---Introduce yourself---

Hi Friends,
I joined the forum because I am very passioned about some subjects like remote influencing / remote influencing the thought / bending reality / creating reality...etc...

The reason why that interests me a lot is also I have accidentaly and willingly influenced reality and people in the past. When I realized that my mind had an impact on the reality and people it blew my mind...

I started my journey by being inspired by artistic creative process which I find very similar to creative process of creating reality...

Lately I read a small book written by Gerard O'Donnell which also gave me new perspectives in terms of energy / thought / the impact of energized thought on bending reality...etc

Anyway I still have a lot to discover and learn.
I hope I ll be able to find my ansvers in the forum...

PS I met people on other forums who said me that I should learn deeper stuff about sacred geometry and using it to do better visualizations also thought forms astrale planes etc I feel like I have a lot to learn to discover about "the unknown"...
 
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Hi Friends,
I joined the forum because I am very passioned about some subjects like remote influencing / remote influencing the thought / bending reality / creating reality...etc...

The reason why that interests me a lot is also I have accidentaly and willingly influenced reality and people in the past. When I realized that my mind had an impact on the reality and people it blew my mind...

I started my journey by being inspired by artistic creative process which I find very similar to creative process of creating reality...

Lately I read a small book written by Gerard O'Donnell which also gave me new perspectives in terms of energy / thought / the impact of energized thought on bending reality...etc

Anyway I still have a lot to discover and learn.
I hope I ll be able to find my ansvers in the forum...

PS I met people on other forums who said me that I should learn deeper stuff about sacred geometry and using it to do better visualizations also thought forms astrale planes etc I feel like I have a lot to learn to discover about "the unknown"...
Wow - that sounds interesting! I hope you will start a thread when you are ready, to describe your experiences in greater detail!

David
 
Hi Guys. Professionally, I have a Doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine. No, I do feel that I can cure cancer etc. through spinal manipulation, but I can mobilize joints which are hypomobile etc (not going to bore you all of my thoughts on that. I have a therapeutic philosophy similar to that of a Physical Therapist, and do a lot of physical rehabilitation and core stabilization treatment.

The reason that I'm here is to explore the meaning of consciousness and its application to our understanding of the universe. It drives me crazy to hear somebody say, "consciousness is an illusion." Well, in order to experience an illusion, dont you sort of have to be conscious in the first place?

I have yet to see or learn whether or not you guys dive much into the phenomenon known as hauntings (either by human or non-human spirits) but feel that is where most of my knowledge, as applicable to this forum would lay. I have read dozens of books on the topic by either researchers/demonologists/exorcists/or by people relaying their experiences. In addition I have sought out and watched hundreds and hundreds of videos of people relaying their paranormal experiences and have developed a real feel for the common "core patterning" of these experiences and their potential meanings. There are a couple of good shows on television currently which allow regular people to relay their experiences with this phenomenon. One is Paranormal Witness and the other is A Haunting. Both shows do a good job of screening people in order to find "genuine" stories and experiences, and I've seen all shows and seasons of each show, most episodes multiple times. I'm not trying to brag, I value humility, and God knows I'm entirely stupid in certain areas, but I am trying to convey my potential value to the forum, I think you'd be very hard pressed to find an amateur in the area with more knowledge in the area. This knowledge is of course limited to the work and words of others, I'm no pioneer, nor do I investigate hauntings or spiritual phenomena, but I can speak at great length about the recorded and conveyed experiences of others. I feel that, in this area, as with in NDE, the best source of information which we have is word of mouth of the people experiencing the phenomena. And that when the same phenomena are reported OVER AND OVER AND OVER again, that requires an explanation. And, of course, the phenomenon of spirits is tied into the thought of duality and conscious thought apart from the brain.

Looking around the forum I clearly have a lot to learn. Excited to do so.
 
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The reason that I'm here is to explore the meaning of consciousness and its application to our understanding of the universe. It drives me crazy to hear somebody say, "consciousness is an illusion." Well, in order to experience an illusion, dont you sort of have to be conscious in the first place?

