Paranormal Activity/Abilities: Do you believe?

No, I’m not talking about the movie. I mean real life happenings of the unexplained.

Recently I’ve developed an interest in ghosts, hauntings, possession, psychics, magick, astral projection, the afterlife... almost anything that mainstream scientists have dismissed as nonsense. The difficult thing is that the more research I do, the more questions I find, and the less I understand the whole concept.


Psychics are my main area of interest at the moment. I don’t like to dismiss something just because it seems impossible, but I have to say I’m a little sceptical on this one. I would be interested to know why someone who can practice this doesn’t use it for personal gain. I mean, surely if you can foresee future events, the lottery commission would be bankrupted by people who predicted the numbers, week in, week out.

Also where does this power come from? Does this ability lie dormant within everyone, just waiting to be discovered, or does it require external intervention? I would be interested in finding out how to activate it if that’s possible. :)


As for ghost/poltergeist hauntings, etc, I really don’t know. I had a Christian upbringing, so I have always been taught that disembodied spirits automatically cross over, therefore there is no way for a human spirit to haunt a location, but it would seem like a huge leap to blame all supposed hauntings on demons and evil entities – especially since many, if not most, hauntings are benign. That is, the spirit is simply there, but it doesn’t attempt to scare, harm or even communicate with the location’s inhabitants.


Finally, astral projection. I’ve heard the theory that AP is simply someone having an extremely vivid lucid dream, and they mistake their seemingly-real surroundings with reality. If astral projection is possible, why hasn’t it been proven? Let’s face it, it wouldn’t be a complicated experiment to conduct. Simply write something on a piece of paper, lock it in a safe, and see if the subject can leave their body, enter the safe, and retrieve the information.

Astral projection raises another question: While you are out of your body doing... whatever people do when they’re not in their body, wouldn’t that make your body essentially an unlocked, parked car with the engine running? Would it be possible for an evil entity or a “tramp soul”, which I have been reading about, to simply jump in and take you over? If this happened, would anyone know? After all, the new inhabitant would surely inherit all of your thoughts and memories which are stored in your brain. And then what would become of your spirit/soul? Would you just become another player in the game of “musical bodies”?

I realize I’ve covered a few subjects, so I apologize if this is too broad for a single thread.

I’m interested to know what other people’s opinions, beliefs, thoughts and experiences are around this.

nzguy, it's really nice to see a thread questioning these things instead of automatically proclaiming that they are true. I was once guilty of that ;) I'd like to share my input, and see what you think of it.

First of all, I believe that ANYTHING is POSSIBLE. What's probable, or more likely, however, is a different matter.

Psychics- I believe that there COULD be a such thing as a psychic, but thus far, I'm unconvinced. As I've posted in another thread in this forum, I am personally able to mimic the abilities of a psychic using only psychological tricks. Very simple tricks and patterns that with a bit of practice, someone can get pretty good at rather quickly. Through cold reading, combined with various other mentalist techniques, I can tell people intimate details about their lives. Deaths in the family, names of relatives, important sentimental items or possessions, favorite colors, etc.

Part of the reason this works so well for me is because before I start, I build myself up and give them the IMPRESSION that I'm a psychic. Half the battle is won right there. Then on a subconscious level, they will WANT me to be right. (Most of the time, lol.)

So I am unconvinced on the topics of psychics, but I'm still open to the possibility. I just haven't seen anything truly convincing yet that can't be explained by psychology and/or social dynamics.


I do want to ask you about what you think about the power of intention and the collective consciousness. This is something that I do believe in fully, due to the very recent studies that have been done to verify that thoughts are measurable, and that brainwaves can very very subtly alter or cause synchronization of the brainwaves of other people, influencing their moods. Again, very subtly, but it still happens. I wonder then, if it affects people, can it affect space? Physical things?

I believe so. I also believe in Qi, Prana, life energy, whatever you want to call it. I believe that by sending intention and awareness and focus to a part of your body, you can make sensations happen. Most people know this. But what if you could extend that awareness OUTSIDE of your body?

There are videos on youtube of a chinese Master of Qi who claims to be able to enhance his strength, and throw people far away from him with great ease. The video was done on a news program in China a awhile back. It's pretty convincing. This leads me to wonder about abilities such as Psychokinesis. Nina Kulagina performed psychokinesis under controlled envrionments many many times, and a few times when she wasn't expecting to have to. Things like this make me curious.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nzguy

No, I’m not talking about the movie. I mean real life happenings of the unexplained.

Recently I’ve developed an interest in ghosts, hauntings, possession, psychics, magick, astral projection, the afterlife... almost anything that mainstream scientists have dismissed as nonsense. The difficult thing is that the more research I do, the more questions I find, and the less I understand the whole concept.


