergent product of the functioning of Brain, Body, and Nervous System (BBNS). That is, no matter how different mind may seem from solid stuff like bodies, it is generated solely by the electrochemical functioning of the BBNS, and so it is absolutely dependent on it. When the BBNS dies, so does consciousness. From this perspective, claims of survival of bodily death, or ghosts, or apparitions, must be due to wishful thinking. Furthermore, the limits of material functioning automatically determine the ultimate limits of mental functioning, thus ESP and PK appear to be impossible, given our current understanding about how the world works.

And yet, psi phenomena have occurred in all cultures throughout history, they continue to occur, and some of the reported phenomena have been persuasively verified using scientific methods. Because psi seems to transcend the assumed limits of material functioning, and therefore the BBNS, some interpret psi as supporting the idea that there is something more to mind than just the BBNS, that there is some sort of "soul," or the like.

This "non-physical" aspect, an aspect that does not seem to be as tightly bounded by space or time as present scientific models require, might survive bodily death. If so, there may be important truths contained in some spiritual ideas and practices. Of course, parapsychology is a very long way from being able to say that "the data shows that X" (insert your favorite religious group here) are specifically right about religious doctrines A, B, and C but dead wrong about dogmas P, Q and R.

We must emphasize that there is a big difference between simply noting that the findings of parapsychology may have implications for spiritual concepts, versus the idea that parapsychologists are driven by some hidden spiritual agenda. Some critics of parapsychology seem to believe that all parapsychologists have hidden religious motives, and that they are really out to prove the existence of the soul. This is no more true than claiming that all chemists really harbor secret ambitions about alchemy, and thus their real agenda is to transmute mercury into gold. The reasons why serious investigators are drawn to any discipline are as diverse as their backgrounds.

Psychic Phenomena

Science has reached out to the farthest ends of the universe and it is exploring the deepest oceans. Everything in between is being researched and human knowledge grows by leaps and bounds. Regrettably, the human psyche and its wondrous potential have been woefully neglected for a very long time. Only recently, Professor Fredric Schiffer of Harvard University published his findings about the binary functions of the mind and opened an exciting new frontier of human nature.

There is, of course, a valid reason that anything that has to do with the invisible aspects of the human mind is approached with caution. For every respectable parapsychologist there are many others whose actions discredit the intangible realm, behind matter.

To begin with, let's define the object of this consideration:

The word psychic describes anything in connection with the psyche. This word dates back to ancient times when a goddess by the name of Psyche was in charge of the invisible but essential part of human existence. Over time the word and its meaning evolved and presently the thesaurus offers the following synonyms:

Mind, soul, self, subconscious, spirit, subliminal self, inner self, ego and individuality.

These words have wide range of meanings and, therefore, it makes sense not to use them in the context of this article. Instead, a definition of the source of psychic phenomena will be presented thereby establishing a clear conceptual basis these phenomena can be referenced to.

There are two types of energy:

The energy of matter and the energy behind matter, which religion calls the spiritual energy and science calls the energy of the quantum vacuum.

The energy of matter oscillates between the stages of energy and of matter. In a movie consecutive frames give the impression of continued action, which progresses with each frame. The succession of matter phases marks the change, which was achieved in the energy phase and expresses it in a material dimension of width, height and length. The progression of matter phases creates time, the fourth dimension of matter.

The energy behind matter is very different from the energy of matter. It always remains energy and, therefore, does not constitute space or time. In this realm of pure energy everything is interrelated. Most importantly, these energies can be programmed and they determine what happens in consecutive matter phases like software determines how a computer operates. For simplicity's reason let's call these the spiritual energies.

Any kind of change for matter happens in its energy phase. Were the oscillation of matter to stop in a matter phase everything would stop dead at this instance. For instance, when a body moves the displacement takes place in the energy phases and matter follows energy's lead in consecutive matter phases thus expressing the movement, which has taken place in the preceding energy phases.

For movement to take place a command has to be issued. The processes that determine what matter has to do take place in the spiritual energies, which give the appropriate command to the matter energies. These perform according to these commands and in the ensuing matter phases this performance is expressed by whatever kind of action the energies of matter took.

For instance, someone thinks that he wants to go to the refrigerator. First comes the thought in his spiritual energies. This thought issues a command to the energies of matter, which then progress towards the refrigerator. The movement of the energies of matter is expressed in consecutive matter phases as this someone walks to the refrigerator.

From the above it is clear that every moment of a person's life involves spiritual activity. Without the directions given to a person by the energies behind matter - the spiritual energies - nothing can happen in the realm of matter. Considering this it is logical to call these energies the spirit of a person. This means that from all the names given to these energies in the thesaurus "spirit" is the correct one.

The way Professor Schiffer explains the difference between the left - the conscious - and the right side - the unconscious - of the brain it is clear that these two halves are designed like a biological computer. The conscious corresponds to the processor and the working memory, the unconscious corresponds to a hard drive i.e. memory storage. Consequently, every person has two minds. Together these constitute a personality.

This opens a very interesting possibility. The conscious minds puts data into the unconscious mind with thoughts, words and actions. This data is stored and retrieved when a situation arises that it can be used. If such data is used to make the conscious mind do something specific on a specific occasion then this works like a computer program that makes a computer perform a certain task. Consequently, a person can program himself/herself with an easy trick: one just has to talk to oneself as a second person. To make a New Year resolution stick one should not say: next year I'll do this and I won't do that. We all know that does not work too well. Instead one should address oneself on a first name basis and say, for instance, "next year, Joe, you do this and don't do that". That programs one's own subconscious and a New Year resolution made this way has a good chance to succeed.

Since it has no memory the conscious mind is blank at the time of birth. All of its skills have to be learned and developed as a person grows up. The unconscious mind is the spirit of a person and it contains all the data put in during all previous lifetimes. It consists of spiritual energies or energies of the quantum vacuum as they are called, as well. Such energies are all interconnected and, therefore, a person who can use his/her right side of the brain to tune into this type of energies can extract information from or make use of these energies.

