About Global Psychics
Global Psychics Philosophy
The History of Psychism, Our Beliefs About Being Psychic
What should people know about psychics and being psychic?
Hi, I am a student who is only 13 years old but is in great need of help. I am doing a report about psychics for school. And I would really appreciate It if you could give me some insight on what I should include in it. What do you think is the most important stuff about psychics you think people should know about? This is some topics I have in my report, if you could tell me some more or tell me some I should leave out I would like it: History of Psychics, Clairvoyance, Crystal reading's, Palmistry, Prices of readings. I really need some insight on this, thanks so much. Shelly
From Dr Geri DeStefano-Webre, Ph.D.
Notes On the History of Psychism
It's interesting, I don't think that there's one reference book, per se, that has a history of psychism. Many books on the subject have pieces of it here and there. But I can't remember one definitive text on the subject. At least no one written without a "sensational" slant. And, of course, the whole area of psychism has changed drastically in the last 30 years. Psychism is an ability that has been with humanity since the very earliest of times. And has gone through many changes.
Simply put: everyone has SOME intuitive ability. It's part of our human fabric and has been always! But how it's perceived by the prevailing culture, times, religions is often what defines it. In some cultures and times the "gift" was respected and sought out. For instance, in the early Greek times, with the Oracles at Delphi. These oracles, or "the eyes and the ears of the gods" were sought out by Kings, rulers, generals and the populace for information. The kind of information that would give one the "inside track" or the expanded view of a particular situation. The Oracles themselves, were supported completely by the culture in terms of food, housing etc. There's a book kicking around somewhere, "The Oracles of Delphi" that I remember looking at years ago. It contained some of the predictions and "readings" given in those times. It was difficult to read, only because so much seemed obscure from the point of view of thousands of years later. I suspect you'd have to have a really thorough working knowledge of ancient times history. But, at least, someone took the time to transcribe these ancient readings and save them for posterity.
Through history, there have been seers and visionaries. For instance, Nostradamus, a famous physician who had the ability the read the future through a method of scrying: looking into a bowl of water. . . he was advisor to Kings and politicians of his time and too often deadly accurate. But he had to hide his gift as the Catholic Church was burning heretics for "ungodly powers" and was run out of town on more than one occasion! However, he wrote a series of quatrains (4 lined poems), about a thousand or so, in which he accurately predicted events hundreds of years into the future! People are still reading his quatrains today and corresponding them with today's events.
Historically, women (so-called witches) were burned because they exhibited the gift. . . .they were the village wise-women, who dispensed herbs for healing, delivered babies (sometimes through C-Sections which the local male doctors absolutely forbid!) sometimes, they predicted the future of a love affair. . .but politically, they were a threat. They were women who had knowledge passed down to them from earliest times from their own mothers and their "job" was to make sure people were healthy and survived. How many more women would have died in childbirth had it not been for these village women's expertise?
Around the turn of this Century, psychism and mesmerism (hypnosis) was very popular and people engaged routinely, for a night's entertainment and edification, in seances (calling to the spirits of the dead) and demonstrations of all kinds. H.P. Blavatsky, a Theosophist, was an extremely brilliant woman, but a bit of a charlatan too. She would stage all kinds of phenomena (like things "appearing" out of thin air (called apports). sounds, etc. She felt that people "needed" some of this spooky-kooky stuff to grab their attention and belief! Unfortunately, this gave rise to a whole lot of folks who would use simple stage magic to bilk their unsuspecting patrons. . . .and, as a result, the whole field of psychism fell under the pall of tricksters and con-artists! A lot of money exchanged hands. . . .I mean can you imagine? Some poor rich woman whose husband had passed on would spend big bucks in the hope that she could contact him. . .one more time.
So, there was this cross-over of magic and psychism. Harry Houdini, a very famous stage magician had a profound belief in the occult and psychic powers. And would take every opportunity to de-bunk the charlatans of his time. I believe that before he died, he made arrangements, by way of a sealed letter, to make "contact" through a medium. He left a specific message that he would relay from beyond and I believe a cash prize was to be awarded to the medium who correctly could channel his message. I also believe that this prize has never been collected.
