25% of American adults believe in astrology

[Nostradamus]

[Craig Browning]

I think the numbers are off just a bit with that poll but as with all such data collecting, it depends on who participates and the number of participants. My reason for bringing this up centers on the Reincarnation numbers which I think would be slightly higher given that elements of Judaism, Christianity and the majority of other world religions host some inference to this idea; it was a key part of early Christian teachings (outside the Orthodoxy) until it was deliberately removed and suppressed in the mid-5th century but even into the 17th century there are tales of people literally writing out IOU type agreements pertaining to the next incarnation

The Christian influence on this particular pole might be a bit high however in that the majority of Christians I know, go out of their way to negate such thinking UNLESS they come from one of the more New Age/Gnostic foundations like Christian Science/Science of Mind, Course of Miracles, etc. But when you get into some of the more "literalist" modes of christianity like baptist and certain methodist branches, you will find them hot on fire against such heresy. It's a one way ticket to heaven or hell in their book... an idea borrowed way back in the 5th century (imagine that) from Zoroastrianism (the first to preach such dogma), it was after all, more profitable to scare the literal hell out of your patrons when they could simply change their ways later, in the next life rather than dealing with the selling of their souls in the here and now

For many years I was a bit wishy-washy about the reincarnation idea until I came into a very unusual set of circumstances about 15 or so years ago; circumstances that lent me a stint as Mr. Mom to three awesome kids but related encounters that blew my mind.

I can't go into details because people's lives are literally at stake, let's just say that I witnessed more than enough "identification" between people within this particular group (a very large and old "Wiccan" contingent with very ancient roots) and later, with some non-pagans, to more than sustain the idea that there was something to it. Which of course, co-signed my experiences in long gone years (when I was 3-5 years in age) and I remembered people from previous life-times... and told them so! (something that made my very baptist, hillbilly parents quite uncomfortable).

Recently I've been reading my friend John St. Germain's book on Karmic Palmistry which has reawakened my interest in this field, much of my prior study coming via Manly P. Hall and the Los Angeles Philosophic Research Society (an awesome place if ever you get to L.A. and get the chance to visit it... it's on Los Feliz Blvd near Griffith Park and has one of the most extensive libraries on books dealing with world religion, free masonry, and the esoteric you're likely to ever find). In the book John points out how, towards the end of the first trimester, the primary lines of the hand are formed in the palm, this is well before the hand is flexing, just as the fingers are taking shape as well as key parts of the brain which form simultaneously, inferring some kind of connection between the two. The belief shared by students of palmistry, is that this particular discovery sustains the long held belief that the karmic aspects of one's life, good & bad, are literally imprinted on us prior to birth.

As a Metaphysician & Psychic practitioner I've held to this theory, even expanding upon it so as to reveal how Astrology and Numerology are likewise part of this Cosmic Software that (metaphorically speaking) programs our lives. This is not to say that everything is carved into stone, that's a huge misnomer; we always have freedom of choice and if we are to accept what mystics have said for eons about our plotting out our life paths between incarnations so as to bring previous karma into balance and learn the lessons needed for soul advancement... well, we create many tangents or forks in the road these maps hold for us. There is one main current and in some very limited instances if we must be somewhere at a given time or learn a specific something, it will happen... there is no avoiding it altogether; it's part of the agreement we made prior to conception.

Of all the theological points I've studied over the years Reincarnation really does shine as being "the law of necessity" -- it is the more logical and practical way of explaining the world, life and circumstances both, positive & negative. The whole God & Devil scenario is quite unreal by its nature even though it allows us to see the Yin & Yang facets of life and how one cannot exist without the other. Unfortunately, there are those deluded souls that believe to the contrary, failing to comprehend the fact that Nirvana/the Grail is an unobtainable goal we are destined to pursue in order to grow and evolve. My friend Jonathon explains this late in the pages of his story as he's teaching the younger gulls about perfection...

