Aura: BEYOND IMAGINATION
In parapsychology and many forms of spiritual practice, an aura is a field of subtle, luminous radiation surrounding a person or object (like the halo or aureola in religious art). The depiction of such an aura often connotes aperson of particular poour or holiness. For most of us, aura is that golden glow emanating from deities` images in calendar art. However, this energy field is not the sole property of divine beings. We all have it—including dogs, cats, a block of wood or a piece of paper. And, in each case, it depicts the personality, health and the spiritual evolution of its material half. The significance of the aura is still largely unexplored. However, modern techniques are beginning to shed light on auras, taking a significant step in bringing science and spirituality a bit closer. This aura may vary (as in casting a glow), in intensity and distance from the body.
There is no scientific definition for an aura. Many scientists are certain they do not exist. Others, while they are open-minded, can not describe auras in scientific terms. Some people present photographs as evidence of auras, but many skeptic declare them to be fakes. However, people with psychic abilities can see and read auras. It is possible that the halos we see in traditional religious art are actually auras. For this article, we accept the reality of auras as fact.
It is important to remember that the aura has little poour of its own. It derives from a person's internal condition - physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual. It is the tool by which psychic healers judge a person's overallhealth and well-being. To have a strong positive aura means we have a strong healthy body, well-balanced psychological and emotional health, and a spiritual maturity and strength. A weak or negative aura indicates physical illness or disease, conflicted emotions, unresolved psychological issues, and/or limited spiritual development. Therefore, when we strengthen our aura, we are actually making progress in becoming healthier, more well-balanced person with a stronger spiritual base.
The aura should be symmetrical (as in a ball) with the body at the very center. A perfect shape means the individual is in harmony with all things around them. Various writers associate various personality traits with the colors of different layers of the aura. When an individual is sick, physically and/or mentally, the aura's shape would be skewed (top, bottom or sides - not resembling a ball).
Skeptics such as Robert Todd Carroll contend that auras may be seen for reasons such as migraines, synesthesia, epilepsy, a disorder within the visual system, a disorder within the brain, or due to the influence of psychedelic drugs such as LSD.Eye fatigue can also produce an aura, sometimes referred to as eye burn.
Positive & Negative Auras:
People with strong positive auras are naturally charismatic and attract others to them. They tend to be more successful in getting things done and getting support from other people. People with negative auras tend to be self-promoters that drive others away from them, and those with strong negative auras may be evil. It is possible that negative auras can become parasitic and literally steal energy from positive auras. It is important to remember that the aura has little poour of its own.
It derives from a person's internal condition - physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual. It is the tool by which psychic healers judge a person's overall health and well-being. To have a strong positive aura means we have a strong healthy body, well-balanced psychological and emotional health, and a spiritual maturity and strength. A weak or negative aura indicates physical illness or disease, conflicted emotions, unresolved psychological issues, and/or limited spiritual development.
Therefore, when we strengthen our aura, we are actually making progress in becoming a healthier, more well-balanced person with a stronger spiritual base.
Negative people can and do influence positive people. Psychics can actually see this in the interaction of auras where the negative person's aura seems to drain the positive person's aura of its energy and light. The positive person will feel it whenit happens - they may feel more tired or weaker, their mood may lose some sparkle, or they may get a feeling of uneasiness or anxiety. On the other hand, positive people can influence negative people as well. Their energy and vitality can literally flow into a person with a negative or weak aura. Psychic healers do this. They send, through their aura, positive energy to the negative person. And the stronger the positive person, the stronger their aura, the less likely they will be to let a negative person steal their energy.
People with negative auras are frequently seriously ill, whether it is due to a physical, mental, or spiritual disease. Drinking, smoking, and taking drugs can weaken our aura. Stress, conflict, and violence can, too. Too little exercise, mental stimulation, positive social interaction, or spiritual connection can produce a dark weak aura. And engaging in immoral activities can be disastrous - crime, deviant behaviors, and misuse of our fellow man can produce an aura as dark and thick as night. Negative auras can be extremely poourful, reflecting the inner turmoil that creates them, and they can influence the people around them in very serious ways.
Some people believe that negative energy isn't always associated with a living human being. Restless spirits of people who passed away before they oure able to resolve conflicts are one example of a negative entity that can still influence the living. And justas there are positive spirits, like angels, there are negative ones. No one can prove or disprove their existence, but many people have experienced the poourful effects of having negative entities influencing their lives.
Detection of auras:
There are devices today that have the capability to let us see an aura. Other devices can only measure the aura. We can measure the aura by finding the boundaries or the outside edges, of an aura. We can measure the top, bottom and sides and can tell if an aura is not perfectly symmetrical. To measure an aura, we can mark the outside edge of the sides (left and right), then we can measure the top and bottom by rotating the aura 90 degrees, and do the measurements in the same manner as the sides.
When an individual is healthy (mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically), the aura is a "light purple" color. When an individual experiences an illness or an internal physical breakdown, a "white aura" appears around that area. The intensity of the "light purple aura" versus the "white aura" of the illness or internal breakdown, will vary. An individual's aura vanishes when the individual dies. All other living "kingdoms," i.e., insects, animals, reptiles, have different colors of auras for each.
We can learn to read the aura through touch alone as well. As we pass our hands along a person or thing, we can sense different textures to the forces that we feel. These forces being weak or strong can be defined with certain meaning.Aura energy is colored. There are pretty basic meaning to colors that most aura readers agree on:
REDS- PHYSICAL VITALITY / PASSION MUDDY RED- NERVOUS/ANGRY (Fearless, unusual way of doing things, fun, empathic, organized, materialistic)
YELLOWS- ACTIVITY/ INTELLECT MUDDY YELLOW- CRITICAL/ DOGMATIC (Finds new solutions to problems, laugh a lot, deep conversationalist, futuristic, competitive, smart)
BLUES-CALM/HONESTY MUDDY BLUE- MALICIOUS, RUTHLESS ( reads or gardens a lot, family oriented, helpful, trouble saying no, emotional)
GREENS- HEALER/ RELIABLE MUDDY GREEN- MISERLY/ OBSESSIVE/ SUICIDAL (Observer, presentater, healer, intuitive, efficient, finds patterns to situations, loves the metaphysical, multiple talents, needs affection)
INDIGO- SPIRITUAL SEEKER/ EVOLVED WELL/ PATIENT MUDDY INDIGO- ANARCHIST/ DELUSIONAL/ FANATICAL (Self contained, feel free from rules, deep thinkers, deeply committed to people, cherishes antiques, feels overwhelmed in crowds, open-minded, non-judgemental)
VIOLETS (PURPLES)- DIVINE INTUITIVE/ NATURAL LEADER MUDDY VIOLET- OVERBEARING/ STINGY (Clairvoyant, aloof on surface but deep within, intense conversationalist, leader, visionary, magical, acts with strong intent, brings about justice, jovial, responsible)
HEALING COLORS- TO HEAL OTHERS OR OURSELF
(Ultra-Violet, White, Gold, Emerald Green)
Why to measure aura:
Why would we measure a person's aura? There is a viable potential for understanding an individual's aura, here's some examples. 1) In the medical field, a patient's aura is "not perfectly balanced. Medical personnel can monitor a patient and determine whether the patient is getting well, worse, or remain the same. 2) In the field of the paranormal, "gifted" individuals (auras) tend to be larger than the average individual, and increases in size as they sharpen their skills. 3) The average individual's aura rarely extends beyond their outstretched arms. Aura's could be monitored for their intellectual progress.
Aura Healing:
The brighter the color the better - regardless of hue. If we want to help ourself or another person through healing the aura (which after one to several ‘treatments’ can help completely), pull the dark energy out. We can then send the dark energy to the ground by releasing it to the floor after we’ve pulled it out. We can also wash our hands with water while reciting a purifying chant.After pulling the dark energy out, we can pour healing energy into the afflicted area for a series of several minutes. Accordingly,how well we are adapted to this and how bad the hurt area is, we may have to keep applying the good energy all day to the area. And maybe for weeks.
Pouring in healing colors to our entire aura on a regular basis is extremely helpful also. This can lead to an expansion in our abilities, a super strong immune system, and magnetize wonderful things to us ( positively charging our energy field pulls positive things to us.)
There are many ways of healing our aura. Crystals are often used to align and balance it. At CEG, Almeida uses dynamic meditation and Gnostic meditation for aura realignment. Reiki and grounding have also proved successful. Aura plays a major role in panic healing.
Meditation is the best possible method of improving auras. When we have a kaleidoscope of thoughts in our mind, they override and disturb what our mind-body system would do by itself. When we manage to stop all thoughts, we give our own body and mind the freedom of attaining its natural state of being. In this state, our aura is not only stronger but also reflects our true nature better.
How to read Aura:
Learning to read the aura gets quicker and easier with practice. It may only take a week of moderate practice for we to get really good at picking up aura’s. If after we get good at it, we stop practicing, we may have to start at square one again to regain the ability to see them so quickly. But if we keep up the art of seeing aura’s, one day we won’t have to try any more. Auras of people and things just pop out. We’ll be able to see 4th dimensional naturally.
1-a person or animal needs to be still and in front of a solid colored background-preferably white.
2-gaze at ,do not stare at, an empty space an inch or two away from the person or animal’s skin. Gaze at this area for at least 30 seconds. We can blink like normal, and we can daydream if we want (this might actually help), but do not shift our gaze anywhere else.
3-we’ll start to see the first white auric ban. It will be about half an inch. Then we’ll probably see other colored bans. Little patches of color will pop up in these bans also.
4-do not shift our gaze to look at the aura directly.
5-the color bans will shrink back at first, but we need to keep gazing. If we get tired, stop. And come back to it. With moderate practice, we get quicker at picking the aura up and we’ll be able to see more and more of it.
Few References: Dr. Tom J. Chalko has a fairly large website in which he explains that we can learn to gain conscious control of the human bioenergy field,
There are many aspects of the aura that yet remain unexplored. But with an increasing sensitivity towards the hitherto unknown facets of human existence, perhaps we'll soon understand this shimmering presence around us, and thus, connect to our souls.
Further Reading:
1. http://parapsych.org/glossary_a_d.html Parapsychological Association website, Glossary of Key Words Frequently Used in Parapsychology, Retrieved January 24, 2006
2. Oslie, Pamala: Life Colors, What the Colors in Our Aura Reveal, New World Library, 2000.
3. Boours, Barbara, Ph.D: What Color Is Our Aura? Personality Spectrums for Understanding and Growth, Pocket Books, 1989.
4. Swami Panchadasi The Human Aura: Astral Colors and Thought Forms Des Plaines, Illinois, USA:1912--Yogi Publications Society. Available: here (accessed 4 March 2010)
5. http://www.skepdic.com/auras.html The Skeptic's Dictionary by Robert Todd Carroll, entry on auras, Retrieved Oct 13, 2007
Author:
Anuj Srivastava

Where Do Past-life Memories Come From?

