27th Jan 2008
Study: Loneliness breeds supernatural belief
According to a recent University of Chicago study of loneliness and the effect it may have on people, as reported by LiveScience.com, loneliness may increase the likelihood of people believing in the supernatural. To quote the article;
“People who feel lonely are more likely to believe in the supernatural, whether that is God, angels or miracles, a new study finds.”
According to the article, Nicholas Epley the director of the study, tested the theory by introducing three groups of undergrads to thee separate movie scenes. Each group was asked to emotionally try to feel what the character was feeling as best they could.
The first group saw a scene from Cast Away, to expose that group to feelings of loneliness. The second group was introduced to a scene from Silence of the Lambs, to expose them to feelings of fear. The last group was introduced to a clip from Major League, to expose them to comedy. All three groups were then asked to describe a pet they owned or knew well with descriptions that included anthropomorphic traits as well as simple behavioral descriptions.
According to the article:
“Participants from the loneliness group were more likely to describe the pet using the anthropomorphic descriptions than those in the fear or control groups.
All three groups were also asked to rate their belief in ghosts, angels, the devil, miracles, curses, and God, and again, those in the loneliness group reported stronger belief in these supernatural agents.”
The explanation for this behavior of loneliness in belief of the supernatural as presented by Nicholas Epley via the article is;
“When people feel lonely, they may try to rekindle old friendships, seek out new ones or, as Epley’s study suggests, they may create social connections by anthropomorphizing nearby gadgets, such as computers or cars, pets, or by believing in supernatural events or religious figures.”
Can Loneliness Lead to Belief in Psychics?
The summary of this study indicates that it’s more likely lonely people may believe in religion, the supernatural or related types of anthropomorphic beliefs.
There are potential issues with the study, for example, which group was the Control group? Also, can we really assume that just because someone sees a movie clip that they will be able to emote with a wider group of people known as “lonely?” Perhaps a better method would be to actually find a group of lonely people, as defined by profiling tests, along with a group of fearful and light-hearted people.
Finally, what constitutes the definition of “lonely?” Is it simply being socially unable to connect with people, or is it a geographic means of separating an individual from a social group, or is it both (or perhaps neither)?
What do you think?
Do you think loneliness may lead to increased belief in the supernatural? Leave a comment below now and let us know what you think!
More Information on Psychics & Loneliness
www.arealpsychic.com - Learn about psychics and the paranormal
LiveScience.com News Story - Loneliness breeds belief in the supernatural
www.wikipedia.org Loneliness page - A definition with additional links and information about loneliness
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22nd Jan 2008
Are Pets Psychic?
Is your pet a psychic? In a recent column in the Herald-Review.com the author, Dr. Larry Baker, a vet and apparently animal lover, writes on the topic of pets and whether they possess psychic abilities or not. It’s an interesting question considering the recent interest in mainstream media concerning all things psychic. Dr. Baker writes:
“Are some pets psychic? I doubt it, in spite of many anecdotal stories, “pet psychics” on television and even incidences I have witnessed, which may seem inconceivable otherwise.”
Pets, amazing things or psychics?
Pets truly are amazing, they bring us unconditional love and attention. Sometimes they do things that seem completely incredible, and things that are just not easily explained. For example, finding their way home after being trapped in a train or truck, alerting strangers to save a owner who has a medical emergency or other amazing things. Although incredible, these feats themselves are not necessarily evidence of any psychic ability.
Wikipedia defines the term “psychic” as:
“Relating to or denoting mental abilities or phenomena that are apparently inexplicable by known natural laws, since they seem to transcend the confines of the brain…”
The issue here is the term “natural laws,” which most would agree applies to our pet friends.
To summarize Dr. Baker: It is completely fitting for pets to use the natural abilities they are given. For example, consider dogs with their incredible smell, cats that seem able to seek in almost complete dark or birds that are able to fly south for the winter, and north again each year with unerring accuracy. Although incredible, all of these events can be explained by the natural abilities animals have. Thus, just because our pet friends can do seemingly incredible things, this does not “prove” they have psychic abilities.
