| Structure of Modern Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a relatively modern word that is used to encompass areas of the paranormal that involves the mind-based activities, such as psychics. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that systematically investigates first causes and nature of ultimate reality. Following traditional philosophical principles, all reality ultimately stems from the Self, and each person both creates his own reality and influences the reality of others. It is for this reason that metaphysics was chosen as the term to represent the human-specific branch of paranormal studies. There are some articles written by Randy Robertson in support of this lexicon, and they can be found in the following links; A Word About Tools On Chakras ============================================================================================================== The Categories of Metaphysics Metaphysics can be generally divided into five very broad and overlapping categories with confidence, based on the source of power for different abilities and techniques. These categories have nothing to do with what the specific abilities are, nor how they are used. They exclusively apply to what a person uses to fuel the desired (or undesired) phenomenon. These five are; Psychic Arts , Spiritualism , Manualism , Ritualism , and Primus Psychics Psychics, in the purest sense, are those whose abilities stem from themselves alone. The term comes from the Greek word "psyche," meaning "of the mind.' They are not dependent on external forces for what they do. External forces may assist or supplement the psychic's abilities, but the psychic's abilities will still function without those external forces. A well trained and experienced psychic can use a wide variety of abilities, but many choose instead to focus their efforts on one or two abilities and ignore the rest. Many suffer from over-specialization, which leads to confusion and misconception on the part of both the public and other metaphysicists. Spiritualists Spiritualists are the exact opposite of psychics. They depend exclusively on the assistance of external forces, normally referring to a spiritual presence in communication. The spiritualist's ability to communicate may be an internal force, but that is generally the limit of their internal abilities. Spiritualists are currently the most common metaphysicists in the public eye, such as Sylvia Browne. Spiritualists are also the most common form of hoaxers and scam artists. Part of this is the ease of explaining failures. It is hard for a psychic to explain why his abilities are not working well at the moment, but it is far easier to say "the spirits just aren't talking today." Manualists Manualism comes from the Latin word "manu", meaning hand, and refers to those metaphysicists who are dedicated "tool-users". Manualists have no paranormal abilities themselves, but they have learned to use devices to simulate paranormal effects. Of course, this might be applied to anyone who uses a cell phone or computer, or wins at the lottery. But notice that the definition includes the word "paranormal" which means an event or phenomenon that is not understood my contemporary science. This category also includes those things that science understands perfectly well, but public perception has placed it in the realm of the paranormal, supernatural, or occult. Some techniques are included under this category for that reason. Ritualists Ritualists are those who achieve various effects by drawing from a variety of trans-dimensional forces, usually through ceremony or invocation. Almost all religions and forms of magic use ritualistic technique (I don't know any that do not, but there are always exceptions). This makes ritualism a very complex category, and it is often difficult to divide the technique from the dogma. This category is subject to a wide array of confusion and contradiction because many religions incorporate similar techniques, and is also prone to be the focus for a lot of nasty human behavior in the forms of discrimination, persecution, violence. Primists The word Primist comes from the Latin word "primorum", meaning 'first' or 'beginning'. It is applied to this category because it is commonly believed that humanity possessed emotions long before it possessed reason, and so emotions are a primordial human force. Primists are those who affect themselves and their environment through manipulation of fundamental energies, especially emotional energies. Primus is both the most common of categories among the untrained and one of the most difficult to become skilled with because of it's huge diversity. Their abilities often duplicate those of the psychic and spiritualist, and many become skilled in the use of various tools and rituals, but many approach metaphysics from a more scientific standpoint and apply many basic scientific principles to their activities. This is both an aid and a hindrance as they often adopt many arbitrary limits based on current scientific understandings. Crossing Between Categories Of course, anyone involved in metaphysics will immediately see a lot of crossover between the groups. A primist may use a tool in a ritual to help duplicate a psychic effect for purposes of communicating with spirits. However, you must remember that the categories reflect only the sources of power for the paranormal effect, not the user nor the results. For that, one must study the individual effects. =============================================================================================================================== Sensory Abilities Sensory abilities are the classic ESP powers, well known by the public thanks to Hollywood�s rather loose interpretations of them. They are characterized by a purely sensory effect without any physical properties. Precognition --- The ability to sense the future. Contrary to what you might think by the number of talk shows and psychic hot-lines, this is actually one of the rarer abilities. It can manifest in any number of ways; dreams, visions, bursts of imagery, and so on. Precogs typically come under the greatest public attacks because of the large number of frauds out there and the inherent unreliability of precognition. The real trouble with precognition is that the future is always in always in a state of flux. The majority of Precogs can sense what will happen should conditions remain they way they are. But humans have this annoying quality called �free will�, and have another equally annoying quality called �being control freaks.