I. Introduction

Have you ever had an experience in which you were looking for something and could

not find it? You searched and searched . You even looked in places you had looked

before. All to no avail! Then you went on to other things and, quite suddenly, you

discovered the very thing you were seeking earlier . Memories are sometimes like that ;

you cannot force your memory ; you just allow it to happen . Perhaps you have found that

if you give your mind a break, your relaxation will do the work for you .

II. Childhood Memories

While watching children at play, it's so easy to say, "They're imagining things!"

Perhaps they are imagining things, or are they reliving memories? Where do such

memories come from?

Do you remember playing as a child---making up things? Of course, you do ; however,

it you think back, you might realize that some of those made-up playtimes seemed as real

as the life you were living every day .

Children's play is a type of trance state . As you played and acted your parts, alone or

with other children, who were you? What were you doing? Were you cooking a meal or

rocking a child? Were you a queen on a throne or a cowboy on a horse? Did you live in a

castle, in a cabin, or in a thatched hut? Were you young or old? Was your skin dark or

fair? Were you happy or sad? Perhaps, sometimes, you might have acted the part of a

boy or a man; at other times, you might have played the role of a girl or a woman . It is

common for children to switch roles as they play. It seemed real, didn't it? Perhaps, just

perhaps, it once was .

Children, particularly those under five years of age, are able to recall past lives easily .

Could the childhood creative imagination have been what was happening? Many people

have dreams and flashes of memory about other times and other places . Such activity is

normal and can be very helpful . If you are recalling a past life, you can learn from it . The

experience you had at that time can teach you a lesson now, if you will let it happen .

III. Learning from Memories

If you accept the idea that you just might have had past lives, then it makes sense that

those lives, the life you are living now, and future lives are all one very long life . You

awake (are born), sleep (die), and awake again to learn and to grow . All of your lifetimes

are connected as part of a greater life .

If you allow yourself to remember those past lives--or, segments of the whole journey

of the soul--, and if you take from them the lessons, skills, talents, and gifts which they

contain, each separate life will be enriched . Then, each life will be more fulfilling and more

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useful both to yourself and to others . Past, present, and future are all interconnected.

They are ONE . If you choose not to learn your lessons, you might have to face them

over and over again--in this life and in others--until you learn . Life seems to be about

learning, changing, and growing .

IV. Using Two Types of Memory

Since, as a child, you might have been remembering and re-enacting past lives during

play, you might begin to think that memory is strong . There are two kinds of memory.

Your short-term memory tells you what is happening to you in your current life . (Over

the long journey of the soul, a single lifetime can be called short-term memory .). Moment

by moment, you have to use it . Long-term memory reminds you about things you learned

long ago--even thousands of years ago . From short-term (current life) memory, you can

learn lessons now . Long-term memory reminds you of events and feelings from the past

and you can grow through learning the lessons .

From an exploration of the past, you can find talents and special skills which you can

bring forward to use now. It is like being an explorer . You are exploring one or more of

your lives as an adventure in time! When you explore past lives, you can use a

professional guide to help you to find your way and to help you to appreciate what you

find . .

There are two ways to use what you find in past-life exploration .

One way is to take what you see and to use it as a form of spiritual discovery for

personal development . That method would be called personal exploration . You might

find special knowledge or talents that you can use now to help you to become a better

person and to add more joy to your life. People around you might benefit from your

personal exploration because what you learned from the past allows you to discover new

ways of expression . You influence friends, family, and acquaintances because you become

a happier, healthier, more successful individual . Your prosperity increases and your

relationships blossom because you are able to bring forward your beautiful parts which

were hidden in the past .

A second way to use what you find in your long-term memory is your ability to look

deeply for healing lessons . Time is a great teacher and a great healer . Everything you

have learned and stored is waiting to be rediscovered . The answers to problems you are

experiencing now could be found by exploring your past-life memories for the wisdom

you once had in consciousness but, now, it is stored, seemingly forgotten . Painful issues,

anxiety, and confusion--lack of harmony--in the present life can be readjusted or

eliminated by remembering a lesson from a past life . The way you handle things now will

depend upon how much you are willing to learn from the past and how deeply you are

willing to go to discover those answers .

3

V. Recalling Past Lives

At birth, you had the gift of two types of memory, current life and past life . You also

had the gift of having a veil dropped over the past . That veil can be lifted, should you

choose to do so .

Perhaps it is easy for children to recall past lives because their minds are not cluttered

by confronting the lessons and challenges of their current lives . By the time children reach

adulthood, they will have experienced many things that might cloud past-life memories,

including admonishment by some adults that it is only creative imagination . A wise parent

who realizes that a child is recalling past life memories can provide encouragement by

asking the child to make up a bedtime story. The child's reaction can be surprisingly

straightforward. Sometimes, a child might ask, "Do you remember when I was the

mommy (or daddy) and you were little like me?" In a playful way, a child might describe a

past-life event as a personal story . By talking with the child just before sleep, parents can

learn much about the past-life experiences that went into the making of that soul's

character--their little child .

Parents who punish their child for play-acting what the child believes to be realistic

could hamper the emotional and spiritual life of that child who is simply remembering the

past. Such an unwise approach on the part of the parents could cause serious problems to

develop later as the child develops and must deal with issues rooted in a past life . The

freedom to remember is essential .

VL Traveling through Time: Three Steps

Since the work of memory involves collection and distribution, you should use what

you have collected . As an adult, you might have difficulty in recalling scenes because your

mind is occupied with many current issues. Somehow, you recall and use the feelings but

the precise events seem to escape you . With the help of a trained professional, significant

experiences from past lives can be brought to conscious memory . There are three steps

involved in looking back at the journey.

The first step guides you back to any age in the current life . It is called age

regression . Regression means examining past behavior to determine its influence on

current issues . Perhaps the facilitator will ask you to select any age and to recall a

memory from that time period. Usually, when working with a specific issue, the facilitator

will ask you to select a time when a similar event occurred or to recall the earliest

memory.

Should the source of the issue not be located, you will be guided to go to the second

step . After examining the birth process for possible trauma, pre-natal memory, the womb

experience is reviewed . Often, you need to go back beyond the womb and to look for a

memory of something which happened before that time . What is recalled at that stage is

past-life memory .

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Regression guides, facilitators, encourage you, the traveler, to speak without thinking .

Such spontaneously uttered memories can be clues which will take you deeper into pastlife

memory . The results of the experiences in time travel can be amazing . The healing

memories which you discover can make your life more meaningful .

At first, when you begin to reach back into the past, you (as many other people do)

might believe that you are just imagining things . It seems so because the conscious mind

claims to know nothing except that which it has gathered as sensory information in the

current life . Sometimes current-life memories seem unreal or unclear . The inner mind

always remembers. You might have to start with creative imagination because it can serve

as a doorway to deep memory. Start with whatever pops into your mind and then let the

story tell itself.

VII. Analyzing the Data

Many people wonder if they were famous in a past life . Only occasionally do we find

famous personalities who made significant contributions to society . Past-life work has

been criticized by people who say that everybody reports being Cleopatra, Napoleon,

Jesus, or Mary . Perhaps the people who report the experiences actually believe that they

have had true memories . Much depends upon the way in which the session is guided . If

you are told to go to a past life in which a certain feeling was experienced, then, you might

go to any past life, not necessarily your own. Lately, hearing so many past-life stories of

people who report a sense of having been Mary, the mother of Jesus, has led facilitators to

be more specific in guiding clients through their own souls' journeys .

Your journey is important in understanding your spiritual development . You have the

right to learn about your past and to use the knowledge in a positive, helpful way in your

current life. When you explore your past lives, you often find that you have reconnected

with someone in the present life . Sometimes the roles are reversed ; sometimes they are

the same. You might recognize friends or relatives . Past-life regression can lead to many

happy and interesting discoveries . There can be surprises, too . The soul, the part of us

which lives and journeys on after the close of each earthly life, might travel form country

to country and from continent to continent .

In past lives, you have had other roles, other professions, and other relationships . You

might have been involved in activities other than your current interests . You might have

done hurtful things ; you might have harmed other people . If so, perhaps your role now is

to heal that relationship . A soldier in a past life might return as a doctor who saves lives .

Enemies in past lives might become friends . You might have attained a high level of

spiritual development; if so, perhaps your role now is to help other people by your

example of the positive human attributes . It is all part of the rich adventure of soul

learning and soul growth.

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VIII. Conclusion

When exploring past lives, it is encouraging to know that you can build upon past

accomplishments and you can make amends to reconcile past negative behavior and

attitudes. You can rekindle past friendships and you can heal old wounds . All possibilities

work together to create a more harmonious and fulfilling lifetime.

Nothing is lost . All that you have learned or have gained from past lives travels with

you through time to make each lifetime the best you want it to be. Memories can be

triggered by what you see, hear, taste, feel, and smell . The sense of smell seems to be one

of the strongest doorways . Memories, the records of your experiences, are available to

you and they serve to remind you of your past thoughts, words, and actions . Memory is

eternal.

Electronic Voice Phenomenon - Voices From Beyond the Veil

Still, a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.--Paul Simon, "The Boxer"

Satan "can remain hidden, or speak in different languages, transform himself or appear to be agreeable." --Gabriele Amorth, 85, who has been the Vatican's chief exorcist for 25 years.

Electronic voice phenomena (EVP) are recordings of voice or voice-like sounds that are not audible to the human ear. The frequencies of these sounds are reportedly well below the range of sounds that can be perceived by the human ear. Typically, but not always, they are short having a length of only one word or a short phrase.Common sources of EVP include static, stray radio transmissions, and background noise.

Interest in the subject normally surrounds claims that EVP are of paranormal origin, though there are natural explanations such as apophenia (finding significance in insignificant phenomena), auditory pareidolia (interpreting random sounds as voices in their own language), equipment artefacts, or simple hoaxes which are offered to explain them. Recordings of EVP are often created from background sound by increasing the gain (i.e. sensitivity) of the recording equipment.