Welcome to the forum! That is music to my ears! Of course, the fact that some supposed experts talk that way is just an indication that they know their intellectual framework is crumbling.

Do you feel that Chiropractic medicine steps outside physical science? If so, you might want to start a thread to discuss that subject. You might also want to start a new thread to discuss what you have learned about hauntings.

David
 
Thanks! I will, I'll start a thread summarizing the common core experience of "demonic" (negative spirit) infestation and possession. It will be challenging to keep it short enough, but I'll work on it later. I want it to be good. I'd like to discuss human "ghosts" as well, but I worry it will already be too long. Maybe at some other point I'll start a new thread on that. I don't think my musings on Chiropractic would be of much benefit here. I believe it steps outside of physical science in a couple of small ways, namely the healing affect of human touch. But I don't think the board would find this very interesting.
 
Good afternoon y'all from East Texas! I am thrilled to find Skeptiko just a few days ago from the Unslaved podcast and to see some worldly, impressive and oftentimes humble introductions. I will try to catch up quickly so as to be able to offer more knowledgeable or useful posts in future.

I have a Master's degree in French Literature and spent 20 years as a roaming adjunct instructor, cobbling together an income and purpose through various contract jobs in writing and teaching. I quit last year out of frustration and a desire to pursue other interests, especially in homesteading. I write a blog about our move to rural life and more traditional pursuits. It's at kenshohomestead.org if anyone here is interested. It's just wonderful to be able to do what I enjoy, though I do enjoy foreign languages and cultures and teaching, the politics and general 'progression' of education in the U.S. has really turned me off.

I have not had a NDE myself, but some curious experiences with death in general. I'm particularly interested in indigenous cultures, plants and healing. I've been an avid gardener now for about 8 years and am absolutely fascinated with plants, animals and all of nature. I've always had powerful and even on occasion prophetic dreams--I feel like I live an entire other life in my sleep. I work with the Tarot cards the last few years and have had some very uncommon experiences. I find each time it happens I later try to rationalize it away, even though in the moment it most certainly feels irrational, paranormal. I find I discount others' stories too often as well, out of mistrust mostly. There are soo many charlatans in this field, it becomes quite difficult to navigate I think. I rarely give it space or audience or allow myself to 'entertain' it for long, which I understand as a cultural problem, not just personal. I almost never speak about these experiences, but maybe that could change.

I really look forward to reading about more of y'all and what has brought you here and your different stories, opinions, experiences and expertise.

cheers,
Mishelle

P.S. I will confess something "crazy" just for the spirit of it. :)
As an experiment in consciousness I tried the 'rice test'! Has anyone heard of this or tried it?!
I saw it on YT and thought, well this I can easily debunk myself, I love that!
So, I did as instructed, and put a scoop of cooked rice into two different glass jars and sealed them. I put them in 2 different rooms that shared the same temperature and light. And, as ridiculous as I felt doing this, to one jar each day I cursed and swore and sent feelings of total disgust. And to the other I sent feelings of love and joy and pleasure.
And it worked! After a week the 'hate' rice molded and the other did not.
Yes, almost as woo-woo as I go, so now I will try to recreate it 3 more times. :)
 
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I have been listening to Skeptiko for a number of years but I am new to the forum. I have been interested in the ideas discussed here since I was a child. I have studied the Silva Method (then known as Silva Mind Control) and I have practiced the methods taught by Self-Realization Fellowship. I have taken all sorts of psychedelic drugs, both natural and man made, and somehow have survived into my sixties and managed to become a professor in the field of fine art. I have had several psychic experiences that would be hard to explain as coincidence. I have read much of Sheldrake's work, and find it a reasonable explanation for many of the things science either can't explain or ignores. I am now reading Amit Goswami's The Self-Aware Universe. I sometimes feel that the human race would be much better off if we slept more, like say, 20 hours a day, like koalas.
Like koalas, lol! I like this b/c I used to be the 'burn the candle at both ends' type. Now in middle age I sleep much more and enjoy it as I did as a teenager! And as a bonus, I don't get sick, I'm rarely stressed, and I can 'read' my needs/feelings much better.
 
