"The Ki Process: Korean Secrets for Cultivating Dynamic Energy" is a book I picked up a few years ago. I've reviewed it before on other websites, but it is a significant piece in my book collection so I thought I would review it here as well. It's definitely one of my favorite books, not so much so for it's format but for the information it offers.
The book is written by Scott Shaw and was published in 1997. From what I can tell of the author he is fairly well learned on the subject matter and has written other similar books, as well as articles on various people and subjects. This book was to my knowledge the first actual book I picked up involving this subject, besides some general meditation books, and though it's not written in what I would call "plain speak language" it offers a lot of valuable material and gets straight to the point.
The book begins as expected, first luring you into the subject matter by discussing it's cultural origins and of course explaining the idea of "Ki."It states that Ki is a universal, not a personal energy, which is funny to me because so many other sources state otherwise. Perhaps either the message on their part was portrayed wrong, or my understanding of what was being said was just flawed. Either way, the book goes on to say that, though it's not a personal energy, "it can be consciously received, focalized, and isolated, thereby bringing it into the realm of personal usage when the physical or mental need arises." To me it just seems as if the idea of it being universal doesn't quite fit, if this is the case.
Why? Well, if it's a universal energy, how does that not incorporate the universes inhabitants? The book details that it can only be harnessed because "there is no savings account in the human body for Ki." This just doesn't fit though, considering later in the book they discusses Meridians, and the Tan Jun, otherwise referred to as the Dan Tien. The book describes this location as "the body's natural center of gravity" and that "it is also the physical location from which Ki is dispersed throughout the human form." So... Uh... Are we confused yet? Fear not, from my interpretations the book just failed to emphasize early on that Ki, is said to be a working energy on our plane of existence and can be used as such, yet it's actual location isn't on our plane and is located on a more spiritual plane of existence. That it simply trickles down to us and we use it from there. We also get it from the food we eat and the air we breathe (they do state this later on in the book, however).I just think they should have stressed that a lot more early on.
The book continues by discussing exactly what the Meridians are, prior to actually getting down into the practice and exercises. About the first half of the book is historical information and meridian discussion. This part I actually had to read twice (although I referred back to the book several times for it's exercises) to get a firm understanding of what it was they were talking about. Not that it was written poorly, just that the concepts went kind of over my head at the original time of purchasing the book.
The meridians are said to be "channels or highly defined pathways inside the human form along which Ki travels." Essentially they are suppose to work like veins, transporting the energy from point A to point B inside of the body. The Body being the metaphysical form of our body, not necessarily the physical body, although these meridians and the energy flowing through them have a direct affect on our physical health and wellness. There are 12 "primary" or "constant" meridians, that have a nonstop circulation of Ki energy through them in a constant and continual path.
The meridians they describe are; The Gal bladder Meridian, Liver Meridian, Lung Large Intestine Meridian, Stomach Meridian, Spleen/Pancreas Meridian, Heart Meridian, Small Intestine Meridian, Bladder Meridian, Kidney Meridian, and the final two "constant" meridians are suppose to relate to the general control of bodily functions, as described by the book. These are The Heart Constrictor Meridian, which dominates the continual flow of blood throughout the body, and the Triple Warmer Meridian, which controls the energy of respiration. After these, there is said to be two other meridians which also aid in the control of circulate of Ki throughout the body, and these are the Conceptual Meridian, and the Governing Vessel Meridian, nether of which are said to possess a direct relationship to a specific body organ and are not an integral element of the body's primary Ki circulatory system.
Just explaining that is a mouthful, the book offers some extremely detailed pictures that are great if you are interested in using energy work to "explore" these meridians yourself. They close this particular section by touching on acupuncture, which was kind of intriguing because I suppose acupuncture works based on this knowledge of meridians and their key points, and trying to free any potential blockages. Based on physical problems you can know which meridian may be blocked and need freeing to release that energy and aid in the circulation, to improve the issue. It's a fun topic to say the least, even more so for anyone interested in healing of any kind.
From here they just talk about how your diet plays a roll and then finally practical applications. They discusses "mudras," which are movements or particular signs made with the hands for meditation aids. They give you various exercises for internal and external Ki development and energy work. It's probably my favorite section of the book, especially at the time of getting it. i actually began using the exercises prior to reading the other "boring" stuff at the time. Now I'm more interested in that "boring" stuff because I learned the exercises. Funny how that works. They give you a few meditations, the most famous being the Four Phase Breath. I would definitely recommend this for anyone interested in energy work, they give you exercises for each body part as well as concentration exercises, and are very detailed in their explanations, and they offer pictures.
