Psychic Theory - Part IILearn Spirituality on spirituality-info.com. Psychic Theory - Part II article will help answer your questions on Spirituality.We at spirituality-info.com specialize in Spirituality. Spirituality at spirituality-info.com provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.
So when did modern psychic phenomenon come about? In order to understand this you have to go back to the beginning of the scientific revolution which was started by the British Royal Society in the 1600s. Men of real science were referred to as 'natural philosophers.' Many of these natural philosophers like Isaac Newton were men who also believed in psychic phenomenon. After the scientific revolution came what is known as the 'period of enlightenment' which started in the 18th century around 1734. The first man of enlightenment was Franz Anton Mesmer who was a Viennese physician. During this period theories like 'electricity' and 'magnetism' were considered 'invisible fluids.' Mesmer discovered another invisible fluid which he called 'animal magnetism' which is supposed to be able to heal certain ailments without having to depend on the supernatural. He developed what is called Mesmerism. This induces a state of mind that today we call hypnosis. What Mesmer discovered in addition to this was that certain people had more of an affinity to be able to perform Mesmerism than others. These people were referred to as 'gifted.' The Mesmerism movement never really gained scientific acceptance and finally in 1784 The French Royal Society of Medicine and the French Academy of Sciences issued some negative reports on this movement. One researcher associated with Mesmerism, a Baron Carl Reichenbach, developed a vitalist theory to explain parapsychological phenomena. By the 1850s, though it didn't go down without a fight, the Mesmeric movement finally came to an end but the teachings of the movement didn't die with it. Partly because of changes in religious attitudes these teachings were repeated by others who called themselves 'mediums' and started what is called the 'spiritualist movement.' These people claimed to have contact with spirits of dead people. By the middle of the 19th century these mediums were found throughout Europe and in every part of society. As psychic phenomenon began to spread, spiritualists began to break off from normal scientific society. This was quite evident in 1882 when a number of scientists left the Society For Physical Research located in London because of differences of opinion. Basically the scientists didn't believe in psychic phenomena and the members who broke off did. This has since continued throughout history to the present day. Today, we are more tolerant of people who claim to have psychic ability. You see them on talk shows TV and hear them with their own radio shows. As an enlightened society we no longer fear these people as they were feared years ago when many of them were persecuted and even killed. Still, many of us are still sceptical. Many of us also believe. It's kind of like religion. We'll never really know for sure who is right.
In the final article in this series we'll go over some of the ways that psychics use their powers. |
More Articles:1. The Magic of Tarot Card Reading By Sherry Sims The magic of the tarot was obvious to me the first time that someone confirmed that my tarot card reading was accurate. Of course, the first time that I did a tarot reading for someone else I really had no reason to believe that the reading I was about to give could be so revealing. I was amazed at the words that sort of just came out of my mouth, all by themselves. And I couldn't have told you a minute earlier what I had in mind next to say. The words were just there, and I was speaking them.… 2. Are You Building Your Own Cistern? By Michelle Jacobson
|