In more current times, the Amazing Randy, a stage magician, made quite a reputation for himself debunking fakes and phonies. Arthur Conan Doyle of Sherlock Holmes fame was an avid spiritualist. As were many of the literary minds of his day.
I guess people through the ages have always been fascinated by the unseen world. And have sought out oracles, gypsies, spiritualists, psychics and mediums trying to figure out the deeper meaning of life. And it seems that when things get tough in the world and life becomes unmanageable on some level, people tend to turn to psychics in the hopes that they can make some sense out of all of it!!
Being psychic is normal, natural
I've always had this idea that being psychic is "normal" We have five physical sense that help us survive in the world. And for everyone of those five sense we have a psychic "backup" sense: sight/clairvoyance (the ability to see far), hearing (clairaudience), touch (clairsensience), even our sense of smell and taste have psychic backup senses. It gives us humans the ability to sense "reality" on another level. More subtle, unseen, but there nonetheless!
How many times have you been thinking of a particular person. . .and they call, or just show up? Everyone has hunches at some time in their lives. But most people will disregard this ability by saying, "Oh! It's only coincidence!" Is it? Or were they really picking up on something? It's possible for people to be trained to tap into and utilize these abilities. Most of the time it's a matter of just paying attention, being observant. But it IS tricky stuff sometimes!!
For myself, I was always psychic. Although I didn't totally realize it until I was in my early 20's! I just figured, for most of my childhood, that everybody heard and saw what I did!! It wasn't until I was in about 4-5 grade that I realized I was "weird" and quickly hid my talent so I wouldn't get into trouble.
It's really difficult to have the "gift" as a small child when you're around people who don't understand or are afraid. But for me, I had this ability to "hear" what people were REALLY saying. Not the words they spoke, but rather the deeper words that were unspoken. Really confusing. I would answer what I was really hearing. . .and adults would just go crazy!! I learned to screen this out. . .and just pass for "normal" I also saw spirits around me, colors and lights. . .I would hear music and I could "see" the patterns of lights that the music formed. And I just "knew" things. Things that most normal kids had no idea of. . . .
But like I said, I hid out. Towards the end of my teen-age years a series of events took place that were very traumatic. My mom died of cancer, I came up with cancer myself, I moved from my father's home, moved far away, married, (though only briefly) and was suddenly flung out into the world, alone and broke. Along with all of this my psychic abilities returned, full-force, and I was "seeing" my dead mother, seeing lights around other people, seeing into their bodies, like an X-Ray, hearing voices, felt like I was terminally spaced out!! And figured I was going "crazy". It seemed like a really psychotic and out of control place!! I managed to find a psychiatric social worker and described what was going on with me. Luckily, for me, she told me that I was opening up psychically, that I didn't have a "frame of reference" for this ability. . . .and she took me on as a student. She trained me for many years to get control of this state and led me to other teachers over time.
I was one of the lucky ones. She could have just as easily told me that I WAS crazy, put me on meds and committed me to an institution somewhere!! Which is the normal protocol for someone exhibiting these kinds of behaviors!!
Over the years, I learned how to function psychically, and I also went back to school to get a degree in psychology. I was VERY interested in how the human mind functions!! I was also able to see how many really gifted people ended up in institutions because they were malfunctioning. . . .psychically!!
And, in a way, that became my life's work. To teach and train people psychically, and to work with people in therapy to gain control of these states. In fact, my message has been: Being psychic is normal! You just have to figure out how to gain control of the state.
I've also come to realize that just because you train to be a psychic doesn't mean that you have to function as a professional psychic in the world. Developing these abilities enhances your perceptions in a way that can be applied to any walk of life. As a result, I've had a number of jobs in fields as diverse as restaurants, social work, adoption, therapy, teaching, all fields where I was able to use an expanded awareness to get the job done!
