Clairaudience is defined by the OED as the faculty of mentally perceiving sounds beyond the range of hearing, alleged to be

induced under certain mesmeric conditions,1 and its first appearance dated to 1864. Thus defined, it presents an auditory
equivalent to then-current ideas about clairvoyance (often defined as an ability to see objects or events at a distance, though
also associated with spiritual mediumship and fortune-telling) and implies an ability to pick up on sound or speech not available
in any typically recognized perceptual range. As with the case of clairvoyance, the question of exactly what content is made
available to the supplementary sense-ability, and the details of its operation, are subject to a variety of accounts.
Clairaudience, however, seems to be a term employed especially with regard to the apprehension of messages from divine or
spiritual sources.
Some accounts (e.g. Guiley 1991) use the term to refer to the manifestations of an inner voice (or voices) perceived by an
individual. Such instances may be associated with direct communications from God or the Angels in the Abrahamic tradition.
Prominent historical instances described include those of Paul, on the road to Damascus, arrested by a voice unheard by those
around him,

and of the prophet Muhammad, receiving the text of the Quran (the word of Allah) through the archangel Gabriel,

and, more recently, that of Joan of Arc, who claimed to hear the voices of the angels Michael, Margaret and Catherine providing
her with guidance throughout her life. Socrates is similarly presented by Plato and Xenophon as yielding to the counsel of an
inner voice; though, in the context of Greek antiquity, the implications of such a description may be different, the general idea
appears to go back to the roots of Western culture. Such accounts of an inner voice (or voices), as we shall shortly see, may
also refer to messages arising from intercourse with the spirits or the souls of the dead (ibid: 110). The silent voice socalled,
which was long ago heard by Socrates and since by many seers and prophets, (Hollen 1931: 140), in light of the historical
permutations of the ostensive clairaudient capacities which continue to be claimed by contemporary New Age psychics and
links to long-standing Christian ideas about the spiritual senses presents yet another avenue by which to pursue a possible
sixth sense.
The notion of spiritual senses implicates a varied history of thinking about sensuous elements in the Christian ritual and
worldview. Cyril of Jerusalem (315-87 AD), a 4th century bishop, can be credited with an early take on the notion that a deeper
understanding connected with initiation into the faith arose through means which are at once transcendent and sensuous, not
abstract. For Cyril, the physical senses took on new meaning following baptism. Rather than addressing that which is perceived
by the eyes of the flesh, his Mystegogical Catecheses address another set of senses, those of the spirit, which were key to
perceiving divine realities beyond the material world (Frank 2001: 625). In his descriptions of the ritual of chrismation, the body
of the initiate is anointed with scented oils, and each part assigned a biblical passage for example, the ears, to receive ears
quick to hear the divine mysteries, the ears of which Isaiah said: The Lord gave me also an ear to hear, and nostrils that,
scenting the divine oil, you may say: We are the incense offered by Christ to God (Cyril, cited in Frank 2001: 625) thus
mapping a new body capable of perceiving supra-sensory realities. Such senses began at the body, but perceived what was
beyond it (ibid: 626).
Similarly, for the bishop Ambrose, it was important to address the doubts which might arise among new initiates underwhelmed
by the rites of baptism and skeptical of the miracles of transubstantiation, seeing only wafer and wine where their host is
proclaimed: my bread is ordinary, they might say under the sway of a skeptics senses, I do not see the appearance of
blood (Ambrose, cited in Frank 2001: 620). The proposed solution was a process of training the eyes of the heart, what others
referred to as spiritual eyes, the eyes of faith, or, more generally, the spiritual senses (ibid). The theological notion thus
described proved persistent over time; indeed, it is remarked upon fourteen centuries late by Kant, in 1798, noting the role of
the spiritual senses in the Consecration of the Host, which the faithful see with bodily eyes as a small disc of bread but which,
after the formula has been pronounced, they are obliged to see with spiritual eyes as the body of a human being (Kant 2006:
42, n. f). While this account of the Eucharist draws on a predominantly visual example, the notion, from its earliest proponents,
extended also to other (supra-)sensory realms, including that of (inner) hearing, which had particular significance for
subsequent attempts to describe the nascent idea of clairaudience in concert with the legacy of the spiritual senses.
One contemporary of Kant, Emmanuel Swedenborg, previously known primarily as an anatomist and inventor, from the
mid-1740s, came to extend the notion of spiritual senses well beyond the borders likely envisioned by figures such as
Ambrose or Cyril. Beginning at about that time, Swedenborg came, by his own account, to speak with angels and spirits in the
same manner that I speak to men (cited in Schmidt 2009: 154). Swedenborg claimed, through the opening up and effective
cultivation of the spiritual senses, to have attained access to the realm of angels, understood to be the spirits of people who
had once lived on earth and who were now arrayed in various habitations, kingdoms and spheres of heaven (Schmidt 2009:
154).
Leigh Eric Schmidt, in Swedenborgs Celestial Sensorium: Angelic Authenticity, Religious Authority, and the American New
Church Movement, suggests that Swedenborgs experiences and ideas follow up on a tradition of hermetic philosophy. Iconic
of the late 17th century movement, the Englishman John Aubrey, for example, drew observations on, among other things,
astrology, omens, dreams, apparitions, visions, oracles, crystal gazing and ecstasies, and sought to present an historical
overview of instances of otherwordly voices, ranging from Augustines Take, read, to a personal acquaintance of his own
who had twice heard an ethereal command to translate Luthers Tisschreden into English (Schmidt 2009: 151). The hermetic
tradition, taking inspiration from the Egyptian magus Hermes Trismegistus, came to embrace a loose combination of Christian,
neoplatonist, biblical and kabbalistic elements, and implied, among other elements, a desire to know the hidden speech of
angels and spirits, to enter the sensorium of the celestial world (ibid). As Schmidt puts it (ibid: 152): Interested less in the
management of the senses than in their transformation, the Hermetic tradition emphasized the supreme reality of the celestial
world and practices by which that realm was penetrated, its influence attracted, or its inhabitants invoked.
Following up on such desires to know the hidden speech of angels with some gusto, Swedenborg described, in detail, his
regular commiserations with such celestial beings. Interestingly, he asserts that a single language, riven by no divisions of
incomprehension, reigned throughout the heavenly Kingdom (as did a strict regime of intolerance for conniving, deception or

insincerity), and that the speech of angels is equally divided into words with ours, and alike sonorous and audible, for they have
mouths, tongues and ears as we have (cited in Schmidt 2009: 157). While the former contention suggests a sort of
communicative utopia, the latter was in direct opposition to Aquinas contention that Angels commune through a noiseless
rustle of intelligence without the ministry of mind or matter (Peters 1999: 76). His description of the speech of angels as within
the reach of human understanding, accessible on individual terms, was in a sense a democratizing move, bridging some part of
the gulf separating human beings and their celestial betters.
The inspired possibilities offered by a Swedenborgian outlook presented a ready extension of much older notions of the
spiritual senses into a form resonant with what came to be described as clairaudience. And Swedenborgs ideas drew their fair
th
share of followers and re-interpreters, cresting up to the middle of the 19
century; according to Schmidt, Swedenborg
became one of the eras consummate bearers of immediate revelation. Sparking the New Church movement in the United
States, he eventually even became for some an angelic spirit-guide, a dead-yet-living contact for heavenly wisdom (2009:
152).
While Kant and Swedenborg may have been contemporaries, they certainly diverged sharply in their judgment of the range of
access available to the senses, spiritual or otherwise. In his Lectures on Ethics, Kant captures a common position and does
not mince words in declaring that Spirits may exist or they may not. We do not know them and have no intercourse with
them (cited in Hollen 1931: 172). In many quarters, Swedenborg, his followers, and would-be successors were derided as prey
to grand delusions, with Dr. Benjamin Rush (the father of contemporary notions of addiction) going so far to include those who
see and converse with angels (cited in Schmidt 2009: 154) as victims of a unique pathology in his Medical Inquiries and
Observations upon the Diseases of the Mind. Yet, in an age often sweepingly described in terms of the ascendancy of
Enlightenment reason, naturalism, and empiricism, the notion of a spiritually profound (or transcendent) range of perception
unaccounted for in these movements held its own, not insignificant, allure. The visions accorded the spiritual eye and
communication with inhabitants of celestial realms made possible by opening up of the spiritual ear proved intriguing, carrying
forward their resonance along with that of other influences including Mesmerism and popular spiritualism in ways which pave
the way for the more contemporary notion of clairaudience.
Hollen (1931), writing three decades into the 20