� People are unable to leave well enough alone, and this will play havoc with any precognitive efforts. By and large, it�s best to keep precog knowledge to yourself - all a person can do with knowledge of his future is screw it up. Postcognition --- The ability to sense the past. While related to precognition, and often manifesting in the same way, it is not so prone to problems since things that have happened in the past are immutable. Unfortunately, large blocks of the past all look the same, and it takes a very well educated person to learn the difference between different clues and translate it into a rational result. Clairvoyance --- The ability to see the current time, but at a distance from your actual location. The official government term for this is �Remove Viewing.� Most clairvoyants can sense what is happening at a relatively short distance � the next room, a few houses down, or maybe in another city. Highly skilled clairvoyants can sense what�s going on anywhere in the world with a minimum of effort. Unlike the other sensory abilities, this one is quite common in it�s rawest form, and most people (especially parents) have �had a feeling� when something traumatic has just happened to a loved one. It is commonly believed that there are sub-sets of this ability based on which of the five senses are used. The most well-known of these is clairaudience (far-hearing). However, a skilled clairvoyant quickly learns to use all of five senses together. The US Army maintained a very developed clairvoyant program for several decades, eventually closing it down in the early 1990�s under congressional pressures. Telepathy --- The ability to detect another�s thoughts, or to project one�s own thoughts to another. There appear to be three distinct forms of telepathy, based on the method of interpreting the data; phonetic, alphabetic, and graphic. This is not to say that these are different types of telepathy, only that the mind will interpret and present that information in one of three different forms or a combination of them. Phonetic telepathy interprets information into sound, literally hearing another person's thoughts as if he was listening to them. This seems to be the most common form of telepathy. Alphabetic telepathy is where the information is interpreted directly as words. It is as if the thoughts are being understood as written words. While there were once a somewhat large number of reports of this form, they are becoming far more rare in recent years. Graphic telepathy is where the telepath interprets information in the form of images and scenes. In some ways this can be as if the telepath is watching a movie where a specific scene unfolds, with that scene provided by another's thoughts. It may also take the form of frozen images. In some cases, the telepath may be implanted into the scene, usually from the point of view of the person who's thoughts are being received. To explain them in parables, listening to the radio would be a parable of phonetic telepathy, reading a book would be a parable of alphabetic telepathy, and looking at a photo album would be a parable of graphic telepathy. Naturally, these three could combine into a variety of forms, similar to the experience of watching a movie in stereo with the subtitles turned on. Apparently, the vast majority of telepaths operate phonetically. That is, they can sense the thought of another in the form of spoken words, literally hearing the other person�s thoughts. A rarer form is to detect thoughts through alphabetic expression, when the thoughts are simply understood as if they were being read. Graphic telepathy was once one of the rarest and most difficult telepathic forms to use, but this is no longer the case. It may be possible that graphic telepathy is quickly becoming the most common form. Some speculate that this is because of our increasingly technological world and the explosive development of video media. It may be that the increased presence of television, computer games, and CGI technologies in our everyday lives have redefined how the average person sees and relates to his world, and the mind is more comfortable with delivering telepathic data in a graphic means that it once was. If this is the case, then is suggests that other metaphysical abilities could also be affected by this "popular awareness" with currently unforeseen results. In any case, graphic telepathy remains one of the more difficult forms to intepret accurately. It appears that there are no language barriers in telepathic contact. Many telepaths report being able to read the thoughts of another person clearly and accurately even if the target person does not speak the same language. This is especially obvious on phonetic telepathy, where the mind interprets the data into a language that the telepath can understand. However, in all cases, it is unclear whether the telepath is detecting the actual formed thoughts or is only interpreting the meaning behind those thoughts. Empathy --- Related to telepathy, empathy is the ability to detect a person�s emotions or send your own emotions to another person. This is probably the most common ability known. It has been theorized that perhaps as many as 80% of the total human population is empathic to varying degrees. It is important to note that empathy is not just a matter of thinking �Bob�s in a bad mood� because he�s frowning, stomping about, and being a grump. That�s just reading body language. In practice, the ability to send emotions effectively is far more difficult than receiving them, though a skilled empath can broadcast his emotions to specific individuals or groups of people, and can generate specific emotions in others regardless of his own emotional state. Psychometry --- The ability to sense the past or present by mentally scanning the residual energies on an object. It may also be possible to sense the future using this ability, though only a true master can reliably use it this way. Although it is related to the clairvoyant and postcognitive abilities, psychometry tends to be far more reliable and