psychic Sylvia Browne

The claims of psychics are widely disputed by mainstream science, and are regularly attacked by skeptics. However, parapsychologists have scientifically studied psychic abilities for over a century, and many have claimed that belief in some psychic abilities may be scientifically plausible. For instance, many parapsychologists claim that psychokinetic alteration of the output of random number generators is scientifically well-founded.

Mediums, like psychics, also claim to have extra-sensory abilities but claim to obtain their information through spirits or dead people. Some mediums also claim to possess psychic abilities.

Psychic Theory By Michael Russell

- Part I

If you look up the definition of psychic in the dictionary you will find something like the following:

Main Entry: 1 psy•chic Pronunciation: 'sI-kik Variant(s): also psy•chi•cal /-ki-k&l/ Function: adjective Etymology: Greek psychikos of the soul, from psyche soul 1 : of or relating to the psyche : PSYCHOGENIC 2 : lying outside the sphere of physical science or knowledge : immaterial, moral, or spiritual in origin or force 3 : sensitive to nonphysical or supernatural forces and influences : marked by extraordinary or mysterious sensitivity, perception, or understanding

Pretty fancy mumbo jumbo for what we normally refer to as somebody who has the ability to predict the future. Yes, of course there are other definitions of psychic besides just predicting the future, such as dream interpretation and psychokinesis but for most people we associate psychic with fortune telling.

psychic John Edward

Any way you slice it, we're talking about something that most of us don't understand. And those who say they DO understand are usually looked at with much scepticism, if not downright contempt, that's of course until we go to our local fortune teller to have our palm or cards read, or our astrological or numerical charts reads. Then we're ready to believe just about anything, especially if it's what we want to hear.

The debate as to whether a person truly has the ability to see into the future has been going on for centuries and no doubt will continue to go on. In this series of articles we'll try to answer some questions about this so called science, trace some of it's origins and go over a few of the tools that psychics use to see into the future.

I want to personally thank an associate of mine who claims to be a psychic for some of the information in this article. No, I wont be giving his name so as not to add to the already growing amount of email he is already getting on the subject. Let me start with a quote he gave me that might help explain how a typical psychic first realizes that he has this ability.

"There is no mystery to how someone knows he has psychic power. As in my case it usually starts at a young age. The person gets a vision of something happening in the not so distant future. There is no explaining where this vision comes from. It just does. Then the event occurs. This may happen a dozen or more times in the young person's life before he or she realizes that they have psychic powers. It is really that simple. It is something that is out of their control at first. As time goes by they simply learn how to control the visions."

psychic Elizabeth Baron

Sounds simple enough. To many it might sound like a bunch of bunk. But my associate reminded me of the famous Jean Dixon predictions of the early 1960's when she foresaw the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. Luck? Maybe. But who is to say? We may never know for sure if psychic power truly does exist.

-Part II

In this second of a three part series we're going to cover a brief history of psychic phenomena. It should probably come as no surprise to anyone that people have been reporting psychic phenomenon since the very beginning of time all the way up to the present. What may surprise you is that these reports were widely accepted by many people including those who were quite well educated. As a matter of fact, many of the pioneers of modern science were believers in psychic phenomenon.

So when did modern psychic phenomenon come about? In order to understand this you have to go back to the beginning of the scientific revolution which was started by the British Royal Society in the 1600s. Men of real science were referred to as "natural philosophers." Many of these natural philosophers like Isaac Newton were men who also believed in psychic phenomenon.

psychic Nostradamus

After the scientific revolution came what is known as the "period of enlightenment" which started in the 18th century around 1734. The first man of enlightenment was Franz Anton Mesmer who was a Viennese physician. During this period theories like "electricity" and "magnetism" were considered "invisible fluids." Mesmer discovered another invisible fluid which he called "animal magnetism" which is supposed to be able to heal certain ailments without having to depend on the supernatural. He developed what is called Mesmerism. This induces a state of mind that today we call hypnosis. What Mesmer discovered in addition to this was that certain people had more of an affinity to be able to perform Mesmerism than others. These people were referred to as "gifted."

The Mesmerism movement never really gained scientific acceptance and finally in 1784 The French Royal Society of Medicine and the French Academy of Sciences issued some negative reports on this movement. One researcher associated with Mesmerism, a Baron Carl Reichenbach, developed a vitalist theory to explain parapsychological phenomena. By the 1850s, though it didn't go down without a fight, the Mesmeric movement finally came to an end but the teachings of the movement didn't die with it. Partly because of changes in religious attitudes these teachings were repeated by others who called themselves "mediums" and started what is called the "spiritualist movement." These people claimed to have contact with spirits of dead people. By the middle of the 19th century these mediums were found throughout Europe and in every part of society.

As psychic phenomenon began to spread, spiritualists began to break off from normal scientific society. This was quite evident in 1882 when a number of scientists left the Society For Physical Research located in London because of differences of opinion. Basically the scientists didn't believe in psychic phenomena and the members who broke off did. This has since continued throughout history to the present day.

Today, we are more tolerant of people who claim to have psychic ability. You see them on talk shows TV and hear them with their own radio shows. As an enlightened society we no longer fear these people as they were feared years ago when many of them were persecuted and even killed. Still, many of us are still sceptical. Many of us also believe. It's kind of like religion. We'll never really know for sure who is right.

- Part III

In this last in our 3 part series of psychic theory we're going to cover just a few of the tools psychics use to predict the future or simply to communicate with the dead.

psychic Helen Duncan

One of the most popular ways of seeing into the future is Astrology. If you look up the definition of Astrology in the dictionary you'll find something like this...

“The study of the positions and aspects of celestial bodies in the belief that they have an influence on the course of natural earthly occurrences and human affairs.“

In other words, how the stars and planets line up will determine just how good or bad a day you're going to have.

If you look in your daily newspaper you will see a section that reads "horoscopes." This is where you look under when you were born to see what kind of day it's going to be and read any kind of advice the astrologist might have for you on that day, such as "be kind to a stranger. This may help you with an ongoing relationship problem." There are many people who actually believe in Astrology and horoscopes and believe that the stars and planets indeed have an impact on our lives. Right or wrong, they certainly keep the Astrologists in business.

psychic Jean Dixon

Another popular means of looking into the future, and for that matter into one's past, is Tarot Card reading. Tarot cards go back to ancient times. A typical deck of Tarot cards has 78 cards in it; 52 minor arcana and 26 major arcana. Each card has a meaning and depending on where they turn up in a reading, the most common being the Celtic Cross, this determines seeing into person's past and being able to predict their future. There are Tarot reading establishments just about everywhere and now on the Internet even more so. Tarot cards equally rival Astrology in popularity.

Another form of telling about someone in detail is Numerology. Numerology is the science of taking things such as a person's name, address, birth date, etc., and doing a numerological analysis on these things. Each letter in the alphabet is given a numerical value and based on these values a numerologist can tell you something about your name and what kind of person that makes you. While this form of divination is not quite as popular as Astrology and Tarot Cards, it does have a substantial following.

After those three the rest of the lot is pretty much up for grabs as far as popularity. Psychics can predict the future or tell something about a person's life by reading tea leaves, reading their palm, looking into a crystal ball, using the I-Ching, and using coins, marbles, matchsticks, dice and just about anything that they can get their hands on. Yes, there are more kinds of psychic phenomena than you can possibly imagine.

And what exactly does this all mean and what does it prove, if anything? Again, like religion, nobody has ever REALLY been able to prove anything and while my associate is a psychic himself, he is the first to admit that this is a science based solely on faith.

He adds in closing, "That's what makes it so wonderful."

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