th

century (several decades after the term clairaudience made its first

appearance), sets out an elaborate re-interpretation of the supra-sensory capacity to pick up on audible messages from a
higher plane one which in many ways resembles a bridge between Swedenborgs 18th century and what would follow as the
20th edged towards the present day. Hollen suggests that clairaudience is the mode equivalent to hearing (as clairvoyance is to
seeing), though not proceeding via the same physical mechanisms; its operation depends on a finer, subtler organization
known to occultists, invisible and without the obvious physicality of the nervous or endocrine systems. At times invoking
Swedenborg directly, he develops the notion of the spiritual ear into that of clairaudient transmission. For Hollen, Although
our ordinary senses tell us of but one, there is another or super-physical world or state of life and being (138). That superphysical world, he suggests, is a stratified plane on which the souls of the physically living and dead co-exist (the location of
the soul in this plane, whether on the heights or in the nether-parts, correlating to moral and spiritual strength and
intelligence), and where thought the truly real, which drives and determines the facsimile of the real, primary and enduring
which is material reality exists in excess of bio-physical processes, rational calculation or chance. Of man he says:
At every stage invisible beings attend him, mediating suasions, prompting, giving in accordance with their means. It is thus,
while manifesting in his turn upon a physical plane, that he at length achieves maturity of soul, enlightenment; when in the
upper atmosphere of light and love, near the Source of all, soul becomes possessed or repossessed of unsuspected powers,
which in part are transferred to its human counterpart as supernormal understanding, lucidity, prevision, clairaudience, and so
forth (139-140).
In his book Clairaudient Transmission: A metaphysical interpretation of genius, inspiration and the creative act, in the basis of a
singular experience (1931), Henry Hollen seeks to explore a particular conception of clairaudience which combines, like the
ideas which followed Swedenborg and stirred many in the American New Church movement, heterodox theology (here seeming
to depart markedly from basic Christian doctrine vis--vis the notion reincarnation), neo-Platonism (insisting, after Plato, on the
primacy of the Idea, of which mere things were imperfect instantiations), popular Spiritualism, and an admixture of alternative
scientific and philosophical perspectives and points. Ultimately, as the mention of a singular experience in the title indicates,
the impetus for (and particularity of) Hollens book is furnished by the case of his wife, Aura May Hollen. By the account
provided, on a midsummers day in 1928 (amidst a tremendous bustle at a Vichy garden-caf) Mrs. Hollen took, without
apparent precedent, to writing verse with astonishing facility, as though informed and supported by an intelligence alien to
herself, as prompter behind the scenes as it were, who not only encouraged her to write but gave her the subject-matter even to
the captions (29). Indeed, Hollen dwells at some length on the superlative craftsmanship of his wifes poetry and prose,
informing us that the former is metrically [] well-nigh flawless and the latter (which instructs the reader concerning the preexistence of the human soul, the continuity of Life on many planes and planets, and relativity beyond the ken of Einstein)
characterized by a metaphysics made attractive, if not always palatable, by a lucid reasonableness (135).
The process of inspired creative enterprise, especially the writing of poetry of sublime beauty (he seems partial to Keats and
Wordsworth), leads Hollen to conclude that what is variously termed inspiration, genius, or the influence of the Muse 3 can be
attributed to the action of a prompter behind and above (156). Disincarnate spirits are the purported source of such
promptings, which may be received in vague form as no more than a theme or nebulous idea; conversely, they may be so clearly
discerned as to take on the appearance of dictation or conversation or fall somewhere in between. In the latter type of case,
clairaudience finds its clearest expression.
Rather than conceive of the workings of genius or inspiration as imagination, which suggests an ideas origin with the self (and
contra the psychologists notion of the subconscious), we are told, they should be considered as intuition, implying an origin in
the super-physical world. In considering the action of this mechanism in creative production, Hollen sees evidence in a

passage from a description of the writing process by an unnamed minor poet, yet one whom many loved:
I seldom, said she in effect, premeditate. My poems come and somehow in some subtle manner I am made aware of their
approach; when, it matters not what I may be doing at the moment, I take up my pencil to record each one. I do not really hear a
voice but I hear the words pronounced. No one seems to speak and yet, within my head, the words I speak are clearly audible
(136).
For Aura May Hollen, the experience was all the more directly discerned as an incoming transmission from spiritual others;
rather than merely a thought, or thought-form, she would record the actual words (177)

though not without some

occasional interference. In her experience:

Every syllable is practically pronounced for her and to that extent also is the word spelled out for her beforehand; so that she is
able to receive words phonetically unknown to her. Theoretically, she should receive all perfectly. But, owing to difficulties which
are at times more subversive than usual, a word or two may fail to register, when it is as if such word or words dropped from the
line in the same way as a printers stick becomes disarranged. [] At times she hears the thought before the communicant has
given it words. This seldom occurs but when it does she may express it in her own language only to be halted and provided with
the words intended (178).
The unusual discernment of Aura May Hollens interior auditory sense, which Mr. Hollen asserts to be dormant in the average
individual denotes a high level of development in the faculty, a state he compares explicitly with Swedenborg. The latter, he
writes, not only conversed with angels but also, while still on a physical plane, heard conversations in heaven. Hence it is
possible for a few to function at times on both planes simultaneously when the requisite development has been attained (142).
Hollens articulation of clairaudient possibilities, itself indebted to Swedenborg and a lengthier legacy of those presented with
an inner voice or intent on the development of spiritual senses, in turn brings us closer to contemporary instantiations of the
idea of a clairaudient faculty. The specific terminology and configuration of elements pertaining to the notion of clairaudience
among the advocates New Age practices and beliefs, for example, varies significantly, but not without continuities linking back
to earlier interpretations (though adding assertions and accoutrements, and at times gaining significant popular resonance as
either entertainment or aid along the way). According to the website <healing-crystals-for-you.com>, Labradorite earings are
said to help you hear the voice of spirit. 5 The stone, apparently, is very effective at stimulating psychic hearing if worn at the
ears. Liz, the face behind the extensive website, claims that clairaudience is her strongest psychic gift, and writes that no
fewer than 11 different stones and crystals can aid in the natural evolution of clairaudient abilities. A combination of the notion
of chakras (adopted into Hindi from Sanskrit, the word refers to certain centres or intersections of spiritual energy in the human
body, and is commonly associated with yoga and meditation practices) and an admixture of psychic-spiritualist and medicoscientific tidbits characterize this particular New Age take on clairaudience: On the one hand, it is asserted that the effect of
meditation (aided by these crystals) lies in changing your brain waves [] from your normal day to day beta wave to the slower
alpha wave. The amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex are identified as playing a key role in the process. On the other hand,
the result of inducing these changes is that, ultimately, you will find that the flow of information from the Divine source will
grow.
Francis Hosein, a Trinidad-born New York psychic, defines clairaudience as the clear hearing of voices subconsciously
generated below the normally audible vibratory scale and externalized in auditory perception.

As with Liz and some other

contemporary psychics, the clairaudient transmission is seen as a path to receiving information from ones spirit guide, who
can be asked questions and help to solve personal problems. The confluence of self-help or personal development and the
realm of psychic ability and spiritual contact and connection (often invoking a holistic view of life and universe) seems typical,
though different sources make more and less eclectic or detailed efforts at explaining the operations of this super-normal
faculty.
Another contemporary New Age psychic, Astoria Brown, suggests that the voice at the other end of clairaudient experience
need not be, strictly speaking, an entity unwedded to (above and behind?) the self; rather, the mental perception of a voice or
phrase may be a mark of contact with ones higher self, which assists this body that you reside in daily, but is just as much a
part of you as your ego. The same writer counsels her readers to allow themselves to be led by your intuitive self, rather than
the carnal mind, 7 returning to a theme and a term familiar from Hollen, and (variously defined) employed by many
contemporary writers on the subject (e.g. Williams 2003). Intuition stands in as a signifier for that which comes into
consciousness from without, heard within, and reflective of some connection either with spiritual or divine others or with a
some grand transcendent truth beyond the individual or the material universe.
All of the New Age figures just cited suggest that there exist a multiplicity of disincarnate spirits, and similarly entertain the
notion that it may be possible to hear or converse with the spirits or souls of the dead via some clairaudient faculty or facility.
For some, this is the primary (or only) function of clairaudience: as one writer puts it, the ability to hear with the Spiritual ear
the whisperings of those who have made the change called death-soul hearing (Barnes 1996: 14). Indeed, the most prominent
ostensible clairaudients in contemporary North America occupy themselves primarily with this kind of communication. John
Edward, whose nightly show Crossing Over was the highest-rated on the Sci-Fi channel early in the past decade, employs the
method of cold-reading, in which a series of questions are posed to a given subject wishing to communicate with a departed
loved one. Believers consider the process a means of tuning in, though skeptics insist that that the information presented as
the product of dealings with the dead comes not from another realm but from the subject themselves, under the skillful
influence of the questioner (Jaroff 2001).8
James Van Praagh similarly describes an ability to pick up on messages from the dead; his best-selling books, television
appearances (including Larry King Live, though he was also the first American medium to perform readings on air and helped
develop the CBS series Ghost Whisperer) and thriving online community place him in an exclusive category of contemporary
psychic superstars. His abilities, however, are not straightforwardly clairaudient, though the trope of conversation is recurrent.
According to an official description, Van Praaghs very natural, easy-going style would lead you to believe that [he] is chatting

with a friend on the telephone, not communicating messages from the grave. As well as claiming to furnish evidential proof of
life after death via detailed messages, he offers some insight into the mode of communication which characterizes his
experience, which is perhaps more suggestive of clairsentience (clear feeling rather than seeing or hearing). In his own words,
spirits communicate by their emotions. No words exist in the English language, or any other for that matter, which can describe
the intense sensations.9
While Van Praaghs case apparently deviates somewhat from a strict reliance on clairaudience, and the line between the various
claires is often blurred, the faculty of clairaudience is generally considered essential for the practice of many psychic mediums.
As Wales (2009: 348) puts it, one of the predominant modes for contemporary psychics is that
where the medium claims to be able to hear in his or her mind, interpret and report the actual voices and message of the
Departed or Discarnate spirits or personalities in Ashbys terms (1972): properly clairaudience. The trope of listening is
common: to maintain the impression of the normal communicative dyad of direct one-to-one conversation. [] Clairaudience is
the most important of the mediums skills, since, alongside definite facts about the Deceased, their alleged actual utterances
represent for the medium the most significant means of authentification or verification (Wales 2009: 348)
Such figures as Edward and Van Praagh attract the attention a tremendous number of people disinclined (as Hollen had hoped
future generations might be) to scoff at clairaudient possibilities, and aspiring to experiences with spiritual or otherworldly
significance. From one angle, it may seem as though both the New Age advocates intent on democratization of the development
of the clairaudient faculty and its possibilities for self-help and transcendent connection, and the popular psychics who offer a
murmur of acknowledgment from a plane of existence where the living and dead may both be present, speak to a common
desire which appeals to much of what animated earlier conceptions of the spiritual senses. These contemporary reinterpretations of the notion of clairaudience represent a range of practices and subcultural or popular ideas spun off from a
diverse history of religious mysticism with sensuous overtones. Ultimately, the contours of belief are at times familiar in more
recent instantiations of the notion of clairaudience, seemingly presenting a secular or New Age inflection on their explicitly
Christian predecessors. The movement from Swedenborgs spiritual ear through examples such as Hollens clairaudient
transmission and on to a selection of contemporary popular ideas about just what it is to possess this faculty of clear hearing
presents a clear study of how notions of a supplemental or sixth sense tend to spark a range of experiences and speculative
interpretations, and how such notions may appeal to a common attraction to a search which leads outside the boundaries
enforced by the skeptical mavens of scientific orthodoxy.