Psychics are my main area of interest at the moment. I don’t like to dismiss something just because it seems impossible, but I have to say I’m a little sceptical on this one. I would be interested to know why someone who can practice this doesn’t use it for personal gain. I mean, surely if you can foresee future events, the lottery commission would be bankrupted by people who predicted the numbers, week in, week out.

Also where does this power come from? Does this ability lie dormant within everyone, just waiting to be discovered, or does it require external intervention? I would be interested in finding out how to activate it if that’s possible. :)


As for ghost/poltergeist hauntings, etc, I really don’t know. I had a Christian upbringing, so I have always been taught that disembodied spirits automatically cross over, therefore there is no way for a human spirit to haunt a location, but it would seem like a huge leap to blame all supposed hauntings on demons and evil entities – especially since many, if not most, hauntings are benign. That is, the spirit is simply there, but it doesn’t attempt to scare, harm or even communicate with the location’s inhabitants.


Finally, astral projection. I’ve heard the theory that AP is simply someone having an extremely vivid lucid dream, and they mistake their seemingly-real surroundings with reality. If astral projection is possible, why hasn’t it been proven? Let’s face it, it wouldn’t be a complicated experiment to conduct. Simply write something on a piece of paper, lock it in a safe, and see if the subject can leave their body, enter the safe, and retrieve the information.

Astral projection raises another question: While you are out of your body doing... whatever people do when they’re not in their body, wouldn’t that make your body essentially an unlocked, parked car with the engine running? Would it be possible for an evil entity or a “tramp soul”, which I have been reading about, to simply jump in and take you over? If this happened, would anyone know? After all, the new inhabitant would surely inherit all of your thoughts and memories which are stored in your brain. And then what would become of your spirit/soul? Would you just become another player in the game of “musical bodies”?

I realize I’ve covered a few subjects, so I apologize if this is too broad for a single thread.

I’m interested to know what other people’s opinions, beliefs, thoughts and experiences are around this.

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I do believe. I have experienced & experience various forms of psychic phenomenon on a regular basis. I have had OBE, dreamwalked into others dreams, lucid dreamt, precognitive dreaming, magic/sorcery/energy work whatever, walked/rolled crawled through fire met spirit guides, see auras etc.

Do they exist? Well, knock & the door shall be opened, seek & ye shall find, & be a light unto your own path & do not look outside yourself for your answers. In short the answer you accept is yours & that it will be a personal experience or just something you heard.

If you knock be prepared for the ride of your life. ;o) Take the road less taken

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rainman

Psychics- I believe that there COULD be a such thing as a psychic, but thus far, I'm unconvinced. As I've posted in another thread in this forum, I am personally able to mimic the abilities of a psychic using only psychological tricks. Very simple tricks and patterns that with a bit of practice, someone can get pretty good at rather quickly. Through cold reading, combined with various other mentalist techniques, I can tell people intimate details about their lives. Deaths in the family, names of relatives, important sentimental items or possessions, favorite colors, etc.

Part of the reason this works so well for me is because before I start, I build myself up and give them the IMPRESSION that I'm a psychic. Half the battle is won right there. Then on a subconscious level, they will WANT me to be right. (Most of the time, lol.)

So I am unconvinced on the topics of psychics, but I'm still open to the possibility. I just haven't seen anything truly convincing yet that can't be explained by psychology and/or social dynamics.

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Exactly. Its the lack of scientific backing that makes me scpetical, more than anything. I've also heard that before, how its possible to appear psychic by applying psychological tricks. I guess that accounts for a lot of psychic power, but I still can't help feeling that there must be something more to it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rainman

I do want to ask you about what you think about the power of intention and the collective consciousness. This is something that I do believe in fully, due to the very recent studies that have been done to verify that thoughts are measurable, and that brainwaves can very very subtly alter or cause synchronization of the brainwaves of other people, influencing their moods. Again, very subtly, but it still happens. I wonder then, if it affects people, can it affect space? Physical things?

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Yeah, I absolutely believe that thoughts carry a lot of power. I wasn't aware that brainwaves have the ability to alter the moods of others though. Very interesting.

As for affecting external objects, I guess that's getting into psychokinetics, which is what a lot of people hold responsible for poltergeist activity. The theory that has been put forward is that if an individual has a lot of suppressed emotion, such as anger or resentment, that feeling can manifest itself in the physical realm, in the form of a poltergeist.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Rainman

I believe so. I also believe in Qi, Prana, life energy, whatever you want to call it. I believe that by sending intention and awareness and focus to a part of your body, you can make sensations happen. Most people know this. But what if you could extend that awareness OUTSIDE of your body?