History & Earlier Interests:

Ever since the invention of electronic recording devices people have found strange voices appearing on their recordings, sometimes speaking directly to them, even though no one was present but themselves. The Electronic Voice Phenomena or EVP has been raising controversy as to what it is they are capturing on tape. Could it be the voices of souls who have "passed on" and wish to speak to loved ones left behind or is it an elaborate hoax meant to deceive the gullible?A great deal of study has gone into EVP since the 1920's.

Even Thomas Edison, when interviewed, stated "it is possible to construct an apparatus which will be so delicate that if there are personalities in another existence ... this apparatus will at least give them a better opportunity to express themselves". However, there is no indication that Edison ever designed or constructed a device for such a purpose. As sound recording became widespread, mediums explored using this technology to demonstrate communication with the dead as well. Spiritualism declined in the latter part of the 20th century, but attempts to use portable recording devices and modern digital technologies to communicate with spirits continued.

American photographer Attila von Szalay was among the first to try recording what he believed to be voices of the dead as a way to augment his investigations in photographing ghosts. He began his attempts in 1941 using a 78 rpm record, but it wasn't until 1956, after switching to a reel-to-reel tape recorder, that he believed he was successful. Working with Raymond Bayless, von Szalay conducted a number of recording sessions with a custom-made apparatus, consisting of a microphone in an insulated cabinet connected to an external recording device and speaker.

Szalay reported finding many sounds on the tape that could not be heard on the speaker at the time of recording, some of which oure recorded when there was no one in the cabinet. He believed these sounds to be the voices of discarnate spirits. Among the first recordings believed to be spirit voices oure such messages as "This is G!", "Hot dog, Art!", and "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to we all". Von Szalay and Bayless' work was published by the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research in 1959.Bayless later went on to co-author the 1979 book, Phone Calls From the Dead.

Other early pioneers include Friedrich Jürgenson and Konstantin Raudive. If what Raudive thinks he was hearing oure indeed voices from dead people, it confirms the findings of other spirit scientists like Gary Schwartz that the dead have very little of interest to say to us. Raudive would hear things like "I follow we tonight," "please interrupt," and "might be Mary-bin." David Ellis investigated Raudive's and Jürgenson's claims and published his results in The Mediumship of the Tape Recorder: A Detailed Examination of the (Jurgenson, Raudive) Phenomenon of Voice Extras on Tape Recordings (1978). Ellis was not convinced. In 1997, psychologist Imants Barušs conducted a series of experiments attempting to replicate Raudive's work. His results oure published in 2001 in the Journal of Scientific Exploration. Barušs concluded that "none of the phenomena found...was clearly anomalous, let alone attributable to discarnate beings."

Explanations and Origins:

Quite a bit of study has gone into figuring out how these voices manifest. Since we create sounds on the physical plane by passing air through our throat and mouth to create the sound frequencies our ears can perceive, it has been tested to determine how a non-physical entity can produce the frequencies on tape that we can hear. More and more it is shown that the reason the EVP researchers don't hear the voices directly is because whatever is causing the sounds are having to manipulate existing sound frequencies at the point in the machine where the processing of the analog sound to a digital format for storage is taking place.

Paranormal explanations for EVP generally assume production of EVP by a communicating intelligence(including living humans imprinting thoughts directly on an electronic medium through psychokinesis and communication by discarnate entities such as spirits, nature energies, beings from other dimensions, or extraterrestrials) through means other than the typical functioning of communication technologies.

Scientific Explanations:

There are a number of simple scientific explanations that can account for why some listeners to the static on audio devices may believe they hear voices, including radio interference and the tendency of the human brain to recognize patterns in random stimuli.

Human Brain Physiology:

Auditory pareidolia is a situation created when the brain incorrectly interprets random patterns as being familiar patterns. In the case of EVP it could result in an observer interpreting random noise on an audio recording as being the familiar sound of a human voice. The propensity for an apparent voice heard in white noise recordings to be in a language understood well by those researching it, rather than in an unfamiliar language, has been cited as evidence of this.

The Cocktail Party Effect

Imagine we are at a noisy party with loud music and everyone talking. We're not paying any attention to the hubbub which is too difficult to listen to anyway. Then we hear our name mentioned. We look up and see it is someone we know on the far side of the room talking about we. The fact that we can suddenly hear our name among the din shows that hearing is something that happens not in our ear but in our brain. Our brain filtered out our name from the noise because it was relevant to we. This is the Cocktail Party Effect. It is significant here because people quickly get used to background sounds (even in noisy factories) so that they don't hear them any more - because the sound is not relevant.

The same can happen on vigils. Just because we don't remember hearing a weird sound during a vigil, we shouldn't be surprised that an audio recorder picked it up. A sound recorder is a neutral instrument that records everything within its capabilities without discrimination. It never gets used to background noises, like squeaky chairs and creaking floorboards. In addition, the recorder may actually be more sensitive to quiet sounds than the investigator. Many microphones are strongly directional so that they pick up sounds from one particular direction preferentially (more strongly than humans) while ignoring others. So a sound recorder may pick stuff we didn't hear and could also miss things we heard. In neither case does it mean the sound was necessarily paranormal, it is just that recorders work differently to human hearing.

Another interesting point arises from the Cocktail Party Effect. Different people will get used to background noises at different rates. That means that some people may hear a sound whereas others don’t (because only some are already not hearing such noises)! Needless to say, if this happens many people will claim that the sound must be paranormal as only some people heard it! This sort of thing is frequently reported on vigils!

Given that we can routinely demonstrate these sit is only parsimonious to suggest that what people hear with EVP is also the product of their own brains, and their expectations, rather than the voices of the dearly departed or the intelligent beings Given that we can routinely demonstrate this effect, it is only parsimonious to suggest that what people hear with EVP is also the product of their own brains, and their expectations, rather than the voices of the dearly departed or the intelligent beings from other dimensions.

Physics Behind:

Interference, for example, is seen in certain EVP recordings, especially those recorded on devices which contain RLC circuitry. These cases represent radio signals of voices or other sounds from broadcast sources. Interference from CB Radio transmissions and wireless baby monitors, or anomalies generated though cross modulation from other electronic devices, are all documented phenomena. It is even possible for circuits to resonate without any internal poour source by means of radio reception.Capture errors are anomalies created by the method used to capture audio signals, such as noise generated through the over-amplification of a signal at the point of recording. Artifacts created during attempts to boost the clarity of an existing recording might explain some EVP. Methods include re-sampling, frequency isolation, and noise reduction or enhancement, which can cause recordings to take on qualities significantly different from those that oure present in the original recording.

For all radio transmissions above 30 MHz (which are not reflected by the ionosphere) there is a possibility of meteor reflection of the radio signal due to sporadic meteor shoours. Meteors leave a trail of ionised particles and electrons as they pass through the upper atmosphere (a process called ablation) which reflect transmission radio waves which would usually flow into space. These reflected waves are from transmitters which are below the horizon of the received meteor reflection. This means the brief scattered wave may carry a foreign voice which can interfere with radio receivers. Meteor reflected radio waves last between 0.05 seconds and 1 second, depending on the size of the meteor.

How to Record Electronic Voice Phenomenon:

Most people, when they learn about Electronic Voice Phenomenon, are very interested in trying to make their own recordings to capture ghost voices. While it is true that there are advantages to be had in using expensive and sophisticated recording devices it is possible to capture EVPs using standard tape or digital recorders. When we try experimenting with EVP recordings make sure that we are using new tapes to avoid interferences associated with previous recordings.

Electronic Voice Phenomenon have been captured in all sorts of places. We do not have to be in a grave yard or a haunted house to get these eerie voices on tape or digital media.Be sure to carefully document everything about the place and the environmental conditions where we make our recordings. Also include a list of all people who are present. Remember that we may record for hours without getting the strange voices so be patient. Also, realize that in most cases the voices are not heard until after we play back the recordings.

Dos & Donts:

Don't edit our recordings: Once we have a sound recording containing apparently anomalous sounds, make copies of it and keep it safe. It could be valuable evidence. Very importantly,don't 'enhance', edit, improve or manipulate our recording in any way. Some people 'tidy up' or 'enhance' their recordings but this has several serious side effects: (a) it removes vital evidence of context, (b) it can make later analysis impossible, (c) it can 'create' false sounds (see Audio Editing Software below) and (d) it can look bad to people who wish to dismiss our possibly paranormal recordings out of hand. If we wish cut out a section of our recording to show a suspected paranormal sound to others, leave a few seconds before and after the event as well. These are important to establish to context of the suspected paranormal bit. If we just play people the sound itself they have no idea of the context. For instance, is the anomalous sound one of many previous similar sounds? Is it loud or soft (many apparently paranormal sounds are very faint) compared to the ambient sounds? Is there any 'build up' to the sound or does it just suddenly appear? All these points could provide clues to the sounds origin that cannot be picked up by listening to the sound alone.

Audio editing software: Audio editing software is easily available nowadays, some of it very cheap indeed (like shareware or freeware). It is tempting to use such software to 'enhance' apparent voices or other paranormal sounds. However, there is a serious problem with this approach. While it is true that we can remove background noise from a recording, the process is not perfect and it inevitably alters the recording permanently, including the bits we are interested in. If there is a ordinary real human voice in a noisy recording, audio editing software may well clarify it (though it is also likely to alter it). If, on the other hand, there is a random noise that sounds like a voice, but isn't one, repeated use of noise removal, filtering, etc, could make the noise sound more like a voice. We could end up listening to an artifact of the overuse of audio enhancement rather than a real voice. If we really must use audio editing software on our paranormal recordings, never apply more than one or two 'enhancements' per sample and apply exactly the same process to ALL our recordings. If we apply different types of 'enhancement', to different degrees, to each recording, then we will not be able to objectively compare samples. In some noise reduction processes we have to nominate an area of the recording as noise so that it can then be removed from the sample we are interested in.

Obviously, this selection is subjective so, again, the results will vary from sample to sample. Most audio editing software is designed to edit and enhance sound clips with a reasonable signal to noise ratio. It is not usually designed to recover faint signals from significant ambient noise, which is a typical scenario in paranormal sound recording. For this reason, the tools provided in non-specialist audio editing software, such as noise removal, may be too aggressive for use with paranormal sound recordings.This is why, ideally, we should aim to avoid all such audio enhancement, otherwise we could be left with software artifacts rather than paranormal evidence. We should, at the very least, always keep an unedited copy of our original recording for comparison.