The faculty of "clear hearing," the ability to hear sounds inaudible to the normal ear, such as "spirit" voices; a faculty analogous to
clairvoyance, but considerably less frequently met with.
One such incident occurred to the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. He saw a light and heard a voice. As he later told of the
events, "They that were with me saw the light and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him who spoke to me" (Acts 23:9).
Perhaps the best-known case is that of Joan of Arc (see Jeanne D'Arc). She was not the only martyr who heard the voices of saints
and angels urging them to perform some special task.
In Spiritualist circles the faculty is claimed by mediums, but distinction must be made between the "inner voice," through which
mediums are supposed to receive communications from the denizens of "the otherworld," and an externalized voice comparable to
an actual physical sound. Frequently some such physical sounds form the basis of an auditory hallucination, just as the points of
light in a crystal are said to form points de repre around which the hallucination of the visualizer may shape itself.
Clairaudience is considered a rare mediumistic gift, but the phenomenon has been known from ancient times: "The prophet that is
in Israel telleth the king of Israel the words the king of Syria speaks in his bedchamber" (2 Kings 6). The experience of hearing inner
voices was described in the age of animal magnetism by one of Dr. G. Billot's somnambulists: "At first, I feel a little breath like a
light zephyr, which refreshes and then chills my ear. From that instant I become deaf, and I begin to be aware of a little humming in
the ear, like that of a gnat. By giving close attention I then hear a small voice which says to me that which I afterwards repeat.
"A biographer of the poet William Cowper wrote that the most important events of Cowper's later years were audibly announced to
him before they occurred."
The difficulty in where to draw the line between subjective and objective experience is illustrated by the following narrative of
Vincent Turvey in The Beginnings of Seership (1911): "One afternoon a few weeks ago I went to sleep on the sofa; after a time,
probably about forty minutes, I became aware that there was an indistinct conversation going on somewhere near me. Knowing that
all my people were out and that my house stands detached in its own grounds, I wondered what it meant.
Then I realized that I was asleep and was 'hearing' clairaudiently, and that those who were conversing were not 'spirits,' but
someone inside me and someone outside me, and yet part of me, because both voices were 'Turvey' in language, etc. I caught no
sentence, save here and there a word or two such as 'understandno conditionnot yet,' etc., then I heard the sentence: 'But you
had better wake it up now, as there is a man coming to the house in a minute.' I woke and had just enough time to throw off my rug
and smooth my hair with my hand, when the front door bell rang."
Clairaudience is either spontaneous or experimentally induced. Seashells are used for the latter purpose; most people can hear
what sounds like the murmur of the sea in a shell. But the clairaudient medium soon distinguishes other voices, may hear distant
friends speaking, may hear part of a conversation he or she has already heard or will soon hear, and may interpret the
communications as messages from the dead or from the living. The medium Arthur Ford was well known as a successful platform
clairaudient in the United States, whereas Estelle Roberts had a similar reputation in England. Marjorie Livingston published several
books on esoteric matters that she clairaudiently received.

Clairaudience fades imperceptively into the inspiration experienced by many artists. Many poets and novelists have also claimed
that they "received" their material rather than consciously constructed it. In like measure, musicians often report initially hearing in
their head a new composition, which they then reproduce for their audiences.
The gift of clairaudience allows you to solve problems and get answers to difficult questions. You can also give support to
people in times of need.
Having this ability is not always easy at first. People may question whether you are making the information up.

It is difficult to distinguish between reality and fiction but with a little practice, you can learn to make this distinction.
You can ask your guides questions or you can ask the entity that is speaking to you and you simply wait for an answer. You
can then check the validity of the answer once you hear it from within.
It generally takes time and practice to build trust in what comes from within as clairaudience.
As you begin to practice, you learn to distinguish between what you hear as your voice and what you hear in your mind.
You also learn to feel and sense the difference in frequency (vibration) between the voices, and be able to distinguish high
and low tones and clarity.
It is important to determine whether this voice is helpful or harmful to your personal growth.
Getting help teaches you more about yourself and your ability to receive the truth. You learn more about yourself and what
you want to accomplish in life.
The free guidance with clairaudience will also help you to learn more about yourself and who is a positive force in your life.
Clairaudience
Admin@theawakeningsecrets.com
July 14, 2014
General, Parapsychology
.entry-meta
Clairaudience is a term sometimes used to indicate Astral Hearing. Some writers on this subject treat Clairaudience as a separate class of phenomena.
But we fail to see the distinction they make. It, of course, employs a different Astral Sense from that generally employed, but both are Astral Senses
functioning on the Astral Plane, just as the physical senses of Seeing and Hearing function on the Physical Plane. And, more important, both forms of Astral
Sensing are subject to the same laws and rules. In other words, all that is said in the lessons of this book on the subject of Psychomantic Vision holds equally
true of Clairaudience.
Thus, there may be Simple Clairaudience; Space Clairaudience; Past Time Clairaudience; Future Time Clairaudience, etc.; also Clairaudient Psychometry;
Clairaudience through Crystal Gazing, etc. Psychomantic Vision is the employment of the Astral Sight, while Clairaudience is the similar employment of
the Astral Hearing.
In many cases of Psychomantic Vision there is an accompaniment of Clairaudience; while in others it may be missing. Likewise, Psychomantic Vision
usually accompanied Clairaudience, although sometimes one may be able to hear astrally, although not seeing.
You will notice that in many of the instances of Psychomantic Vision related in this book, there is a mention of the person hearing words or sounds, while
seeing the vision-this, of course, is Clairaudience.
Nature of Psychomancy
THE term Psychomancy (pronounced, sy-ko-man-see), is derived from two Greek words, the first psycho, meaning the soul; the mind; the
understanding (and generally used to indicate psychic or unusual powers of the soul or mind) ; the second word, mancy meaning to divine; to foresee,
or foreknow; to detect secret things,-and in occult parlance, to sense, or to receive impressions by the Astral Senses. So the word, as we use it, may be
said to mean Psychic Sensing, and in this work will be so used. The word Psychomancer means one practicing Psychomancy; and the word
Psychomantic means relating to Psychomancy.
The word Clairvoyance is frequently used by people to designate some of the phases of Psychomancy, but strictly speaking this term is incorrect when
used in this sense, the true occult meaning of the word Clairvoyance, being transcendental vision, or the perception of beings on another plane of
existence-the seeing of disembodied souls, elementals, etc. And so, in this work, we shall consider the true phenomena of Clairvoyance, as distil It from
that of Psychomancy.
In this work, we shall regard as the true phenomena of Psychomancy, all the various phenomena known as Psychometry; Crystal Gazing; Perceiving Distant
Scenes; a perception of Past Events, and Indication of Future Events; either in the full waking state; the state of reverie; or the state of dreams.
And, so this work will examine, consider, and explain, the various phases of phenomena above indicated-in short, the phenomena of sensing objects by
means of Astral Senses, omitting the phenomena of Clairvoyance, or seeing disembodied souls, etc., which we regard as belonging to a different phase of
the general subject, and which require special consideration and examination.
The majority of works upon these lines begin by an elaborate attempt to prove the reality of the phenomena in question. But we shall not fall into this
error, for such we regard it. The time for the necessity of such proof is past.
The records of the Societies for Psychical Research are full of proofs, and evidence, which are as full, complete and strong as ever required by any court to
hang or clear a man. And the book shelves of the libraries are full of other books, giving like proof. And, for that, matter, this work is not written to
convince people of the truth of this phenomena-it is intended for those who have already convinced themselves of its reality, but who wish for specific
information regarding its nature, manner of manifestation, etc. Where we quote instances of the manifestation of some form of Psychomantic phenomena, in
this work, we do so simply to illustrate the characteristics of some particular form of the phenomena, and not as corroborative proof. With this explanation,

we propose plunging right into the main subject itself.

There have been many attempted explanations of, and theories regarding the phenomena of Psychosomatic, some of which are more or less plausible, while
others are quite visionary, wild, and fantastic. In this work, we shall pay no attention to those more or less ingenious guesses of the theorists, but shall,
instead, give you plainly, clearly, and simply, the time-honored teachings of the advanced Occultists which teachings we believe to be the Truth, tested and
tried by centuries of investigation, and experiment.
THE KUNDALINI - SERPENTS AND DRAGONS ParagraphTitleEnd
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The Kundalini refers to the dormant power or energy present in every human being, and lying like a coiled serpent in the etheric body at the base of the
spine. This coiled serpent has been biding its time for ages, waiting for the day when the soul would begin to take charge of its rightful domainthe
personality, or the combination of the physical, astral and mental bodies.
This spiritual force, while still asleep, is the static form of creative energy which serves to vitalise the whole body. When awakened and beginning to
uncoil, this electric, fiery force proves to be of a spiral nature, and hence the symbolic description of serpent power.
As the Kundalini force is aroused, it will steadily increase the vibratory action of the etheric centres and consequently also that of the physical, astral and
mental bodies through which the vital body finds expression. This animating activity will have a dual effect, firstly by eliminating all that is coarse and
unsuitable from the lower vehicles, and secondly by absorbing into its sphere of influence those lofty qualities which will serve to raise the energy content of
the vital body of the evolving individual.
One of the objects of activating the spiral fire and its progress up the spine to the head, is to awaken the pineal gland, which again results in the opening of
the third eye and the consequent revelation of the subtler planes of spiritual life. By sustaining meditation, by study, disciplined living and selfless service to
humanity, the entire system will step by step be aroused, bringing the lower man under the influence of the soul; this will ensure a simultaneous and parallel
awakening of the etheric force centres and the dormant forces at the base of the spine. When this process is carried forward with care and under suitable
direction, the awakening will take its course gradually and normally, and without incurring any danger.

