Tag Archive: belief


Why Doesn’t Doc have Paranormal Experiences Too?

Filed Under: Law of Attraction, Manifesting, Psychic Ability, Strange Phenomena by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Why Doesn’t Doc have Paranormal Experiences Too?

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I am a psychotherapist but have never believed in the spiritual world until I had a patient who experienced past lives. I attended a seminar with Dr. Brian Weiss and am impressed with the reports of his clients. Personally, however, I have never felt or encountered anything supernatural, and I’m curious as to why that is.
Frieda

Dear Frieda:

While I’ve been deeply blessed with all sorts of amazing spiritual experiences, it wasn’t always this way for me, which means that you can go from living an ordinary life to one that is rich with magic. Let me explain:

While most people report never having had a psychic or paranormal experience, I think it would be more accurate to say that they haven’t had any that they can consciously recall. Most (if not all) small children do have such experiences. In fact, little kids are known for sensing monsters under the bed and having so-called imaginary friends. Though adults may not recognize what they’re talking about, many relay memories from past lives, communicate telepathically with their caregivers, have premonitory dreams and encounter spiritual beings.

The manner in which adults handle such experiences greatly impacts a child’s openness to similar experiences in the future. When children are made to feel wrong, foolish or frightened, they learn to filter out perceptions that could bring further emotional pain. Strange experiences aside, over time, we’re all trained to focus more on physical reality and to ignore the magical fantasies of our imaginations. So instead of asking why everyone doesn’t have paranormal experiences, maybe we should ask why some people do.

Of course, just as some people are naturally artistic or athletic, there are some people who are born sensitives, and they tend to have unusual experiences simply because they can sense things that others can’t. For example, they may consciously encounter a ghost where another person may feel uneasy or remain totally oblivious.

Additionally, outside influences do factor in here. Someone who lives in a haunted house is more likely to encounter a spirit than someone who does not, and someone who works in hospice care is more likely to have an amazing spiritual experience than a plumber or a construction worker.

Just as there are some people who have impaired hearing and vision, there are plenty of people in the world who may never have a paranormal experience simply because they aren’t equipped to pick up on subtle input. At the same time, however, there are many people who do have the innate ability who block their conscious awareness of certain phenomena because they were trained to do so as children or because they actively disbelieve in such things or have simply never given them much thought.

Regarding the relationship between belief and paranormal experiences, we are all more or less caught in a Catch-22: we don’t believe in things we’ve never experienced, and we rarely experience things we don’t believe in. Research has shown that the expectations of the observer affect the outcome of the experiment, so when it comes to paranormal phenomena, if we expect something to happen, it tends to happen, and if we expect nothing to happen, that is what tends to occur. Thus some lives are full of magic and spirit while others are just routine.

It is only after something startling or mind blowing occurs that most people wake up to a whole new realm of possibility. Some people begin to awaken after experimentation with drugs reveals new modes of perception; others may awaken with the tragic death of a loved one or some other shock to the psyche. It is at these rare junctures when something anomalous to an individual’s belief system breaks through that dramatic changes in their personal beliefs may take place.

This is what happened to me: when my first love died, all sorts of incredible things happened that tore my existing belief system down to the foundation. I had never questioned the nature of reality until then, but after that it seemed like anything was possible, which left me wide open to all sorts of other phenomena. I was full of wonder and questions, which naturally led to new discoveries.

When people are launched on a spiritual journey by some incredible event, they tend to do things that encourage further strange events. By asking deep questions and following their curiosity off the beaten path, they may make startling new discoveries. They may read lots of spiritual material, and by giving their attention to these subjects, the law of attraction draws more related experiences their way. Many take up meditation and other spiritual practices, through which they become psychically sensitive, which opens up new realms of spiritual experience.

Of course, not everyone who has a mind blowing experience is launched on a powerful spiritual path. When people don’t experience anything mind blowing until later in life, it’s harder to integrate experiences that threaten to shatter their existing beliefs. They may then reject strange experiences as false, or assume that their mind is playing tricks on them when something doesn’t fit with what they’ve already decided to be possible.

Many people filter the paranormal experiences they do have from their conscious memory because their egos can’t handle all the inner rearranging that would have to take place to integrate them. This means that we may have had any number of amazing experiences that we can’t consciously remember. We all filter our memories and experiences in light of our beliefs and feelings, and through hypnotic regression, may discover all sorts of buried memories both paranormal and mundane that were too uncomfortable for us to maintain conscious awareness of.