With its access to memories of previous lifetimes the unconscious mind also has access to a vast reservoir of previous experiences from which the conscious mind can draw if it pays attention to feelings and hunches etc. because the unconscious mind cannot talk, it just transmits images or feelings. Every time the conscious mind thinks or plans the unconscious mind checks on the information stored in its energies and issues responses in form of feelings and images. As this check is done by spiritual energies the information is provided instantly as in the spiritual realm time does not exist.

For instance, someone nearly drowned at some point of time in the present or a previous lifetime. Such person's subconscious will issue a warning not to get too close to any kind of water deep enough to be dangerous. This person will feel uncomfortable whenever he/she gets close to open water. A general term for this kind of warnings if it is too strong is psychosis and the job of psychotherapist is to uncover the hidden reasons for this situation. Once these are detected the psychotherapist can "talk the person out" of his/her anxieties i.e. reprogram the unconscious energies.

Everybody is a spiritual person for spirituality is the basis of life itself. Even though the words "spiritual" and "psychic" by our definition mean the same a psychic person is thought to be someone with special gifts or powers. Such person has abilities a normal "spiritual" person does not have. He/she can use his/her right side of the brain, to provide insights in or to establish connections with the spiritual realm and interpret the findings. Hence, we are not talking of spiritual but of psychic phenomena.

The term "psychic" is applied to a wide range of abilities and situations. To facilitate understanding categories of psychic phenomena are presented, which sum up the ones that are related. In each category the ones that are closely related are grouped together.

ESP = Extra Sensory Perception

- Telepathy

- Tele-empathy

- Clairvoyance

- Precognition & Recognition

- Premonition

- Remote Viewing

- Psychometry

- Psi detectives

- Dowsing

- Earth Radiation

- Deja Vu

- Psychic Archaeology

Altered States of Consciousness

- OBE - out of body experience

- Near Death Experience

- Dreams

- Psychic Dreams

-Hallucinations

- Hypnosis

Powers of the Mind

- Telekinesis = Psychokinesis

- Levitation

- Teleportation

- Psychic healing

- Influencing plants

- Influencing weather

 

Psi Manifestations

- Prophesies

- Divination - auguri

- Oracles

- TV Psychics

- Communication with animals

- Trance mediums

- Spirit doctors

- Psychic photography

- Psychic audio contacts

- Hauntings

- Poltergeists

Death and Re-incarnation 

Parapsychology is the branch of Psychology which studies behavior transcending known modes of sensory cognition and motor activity. Scientific study of the so called supernatural phenomena can be said to have commenced from 1882 with the founding of the society for Psychical Research in London. Similar societies now exist in many countries. The term parapsychology has been popularized by Dr.J.B.Rhine of the Duke University in U.S.A. The Parapsychology Laboratory was established at Duke University in 1934. There, psi phenomena were studied by means of laboratory experiments under controlled conditions. Many people therefore relate the term parapsychology mainly to this type of investigation.

Since the phenomena under study are rare and often contrary to common sense and the known laws of nature, most scientists remain skeptical as to the authenticity of the phenomena. Personal prejudices and beliefs of the investigator can have greater effect on the study than in other sciences. The possibility of the investigator being fooled by clever charlatans and of biased observation and reporting make people hesitate to consider evidence from studies as conclusive. All sorts of criticisms are made on the study, sometimes even going to the extent of questioning the personal integrity and honesty of the research worker.

The number of psychologists believing that the existence of genuine parapsychological phenomena has been demonstrated scientifically has increased considerably in recent times. Still, some even now try to explain away the reported occurrences in terms of known psychological concepts like suggestion, hysteria, hallucination, etc. or in terms of fraud, trickery, etc. Some accept the genuineness of psi capacities like extrasensory perception (ESP) and psychokinesis (PK), but do not consider the evidence for survival or for life beyond death or for the existence of spirits adequate. There are scientists on the other extreme who believe that enough evidence has been gathered to prove the existence of spirits and think that it is possible to communicate with the spirits of dead individuals.

PSI CAPACITIES

1. Extrasensory Perception (ESP)

This term refers to non-sensory cognition. ESP is of two kinds: matagnomy and precognition. Metagnomy is cognition of the present obtained through means other than sensory, while the latter relates to the future. Metagnomy itself is of two types: clairvoyance and telepathy

A. Clairvoyance

This is extrasensory cognition of events and things of the past or present. To study this phenomenon in the laboratory, a pack of ESP cards or Zener cards are used. A pack of cards contains 25 cards, consisting of five sets, each set having one of the five symbols; cross, circle, star, wavy lines, and square. In a simple experiment to test clairvoyance, the 25 cards are shuffled and kept face down on the table. The subject has to guess the order of cards in the pack. The probability of correct guess by chance alone is 5 out of 25 or 1/5 of the total number of trials when the experiment is repeated. If chance were the only factor accounting for the correct guess, the number of correct guesses should come closer and closer to 1/5 of the total number of trials as the number of trials increase. In actual experimentation involving large numbers of subjects and long series of trials extending over several years, deviations significantly different from chance scores have been obtained (about 7 hits per 25). Many variations of the experiment have been tried. Special care has been given to rule out the possibility of sensory cues.

Many spontaneous phenomena have been recorded relating to persons who seem to possess the faculty of clairvoyance to a remarkable degree. Cryptoscopy is the ability to see things enclosed in a box or cover. Divination or dowsing is a commonly heard of form of clairvoyance where hidden objects, underground minerals, metals, water etc. are located, often using a divining rod which is a forked twig held in the hands. Some people are reported to show transposition of the senses like being able to read with fingertips. In autoscopy, the individual claims to see the organs inside his body. Some persons when handed over an object like a watch can sometimes say details regarding the people who have used it. This is referred to as psychometric.

