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I suppose if you think this is all bullshit then, yes psychic ability and magical operation are the same bunk. In that case thanks for stopping by and have a look around at some of my other nonsense while you’re here.
To the student of, or at least someone interested in the occult and metaphysics, I’ll emphasize there is most certainly a difference between these two manifestations of mysterious power, and if you’re going to put forth the time and energy to study/practice either or both, you should know what these differences are.
Purdy fair point, ya think? All righty. Here we go and I’ll keep it simple:
Psychism or Psychic Ability
We, as human beings ala Homo Sapiens, are born with a complex system of interactive faculties. Among these are capabilities commonly called “senses” (sight, hearing, et al), as well as a set of functions referred to as “motor skills” (includes use of limbs and digits such as hands/fingers to perform work etc.). In addition to these mundane and academically accepted traits, it seems clear there are also psychic senses, faculties, and abilities inherent to our physiology and/or our psychology.
ESP, extra sensory perception, for example appears to be so commonplace that I’m not at all uncomfortable saying it’s a universal property of the human mind, body, or some combination. Everyone /I have ever spoken to on the matter relates to experiences like:
- The phone rings and you instantly know who is calling.
- You think of a person you haven’t seen in years, only to walk right up to them in a crowded mall an hour later.
- A feeling of dread causes you to forego a trip or some activity and disaster strikes.
- Or, you ignore the feeling and are caught in the disaster – either way you had an intuition.
- You have a vivid dream that plays out in your waking life days later.
Some of these may be classed as “premonition”. It’s debatable, in my mind anyway, as to exactly how to categorize psychic phenomena present in the human entity.
Furthermore, there are physical mechanisms that can explain some of the above. One example, as described succinctly by Dr. Daniel G. Amen, brain expert, is the amygdala within the brain that senses tiny changes in air pressure that warn us we are being watched, even when the watcher is behind us and their presence is totally unknown to us.
Is this a psychic capability at all, then? Why not? Psychic implies a blend of psychological, physical, and emotional capacities that result in the experience or process of X (enter any psychic skill here).
Note my use of the word skill, which implies a process of learning and levels of proficiency based on learning and experience. If we can get better at dealing with that watcher from behind, presumably by somehow conditioning the communication between amygdala and conscious mind (hell IDK I’m guessing here) then it’s a skill and I’m fine calling it psychic.
I’m quite open to a different term as well. I’m not in this to prove shit to the non-believer. I could care less if people call me delusional, etc. What matters to me is the refinement of these things in my own life to the tune of RESULTS within the framework of my own goals and agenda.
ESP and premonition are but a small part of psychism. Other manifestations include telepathy, empathy, suggestion, and psychokinesis or telekinesis. While far less dramatic than their Hollywood representations, these are all experiences had and shared by reasonable, clear-minded people.
Pardon my digression. The aim of this post is not to inventory psychic powers.
Suffice it to say that psychic sensory and interactivity are, or at least behave like, traits we are born with to a varying degree. The manner of occurrence is much like that of our mundane (but still pretty awesome) capabilities.
Most babies are born with the sense of sight, but some will be born blind. Of those who are born with sight there exists a wide range of acuity and function, ranging from color-blindness and near-sightedness to 20-20 vision.
Likewise we are born with a psychic vision, corresponding to our mind’s eye (or third eye), I honestly don’t know that people are born psychically blind, but I can tell you clairvoyance is NOT one of my talents, and in fact I am usually the last person to see a spirit or entity while investigating a “haunting” (I sense them in other ways) I also wear glasses.
Correlation? I don’t know.
Humans have the ability to walk upright and bipedal and are born with the supporting characteristics. The actual motor skill is not developed until later in life.
Some psychic powers do not manifest until later in life. Arguably most, if not all psychic abilities come during adolescence. There are cases of children expressing obvious paranormal tendency or ability, but most folks I actually talk to about the matter tell me they were pre-teen to teenaged when they had their initial experiences.
Magical Ability, Operations
While in this day and age many who practice magic also explore their psychic abilities, this has not always been the case. In fact you’ll notice in some grimoires from the Middle Ages instructions include obtaining a Seer (one with psychic vision) to let the magician know the spirit he is summoning has arrived!
Some people believe you are either born with magic, or you’re not. I vehemently disagree. I think we can be born with greater or lesser magical inclination, just as we can have more or less musical or mechanical inclination.
Magic, on the whole, is a skill or set of skills that must be studied, learned, and practiced. For the most part active magic harnesses forces of nature – both those recognized by academia and those unknown or denied by the same – directing such forces as per the intent of the user (of magic). The personal energies, psychic or otherwise, of the caster are also integrated with the work, but overall magic is not a self-contained power arising from the living cells of the magician fully ready to act or be used.
There’s work involved to must or gather the currents and beings that drive the operation of magical mechanisms. It’s interesting to note, the more experienced a magician becomes, the less he or she requires the trappings of rituals and tools, the more like psychism his or her art appears.
The latter point is telling us something about the mind and the notion of oneness, I believe.
Magical operations can be undertaken to enhance or awaken psychic abilities. It’s possible to tap into a specific ability “just for now” during a ritual that requires use of such a skill, and of course long-term development through esoteric magic is possible.
So there you have it, sort of. This is all just my opinion but I think it’s well-reasoned.
DISCLAIMER: Statements made above, as if true, are based on lore that’s pretty standard in most schools. There are diverging philosophies of course. Either way I can prove absolutely none of it, because I cannot point to a mechanism that we can touch, measure, roll over to look at its belly, and so forth.
Magic, and psychism, mysticism, etc. are reliable operations wherein results can be predicted and demonstrated consistently over and over again, but the inability to demonstrate mechanism means they will all be forever unscientific. I sleep fine with that fact and I suggest you earn to as well, for otherwise you’re on the fast train to frustration and confoundment.
If you like this sort of content check out this brief post on the distinctions between Magic and Mysticism.
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