Daily Archives: September 19, 2012

Can one Become Psychic?

September 19, 2012   admin   No comments

by Deborah Lindsey

General sentiment seems to be that either one is born a psychic or not. And yet, many people feel a calling to do or be a psychic. So the question becomes, is it possible to learn how to be psychic?

I can tell you that I wasn’t “born” a psychic per se. I’m certainly no Edgar Cayce (probably the world’s most famous psychic.) Cayce had “imaginary friends” as a kid. He could also do things like set things on fire if he was mad or have fish just jump into his boat instead of using a fishing rod. He could go into trance and give people readings about their past lives or their health. He was known as “the sleeping prophet.”

No, I didn’t have any of that. But I was always fascinated and interested and WANTED to have those skills. It seemed like such an amazing skill to have.

So in college I was on the speech and debate team. One particular year I was scheduled to give an “informative speech.” For whatever reason, I decided to do a speech on palm reading. So I went to the local library and found a book. There was only one but that was enough. For the next semester I would renew that book over and over and over again as I studied the lines and looked at hands everywhere I went. Over time I began to really get a sense of it.

When the time came to actually give my speech, I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to say so I ended up giving the judge a palm reading instead. When all was said and done I came in last place in my division but the judge said it was one of the most fascinating “speeches” he ever saw. The problem was that I went so far over time that he had no choice but to put me in last place. :)

Looking back now, I can see that it spawned the seeds of where I am today and the seeds of IMU.

For the next (cough) 30 years, I have continued to study and hone my skills as a palmist. Nowadays I can look at someone’s hands from across the room and know tons about them. Its quite a handy skill to have. (pun intended.) lol.

After that, I went into healing. Now one wouldn’t think that healing work is the same as psychic work, but for me it certainly is. I would find that when I was working on a client, I would start getting all sorts of information about them that I never knew before. This was especially true during EFT sessions where the information became clear as day. Kinesiology was the same way. As I did more and more muscle testing I would begin to know the answer in my head before I ever actually tested the muscle. This, by the way, is common among healers. I am by no means the only one.

So when I started my actual training as a reader, it came quite easily. I already knew how to meditate (a critical skill in development work) and I knew the energy field along with palmistry. Before long I could read tarot cards and use myriad other “development” tools. And eventually tapped into mediumship.

Nowadays, however, I find that I don’t even really need the tools. I’ll start out by reading the palms but then the information comes in so easily it surprises me. This is particularly notable because I was by no means “born a psychic.”

I have come to believe that everyone is born psychic. We all know when we meet someone who is special. We all know when we walk into a room if the energy is friendly or hostile. We’ve all had that experience that we thought about someone and then they called or we knew the phone was going to ring just before it happened. We ALL have it.

So I firmly believe that, with the proper training, ANYONE can become psychic. It is a muscle that you work and hone. And even those who are born with a natural skill need guidance and mentoring to become really great.

This is part of the reason that we developed the Intuitive Arts program at the International Metaphysical University. The program is filled with amazing classes that will allow YOU to hone your skills. These classes include everything from meditation to basic psychic development classes, tarot, and even mediumship. By the time you are done with this training, you will most certainly be able to take your skills out into the world and help people everywhere.

If you’d like to know more, we have lots of information at www.intermetu.com or click here to learn about the curriculum for the Intuitive Arts degree program.

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The Long Island Medium, Fear, and God

September 19, 2012   admin   No comments

by Deborah Lindsey

I woke up this morning and, for the first time in a long time, turned on the TV. It seems that Anderson Cooper has his own talk show now (he is good looking afterall). His guest this morning was a woman known as the “Long Island Medium.” I don’t know her name but it seemed that she has her own TV show and most of the people in the audience were familiar with her. I’ve even heard my mom speak of her show so she must be doing very well.

Considering that I just spent a month at Camp Etna, a Spiritualist camp in Maine where mediumship is commonplace, I was fascinated enough to take a few minutes and watch her work. Its no surprise that she is good. I’ve seen a LOT of mediums in my day so I feel that I have a fair perspective with with to judge her. And yeah, she was good though its TV and so it could have been edited or enhanced. We just don’t know for sure.