B. Telepathy

Telepathy is extrasensory transfer of emotions and thoughts from one individual to another. For studying telepathy in the laboratory, two persons are required - an agent or sender and a percipient or receiver. In what is called the general ESP test, the sender looks at a card and the subject guesses the symbol and writes it down. After a large number of trials, the number of correct guesses can be counted. Here it can be seen that the factor accounting for the more than chance success score can be either telepathy, or clairvoyance or both. Therefore tests of pure telepathy were devised where the agent simply thinks of one of the given symbols and the subject makes a guess. The agent writes down the symbol only after the subject has done so. Elaborate precautions are reported to have been used to prevent involuntary subliminal articulation and other means by which the subject might get cues. In long distance telepathy experiments, the agent and the receiver were seated miles apart. Consistently high scoring rates have been reported.

It is generally believed that telepathy is greater between persons having a similar mental make-up and who are in rapport with each other. The phenomenon of one individual's mental state and feelings influencing another when they have no normal means of knowing it, is known as sympathism. Many persons are supposed to have much ability in thought reading. Cumberlandism is a parlor game where a blindfolded man is told where an object is hidden by simply touching his hand. The alleged cases of mass hypnotism could be controlling the minds of others through telepathic suggestion. A Russian Parapsychologist Vasiliev has succeeded in hypnotizing his subject telepathically.

C. Precognition

This term refers to the direct cognition of the future. This does not of course include rational inference. In a commonly used version of the experiment, the subject is asked to guess the future order of a pack of ESP cards. Then the cards are mechanically shuffled and the number of hits are counted as before. Once the phenomenon of precognition was proved, it became theoretically rather impossible to conduct experiments on pure telepathy. Precognitive clairvoyance can be said to be the operating factor.

Spontaneous cases of precognition occur most frequently through dreams. Some people experience duplicative precognition. The person has a dream and later on the same events unfold just as he had seen them in the dream. Many fortune tellers use crystals, coffee grounds, candles, etc. as an aid in precognition. It is possible that precognitive ability plays a role in palmistry, astrology, etc. However, enquiries with a scientific purpose have shown that most fortune tellers are quacks who just exploit the credulous people. Modern psychology has shown that suggestion can have a strong influence on human beings. Even death can be brought about by mere suggestion. The suggestions made by fortune tellers are believed and are acted upon in such a manner as to make them come true.

A large number of spontaneous cases are reported in journals of parapsychology which seem to indicate that ESP occurs in the case of animals as well.

2. Psychokinesis (PK)

This is the movement or change of state caused in an object by an individual through non-physical means. In a typical experiment, the subject attempts to influence the outcome of a mechanically performed dice throw. Just like ESP, the existence of PK also has been demonstrated experimentally by testing a large number of subjects. PK scores are generally smaller than ESP Scores, but almost anybody can get moderate success. The number of dice used per throw, the size and shape of the dice etc. have no effect on the scoring rate.

Many of the legendary feats reported by observers seem possible if we accept PK as a fact. There is experimental evidence that some people can influence plant growth and healing of wounds in mice through PK. Many people seem to have witnessed levitation which is lifting objects without contact. In psychogalvanometry, an individual sends an electric current through a galvanometer by holding the electrodes in his hands. Apport is bringing objects through the wall into a closed room. In psychography, changes are brought about on a photographic plate. Some people regard faith-healing of diseases as a form of psychokinesis. The ability to prevent vegetable mater from putrefying has been reported. According to popular conception, poltergeist, in which disturbances occur in a house in the form of objects moving about, stones falling, objects catching fire, etc. are due to the presence of a mischievous ghost. Some Parapsychologists hold the view that the disturbances are caused unconsciously through PK by an adolescent who is more or less ignorant of the fact that he or she is responsible for the occurrence. In the production of organic stigmata (wounds in the form of cross etc. produced on the skin), some process akin to PK might be operating. Hyloclasty involves microscopic effects on matter. Objects are broken into pieces by touching, perfume is extracted from flowers, etc.

Some such process is probably involved in the invulnerability to fire found in fire-walking ceremonies and the ability to withstand extreme cold. The ability to arrest vital physiological functions without damage has also been reported by investigators.

NATURE OF PSI CAPACITIES

Though experimentally, telepathy, clairvoyance, pre-cognition and psychokinesis are often treated as different, the available evidence indicates that there is just an overall psi capacity. Persons getting high scores in one type get high scores in the other types and when an individual's score falls in one, it falls in the others also. Psi phenomena are the product of the overall psychic field, which is a joint product of the personality and beliefs of all those who are involved: the experimenter, subjects and even those who are around as helpers or even mere observers, and the psychic nature of the place. Some places and certain periods of time may facilitate the operation of psi.

The `Experimenter effect' which has been demonstrated in many experiments, indicates that experimenters psychically (through ESP or PK) influence the outcome of the experiment and tend to get results in line with their attitudes and expectations. This would mean that there is no `objective truth' independent of the observer, which can be discovered through experiment (similar to the concepts of operationism, uncertainty principle, etc. in modern physics).

Motivational factors have been found closely related to ESP and PK. Boredom and distraction decrease the scoring rate. There is a general decline from run to run as the experiment proceeds as well as a decline within each run. There is an end spurt as the experiment is drawing to a close. Novelty increases the scoring rates. Children showed best results under competition. Immediate checking of results on each trial has a facilitating effect on performance. Subjects perform better on their own preferred method. Though use of hypnosis has given contrary findings in different studies, there is some indication that hypnotic training may help to develop psi ability, perhaps by increasing motivation and removing inhibitions.

Higher scoring rates are obtained when the experimenters and subjects had mutually positive attitudes. It was found that when packs prepared by the experimenter were mixed with packs prepared by another person, subjects were found to respond differentially by getting higher scores on those prepared by the experimenter. Better scores were obtained when the agent is a person liked by the subject and also belonging to the opposite sex. Familiarity with the experimental situation, relaxation and informality of the situation promote psi. Persons who believed in ESP and those having religious values got higher scores. Experimenters believing in ESP also produced higher scores. Many high scoring subjects were artists. High scorers are generally sociable and extraverted, which perhaps enable them to feel at ease in the experimental situation.