So what can you do to encourage your own experience?

First, tell the Universe wholeheartedly that you want to have a mind blowing paranormal experience. State that you want it to be clear and unquestionable, that you’re ready to open your mind to new possibilities in light of such an experience, and that you’d like it to be positive, uplifting or beneficial.

Read up on such matters and immerse yourself in these ideas. Explore others’ experiences and let your intuition guide you. Listen within more. Allow your imagination to run wild. (The more grounded we are in the physical, the harder it is to perceive other planes.) Let go of needing to be right about anything, and instead, make your goal to discover something new.

Begin a regular meditation practice. This will lead to greater psychic sensitivity and a higher threshold of conscious awareness while in an altered state. Also, begin to work with the many methods available for remembering your dreams, for often initial psychic experiences occur in dreams. Another great way to have a really amazing experience is to begin working with techniques to have an out of body experience. You must be devoted and patient, however – it can take months to consciously get out of body for the first time.

If none of this works, you might try sleep deprivation. As your mind grows too tired to rigidly maintain its normal filters, you may begin to see or hear things that others cannot. Since you’re a trained therapist, you may be tempted to label these hallucinations, but as someone who has seen such things both when sleep deprived and not, I can assure you that they are as real as any paranormal phenomena. This is not the most pleasant way to go, but it may spark the breakthrough you need to open your belief system to new realms of possibility.

– Soul Arcanum

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Are Some People Incapable of Having Paranormal Experiences?

Filed Under: Intuitive Development, Psychic Ability, Strange Phenomena by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on Are Some People Incapable of Having Paranormal Experiences?

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I have always been interested in the paranormal, but in my own life I have never encountered anything abnormal. (I’m now 66 years old.) Am I just dense or not sensitive enough? Sometimes I even doubt the existence of an afterlife. As Omar Khayyum once wrote, “Strange is it not, that of all those that before us have gone, not one returns to tell us of what lies beyond?”
– Dr. A.

Dear Dr. A:

Your interest in the paranormal is a good starting point, but it’s not enough to evoke a paranormal experience. For that, you need sincere yearning of the heart and soul and the ability to suspend disbelief. Are you willing to potentially believe something false – at least temporarily – if it means you make a new discovery?

The most important issue to ponder here is how the law of attraction comes into play. I believe we are all creating our own realities based on the thoughts we think, the things we give our attention to, what we believe and what we expect to happen. This means that people who “believe in” the paranormal will tend to create experiences that match their beliefs and expectations. Further, their own unique spin on such beliefs will influence how they experience the paranormal.

For example, two people may believe in the paranormal, with one tending toward fear of it and the other toward wonder and fascination. The first would probably manifest frightening experiences with earthbound spirits and demons, while the second may only encounter fairies and angels.

Similarly, people who don’t believe in such matters or who never think about them would probably never have any experience with them. In fact, if they approached the paranormal with disbelief or the desire to disprove something, they would tend to manifest experiences that fulfilled their negative expectations.

I vividly remember reading about psychic experiments in which this was actually proven. In these experiments, psychic tests were administered to people who had filled out questionnaires about their views on such matters. Those who believed in psychic ability performed statistically much better than chance on the tests, while those who disbelieved in psychic matters did statistically much worse than chance on the tests – which means they were actually USING their psychic ability to perform poorly!

Regarding the quote you offered about no one returning from the afterlife to tell us what it’s like on the other side, first, we all know that is just not how life is designed. It’s a bit like asking why, if love exists, it never stands up and announces its presence in some tangible way. (If you say that you are also skeptical about the existence of love, then it’s no wonder you’ve never had a spiritual experience, my friend!)

Second, people DO return from the other side and tell us what it’s like – in fact, they do it all the time! If you study the stories of near death experiencers, you’ll discover a very convincing body of evidence, for regardless of cultural backgrounds, religious beliefs, etc., there are definite patterns in these accounts of what happens when we die. Many NDE’ers were skeptics or atheists who woke up on the other side and realized that there really is a whole world beyond what we can perceive in the physical.

Of course, I don’t blame you for not believing if you haven’t had any reason to – heck, I was the same way. It’s a classic catch-22: until we have an amazing encounter with the supernatural, most of us remain closed to paranormal experiences.

Often the experience that first opens people up to such matters is a sign or visit from a departed loved one. This was the case with me: so many inexplicable things happened surrounding the death of my first love that I suddenly realized there was far more to life (and death) than I had ever considered. Even after that, however, it was not until I was pregnant with my first child that I awakened psychically. (Not much of paranormal interest happened in between).