I would recommend this book for anyone interested in Ki, Traditional Energy Development, or just looking for a good read on meditation or who wants to brush up on their vocabulary and knowledge base. It is written in a more technical way than inviting and relaxing, which makes it kind of irritating to read from time to time. Not a very "home" like feel to it, but it's advantageous in this situation as it allows you to get the information right away, as opposed to carrying you down a long road of anticipation and useless rambling. I didn't find anything in the book that seemed opinion oriented and they just kept the "facts" and information. Pretty much why I bought the book in the first place.
Buy It
Subscribe
"Walking Between The Worlds: Techniques of Modern Shamanism" is a book I ran across when I was doing some eBook searches just the other day. It was written by Phil Hine, whom is an established occult/spiritual author. I can't say I've actually read any of his other pieces, but this was a free release book and only 46 pages. However, when reading it through I came to really enjoy the book. Perhaps this was from my minimal knowledge of the subject matter, or the plain speak language it was written in.
The author touched on some very real points that I could really relate to. Coincidentally they were things I had been pondering a lot lately so its significance was probably slightly amplified by that. The book did have some spelling and grammar errors, but I'm not entirely sure if this is just a rewrite done by someone else, or it was just never properly edited. Either way it's content out-weighted the small errors here and there.
The book to me, just basically screams Initiation into Hermetics. Simply because it's written in a format whereby it gives you information but stresses activity and exercises more so than historic content or vocabulary. To me this was both a good thing and a bad thing. It was good because it got straight into the point and didn't leave you guessing and lingering for endless hours. It was bad because the information presented was very similar to what I already knew so I didn't actually learn much in the area of "how-to's." Though, that really couldn't have been helped, considering I didn't KNOW that I KNEW that information prior to reading the book.
The book is also geared towards getting someone started down the spiritual path of the shaman, but it isn't written in the context of shamanism being some end all be all spiritual path. Which is refreshing because so many other books based on select spiritual topics speak in a language that is just completely condescending to any other pursuit the reader might have.
In the beginning of the book he stresses that during practice there is a certain "hump" you have to get over. This was an important piece and I'm glad he mentioned something, because even though I am not all that well versed in shamanism, the general principals of practice are the same. Many people quit early on before furthering there practice because they aren't seeing the result they did in the beginning. Even in physical fitness there are major results early on followed by a "dry" spell where people quit or try to change regiments. This is never the best route, sticking it out seems to be better overall, and in shamanism from what I have seen, it's almost even more vital to not quit and stick it out.
He goes on to touch on some key points and hits a few bits of history here and there, but he then gets to a topic that really intrigued me. He discusses lucid dreaming, or more specifically dreaming, and how it plays an important roll in shamanism. Apparently, through lucid dreaming you are able to enter into the "inner worlds," among other things. This was extra intriguing for me because lucid dreaming has been such a significant part of my practice for so long. It's funny how so many things are interrelated, and reading this also kind of pieced together some curiosities I had about what I was doing and some different things I'd experienced while dreaming. this wasn't the only way to enter into these "inner worlds" by the way, he was just making note of dreamings significance.
He also ties shamanism in with our current spiritual understandings and even makes a reference to how the Kabbalistic Tree of Life could potentially be derived from a shamanistic "World Tree," which I found interesting. There was another key point in the book I wanted to discuss but can't remember exactly what it was since reading it yesterday. Either way it doesn't matter, the book is only 46 pages and a review of equal length would somewhat defeat the purpose. The book was good, touched on some very good points and plowed a way for a firm foundation of knowledge. The exercises presented are invaluable and I suggest everyone to read over it whether you are interested in widening your spiritual understandings or not. I would definitely suggest this book. You can find more of the authors works on his website, and I uploaded the book so you can now download it from the Resources page.
Kabbalah; Key to Your Inner Power was a book I picked up a few years ago simply because it intrigued me after reading a few pages here and there. The book is well written and far from condescending. Unlike many books within the metaphysical genre, this one was not written with a very pretentious tone, which I really enjoyed.