Caffeine helps and sodium amytal hinders psi. In PK, a lag effect has been observed when the target number is changed. In some experiments on precognition a displacement effect has been noted. Some subjects were found to respond consistently to the second target ahead, instead of the first, indicating precognitive telepathy.

Some people have been found consistently to get below chance level scores, indicating that psi is operating in the opposite direction. Negative attitudes of the subjects or experimenter, introverted personality of the subjects and frustration resulting from procedural complications or delaying checking of performance are some of the factors found associated with psi missing. The preferential effect results when the subject is presented with two contrasting conditions simultaneously and he responds differentially by psi-hitting on one and psi missing on the other. For instance, sometimes positive scores are obtained on high-value faces of dice and negative deviations are obtained on low faces in PK experiments. Often in differential response situations, the hit distribution curve of one condition is of the U shape while the other gives its water reflection image.

Inducing And Developing Psi Capacities:

Though hypnosis is associated with psi in the minds of laymen, actual studies have failed to find any significant relationships. Hypnosis is artificial semi-sleep. Those with a hysteric temperament (with lot of Inertia), being very suggestible, easily fall into this state and readily accept and obey suggestions given by another person. Those with an Activated or Stable temperament can go to the semi-sleep condition if they really want to, but they find it difficult to accept and obey suggestions. Psi continues to work in hypnosis, if the subject is already psychic in normal waking consciousness; hypnosis does not have much relevance in increasing psi operation. There are some extra-ordinary reports of psi phenomena like hypnotic regression to past lives. Attempts at replication have generally failed. Hysterics give imaginary accounts of past lives which fail to get authenticated.

Some investigators have reported that hypnosis is to a limited extent helpful in training for psi, by removing inhibitions in the case of some subjects, though for actual performance, hypnotic condition is not particularly helpful. A relaxed meditative state helps psi performance. Psi in general is a function of overall personality and holistic personal growth which increases flexibility of mind, promotes psi.

Those who have a high degree of psi do not use it because of the feeling that normal life loses all meaning once you go beyond the regularities which give it any meaning.

THE PROBLEM OF SURVIVAL/EXISTENCE OF SPIRITS:

Apart from psi capacities, there is another field of investigation which is more controversial. This is about whether the human being has a soul which survives bodily death and if so whether the spirits can communicate with living persons.

Spiritualism and Mediumship

In almost all parts of the world there are persons who claim to be mediums through whom dead persons are supposed to communicate with the living. Usually the medium enters a trance-like state and the spirits talk through the medium. Sometimes the medium uses an ouija board which contains all the alphabets and a planchette (a moving handrest on wheels with a pointer or a pencil attached) using which automatic writing can be produced. Spiritualism has grown into a cult in many countries where people who believe in the existence of a non-material spiritual world try to communicate with the spirits of the dead. The seances are held usually at night in dim light. Ostensible messages are received from dead persons for relatives and friends and descriptions of conditions beyond the grave are given. Often the medium will have one or more `spirit controls' who can speak directly through the medium, make predictions and convey messages to and from the spirit world.

There are many mediums who produce what is called physical or mediumistic phenomena. These include transportation of physical objects, levitation of the medium or surrounding objects, raps and various noises, playing musical instruments, etc. The strangest occurrence is the supposed appearance of a filmy substance called ectoplasm. This is supposed to be a semi-material substance derived from the body of the medium. It is believed that the spirits are able to materialize at a seance using ectoplam coming from the medium. The materializations may take the shape of a hand, face or body or any other shape. This supposed objectivisation of forms is known as teleplasty. Many photographs are available supposed to be those of materializations.

A scientific investigation into spiritualism and mediumship has been very difficult. Mediumship is often a means to earn a livelihood for the medium. Even mediums whom many researchers have found to be genuine resort to guessing, inference and trickery. Many use elaborate mechanical devices for producing physical phenomena. There are cases where living persons mistakenly believed to be dead have communicated through mediums.

Many psychical researchers hold the view that genuine mediums have ESP and PK and that in trance, their unconscious mind, gets the desired information through ESP and gives it out in a dramatic form as though a dead man is speaking. This type of explanation has to be extended very far to account for the findings of some cross-correspondence experiments. In these, a spirit gives parts of a message through different mediums in different countries. The message makes sense only when all the parts are put together. Some investigators are more inclined to believe that the unconscious minds of the mediums are collaborating and influencing each other in producing this or that telepathy from a living person is causing this rather than to accept the existence of a spirit.

Apparitions:

Apparitions are mainly of four types: the crisis apparitions, post-mortem apparitions, haunting apparitions and experimental apparitions.

An apparition of an individual is considered to be a crisis apparition if it appears within the 12 hour period following his death. Many cases are reported where the apparition of the dead man appears to his relatives or friends who would not have even known of the event. One obvious explanation would be telepathy. It has been suggested that telepathy operates more when an individual is in a crisis situation. He sends a telepathic message which may be received by his relative or friend only after some time when his mind is in a receptive state (deferred telepathy). The message received by the unconscious mind enters the conscious mind in the form of an apparition of the dying man. Some others present at that time might through telepathy, share the experience.

Post-mortem apparitions are apparitions appearing 12 hours after the crisis.

Haunting is an apparition seen repeatedly at the same place at certain times over a relatively long period of time. Several explanations other than that of survival have been suggested to account for the cases investigated. One explanation is based on ESP. It has been mentioned that what one clairvoyant reads in an object is likely to be seen by other clairvoyants who later on see the object, even when the reading is incorrect. It is also believed that objects differ in the evocatory power or the power to stimulate clairvoyance. Some researchers speak of psychic impregnation of space by the dying man. The places which become haunted might be places which stimulate clairvoyance in the sensitives. Such persons might easily see, through clairvoyance, the image of an individual who had lived in that place or see an interesting event which had taken place there. Other clairvoyants coming to the location might have the same vision again and the place is supposed to the haunted. It is also possible that belief in the existence of a ghost inhabiting a place in the minds of many people living in the locality might create a telepathic image in the minds of people who come to that place. The other explanation is that of teleplasty. A dying man creates a teleplastic phantom as a medium produces a materialization in trance. The teleplastic phantom becomes independent, shows automatic behavior and is seen as a ghost.