Consider The Context: Background noise is important! It provides an audio context and reassures the listener that the recording has not been manipulated. It can also provide clues to any possible natural explanations for apparently paranormal sounds. For instance, is the paranormal sound louder than the ambient background noise, about the same level or fainter?If the sound is louder than the background noise then there is the possibility that it is a real sound that was not noted at the time or was forgotten. It is also possible that the microphone was directional and happened to be aimed at a sound source that no one noticed at the time.

It could also be radio or electrical interference. If the apparently paranormal sound (APS) sound is at the same level as, or fainter than, the background ambient noise, then it could be a chance effect. Background noise is, typically, random and unpredictable. We might think it unlikely that we could pick up a sound fainter than the background noise. However, if it contains apparently meaningful information, like a voice, it could be the Cocktail Party Effect.

Auto gain circuit: While listening to the recording, we should note if the background noise appears to fade drastically when a real, loud sound is picked up. This means that our recorder probably has an auto-gain circuit(AGC) whose job is to keep sound levels roughly constant. Most voice recorders have AGC and it usually can't be switched off. The problem is that the AGC turns to high gain during quiet periods(amplifying background noise) and low during noisy ones (when the background apparently fades away). This can make it difficult to judge the relative loudness of different sound sources from the recording. It also tends to exaggerate background noise which can produce false APSs. In addition, the AGC affects the very part of the recorder (the microphone input and lead which can act as an antenna) that is most susceptible to radio interference. In addition, the AGC can give normal recordings a 'weird' feel. The unnatural way in which the background sound can vanish and re-appear around normal sounds can feel quite spooky. Sadly, it's just normal operation for the AGC which is designed primarily for 'average' applications where there are not usually long silent periods.

Outdoors: There are special considerations when looking at recordings made out of doors. For one thing, the wind can affect the microphone, producing loud sounds that drown out others. We can buy microphone wind screens to stop these problems. We also need to be aware that ambient background sound levels out of doors are likely to be higher than indoors. Also, the wind can affect sound so that it can carry further than usual as well as producing other odd effects. In particular, real voices (or fragments of conversations) might appear on recordings made outside.

Analysis:(Some Stages in EVP)

Listening: The most obvious way to analyse a sound recording is to listen to it, though it is also the most subjective. Indeed, scientists have discovered that more of the process of hearing happens in the brain than in the ears.

It is important to listen to large sections of the recording at any one time so that we become accustomed to the context (see above), particularly the ambient background sound level and other natural sounds. Listening to small sections can leave we with a false impression of the occasion and any anomalies found. Were there, for instance, lots of sounds similar to the APS or was it unique?

Waveforms: It is called the 'speech detection problem' and is still being actively researched. Once we have detected speech, there is another hard problem, to understand precisely what is being said (everyone's speech sounds slightly different). This is the 'speech recognition problem'. Both problems are central to the idea of apparently paranormal voices. Are the sounds recorded really voices and, if they are, what exactly are they saying?

In detecting human speech, an important concept is the idea of 'voiced' sounds. These are sounds (like vowel sounds) that involve the use of the larynx - they are called 'voiced' sounds. If we put our hand over our larynx (at the base of our throat) we can feel it vibrates when we make 'voiced' sounds. Some sounds, like 's' (as in 'less') or 't' (as in 'let') are not voiced - they require only lips and tongue to produce. Also, if we whisper, we do not voice sounds. This 'voicing' sound is called the fundamental frequency.

Voiced sounds are so common that exist in almost all words. So any fragment of speech of more than a syllable or two should include at least one voiced section. This is useful to know because voiced sounds have recognisable characteristics. The sound the larynx makes is low frequency and usually at a higher volume than unvoiced sounds. Individual distinct sounds are called 'phonemes'. Some phonemes are composed of multiple letters (like 'ph' being pronounced as 'f'). Phonemes are generally reasonably distinct from each other when shown as waveforms. If we cannot see obvious transitions between phonemes, in what is supposed to be a word, then it probably isn't normal human speech. If, on the other hand, we can see typical sections of low frequency, high volume interspersed occasionally by high frequency, low volume bits, it probably is normal human speech.

Frequency: In the next stage of analysis we will be able to resolve that vexed question - what exactly is being said? In simple speech recognition software, frequency analysis is used to determine what each of the phonemes actually is.

Here to keep the discussion simple some stages are presented for a curious reader.

Detailed voice recognition can be found in any text book on speech processing & voice recognition.

Thus, searching for paranormal voices, or EVP, is more difficult than it might at first seem. As well as eliminating real voices, unheard or forgotten at the time of recording, there are other, more insidious, natural causes to consider. It is perfectly possible to hear 'words', that are not really there, in certain forms of noise, because of the way the brain interprets speech. Sine wave speech demonstrates that all that is necessary to understand words is the relevant formants. The phoneme restoration effect demonstrates that when certain sounds within words are missing, and their place taken by noise, the brain will 'insert' the appropriate missing sound to make sense of a word. The result will sound like real speech.

The Most Horrific EVP Ever Recorded:

IN JANUARY, 2007, the Central New York Ghost Hunters (CNYGH), based in Syracuse, New York, oure invited to investigate an old hotel in upstate New York. (The owners of the hotel have asked to keep its location confidential.) The investigation proved to be one of the most intensely active the group has ever encountered, and produced an EVP – an electronic voice phenomena recording – that is remarkable not only for its length, but also for its terrifying content.

It may well be the most intense, frightening EVP ever recorded.

More details on the incident can be accessed at: http://paranormal.about.com/od/ghostaudiovideo/a/aa101507.html

Curious readers can also visit http://www.trueghosttales.com/evp/evp-aimee.php for more stories.

Paranormal groups and ghost hunting groups investigating into EVP:

Investigation of EVP is the subject of hundreds of regional and national groups and Internet message boards.Paranormal investigator John Zaffis claims, "There's been a boom in ghost hunting ever since the Internet took off."

Investigators, equipped with electronic gear—like EMF meters, video cameras, and audio recorders—scour reportedly haunted venues, trying to uncover visual and audio evidence of ghosts. Many use portable recording devices in an attempt to capture EVP.

The steampunk Ghostbusters parody troupe The League of STEAM send up the concept of capturing EVPs: one of their members, ostensibly a disciple of Thomas Edison, carries a backpack with a large phonograph horn on it, which supposedly can capture EVPs and record them onto wax cylinders.

Suggested Further Readings:

1) Baruss, Imants (2001), Failure to Replicate Electronic Voice Phenomenon,Journal of Scientific Exploration, V15#3, 0892-3310/01

2)Raudive, Konstantin (1971). Breakthrough: An Amazing Experiment in Electronic Communication With the Dead (Original title: The Inaudible Becomes Audible). Taplinger Publishing Co.. ISBN 0800809653.

3)Senkowski, Ernst (1995). "Analysis of Anomalous Audio and Video Recordings, presented before the "Society For Scientific Exploration" USA – June 1995". Retrieved 2007-09-18.

4)Bander, Peter (1973). Voices from the tapes: Recordings from the other world. Drake Publishers. ISBN ASIN: B0006CCBAE.

5)MacRae, Alexander. "A Bio-electromagnetic Device of Unusual Properties". www.skyelab.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-03-27.

6) "AA-EVP:Electronic Voice Phenomena and Instrumental TransCommunication". Retrieved 2007-09-22.

7)EVPs - Questions & Ansours

8)"TV psychics claim Lennon contact". BBC News. 2006-04-25. Retrieved 2007-09-19.

Author:

Anuj Srivastava

You Can Reach me at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=673505148

Spiritual Reality - Journey within

Astral Travel

Astral travel is an interpretation of out-of-body experience (OBE) that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and capable of travelling outside it. Astral projection or travel denotes the astral body leaving the physical body to travel in the astral plane. Reality is created by thought projection (consciousness) into the physical. There are 5 subtle bodies. In astral travel(also known as astral projection) the conscious mind leaves the physical body and moves into the astral body to experience.

In astral projection we remain attached to our physical body by a 'silver umbilical type cord'. Some people are able to see the cord when astral projecting. When you astral project you are consciously aware of things you encounter while out of your physical body.

Some people can astral project naturally. Others are afraid to remove their consciousness from the physical body and never learn to astral project.

Astral projection (or astral travel) is an out-of-body experience achieved either awake or via lucid dreaming or deep meditation. People who say they experience astral projection often say that their spirit or astral body has left their physical body and moves in another dimension known as the spirit world or astral plane.

It is sometimes attempted for its own sake or may be believed to be necessary to, or the result of, some forms of spiritual practice. It may be reported in the form of an apparitional experience, a supposed encounter with a doppelgänger, some living person also seen somewhere else at the same time.

Through the 1960s and 70s, surveys reported percentages ranging from 8 percent to as many as 50 percent (in certain groups) of respondents who state they had such an experience. The subjective nature of the experience permits explanations that do not rely on the existence of an "astral" body and plane. There is little beyond anecdotal evidence to support the idea that people can actually "leave the body".

The Process of Astral Travel:

Psychics often say that the subconscious (or dreaming) mind contains the spirit or astral body, resulting in falling dreams or waking up with a falling sensation or sudden jerk. Most dreams are not remembered by the conscious mind, making the experience of astral projection a subject of subjectivity. Believers in astral projection point out, though, that most ghost sightings often define the ghost as a lucid or transparent apparition walking the earth.

In Meditation, after receiving abundant Cosmic Energy the Consciousness that is spread everywhere in the body, starts moving towards a point. While Consciousness is moving, we experience jerks in the physical body, rotation in the physical body. Movements may be experienced in different parts of the body or some times, one may experience as if the whole body is rotating. We feel as if our body is floating. We don't 'feel' the hands and legs.We 'feel' lightness of the body like feather.

These are known as ASTRAL MOVEMENTS.

By doing more and more Meditation, we get more and more Cosmic Energy.

The Consciousness forming like an Astral Body, starts rotating very fast which causes heavy movements in physical body. After the movements, the Astral body starts coming out of the physical body with a link called Silver Chord. Silver Chord is nothing but a high vibrant consciousness which transfers the messages from physical body to astral body and vice versa.

With this, we do ASTRAL TRAVEL.

Astral Travel is a travel of our Consciousness to known and unknown frequencies.