Should attempts be made, however, to accelerate the natural unfoldment unduly by various exercises or other artificial means, then the aspirant is letting
himself in for trouble. Breathing exercises should, for instance, never be undertaken without expert guidance, and then only after years of spiritual
application, devotion and service. Concentration upon the etheric centres with the object of activating them, should also be avoided, as this will only lead to
over-stimulation and the opening of doors on to the astral plane-once opened these doors are difficult to close again. Students are also specifically and
strongly warned against following intensive meditation programs lasting for hours, or against practices which aim at arousing any particular centre or the
Kundalini fire. The average student is already stimulated to such an extent by present day life activities, that excessive meditation to such an extent by
present day life activities, that excessive meditation, breathing exercises, a fanatical diet, curtailment of sleep, and undue interest and emphasis upon psychic
experiences, will be included to upset his mental balance and may cause irreparable damage. The raising of the Kundalini force, if brought about ignorantly
and prematurely, may lead to serious nervous trouble, inflammation of the tissues, spinal disease, and brain trouble, but if allowed to proceed progressively
and naturally through disciplined living, it will finally serve to open the gates to higher realms. [From the works of AAB and Master DK.]
SERPENTS


The first reference to the serpent is made in Chapter Three of the Book of Genesis; where it is intimately associated with the fruit of the tree of knowledge of
good and evil and the

symbolical eating of that fruit by Adam and Eve. In one of the many possible interpretations, and particularly in this allegory, the serpent is the fahatic
[creative energy]energy itself, and the tree is the consciousness and its vehicles in which that force is active. Together they constitute creative power,
Macrocosmic [the Cosmos] and microcosmic [in man]. The serpent by itself is the undulatory, triply-polarised force in the Cosmos, in a Universe, in all
Nature, on any plane and in every vehicle of man. The tree of life is impregnated substance, fructified matter forming the vehicles of any being at any level,
from a Logos to an amoeba, charged as that matter is with the vivifying life-force.

When not active the neutral current by itself, the trunk of the tree, represents the latent divine presence. When active the positive and negative serpentine,
inter-active currents of the Serpent Fire are present and in operation. As previously stated, the symbols for his energised condition are the serpent and the
tree. Sometimes a single serpent is coiled round the trunk of the tree and sometimes two are indicated, on on either side. The symbol of the serpent is
susceptible of many interpretations, exoteric, esoteric most deeply occult. In general, it is the symbol both of wisdom and of the wise, who in the Sacred
Language are frequently referred to as serpents. The Nagas of Hindu literature are none other than Rishis, liberated Yogis, Adepts. The serpent is chosen as a
symbol of wisdom for various reasons. It glides secretly, and for the most part unseen, on the surface of the globe just as wisdom, whether revealed from on
high or inborn, is a concealed power potent either to illumine if rightly employed, or to destroy if misused. The smooth sinuosity of the snake and its
movements not inaptly portrays the harmonious and rhythmic self-expression of wisdom in both Universe and the man in whom it is awake and moving. He
is enlightened from within, or secretly.

The serpent regularly sloughs its skin. Despite this seasonal change, the reptile itself is unchanged and appears in a new and glistening covering. So wisdom,
while remaining the same in essence, is self-manifest in ever new formes, none being able to hold it permanently. The serpents tongue is forked or bi-polar.
So, also, is wisdom, being susceptible of degradation into low cunning employed for meanest motives, or of elevation into lofty intuition in accordance with
unselfish ideals. Snake venom can destroy or heal, depending upon its use and dosage. This is also true of wisdom. Degraded, it poisons the soul; rightly
used, it is an antidote for many ills.
The eyes of the serpent are compelling, even hypnotic. Wisdom, once awake in an individual, brooks no resistance, breaks all bonds, and ultimately rules
with impelling power. The wise, also, are irresistible in their might, even though appearing to be lowly and making no claim to high regard. Nevertheless
they live near to the Source of life, just as the serpent lives near to the roots and seeds of living things.
The serpent is represented in man in both its constructive and its destructive aspects. The Higher Self, the will-wisdom of the spiritual Soul, corresponds to
the serpent of light, while the desire nature [personality] contains destructive potentialities. The mind is the balancing force, or rod, between these two
oppositely polarised energies, or serpent, in man.

The serpent on the cross lifted up by Moses in the wilderness to heal the Israelites of their sickness [Num. 21:9.] is a symbol of wisdom united with the mind
to purify and elevate the lower self, and heal it of its material tendencies and the effects of their expression.
The serpent is used also to portray the harmonising influence of the Christ-nature in man, which has power to heal and raise the dead to life. This implies the
power to transmute the lower aspects of human nature into the higher. Aesculapius, the God of Healing, frequently appeared in the form of a serpent and the
caduceus, the staff of Hermes, has been regarded as a symbol for a curative force.
Serpents were described as three-headed, as winged, as having human legs, being loud-breathing, hissing, poisonous, and having yellow poison flowing over
them. in the higher aspects this symbolises the action of the threefold Higher Self [soul], especially the principle of pure wisdom within it. The lower,
destructive activities of the serpent of ancient symbology refer to the predatory destructive desires and passions of man. The hero who destroys the latter
personifies the Initiate who has transmuted the lower into the higher, and has himself attained to perfect equilibrium between them.

When the serpents tail is in its mouth an endless circle is made, implying the eternity of wisdom, and even eternity itself. Esoterically, however, processes
of cosmogenesis are indicated by the union of a symbolised positive and negative, or the entry of the tail into the mouth. All generative processes are,
indeed, indicated in that form of the symbol. This leads to the deeply occult significance of the serpent, namely the universal, divine, creative and everactive life-force. This is Fahat in its dual polarity, and is sometimes symbolised not as one serpent with tail in mouth, but as two mutually intertwined. Here
the laws of electricity, under which all generative processes occur, are indicated.
The driving force from within which leads to creative activity in organic formes, and chemical affinity in inorganic, is indeed bipolar. The aptness of the
choice of the serpent as a symbol for this power would seem to be supported by the fact that its tongue is forked. It is the positive and negative currents of
the Great Breath, continually breathed forth as Fahat into and through every atom of every world, to become omnipresent and perpetually active throughout
the whole Universe. This fact was both concealed and revealed in ancient allegories in which Jupiter, and other male creative deities, changed themselves
into snakes for the purpose of seducing goddesses. In cosmogenesis such goddesses personify matter, the waters of Space, the feminine receptive and

reproductive principle. Microcosmically the human Monad corresponds to God the Father, and the spiritual self in its vestures of light corresponds to the
goddess. When evolution has brought the spiritual Self of man to readiness for the birth into dominant power of the Christ-nature in man, a descent
occurs[the mystical Annunciation] of the fahatic or fructifying power from the monad into the hitherto virginal, awaiting spiritual Self. This is the
Heavenly Marriage, the immaculate Conception, from which Christlike consciousness and power are born. A serpent with tail in mouth, two serpents
intertwined, or one encircling a rod, staff or pillar, all symbolise the electric, creative energy of Fahat in action in the material Universe, and therefore in
man, the microcosmic temple of the Universe.

In man the rod refers both to the spinal cord and to a canal, or etheric and superphysical channel, in its centre passing from the root of the cord in the
sacrum, along its whole length, into the medulla oblongata and brain. This canal is the vehicle for the creative life-force, a measure of which plays down
from above in the generative act. This current is uni-polar, or even of neutral polarity, since it plays and produces its effects in both the male and the female
organism. The historic occult name for this canal is Sushumna, usually only applying, however, when by occult means the same neutral force is made to
play not downwards, but upwards along the spinal cord. Before this reversal of the flow of creative energy can be achieved, positive and negative currents
must be aroused and themselves, like twin serpents, flow upwards, inter-twining as they flow to induce an ascent of the accompanying neutral energy.
Entering the brain, this triple power so illumines the mind of man that he becomes, as it were, a god [possessed of theurgic powers]. This fact is revealed in
Genesis [Gen 3:5.] where Adam and Eve represent the oppositely polarised currents, the tree of knowledge of good and evil [particularly the trunk]
corresponds to the rod, and the tempting serpent to the creative force ascending along the Sushumna canal. Thus Adam and Eve are forbidden to eat of the
fruit of this tree, since by so doing they would become as gods.
The intensely heightened vibrations of the brain, the glands, the cells and the aerial substance in the ventricles, cause the brain and cranium to be responsive
to Egoic and Monadic life and consciousness. Spirit then predominates in the individual. Matter loses its power. Symbolically, through the agency of an
interchangeable serpent and rod, the Israelites are freed from bondage in Egypt. The shaft of Atmic fire which forms the core of the force which plays along
the Sushumna canal is brought down to the densest physical level, or symbolically cast upon the ground. When that occurs the relatively dormant,
positive-negative, creative life-force resident in the sacrum is awakened into activity. Each polarity then pursues a mutually intertwining, serpentine path
around the Sushumna canal. Symbolically stated, the rod becomes the serpent. [Ex. 4:2-4.] This process is not unproductive of a certain shock and some
pain. The Initiate momentarily shrinks from it, but still persists. Moses is therefore made to flee before the serpent. When, however, he unites his own will
with that of the Hierophant Himself and sublimates the creative force, compelling it to flow upwards from the pelvis, it becomes in his hand the magicians
wand of power. Symbolically, Moses takes the Serpent Fire by the tail and it becomes a rod in his hand.

