Paranormal questions answered here...

[New Cult King]

I thought I would trial this. I'm unsure of how it will go, but I've had quite a few people PM-ing me asking me questions about ghosts and spirits, past-life regression, astral travel, power animals etc., so I thought I would start a thread where people can post their questions, and myself and others can do our best answer them.

The study of the supernatural/paranormal is bigger for me than Warhammer. I have been a student of these topics for 16 years, and over this time have accrued many books and tools, a great deal of knowledge and, most importantly, actual hands-on experience. I have seen and done some bizarre things, and I maintain an open mind, so please don't feel silly or embarrassed when asking about something strange.

I am also relatively well-versed in Christianity/Catholicism and Buddhism, so I have a fairly well-rounded view of the supernatural as it applies to religion and faith.

So please, if you have any questions or queries, or just need some clarification regarding the paranormal, feel free to ask away!

[WiCkEdRock]

Only interest in anything supernatural would be Asatro, I enjoy reading about the gods and their crazy adventures.
A ship built out of toe and fingernails floating out into space to avoid Ragnarök or some bearded guy turning water into wine? I'll take the first.

Although I'm supposed to marry a girl named Therese according to an ouija board.
And the prediction it made the same evening, that I would eat some food with the letter Y in its name. I recieved Risgrynsgröt when I got home, ooooh..

[Hlokk]

OK, this sounds like its going to rock.

1:Is poltergeist activity, as you understand it:

a: Telekenisis from girls entering puberty (A lot of uk poltergeist activity centres around young girls)
b: Violent ghosts
c: Something else entirely

2: The Goetia: Was it classed as a heretical work when it was published? Are there any other grimoirs in circulation?

3: is Magick simply sex based magic?

4: Aliens: what are encounters of the first and second kind? and what was MJ12?

5: Are the leaked MKULTRA documents genuine?

[C. Langana]

Plead your case?
I'm always curious about belief and it's always interesting to read about other's notions, so if you'd care to indulge a skeptic, please do so.

-What ever you know about WWII occultism (indiana jones plots basically) would also be a pleasure to read.

[SuperBeast]

4: Aliens: what are encounters of the first and second kind? and what was MJ12?

1st = visual contact
2nd = communication
3rd... well, we know that one.

[New Cult King]

Hmm... I'm fairly skeptical about Ouija boards, and I have steered clear of them since a rather nasty encounter with something that claimed to be the soul of a man executed for murdering a "famly" (sic).

Poltergeists could be one of many things, and I believe it's a catch-all name for several different phenomena. Yes, there have been cases where tele/psychokinesis was the most likely cause, and mainly, as you say, from a girl entering puberty.

I have experienced poltergeist activity in my own home, and the people living there are well past puberty. Noises, things being moved/hidden/broken. I had a ritual dagger disappear, and I found it weeks later in an old drawer, under papers I hadn't touched in nearly a year. My girlfriend and friends know not to touch my gear.

Violent/playful ghosts are always a possibility as well, but like I say, one would have to look at the activity on a case-by-case basis to come to any kind of conclusion.

The Goetia - will need to get back to you on that one *makes a note*

Magick was spelt with a 'k' by Aleister Crowley to distinguish what he referred to as High Magick from magic like stage illusion/card tricks etc. Sex Magick is something else altogether, and not especially suitable for discussion on a PG-13 board

A close encounter of the first kind is seeing a UFO. A close encounter of the second kind is physical evidence of a UFO/aliens eg: footsteps, scorch marks crop circles etc.

MJ12 (Majestic-12 or Majic 12) was a high-level committee put in place on the 24th of September 1947 by President Truman to investigate UFO activity. It was supposed to have been in response to the Roswell incident, but of course the US govt. denies its existence

Were the MKULTRA documents real? Who can say? To be honest, it really wouldn't surprise me, as around the same time the Russians were apparently experimenting with psychics and remote-viewing. The American experiments may well have been an attempt to counter this.

Apparently the Nazis were occultists, and Hitler and Eva Braun were supposed to have funded hunts/searches for occult artifacts to empower their war machine in WWII. It's mostly rumour, but I do have a book on it at home I can check out and see if I can grab some more info.

[hairyman]

*subscribes*

Ok, here's some things I'm kind of curious about....

...as someone who is into this stuff, and has so much time and experience invested in it, do you find your perception of and reaction to what is termed the supernatural and Magic(k) shaped partly, entirely, or not at all, by people like Crowley and Robert Anton Wilson and whoever?