The Kabbalah is an extremely large field, and so any and all books about it are usually worth the read, simply for knowledge's sake, however when reading this I did discover a lot of bad with the good.
Yes, The Kabbalah is a huge topic to discuss, as you can have entire books just discussing quite "basic" and seemingly elementary subjects, however, this book did not do a very good job with linking everything together. When you first start reading it, it keeps your attention very well, however later on down the line you realize that the book does not have a very easy going flow. It seems to somewhat stop without warning, and start up again, like a literature manual transmission, constantly shifting gears and not in a good way either.
The book delivered some very good messages though, and it did offer some good practical methods to get straight into the whole swing of things, and making the Kabbalah a part of your life. I wouldn't recommend the book to be a monumental stepping stone as far as knowledge is concerned, however if you know absolutely nothing about the Kabbalah and are looking for essentially a crash course on some basic concepts, it is a good read.
If anyone is looking for some general information about the kabbalah here is a small bit of information to get you started:
The Kabbalah: Brief Introduction
The word Kabbalah, or otherwise referred to as Qabbalah is a Hebrew word meaning “tradition” and is derivative from the root word qibel meaning “that which is received” or “to receive.” The practice is also often times refereed to as the soul of the Torah. The mystical practice of the Kabbalah teaches the inner and deepest most insights, delving into the essence of God and the process of his interaction with the world and creation. Kabbalah teaches a structured plan for the universe and our lives. Virtually all of the Western Esoteric Tradition can trace its roots back to Kabbalah. Though, Kabbalahs exact origins are currently uncertain, it is believed that Adam received the teachings of the Kabbalah from Angles that previously received the information from God.
This event is said to take place after Adam was exiled from The Garden of Eden.
Probably the most famous written teachings of the Kabbalah are found within the Zohar, which was released unto the Jewish world in the Thirteenth Century by Moses De Leon. The Zohar is a series of documents varying in subjects that was written using a seemingly esoteric commentary platform on the Pentateuch, referencing theosophical descriptions of processes within God. The "Zohar" has been widely read and was highly influential within mainstream Judaism as well as Hermetic Kabbalah.
Though the precise time and origin of the book is unknown, the “Sefer Yetzirah” (Book of Creation) to some, is believed to be centered on the origin of Kabbalah and is said to have been in use around the Tenth Century and perhaps composed around as early as the Third. In the book, it explains that God created our world by means of thirty two “secret paths of knowledge” which are said to be the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and the ten “Sephirots.”
The earliest written documents said to be of Kabbalistic origin in nature are said to originate from the First Century C.E. It is however rumored that even earlier forms of kabalistic teachings were spread by means of oral tradition that could have been essentially a precursor to the phenomenon of Biblical prophecy. This, along with the substantial amounts of literature pertaining to Jewish mysticism dating back to anywhere from 100 to 1000AD.
More substantial theosophical developments occurred pertaining to the description of processes within God, around the early middle ages. A deeply esoteric view of creation being a process in which God manifested a series of emanations (sephiroth) shortly rose thereafter. The exact timeline of the Kabbalahs long history is technically hazy, but we can assume that the teachings therein may date to pre-biblical times.
Though, looking past actually time lines or series’ of events that sparked the teachings of Kabbalah, Rav Phillip Berg, the author of “The Essential Zhoar” believes that Kabbalah is in fact not derivative from any specific religion or date. He says that the teachings of Kabbalah “the spiritual heritage of all humankind.” That it predates all nations, and religions and that it belongs to no fixed time, place, or society. I suppose the true dates, time lines, or origins of Kabbalah are unknown, though, it is safe to assume that the teachings of the Kabbalah give us tools that we can use to aid us in our spiritual journey and attaining union with the supreme.
Important Historical Kabalistic Figures
The current understanding and teachings of Kabalistic practice we are informed of today are possible because of many largely influential individuals over the history of the development of the Kabbalah. In this section, I will simply go over briefly many of these individuals in the order their teachings originated.
Simeon Ben Yohai was a second century Rabbi. It is widely believed that Ben Yohai wrote the first version of Kabbalahs core teachings, the Zohar. To escape persecutionfrom the Romans, Ben Yohai sought refuge in a cave with his son Eliezar. During this time in the cave, he and his son practiced and studied the Torah. Elijah, the infamous prophet was said to have visited them daily, imparting holy wisdom unto the men.