By doing Astral Travel we get highest knowledge and understanding of the SELF.

In Astral Travel, our Astral Body can pass through all physical materials, all elements like earth, water, fire, wind and ether. Astral Body can go to all other frequency dimensions with out any limitations. After coming out of the body, Meditator 'sees' his own physical body. By this he gets great understanding. He understands that he is not only the body, but he stays in the body. This is a great understanding.

Beliefs & Views:

It is unclear whether every physical object has an 'astral' counterpart, or if a spirit literally uses incarnation into a physical body and this is what results in astral projections, or if the phenomena is something else entirely. Astral projection also touches on life itself and what happens after physical death.

There are two general schools of thought on the nature of astral projection. These can broadly be defined as the mystical model and the phasing model.

The Phasing Model, which was defined by Robert Monroe, holds the belief that it is impossible to actually leave your body in the truest sense of the word, and that the astral planes and the physical world are merely points on the long spectrum of consciousness. When a person projects, they actually "phase" into another area of consciousness and the locales it contains. This can be likened to tuning a radio to another station. One of the initial signposts representing a phase shift away from physical reality has been labelled the state of focus 10 (mind awake/body asleep).

This viewpoint can be seen as a logical progression of the philosophy that external reality is actually an internally created state

The Mystical Model includes a large variety of belief systems and astral maps, but they are tied together by their belief that astral projection takes place outside of the actual physical body. In this model, a more subtle energy body is believed to carry the consciousness outside of the physical body. In their book Projection of the Astral Body, Carrington and Muldoon detail how consciousness is transferred into a secondary "energy" body (the etheric body) to allow travel into the astral planes. This idea is also described by other authors such as Robert Peterson in his book Out of Body Experiences: How to have them and what to expect (chapters 5, 17, 22), and Robert Bruce in his book Astral Dynamics (pages 31-33, 404-410, 538). Bruce expanded on this idea in his book Astral Dynamics, stating that higher planes of existence are reached through the progressive projection of subtler energy bodies from previous projected bodies (pages 33-42). The subtle body is attached to the physical body by means of an energetic connection which usually takes the appearance of a silver cord 'plugging' into the chakra system like an umbilical cord. Robert Peterson describes this in chapter 13 of his book Out of Body Experiences, Robert Bruce in his book Astral Dynamics (pages 27, 52-53, 84, 397-403,544) and by Carrington and Muldoon in their book Projection of the Astral Body.

Kinds of Projections: The Astral & the Etheric

Some experients say they visit different times and/or places: "etheric", then, is used to represent the sense of being "out of the body" in the physical world, whereas "astral" may connote some alteration in time-perception.

This etheric body is usually, though not always, invisible but is often perceived by the experient as connected to the physical body during separation by a “silver cord”. Some link "falling" dreams with projection.

According to Max Heindel, the etheric "double" serves as a medium between the astral and physical realms. In his system the ether, also called prana, is the "vital force" that empowers the physical forms to change. From his descriptions it can be inferred that, to him, when one views the physical during an out-of-body experience, one is not technically "in" the astral realm at all.

Other experients may describe a domain that has no parallel to any known physical setting. Environments may be populated or unpopulated, artificial, natural or abstract, and the experience may be beatific, horrific or neutral.

A common Theosophical belief is that one may access a compendium of mystical knowledge called the Akashic records. In many accounts the experiencer correlates the astral world with the world of dreams. Some even report seeing other dreamers enacting dream scenarios unaware of their wider environment.

Hence we may formally put:

Astral Projection - The traveller finds him- or herself in an apparently real domain, analogous to the "other worlds" experienced by traditional peoples, which have no parallel to any physical setting or to consensus reality, described by New Agers and occultists as the astral plane or "the astral". Environments here may range from populated to unpopulated, artificial to natural to completely abstract environments and from beautiful to horrific. Here, normal physical laws often do not apply and humans can often, for example, float or fly. Quality of physical detail ranges from crude, non-detailed and depressing to bright, vivid and fascinating as detailed, among other writers, by Robert Bruce in his Astral Dynamics.

Travelers may travel from one realm to the other. Projectors may find access to visions of the past or future and to the Akashic Records accessible from here. It has been said that space and time do not exist on the astral plane nor the higher planes, but no explanation is given as to how forms and entire environments can exist without spatial dimensions, nor why there can be a sequence of events and yet no such thing as time. Many travelers have theorized that people having dreams actually travel to the astral realms, unaware, and, again as reported in Astral Dynamics, travelers have reported seeing dreamers enact dream scenarios on the astral plane, unaware of the more extensive and varied non-physical environment surrounding them. Some also claim common movements in dreams, such as falling or feeling like you are walking through quicksand, is the astral body in action.

Etheric Projection - In contrast to "astral" projection, the traditional understanding of out-of-body experiences involves the projector (or traveller) moving about in usually invisible or ghost-like form in a mundane physical reality -the etheric body. This world may, however, have minor differences between the physical reality world we know if strict mind control is not maintained. Proponents of the writings of Robert Bruce sometimes refer to this practice as "Real Time Projection" (RTP) and the mundane world as the "Real Time Zone" (RTZ). From the Real Time Zone, travellers can access "the astral" or remain in the RTZ and witness real time happenings.

In Western theosophy, each subtle body is functionally distinct. Since the etheric body and astral body are not the same, according to several sources, they can not possibly represent the same kind of psychic activity.

Mental Projections:

Mental projection is projection of the astral body to the mental plane via utilisation of mental energy while within the astral or etheric to phase into the Mental, or a different process used to project directly into the Mental Plane. The active subtle body of the mental plane is the mental body, which constitutes the intellectual consciousness of the projector in general. The environment is generally highly colorful and kaleidoscopic in nature, like the astral, and shifting consciously. The difference is that even mathematical functions and thoughts will manifest seemingly physically. The buffer zone between the astral and mental planes is known as the Akashic Records, and appears as a library of knowledge of past, present, and future possibility. There are many theories as to why the perceptions of these records and the mental plane in general differ from projector to projector, but the general consensus is that the Akashic records will appear differently, like a computer or library to different people at different times, and that the future is always sketchy and can often change mid-viewing to the projector.

Roman Catholic View:

Astral Projection is a forbidden practice for Roman Catholics because the soul; containing all reason, thought, memories, emotion, attitudes, and beliefs; leaves the physical body during a wake state, and this can cause bizarre belief systems to develop, based on improperly interpreted sensations from the reality elevated from, and parallel to three dimensional reality.

The soul in an agnostic state; that is indifferent toward The Holy Trinity, or Triune God - God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Spirit; is left without protection, roaming the atmosphere, and perhaps some distance beyond this in a spiritual ghetto that surrounds the earth: The Third Heaven. The Third Heaven is ruled by spiritual hosts of wickedness in the high places, which will send demons to deceive those who will not keep to the domain of the world.

A human soul, when detached from the physical body, during a waking state, without the protection of The Roman Catholic God, Jesus Christ, is very vulnerable to molestation by demons. Roman Catholics refer to escorted travel in the spiritual dimension, an anointing. Jesus Christ is The Anointed of God, Who, while in human form was constantly aware of All Truth, regardless of the shortcomings of the human sensory channels. He was, therefore, constantly in a state of Astral Projection, or anointing. The anointed of God will prophesy Truth directly from God, perform miraculous healings, order the atmosphere to obey them, stop rain from falling in a certain area, pass through solid objects, and/or become invisible when threatened.

Techniques of Astral travel:

Robert Monroe - Monroe Technique:

Robert Allan Monroe (1915 - 1995) was a psychic researcher and author of

a method he called Hemi-Sync (hemispherical synchronization) to induce mental states that are favorable for inducing out-of-body experiences. Hemi-Sync is a system which aims to balance the brain waves of both of the brain's hemispheres or lobes through cooperative processing of auditory stimulus. The stimulus, together with meditative instruction, is provided via headphones. The method is based on a concept known as binaural beats.

Monroe gave a detailed description of the "second body". It has weight, is visible under certain conditions, produces a sensation of touch just like the physical touch, and yet it is very plastic and may adopt any form required of it.

Possibly, suggests Monroe, the second body is a reversal of the physical. He even relates this to his ideas that it may consist of antimatter, although what he means is obscure. As for a cord, he tried feeling it on some of his excursions, but it was not an important part of his experience. Finally he suggests that the second body is related in some important way to electricity and magnetism. In experiments in a Faraday cage he found that he could not pass through the walls when a current was passed through them, but when it was turned off he could (though sufficient details are not given to assess the explanation fairly). He suggests a "third force" to add to electricity and magnetism which is used by the second body and fundamental to thought.

Many people confuse this phenomenon with astral travel; however, etheric travel is mainly related to that which can and does exist, physically. During this type of experience, there are no fantastical worlds, or self-absorbed encounters; the majority of the experience can be validated.

Step by Step detailed description of Monroe Technique can be obtained from Monroe, Robert - Journeys Out of the Body (1971). reprinted (1989) Souvenir Press Ltd. ISBN 978-0285627536

Silva Method:

Jose Silva, founder of the Silva Method, claimed to have developed a program that trained people to enter certain brain states of enhanced awareness. He also claimed to have developed several systematic mental processes to use while in these states allowing a person to mentally project with a specific intent. According to Silva, once the mind is projected, a person can allegedly view distant objects or locations and connect with higher intelligence for guidance. The information received by the projected mind is then said to be perceived as thoughts, images, feelings, smells, taste and sound by the mind. The information obtained in this manner can be acted upon to solve problems.

It is a self-empowerment system to shape beliefs, augment personal success and view distant objects or locations and connect with a higher intelligence for guidance. Jose Silva developed pseudoscientific explanations of brain function and its relationship with a higher consciousness in the 1960s.

According to its proponents, the technique aims to reach and sustain a higher state of mental functioning, called alpha state, where brainwave frequency is eight to thirteen Hz. The method also uses visualizations and affirmations. Advocates attest to healing, better attainment of goals, ESP and cure from addictions.

Simple Astral Travel Technique:

It can be called as the Brahma Kaal Technique since it is to be practised at 4 in the morning.

It involves getting up at 4 o'clock in the morning - a little extra effort, but it is by far worth it. The reasons for waking up at 4 in the morning are:

- We will be drowsy and it will be easier to clear our head.

- We will drift off to sleep much faster.

- We will have gotten up for a purpose; our body and mind will be tuned to what we are trying to achieve.

