Paranormal and Occultic Studies 101

reply to post by Ihavenoidea


It's very difficult (read: impossible) to study something that has no basis in science. All you can do is drench yourself with all the half-baked ideas out there, and only ever hope to try to glue them together into some working philosophy, safe in the knowledge you'll never ever know if you're right or not, and that you'll never be able to apply it to anything to test it.

So, to sum up, until someone actually decides to study anything scientifically (and discovers something), it's pointless to try to "learn" anything other than other people's conjecture.

Originally posted by dave420
So, to sum up, until someone actually decides to study anything scientifically (and discovers something), it's pointless to try to "learn" anything other than other people's conjecture.

what's the difference between scientific surveys/studies/results and other people's thoughts/conjecture?

our scientific knowledge is ever expanding...always. what we call science and fact is pretty much our best interpretation of existence that we can currently come up with. we make use of new technology, a byproduct of our minds. was the earth flat? well for millions of people it was. we "discover" new things and change science.

mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers were pretty much one and the same back in the day. without conjecture, science would lose its cohesion. we need our minds, all different perspectives, to try to put all the pieces together.

granted, metaphysics and the paranormal can be crazy. you have people abusing, misusing, saturating the field with over-the-top conclusions. through conjecture, reasoning, and controlled scientific research into this field, more will be revealed and discovered. i am definitely open to these new concepts, but i will be hesitant to believe in the unfounded, the same criteria i use with religion.

Originally posted by banyan
what's the difference between scientific surveys/studies/results and other people's thoughts/conjecture?

I'd argue the difference is adhesion to the scientific method. Having an "out there" hypothesis is certainly well within the realm of science, but it's how one goes about looking into and testing that hypothesis that makes the difference.

There certainly appears to be a desire amongst some to actually engage in studies of psychic phenomena with an actual scientific bent, which is great. However, especially when we're all individuals discussing our own anecdotes on a website, there's a tendency for confirmation bias at the very least, and that's something that people need to be careful of. (I'm as prone to it as anyone. I have great intuition, but it's been known to be wrong -- sometimes I'm just being scared irrationally, but I remember the times I was right and consider that "confirmation" of my great gut instincts.)

That said, I don't see any reason why people interested in non-scientifically studied material shouldn't pursue that path in a non-scientific manner, as long as they acknowledge that they are working within the realm of mysticism, religion, and spirituality, you know?

reply to post by lucien


Nice take on the chaos..

by the way, found a site with some old books.

I ordered a book of it on dreams and projection from 1880, 1930s.

errr...

Never mind

I'll post it later when I log on again...

edit..

here you go..

www.arcanetemple.com...

[edit on 5-5-2008 by Ihavenoidea]

reply to post by Ekstasis

What is the reasoning behind that?

reply to post by Ihavenoidea

If you're referring to the studying of astrology being one of your key elements in your question (What is the reasoning behind that?) when it comes to occultism you will easily learn within your studies Astrology is very important to most Occults. Occult meaning "Secret and or hidden" in Latin is the study of hidden truth or wisdom. When studying the occult your mind cannot be closed off to topics that are not of interests to you or a topic you believe is not of importance within your studies but rather open your mind to "all" that is taboo, secret and so forth such as Astrology, Numerology, Magic, Spiritualism ETC.

What I want to learn is more of the paranormal then the occult, and from my point of view, it would be to the key to knowing almost any topic I want.

That why I would like to learn and master energy work..

However, I did read up on it, was it related to science way back in the dark ages?

And if it is related to what I want know any rare books on it and where I could find them?

[edit on 8-5-2008 by Ihavenoidea]

I have a book that may be on the simple side, but it has some excellent chapters on energy and such. A great read and inexpensive. Maybe this will help. Here is the link:Pract ical Magic for Beginners by Brandy Williams

Edit to add: My favorite simple energy exercise is to simply put your hands, palms facing, really close but not touching, and feel the energy you create. I think its neat!

[edit on 8-5-2008 by hotbakedtater]

err not getting anything out of it...

reply to post by Ihavenoidea


You've been handed much advice, we can only help you so much in relations to this.
What you do with this now is solely up to you in how you pertain this.

Each path you choose to study will lead you to another door. It's an Alice in Wonderland effect, the deeper you fall into the hole the more questions you have.