That being said, she seemed legitimate to me. She readily acknowledged that she sometimes gets it wrong. She also mentioned that she works with symbols that she then has to interpret. Also true. The one thing that doesn’t seem completely legit is that she is just standing in a store or something and she’ll get a hit and have to pass it on as if she has no choice. I don’t know any serious mediums who can’t turn “it” on and off as life dictates. If you never shut it down, you would be bombarded by spirits and have trouble maintaining sanity if you ask me. So that seemed a little construed, but otherwise, she comes across like the real deal to me.

So after a minute or two, Cooper allowed people to ask questions. The first woman, who was also a guest, started by saying that she was afraid of this and went on to ask her if she was religious. I personally was appalled by such a question but also understand that people have really been taught to be afraid of any REAL contact with the other side. Its something I’ve never really quite understood. I mean why is it that virtually every religion talks about life after death and yet when you actually PROVE that life exists after death, people freak out as if that will make God so mad that he/she/it will send you to a place where you burn to death for all of eternity? It just doesn’t make any sense to me.

When I ask people (Christians in particular) why they are so afraid, they say that the Bible says its wrong. It largely comes down to one passage where Leviticus says,”Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them.” Of course Leviticus also said you should never cut your hair or shave your beard, you shouldn’t eat or touch pork or eat shellfish. The Bible also says you can’t get a divorce under any conditions, that wearing gold to church is a defilement, tattoos are a one-way ticket to hell, that its okay to kill your children if they talk back to you, and that its not appropriate to “pull out” during sex. And yet, no one thinks twice about cutting their hair. So why is it that mediums get such a bad rap?

This is particularly notable to me because the Bible itself contains more than 1,300 instances of psychic experiences, prophecy, and mediumship. For instance, the birth of Jesus himself was wrought with prophecy. The three “wise” men saw an angel who talked to them. Hmm. Mediumship? How did Moses get the Ten Commandments? Did a voice speak to him? Did they just materialize? Oh, yeah, that too would be a form of mediumship. And what of the book of Revelation? In fact, the Bible itself is known to be the “word of God” and yet it was written by man. How can this be possible if it wasn’t a channeled document or given through automatic writing? It looks to me like people who can speak with spirit are the very core of Christianity. So why all the fear?

I think that perhaps what people are really saying is that they are afraid of death itself. They aren’t so much afraid of the process as they are afraid to learn that people actually continue after death. For me, mediumship did the opposite. The very first time I got a message that was obviously from my grandmother and it was obviously correct, my whole life changed. At first, I wanted to deny it, even discount it, looking for every possible avenue through which they could have known this information. Was it possible that they did some sort of background check on me before I got there (it was the days before the internet)? That of course was ridiculous but I just couldn’t wrap my mind around it. Fortunately, it blew my mind so completely that I went back for more. And I’m very glad that I did.

To this day, I can honestly say that I have no fear of death, only a child-like wonder about what it will be like. I’m not in a hurry to get there, but neither am I concerned. I’ve never actually met a person who is dead who went to hell or who is in pain so that sort of discounts the whole “burn in hell thing” for me. In fact, they all seem quite content and all seem to like it pretty well. To me, the real value in mediumship was that it removed the fear of death and even the fear of God and therefore allowed me to live life more fully. To me, that is one of the greatest gifts that anyone has ever given me.

I can only hope that the “Long Island Medium” is able to help many, many others experience the same thing. To me, it is a gift like no other and I applaud her in her work.

Learn more about the Intuitive Arts program at the International Metaphysical University.

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Weekly Astrology Forecast September 17

September 19, 2012   admin   No comments

By

We have a big week coming up with the second of the Uranus Pluto squares dominating the energy. This means that we are in for a hell of a ride with an increase in the intensity which has been displayed in the rioting around the world because of that provocative movie about Islam. Mercury joins into this drama through aspect so we can expect much heated debate and likely more shocking news. Fortunately we are still under the influence of a fairly benefic new moon pointing us toward a more nurturing and compassionate path. At the more personal level, we should see the strain of this major aspect play our in our close family relationships because the quarter moon this week is on a challenging star and makes the polarizing opposition aspect to the mother goddess Ceres.

Monday, September 17 Moon trine Jupiter eases us into the week and is about as warm and fuzzy as you can get. Friendly, generous and emotionally warm all at the same time, so this is an excellent few hours to snuggle up to your teddy bear.

Tuesday September 18 Moon conjunct Saturn is the polar opposite of yesterdays teddy bear aspect. This is more like trying to snuggling up to a cactus. Everyone’s mood is likely to be cold and reserved so don’t be too worried if you feel a bit isolated or depressed, it’s going around.