Are Pets Psychic?
So what do you think? Are pet’s psychic? Send your comments in now and let us know what you think!
More Psychic Resources
arealpsychic.com - Information about psychics and the paranormal
wikipedia.org psychic page - Definition of psychic and overview of psychic topics
Psychic Medium page - Explanation of mediums and their psychic connections
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18th Jan 2008
Your Inner Psychic
A recent book excerpt on the MSNBC Today show site from psychic intuitive Char Margolis titled “Discover Your Inner Wisdom” teaches how to tap the intuition in each of us. Of special interest is Char’s message about combining logic, common sense and intuition to make choices:
“My students and clients say that they make better choices when they use their intuition. Intuition can take you places logic and common sense never will. And when you combine logic, common sense, and intuition, you’ll make even wiser choices.”
Your Intuition & Psychic Energy
According to Margolis, intuition is the universe giving us a message, it’s up to us to tune in the psychic message and apply it in our lives - something psychics do continually. She mentions that random intuition are those occasional pings from the universe that we receive, such as knowing in advance that the phone is going to ring or having a concern about walking down a certain street.
In my own life, my wife recently had a psychic intuition event. As she was driving our child to an after-school activity, she had a strong feeling to drive out of her way past a park in our neighborhood. Against her better logical judgement, she listened to this psychic directive and went out of her way. It was a good thing, because she saw a friend of our child with a strange man in the park. The hairs on her neck stood out and she knew there was something wrong.
After confronting the stranger, who promptly ran away, the story came out that the girl had met him online, and that she had agreed to meet this stranger to go for lunch. The stranger said he was 18, but actually he was in his late 3os! Clearly my wife’s intuition helped save a young teenage girl from a potentially very dangerous situation.
Your Psychic Intuition?
So what about you? Have you had a strong intuition event or had a psychic experience that you could not explain? Leave your comment below and share with us your story!
Intuition and Psychic Resources:
www.arealpsychic.com - Learn about psychics and the paranormal
Char Margolis Intuition Article - An interesting article about Char’s psychic abilities and your ability to tune in your intuition.
Wikipedia.org Intuition page - A page devoted to the various aspects of Intuition with links for further research.
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10th Jan 2008
New to Psychic Readings?
Are you new to Psychic Readings and interested in learning the basics? If so, this article may help you learn a bit more about the different types of readings.
If you are thinking about getting a reading then it could be helpful to understand the differences between each type. This information is a basic overview and as such will prove helpful if you are new to readings. The goal here is to help you by making you a more informed consumer, and hopefully this information will help you pick a reading type if you are not sure which kind you may need. You may find it interesting to try several types of readings, to see which one you prefer.
There are several types of psychic readings, so understanding the different types is important if you are considering visiting a psychic for a reading. According to Wikipedia, “A psychic reading is an attempt to foretell the future of an individual or group.”
However, this is not quite correct. Some psychic readings are used to tell people about their possible future, other types are actually attempts to examine and interpret the psychic energy around someone. Still others tap into the psychic energy around a person to understand their past.
A better definition is they are an attempt by a psychic to read and interpret psychic energy and it’s impact on a person or event.
Types of psychic readings:
There are several types of psychic readings, with variations for each. A psychic usually specializes in one area of psychic readings, such as psychometry, distant readings, tarot reading, astrology and horoscope readings, numerology, palm reading, past-life readings, aura readings or any number of other methods.
We’ll explain a bit more about each major type of reading below, but the key thing to remember is that the main differences in the types of readings has to do with how the psychic tunes-in or connects with the psychic energy around you, and communicates their analysis of that energy to you.
Most people think of psychic readings as one-on-one readings at home or a psychic’s business. There are also psychic party readings for groups, and the shorter (in lenght of time) psychic fair readings. Distant readings include internet readings, phone readings and mail readings.
1. Distant readings:
A common form of psychic readings are distant readings. Distant readings are conducted many times without the reader ever meeting the client face-to-face. The client asks questions about his or her life and a psychic uses their senses to determine possible answers or implications of answers.