The non-physical nature of apparitions is clear from the studies on apparitions. They do not normally cause any change in the environment, though it is reported that sometimes the sensation of coldness is felt at that time.

In Experimental apparition, one person deliberately produces by volition an apparition of himself or of another man doing a particular act before a subject who is seated elsewhere. This process takes place through telepathic suggestion.

L.E. Rhine, on the basis of her studies of spontaneous cases, comes to the conclusion that there are several cases where it appears that the deceased personality had induced the experience and a few cases where the initiative of the deceased person is the only possible explanation.

Reincarnation:

Many cases are on record where an individual, usually a child, claims to remember his past birth and successfully identifies relatives and articles belonging to the deceased personality. Another explanation for such cases is that as a result of similarity of mental make-up, the individual is able to know the experiences of another individual who lived in the past, through ESP. This is parallel to the sympathism that occurs between two living individuals. Psychometric ESP, mediated by some object can also account for such cases. However, cases collected by Ian Stevenson, where persons have talked languages or performed skills not learned before and where birth marks have been related to injuries in the previous life (PK through sympathism?) are suggestive of actual reincarnation.

Possession

Most of the reported cases of possession are clearly a manifestation of hysterical dissociation of personality. The possession is an unconscious device to dominate over others, to do something which is normally objectionable or to vent out repressed emotions. Rarely, schizophrenic disintegration of personality may also lead to split or multiple personality which can be mistaken for possession by a discarnate spirit.

Other Phenomena Related to Survival:

Some psychics claim that the human being has an astral body which by practice can be projected out of the physical body. Spontaneous astral projection is supposed to take place during dreams, acute ill-health, drug experiences, etc. This is often called OBE (Out of the Body Experience).

In bilocation, where a person is seen at two places at the time, one could be an apparition. There are mystics who claim that they can leave their physical body and move about in their astral body.

In many primitive cultures, there are people who claim that they have brought spirits under their control through sorcery or black magic and that with their help they can work wonders. It is possible that PK is the real operating factor, if any.

The similarity in descriptions of death-bed experiences (NDE or near death experience) of those who died on the hospital table and were brought back to life also lend support to the survival hypothesis. According to spiritists, the experience of passing through a dark tunnel with light at the other end is passing of the astral body through the pineal gland in the brain, while to the skeptics it is the experience of the process of brain gradually stopping to function. The other experiences of dead relatives appearing and seeing gods are explained as hallucinations produced by intense expectation.

The evidence for ESP and PK is considered compelling by most psychologists, but the law of parsimony of science demands that until more conclusive evidence is obtained, it is safer to consider survival only as a hypothesis in view of the a priori objections and complexities involved in effecting a compromise with the known laws of science.

Miscellaneous Psi Phenomena:

Para Psychology studies report of extra ordinary and unusual psychological experiences like Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO). Kirlian photography is photographs taken of objects(of the portion of the object touching the photographic plate) in a high energy electro-magnetic filed in a dark room. Some people relate the ‘aura’ seen around the object touching the photographic plate as related to astral phenomena.

PSI AND THE NATURE OF MAN

Attempts to understand psi in purely physical terms have become less popular in recent years. For instance, the theory that telepathy involves transmission of some kind of electro-magnetic waves has been discredited in experiments in which the agent and the subject were seated in metal cabins.

All the available evidence seems to point to the fact that psi operates through the unconscious. Spontaneous ESP comes as intuitive hunches, strong emotions, hallucinations, automatic writing or dreams. In a telepathy experiment, where shocks given to the agent were the stimuli, even when the subject did not consciously succeed in responding correctly, his physiological measures like brain-wave pattern and electrical conductivity of the skin indicated that he was responding unconsciously to the shocks received by the agent. The importance of good interpersonal relations in effecting psi has led to the concept of a subliminal or transcendental self or collective unconscious which does not exist in space or time and which is neither one nor many. Some people speak of a paranormal reality consisting of the past, present and future which is a substratum and background for the world of the senses.

In many countries, methods like yoga are supposed to help an individual in developing psi capacities and in inducing ecstatic states of consciousness about which little is known. Certain drugs are believed to help temporarily. Practices associated with witchcraft also may have such an effect.

Some people think that psi capacities are developing in man in evolution. Some postulate `collective psychism' and `ideo-plasty' in evolution. A spider learns to make his web from the collective spider mind through telepathy. New organs develop in animals during the course of evolution through ideoplasty.

Our conscious self is perhaps an adaptation of the total personality for biological survival. There appears to be a mechanism repressing psi capacities. Perhaps the sense organs are mechanisms of limitation which limit our perceptions to the immediate environment. Our motor control similarly limits our control to the physical body. The evidence for precognition gives support to the theory of determinism or fate. Perhaps, the past, present, and future exist simultaneously and we are simply passing through it. We may be able to get glimpses of the future under certain conditions. At the same time, the phenomenon of PK indicates that our potentiality to act upon the physical world is not limited to our motor capabilities. Probably our will and actions are also part of the predetermined course of events.

Psi capacities are supposed to be a function of overall integration of personality. Methods like yoga are supposed to develop psi capacities. Forcing psi capacities without overall development of personality is supposed to produce imbalance in the person.

PSYCHIC FIELD THEORY

The psychic field existing at any time and place is a function of the evocatory power depending on the psychic history of the place, the psychic nature of people present there at that time, etc. In the case of rigid people, psi operates negatively by suppression of the paranormal. In the case of people with a high level of Stability, psi operates positively, if they desire so. Any psychic event takes place as a function of the psychic field.

Angela Ashton of Cryptic Shadows Paranormal Research (CSPR) is a Renowned Parasychologist & Recognitive in the Scientific Study of Paranormal Science & Phenomena. If you, or someone you know suspect you may have a haunting, please feel free to contact her at the contact info listed on the CSPR website for assistance. There is no charge for their services & evidence gathered is used in the field of Paranormal Science Investigation & Study for further knowledge on this subject. To learn more about Angela's Non-Profit Organization, Cryptic Shadows & their experience and field of expertise, check out their Business Profile on Linked In.