Good afternoon y'all from East Texas! I am thrilled to find Skeptiko just a few days ago from the Unslaved podcast and to see some worldly, impressive and oftentimes humble introductions. I will try to catch up quickly so as to be able to offer more knowledgeable or useful posts in future.

I have a Master's degree in French Literature and spent 20 years as a roaming adjunct instructor, cobbling together an income and purpose through various contract jobs in writing and teaching. I quit last year out of frustration and a desire to pursue other interests, especially in homesteading. I write a blog about our move to rural life and more traditional pursuits. It's at kenshohomestead.org if anyone here is interested. It's just wonderful to be able to do what I enjoy, though I do enjoy foreign languages and cultures and teaching, the politics and general 'progression' of education in the U.S. has really turned me off.

I have not had a NDE myself, but some curious experiences with death in general. I'm particularly interested in indigenous cultures, plants and healing. I've been an avid gardener now for about 8 years and am absolutely fascinated with plants, animals and all of nature. I've always had powerful and even on occasion prophetic dreams--I feel like I live an entire other life in my sleep. I work with the Tarot cards the last few years and have had some very uncommon experiences. I find each time it happens I later try to rationalize it away, even though in the moment it most certainly feels irrational, paranormal. I find I discount others' stories too often as well, out of mistrust mostly. There are soo many charlatans in this field, it becomes quite difficult to navigate I think. I rarely give it space or audience or allow myself to 'entertain' it for long, which I understand as a cultural problem, not just personal. I almost never speak about these experiences, but maybe that could change.

I really look forward to reading about more of y'all and what has brought you here and your different stories, opinions, experiences and expertise.

cheers,
Mishelle

P.S. I will confess something "crazy" just for the spirit of it. :)
As an experiment in consciousness I tried the 'rice test'! Has anyone heard of this or tried it?!
I saw it on YT and thought, well this I can easily debunk myself, I love that!
So, I did as instructed, and put a scoop of cooked rice into two different glass jars and sealed them. I put them in 2 different rooms that shared the same temperature and light. And, as ridiculous as I felt doing this, to one jar each day I cursed and swore and sent feelings of total disgust. And to the other I sent feelings of love and joy and pleasure.
And it worked! After a week the 'hate' rice molded and the other did not.
Yes, almost as woo-woo as I go, so now I will try to recreate it 3 more times. :)

Good afternoon y'all from East Texas! I am thrilled to find Skeptiko just a few days ago from the Unslaved podcast and to see some worldly, impressive and oftentimes humble introductions. I will try to catch up quickly so as to be able to offer more knowledgeable or useful posts in future.

I have a Master's degree in French Literature and spent 20 years as a roaming adjunct instructor, cobbling together an income and purpose through various contract jobs in writing and teaching. I quit last year out of frustration and a desire to pursue other interests, especially in homesteading. I write a blog about our move to rural life and more traditional pursuits. It's at kenshohomestead.org if anyone here is interested. It's just wonderful to be able to do what I enjoy, though I do enjoy foreign languages and cultures and teaching, the politics and general 'progression' of education in the U.S. has really turned me off.

I have not had a NDE myself, but some curious experiences with death in general. I'm particularly interested in indigenous cultures, plants and healing. I've been an avid gardener now for about 8 years and am absolutely fascinated with plants, animals and all of nature. I've always had powerful and even on occasion prophetic dreams--I feel like I live an entire other life in my sleep. I work with the Tarot cards the last few years and have had some very uncommon experiences. I find each time it happens I later try to rationalize it away, even though in the moment it most certainly feels irrational, paranormal. I find I discount others' stories too often as well, out of mistrust mostly. There are soo many charlatans in this field, it becomes quite difficult to navigate I think. I rarely give it space or audience or allow myself to 'entertain' it for long, which I understand as a cultural problem, not just personal. I almost never speak about these experiences, but maybe that could change.