It’s said that through these teachings, Ben Yohai’s wisdom grew, and he was inspired by God to write the Zohar. These beliefs are widely enhanced when looking at the content of the Zohar, as many of the stories consist of personal stories of Ben Yohai and his followers, whom walked the deserts, wandering, and sharing passages from the Torah to those who they came in contact with.
However, it is still speculated, and by many, believed that the true author of the Zohar was Moses de Leon. This argument stems from the publication dates of the Zohar. It is said that if Ben Yohai wrote it, it then would have to have been hidden until the thirteenth century, when Moses de Leon would have found it. This was over a thousand years past the original date Ben Yohai supposedly wrote it. The true author, at this point, we can only conclude was a person, as far as we know. The rest is up for debate and speculation.
Our next person is Isaac the Blind. Isaac was an early Kabalist from the Provence in the South of France. He contributed greatly to the teachings of the Kabbalah, mainly in part by introducing a style of meditation that was directly associated with the Sefirot. Isaac was a devote scholar who spent the majority of his life on the study and practice of the Kabbalah. He believed that the mind of an individual who meditated on the sefiort would ascend through heaven and be united with God. Today’s Kabalists continue to use Isaacs approach on meditating on the Sefirot.
A widely popular figure, and one referenced well early on into this section, Moses De Leon (1250-1305) is an infamous Spanish mystic and author. He is famous for handing out, what would later be called the Zohar, as small books to people in 1280. Though, as previously stated, there was much speculation as to weather Rabbi Ben Yohai was the true author, as Moses stated, or whether Moses himself had written the material. The Zohar would later become the core fundamental teachings of the soon to be, widely influential practice of the Kabbalah. It was later found by scholars who questioned the author ship of the Zohar, that the Aramaic spoken by Yohai was different than that which was used in the writing of the Zohar. Though, the question still remains, who wrote the Zohar?
A largely influential book, The Pomegranate Orchard (Pardes Rimonim), which attempts to explain the common conception of the Sefirot, was written by Moses Cordovero (1522-1507). He was a leading Kabalistic figure amongst the community in Safed. His attempts at explaining these conceptions ended up being largely influential onto the entire Kabalistic community from both his and our era. His theories revolutionized the teachings of the Kabbalah in ways even he couldn’t have predicted. A three year student of his, Isaac Luria, incorporated Cordoveros ideas into his own, resulting in much of what we know today.
This leads us to our next figure, Isaac Luria (1542-1572). Isaac Luria contributed to the advancement of Kabalistic teachings majorly in part, based on his ideas of Gods first act of withdrawal (tsimtsum). His teachings lead to a separate belief spectrum of the Kabbalah, later creating the Lurianic system of Kabbalah. He believed that because of Gods ineffable vastness, when he withdrew himself from a single point to make room for a finite world, the “vessels” (sephirot) that were used to trickle down Gods light into creation, were too weak to hold the strength of the light, resulting in a cataclysmic event, breaking the vessels.
He believed that the fragments of these vessels trickled down into the finite world, and that is where they remain, until the Kabbalists could liberate them through Kabalistic study and practice. Unfortunately, the majority of what we know based on Lurias teachings comes to us from his disciples, for, he wrote down very little of his own teachings. Luria ended up dying due to an epidemic, but what we have of his teachings remains, and he has forever changed the way we perceive the practice and teachings of the Kabbalah.
The last person we’ll be briefly discussing is Rav Philip Berg, the head of the internation headquarters of Kabbalah. Berg rose to become one of the most influential leaders of contemporary Kabbalah, a large ascension from his former position as a salesman. He has written many of today’s famed Kabalistic books, including The Essential Zohar, Wheels of the Soul and the Power of One; he was also the supervisor for the English translation of the Zohar.
The Kabbalist Theory of Creation
There are two wide spread Kabbalistic views of creation, the standard version adopted from the Zohar, and the one presented by Rabbi Isaac Luria. The standard Kabbalist view of creation is actually not too far off from the standard scientific view point. Similarly to modern science, the Jewish mystics of the thirteenth century shared the common belief that in the beginning of time there was nothing more than “divine nothingness.” The mystics called this divine presence, or the God before our creation “Ein Sof.” Ein Sof is un-manifest, the always present and incomprehensible being of God.
