This is the time of year when catchy headlines about Everest start appearing. A few days ago, photos circulated showing the traffic jam of climbers going for the summit.
It’s a good time also to remind readers of my book, INTO THE LAND OF SNOWS. Aaron Yeagle (www.BookReviewUniverse.com) made this short introduction for the book.
This is a book of high altitude adventure and spiritual wisdom. Grab a copy at Amazon by following the link below.
Filed under Books
Larry Dossey has written a fascinating book about premonitions, those events that forewarn of a possible future. Dossey blurs the line a bit by including intuition as well. Many people have these experiences and most of us are uncertain as to what to do about them. The book is full of examples including those of SIDS parents who often know something is not right, the high vacancy rates on the doomed planes of 9/11, and the use of psychics to predict the stock market (yes, it can be done- to a point). Arguments are presented that these abilities are natural and part of evolutionary survival. Some may be more prone to them and some may handle them better than others. So who is more likely to glimpse a possible future? Can premonitions be cultivated?
Artwork by Genia1016
Dossey outlines some factors that may give some an edge to receiving premonitions or intuitions. Although more research is needed to establish the relevance of each of these, it is easy to see why they correlate. Here is the list, although other things could be added (for example- does the culture of the individual support premonitions, psi).
Dossey believes premonitions can be cultivated, but also acknowledges that there are people who probably would not be stable enough to handle them. There’s a brief section and caution given about seeking psychiatric care. For someone who is having issues dealing with these types of experiences, it would probably be better to seek out a Jungian practitioner since their worldview is more open in regards to psi.
Another question running through the book involves when we should pay attention to our dreams and intuitions. The nature of these phenomena is that of being incomplete- often lacking the details of who, what, when, and where. Dreams especially, use a symbolic language that is often difficult to decipher. So what to do? Some common sense guidelines may help here. The experiences to really pay attention to are those that have a noetic quality- a sense of knowing. Without understanding how, you simply know. Anytime a dream is especially vivid or downright extraordinary, take note. Pay attention when the dream or intuition is accompanied by physical symptoms. One story related in the book, concerns an OB/GYN who can feel in his body when a patient is in trouble, and by honoring this, he often is headed to the hospital before he gets the call. Watch for those instances when the experience is intrusive and insistent. Pay attention when death or illness is indicated even when specific details are lacking. Over time, people can develop a sense of what’s important. The Rhine Institute conducted a study of 433 premonition cases where a person attempted to intervene to prevent an incident. Intervention was about twice as successful as not, indicating the future may not be written in stone. Premonitions don’t reveal fate, but rather a possible future.
Artwork by Genia1016
Here are a few teasers from the book:
The Arlington Institute (TAI) works with precognizant dreamers formerly with government intelligence services to prevent disaster.
The FBI won’t release travel records for plane occupancy on 9/11. Was plane travel down just on the crashed aircraft or across the board?
There is a positive correlation between creativity/artistic ability and psi ability.
High performing CEOs score high on random number generator tests indicating they’re highly intuitive (although they don’t see themselves as such).
In 2007, Harteis & Gruber found intuitive predictions of stock market development were better than rationally justified ones.
In 1982, psychic Beverly Jaegers outperformed 17 of 18 stockbrokers (but not all psychics are that good- don’t ask a psychic for a lottery number, they usually can’t do numbers).
The stock market as a collective, “punished” the company responsible for the Challenger disaster before any investigations were done.
Dean Radin’s presentiment research at IONS showed people react to images before a computer picks them.
Rupert Sheldrake has collected many stories of animals refusing to go with their owners to areas where accidents later occur.
After an accident, Harriet Tubman had dreams and visions. This ability allowed her to guide slaves on the Underground Railroad.
Remote viewers see emotional images more frequently and that may give us a clue as to why premonitions usually indicate nasty events.
For centuries (and even today), fisherman in Iceland use dreams to locate a catch.
Join me next time when I sit down for a conversation with astrologer Mama Maga of Karma2Dharma Astrology.
Filed under Book Review
All truth passes through three stages:
First it is ridiculed.
Second, it is violently opposed.
Third, it is accepted as self-evident.
Arthur Schopenhauer
I’m excited to be able to write about an intriguing book suggested by a blog reader a while ago. The quote above is the starting point for Science and Psychic Phenomena- Fall of the House of Skeptics by Chris Carter. Carter is a Canadian, schooled at Oxford, who exhibits much courage in taking up a thorough review of parapsychology, its scandals, intriguing characters, research, and advances an idea about why parapsychology remains controversial.
Honestly, the existence of psi (including telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psychokinesis) has already been proven to me by personal experience and I’m not alone. One study indicated that about 67% of Americans have had an ESP * experience. Polls taken over decades have shown that a majority of Americans already believe these things happen so what I’m going to get into here is a bit academic. Why is it that the discussion of these topics is still so taboo in some parts of the scientific community and in some parts of society? And what is the truth regarding scientific research into them?
Duke University
Let’s look at the research first. It was J.B. Rhine at Duke University who first brought ESP testing into the laboratory. In the early 30s, Rhine and Karl Zenner conducted trials of card guessing that laid the foundation for telepathy research. By 1940, nearly one million trials had been performed which eliminated critics early objections that sensory leakage might be causing the results. Experiments performed at other labs also confirmed Rhine’s results. There was something there. In the 1980s, Charles Honorton continued work in telepathy by conducting computer automated experiments. With an expected hit rate of 25%, Honorton’s studies overall hit rate was 34% with the results occurring by chance alone estimated to be 45,000 to 1. Replication studies were conducted into the 1990s with similar results.
There are five chapters in the book that outline the ins, outs, and fights that resulted when the studies were released. The conclusion really is that if this research had been produced in any other field, it would have been easily accepted as early as 1950!
People have reported experiencing PSI for thousands of years and there is solid scientific evidence to support those claims. Why does it remain so controversial? Author Chris Carter believes that PSI acceptance threatens certain people’s worldview. This worldview is called materialism and is a byproduct of an outdated 17th Century model of science. Many skeptics believe that the existence of PSI is impossible because it violates “known” science. This is simply not true. Science has evolved beyond the old science of Newtonian physics. In fact, the latest science of quantum physics doesn’t deny the existence of PSI, but rather points directly to it. So how to resolve the conundrum? Science has spoken, but the skeptics remain unconvinced. I’ll let noted Nobel Prize winning physicist Max Planck close for me.
“a new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”
Max Planck
* Note: ESP includes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition.
Psi phenomena includes ESP and psychokinesis
ALSO SEE: video SOMETHING UNKNOWN IS DOING WE DON’T KNOW WHAT- Telekan 2009-the science behind psychic phenomena, with interviews by leading parapsychology researchers including Harold Puthoff, Charles Tart, Dean Radin, Rupert Sheldrake, Edgar Mitchell. www.somethingunknown.com
Filed under Book Review, Books, PSI, YA
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