As we start to slow down the pace a little bit, we have really started delving into the depths of paranormal philosophy in the supernatural synchronicity series and covered a multitude of potential 'paratheory'. In his latest piece ‘psychical phenomena dynamics’ Ashley looks at the human element and what role we potentially play. From crisis apparitions to emotional connections, Ashley explored the dynamics required for psychical phenomena to potentially occur
The very reality of true psychical phenomena is a determined dynamic, which requires certain aspects to align before we witness that all important activity. It’s this lack of simultaneous evaluation that probable means we often miss a heck of a lot of activity, in my opinion.
Ashley Knibb
It is this emotional aspect that I want to explore further as I feel it in a sense 'backs up' my arguments that we are potentially the source of paranormal phenomena. An emotion is a complex psychological state that involves three distinct components: a subjective experience, a physiological response, and a behavioural or expressive response. As humans we all experience emotions in varying degrees. I have spoken in my own blog before about the concept of Emotional Transference. It is where a person feels that something potentially paranormal is making them feel an emotion they don't identify as their own. In simple terms, a spirit could make them cry or feel angry for what seems like no reason.
Emotional Transference
We all have some element of empathy programed into us. It is just more sensitive or dialed up in some than others. It is with this in mind that it would make sense that a spirit was once a living person that people can feel the emotions of a spirit. A lot of people do believe that a spirit can make you feel emotions. It is what is called, emotional Transference. A person can suddenly start crying or become quite aggressive or angry and they cannot offer an explanation as to why. It is in these cases they believe that a spirit is transferring these emotions to them. It is important to understand that this is considered to be different to possession. The person being affected is very much in control of themselves, their thoughts and most importantly their actions.
Emotional Projection
Now in this series in particular, Ashley and I have both explored the human element here. Not conforming to the mainstream idea that a ghost is potentially the soul or consciousness of a person that has passed, we have delved deeper into the paranormal abyss and looked at the possibility that it could all be us. We have spoken about psychic projection and in the same vein, we must then look at emotional projection. In the same way above where a person may feel that a spirit is communicating with them by feeling an emotion, what if they are simply picking up on the emotions of a fellow living human. What if the reason we are connecting on an emotional level is that we are unknowingly projecting our emotions in a form of psychic projection? Is that why the story seems so close to home - because it is really our own story? Poltergeist activity is said by some to merely a projection of emotions - most common in hormonal teens. Think back to your teens and how much of an emotional time it was. Your body is changing, hormones are making your feel all these weird emotions you have never felt before and you are learning the responsibilities of life. Is this why Poltergeist activity is most common in a household where a teen (usually female) is going through puberty? It also seems that in a lot of private cases, when someone reaches out for help and believes they have a negative spirit in their home, there always seems to be a lot negative things happening in their life. This is why it is essential that investigators are trained in mental health first aid to be able to refer people to get further help. It is that common it has become essential. Is it that they are really being haunted by a spirit, or are they actually projecting their own emotions causing the negative energy?
Is emotion the key to psychical phenomena? I don't think it is. I think perhaps instead that emotion can influence how we interpret possible activity and possibly even project it as well in certain circumstances. So with everything we have explored over the last few weeks, are we any closer to determining the source or psychical phenomena? While in all honesty we will most likely never be able to answer this question, there is another course that I want to revisit because I feel it does play a major role, and that is our subconscious mind.
Does the subconscious mind manifest paranormal phenomena?
I have explored the subconscious before in my blog as well and even in this series, but more from a perspective of how it could potentially influence how we perceive paranormal phenomena. What if though we look at things from the point of view we have been taking all along during this series? We have talked about psychic projection and how we potentially are unknowingly causing things to happen. Could this be coming from our subconscious?
“Our subconscious minds have no sense of humour, play no jokes and cannot tell the difference between reality and an imagined thought or image. What we continually think about eventually will manifest in our lives.”
Robert Collier
Paranormal investigators are out there actively searching for the paranormal. We talk about it every day. We live and breathe all things paranormal. If I look things in accordance to context of the above quote from metaphysical author Robert Collier, if we are continually thinking about the paranormal, will it manifest? Is our LOVE for the paranormal essentially making the activity happen? If we are going into a location with the intention to investigate activity, is this intent causing the activity to happen? While this could potentially offer an explanation for why so many paranormal investigators report a high level of activity, what about the random cases or sightings? There are so many variables when it comes to each theory that there doesn't seem to be a one size fits all answer to each case here.
Results from: Where do our beliefs lie?
So I have to ask the question ...
Is it naive for us to think that paranormal phenomena could be limited to just the one explanation?
More and more as I research and even actively investigate out in the field, I am led down this path that it is us. We are the source. I have to ask myself though, why is it that some believe one thing while others are so set on another. Could it be there really is no one size fits all answer when it comes to the paranormal? While we say we need to be open minded to certain things, is it naive for us to think that paranormal phenomena could be limited to just the one explanation? Is all activity just limited to a spirit of a living person? Is it just limited to multi dimensions? Or is it just limited to it being us projecting? What if instead of just one of these things, it is a bit of everything? I often think that in many ways, a paranormal investigator can be more close minded than someone not as actively seeking answers. In a recent poll I conducted, I asked people which different aspects of the paranormal they believed in. I found the belief structure quite fascinating. It seemed to the majority of people, the concept of a ghost or spirit was plausible yet something like Bigfoot existing was not. To me this was surprising as when looking at something like Bigfoot, in a lot of ways it seems more possible as an evolutionary anomaly compared to a spirit or alien life on another planet. Even when having discussions about the 'ghost hunting' side of the paranormal, investigators can be quite close minded. They get stuck in their way and their opinion and fail to look at the bigger picture. Their perception and opinion after all is based on their own experiences. We all have our own different experiences and perceive them in our own way. So where does that leave us? We can't agree and some times we refuse to even entertain ideas, so where does this as a field leave us? After decades and even centuries of theorising and researching, we are still no closer in getting answers, yet we still keep searching and debating. I quite honestly don't know the answer to this.
So I think it is ample time to hand over to Ashley one last time for his thoughts. I will then respond one last time with my thoughts and we will both then close the book on this series with potentially more questions than answers. Isn't that the way it always seems to go when it comes to paranormal research? In the mean time we would love to hear your thoughts. Join the conversation!
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