We must keep an open mind while attempting to project. Any negative thoughts or feelings will certainly hold us back. Stay positive, open, and willing.

The technique is as follows:

· Set the alarm for 4 o'clock in the morning.

· Allow oneself to drift asleep.

· At four in the morning, the alarm will wake you up. Get out of bed turn on the light, and splash water on your face. Dry your face with a towel.

· After about two minutes, get back in bed. Lie on your back.

· You will most likely be feeling groggy and tired. Your mind will be eager to get back to sleep.

· Close your eyes, and clear your mind. This should be easy because you are so tired.

· Now, imagine you are standing somewhere in your room. Perhaps in the far corner. Vividly see yourself standing there. Know that you are standing there, and that your body is still lying on the bed. Focus your whole mind on this concept.

While working on that, begin a simple affirmation in your head. "I am going to astral travel. I am going to leave my body." Say it in your head, over and over, while imagining you are on the other side of the room.

While you are doing this, you will begin to drift back to sleep. Slowly, your mind will begin to cloud. Make sure that the concept of standing elsewhere in your room is the last thing that goes through your mind before you are asleep.

You may experience one or more of the following sensations:

- Floating

- Sinking

- Vibrations

- A bright white/blue light

- A rushing or popping sound

- Strange noises; someone calling your name

- A jolt

If you experience one or more of these sensations for the first time, it may be frightening. But know that they are positive signs; signs that let you know you're about to project.

Almost always, upon feeling a strange sensation, the person trying to project gets such a fright that he/she is jolted back into their body. If this happens to you, allow yourself to fall asleep and try again the next night, knowing presently that there is nothing to fear.

If you find yourself outside your body, do not stay out for too long the first time. Float about your room, become used to the physics of the astral plane, and then will yourself back into your body.

Once you do, imagine the possibilities. Imagine being able to effectively part from your body and travel to another world where time, space, gravity and many other “laws” that exist in the 3rd dimension can no longer limit you. Imagine being able to tap into a sea of infinite wisdom, and use it to both elevate your spirituality, and your physical experience in tandem. It is believed astral projection can give you sensations, emotions, intuition and knowledge that you’d never otherwise have access to—and that’s why many call it the ultimate spiritual experience.

Suggested Further Readings:

1) Astral projection. (n.d.). Webster's New Millennium Dictionary of English, Preview Edition (v 0.9.7). Retrieved June 21, 2008, from Dictionary.com website.

2) http://www.skepdic.com/astralpr.html Skeptic's Dictionary by Robert Todd Carroll, article on Astral Projection, retrieved August 24, 2007.

3) Astral-Projections.com"Secret Guide To Instant Astral Projection

4) Journeys Out of the Body by Robert A. Monroe, p 60. Anchor Press, 1977.

5) Astral Dynamics by Robert Bruce Hampton Roads Publishing Company, Inc, 1999. p 25-27, 30-31

6) Heindel, Max, The Rosicrucian Mysteries (Chapter IV, The Constitution of Man: Vital Body - Desire Body - Mind), 1911, ISBN 0-911274-86-3

Author:

Anuj Srivastava

You can also reach me at https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=673505148

Parapsychology-The Science of Mysteries

Psychical Research and Parapsychology are scientific approaches to the study of apparently paranormal phenomena. The "paranormal" (beside or beyond the normal) refers to unusual experiences that do not seem to be explainable in terms of our everyday understanding or known scientific principles. Paranormal experiences often seem weird, uncanny, or unnatural. Typically they are quite rare but there are a few exceptional "stars" who have regular paranormal experiences and may show seemingly consistent paranormal ability.

Then there arises an important question viz What does it mean to study psychic phenomena? A long-held, common-sense assumption is that the worlds of the subjective and objective are completely distinct, with no overlap. Subjective is "here, in the head," and objective is "there, out in the world." Parapsychology then is the study of phenomena suggesting that the assumption of a strict separation between subjective and objective may be wrong. Human experience suggests that some phenomena occasionally fall between the cracks, and are not purely subjective nor purely objective.

From a scientific perspective, such phenomena are called "anomalous" because they are difficult to explain within current scientific models.

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.

History:

The term "Psychical Research" was coined in the late 19th Century. Many of the early psychical researchers were particularly interested in phenomena that suggested the survival of human personality after death (e.g., hauntings and mediumistic communications).The Parapsychology Laboratory was established at Duke University in 1934. There, psi phenomena were studied by means of laboratory experiments under controlled conditions. The term "Parapsychology" was coined in the 1930s to refer specifically to controlled experimental research into apparently paranormal abilities such as ESP (e.g., telepathy and clairvoyance) and psychokinesis (mental influence on physical events). In recent years, both Psychical Research and Parapsychology have broadened their approaches so that a clear distinction between the two disciplines is no longer possible.

Some modern researchers prefer to identify their approach as the study of "anomalies" rather than "paranormal" phenomena, in order to avoid the assumption that such phenomena cannot be explained scientifically.

The Range of Paranormal Phenomena:

Most alleged paranormal phenomena can be categorised in terms of whether they are primarily mental (involving the obtaining of information in paranormal ways) or physical (involving paranormal influences on physical objects, events or processes, or on living systems). In practice, however, this distinction is often blurred (e.g., a phenomenon may have both mental and physical features). Additionally, there are varieties of miscellaneous phenomena that do not fit neatly into either category. Many parapsychologists do not accept some or all of these miscellaneous phenomena as the legitimate study of parapsychology. Parapsychology hence consists of the following:

Mental Phenomena (Examples)

Extrasensory Perception

Telepathy

Clairvoyance and clairaudience

Psychometry

Precognition and Premonitions

Remote Viewing

Mental mediumship

Dowsing

Past-life memories

Possession

Out of body and near death experiences

Apparitions

Automatic writing

Xenoglossy

Physical Phenomena (Examples)

Psychokinesis

Physical mediumship

Psychic photography

Thoughtography

Healing

Poltergeist activity

Materialization and dematerialization

Levitation

Miscellaneous Phenomena (Examples)

Bizarre coincidences

Miracles

Unidentified Flying Objects

Other mysterious sightings

Alien Abductions

Animal Mutilations

Corn Circles

Stigmata

Occult systems of knowledge and practice

Psychological Phenomena (e.g., lucid dreaming, glossolalia).

Establishment of the Parapsychological Association:

The Parapsychological Association (PA) was created in Durham, North Carolina, on June 19, 1957. Its formation was proposed by J. B. Rhine at a workshop on parapsychology which was held at the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University. Rhine proposed that the group form itself into the nucleus of an international professional society in parapsychology. The aim of the organization, as stated in its Constitution,became to advance parapsychology as a science, to disseminate knowledge of the field, and to integrate the findings with those of other branches of science.

Under the direction of anthropologist Margaret Mead, the Parapsychological Association took a large step in advancing the field of parapsychology in 1969 when it became affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest general scientific society in the world. In 1979, physicist John A. Wheeler argued that parapsychology is pseudoscientific, and that the affiliation of the PA tothe AAAS needed to be reconsidered. His challenge to parapsychology's AAAS affiliation was unsuccessful. Today, the PA consists of about three hundred full, associate, and affiliated members worldwide.

Here we will describe the three particular phenomena of parapsychology in details.

Apparitions:

The term apparition is used for any kind of visual, paranormal related manifestation. The key word to remember is visual. A ghost can take the form of an apparition, like an orb or human figure that you can see.However, not all paranormal visualizations are ghosts. They can be in the form of trains, animals, and inanimate objects. Some apparitions of people might not always be a ghost, or spirit of a person. They might just be visions of things or people that were in that same location years ago. These forms of apparitions will not be conscious of their surroundings or of themselves. They are kind of like a holographic video of something that used to be there. This is called an imprint, and is caused by very dramatic and emotional events that become a part of the land and it's near surroundings. Most professionals in paranormal fields will use the word apparition to describe all paranormal visualizations to keep things simple and avoid any confusion.

Apparitions have been thoroughly studied by parapsychologists and other paranormal researchers since the 19th century.They can vary and can hold different characteristics. Some are very lifelike in their movements and looks. Others can be transparent, and fuzzy with jerky, puppet like movements. Others can be even less lifelike and appear only as patches, or other forms of light. They can visualize very suddenly and then disappear in the same manner. Every apparition has it's own special qualities. Some can come with smells, some can make sounds, and others can just make gestures to get someone's attention or communicate. Some people that have witnessed an apparition have actually tried to touch them. The majority of those individuals learn that their hands go right through the ghostly visions. In a few incidents however the percipient that have been able to touch them have felt a substance similar to a thin, flimsy fabric.

Apparitions are mainly of four types: the crisis apparitions, death-bed apparitions, haunting apparitions and reciprocal apparitions.

Crisis Apparition:

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.

Death-bed Apparitions:

An apparition that appears to a dying person, very close to the time of their death. They can be of dead relatives, angels, or mythological figures popular in various religions.

Haunting Apparition:

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.

Reciprocal apparitions:

In this case both the apparition and the person that sees it are still alive and remember seeing each other. Someone will be so lonely, worried, or missing the other that they will appear to that person in the form of an apparition and both will remember it happening. They can also be called ghosts of the living. This is a good example of how powerful the human mind and will actually is.

In experiments 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.

Reasons of Apparitions:

About every four out of five apparitions seem to appear for a reason. One of those reasons is to tell of the deceased persons own traumatic experience and/or death. Another is to give comfort to a family member or friend that has lost someone. Sometimes they just want to give important information to help the living as well. It may be that the other 20% of apparitions that do not seem to have a specific purpose are either imprint apparitions or have other matters to attend to that is unknown to the witness.

Premonitions/Precognition:

Premonition is a type of prophecy consisting of an impressionable warning of a future event. The phenomenon is characterized by such sensations as anxiety, uneasiness, a vague feeling of disquiet suggesting impending disaster to actual visual or auditory hallucinations. Premonition is sometimes referred to as a "gut-level" feeling. The sensation tends to occur prior to disasters, accidents, deaths and other traumatic and emotionally charged events.

The sensation of premonition may be considered precognition at times because there is no clear-cut line between them. However, generally premonitions are sense-oriented, dominated by a syndrome of physical uneasiness, depression, or distress that is without discernible source or reason. It is an unexplainable feeling that "something is going to happen." Precognition, on the other hand, is more precise, involving visions or dream of the event that is to occur in the future.