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CSPR investigated the Old Dean Mansion built in 1891. This haunted Plantation home has several slave cabins out back from the  Civil War era.  This investigation proved to be quite eerie with paranormal activity! Language Alert...

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Parapsychology and the Paranormal

Angela Ashton, Cryptic Shadows Founder and Paranormal Scientist talks about the Paranormal and PSI.  Along with being a Paranormal Investigator and Paranormal Scientist, Angela is currently involved in Parapsychology studies and experiences different levels of PSI Power, mostly in the form of Retrocognition with some instances of Precognition.

“Paranormal” has been in the English language since at least 1920. It consists of two parts: para and normal. In most definitions of the word paranormal, it is described as anything that is beyond or contrary to what is deemed scientifically possible. The definition implies that the scientific explanation of the world around us is the 'normal' part of the word and 'para' makes up the above, beyond, beside, contrary, or against part of the meaning.

Para has a Greek and Latin origin. Its most common meaning (the Greek usage) is 'similar to' or 'near to', as in paragraph. In Latin, para means 'above,' 'against,' 'counter,' 'outside,' or 'beyond'. For example, parapluie in French means 'counter-rain' – an umbrella. It can be construed, then, that the term paranormal is derived from the Latin use of the prefix 'para', meaning 'against, counter, outside or beyond the norm.'

Psi Power

The term psi comes from the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet and is used as an informal abbrevation for "psychic phenomena". As such it covers all uses of the mind beyond the reach of accepted science. It is not an acronym and should therefore not be typed as "PSI" - a mistake I know I tend to make myself!

 

What Is Psi? What Is ESP?

The term psi is sometimes used interchangeably with ESP. In fact ESP stands for "Extra Sensory Perception". As such ESP covers phenomena known as "anomolous cognition", for example mental telepathy. Psi is a more general term that also covers "anomolous operation". In other words, ESP is the subset of psi that deals with knowing things - psi itself is a much wider field that also includes using the power of the mind to do things.

 

Parapsychology and Psionics

Psi research, studying the potential untapped power of the human mind, is the main focus of parapsychology and parapsychological research. The applied usage of psi power is known as psionics. This is what we informally call "mind over matter".

Parapsychology and psionics are hotly disputed subjects, with many critics dismissing them out of hand. It is true that many apparent psi successes are difficult to reproduce under laboratory conditions - however perhaps this is not surprising for something that comes from the mind. Psi powers fit into the category of phenomena for which there is little solid scientific evidence but a wealth of anecdotal experience. It could be classified as "unproven but interesting".

Types of Psi

Some of the mental powers that fit under the category of "psi powers" include:

Teleportation Telepathy Telekenisis (also called psychokinesis) Precognition

 

Clairvoyance

What Is Clairvoyance?

The term clairvoyance means "clear seeing" and is sometimes referred to as "second sight" or "the third eye". It is often categorised as a form of psi power / ESP although some people prefer a more mystical explanation.

Strictly speaking, clairvoyance refers only to visual information. A classic example of clairvoyance is remote vewing. However the term is also used rather loosely and some people also use the word clairvoyance to refer to picking up sound (technically, "clairaudience") and other information that is beyond the strict definition of the term.

The combined term for all these forms of psychic information gathering - clairvoyance, clairaudience, precognition and more - is "clairsentience". What is known informally as a psychic clairvoyant reaing will often contain elements of all these disciplines depending on the abilities and preferences of the psychic or medium.

Parapsychologists have studied clairvoyance for years however there is still no clear evidence one way or the other since it is difficult to test and measure. Some people believe that clairvoyance is a natural ability, others that it can be learned - you can buy training courses or attend classes that claim to develop and improve any latent natural ability one might have.

At the other extreme, clairvoyant powers are often claimed by spiritualists and mediums and the developing of such powers is considered to indicate an increasing rapport with the spirits.

Retrocognition

The term retrocognition refers to the knowledge of things that have already happened. That doesn't sound too exciting until you add the words "which could not be known by normal means". In many ways retrocognition is the opposite of precognition and is sometimes called postcognition.

Like precognition, retrocognition is a psi ability that can take many forms. For instance psychometry can be considered a form of retrocognition.

Psychometry

Psychometry differs from many other forms of divination in that it is primarily concerned with seeing into the past ("retrocognition") rather than the future ("precognition"). Psychometry in parapsychology should not be confused with the psychological discipline of psychometrics which concerns testing and analysis of psychological traits.

The word psychometry was invented by US physiology professor Joseph R. Buchanan in 1842. It literally means "soul measurement" - from the Greek "psyche" (soul) and "metron" (measure).

 

At its most effective, psychometry allows the psychic to gain a picture of the events surrounding the past of an object. If this information is accurate then it could potentially be of use in detection of crime.

 

How Does Psychometry Work?

Touch or, at the least, close proximity appears to be essential for effective psychometric reading. Many scryers have reported greater success with metallic objects - that could provide some clues to a possible scientific basis for the phenomenom.

Buchanan hypothesised that an object contained some form of "memory" of its past, a sort of soul, that psychics can read and interpret. Some people liken this to the theosophical concept of the Akashic reord.

 

Others have suggested that psychometry is in some way akin to aura reading.

 

"Pseudo-psychometry" is an effect often presented by mind magicians ("mentalists") and there are many ways to achieve the effect of which the most well-known is probably Theodore Annemann's. As always, the fact that something can be faked does not mean that it is never genuine.

Perhaps the most spectacular form of retrocognition is past life recall or regression. Here the events perceived often occured in the far past and could not possibly have been known about by normal means.

Whether the psychic really "lived" these lives or is picking up on some sort of historical "psychic shadow" is a question for philosophers. It doesn't change the nature of the experience.

Precognition

What Is Precognition?

