Spurred by some recent conversations, I thought I’d toss this idea out there. It’s a topic that often comes up in conversation when the situation allows (or when I deftly insert it) and sometimes leads to fantastic discussions.
I’ve had an interest in parapsychology for a good long time. For a little while, I even tried to justify it as a career choice. (That, obviously, did not happen.) My interest in parapsychology is one of the things that lead me into the metaphysical world and my current spiritual path. It’s also one of the things that constantly rubs up against my spiritual nature and keeps me walking a more balanced line between science and faith.
Between the parapsychology literature (both in print and on the web) that I’ve read and the science fiction/fantasy and just plain odd bits of fiction that have made their way through my hands and into my world view, the term “ESPer” has kind of resonated with me.
In a very basic way, an ESPer is pretty much just a psychic. But it’s a term that doesn’t carry with it the baggage that the more common one does. Using the term “psychic” conjures images of charlatans, Gypsies and carnival performers just out to fool you and take your money. While some more current press and entertainment presentations are beginning to erode that negative image, it is still very much there and gets in the way of most taking a serious look at the people who possess certain gifts.
To be more accurate, it’s a term I prefer to use to refer to people who make use of the gifts we all have (to one extent or another).
Those gifts include things like telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, ESP and out of body experience projection (astral travel). As a general rule, I don’t use it to refer to those that exhibit more physically interactive psi abilities such as psychokinesis.
We all have the ability to reach beyond the normal senses we routinely talk about–taste, smell, sight, hearing and touch–and use other forms of sensing. Most people ignore the times they experience such things. They write them off as coincidence or just a “gut feeling” or “hunch” about something. Growing up, we’re told some things just can’t be–and when we encounter them, we try our darndest to pretend they aren’t.
Some people, though, embrace those extra levels of information and learn to use them to their advantage. As with anything, some people are more “gifted” with these abilities than others. But just like regularly lifting weights can improve your physical strength, regularly working with psi abilities can make them stronger and make you more aware of the information they perceive.
How does it work? We’re not exactly sure. There a good number of theories and even some recent scientific evidence to back up some of the commonly known things an ESPer can do.
My personal theory is that all psi abilities interact with an as-yet undefined energy–perhaps the same energy that mystics and magick users seemingly manipulate, perhaps related to that as electricity and magnetism are related to one another. ESPers are very sensitive to the fluctuations in this energy and can pick up on the “ripples” and “waves” we all make as we go about things.
If all goes as planned, the next few weeks will be a discussion of how to best deal with some of that energy when it comes your way and how to better “tune in” to it yourself.
Sound good to you?
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