I ask this because I have rather long running conversations/arguments with a couple of friends over the usefulness and purpose of doctrine, ritual and mysticism in the understanding and contemplation of matters "spiritual", and I'd be interested to hear what someone else who's into this stuff thinks.

You got any theories on why there are ghosts kicking around? What's your take on the mechanics and what have you with the undead?

Ummm... Carlos Castaneda? You reckon there's anything worthwhile there?

[New Cult King]

Crowley had a huge impact on modern "occultism", but for me personally, he is a bit dramatic and more ritual-focused than I am. R.A Wilson is excellent for the deconstruction and objective analysis of the hows and whys of our perception and ways of interacting with the world, as are Dr. Timothy Leary and Antero Alli. Being able to take apart your ingrained thought processes and examine them is a vital abilty when it comes to "otherworldly" studies

My own views on how everything works have been drawn from many different sources; Eliphas Levi, Crowley, Wilson, Leary, Alli, Castaneda (who is an excellent for shamanic techniques), as well as people I have known in real life, and my own experiences and experiments.

As free-form, individual and bizarre as some architectural designs might be, an architect must have some grasp of engineering if he ever expects his creations to become reality. It's the same with most everything in life, the paranormal included. If you have a firm grasp of the tenets of ritual and various religious and quasi-religious doctrine, you start to understand the importance of focus.

A prayer said in a church, on bended knee, by candlelight under the stern gaze of Christ on his crucifix is more likely to be effective (to the subconscious mind of the one making the prayer), than an off the cuff "Hey God, let me roll a 6, 'k?" because the focus and intent are much sharper in the former instance.

Some people find the structure of ritual, with the proper gestures, words and tools to be vital to their magickal workings, and that's okay. Others learn as much as they can about the various rituals, doctrines, and beliefs from as many different schools as they can study, then incorporate the common basics into their own practice. And trust me, there are more 'common basics' than it would seem at first.

I can elaborate on these points if needed, so please feel free to ask for clarification.

As for my take on ghosts, I have a few theories. Please don't take anything I say as gospel, because your mileage may differ.

Okay, a lot of 'hauntings' are often just psychic echoes of events that are either imprinted on a place through a single, sudden, shocking burst of emotion and energy, or that have 'seeped' in over years of repetition. Footsteps heard in a certain part of a house at certain times of day or night may just be imprinted echoes of the hundreds or thousands of times somebody has walked through that part of the house in the past.

Some hauntings are slightly more conscious than this, and may be the result of people who have died either not realising, or not accepting that they are in fact dead. They will continue to turn on the TV, rock in their rocking chair, or move photographs around as if they were still alive.

According to NCK's school of thought, it goes a little something like this. We inhabit a world of physical matter. Matter is energy condensed to a slow vibration. We are able to reach states of consciousness, through breathing techniques, physical postures, intense concentration, drugs, ritual etc where we are more receptive to, and more able to interact with higher vibrations, astral travel for instance. The same way one can tune a radio or TV to various stations or channels, we are able to tune our consciousness much the same way.

When a person dies, they are freed from their phsyical body, and become part of a 'world' consisting of a higher vibration level. This is a world of pure energy, which is able to be shaped through thought and emotion, and quite probably where notions of Heaven and Hell come from. If you have lived a full, good life, and earned the love, trust and admiration of those around you, then your 'energy', and thoughts and emotions will be positive, and this will impact on this higher-vibration level. Same goes in reverse if you have led a 'bad' life, you will carry this over.

There isn't just one higher vibration - there could well be infinite realms, all existing in the same time and place, but unperceivable to the others, the same as we can't see, touch, taste, smell or hear radio waves. The higher the vibration, the further away from the material realm, until (as some beliefs say) one finally reunites with God.

Spirits are able to interact with our material world for several reasons. Some are lost or otherwise unable to reach higher levels, often due to fear. Some consciously return, or come closer, to send a message to a loved one. Some, as I said, don't realise they are dead, and stay close because they know no other way to be.

This is it in a nutshell, I could go on and on and on I am actually starting to write a book on the topic. Even if it doesn't get published, it will still be good to have it all out, and in one place

[Bmaxwell]

Are there ways to control Pre-cog abilties that randomly mainfest them selves?

I've had some things occur with myself that I'll describe later due to not haveing time to type them up. But I think that I might be a Pre-cog due to these situatuions

[New Cult King]

Yes. There is a way to control any kind of ability that seems to come in fits and starts. First step, learn to meditate.