The term precognition means "prior knowledge" and is used to refer to any form of knowledge about future events that cannot be explained by normal means. Examples of precognition can be as basic as a feeling - "something bad's going to happen" - or a detailed vision of future events, for example in the form of a precognitve dream. Such visions can be clear and straightforward or as cryptic and ambiguous as the prophecies of Nostradamus.

Where precognition is taking place at an emotional level of gut feeling, it is sometimes referred to as "presentiment".

Premonitions and prophecy are common in history and folklore. On a small scale most of us have probably experienced them ourselves - knowing what someone is about to say or thinking about a friend moments before they phone.

There are three main problems with establishing the validity of precognition. The first is that very often what appears to be some form of ESP may in fact simply be subconscious intuition. It can be difficult to tell them apart. For instance, there are a lot of non-verbal cues that could give us an idea of what someone is about to say or do, especially if we know them well.

The situation is made worse by the fact that many premonitions and predictions are vague. Was an event really predicted, or was the prediction vague enough to have referred to any number of possible events? It's easy to make a vague prediction appear right after the fact.

The third major problem is statistical. Many, many instances of precognition occur every day - most are false and never reported. How many times have we "felt" that we shouldn't fly today, or that this will be our lucky week to buy a lotto ticket? Most of the time these premonitions come to nothing. Yet on the rare occasion one proves right and we tell the media about it, that particular premonition becomes big news.

Parapsychology researchers attempt to devise experiments to avoid these problems. The most well-known involves Zener cards. A deck is shuffled and the psychic attempts to predict the order in which they will be dealt. In such an experiment no-one knows the order of the cards so there can be no subconscious cues, the outcomes are specifically defined and the results can be analysed statistically.

Philosophy and Physics

If precognition does exist, it poses great philosophical questions and challenges much of our world view. Does it mean that the future is fixed? Is the prophecy definite or simply a likely possibility? Can we change the predicted future or will our actions simply bring it to pass? Such questions have formed the basis of much science fiction.

It's interesting to note that precognition might not actually be in conflict with the laws of nature. Many of the fundamental equations of the universe are "time reversible" - time could equally well run backwards as forwards. Why should we not remember the future? Our perception of time as being one-way is itself the oddity, a phenomenom known as the "arrow of time".  Just as our perception of this world as having only one dimension through space and time seems impossible after the things I have seen and experienced in this life time.

Paranormal researchApproaching the paranormal from a research perspective is often difficult because of the lack of acceptable physical evidence from most of the purported phenomena. By definition, the paranormal does not conform to conventional expectations of the natural. Therefore, a phenomenon cannot be confirmed as paranormal using the scientific method because, if it was, it would no longer fit the definition. Despite this contradiction, studies on the paranormal are periodically conducted by researchers from various disciplines. Some researchers simply study the beliefs in the paranormal regardless of whether the phenomena are considered to objectively exist. This section deals with various approaches to the paranormal: anecdotal, experimental, and participant-observer approaches and the skeptical investigation approach.

Anecdotal approach to the Paranormal

Charles Fort, 1920. Fort is perhaps the most widely known collector of paranormal stories.An anecdotal approach to the paranormal involves the collection of stories told about the paranormal.

Charles Fort (1874–1932) is perhaps the best known collector of paranormal anecdotes. Fort is said to have compiled as many as 40,000 notes on unexplained paranormal experiences, though there were no doubt many more than these. These notes came from what he called "the orthodox conventionality of Science", which were odd events originally reported in magazines and newspapers such as The Times and scientific journals such as Scientific American, Nature and Science". From this research Fort wrote seven books, though only four survive. These are: The Book of the Damned (1919), New Lands (1923), Lo! (1931) and Wild Talents (1932); one book was written between New Lands and Lo! but it was abandoned and absorbed into Lo!.

Reported events that he collected include teleportation (a term Fort is generally credited with coining); poltergeist events, falls of frogs, fishes, inorganic materials of an amazing range; crop circles; unaccountable noises and explosions; spontaneous fires; levitation; ball lightning (a term explicitly used by Fort); unidentified flying objects; mysterious appearances and disappearances; giant wheels of light in the oceans; and animals found outside their normal ranges (see phantom cat). He offered many reports of OOPArts, abbreviation for "out of place" artifacts: strange items found in unlikely locations. He also is perhaps the first person to explain strange human appearances and disappearances by the hypothesis of alien abduction, and was an early proponent of the extraterrestrial hypothesis.

Fort is considered by many as the father of modern paranormalism, which is the study of the paranormal.

The magazine Fortean Times continues Charles Fort's approach, regularly reporting anecdotal accounts of the paranormal.

Such anecdotal collections, lacking the reproducibility of empirical evidence, are not amenable to scientific investigation. The anecdotal approach is not a scientific approach to the paranormal because it leaves verification dependent on the credibility of the party presenting the evidence. Nevertheless, it is a common approach to paranormal phenomena.

Parapsychology

Participant of a Ganzfeld experiment which proponents say may show evidence of telepathy.Experimental investigation of the paranormal has been conducted by parapsychologists. Although parapsychology has its roots in earlier research, it began using the experimental approach in the 1930s under the direction of J. B. Rhine (1895–1980).[13] Rhine popularized the now famous methodology of using card-guessing and dice-rolling experiments in a laboratory in the hopes of finding a statistical validation of extra-sensory perception.

In 1957, the Parapsychological Association was formed as the preeminent society for parapsychologists. In 1969, they became affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science. That affiliation, along with a general openness to psychic and occult phenomena in the 1970s, led to a decade of increased parapsychological research. During this time, other notable organizations were also formed, including the Academy of Parapsychology and Medicine (1970), the Institute of Parascience (1971), the Academy of Religion and Psychical Research, the Institute for Noetic Sciences (1973), and the International Kirlian Research Association (1975). Each of these groups performed experiments on paranormal subjects to varying degrees. Parapsychological work was also conducted at the Stanford Research Institute during this time.