About 30 years ago, in California, there was a whole new movement around psychism and the paranormal. Parapsychology, which is the study, scientifically of psi phenomena, was beginning to gain some momentum. If you go to the Web and look up parapsychology. . .you'll find a ton of stuff. The Stanford Research Institute, in Palo Alto Calif. was doing massive research into this area. The US Government had lots of contracts with these guys for covert projects. Like remote-viewing of USSR missile bases, finding lost planes, all on the level of intelligence gathering. The Russians also were engaged in an all out effort to develop these abilities. See, "Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain". So parapsychology was one avenue or research. Along with that, there was a whole Humanistic Psychology Movement going on. People exploring the deeper realms of the mind. This was the climate that I was trained in. And this is the climate that gave rise to a whole lot of professional psychics and healers. People who were well educated and genuinely seeking methods for expanding humanity's consciousness.
OK. . .fast forward to now. . . .How I do go on!! As a psychic, I would love not to charge any money for what I do. . .and, in fact, a lot of times I don't. I've made it a rule that I would never turn away people through a lack of funds. But the reality is that I'm not living in Greek times where the culture supported me!! And, people need to survive!! Most of the time, in my life, I've had a "day job" something that supported me. . .so I could do this work. And, clients, these days, seem to need to pay in order to listen! I try to charge a reasonable amount of money. Fees that will assist me in support and yet low enough for most people to access me. The sad part sometimes is watching psychics charge huge sums for services.
People think because it costs a lot it must be good. And often, just the opposite it true!! It's a thorny issue for most of us. . . .
So Shelly, I hope this gives you some ideas and some insights. . . .write us back and let us know how your report is received!! And good luck to you! One thing I can tell you about life. . .is that it's a most amazing journey and the trick is. . . .always be curious and open to the many possibilities!! Very Truly Yours, Geri De Stefano-Webre, Ph.D.
From Victoria Pitt, Trance Medium and Past Life Specialist:
Hi, You forgot things like pendulum, tarot, palmistry, astrology, I Ching. Ever since man (and woman) realized the future could be foretold, back to caveman days (in extremely primitive times), all sorts of ways have been recognized. Basically man has tried to make a science out of each way of foretelling the future. So tools like the I Ching were designed for those who were not visionaries but who wanted to be able to tell the future some how.
More on the History of Psychism
Astrology was the oldest of all the so called scientific methods of foretelling the future. It was mathematical as well as astronomy based. Still it was and is a matter of interpretation.
I wish I had more time to spout off on this as the beginnings of all psychic things began when man first put his feet on the earth and someone wanted to know how the hunting would be the next day. They may have gone to a visionary who said I see lots of food coming home tomorrow. They may have gone to someone who kept a pile of small bones to throw so they could cast the fortunes of tomorrows hunt. In either event they were probably both right.
About being psychic
Being psychic is about interpreting the messages we are given. Sometimes the answers just come into a persons mind. That is called intuition. When we see pictures it is called Clairvoyance. When we feel things, it is called Clairsensience. When we actually hear messages, the rarest gift of all, it is called Clairaudience.
Most psychics work with a little of each. I only hear the odd key word, while I see and sense everything else. A person can go to a palm reader, an astrologist, a crystal ball or water in a bowl gazer (this is called scrying), a numerologist and a tarot reader and various other gifted seers and all should all be able to deliver the same basic message to that client.
Being psychic is a gift and we owe a duty to try and help the client feel better with truths and encouragement. Contrary to belief, a good psychic never predicts death (unacceptable in the world of true psychics but done in movies).
Children are born with clear vision and as they get older and life and "common sense" get in the way, it is lost. Then we seem to have to work hard to redevelop it. There are races of people like the Romanies (Romanian), the true gypsies, that for thousands of years encouraged this clear seeing as this was how they made their living. Our Native Indians practice a wonderful form of spirituality that they have never lost. Much of their knowledge of the future comes in the form of dreams.
Myself I am a medium and I can see and talk to people in spirit. Maybe you would want to say I see ghosts. I serve as a telephone line from spirit to those on earth they were connected to. I am also a physical medium, in other words, in the right seance like type sitting I can manifest spirit for people like yourself to talk to.