In the Zohar, it describes the creation process in which Ein Sof manifested our world. It speaks of “the holy seed” which came to be through a series of emanations. The creation of this seed is described as an explosion of light in the Zohar. The Zohar states the following:
“As the will of King (Ein Sof) began to come forth, He engraved signs in the uppermost pure light. Within the most hidden recesses a flame of darkness issued from the mysterious Ein Sof, a mist within formlessness, ringed about, neither white nor black nor red nor green, of no color at all. Only when measured did it bring forth light-giving colors. From deep within the flame there flowed a spring, out of which the colors were drawn below, hidden in the mysterious concealment of Ein Sof.
It broke through and yet did not break through the ether surrounding it. It was not knowable at all until, by force of its breaking through, one hidden sublime point gave forth light. Beyond that point nothing is known. Therefore it is called “Beginning”-the first utterance of all…
The “Beginning” extended itself and made a palace for itself, for glory and praise. There it sowed the holy seed in order to beget offspring for the benefit of the world….
As soon as (the seed) entered, the palace filled up with light. From that light are poured forth other lights, sparks flying through the gates and giving life to all.”
Rabbi Isaac Luria, a renowned and revolutionary Kabbalist took a different viewpoint on the process of creation. He, unlike many Kabbalists of the era, and today, believed that the process began with contraction, as opposed to expansion. Luria states that Ein Sof would have contracted its center most point, and pulled away around this point. He says that in order for Ein Sof to have created a finite realm of existence, there needed to be a place for that realm.
Luria states that this contraction in turn created a vacuum, and Ein Sof thus emitted a ray of light, which he says Ein Sofs contained in ten vessels (Sephirot), and due to the strength of Ein Sofs light, or the instability of the vessels, they in turn shattered, igniting the process of creation. This theory is one that seems to have stuck and been taken very seriously among Kabbalists, as, even to this day, he is considered by many to be for lack of better word, the “best” Kabbalist in history.
The Tree of Life
The tree of life is composed of the ten sephiroth interconnected by twenty-two “paths” and arranged in descending order, aligned on three columns. They represent the process in which creation manifests.
The Triads
We’ll begin with an excerpt from “The Sacred Books of the Jews,” by Harry Gersh.
"The first nine sephirot were grouped in threes, each triad including a masculine element, a feminine element, and a combining element. The first three sephirot represented the world of thought; the second, the world of emotions and morals; the third, the world of nature. The tenth sephirah, Malkut, existed alone as the harmony of the other nine.”
“This triune was paralleled by the Kaballists' version of the three-part soul - an idea expressed earlier by Plato, Aristotle, the Bible, and the Talmud. The soul called Neshamah represented the intellect and corresponded to the first three sephirot. The soul called Ruah represented the emotion and corresponded to the Hesed-Geburah-Tipheret triad. The soul called Nefesh represented man's animal nature and corresponded to the lowest triad of sephirot."
The first triad consists of Binah, Keter, and Hokhmah, in order from left to right.
This triad represents the realm of the intellect. It is associated with the symbolism of the “dynamic function of a thought process anterior to the world” and there for is an “archetypal model”, says Charles Ponce. This Triad almost literally is symbolic to that of Gods mind, through this Triad you enable God to think through you.
The Pillars
The Sephiroth are also divided into three pillars beginning as spiritual cosmic light and ending in matter through a process of creation. The three pillars are representations of vitality, ascending and descending through vertical streams, or three currents of energy.
The right pillar is considered to be the masculine stream, it is termed the Pillar of Mercy and is formed of Hokhmah, Hesed, and Netzeh.
The Middle Pillar is the Pillar of Spiritual Stability and consists of Kether, Tipheret, Yesod, and Mahlkut. This Pillars “currents” flow from Highest to Lowest, and the potency of the Left and Right Pillars, along with this center one, are all interconnected, making it able for the “streams of vitality” to flow consistently through the ten Sephiroth. The Left Pillar is known as the feminine potency, and called the Pillar of Judgement. This pillar is formed of Binah, Geburah, and Hod.
Upper and Lower Faces
The Tree of Life also consists of two “faces” or “halves.” The upper face is an extention between Keter, Hokhmah, Binah, and Tipheret (and Da’at lying in the middle). It is associated with the Supernal Sephirot and represents the “merciful Face.”