Sit or lay down somewhere comfortable, with your back straight. Try not to fall sleep! There are several breathing techniques to use, and I'll detail a couple of them here:

~ Breathe in for a count of 4, hold it for a count of 4, breathe out for a count of 4, hold it for a count of 4, then breathe in again.

~ Breathe in deeply, until your belly expands and your shoulders rise. Immediately breathe out again until you are completely deflated. Count your breaths; in-1, out-2, in-3, out-4 til you reach 10, then start at 1 again.

~ Breathe in deeply, until your belly expands and your shoulders rise. Picture your breath as cool, fresh, pale green/blue air. Feel it come up your nostrils, over yoru brain, down your spine to your heels. As you breathe out, picture your breath to be brown and dirty, letting the breath carrying the bad stuff out of your body. Keep doing this until your whole body is filled with a cool, fresh feeling, and there is no more brown to breathe out.

What these techniques do is twofold: they distract your conscious mind, making it count or visualise the air you are breathing, and they also increase the oxygen in your blood stream, which stimulates the brain.

Now, picture the pre-cog ability as something tangible - a shape, a colour, or an animal, even give it a face and a name if you like. Bring it to the front of your mind - picture it vividly in your mind's eye. Make it yours by giving it form and shape. At the back of your head, to the left, picture a lightswitch. This is the switch that turns the ability on and off. Now wire the ability's form to that light switch, by threading brightly shining "wires" from where the image is at the front of your head, to the switch at the back.

When you want to use the ability, close your eyes, breathe deeply a few times, and flick the switch. You may need to run through the meditation/visualisation a few times before it takes - you need to convince yourself in the deepest levels of your mind that it is real, and true, and will work.

[Jedi152]

I've got a question: Why can't a Ouija board move when no-one is touching it?

But seriously, i'm naturally a very sceptical person, but i'm really intrigued by paranormal phenomena. I don't beleive in Ouija boards, or table tipping or anything (All evidence points to the fact that one person is moving the board subconsiously).

I'm fairly sceptical of mediums even though quite a few people i know claim to be able to hear things. Someone i know got very upset once claiming that his girlfriends brother (who had just killed himself) was communicating with him. I wanted to ask him more, but i know he's very sensitive about it, so i don't want to pry. It's cases like this that make me doubt my scepticism - he isn't earning money from his 'talent', Hell, he doesn't even want it.

What makes me most sceptical is this: The psychologist James Randi has offered $1,000,000 and an offical recognisation of life after death by scientists to anyone who can prove before a scientific board that they can contact the dead - very few mediums will go for it (because they know it isn't genuine?) and so far everyone who's tried has failed ...

Having said that, i am open minded. I'd love to chat to you about it sometime, NCK. Excellent idea for a thread, - i will keep an eye on it closely.

[New Cult King]

Have you seen the hell that James puts people through? He is a total sceptic, to the point where (regardless of what he says) he has discounted some very credible performances. Speaking from experience, it's not easy to just "perform" under pressure - it takes a fairly conducive environment most of the time for something to happen. That might sound like a cop-out, sure, but *shrug* it's true, at least for me.

Having got that out of the way, a sceptical, but open mind is the best way to approach the supernatural. Hell, I'm quite a sceptic myself, and I'm constantly testing and questioning myself and my achievements, trying to make sure I'm not fooling myself. I've reached a point now where I have had unsought external confirmation of things I have done, but still I question, test and re-test.

As for a Ouija board, of course somebody's moving the planchette - the idea is that it's a spirit moving it through that person. Dicking around with a Ouija board is something I would not recommend unless you are either doing it with an experienced medium who has a control spirit, or are one yourself. The pendulum is a different story though, and something I can go into detail about if anybody is interested.

The most 'powerful' (read: get the most consistent results) psychics I know do not do it for money either. They aren't rich or famous. They are just incredibly good, wise people. A lot of psychics and mediums are clever con artists, very good at fishing information from gullible, expectant clients.

I have paid to see one psychic (I know a few in real life, so rarely feel the need to pay for the services of a stranger), mainly out of curiosity. Not only was he incredibly accurate, he was also extremely helpful and set me on a really great path of study in the field of neurolinguistic programming, which is a fascinating topic. if anybody in or around Brisbane or the Sunshine Coast is interested, I will dig up his number and email address, as I can heartily recommend him.

[pyramid_head]

is there any way I can become some kind of super demon in hells armies akin to Violator or Vindicator from Spawn? Cause that would just kickass

[Hlokk]

New Cult King = Absolute freaking legend!!!