I really look forward to reading about more of y'all and what has brought you here and your different stories, opinions, experiences and expertise.

cheers,
Mishelle

P.S. I will confess something "crazy" just for the spirit of it. :)
As an experiment in consciousness I tried the 'rice test'! Has anyone heard of this or tried it?!
I saw it on YT and thought, well this I can easily debunk myself, I love that!
So, I did as instructed, and put a scoop of cooked rice into two different glass jars and sealed them. I put them in 2 different rooms that shared the same temperature and light. And, as ridiculous as I felt doing this, to one jar each day I cursed and swore and sent feelings of total disgust. And to the other I sent feelings of love and joy and pleasure.
And it worked! After a week the 'hate' rice molded and the other did not.
Yes, almost as woo-woo as I go, so now I will try to recreate it 3 more times. :)


Love your post, Mishelle, and welcome to the forum! I am pretty new myself -- joined this past summer -- and share your interests in the tarot and gardening/herbs. I too have had some weird "hits" using the tarot -- and actually do not use it very often for that very reason -- I sometimes think of Jack Nicholson's character in a Few Good Men: "You can't handle the truth"! But I've started up again with it recently, and am wondering what new "hits" I'll get.

And now I need to go try that rice test.
 
Love your post, Mishelle, and welcome to the forum! I am pretty new myself -- joined this past summer -- and share your interests in the tarot and gardening/herbs. I too have had some weird "hits" using the tarot -- and actually do not use it very often for that very reason -- I sometimes think of Jack Nicholson's character in a Few Good Men: "You can't handle the truth"! But I've started up again with it recently, and am wondering what new "hits" I'll get.

And now I need to go try that rice test.

Ayra, thank you so much, great to meet you! I like that quote too and as the curiosity that kills the cat, I say 'of course I can handle it!' and then to find something new and say 'holy heavens I was not expecting for that! Retreat!!!' hehe

Good luck with your tarot, which deck do you prefer? Are there any teachers with a podcast or books that you would advise? When I first started I read several books and listened to a few teachers, but they were all contradicting each other and all over the place. Since then I've only been following Tsarion on the topic and mostly just 'do my own thing' as far as spreads and that's been working for me. I probably only do it once a month or so, but I'm always touched by something striking in a 'hit'. I'm really very much a novice so anything you care to share is welcomed!
 
Hi Mishelle,
I'm a novice myself -- been studying using the Rider Waite deck on and off for about two years. I have a few other decks (the Italian Visconti-Sforza and the Morgan Greer) but haven't worked with them. I have studied (periodically) with a local woman who has very deep esoteric knowledge -- she is able to weave/synthesize the tarot, astrology, kabbalah, pagan holy days, Christian angelics, Gematria (sp?) etc. into her lessons on the cards -- and I admit a lot of it is still going over my head -- but I think it is slowly seeping in. I recently started up with her again after taking a "break" from all things esoteric. (yes -- Retreat! ;))

I only have three books on the Tarot: Rachel Carson's Introduction to the Tarot, Eden Grey's book, and Arthur Waite's book on the RW deck, so I too would love to find that perfect book. A friend of mine recently recommended "Tarot Interactions" by Deborah Lipp but I haven't gotten it yet. I listened to Tsarion's series for a few of the cards -- but he takes too long on one card and I started to lose interest! Did you find his stuff really deep and useful? Worth spending an hour or so on each card? And which deck do you like?

I'm also trying to teach myself about herbs and herbal medicine. Just made my first echinacea tincture and love listening to the Rune Soup podcast, especially when the plant medicines people are on. Would love you to share some of your gardening/herbal wisdom here (or via PM if it isn't of interest to others). Glad you arrived. :)
 
Yes, we can move anywhere to continue so we don't clutter things up here. I do listen to his series on the cards, but for reading I use his e-book Path of the Fool: Meanings of the Major and Minor Arcana. Yes indeed he can go on! I've been following his work for years and feel I've barely scratched the surface. He is really prolific with the topics he covers and has just mountains of work so it seems to me he really pours out loads of info which can be overwhelming for sure. I use Thoth deck, but I have RW. That is so fabulous you have someone with so much esoteric knowledge you can work with right there and in person, I would love that! Thanks for reaching out and would love to continue to chat somewhere!
 