easier to learn for most people, though it is rarely as detailed as it�s cousin-abilities. The more successful ESP-based police consultants use psychometry rather than clairvoyance or postcognition because of its more reliable results. Imagraphy --- Very similar in function to telepathy or empathy, but it manifests graphically. That is, in images instead of actual words or feelings. This ability�s effects tend to be difficult to understand when they happen, and many report difficulties telling the difference between what they sense and their own thoughts and memories. It often leads to debilitating mental side effects like paranoia, anxiety disorders, and (in the most serious cases) nervous breakdowns. On the other hand, it is believed that this ability may be able to allow communication with higher forms of animal life. Physical Abilities These are abilities that involve affecting the physical world. Many of the terms are variants of the word �kinesis�, which is based on the Greek word �kinema�, or motion. Although not entirely accurate, the term has stuck for many many decades, and its too late to do anything about it now. Another term occasionally used is psychokinesis, or �motion of the mind�. Although a more accurate term, this one is commonly used interchangeably with telekinesis and should probably be avoided to prevent confusion. Telekinesis --- The ability to move objects without physical interaction. This can be as simple as making a pen wiggle, or rolling a ball across a table. More developed abilities can include fine control like pushing buttons or flipping switches, moving heavy objects, or lifting small objects in the air. Only one person I am aware of was ever reliably witnessed to have fully lifted a very heavy object with telekinesis (a large block of coral weighing several tons). Many suspect that levitation is an application of telekinesis to one�s own body, though this is purely hypothetical. Pyrokinesis --- A rare ability made famous by Hollywood, pyrokinesis is the ability to increase an object�s temperature. There have never been any known occurrences of shooting fireballs or any of that rot, but it has been used in lab environments to heat water to the boiling point, raise the temperature of objects to the point of charring, and so forth. Cryokinesis --- An even rarer ability closely related to pyrokinesis, this is the ability to lower an object�s temperature. In practice, anyone with cryokinetic ability normally has pyrokinetic ability as well, thought not always. Cryokinesis is usually far more subtle in action, though some would say it is far more useful. Other �Kinetic� Abilities --- There are a myriad of other motion-based abilities, many of which are only theoretical or poorly understood even by their users. Some examples are hydrokinesis (manipulating fluids), electrokinesis (manipulating electrical currents and fields), geokinesis (manipulation of earths and metals), aerokinesis (manipulation of airflow and currents), and cyberkinesis (manipulation of mechanical or electronic devices). However, many of these are simply variant applications of basic telekinetic ability and not distinct abilities in their own right. Teleportation --- The ability to move from one place to another without crossing the space in between. At this time, there are no known �teleporters,� though there have been several instances where teleportation of people has occurred. This has normally been in times of intense stress or fear, and those who have done so have not (to my knowledge) been able to duplicate the feat. It remains the rarest, least understood, and most sought-after ability of all time, the �holy grail� of metaphysics. =============================================================================================================================== Spiritual Abilities These are abilities that involve the interaction between a person and spirits or other non-corporeal entities, or the manipulation of a person�s own spiritual energies. Only a few are listed here because it is unclear just where the metaphysical ends and the spiritual begins. Channeling --- The ability to communicate directly with spiritual entities of various types. In its most basic form, it only involves being able to listen to what the spirits are trying to say. However, nothing is ever that easy. Spirits are notorious liars. Even an �honest� spirit may not always be able to make itself understood. A channeler must therefore be able to interpret not only what is being said but determine if he�s getting a real answer or a ghostly runaround. WARNING!!!--- Some channelers are able to allow a spiritual presence to enter the body and use it for communication purposes. This is commonly referred to as �possession,� though it is different from the layman�s concept. The channeler does not fully relinquish control over himself, and retains control over his actions. Smart �hosts� take all proper precautions and keep their �house guests� on a very short leash. However, this is still an extremely dangerous technique that should be avoided at all times (especially by the very skilled, who tend to get complacent and over-confident). Astral Projection --- This is the ability to allow a person�s spiritual �self� to temporarily leave the body in a controlled form of what is commonly referred to as an Out-of-Body Experience. Different people tend to have widely varying degrees of control in this state. For many, it is simply an experience of weightless movement free of physical constraints. Others have shown the ability to interact with physical objects or manifest visibly to others. A few can even manifest a physically interactive form for brief periods. It is even suggested that users may be able to cross over between physical and spiritual realms, enter the dreamstates of other people, and possibly even achieve some form of dimensional travel. Although not as rare as many other abilities, highly developed astral projection is a difficult task requiring many years of dedicated effort. Because of this, it is highly prized and very sought-after, second only to teleportation. =============================================================================================================================== |
| Metaphysical Lexicon |
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