As it would be foolish to summon an NDE or the death of a loved one in order to invite amazing experiences into our lives, spiritual practice/development is our best bet. You mentioned sensitivity, and you’re right: people who are highly sensitive tend to have lots of spiritual experiences because they are able to perceive more than the average person can. Some people seem to be born sensitive, but sensitivity can be cultivated. Getting internally quiet is one way to listen for subtle stimuli, which is why meditation is so central to spiritual development.

To begin to perceive more, we can also look at everything in a fresh way. Instead of focusing on objects, we might begin to focus on the so-called empty space around objects. Instead of listening to what someone is saying, we can begin to listen for what they are NOT saying. Instead of constantly chattering to ourselves in our own minds, we can begin to listen for our inner being (or another being) to speak to us within.

There is also a lot to be said for adopting an offbeat, creative approach to life. Not long ago, I met two very psychic friends for breakfast, and was struck by the fact that all three of us were eating with our left hands – we’re all left-handed! It’s no accident that many psychics and mystics are left-handed, for spiritual experience arises from the right brain. By thinking like a creative, offbeat leftie, you too may begin to see the world in a new way.

Besides, when we’re too scientific in our approach to the paranormal, it’s like trying to capture a rainbow in a jar. The “magic” in spiritual experiences arises from being in the right place at the right time and feeling intuitively inspired to pay attention at just the right moment. (Further, doubting the existence of the afterlife is like assuming that rainbows don’t exist because our jar is empty.)

A sense of open, childlike wonder can also be invaluable. All sorts of psychic experiments have proven that children are far better at learning psychic skills than adults, most likely because they don’t doubt they can succeed. If we can find the courage to live in a “fantasy world” where every idea that comes to us is as possible as any other, we stand a much better chance of manifesting extraordinary experiences.

Of course, going back to the law of attraction, the more we look for Spirit, the more we’ll find it. Like anyone else, I sometimes get caught up in mundane concerns, and during those times, I generally stop seeing auras and encountering spirits. Spiritual experiences come and go depending on my own focus and vibration.

Finally, try living on the edge: explore new places, new ideas, and new people. Set some big goals and take some risks. Living like this engages our survival instincts, which are intuitively-based.

Also, please note that I’m not trying to convince you or anyone else of anything, for I believe that people adopt whatever truth is best for them at that point in their lives. I just try to help folks following in my psychic footsteps to make sense of the strange things they are experiencing so they know they are neither crazy nor alone.

I can tell you this: I have had so many mind-blowing experiences that I have absolutely no doubt that we continue on after death, and that there is a whole lot of magic beyond what we can see of the Universe. Like you, I once wondered and questioned, but now I know. I truly believe if you pray for amazing spiritual experiences with a sincere heart and begin to watch for signs, you too will be guided to profound new faith and understanding.

– Soul Arcanum

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What Made You a Believer in Spirit?

Filed Under: Spirit Communication, Spirits, Spiritual Growth by Soul Arcanum — Comments Off on What Made You a Believer in Spirit?

Copyright Soul Arcanum LLC. All rights reserved. :)
 

Dear Soul Arcanum:

I read that you’re a Spiritualist minister, and also read your theory that to experience Spirit, we have to believe it is possible. How does that happen in the first place? Were you raised Spiritualist? If not, what made you a believer? Did something happen that convinced you? Have you always been psychic and able to communicate with spirits? Do you still have new and different experiences of Spirit that deepen your convictions?
– Robert

Dear Robert:

I was not raised Spiritualist, nor have I always had psychic experiences or been able to communicate with Spirits. While my family was officially Episcopalian, we did not attend church regularly. Like many people who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s, religion was not a big part of my upbringing. In a way, that probably helped me, because I had no limiting beliefs about the supernatural being evil or dangerous. My mind was pretty open.

The first experience to blow my mind about what is possible came when I was 17 and first my first love died suddenly. I don’t have space to relay the whole story here, but basically, though his death was totally unexpected, somehow the last time we saw each other, we both knew that we wouldn’t see each other again. Many strange messages and events surrounded his death. Somehow at some level, we both knew he was going to die. He even arranged for messages to be delivered to me AFTER his death. While “losing” him to the other side was deeply traumatic, these amazing spiritual experiences rocked my entire worldview. It was then that I started to become interested in the deeper nature of life and death.