Update on Rice Test:

Attempt #2 Failed

Both jars of rice got moldy within a week. hmmmm . . . perhaps my love-bombing was not sufficient?! :)
I suppose I'll have to try again.
 
Everyone - do remember that this thread is meant to be for people to introduce themselves, followed by a short discussion related to them! Other stuff can go elsewhere - and probably be more visible as a result!

David
 
I totally forgot to introduce myself before posting, I do apologize. My family is Christian, though not the fundamental type nor are they pushy about their beliefs. My brother, however, is a an atheist who doesn’t concern himself with life’s big questions. How I wish I could do the same! Four years ago I left Christianity and converted to Wiccan/Hellenic Pagan and also practiced witchcraft. Though I don’t believe nor practice the religious aspects of these, I still have a “soft spot” for witchcraft. I had very weird and strange occurrences that I’m thinking of sharing on the forum if people are interested. I then became a very staunch atheist for a year, but found that I had a thirst for spirituality again, so I began exploring different things on the internet and ended up here. I’m on the fence on certain psi phenomena and am fully convinced of others. I hope to learn as much as I possibly can from Skeptiko and become as intelligent as the forum posters.
 
TheRaven,

Would you say witchcraft definitely works? Could it even be tested scientifically - I really do not know much about this subject.

David
 
I would say certain parts of witchcraft definitely work. Spirit conjuring and sigils are good examples. As for being tested scientifically, I think it could indirectly. Say I use a ‘spell’ to conjure a spirit. I then use said spirit in an evp session where my results could be documented. While you can’t really test how, why or if I was able to conjure a spirit, the results from the evp session would show that I did. Hopefully that makes a bit of sense to someone.
 
I would say certain parts of witchcraft definitely work. Spirit conjuring and sigils are good examples. As for being tested scientifically, I think it could indirectly. Say I use a ‘spell’ to conjure a spirit. I then use said spirit in an evp session where my results could be documented. While you can’t really test how, why or if I was able to conjure a spirit, the results from the evp session would show that I did. Hopefully that makes a bit of sense to someone.
So the spirit would then communicate by EVP?

David
 
So the spirit would then communicate by EVP?

David

Yes. However, spirits have free will to do what they want. Not every spirit that is conjured will be willing to answer questions and some might flat out lie about who they actually are. I’ve had spirits claim to be gods and aliens when in reality, they were probably some farmer from the 1800s. There are a good variety that will be willing to engage in communicating, so long as the person remains respectful and kind. I’ve found through my sessions that spirits don’t tend to stay for long, though. Now rather or not it is because they don’t want or they can’t, I’ve no idea.
 
Hi all, my name is Billy. I'm from the States, and I'm a musician, amongst other things. I was raised in a Protestant household, but have more or less shed the title since. However, it pretty much sums up my metaphysical beliefs for most of my life leading up till the last year or two.

The reason I got into the subjects everyone here has such as parapsychology and the whole lot, was because of a existential crisis I feel into not too long back. Somehow or another, I was exposed to the whole skeptic movement and was just overwhelmed with their hostility and criticisms. Much of it was just in the rhetoric, but it made me wonder for the first moment in my life: "Am I the crazy one?"

So I started looking around at all these things skeptics bashed and even flat out denied. PSI/ESP, survival of consciousness, etc. I was drawn to Skeptiko after a couple months of researching and loved it's forum. So I started an account in July but didn't start posting till now, as my interest in the subjects talked about here kind of wane on and off. But I really look forward to posting finally.

I guess you can consider me a proponent, but not the most confindent one (on a personal level). Mainly just because I'm a born worrier and a little unsure of myself sometimes when I shouldn't. I'm spiritual but wouldn't call my self a new ager. I tend to think of myself as a idealist of one kind or another.

Anyways, happy to be participating in the forum finally!
 
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