For some investigators premonitions can include actions of patients and individuals in magnetic and mediumistic trances who prophesy that their malady or some terrible event, to them, will occur within a certain period of time, and may subconsciously wish to fulfill that prophecy. It might be question whether the similar phenomena might occur in a veridical dream or hallucination. This is theorized on the conclusion that a post-hypnotic person generally weaves his action into the surrounding circumstances, even though the very moment of its performance may have been fixed months before. Therefore this raises the possibilities that fulfillment of dreams and hallucinations might be suggested through telepathic communication to a person from another agent, which may not be far-fetched or impossible.

Premonition Dreams:

There are a significant number of accounts of people claiming they have experienced premonition dreams, but in today’s world the idea is not given any credibility by the scientific community. Dreaming of good or bad unforeseen events occurs all the time in our dreams. But what if these nightly visions actually end up happening?

Premonitions are a certain form of dream, but not all dreams serve as premonitions. We are referring to a very specific form of dream here. Déjà vu can be put into this category. We have all had an experience when we feel we are experiencing something in waking life that we feel we have seen, usually in a dream, before.

Another consideration is coincidence. The dream or hallucination of an event could possibly coincide with the incident. Also, it is possible that impressions, whether they remain vague forebodings or are embedded in dreams, must at times be subconscious inferences drawn from an actual, if obscured, perception of existing facts. Such premonitions are by no means to be disregarded. However, frequently premonitions, no matter how impressive, prove to be absolutely groundless, where a ghostly visitant issues the warning.

Dreams which appear to be precognitive may in fact be the result of the "Law of Large Numbers". Robert Todd Carroll, author of "The Skeptic's Dictionary" put it this way: "Say the odds are a million to one that when a person has a dream of an airplane crash, there is an airplane crash the next day. With 6 billion people having an average of 250 dream themes each per night, there should be about 1.5 million people a day who have dreams that seem clairvoyant."

Premonitions occurring in a waking state are more predominant that those that occur in dreams because in the latter they are frequently disguised as symbols, and tend to go unnoticed. However, when theses symbols frequently reappear in dreams, the individual may learn to recognize distinguishing symbols or emotional tones.

Expalanations:

Psychological:

Various psychological processes have been offered to explain experiences of apparent precognition:

Cognitive failure/distortion models

Suited to explaining at least naturalistic occurrences of apparent precognition are several more or less hypothetical unconscious cognitive processes.Selection bias where people remember the "hits" and forget the "misses," remember coincidences more often than other non-coincidences, or when they were correct about a future event rather than instances when they were wrong. Examples include thinking of a specific person before that person calls on the phone. Human memory, it is argued, has a tendency to record instances when the guess was correct, and to dismiss instances when the guess was incorrect.

Cryptomnesia in which people retain knowledge of a certain fact that will occur in the future, but lose conscious knowledge of how they learned it. When the event comes to pass, it appears to them that they knew of the event without the aid of recognized channels of information.

Unconscious perception by which people unconsciously infer, from data they have unconsciously learned, that a certain event will probably happen in a certain context. As with cryptomnesia, when the event occurs, the former knowledge appears to have been acquired without the aid of recognized channels of information.

Self-fulfilling prophecy and Unconscious enactment in which people bring events that they have precognized to pass, but without their conscious knowledge.

Parapsychological Explanations:

There are several ways by which premonition can be conceived as occurring without fundamental dependence on normally recognized processes of perception and cognition, i.e., by psi.Firstly, there are several ways to explain premonition as aform of extrasensory perception. Premonition can be conceived as an extraordinary process of clairvoyance, involving no direct perception of the future. If, as is offered by the philosophy of determinism, all future events are determined by present conditions, then it can be suggested that it is clairvoyance of all the relevant present conditions that permits one to know their future outcomes.

Psychokinesis offers another explanation to premonitions. It can be suggested that precognition involves the influence of present conditions so that they conform with what is premonized, while a retrocausal process can be put up as an explanation, raising the idea that, at a future time, the ostensibly present conditions are influenced backward in time.

Some theories:

Psi-mediated instrumental response (PMIR):

It proposes that humans unconsciously and automatically scan their environment for motivationally relevant information that will only occur in the future of each conscious observer. This information will be used, by those who are so disposed, to place the person in a goal-relevant position with respect to its environment. This creates the experience of premonition, should some of this information have been represented in conscious imagery or other representational forms.

Resonance theories:

Another class of theories is based on the block universe model, in which future events already exist in spacetime, according to the special theory of relativity. The theories explain precognition as the retrieval of memories from the brain in the future, which could occur in a similar way to that in which ordinary memories are retrieved from the brain in the past.The theory proposed by Jon Taylor is based on David Bohm's theory of the implicate order, which suggests that if similar structures are created at different places and different times, the structures resonate with a tendency to become more closely similar to one another. Taylor applies the principles to the neuronal spatiotemporal patterns that areactivated in the brain, to show how an information transfer could be produced.

For example, a precognition would occur when the pattern activated at the time of the future experience of an event resonates with any similar pattern that is spontaneously activated in the present. This might enable the present activation to be sustained until it produces the conscious awareness of an event similar to the one that will be experienced in the future.

Details on several other different theories can be accessed at:

1) Alcock, James E. (1981). Parapsychology: Science or Magic?: a psychological perspective. Oxford: Pergamon Press

2) Walker, E. H. (1987). "Measurement in quantum mechanics revisited: A response to Phillips' criticism of the quantum mechanical theory of psi". Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 81: 333–369.

3) Marshall, N. (1960). "ESP and memory: A physical theory". British Journal of the Philosophy of Science 40: 265–286.

4) Taylor (2007). "Memory and precognition". Journal of Scientific Exploration 21: 553–570. http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_21_3_taylor.pdf.

5) Hyman, Ray (2007). "Evaluating Parapsychological Claims". In Robert J. Sternberg, Henry L. Roediger, Diane F. Halpern. Critical Thinking in Psychology. Cambridge University Press. pp. 219–223. ISBN 0521608341

Experiments to show premonitions/precognition in humans:

A Cornell University scientist has demonstrated that psi anomalies, more commonly known as precognition, premonitions or extra-sensory perception (ESP), really do exist at a statistically significant level.

In a paper soon to appear in the leading (peer-reviewed) social psychology publication, The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, psychologist Daryl Bem described nine experiments, in most of which he reversed the order of well-known psychological experiments such as recall and affective priming, so that what was usually seen as the cause became the effect. The experiments were carried out over a period of eight years and were well-designed and controlled and rigorous enoughto be replicated in the future by other researchers.

In one experiment subjects, all of whom were students, were briefly shown a word list and then asked to recall as many as they could. Later, they were asked to copy a list of words randomly selected from the same list by a computer. The surprising result of this experiment was that in the recall section of the experiment the subjects recalled at a significantly higher rate words they were later asked to type, even though they had no way of knowing which words would be on the list.

As regards particular experiments, a precognition experiment obviates concerns that there could be some subtle sensory cues from the targets that inform participants' responses, given that the targets are only generated after the data from the participant are secured. However, this creates the contrary issue that the target-generation process must not in any way be informed by the already available "responses". Particular experiments in precognition research have been critiqued for their methodological adequacy. Additionally, there has long been debate about the proper statistical analysis of the displacement effect.

More knowledge on experiments can be gained through:

1)Stanford, R. G. (1974). "An experimentally testable model for spontaneous psi events. I. Extrasensory events". Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 68: 34–57.

2)Stanford, R. G. (1990). An experimentally testable model for spontaneous psi events: A review of related evidence and concepts from parapsychology and other sciences. In S. Krippner (Ed.), Advances in Parapsychological Research (Vol. 6, pp. 54-161).

Jefferson, NC, US: McFarland.

3)Rhine, J. B. (1938). "Experiments bearing on the precognition hypothesis: I. Pre-shuffling card calling". Journal of Parapsychology 2: 38–54.

4)Rhine, J. B. (1941). "Experiments bearing upon the precognition hypothesis: III. Mechanically selected cards". Journal of Parapsychology 5: 1–57.

5)Rhine, L. E. (1967). ESP in life and lab: Tracing hidden channels. New York, NY, US: Macmillan.

6)Krippner, S.; Honorton, C.; Ullman, M. (1971). "A precognitive dream study with a single subject". Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 65: 192–203.

Some Famous Precognitions/Premonitions:

Titanic

A precognition/premonition factor may relate to doomed ships. The Titanic carried only fifty-eight percent of its passenger load on its disastrous maiden voyage when colliding with an iceberg in April 1912. A group of twenty-two stokers were late and the captain declared the ship would sail without them, a fact which may have saved their lives. The psychiatrist Ian Stevenson recorded more than nineteen incidents of premonitions and precognitions concerning the Titanic in England, America, Canada, andBrazil, which occurred within the two weeks prior to the ship's sailing date of April 10. Some cancelled their reservations after dreaming of the ship's doom; others said it was bad luck to sail on the ship's maiden voyage. Some of the survivors said they had felt uneasy but sailed anyway; the later is questionable because some sensation might have been prompted by after the fact thought.

Lincoln precognitive Dreams:

Abraham Lincoln dreamed of his own death six weeks before his assassination. However, his dream was not of being shot and dying, but of being an observer after the fact. He saw a long procession of mourners entering the White House. When he entered himself and passed the coffin, he was shocked to find himself looking at his own body. American presidents John Garfield and William McKinley experienced foreknowledge of their deaths.

Other Famous Premonitons can be accessed at:

http://library.thinkquest.org/C007446F/premonitions.html

The functioning of premonitions is not exactly known, that is, why some people possess them while others do not. One theory is that some people are more open or prone to psychic suggestion. A cause for the diminishing of this psychic ability in people is that a larger portion of the population has become less intuitive. With the advancement of the scientific age people have began to rely less on their sensations; it is just in recent years that science is investigating the importance of human intuition and sensation.

Further reading:

1) Randi, James (1995). An Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 031213066X.

2) Scott, Christopher (1987). "Paranormal phenomena: the burden of proof". In Richard L. Gregory. The Oxford Companion to the Mind. Oxford University Press. pp. 578–581.

3) Hyman, Ray (2007). "Evaluating Parapsychological Claims". In Robert J. Sternberg, Henry J. Roediger III, Diane F. Halpern. Critical Thinking in Psychology. Cambridge University Press. p. 217.