[ProfWag]

Craig, I apologize if this comes across as rude, but is there anything that you haven't done, witnessed, experienced, or have knowledge of?
Metaphorically speaking, there's an old saying that if Howard Cosell had lunch with everyone he said he did, he would have weighed 500 lbs.

[Craig Browning]

[NucleicAcid]

Wow. Awesome.

So something I've always wanted to know...when working as a psychic entertainer, and being psychic, what amount of psychic ability will you use during the performance, and what will you use it for? And along those lines, what is the craziest thing you've pulled out of thin air so to speak, without using any 'mundane' means such as tricks, cold reading, research, lucky guess etc?

[Craig Browning]

[NucleicAcid]

Fascinating. Yeah, I do follow exactly what you're saying. But I'm a scientist so I'm going to dig a little further, if you wouldn't mind, because I'm really trying to reconcile two different paradigms that may just be the same.

1) If you were given a task of having a someone in the room next to you (so you can't see, hear, or interact with them in any physical way), and they were looking at a playing card, could you (or anyone really) name the color (red or black) more than 50% of the time? Like, if you were given 10 trials, how many would you expect to get right?

2) Do you believe genuine telekinesis (moving an object without touching it) is possible?

[Craig Browning]

[NucleicAcid]

Cool. Yeah, I do agree that whatever is going on, it has to be "natural," otherwise it wouldn't be happening. But I do think that something is going on that isn't deemed possibly by the current mindset of reductionist/materialist/naturalist mindsets.

[Craig Browning]

[NucleicAcid]

Why thank you . I'm different than most skeptics (I think I already mentioned in one thread that I'm going to start identifying as a psychic/skeptic just to mess with people) in that if there is evidence for something, I"ll take a look at it, whether it is psi, UFOs, 9/11, lizards running the world, overunity. And if the evidence isn't there, I'll say that it's probably a load of crock, and I have the psychology background to know how people get stuck on these ideas, but I don't push it too far, because ANYONE who has an idea stuck in their head (fanciful or cynical) can't be reasoned with. At all. If they believe lizards run the world, everything I say is something that was spoon-fed to me by the man. If they have decided phenomena X is impossible, everything I say is just waffling and weaseling and making excuses. That's all regardless of evidence. I don't think most people look at evidence in a balanced way, in fact we're 'designed' not to (designed = evolved particular traits for survival, haha see what I did there?). Humans have in-built confirmation bias. It plays a role in everything from mate selection to racism/group loyalty. It takes a lot of mental skill to overcome that.

I'm more of an inverted skeptic, actually. A skeptic thinks, "Everything else that's different is probably wrong until it's proven right." My point of view on the universe is, "Everything I have learned up until this point could all possibly be wrong."

It also helps that I actively practiced psi for many years, and continue to do so after my skeptical phase, and I'm finding really crazy stuff again.

[really?]

[Craig Browning]

Believe what you will... I've seen it, I was in a relationship with a lady that could do it.

I'm not going to argue with anyone on this topic. It is a valid, albeit strange natural phenomenon.

I am not claiming that these people create "energy balls" that can be thrown at people... I don't claim that you can see arcs of electricity shooting between their hands, only an increase of electrical energy in that area between their hands that can cause watches to stop and even make the crystal of the watch shatter.

Let me say it again... THIS IS A KNOWN OF 100% NATURAL ODDITY. Not all people with the condition can demonstrate things as dramatic as I've noted, but some can. Too, some folks tend to be born with it only to have it fade with age while some seem to develop it during puberty or other bio-chemical changes in the body like coming into middle and senior age groups.

No, I don't know the medical term for the condition... I'm simply aware of it. I make no other claims around it and as some here already know, I WILL NOT play Rover and go fetch the details for you... find it yourself if you're that curious, I actually have a life to tend to.

[NinjaPuppy]

I'm one of those people who doesn't wear a watch because they never last much longer than a week or two at the most. They just die.

I have been known to throw big enough visual 'sparks' when wool and dry winter weather come together.

[really?]