The lowver face is made up of Tipheret, Netzah, Hod, and Malhut with Yesod in the middle. Yesod represents the foundation of the Tree, which is an important fact, it shows the process in which things flow upward and down. This face of the Tree is a reflection of the upper face. The Upper Face imparts grace upon the Lower Face and holds more governing laws than the upper face, being that it is farthest from Ein Sof.
The Sephirot
The sephirot are the ten attributing factors in which God uses to manifest both the physical and metaphysical worlds. The emanations of the Sephiroth are the building blocks of the Tree of Life. Their names are Kether, Hokhmah, Binah, Hesed, Chesed, Gevurah, Tipheret, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malkut. The sephiroth are alsu used in association with the manifested body of Adam Kadmon. The parts of his body and their associations with the Sephirot were as follows: 1. The Head (Kether) 2. The Right Shoulder (Hokhmah) 3. The Left Shoulder (Binah) 4. The Right Arm (Hesed) 5. The Left Arm (Chesed) 6. The Heart (Gevurah) 7. The Right Thigh (Tipheret) 8. The Left Thigh (Netzach) 9. The Generative Organs (Nod) 10. The Feet.(Malkut)
Conclusion
That's a bit about the Kabbalah, it's an amazing fied of study and practice. This particular book is good, and was able to hold my attention long enough for me to benefit from the information that was offered. I can't say it's the best source for someone intrested in the field, but it contains information, which is priceless. One of the best things about this book is that I was able to read it without feeling as if I had to decode some cryptic language just to get to the core of what they author was trying to say.
Buy It
History: The United Psionics Club
The United Psionics Club (UPC) was one of the Online Energy Communities popular websites. However, many people don't truly know how it came to be. After looking over various different assumed histories from former members, I realize that the need for a little more information on the site, what happened, what will happen, etc... Is pretty much a necessity and owed to the members.
UPC was not an over night creation by any means and the popular website most knew actually came into existence by a series of many smaller and less popular websites that were created some time before. Around the year 2003, Float began to become a regular at various Psionics based websites, more notable was his presence at PsiPog, which in turn created a reputation and life of it's own through widespread videos demonstrating acts of Psychokinesis. The work ethic, and pursuit of understanding and progression in this field is what commonly earned him either the respect of those who came before, or the suspicions of those individuals who felt for whatever reason that something was out of touch...
Three videos were released to PsiPog from Float, two of which were combined into one video, demonstrating the movement and manipulation of a toothpick. The second is probably one of the most disputed videos in the OEC, that of the manipulation of a quarter inside a glass. The video was actually crated as a favor and because requested, little do most know. With some searching it is plain to see that the most popular of Floats videos, were not all of the videos that were created. Several videos were released on various other websites.
Other videos were also created for means of experimentation that were kept completely private. Several videos depicting the "charging" of metallic objects were sent to individuals like Sean (aka Peebrain) of PsiPog.net. So the range and quantity of videos most knew, was actually much larger.
Due to his notability for Psychokinesis Media, and the ever so obvious urge for beginners and regulars alike to see new, updated, and continued videos and images of psychokinetic events, Float, with the help of AggSk8r (aka FireEye), and PsiLizard (aka Lizard), created a website known as Psi-Media around the year 2004. The website was created for the primary reason of listing videos, images, and games that made the cut. At that time Stony's site, PsiOnline (was primarily geared towards energy manipulation) as well as Floats site, Psi-Media (was primarily geared towards psychokinesis), seemed to be extremely focused branch websites to PsiPog, as many of the members that went to both, were regulars at psipog.
Around the time of 2004-2005 Float began to slowly get over a sort of block in the road, and he had begun heavily experimenting with the levitation of various objects. Several pretty in depth conversations about the matter were held with most of the regular members at PsiPog. It was one discussion with DagoRed which actually led Float to continue pursuing levitation. Different theories and ideas were tossed around the air, until Dago made a suggestion about a possible way to attempt to do it. The idea sparked similar ideas in Float, and they came up with, not a method, but a form of application of the skill that one already possessed.
Various videos were created during the practice, portraying the tilting of psiwheels on multiple sides, the "lifting" of one side of an L folded paper, to result in the paper falling over, etc... The practice continued for a few weeks until finally Float decided that he would go for something a little bigger. While sitting in the chat room at PsiPog, Float was engaging in a conversation about how he was attempting, with no real expectations, to make a nickel stand on it's side. After somewhat attaining success, excitement was shown for a lot of people, because what everyone had been working so hard to achieve, now had accomplished.