There are videos on youtube of a chinese Master of Qi who claims to be able to enhance his strength, and throw people far away from him with great ease. The video was done on a news program in China a awhile back. It's pretty convincing. This leads me to wonder about abilities such as Psychokinesis. Nina Kulagina performed psychokinesis under controlled envrionments many many times, and a few times when she wasn't expecting to have to. Things like this make me curious.

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Yes, I have seen these videos as well. These people definitely know something, or have unlocked something in their minds that most people haven't... which again makes me wonder if it is something we all have the ability to master, with the right knowledge and application.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hijo de la Luna

I do believe. I have experienced & experience various forms of psychic phenomenon on a regular basis. I have had OBE, dreamwalked into others dreams, lucid dreamt, precognitive dreaming, magic/sorcery/energy work whatever, walked/rolled crawled through fire met spirit guides, see auras etc.

Do they exist? Well, knock & the door shall be opened, seek & ye shall find, & be a light unto your own path & do not look outside yourself for your answers. In short the answer you accept is yours & that it will be a personal experience or just something you heard.

If you knock be prepared for the ride of your life. ;o) Take the road less taken

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That's really cool. I'm all for knocking, but I guess my biggest concern is that I might not be able to close a door if there is something behind it that I don't like :P

You said that you have successfully astrally projected... is this something that you can do at will? Like if an experiment was conducted under controled conditions, would you be able to reproduce it? If someone could prove it scientifically, it would add a whole lot of credibility to the subject, and would undoubtedly cause a lot of people to attempt it for themselves, which can only be a step in the right direction.

I'm interested to know, have you always experienced psychic activity, or is it a skill that you have developed?

If you are interested in "proof" there is a book called The Conscious Universe By Dean Radin.

My ability to perform are like sailing. it is possible to sail at anytime. There are questions like what is the weather like? How is my health. I won't wast much time with this analogy

I do experience psychic phenomenon on a regular basis. I always have. I postulate that we are all psychic but I don't live my life as a psychic. I lucid dream almost every night. I precognitively dream about 45% of the time. Many times it is not too far into the future. i have precognitive dreams about a variety of subjects. I do not find all dreams that are precognitive to be of great value. Secondly, I experience mutual dreaming 2-4 times a month or so. It seems to me that I do it on a regular basis although not the most frequently.

I can see auras alright but that is not my true gift. My gift is to see disembodied spirits. I am not referring to soley human spirits. I can communicate with animals pretty well. I have seen and held seances which are not my forte but I have held them successfully. Honestly I am not interested in communicating with the dead all that much.

I enjoy the gifts that I have and regard them as such.

I would like to close with this. Start small. Be smart. Be consistent. Follow your bliss. "Be a light unto your own path & do not look outside yourself for your own answers"--Buddah. If you decide to experience any of this I would be glad to do anything I can to help

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hijo de la Luna

If you are interested in "proof" there is a book called The Conscious Universe By Dean Radin.

My ability to perform are like sailing. it is possible to sail at anytime. There are questions like what is the weather like? How is my health. I won't wast much time with this analogy

I do experience psychic phenomenon on a regular basis. I always have. I postulate that we are all psychic but I don't live my life as a psychic. I lucid dream almost every night. I precognitively dream about 45% of the time. Many times it is not too far into the future. i have precognitive dreams about a variety of subjects. I do not find all dreams that are precognitive to be of great value. Secondly, I experience mutual dreaming 2-4 times a month or so. It seems to me that I do it on a regular basis although not the most frequently.

I can see auras alright but that is not my true gift. My gift is to see disembodied spirits. I am not referring to soley human spirits. I can communicate with animals pretty well. I have seen and held seances which are not my forte but I have held them successfully. Honestly I am not interested in communicating with the dead all that much.

I enjoy the gifts that I have and regard them as such.

I would like to close with this. Start small. Be smart. Be consistent. Follow your bliss. "Be a light unto your own path & do not look outside yourself for your own answers"--Buddah. If you decide to experience any of this I would be glad to do anything I can to help

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That's really interesting. I will definitely have a look for that book.

I'm keen to learn more about unlocking abilities like the ones that you described. I'll have to do more research. Thanks for your help.

I'm an official Paranormal Investigator.
I have a degree in Supernatural Science.
What do you think??

I don't believe, because whenever I ask for a single good demonstration of evidence that such phenomena are real and not simply people after money or failing to come to terms with the meaningless of their lives or their mortality, I never recieve any. Therefore as there is apparently no good reason to believe in such things other than wishful thinking I can only assume that such people are tricking themselves.