With the increase in parapsychological investigation, there came an increase in opposition to both the findings of parapsychologists and the granting of any formal recognition of the field. Criticisms of the field were focused in the founding of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (1976), now called the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, and its periodical, Skeptical Inquirer. Eventually, more mainstream scientists became critical of parapsychology as an endeavor, and statements by the National Academies of Science and the National Science Foundation cast a pall on the claims of evidence for parapsychology.[citation needed] Today, many cite parapsychology as an example of a pseudoscience.

Though there are still some parapsychologists active today, interest and activity has waned considerably since the 1970s. To date there have been no experimental results that have gained wide acceptance in the scientific community as valid evidence of the paranormal.  But then again scientific evidence is just that...evidence gathered as to cause a belief that something exists.  Scientific evidence is needed to form the belief for proof.

Belief polls

While the validity of the existence of paranormal phenomena is controversial and debated passionately by both proponents of the paranormal and by skeptics, surveys are useful in determining the beliefs of people in regards to paranormal phenomena. These opinions, while not constituting scientific evidence for or against, may give an indication of the mindset of a certain portion of the population (at least among those who answered the polls).

One survey of the beliefs of the general United States population regarding paranormal topics was conducted by the Gallup Organization in 2005. The survey found that 73%of those polled believed in at least one of the ten paranormal items presented in the survey. The ten items included in the survey were: extrasensory perception (41% held this belief), haunted houses (37%), ghosts (32%), telepathy (31%), clairvoyance (26%), astrology (25%), communication with the dead (21%), witches (21%), reincarnation (20%), and channeling spiritual entities (9%). These items were selected as they "require the belief that humans have more than the 'normal' five senses." Only one percent of respondents believed in all ten items.

Another survey conducted in 2006 by researchers from Australia's Monash University sought to determine what types of phenomena people claim to have experienced and the effects these experiences have had on their lives. The study was conducted as an online survey with over 2,000 respondents from around the world participating. The results revealed that around 70% of the respondents believe to have had an unexplained paranormal event that changed their life, mostly in a positive way. About 70% also claimed to have seen, heard, or been touched by an animal or person that they knew was not there; 80% have reported having a premonition, and almost 50% stated they recalled a previous life.

Polls were conducted by Bryan Farha at Oklahoma City University and Gary Steward of the University of Central Oklahoma in 2006, and compared to the results of a Gallup poll in 2001.They found fairly consistent results.

Percentage of US citizens polled

 

                  Poll:                 Farha-Steward         Gallup

psychic/spiritual healing       56         26                   54         19

ESP                                        28         39                   50         20

haunted houses                     40         25                   42        16

demonic possession            40         28                   41        16

ghosts/spirits of the dead    39         27                   38         17

telepathy                                24         34                   36         26

extraterrestrials visited

Earth in the past                    17        34                   33         27

clairvoyance and prophecy  24        33                    32        23

communication with

the dead                                 16         29                   28       26

astrology                                 17         26                   28       18

witches                                    26        19                    26       15

reincarnation                           15        28                   25        20

channeling                               10        29                   15        21

Other surveys by different organizations at different times have found very similar results. A 2001 Gallup Poll found that the general public embraced the following: 54% of people believed in psychic/spiritual healing, 42% believed in haunted houses, 41% believed in satanic possession, 36% in telepathy, 25% in reincarnation, and 15% in channeling.[39] A survey by Jeffrey S. Levin, associate professor at Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk found that over 2/3 of the U.S. population reported having at least one mystical experience.

A 1996 Gallup poll estimated that 71% of the people in the United States believed that the government was covering up information about UFOs. A 2002 Roper poll conducted for the Sci Fi channel reported that 56% thought UFOs were real craft and 48% that aliens had visited the Earth.[

A 2001 National Science Foundation survey found that 9 percent of people polled thought astrology was very scientific, and 31 percent thought it was somewhat scientific. About 32% of Americans surveyed stated that some numbers were lucky, while 46% of Europeans agreed with that claim. About 60% of all people polled believed in some form of Extra-sensory perception and 30% thought that "some of the unidentified flying objects that have been reported are really space vehicles from other civilizations.

                                             belief% - not sure  *  belief% - not sure

More difficult to explain away are the examples of retrocognition where someone is consciously aware of the details of a previous happening. These "visions" can either be seen as a movie or through the eyes of one of the participants. Unfortunately this is one of the many forms of psi ability that is not amenable to laboratory testing - for most psychics, such flashes occur spontaneously and cannot be reproduced at will.Another theory is that psychometry is unconscious ESP. The object is essentially acting as a focus for the reader's psi power.The basis of psychometry is that the psychic takes an object and - usually as a result of physical contact - is able to "see" its past. This might take the form of knowing to whom it has belonged or simply feeling strong emotions connected with it. For example, has this weapon ever been fired in anger?As with precognition, retrocognition can occur at many levels. At its simplest it's simply a "feeling": regonising a place, person or set of circumstances; somehow "knowing" what happened in a certain situation. The common feeling of "deja vu" could be a low level form of retrocognition. As always, skeptics often explain such feelings as coincidence or information subconsciously gathered by ordinary means.The experience of clairvoyance differs from person to person. In the field of ESP and psi research, it normally takes the form of simply sitting in a room and concentrating. Informally, many clairvoyants prefer to use various techniques and equipment as suits their personality and beliefs. There is a viewpoint that all forms of scrying are in fact simply clairvoyance exhibiting itself through a mechanism of the psychic's choice.It has been suggested that such abilities might be connected with the pineal gland in the brain however I'm not personally aware of any scientific research to support this.In adition, clairvoyance strictly refers to obtaining information from the current time period. However in practice the term is not always restricted to contemporaneous events. Many clairvoyants also claim to receive images the past and/or future (the latter being precognition). In this case, their clairvoyant abilities are seen as part of a larger psychic power.Some people argue that all forms of scrying are in fact subconscious application of psi powers. Clairvoyance / Clairsentience Despite the dismissal of parapsychology by much of the scientific establishment, there are some groups doing serious research into the subject, for instance Edinburgh's Koestler Parapsychology Unit (KPU).