Wednesday September 19 is the big one, the second of the Uranus square Pluto aspects over the next few years. I have written in detail about the effects of this and tried putting a positive spin on it, and we can draw positive from it in our personal lives, especially relationships-wise. However as we have seen in the news in the last week with rioting and inflammatory messages flying around, the major social and political upheaval associated with Uranus and Pluto is bound to continue on the world stage.

Thursday September 20 Mercury in harsh aspect to both Uranus and Pluto highlights the extreme differences in ideologies and leads to an intensification of accusations and ultimatums. In our personal lives we can expect problems if we push our views onto others so it might be wise to avoid any confrontation or arguments today. There will be some compulsion to react and speak our mind but with this tense energy around it will be important to consider both sides and look for compromises.

Friday September 21 Sun square Ceres could have us reaching for our favorite bottle or blister pack to calm the nerves of recent days. This aspect also suggests some tension in parent-child relationships or family feuds.

Saturday September 22 the Quarter Moon highlights the realtionships problems associated with yesteradays Ceres transit. In the weekly horoscope below you can see this Moon at 0 degrees Capricorn is opposite Ceres. Moon opposite Ceres not only brings up challenges with maternal issues but also brings out those addictive tendencies as the Moon rules our subconscious behavior and Ceres has some rule over drugs. Not helping matters in this regard is that the Moon is on the sinister sounding star Sinistra, “Lustful, wanton, infamous, scandalous, addicted to sorcery and poisoning.”

Weekly Horoscope

Sunday September 23 the Sun quincunx Neptune means we are called on to use the logical side of our brains in order to find the right balance. Much of the recent difficulties in relationships and within our own psychology has been due to our subconscious behavior dominating. Now the conscious Sun comes forward to make some sense of the confusion and find a way through the fog. Later today the Sun trine Lilith allows us to fully integrate the darker, subconscious feminine energies with the conscious ego self and truly find a healthy balance by calling on our magical intuitive skills via the occult or prayer.

http://darkstarastrology.com/weekly-forecasts/

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The Revival of African Healing Wisdom

September 19, 2012   admin   No comments

Author:Aamirah Branch

Many westerners who practice alternative medicine and those who seek their services are familiar with Traditional Chinese Medicine (such as acupuncture) or Ayurveda (the doshas). They are the most commonly used traditional medicine systems in the West. Yet, the continent of Africa is been deemed to be the birthplace of medicine as Hippocrates (the “father of medicine”) was said to have studied at the temple of Amenhotep.
Modern day Africa, like China, India and most other parts of the indigenous world, developed unique healing traditions adapted and defined by various cultural, spiritual and environmental influences. This system of healing has been satisfying the health needs of Africans for generations.
“Practitioners of western medicine do not understand – and even feel threatened – by a system that is steeped in ritual.”
The main problem with  African Traditional Medicine (ATM) taking root in the western mindset is image. Maurice Iwu author of the Handbook of African Medicinal Plants (1993)  reveals that “The popular image of the African medicine man is that of the fabled witch doctor, with his exotic paraphernalia of feathers, cowries and animal skin, muttering meaningless incantations and dispensing worthless potions to his ignorant clients.”
Practitioners of western medicine do not understand – and even feel threatened – by a system that is steeped in ritual. Traditional healers dressed in elaborate costumes who use spiritual and magical practices seem in direct opposition to the evidence-based approach of modern medicine. After all, it’s hard to document a shamanic vision in a clinical laboratory.
According to Africa Renewal, United Nations, traditional healers in African countries “divine the cause of a person’s illness by throwing bones to interpret the will of dead ancestors. Some healers say they directly channel the ancestral spirit through their bodies.” This divination process is the traditional form of diagnosis which views illness as having spiritual connections and thus must be interpreted in the same context. The ‘cure’ may involve further ritual and/or herbal/talismanic medicine.
Many traditional healers have in-depth knowledge of plant materials and their various curative powers which according to Iwu “cannot be reduced to simple herbalism.” It’s a complex mixture of science, culture and spirit.  Western medicine views these practitioners as simply charlatans preying on the superstitions of the locals.
The sad truth is that charlatans exist in all walks of life. In every culture there are those who would take advantage of the ignorance and innocence of others. Traditional medicine is no exception, but that is no reason to discredit the system. In western culture, people don’t stop going to doctors because of a wrong diagnosis. Nor do they discontinue using pharmaceuticals even with their harmful side-effects. They simply sue the doctors and drug companies if something goes wrong.
“Renewed interest may very well position African Traditional Medicine as a viable player in the health of the people of Africa, and indeed, the world.”
ATM practitioners are proving that they can compete and sometimes supersede science with their systems of healing. Now there is increasing cooperation between western trained medical doctors and traditional healers in the treatment of devastating diseases such as AIDS as well as the establishment of unions and associations for traditional healers in various African countries. With this new found popularity, there is growing concern regarding biopiracy and intellectual property rights as drug companies are seeking to tap into the knowledge of these traditional healers without compensation. What they once viewed as quackery is now a an opportunity for profit.
Yet, it’s possible that this renewed interest may very well position African Traditional Medicine and healing systems as a viable player in the health of the people of Africa, and indeed, the world.

