Veteran of the Psychic Wars

Although I am not a New Age maven, I do believe in certain aspects of the "alt" lifestyle. I am convinced that natural healers definitely help people and that the healing properties of foods, herbs, etc. are real. I believe that we exert much more control over our own bodies through our minds and attitudes than most people would credit. And, I believe in psychic powers.

Not some wacky, dress like a poser-gypsy and rub your crystal ball, kind of psychic powers. I believe in the ability of the mind to receive electromagnetic signals and make meaning of the pattern. That is the difference between the mind and an oscilloscope. The oscilloscope can receive the pattern of energy and display it visually, but it cannot interpret what it receives. It takes a human reader. Oscilloscopes can easily pick up brain waves and display what it receives. It cannot make meaning of the signals and, to date, neither can science. We don't know what a particular wave pattern "means." What thought generated that specific waveform? That is all that thoughts really are - elecrochemical signals that the brain is able to interpret into meaningful internal dialogue. If a brain can interpret its own signals, why couldn't it interpret the signals sent from others?

I think this is yet another ability that humans possess, but cannot yet consciously control. We don't know which mental muscle to flex. However, I believe that the reception and interpretation of signals happens on occasion to most people, with some more adept than others. For all human abilities and forms, there is natural variation. The same likely holds here. Some have poor reception and/or interpretational abilities; others are designed to more efficiently gather and make meaning of the energy of thought. We all have annoying friends like this. They always know exactly the right thing to say or do, they are incredibly lucky, they seem at ease in situations, almost like they know something that you don't...These people, I feel, are making use, albeit subconsciously, of their better-developed psychic abilities. Jerks.

However, we all have had flashes that prompted some action or inaction. We do something or say something that has no tangible prompt. We just pick up the phone and call a friend and find out that they just, that day, received a payraise. We "feel like" cooking our significan other's favorite meal and they come home to tell you about their horrific day at work. We go to say something and then hold our tongues...little flashes that we don't even consciously perceive, but our mind uses to guide our behaviors.

I have a great friend who knew, without me saying, that I was in a bad way. She knew some details, but "felt" the mental cry I was sending into the universe. Something in the frequency, wavelength or amplitude resonated with her and she knew right away what a better picture of my situation. Yesterday, I was in a brutally bad mood. The weather is atrocious (hot, extrememly humid even for a Louisiana native) and I was feeling sorry for myself. Why? I had no flowers. Or gifts. Or any of those little things that you get when you are sick. I've been away from work for nearly a month and no one from that institution has sent me one thing. The only card I received was from a dear, dear woman who has health problems far worse than mine. My students have risen to the occasion with a couple of cards and my own "toad house" that I requested for my patio from a particularly talented and caring senior. One additional friend and her family presented me with a card. But I was feeling terribly selfish and pitiful and neglected. Where was my obligatory potted green plant with the silk ribbon? Where was the generic stuffed animal holding balloons? I sweated and swelled and layerd the angst on top of myself like a down comforter.

Then, an elderly face peered through my open window and announced a delivery. Answering the door, I was presented with a large vase filled with beautiful and fragrant flowers. Purples, pinks, sunny yellow and creamy ivory...the powdery scent of natural blooms...I knew without even looking at the card who had sent the blooms. It just hit me like a lightning bolt. It was my dear uncle. Of all days to send flowers, the day I most needed them. And I knew the sender without looking at the card. Somehow, his mind received my thoughts and I "felt" his presence on each petal.

Today, I read the comments on my last entry. I had not visited the site since yesterday. Today is not the best day for me either. Again, wetly hot and stagnant. To cheer my spirits, I put on a Tiki t-shirt that I picked up on my trip to San Diego in April and have been quaffing my healing smoothies and juices in a variety of my prize Tiki mugs. It has been a long, long time since I've had a Tiki blowout. Interesting that there's a comment about Tiki for my last entry...I haven't even thought about Tiki much until yesterday and today...

I think that science will one day figure out the physics of thought. I do not know if this would be a good or bad thing. But, it would make dating a whole lot easier....