As portrayed in the Egyptian symbolical figures in which serpents are intertwined around rods or pillars, the tail is at the foot of the pillar, meaning the
sacrum. The head of the serpent is at the upper end, whence frequently a lotus flower is blooming. This, too, is a universally used symbol. Rods which
blossom, as did Aarons, have a similar significance. [Nim. 17:8, Neb. 94.] The opening of the force-centres in the superphysical bodies, consequent upon
the arousing and the upward flow of the serpent power, is depicted by such symbols. The historic occult names for the positive and the negative currents of
force are Pingala and Ida, and the triple upwards flow is most perfectly revealed by the Greek symbol of the caduceus. Hermes is the Moses of the Greeks,
in that he is a messenger from God to man by virtue of holding in his hand the caduceus, just as Moses held in his hand the rod. Hermes also delivered
Persephone from the under-world, Hades, even as Moses delivered Israel from bondage in Egypt.
The dark and light coloured serpents of the caduceus symbolise the dual power of the secret wisdomblack and white magic. Tehuti, Mercury, Hermes,
possessing [having mastered] the triple serpent fire, personify pure wisdom guiding the Soul after death, both natural and figurative [at Initiation], and
calling to life that which has been dead. [The dead shall rise?] This power is possessed by all Adepts or serpents. The ancient

Chinese symbol of the Emperors thronethe Dragons Seatand the dragon embroideries on his dresses of State, also refer to this sublimation and its
results. Jesus adviced His disciples, saying . . . be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. [Mat. 10: 16.] This may be taken as a veiled
reference either to the Serpent Fire or to the wisdom and the prudence of the Adept or serpent.
The two serpents symbolise all apparently opposing and hostile pairs in the worlds allegories. They embody the idea of dualism and the supposed struggle
between good and evil, Spirit and matter, light and darkness, gods and demons, Saviours and serpents and dragons, Cain and Abel, Esau and Jacob, Apollo
and Python. The heroic Saviour represents the pure wisdom by which alone the conflict, as it occurs in man, may end in victory for spirit, light, good. The

divine messengers sent to save mankind, the Christos as Son of God and the Celestial Virgin, sent down from Heaven to Earth to save a perishing humanity,
are all personifications of the pure wisdom by means of which the conflict of the opposites may end not in the defeat of one by the other, but in their perfect
harmonisation or equipolarisation. The result is the retention of the full powers of both of the opponents, the light and the dark serpents, and the attainment
of the capacity to use either or both of them while the user remains in a condition of dynamic equilibrium. This attainment is symbolised by the crushing of
the head of the serpent by Sri Krishna, and the victories over reptiles by the Saviours and heroes of other ancient peoples.

Contemplation of the symbol of the caduceus will reveal how perfectly it portrays that process and that attainment. This saving power, the Christos, entered
into the man Jesus, the human vehicle, at the moment of his baptism in Jordan, and from then on Jesus began to work miracles by divine authority. Holding
of the caduceus [or rod or serpent] in the hand is itself a symbol implying mastery of a power, [the second initiation], and the possession of knowledge and
skill in its employment.
The transmutation of rod into serpent, be it noted, could only occur at the command of the Deity [the soul] and by His magical power. Actually, the descent
of the Monadic Atma [soul-force] through all the vehicles and down the spinal cord into the sacrum is essential to the premature full-awakening of the triple
creative fire and its successful sublimation and use as a magical tool. To bring this power of Atma down is one part of the office of the Hierophant of the
Greater Mysteries. Since thereafter a new life is begun, the act has ever been correctly termed initiation. The Initiate is one in whom has been aroused the
power to liberate himself from the limitations of matter, desire and self-separateness into the freedom of universal consciousness, life and power.
The Serpent Fire, or Kundalini, is in essence creative and, though as yet but slightly aroused, with all other forces and powers of Nature is represented in the
physical body of man. There, at this period of human evolution, it manifests itself as the source of both the sex impulse and the nerve fluid. It resides, coiled
serpent-like, in the sacral chakra or wheel at the base of the spine, which in its turn is a relay station for the similarly coiled up energy in the centre of the
Earth, itself a storehouse of solar Kundalini. When fully aroused, either by yoga or as a natural result of evolutionary progress, kundalini flows up an etheric
canal in the spinal cord called the Sushumna nadi, passing through each of the other chakras on its journey. As it passes through the spinal centres in which
the chakras arise, some of its force flows down the axis of the funnel of each, vivifying it occultly and thereby awakening the individual to self-conscious
awareness in the superphysical worlds.

When kundalini touches the spleen centre, it gives to man the power of travelling at will on the astral plane while away from the physical body. When it
touches and opens the heart centre, the forces of the Buddhic or Christ-consciousness in man resident in the vehicle of intuition, if sufficiently unfolded,
begin to flow through the neophyte at the physical level and the mystic rosethe heart chakrablooms upon his breast. The power of the Christconsciousnessknowledge of the oneness of life, direct intuitive spiritual perception, wisdom and a profound compassionthen begin to manifest
themselves through thought and word and deed. The throat centre, when vivified, bestows the power of clairaudience, or of responding to superphysical
sound vibrations as well as to those physical sounds which are beyond the normal auditory range. The brow centre,[the third eye], when occultly vitalised,
bestows the faculty of clairvoyance, and when the coronal chakra [crown chakra] is opened the neophyte acquires the faculties of using supersensory
awareness while still awake in the physical body, and of leaving and returning to the body at will without any brake in consciousness [the third initiation?].
the pituitary and pineal glands then function somewhat as do the valves or the amplifiers of a radio receiving set, thereby enabling consciousness within the
brain to pick up and become aware of superphysical forces and phenomena. Indeed, the cerebro-spinal system of man, when occultly vivified, resembles in
many respects a television receiving set. One difference, however, is that subtle broadcasts are projected upon the screen of mind-brain and clairvoyantly
perceived. The full manifestation of these occult faculties during waking consciousness demands a long and arduous training, and depends upon the
complete vivification of the pituitary and pineal glands by means of Kundalini and its complementary forces. [Through meditation, service, redemption of
the body and so on.it is not easy and takes a long time..as long as evolution dictates.]
THE SIX SENSES ParagraphTitleEnd

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It must be remembered that the means of perception are the six senses; hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell and mind, and that these six must be transcended
and known for what they are. The means of perception reveal the great Maya or word of illusion which is composed of forms of every kind, built of
substance which must be studied as to its atomic and molecular construction and as to the basic elements which give to that substance its specific
differentiations and qualities. For the purposes of study the student will do well to remember that he must investigate the nature of the following factors in
the polar opposite to spirit which we call matter:
1. Atoms,
2. Molecular matter,
3. The elements,
4. The three qualities,
5. The force differentiations in their even forms.
Through an understanding of the nature and distinctions of matter he will come to a comprehension of the word of form which has held his spirit a prisoner
for so long. This Patanjali points out in sutra 18:
That which is perceived has three qualities, rhythm, mobility and inertia; it consists of the elements and the sense organs. The use of these produces
experience and eventual liberation.
This covers the career of the human unit from the moment when he first took incarnation and throughout the long cycle of lives until he passes through the
various gates of initiation out into the larger life of the cosmos.
First inertia distinguishes him, and his forms are of so heavy and gross a nature that many and violent contacts are needed before he becomes aware of his
surroundings and later intelligently appreciates them. His various sense organs slowly become active; first, the five senses develop and then the mind begins
to develop as well. Later he begins to perceive in all around him in the phenomenal world, the same qualities and elements as in himself, and his knowledge
rapidly grows. From that he passes to a distinction between himself as the Perceiver and that which he perceives as his form and their world of being. The
sixth sense becomes increasingly dominant and is eventually controlled by the true man who passes then into the rhythm state where he is harmonised in
himself and consequently with all around him. His manifestation is rhythmic and in tune with the great whole. He looks on at the spectacle and sees to it that
those forms through which he is active in the world of phenomena are duly controlled and that all his activities are in harmony with the great plan.
When this is so, he is part of the whole yet freed and liberated from the control of the world of form, of the elements and of the senses. He uses them; they
no longer use him.
Patanjali tells us how to achieve this mastery over the senses in the following sutras:
Mastery over the senses is brought about through concentrated meditation upon their nature, peculiar attributes, egoism, pervasiveness and useful
purpose.
Abstraction [of the consciousness which is outgoing towards the world of phenomena] is the subjugation of the senses by the thinking principle and
their withdrawal from that which has hitherto been their object.
Through fiery aspiration and through the removal of all impurity, comes the perfecting of the bodily powers and of the senses.
From the works of AAB and DK.
Western and Indian Psychology

by Swami Sivananda
(A)
Each of the senses of man, executes only one function. Eyes can only see; ears can only hear; tongue can only taste; skin can only touch;
nose can only smell. But the mind can see, hear, taste, touch and smell. All the sense-faculties are blended in the mind. You can see and
hear directly, through the mind by Yogic practice (clairvoyance and clairaudience. This blows out the Western psychological theory of