At that time I was very busy with finishing high school and going on to college, so I didn’t really start reading spiritual material until a few years later. When I was 20 I became pregnant with my son, and that is when my psychic doors blew open. Nick is what many would call a very old soul, and is extraordinarily psychic himself. As soon as he was able to talk, he began saying the most amazing things. He “remembered” God and what he was doing before he was born, for example. I believe that his spiritual vibration was far higher than mine, and that when I conceived him, his energy blasted my own vibration upwards. This led to a very powerful, intense, accelerated journey of spiritual awakening.

At that time I began to see, hear and otherwise perceive things that others could not. Some of these things seemed innocuous enough: I would know that the phone was about to ring and who would be calling, for example. I would have intuitions about situations that would prove true. At the same time, however, I began to see auras and “balls of energy,” and also to perceive frightening entities in my peripheral vision. As soon as I would turn to look at them, they would disappear. (This is very common when one’s third eye is beginning to open.) Many of these encounters were terrifying. I write that here so that those who are having similar experiences will know that this is “normal.”

These scary things happened because I was living in a constant state of fear. I wasn’t sharing these experiences with anyone because I feared that I was crazy, and if anyone found out, they would take my baby from me. As my vibration was full of fear, I naturally attracted frightening energies/entities. Fearing that I was schizophrenic, I began to research what I was experiencing from a psychological angle. This reading referenced spiritual explanations, and as I began to read more about mystical experiences through history and around the world, I was relieved to learn that many people had experienced what I was experiencing, and that it was part of an early spiritual awakening process.

As my fear dissolved, my vibration rose, and I began to have more positive experiences. I also learned how to deal with dark forces: by shining the light of love on them. At this time, I began to spontaneously experience communication from spirits.

If someone I was with began to talk about someone who had crossed over with love, that spirit might appear behind them as a big ball of misty energy. (Usually it was a deep purple color, but it was sometimes golden and sometimes colorless, like heat waves coming off of pavement.) The spirit would communicate with me mentally and ask me to relay messages to the person I was talking to. They would give me “evidence” such as their name, occupation, or other identifying details. When I would find the courage to tell the person what I was experiencing, time and time again, the message from Spirit was not only accepted and validated, but it would have a profound healing effect on its recipient. That is when I began to believe that what I was experiencing was not only very real, but also very valuable.

When I saw the healing power of these messages, I decided to devote my life to this work. At that time, Spirit sort of took over. I was guided in incredible ways to the teachers, books and opportunities I needed to master spirit communication. I have been supported by Spirit every step of the way since then, and have had countless experiences validate my beliefs. These have included (but have not been limited to) amazing astral experiences, incredible manifestations of whatever I needed, thousands of readings that were validated as accurate and evidential, personal guidance from Spirit that proved accurate and evidential, countless instances of synchronicity sparked by me honoring an impulse or intuition, etc.

After all of this, I DO still have experiences that move me and deepen my faith. For example, recently I had a very profound astral encounter. My grandparents passed over some 15 years ago, and since then, my grandmother has remained close. In fact, she was one of the first spirits to ever appear to me, and it is very easy for me to connect with her mentally. My grandfather, however, has only touched in now and then, and I can never seem to reach him of my own volition. This has somewhat saddened me, but I had come to accept it.

A couple of weeks ago, I met with my grandfather in the astral. First I believed myself to be dreaming, but then suddenly I looked up and saw him there, and I became so excited. I basically said, “It’s YOU!” I flew to him and embraced him, and he felt so REAL. I was struck by how seeing him, feeling him, and smelling him refreshed my memory of him. It was the difference between remembering someone in your mind, and then actually SEEING them for real. We had a wonderful conversation about where he has been since he “died,” and he assured me that he has been close despite the fact that I’d had trouble connecting with him.

My alarm clock then went off, and I couldn’t “get back” into my body at first. When I was finally able to speak, I croaked to my husband that I needed “help, because I can’t get back.” He touched me, which helped me to move back into my body fully. I spent the whole morning weeping, not because I was sad, but because I was so moved by this experience, and so grateful.

So to answer the question behind all your questions, you don’t have to believe to begin to experience such things, but you do have to be open to believing. If you want to start experiencing things that will help you to believe, I recommend you begin meditating regularly and spending time with highly spiritual people. Pray for Spirit to give you “paranormal” experiences, act on your intuitions, and immerse yourself in spiritual study. Experience by experience, your belief will deepen, and as that happens, bigger and more amazing experiences will follow.

– Soul Arcanum

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