Later a video demonstrating the same thing, only with a quarter, was made. The video was created to show a few people, and in the video you see minimal results. The quarter briefly on separate occasions wobbles off of all sides in a seemingly jumping type fashion. No other videos demonstrating this were released.
After Sean had reviewed the video he quickly asked Float for the permission to put it on the website. No choices were made at that time, however a day later the choice was made, granting Sean to publish the video most already knew would create large streams of controversy. The e-mails, forum messages, chat room private messages, etc... began flooding in from all sides, those congratulating, and those questioning.
At this point the buzz in the video was at a high, and PsiMedia was no longer one of Floats interests. He decided that he should expand the website to also make room for articles and a more community friendly environment. The final choice to expand the website was made late 2005. Originally the idea was to just create another website and divert former traffic to the new page, and wait as the website grew. However, it took very little effort to notice the smaller communities that were springing up all over the place, as everyone seemed to want to run one. The idea grew from there that they should scoop up a smaller community or two to come along for the ride, granting former administrators moderation position, and their moderators, for the most part, would just be out of a job.
PsiLight was a semi-popular website around the general time frame in which Float had made this decision. It was run by SuperNaturalGuy (aka Goober) at the time. It had a somewhat professional layout, not so serious forum, and not very much content, but it showed intrigue and commitment to practice. Float decided that because the community was not very large, they should consider coming with the now deceased PsiMedia and creating another website to expand the horizons of both sides, gain more content, and be able to effectively do what they had all originally set out to do.
After few meetings with the main moderators and administrators of the two communities the idea was finalized. Constant brainstorming of the website was done, and the Idea to name UPC, well, UPC, was Floats. However, the original name was not suppose to be the United Psionics Club, it was originally deemed as the Unified Psionics Community, however the slight name variations changed slightly to get a better feel, and the debate between club and community was never fully solved as we all enjoyed both terms, but in the creation of the new website, SuperNaturalGuy put "Club" in the title, and it just stuck. Which was fine considering no real choices were made and everyone was happy either way it went.
The website maintained this state for some time.
Float and SNG were co-administrators, and SNG was the lead programmer for the site, more like only programmer for the site. It was his original coding that the website used, and no one was really interested in manipulating that. Some months past as the website was still in re-development, as it originally just kept the original PsiLight layout. It was a short while before the new and updated website came out, new articles were put up, better forums, new chat, and the website was off to a good start.
Some time later there was an issue, a controversy erupted causing SuperNaturalGuy to leave the website for preservation of his reputation. What had happened, Float informed the community, but after about a day he removed all information regarding the event for the sake of SuperNaturaGguy, and for that same sake anymore information about the event will not be given here.
At this point the website was left without a lead programmer. Luckily, a regular and an individual Float knew for awhile, Vitamyst, was up to the task. Float granted Vitamyst administrative rights and he quickly took on the responsibilities granted to him. Some months past and the website was slowly gaining momentum. Around '06 JoeT, a former psipog regular returned to the scene. He remained a regular to PsiPog for some time before creating his own website that was essentially a Parapsychological based Forum, incorporating both scientific and rough psionic information. Around the time this website was put up, Sean decided it was time to branch out and pursue other things, and thus put the community ties to PsiPog to rest, archiving the site.
This was a blow to many of the newer members who felt the strong urge to be part of a community, and so many of the members fled to websites like the Psion Guild, Veritas, Psi Palatium, Psionic Social Club, etc... And of course UPC. At this point in time UPC had a massive surge in new members, so much so that Float decided it would benefit the community to expand it a little more.
He ran across JoeT at some point during that pondering and they began chatting it up. At this point the topic of collaboration was brought up, as Joes site was still currently just forum based, and Floats was lacking in some vital content, they teamed up. Joe came along bringing some moderators, none of which received immediate moderation positions, and Joe became UPC's Fourth administrator. Around the same time, the now Goober (SuperNaturalGuy) strolled back into the site, and with his return a new layout was quickly put into the works and completed, new content was put up, and the forum and community it self grew in both notoriety and content.