Distant readings are similar to methods used for remote viewing and healing. This method removes the possibility of the psychic picking up on visual or verbal cues that might be possible in face-to-face meetings.
2. Tarot card readings:
Many people think of tarot reading when they think of psychic readings. Tarot reading is used often to try to read a person’s future, or understand what should be done with relationships, jobs, family matters or other important events.
What many people in Western countries may not realize is the Tarot cards were, and are, used for card games in parts of Europe, and were not originally used for psychic readings.
Tarot readings are impacted by many variables so there rarely are two readings that are the same. The reason for this is because each card in the 78 Tarot card deck has a specific meaning, but implications for the meaning are great in number. In addition, the order that the Tarot cards are pulled and their position makes a difference, when laid out in the spread.
Because of these variations, no two Tarot readings produce the same results among different Psychics, and differences between interpretations by Psychics can influence the reading.
As you might imagine, the personalities of the psychics conducting Tarot reading also has an impact on a reading. This is why many people who are interested in card readings will try several psychics before finding one they prefer and eventually frequent.
3. Psychometry readings:
Psychometry readings use items that have been very close to a person to help read the energy associated with that person. These objects could be a favorite piece of jewelry that someone always wore, or a watch, or glasses or other items that they kept close. The theory is that some of the energy associated with that person has been attached to the object. It’s this energy that the Psychic attempts to connect with and read.
Psychometric readings are sometimes used to try to find a missing person, to learn more about a person who has passed on, or to try to understand other information about the person who used to own the item.
In summary, learning about the different types of readings will hopefully provide you with more information to make an informed decision. You may want to try several types of readings, depending on your needs, to see which suits your personality and tastes. For more information and education about readings you may wish to try visiting some of the web sites listed below.
Psychic reading resources
Arealpsychic.com psychic reading page
Wikipedia.org psychic reading page
Society for Psychical Research links page
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7th Jan 2008
Does ESP Exist?
In a recent news release (Neuroimaging Fails to Demonstrate ESP is Real) as reported by ScienceDaily.com, Psychologists at Harvard University used Neuroimaging to scan their subject’s brain to learn if extrasensory perception (ESP) stimuli had changed the subject’s brain patterns. Their summary was that it did not, and therefore there was no evidence of ESP.
Psychics & ESP
It has been reported for centuries that real psychics can use extrasensory perception to read people’s minds, or see events that are not visible, or know about events that will take place in the future. The US Government studied ESP with recruited psychics during the Cold War, but was unable to reproduce results or prove that ESP worked. Today psychics are commonly consulted by people who are looking for ESP readings to help them answer questions about events in the future. But there’s been no solid scientific prove, one way or the other, to say ESP is real, or not.
The Harvard ESP Study
The Harvard Study used brain scans to examine the subject’s brain when they received normal stimuli (for example, showing them a picture). They also conducted brain scans after exposing the subjects to extrasensory stimuli (for example, by showing the significant partner or other close person a stimuli while they were in another room, and recording the subject’s brain at that time).
The team’s theory was that a psychic with ESP should have different brain scans, showing a response to the stimuli received via ESP, just as if they had showed a response from stimuli they received normally. The team analyzed the results and found that there was no response demonstrated during the ESP stimuli events.
Does this then finally prove that ESP does not exist? According to the news story quote from the Harvard researcher it does not. However, the news story goes on to point out that this may be the best evidence yet that ESP does not exist.
Do Psychics Use ESP?
The study assumes that a psychic’s brain will respond in the same manner to ESP stimuli as is done for normal stimuli. But is that truly the case, or is there perhaps other stimuli and responses that enable a psychic to interact with energy that causes what we call ESP? Also, to what extent were the subjects actually able to have or use ESP? There is no test to validate that a person who claims to have ESP actually does. What if all the subjects who thought they had some form of ESP actually had none? Or, what if their ESP abilities is not under their control, and only occurs at certain times or places? This study would not be able to determine if ESP were possible if there were limits that the subject and researcher were unaware of.
Is ESP Real?
So what do you think? Is ESP real? According to this study it may not be. But what do you think?
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