4) Sannwald, G. (1959). "Statistische Untersuchungen an Spontanphänomene [Statistical analysis of spontaneous cases]". Zeitschrift für Parapsychologie und Grenzgebiete der Psychologie 3: 59–71

5) Sidgwick, E. M. (1888). "On the evidence for premonitions". Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 5: 288–354.

6) Saltmarsh, H. F. (1934). "Report on cases of apparent precognition". Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 42: 49–103.

Poltergeist activity:

Initially meaning “noisy ghosts” (from the German poltern "to knock" and geist "spirit"), the term in its modern definition is now associated with physical paranormal activity inside homes such as mysterious noisy disturbances or moving, misplacing of objects.

Included in the most common types of poltergeist activities are the rains of stones and other small objects; moving or throwing of objects, including large pieces of furniture; voices, loud noises and shrieks; odors which sources cannot be found (i.e. pipe tobacco when no one smokes). Poltergeists are known to have caused interference in telephones and electronic equipment, and turning lights and appliances on and off. The poltergeist might even become a full bodied or partial bodied apparition. Some poltergeists are said to pinch, bite, hit, and sexually attack the living.

Since no conclusive scientific explanation of the events exists up to this day, poltergeists have traditionally been described in folklore as troublesome spirits or ghosts which haunt a particular person, hence the name. Such alleged poltergeist manifestations have been reported in many cultures and countries including the United States, Japan, Brazil, and all European nations, and the earliest recorded cases date back to the first century.

Time of Occurence:

Anytime but paranormal activity usually increases at dusk. Generally poltergeist activity starts and stops abruptly. The duration of it may extend over several hours to several months; however, some cases have been reported to last over several years. The activity almost always occurs at night in houses when someone is present. Typically this is the "agent," an individual who seems to serve as a focus or magnet for the activity. The agent is usually female and under the age of twenty.

The Poltergeist in History:

A most important point about the poltergeist phenomenon is that it has appeared throughout history over a large cross section of cultures and generally exhibited the same characteristics. First century Jewish historian Josephus describes phenomena connected with 'possession' that would nowadays be attributed to poltergeist activity. Jacob Grimm, one of the brothers Grimm, writing in his Deutsche Mythologie, describes a number of cases including one from Bingen-am-Rhein dated to AD355, where stones were thrown, people were pulled out of bed, and raps and loud noises were heard. Writing in his Itinerarium Cambriae (AD1191) of his tour of Wales, clergyman and chronicler Giraldus Cambrensis describes an incident at a house in Pembrokeshire where 'unclean spirits' threw dirt and other objects, garments were ripped and torn,and the 'spirit' even spoke publicly of the various secrets of people present.

These are not isolated cases, Medieval chronicles are full of such incidents. The problem, however, with these accounts of poltergeist cases is that the sources for them were not written as 'history' as such; medieval chronicles include many signs, wonders and miracles and are not records of 'true' happenings as would be accepted today.

Over the last few hundred years more famous cases include the 'Tedworth Drummer' of England in 1661, where a drum which belonged to an imprisoned beggar proceeded to play on its own, accompanied by various other phenomena such as the hurling about of chairs, beds with servants sleeping in them being lifted up, and loud scratching noises. A series of bizarre and frightening incidents which took place on a Tennessee farm in 1817 has become known as the 'Bell Witch Haunting'. The Bell Witch herself was thought by many to be the spirit of Kate Batts, one time neighbor of John Bell, owner of the farm where the disturbances took place, and who had apparently been involved in a dispute with him over land. The phenomena included apparitions of strange animals, whistling, disembodied voices, loud laughing and singing and vicious physical assaults on people at the farm, which are claimed by some to have resulted in the death of John Bell.

Explanations for Poltergeist Activity:

Spirits:

Poltergeist activity has often been believed to be the work of malicious ghosts. According to Alan Kardec, the founder of Spiritism, poltergeists are manifestations of disembodied spirits of low level. They are believed to be closely associated with the elements (fire, air, water, earth).

Psychokinesis:

In the 1930s the psychologist and parapsychologist Nandor Fodor advanced the theory that some poltergeist disturbances were caused not by spirits but by human agents suffering from intense repressed anger, hostility, and sexual tension. Fodor successfully demonstrated his theory in several cases, including the most famous "Thormton Heath Poltergeist" in England, which he investigated in 1938. The case involved a woman whose repressions caused a poltergeist outbreak and apparently a vampire attack. The Spiritualists severely criticized Fodor, but he won a libel suit against a Spiritualist newspaper.

Independent and anecdotal research have shed some light on this odd phenomena. The general consensus is that the cause may actually be the result of subconscious psychokinesis. Psychokinesis is essentially a mind-over-matter situation that is unintentional....and is delivered involuntarily by an entity at the site of the activity. Research has revealed that many suspected Poltergeist agents are females under the age of 25, who are completely unaware that they are the causing this type of activity. Emotional problems associated with these individuals have been attributed to poltergeist activity, and include emotions such as anger, anxiety, paranoia, and schizophrenia.

William G. Roll studied 116 different poltergeist cases and found that the agents were often children or teenagers, and supposed that recurrent neuronal discharges resulting in epileptic symptoms may cause recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis (RSPK), which would affect the person's surroundings.

Other investigators have also investigated agents finding that those in poor mental and physical health are vulnerable to stress. Patient having unresolved emotional tensions have been associated with houses where poltergeist activity occurred. When studying the personalities of agents psychologists found anxiety reactions, conversion hysteria, phobias, mania, obsessions, dissociative reactions, and schizophrenia. In some cases therapy eliminated the poltergeist activity.

Pierro Brovetto & his colleague Vera Maxia wanted to explain the origin of poltergeist phenomena, characterised by objects flying around the room "of their own accord".

"Poltergeist disturbances often occur in the neighbourhood of a pubescent child or a young woman," the authors note in their paper.

So Brovetto and Maxia came up with a mechanism to explain just how these women and children create such havoc. Like so many problems that arise in adolescence, puberty gets the blame. Puberty is a modification of the child body which involves various organs, chiefly the brain. Brovetto and Maxia hypothesize that the changes in the brain that occur at puberty involve fluctuations in electron activity that, in rare cases, can create disturbances up to a few metres around the outside of the brain. These disturbances would be similar in character to the quantum mechanical fluctuations that physicists believe occur in the vacuum, in which "virtual" particle and antiparticle pairs pop up for a fleeting moment, before they annihilate each other and disappear again.

Brovetto and Maxia believed that the extra fluctuations triggered by the pubescent brain would substantially enhance the presence of the virtual particles surrounding the person. This could slowly increase the pressure of air around them, moving objects and even sending them hurtling across the room.

For more information refer poltergeist paper in the journal of Nueroquantology.

However, the psychological dysfunction theory has been disputed by other researchers, including Gauld and Cornell who said the psychological tests employed were invalid. Psychiatrist Ian Stevenson proposed that spirits of the dead may account for more poltergeist activity than realized. In his study of a number of cases attributed to agents and to spirits of the dead, Stevenson noted significance differences. The phenomena in living agent cases was without purpose and often violent, while cases involving spirits of the dead featured intelligent communication, purposefulmovement of objects, and little violence.

There are a number of poltergeist cases where the people involved have no psychological problems at all, and where there are no adolescents in the household. How can we explain these? A further point is that there are millions of troubled teenagers all over the world, but the vast majority do not cause poltergeist activity to occur. Other researchers have suggested that 'spirit entities' are responsible for the phenomena, perhaps generating the power by attaching themselves to suitably disturbed teenagers. But the very nature of these hypothetical 'spirits' means that scientifically at least, they cannot be properly investigated, though there are interesting tape recordings of a 'voice' from the Enfield Poltergeist case. However, if accounts of the more extreme unexplained occurrences alleged to be caused by poltergeist activity are themselves exaggerated, or even completely unreliable, which is entirely possible in older cases, then no further explanation is required.

Others:

Poltergeist disturbances that have not been traced to fraud have been attempted to be explained scientifically. David Turner, a retired physical chemist, suggested that ball lighting, another phenomenon, could cause inanimate objects to move erratically.Some skeptics propose that poltergeist activity might be caused by simpler phenomena such as static electricity, electromagnetic fields, ultrasound, infrasound, or ionized air. Hallucinations, like the sounds of bells or footsteps, may be caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Famous poltergeist cases:

Poltergeist activities have been reported in many countries, and chronicled by occult writers such as A. R. G. Owen and Colin Wilson. Well-known instances of poltergeist activity include the Epworth Poltergeist, the Bell Witch in 1817, and activity surrounding the Fox Sisters, whose experiences started the Spiritualism Movement of 1848. Others include the Tidworth Drummer (1661), where poltergeist activity and phantom drumming noises plagued a magistrate who arrested and confiscated the drum of a vagrant drummer, and the Livingston Wizard (1797) of West Virginia, where all cloth items were cut into spiral shapes, and objects flew about without explanation.

The Rosenheim Poltergeist in 1967, where a Bavarian attorney's office was plagued by electrical phenomena such as the unscrewing and bursting of light bulbs, the tripping of switches, and phone numbers called thousands of times, was investigated not only by psychical researchers, but also psychologists and physicists, as well as the electric company. It was found that the phenomena always occurred in the presence of a 19 year old female employee.

Some famous cases can be accessed at http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa080999.html

Nevertheless, the inability to find a convincing explanation for the phenomenon, the significant amount of poltergeist cases exhibiting similar characteristics occurring over a long period of time in widely different cultures, and the bizarre but somehow consistent nature of the phenomena, make the poltergeist perhaps the most baffling and enduring of unexplained mysteries.

Sources & Further Reading

1) Carrington, H. & Fodor, N. The Story of the Poltergeist Down the Centuries. Rider & Co. 1953

2) Gauld, A. & Cornell, T. Poltergeists. Routledge & Kegan Paul. 1979.

3) Goss, M. Poltergeists: An Annotated Bibliography of Works in English, Circa 1880-1975. The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 1979

4) Owen, A.R.G. Can we Explain the Poltergeist? Garrett Publications. 1964.

5) Playfair, G. L. This House is Haunted: An Investigation into the Enfield Poltergeist. Souvenir Press. 1980.

6) Price. H. Poltergeist: Tales of the Supernatural. Bracken Books. 1993 (1945).

7) Rogo, D. Scott. On the Track of the Poltergeist. Prentice-Hall. 1986.

8) Roll, W. G. The Poltergeist. Wyndham 1972.

9)Sitwell, S. Poltergeists: Fact or Fancy. Dorset Press. 1988 (1959).

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