Another couple of question, if you'll allow me.

Several english texts refer to entities called "black dogs", which are ghostly apparitions that are described as having "glowing red eyes" and can sometimes fly, or possess the head of a human, a horse or something else. An example of one of these is a black dog that broke into a church in Peterborough and slaughered several members of the congragation (reputedly, the door still has black burn marks on it)

My question is this: What exactly are these things? Are they ghosts, manifestations of evil, are they the devil given earthly form or something else competely? and are there similar stories in other countries?

Also, Lycanthropes. Are there any relations, suggested or otherwise, between the leopardman cults of Nigeria/Ethiopia and actual were-creatures or is it all rubbish?

Thirdly: Demons. i know the Christian interpretation of them (Angels cast out of heaven), but are they present in other cultures? If so, what form do they take?

And lastly, can you recommend any good websites about UFOs and such?

[Hywel]

NCK, what's your take on past-life experiences? How and why do they occur?

I ask as I am fairly convinced I have experienced a very potent one and, despite the fact I'm incredibly skeptical, the usual throwaway explanations such as deja vu or coincidence just don't cut the mustard in my case...

[Shibboleth]

And lastly, can you recommend any good websites about UFOs and such?

I like http://www.disclosureproject.org/
It has many government or ex-government people, who are willing to testify before Congress about there experiences with ET's & UFO's while with the government, including secret gov't back engineering projects of crashed UFO's involving free energy, antigravity, etc.
There are some high level people giving their testimony in there, which you can watch for free in a two hour video of their national press club conference.

[C. Langana]

Several english texts refer to entities called "black dogs"...My question is this: What exactly are these things?

Crube's avatar that thing is eeeevil.

Lycanthropes in western mythology are thought to come from either a rare genetic disorder (the 'extremely hairy personitis' which a certain family in Mexico has) or from so called feral children.

Honestly chaps, hasn't our society transcended this pseudoscience and myth? I don't mean to be rude but my open mind still likes some good hard evidence.

[Jedi152]

As with the Randi thing NCK, you may well be right. He strikes me as the sort for whom no evidence is ever enough.

Several english texts refer to entities called "black dogs", which are ghostly apparitions that are described as having "glowing red eyes" and can sometimes fly, or possess the head of a human, a horse or something else. An example of one of these is a black dog that broke into a church in Peterborough and slaughered several members of the congragation (reputedly, the door still has black burn marks on it)

Ah Cryptozoology, one of my favourite subjects. The black dogs/big cats thing is interesting - i've read the one about the church too, but i think the one i read had several congregation members crossing themselves upon seeing the beast, and falling dead - something like that.

Like the infamous Devil's Footprints in Devon. Amazing story, even if it was most likely pranksters.

But before we get onto Nessie, there's not a monster in the Loch, and in all probability never has been. One of our lecturers at uni was explaining how the ecosystem could never support a large creature long term. Sightings are most probably dolphins or whales (remember it is linked to the sea) combined with over-active imaginations.

Lycanthropes are most probably genetic mutants, like bearded children and the like. Remember that most Vampire legends probably stem from Porphyria victims.

I don't believe in UFO's personally. I think most stories can be explained away as natural phenomena (ball lightning etc.) or as goverment test vehicles (how many 'triangles' were seen over the deserts of America before the B2 Spirit was unveiled?) but as with everything else, i am open minded, and most certainly open to discussion!

[Hlokk]

I don't believe in UFO's personally. I think most stories can be explained away as natural phenomena (ball lightning etc.) or as goverment test vehicles (how many 'triangles' were seen over the deserts of America before the B2 Spirit was unveiled?).

Meanie

Personally, i believe in aliens, and that we're not alone here on earth, and we havn't been for quite a while. The government definitely knows more than its letting on.

As far as magic and such are concerned, one thing does strike me as strange. A lot of rituals make reference to the moon as mother or something, i dunno. Does this mean that, in these belief systems, there is no room for the existance of aliens?

[Jedi152]

Personally, i believe in aliens, and that we're not alone here on earth, and we havn't been for quite a while. The government definitely knows more than its letting on.

Maybe they do! There's most certainly a lot of evidence to suggest so, just not enough to totally convice me - there are some excellent accounts from pilots about craft they've seen that i'm sure will be on the net somewhere.

Damn, i have to go home now, and won't be able to get online 'til monday. I'm loving this thread - Perhaps we should start a WarSeer Paranormal Investigation Society?