skepticism
The Rise Of A New Spirituality
In Beyond the Postmodern Mind, Huston Smith writes that “Rationalism and Newtonian science has lured us into dark woods, but a new metaphysics can rescue us”. Mankind will never give up its quest to find spiritual meaning and purpose in this world. This quest is what has been driving both science and religion for centuries.
The Buddha said, “The teacher appears when the student is ready.” The same principle applies to the human species as a collective. We have been exposed to new esoteric and scientific insights as we evolved – always when the time was right and the world was ready. Prominent religions all over the world were all founded on esoteric guidance and metaphysical wisdom delivered at various times throughout history by great teachers and prophetic messengers. But as time passed and these religions expanded, they were often contaminated by human bureaucracy, superstition, doctrine and dogma, which distorted the original teachings. Continue reading
Ghostly Phone Calls From Grandpa
My wife’s side of the family did not really believe in the paranormal. But that changed when my wife’s grandfather passed away in 2010. After the funeral my father in-law asked me if I would help him paint grandpa’s house, before they put it up for sale.
Soon after we arrived there, my father in-law came up from the basement with a funny look on his face. I asked him what had happened and he said it smelled like sawdust downstairs. The smell was exactly the same as it used to be when his father was doing his carpentry in the basement. When we went to bed I had a hard time sleeping and I remember looking at the clock. The time was 2:30 am. When I rolled over I could see the living room light on. I thought maybe someone got up and forgot to turn the light off, so I got up and turned it off. Continue reading
Helping A Young Psychic Develop
A young person with a psychic gift must be recognized early on, and nurtured in their development. If not, they may experience a lot of confusion and even trauma. Their gift must be seen and experienced as a blessing, not a curse.
My niece Rachel was one of the more fortunate. She clearly had a gift from a very tender age. When she was a little girl I would give my brother and sister in-law some time off by babysitting Rachel and her older sister. Every time I would go over to their house to watch the kids, Rachel didn’t want me to read her normal children books. She would grab the family photo album and look specifically at old pictures of deceased family members. She would look at these photos with much interest and talk to the people in them as if they were sitting right in front of her. Continue reading
A Black Bird Visits My In-Laws
A black bird is believed to be a good omen by some, while others see it as a sign of misfortune. My experience with a black bird sign proved to be both.
I was over at my in-laws’ house one day when we noticed this black bird trying to get into the room. I thought the bird might be injured the way it was acting. It kept hitting the window hard, trying to fly inside. I felt this must be some sort of omen, but decided not to share this notion with my in-laws.
At that moment I got a call on my phone from my ex-wife. Our son had fallen off his scooter and broke his arm. After the call, the black bird was still doing his thing, but eventually gave up and flew away. I thought then that this must be the news the black bird was bringing. Continue reading
The Haunted Furniture
When I met my wife and we started to date, I had a hard time to open up to her to tell her I do psychic readings.
Ironically, there was a psychic lady who lived about four miles down the road who told her she was going to meet someone who lives nearby, that he also does psychic readings and that we were going to get married. She told her several other things too. She said this man you will meet went to the same high school, you have a past work connection with his family and he will one day help your sister in a time of need.
A year after we got married, we discovered that my wife used to work for my cousin Charley and that her brother is the supervisor at the same workplace. So, later that night I called my cousin and he confirmed all of it for us. Continue reading
Magical Thinking
Magical thinking is a common trait found among all children all over the world, between the ages of approximately two until seven years of age. This time frame is also known as the ‘pre-operational stage’ of child development and it is the period in our early life when we increasingly explore our environment, and gradually learn to distinguish between ‘fantasy’ and ‘reality’.
Children at this age initially have all kinds of imaginative ideas and magical interpretations of the world, in order to make sense of their external and internal reality. At this age we still believe that we can grow wings and learn to fly; or that animals can talk and sing; or that our shadow is a magical person following us around; or that the Sun goes to sleep in the ocean; that there is a man living in the Moon; or that the wind, the clouds and the trees notice us and obey our instructions. We often also have ‘imaginary friends’ at this age. Continue reading
2011: Doom, Gloom And Celebrity Gossip
The year 2011 has kicked off with yet another batch of psychic predictions from all over the globe. It has become an annual tradition to predict as much doom and gloom as possible, and this year the custom was once again upheld with much enthusiasm and zeal.
The usual depressing prophecies and upcoming disasters were numerous this year, coupled with some mindless trivia about celebrities and movie stars. Why? Because bad news and gossip sells. It is what most people like to hear and it is what most people like to fear. Scientific studies have shown that people prefer bad news in the media. They find it more interesting, respond to it more often and remember it much longer. They also pass the news on to others at a much faster rate. I guess it is in our nature, because knowing the bad news before everyone else might just give us a better shot at survival. Continue reading