About the author: Aamirah Branch is diviner, spiritual healer and student of Malidoma Somé, Dagara elder, teacher and world renowned interpreter of African indigenous tradition. She studies the Dagara tradition Malidoma at www.eastcoastvillage.org

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Warp Drive May Be More Feasible Than Thought, Scientists Say

September 19, 2012   admin   No comments
by Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Assistant Managing Editor
Date: 17 September 2012 Time: 07:00 AM ET
HOUSTON — A warp drive to achieve faster-than-light travel — a concept popularized in television’s Star Trek — may not be as unrealistic as once thought, scientists say.A warp drive would manipulate space-time itself to move a starship, taking advantage of a loophole in the laws of physics that prevent anything from moving faster than light. A concept for a real-life warp drive was suggested in 1994 by Mexican physicist Miguel Alcubierre; however, subsequent calculations found that such a device would require prohibitive amounts of energy.

Now physicists say that adjustments can be made to the proposed warp drive that would enable it to run on significantly less energy, potentially bringing the idea back from the realm of science fiction into science.

Warping space-time

An Alcubierre warp drive would involve a football-shape spacecraft attached to a large ring encircling it. This ring, potentially made of exotic matter, would cause space-time to warp around the starship, creating a region of contracted space in front of it and expanded space behind. [Star Trek's Warp Drive: Are We There Yet? | Video]

Meanwhile, the starship itself would stay inside a bubble of flat space-time that wasn’t being warped at all.

“Everything within space is restricted by the speed of light,” explained Richard Obousy, president of Icarus Interstellar, a non-profit group of scientists and engineers devoted to pursuing interstellar spaceflight. “But the really cool thing is space-time, the fabric of space, is not limited by the speed of light.”

With this concept, the spacecraft would be able to achieve an effective speed of about 10 times the speed of light, all without breaking the cosmic speed limit.

The only problem is, previous studies estimated the warp drive would require a minimum amount of energy about equal to the mass-energy of the planet Jupiter.

But recently White calculated what would happen if the shape of the ring encircling the spacecraft was adjusted into more of a rounded donut, as opposed to a flat ring. He found in that case, the warp drive could be powered by a mass about the size of a spacecraft like the Voyager 1 probe NASA launched in 1977.

Furthermore, if the intensity of the space warps can be oscillated over time, the energy required is reduced even more, White found.

“The findings I presented today change it from impractical to plausible and worth further investigation,” White told SPACE.com. “The additional energy reduction realized by oscillating the bubble intensity is an interesting conjecture that we will enjoy looking at in the lab.”

Laboratory tests

White and his colleagues have begun experimenting with a mini version of the warp drive in their laboratory.

They set up what they call the White-Juday Warp Field Interferometer at the Johnson Space Center, essentially creating a laser interferometer that instigates micro versions of space-time warps.

“We’re trying to see if we can generate a very tiny instance of this in a tabletop experiment, to try to perturb space-time by one part in 10 million,” White said.

He called the project a “humble experiment” compared to what would be needed for a real warp drive, but said it represents a promising first step.

And other scientists stressed that even outlandish-sounding ideas, such as the warp drive, need to be considered if humanity is serious about traveling to other stars.

“If we’re ever going to become a true spacefaring civilization, we’re going to have to think outside the box a little bit, we’re going to have to be a little bit audacious,” Obousy said.

You can follow SPACE.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz. Follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook & Google+.

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