perception. Mind and Indriyas are related this way; the Indriyas are a prolongation of the mind. Mind is a mass of Indriyas. Mind is a
consolidated Indriya. Indriya is mind in manifestation. Indriya represents backwaters. The desire in the mind to eat has manifested as
tongue, teeth and stomach. If you can control the mind, you can control the Indriyas. If you have controlled the Indriyas, you have already
controlled the mind.
(B)
According to western medical science, light vibrations from outside strike the retina and inverted image is formed there. These vibrations
are carried through optic tract and optic thalamus to the centre of vision in the occipital lobe of the brain in the back part of the head.
There, a positive image is formed. Only then does one see the object in front of one. The Vedantic theory of perception is that the mind
comes out through the eye and assumes the shape of the object outside. It is only the individual mind that sees object outside. If you see
the same objects through a telescope, they appear different. If you can see with the mind directly, you will have a different vision
altogether. Hiranyagarbha or Karya Brahman has a different vision. He sees everything as a vibration or movement within himself as his
own Sankalpa, just as you can imagine within your own mind that a big war is going on and many people are dying on either side. You
withdraw the imagination at will.
(C)
The Western psychologists' exposition of dream-psychology, though having much to its credit in the shape of research and some valuable
information, yet leaves much unexplained. It lacks much that can be supplied only from theories of the East. They can only be explained
by thoughtful inferences from the theories of rebirth, the Law of Karma, the operation of external factors like the Akasic records and
occult factors like thought-transference and action of astral entities like Pretas of deceased persons. Only a sincere attempt to make a
deep study into the working of these factors can form a full and more adequate exposition of the mysterious subject of dream. To the Yogi
who has successfully transcended the three states of waking, dream and deep sleep, the knowledge of all these comes perfectly. To the
Jnani, no doubt with intuitive perception, the mystery of dreams becomes perfectly solved.
That the Western dream theory is sex-ridden is due to the fact that they start with a wrong notion of what in reality constitutes Man. To
them, man is mainly a physical creature endowed with a mind and possessed of a soul. This is just the contrary of the Oriental view that
man in reality is a Spirit, expressing himself through the medium of a mind, which has the physical body as its counterpart to function
upon the gross external plane. Thus, we see, to the Indian mind, the true Self of man is entirely devoid of sex. It is the body that suffers
under the tyranny of a gender. This body is the least part of man as defined by the philosophical mind of the East. Sex is therefore just but
one aspect - though a dominant one perhaps - of the individual soul that goes about as Man upon this earthly stage.
(D)
Psychologists say that the functions of the organs as controlled by the nerves and nervous system. They also say that the organs, etc., are
controlled by the mind. Devotees say that the organs are controlled by the presiding deities. Vedantins say that the organs are controlled
by the Inner Ruler or Antaryamin. The nerves, the mind and the senses and the gods derive this power and light from the Inner Ruler who
is the ultimate source for everything. This is the truth. If the mind is pure and free from distractions, you will behold the supreme Self
(Atman) within and everywhere, Know That - the impeller of actions.
(E)
There are some psychologists and philosophers who do believe that mind is a secretion of the brain. What a wild, absurd conviction! They
have come to admit the presence of the subconscious mind, however, - the - Dual-Mind Theory - which is known to the Hindu sages from
time immemorial. Mind is not self-luminous like the Self-effulgent Atman or the supreme Spirit. It shines in borrowed feathers.
Just as a piece of iron moves in the immediate presence of magnet, even so this insentient mind moves and works in the presence of the
Inner Ruler. This point has not been properly understood by the Western psychologists, rationalists, free thinkers, economists, socialists
and others. Hence, they are always restless and are groping in total darkness. The vibrations of psychic or subtle Prana manufacture
thoughts in the mind.
The mind is insentient (Jada) but it appears as Chaitanya (Chaitanyavat) by borrowing the light from the Adhishthana (source) - Atman just as water exposed to the sun borrows the heat from the sun. Because there is reflection of intelligence in the mind from the
background, the source or womb for this mind, this insentient mind appears as intelligent. This is the real truth. This is the bold, genuine
philosophy of the Hindu sages of yore.
ESP (extrasensory perception)
ESP or extrasensory perception is perception occurring independently of sight, hearing, or other sensory processes.
People who have extrasensory perception are said to be psychic. Some think that everyone has ESP; others think it is a talent that only
special folks have. Some think that animals (see below) or plants have ESP.
The term ESP was popularized by J. B. Rhine, who began investigating paranormal phenomena at Duke University in 1927.
ESP refers to telepathy, clairvoyance (remote viewing), precognition, and, in recent years, clairaudience.
The existence of ESP and other paranormal powers such as psychokinesis (PK), are disputed, though systematic experimental research on
these subjects, known collectively as psi, has been ongoing for over a century in a field known as parapsychology.
Most of the evidence for ESP, however, is anecdotal. The anecdotes consist of two parts: the experience itself and the interpretation of it. A
story may be true, but the attempt to make sense or give psychic meaning to the story often seems to the skeptic to exceed the bounds of
reasonableness. The following example is a classic.
Tart's coffee-making coup d'tat
Charles Tart was making coffee when he started saying coup d'tat aloud to himself. He tells us that it is rare for him to say a word aloud or
over and over. He says he had no idea why he was doing this: he doesn't follow international news and he "could think of nothing in my
immediate past that had anything to do with coups d'tat (2009: p. 77; first published in "A Case of Predictive Psi, with Comments on
Analytical, Associative and Theoretical Overlay"). He's also a trained psychologist and knows that all of us engage in irrational behavior from
time to time, and have no idea why we feel the way we do about certain things because we've forgotten the experience that makes certain
words resonate with us. I know a couple who get sexually energized every time they pass a road sign that reads "Green Valley Road." They
had no idea why this happens until they revisited a place they hadn't been to for over thirty years and found they were on Green Valley Road,
which led to the campground where they'd had had their first sexual adventure together many years earlier. (I wondered myself why I
described to two people Tart's explanation of his experience as involving "overlays," since I rarely use that word to describe anything. It

became clear to me that I used that particular word because Tart uses it in section heads ["analytical and associative overlay" and "theoretical
overlay"] and it's in the title of the paper Tart wrote, mentioned in a footnote in his book The End of Materialism, the inspiration for these few
paragraphs on wild and crazy interpretations of the mundane.)
I certainly have no idea why the expression coup d'tat popped into Tart's head while he was making coffee that day, but I could come up with
dozens of possibilities. None of them, however, could come close to the imaginative adventure Tart went on in his attempt to make sense out
it. (Maybe he unconsciously overheard the expression on a radio news report while driving in his car. Maybe he heard a pigeon coo and it
reminded his subconscious of the word he heard on the radio or in the conversation of a passerby. Maybe he inadvertently saw the name on
the envelope before the expression popped into his head. Maybe he was subconsciously expressing a wish to overthrow the dean of his
college. Maybe.)
The day after his coup d'tat experience Tart found a letter in his office mailbox from a Mrs. Coudetat. Uncanny? Tart thinks so. He calls it "a
clear example of what we might call predictive psi phenomena." What follows is an excursion of the imagination that took me back to my
college days when I first read the exotic interpretations of dreams and experiences by psychoanalysts. Two things stand out about those
interpretations: they were extremely farfetched and fanciful, and they were unfalsifiable. I'm not going to try to prove Tart's interpretation is
wrong because that would be impossible. I'll present his interpretation. The reader can judge how plausible it is.
Tart gave immediate significance to the proximity of his coup d'tat experience and the name of his correspondent, who is the mother of one
of Tart's former students. Jung might have seen the events as an example of synchronicity. We rule out coincidence the moment we invest an
experience with deep meaning and significance. Why some of us find an experience trivial or mundane, while others find the same kind of
experience deeply meaningful and significant, is something that I'll leave to others to try to explain.
Tart says he is "sure" that Mrs. Coudetat was thinking of him and her letter to him "at the time the phrase 'coup d'tat' popped into my mind."
He says that "it was a kind of coup d'tat on her part to seize control like that from the usual processes governing my mind" (2009: p. 89). He
also writes: "I might also speculate that my psychic perception of the imminent and somewhat critical letter from Mrs. Coudetat constituted my
own psychological coup d'tat in defending myself against possible guilt." In her letter, Mrs. C implies that Tart's class on altered states of
consciousness had something to do with triggering anxiety attacks in her son and that Tart should make sure that troubled students know how
to get help.
Tart speculates that Mrs. C's need to communicate with him provided the power or force that "resulted in my unusual behavior." He also says:
"This line of reasoning seems adequate on a common sense psychological level, and is probably mostly true." This view seems to imply that
every actual attempt to communicate in ordinary ways (by letter, speech, etc.) is accompanied by psychic vibrations sent out with the same
purpose.
Tart writes: "I believe the associations of military dictatorships, cheering crowds, and thoughts about efficient and disciplined organizations
taking over when government fails represent analytical and associative overlay following my initial psi impression of the word 'coup d'etat'."
Tart brings in the concept of overlays to explain why the initial associations he made (and most people might make) with the idea of a coup
d'etat occur along with the telepathic impressions.
Tart must have known he was going down an interpretation lane traveled mostly by parapsychologists and psychoanalysts because he gave
an account of his overlays and impressions to Jules Eisenbud. Eisenbud is the psychoanalyst and parapsychologist who wrote a book about a
Chicago bellhop named Ted Serios, who claimed he could make images appear on Polaroid film just by thinking of an image. Eisenbud
encouraged Tart to consider another kind of overlay, theoretical overlay. This leads Tart to consider the possibility that maybe he had some
unresolved anger and guilt feelings about the student with anxiety problems. This 'lingering unconscious residue" of anger and guilt "might
have sensitized me to psychically perceiving information...." Maybe, thinks Tart, he was putting a positive bias on his interpretation of the
experience by "manifesting an altruistic theoretical overlay in analyzing the case."
Finally, Tart relates his coup d'etat experience to his attempt to do some psychic healing, "using shamanistic methods," on a friend who was
about to have surgery. "I wonder if some part of me might have helped cause the coup d'etat incident so that my own faith in psychic abilities
might be strengthened, and thus retrospectively potentiate my attempts at healing my friend and strengthening his faith." Sure, it's all possible,
and it can't be falsified, but how plausible is this account? Tart wards off criticism of such anecdotes by skeptics by claiming that we consider
them to be just stories, probably inaccurate and incomplete, or lies. But it's not the stories that are the problem here: it's the fanciful,
unfalsifiable interpretive overlays that need to be called into question. Such interpretations as this one by Tart seem indistinguishable from
cases of apophenia.
(Actually, there is one more thing. If Tart is truly as open-minded as he seems, he should admit that it is possible that his experience was not
telepathic, but that Jaweh, Thor, or Zeus directly implanted the expression coup d'tat in his brain. Maybe the gods knew what was in his
mailbox and how he'd likely react if they got him repeating an apparently meaningless expression. Maybe he experienced a divine spark,
intended to ignite a blaze in his brain that would lead to a volcanic stream of consciousness that would leave the gods howling. You can't
prove that the gods aren't tricksters and enjoy pulling one over on a parapsychologist just for fun. This explanation seems just as plausible as
that Mrs. C was trying to pull a coup on Tart or that he was trying to pull a coup on himself. In fact, Tart brings up this possibility himself in his
chapter on psychokinesis in The End of Materialism. "Suppose," he writes, "there is, as we consider in this book, a spiritual reality, perhaps
with spiritual beings of some sort existing in it? [sic] Are the desires and qualities of these spiritual beings part of our experiments also? Is the
idea of being 'teased' with inconsistent but unignorable psi results more than just a metaphor?")
ESP in dogs
The belief in psychic dogs seems to be popular among true believers in the paranormal. The following case is typical of those cited as proof of
ESP involving dogs. The dog in question is a terrier who has achieved fame as having ESP as exhibited by his ability to know when his
owner, Pam Smart, is deciding to come home when she is away shopping or on some other business. The dog's name is Jaytee. He has
been featured on several television programs in Australia, the United States, and England, where he resides with Pam and her parents, who
were the first to perceive the dog's psychic abilities. They observed that the dog would run to the window facing the street at precisely the
moment Pam was deciding to come home from several miles away. (How the parents knew the precise moment Pam was deciding to come
home is unclear.) Parapsychologist Rupert Sheldrakewho has validated a telepathic parrot in a scientific experimentinvestigated and
declared the dog is truly psychic. Two scientists, Dr Richard Wiseman and Matthew Smith of the University of Hertfordshire, tested the dog
under controlled conditions. The scientists synchronized their watches and set video cameras on both the dog and its owner. Alas, several
experimental tries later, they had to conclude that the dog wasn't doing what had been alleged. He went to the window and did so quite