Wish I had more time to write to you and help you. Good Luck! Hope this has been helpful, Love, Victoria
An Important Note From Susan, aka Rabbit
Being Psychic is to be Experienced
I'd include a section on psychic scams to create a more balanced look at the psychic world. Also, most people simply don't believe in something they can't explain or sense themselves. Being psychic is something people need to experience in order to start being able to understand. Susan
From Danielle, the Owner of Global Psychics
Being psychic is natural, a way of living, of being in the world
In my opinion what's most important for folks to know about being psychic is that it is natural and it is in all of us to be psychic. Being psychic is more a way of living and being with the world than it is a skill, although it is something that people can develop in themselves...
I liken being psychic to being a baseball player... or a scientist - it is in most of us to be able to learn the basics, how to throw a ball, to add and subtract, to understand the laws of nature, and so it is in most of us to be able to "tune" into the energy around us and be able to read the subtle signals... but some of us really have a gift for throwing a ball, or a real affinity with numbers or nature, gifts that draw us into acquiring greater skill, knowledge and experience in those fields; as in any other field, being psychic is more natural to some than to others... but as in the analogies I just gave you, it benefits each of us to learn to throw a ball, or to add and subtract and to understand how rain forms... So it is with being psychic. It is valuable for each of us to learn something about our individual abilities and to learn to use them well, and some of us may have some special talents that we'll want to expand and develop as we mature.
There are a wide variety of ways to be psychic, some of us are clairvoyant - can 'see' with our minds, some are clairaudient - can 'hear' with our hearts, some are clairsensient - can 'feel' with our guts, and some have intuitions - 'just knowings' that seem to arrive out of nowhere. Some folks can smell with their inner senses; some folks are talented mediums and able to communicate with souls in other dimensions; some folks channel (a dangerous work), where they actually allow energies from other dimensions to take over their minds and bodies to speak through them... And then there's a whole range of different divination tools that folks will use to help them "read" - to trigger psychic reactions... these include the tarot, runes, I ching, dowsing, ouija boards, reading tea leaves and coffee grinds or ashes from a fire... Astrology and numerology are tools that psychics use to help them read, but numerologists and astrologers aren't necessarily psychics... although most are much more psychic than they admit to... energy workers, reiki and reflexology practitioners, massage and shiatsu therapists and almost all alternative health practitioners are in some ways tapping into their psychic abilities to help their clients move energy that has been blocking or harming them... although, again, few will admit that they are psychic...
being a professional psychic requires training, as in any other field
I'd also want folks to know that being a good psychic requires a great deal of training in order to make it work for you... Learning to sense the subtle signals that influence our lives is one thing, but being able to interpret them accurately, to find the right meanings behind the images, visions or words, or whatever the psychic is experiencing takes a lot of work... The first step requires that the psychic get to know themselves in a very deep way so they can get themselves out of the way when they are doing a reading. Then they need to gain experience and understanding with a wide range of symbols, universal archetypes and so on.
Don't be afraid of it, make it work for you
Finally, I think one of the most important message I'd want to give folks about being psychic is to tell folks not to be afraid... one of the biggest reasons that prevents folks from being able to even access their natural talents is that they are afraid to...
Some religions even teach that it is the work of the devil, and given what I've seen of the Black Magic in the world, I can't deny the truth of their fears... on the other hand, it is a natural ability, it is a skill that can help us each live more honestly and truly, it can help each of us to prevent problems from developing into disasters... it's just a matter of learning to understand what is happening, to recognize that we are much more than our physical vehicles, that we are spirit contained in a body temporarily, and that in the end we are all One, and through this Oneness it becomes easy to connect, spirit to spirit, with all those around us... Spirits and ghosts can be scary when we don't understand what's happening and how to respond... But we must always remember that no matter what, we have the power in this dimension and can learn to use it to both keep ourselves safe - and make progress in life more easily and more naturally.
So, I hope these notes are useful to you... there is a good article on our web site on how to get a good reading and a bit about curses - this is what Susan was referring to when she spoke of telling folks to avoid psychic scams. Lotsa LLLove, Danielle
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