frequently, but only once did he do so near the exact time his master was preparing to come home and that case was dismissed because the
dog was clearly going to the window after hearing a car pull up outside his domicile. Four experiments were conducted and the results were
published in the British Journal of Psychology (89:453, 1998).
Much of the belief in ESP is based upon apparently unusual events that seem inexplicable. However, we should not assume that every event
in the universe can be explained. Nor should we assume that what is inexplicable requires a paranormal (or supernatural) explanation. Maybe
an event can't be explained because there is nothing to explain.
Most ESP claims do not get tested, but parapsychologists have attempted to verify the existence of ESP under controlled conditions. Some,
like Charles Tart, Dean Radin, Gary Schwartz, and Raymond Moody, claim success; others, such as Susan J. Blackmore, Richard Wiseman,
and Chris French claim that years of trying to find experimental proof of ESP have failed to turn up any proof of indisputable, repeatable
psychic powers.
Defenders of psi claim that the ganzfeld experiments, the CIA's remote viewing experiments, and attempts to influence randomizers at
Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research have produced evidence of ESP. (Please follow the links for more details and criticisms of those
experiments.) Psychologists who have thoroughly investigated parapsychological studies, like Jim Alcock (1990, 2003), Ray Hyman (1989),
David Marks (2000), and Susan Blackmore (1980, 1995), have concluded that where positive results have been found, the work was fraught
with questionable assumptions, lack of randomization, serious problems with controls (no use of control groups or controls of any kind,
irrelevant controls), statistical legerdemain, lack of replication, or fraud.
My opinion of the scientific evidence for psi is given in my "Short History of Psi Research" and my reviews of Dean Radin's Conscious
Universe and Entangled Minds, and Gary Schwartz's Afterlife Experiments. I have no reason to think that fraud is more likely in psi research
than in any other scientific field. Cheating is a human problem, not a unique psi-researcher problem. Cheats have been exposed in all the
sciences and social sciences. The problem is not unique to parapsychology. There are many problems with psi research, but researcher fraud
is not a particularly important one. Most of the significant cheating in parapsychology research has been done by those being tested. For more
details, I refer the reader to the material mentioned at the start of this paragraph.
xtraordinary human function (EHF)
An extraordinary human function would be something like the ability to read messages with one's ears, forehead, fingers or some other part of
the anatomy besides the eyes. There have even been accounts of reading by sitting on the message. The latter was popular in China in the
late 1970's, when the study of EHF became a major research topic at Beijing University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The scientists
seemed particularly interested in finding a link between EHF and qi (ch'i), believed by many Chinese to be the fundamental life force. Their
research, like similar research in the Soviet Union and U.S., covered everything from using paranormal powers to catch criminals to the
training of astronauts to use such powers for spying or for guiding missiles. There are still reports from Russia alleging people can read while
blindfolded and that techniques have been developed in dermo-optical perception (DOP) to teach blind people to read through their forehead
or fingers using paranormal powers. Braille is a much better bet.
mentalist
"Brilliant scientists and interested laymen who cannot detect how a magician produces a dove from an empty silk handkerchief or conjures
an orange under an inverted teacup are not likely to discover the subtle secrets of a mentalist without prolonged study." --Milbourne
Christopher, ESP, Seers & Psychics
A mentalist is a performer who uses trickery and deception to create the illusion of having paranormal or supernatural powers.
Mentalists and psychics rely on their subjects' selective thinking. For example, James Randi tells the story of Peter Hurkos, who was
astonishing people with his ability to recite intimate details about their homes and their lives. Two of the persons who had their minds read by
Hurkos and who were amazed at his accuracy were invited by Randi to watch a tape of the mind readings. It was "discovered by actual count
that this so-called psychic had, on the average, been correct in one out of fourteen of his statements.... Selective thinking had led them to
dismiss all the apparent misses and the obviously wrong guesses and remember only the 'hits.' They were believers who needed this man to
be the genuine article, and in spite of the results of this experiment they are still devoted fans of this charlatan" (Flim-Flam!, 7).
sealed envelope tricks
Sealed envelope tricks are tricks done by mentalists that involve the impression of using psychic powers to read what is in a sealed envelope
or to have foreseen something that has been written down and placed in a sealed envelope. In the latter type, the mentalist has made a
prediction, sealed it in an envelope or other container, and then later, to much fanfare, the sealed item is opened and the contents are
compared to the mentalist's predictions. Since the psychic prediction variation is a much more impressive trick than the reading of the
contents of sealed envelopes, I'll discuss that trick first.
I realize that an extensive background in journalism is not required to work for Examiner.com. However, a good example of the power of the
sealed envelope trick can be found in an article posted by Examiner.com under the byline of Patricia Marin entitled Canadian psychic medium
correctly predicts Japanese earthquake and tsunami:
Psychic Medium Blair Robertson sealed his predictions on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 to be opened during a fundraiser to benefit Relay for Life
Canadian Cancer Society in Shawville, Quebec. The package was sent ahead by a commercial courier service to the local Town Hall and
placed in the town's safe. It was not opened nor was it tampered with.
The mayor of Shawville opened the envelope on stage in front of nearly 200 people "this weekend." Robertson, wrote Marin, "had accurately
predicted that a massive earthquake and subsequent tsunami would affect Japan 'on Friday or Saturday.'" (The earthquake occurred at 2:46
PM Tokyo time on Friday March 11th.) For good measure, Marin also wrote that "Blair Robertson also predicted the recent earthquake in New
Zealand, oil hitting $100 a barrel, and the demise of Charlie Sheen." In other words, Marin is not the least bit skeptical of Robertson's claim to
be psychic. She did not suspect that a trick had been played, a very good trick indeed.
The first time I saw this trick done was at an evening's entertainment sponsored by a community college I was teaching at. The Dean of
Instruction appeared on stage with the mentalist and it was revealed to the audience that the mentalist had asked Dr. Stamm to write down
some numbers on a sheet of paper, fold it, and place it in a sealed envelope. The envelope was produced and some sort of banter occurred to
assure the audience that the mentalist hadn't seen the envelope before. The mentalist did some sort of maneuver; I don't recall exactly what
he did. He then wrote some numbers on a blackboard. The envelope was opened and, lo and behold, on the sheet of paper were the
numbers on the blackboard. Well done.
Years later, American illusionist David Copperfield predicted on February 17, 2001, what the winning numbers in the German national lottery

would be on October 13, 2001. We were told that the prediction was "sealed by a notary and locked in a box that was kept under round-theclock surveillance." According to Reuters, "One hour after the winning numbers were drawn, the box was opened on a live television
broadcast and the numbers on the slip of paper matched the winning draw: 2, 9, 10, 15, 25, 38, 4." The Reuters story also reported that
Copperfield said, "It wasn't a trick." Actually, Copperfield said: "This is not a trick like making the Statue of Liberty disappear." That's true. This
is a different kind of trick. When I blogged about this event in 2001, I wrote:
The [Reuters] story also claimed that when asked why he doesn't use his psychic powers to win lotteries, Copperfield said, "I find them boring.
I'm not a gambler." ... The Reuters' writer also claims that Copperfield said he can only "see" the numbers when he keeps them secret, and
that whenever he gave out the numbers to friends, he was wrong. But when he doesn't tell anyone the numbers, he is right.*
Copperfield was very unhappy with the way Reuters reported the event and the way the report was received.* He performed an excellent trick
and did not pretend to be psychic.
I asked a magician friend of mine if he knew how Copperfield did the sealed envelope trick. Bob Steiner is the author of Don't Get Taken:
Bunco & Bunkum Exposed - How to Protect Yourself and a founder of the Bay Area Skeptics. He spent a good deal of his time exposing
"psychic" frauds, including Peter Popoff. He's also a former president of the Society of American Magicians. When I asked him about the trick,
he sent me a copy of two news clippings from the Contra Costa Times. One was dated June 8, 1991 and the other was dated June 21, 1991.
On the 8th, he had predicted the headlines of the 20th. The story on the 8th detailed how his predictions were sealed and stored. Bob
delivered his list of predictions to the newspaper's office.
The slip of paper was placed inside a small plastic box, about 2 inches long. That was rolled inside a plastic baggie and dropped into a paper
bag, which was stapled and initialed by the reporter.
That was rolled up and placed in a mayonnaise jar, which was put into another baggie.
Steiner then mixed a bucket of plaster of Paris, some of which was deposited into the bottom of an orange juice carton. The mayonnaise jar
was put inside and the rest of the plaster of Paris dumped on top of it. The reporter initialed the carton, which was handed over to Mike
Farnam, a security representative for Burns International Security Services. Farnam took the sealed predictions to a Wells Fargo bank vault.
The story on the 21st (about the unveiling of the predictions the day before) noted that Bob got two of the headlines right, but the third
prediction was "Giants/25" and there was no such headline. However, on the sport's page there was a photo of a ballplayer wearing number
25 sliding into a base at a Giant's game.
How did he do it? Bob cannot tell a lie. In fact, he wouldn't tell me anything about how the trick was done. But the story on the 21st noted that
before opening the predictions "Steiner called for four volunteers, including Concord Mayor Byron Campbell. Each volunteer took turns
unsealing the predictions, which were given to Campbell to be read."
Bob is quoted as saying "anyone who studies magic can do this." Even so, it's still great entertainment.
Not so great entertainment, but also included in the mentalist's bag of tricks, is the sealed envelope trick that involves having a group of
people write questions on cards or pieces of paper that are then put in sealed envelopes. The mentalist or fake psychic (is there any other
kind?) selects one from a collection basket and holds it to his head while pretending to read its contents. Unbeknownst to the audience, the
mentalist has already opened, read, and discarded one of the envelopes. James Randi explains:
The trick lies in the fact that before accepting the basket of envelopes, the medium has secretly obtained one, opened it, and memorized the
contents. It has then been destroyed. Upon picking up the first envelope, the medium misidentifies it as the one secretly peeked at. Opening
the envelope as if to check, the medium is now aware of the actual contents of that envelope, and represents that data as belonging to the
next one. She is always working one-ahead.*
As simplistic as this trick seems, it is very effective.
Equally simplistic is the sealed envelope trick where a drawing is placed in a sealed envelope and the psychic then describes the drawing
using his psychic powers to get his information, or so he wants you to believe. In some cases, the psychic just holds the envelope up to the
light and has a look. Sometimes, however, this trick can get quite elaborate:
In one early test of telepathy, in 1882, pseudo-psychic [sic; this expressions seems redundant to me] G.A. Smith and his accomplice, Douglas
Blackburn, were able to fool researchers of the Society for Psychical Research. In a later confession, Blackburn described how they had to
think fast and frequently invent new ways of faking telepathy demonstrations. Once, for example, Smith had been swathed in blankets to
prevent him from signaling Blackburn. Smith had to guess the content of a drawing that Blackburn had secretly made on a cigarette paper.
When Smith exclaimed, I have it, and projected his right hand from beneath the blanket, Blackburn was ready. He had transferred the
cigarette paper to the tube of the brass projector on the pencil he was using, and when Smith asked for a pencil, he gave him his. Under the
blanket, Smith had concealed a slate coated with luminous paint, which in the dense darkness gave sufficient light to show the figure on the
cigarette paper. Thus he only needed to copy the drawing.*
Sometimes the mentalist must be creative and improvise, as James Randi did by switching envelopes in an episode detailed by Massimo
Polidoro.
I suppose if your audience is of the dimwitted variety you could fool them with a sealed envelope with a postmark on it from some earlier date.
Just take an envelope addressed to yourself and place a folded blank sheet of paper in it, tuck in the flap but don't seal the envelope, apply
the proper postage, and mail it to yourself. After it arrives, you can seal anything you want inside.
Or, you might just buy a packaged trick like this one or this one. They'll probably work just fine on town hall audiences at fundraisers.
selective thinking
Selective thinking is the process whereby one selects out favorable evidence for remembrance and focus, while ignoring unfavorable
evidence for a belief. This kind of thinking is the basis for most beliefs in the psychic powers of so-called mind readers and mediums. It is also
the basis for many, if not most, occult and pseudoscientific beliefs.
It should be noted that selective thinking works independently of wishful thinking and should not be confused with biased thinking, whereby
one seriously considers data contrary to one's belief, but one is much more critical of such data than one is of supportive data.
confirmation bias
"It is the peculiar and perpetual error of the human understanding to be more moved and excited by affirmatives than by negatives." -Francis Bacon
Confirmation bias refers to a type of selective thinking whereby one tends to notice and to look for what confirms one's beliefs, and to ignore,
not look for, or undervalue the relevance of what contradicts one's beliefs. For example, if you believe that during a full moon there is an

increase in admissions to the emergency room where you work, you will take notice of admissions during a full moon, but be inattentive to the
moon when admissions occur during other nights of the month. A tendency to do this over time unjustifiably strengthens your belief in the
relationship between the full moon and accidents and other lunar effects.
This tendency to give more attention and weight to data that support our beliefs than we do to contrary data is especially pernicious when our
beliefs are little more than prejudices. If our beliefs are firmly established on solid evidence and valid confirmatory experiments, the tendency
to give more attention and weight to data that fit with our beliefs should not lead us astray as a rule. Of course, if we become blinded to
evidence truly refuting a favored hypothesis, we have crossed the line from reasonableness to closed-mindedness.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that people generally give an excessive amount of value to confirmatory information, that is, to positive
or supportive data. The "most likely reason for the excessive influence of confirmatory information is that it is easier to deal with
cognitively" (Gilovich 1993). It is much easier to see how a piece of data supports a position than it is to see how it might count against the
position. Consider a typical ESP experiment or a seemingly clairvoyant dream: Successes are often unambiguous or data are easily
massaged to count as successes, while negative instances require intellectual effort to even see them as negative or to consider them as
significant. The tendency to give more attention and weight to the positive and the confirmatory has been shown to influence memory. When
digging into our memories for data relevant to a position, we are more likely to recall data that confirms the position (ibid.).
Researchers are sometimes guilty of confirmation bias by setting up experiments or framing their data in ways that will tend to confirm their
hypotheses. They compound the problem by proceeding in ways that avoid dealing with data that would contradict their hypotheses. For
example, some parapsychologists used to engage in optional starting and stopping in their ESP research. Experimenters might avoid or
reduce confirmation bias by collaborating in experimental design with colleagues who hold contrary hypotheses, as Richard Wiseman
(skeptic) and Marilyn Schlitz (proponent) have done.* Individuals have to continually remind themselves of this tendency and actively seek out
data contrary to their beliefs. Since this is unnatural, it appears that the ordinary person is doomed to bias.
See also ad hoc hypothesis, backfire effect, cognitive dissonance, communal reinforcement, control study, motivated reasoning, selective
thinking, and self-deception.
For examples of confirmation bias in action, see "alternative" health practice, curse, ESP, intuitive, lunar effect, personology, plant
perception, the Sokal hoax, therapeutic touch, and thought field therapy.
To see confirmation bias at work, review the conspiracy theories offered for the JFK assassination or the 9/11 conspiracy theories. It is a good
lesson to observe how easily intelligent people can see intricate connections and patterns that support their viewpoint and how easily they can
see the faults in viewpoints contrary to their own. As long as one ignores certain facts and accepts speculation as fact, one can prove just
about anything to one's own satisfaction. It is much harder cognitively, but a requirement of good science, to try to falsify a pet hypothesis.
psychic "surgery"
Psychic "surgery" is a type of non-surgery performed by a non-medical healer. The healer fakes an incision by running a finger along the
patient's body, apparently going through the skin without using any surgical instruments. The healer pretends to dig his hands into the
patient's innards and pretends to pull out 'tumors'. Using trickery, the healer squirts animal blood from a hand-held balloon while discarding
items such as chicken livers and hearts. The patient then goes home to die, if he or she was really dying, or to live if there was nothing
seriously wrong in the first place.
Psychic "surgery" is big business around the world, but especially in the Philippines and Brazil, where "healers" like Alex Orbito and Laurence
Cacteng ply their trade. Tony Agpaoa put psychic "surgery" on the map in Manila, where there are now several hundred practicing psychic
"surgeons", many working out of hotels. In 1967, Agpaoa was indicted for fraud in the United States. He jumped bail and went home, forfeiting
a $25,000 bond.
Some people find solace in psychic "surgeons" and other faith healers because they think the healers are divine agents. The practice is not
restricted to third-world countries. Chris Cole practices psychic "surgery" in Sydney, Australia. One of the more popular psychic "surgeons"
outside of the Philippines is Stephen Turoff, who runs the Danbury Healing Clinic in Chelmsford, England. Turoff, a follower of Sai Baba,
performs therapeutic touch at no extra charge. Turoff also takes his show on the road. A Dutch group called Inner Journey reports on a
weekend with Turoff where at least four people out of about 250 wrote two weeks after their visit to say they were healed.
Turoff has been performing for a quarter of a century and is popular enough to warrant a biographer, Grant Solomon. In 1998, Solomon
published Stephen Turoff - Psychic Surgeon: The Story of an Extraordinary Healer. A revised edition appeared in 1999 with the extraordinary
and remarkable revised title of Stephen Turoff, Psychic Surgeon: The Extraordinary Story of a Remarkable Healer. According to www.NaturalHealing.co.uk, Turoff is "a 16-stone, six-and-a-half foot, middle-aged, Jewish-Christian former carpenter from Brick Lane in London's East End
whom many believe to be an instrument of God [sic]." To others, Turoff is just another pious fraud. Nevertheless, the popularity of psychic
"surgery" seems to be growing, despite the debunking work of people like James Randi.
Psychic dentistry is also available for those who prefer dentistry without anesthesia or dental drills performed by a faith healer. "Willard Fuller
has supposedly healed more than 40,000 people since he began practicing in 1960. Those who flock to his healing ministry claim his magic
touch can fill cavities, make bad teeth whole again, and even produce a new set of teeth in some elderly patients" (Nava). Many patients are
afraid to admit they've been defrauded because that would imply that they lack true faith. According to George Nava True II who operates the
"only Philippine skeptical website to challenge the claims of alternative healers, psychics, and other quacks," psychic dentistry "has never
been demonstrated under controlled laboratory conditions and most practitioners are simply sleight-of-hand artists who can't produce a shred
of proof of their alleged powers." For those who have faith, proof is not needed.