A good run was had, and a lot of concentration on advancement, debates, etc... took place at the chat. An "Advanced" section of the website many do not know about was erected around the same time. This housed articles pertaining to subjects like Telepathic Suggestion and the like. The members who had access were those who presented themselves in an intelligent and mature manor, however, some who had access weren't exactly the most mature. In any event, this section did not last too long before many of it's content was places back into the general circulation of articles.
At this point the community was doing good, with content and new members added and joining daily. However, it wasn't exactly a happy story from here on out. Float encountered many personal family related issues causing him to go missing from time to time. Some phone conversations were had while Float was away, but in general this happened several times. Float was moving around, his access to the Internet was brought down to about two days a week, if that, and it was just a hard time in general to get much done, as no one really wanted to make significant changes to the website without going to him first. The administrators, especially JoeT took control of the website to the best of his ability, which of course had many members happy and some not so happy. But either way it goes, the community was hanging on and still thriving.
Floats on and off time for the website continued from the year of '07, to the summer of '07, at which point Float was highly active in the community again. New content was put out and the community as a whole was doing pretty well. At this point, however, Float was also more so concentrating on his pursuit of other areas, as he had always been interested in, but it became more of a priority at this point. Psionics was always included, based on the typical use of the word, however, more intrigue on the scientific portion, general metaphysics, and spiritual pursuit was far more important than simply focusing on strict psionics.
This did not affect the UPC community at the time though, however. Float had ambitions of once again expanding the website to broaden the horizons of the members, to allow them to think and not be so judgemental of the many areas that were not even discussed on the site. Some members were not exactly happy about this, others encouraged it. However the knowledge of how to do this exactly was kind of wary. Float brought some other individuals around the site who would help with incorporating other areas of interest, as Float himself wrote articles.
This need for advancement and expansion of the website unfortunately never took place, though, as Float was struck with a lot of different responsibilities around the fall of '07. His former plans did not go exactly as expected in his "real life" and he was forced to spend what extra time he had, on other things. When he did have free time, the need to get online, to a community he knew was simply turning into a run of the mill psionics site, grew faint. He was unable to access the chat room due to network issues, and the instances when community members reached out to Float unfortunately were all received late, and when they were received the thought of allowing the community Float no longer believed was benefiting anyone, to the extent that they couldn't receive that same benefit on one of the other larger communities, simply was not present.
Many hours of contemplation was put into the site when Float had time to think it over, but the thought of resurrecting the community was simply not a priority, at least, not in the same form it was in before. Around late May '08 to Mid June '08 Float returned to the OEC, visiting chat rooms under his common alias, and under forums as a different one, as to be able to express himself without having members regard him as "Float," who many people held assumptions about what his practice incorporated, and what his time primarily went into. He simply did not want those former name based associations to go along with the experiences, and advice, if any, that may have been given.
Upon this return he contemplated bringing UPC back up, but changing it and incorporating more things as he planned before. However, unfortunately the entire site was removed from the server, so all the information was lost, including the member database and the articles.
At this point in time the site is no longer around, and UPC as it was known before is resting in peace, and will no longer be resurrected. A new site may take it's place, but not in the immediate future. At this point it's more important for me to continue to focus on my own advancement, so that I can continue to be in a better position to help those individuals interested. Many thanks goes out to all of the regular members, many of whom I cannot remember at the time of jotting this small history up. I apologize for those individuals who feel as though I did not fully incorporate their individual works put in to maintaining the site, however know that I am truly grateful for the years UPC was around and all the work and commitment many people put into it. From advertising, writing articles, media, to regular forum and chat members doing their part to ensure an educated community.
UPC was filled with many kindhearted people dedicated to the advancement of parapsychological research, and housed members from all different beliefs, practices, and experience. It was an amazing place to be, however, like many communities it also had it's fair share of community politics that I am not happy about. Many of the former admins have all been focusing on their other priorities in life, but many have also stuck with their practice, whereas others have since "retired," due to time constraints. The community would have been nothing without the members and admins/moderators who stuck by it. There were ups and downs, arguments and disagreements, but in the end it was one very large, very dysfunctional, very dedicated and motivated family, and anyone who had the opportunity to be a part of it will understand that it will be missed, but it served it's purpose.
There are many smaller communities that have since been brought up and many of the larger ones have just continued to grow. As for the future of UPC, or, rather, what will become? What will stand in it's place? For now we'll just have to wait and see what happens, but either way it goes, I'm sure it can only be better than what was known before. So to all of you former members out there reading this, forgive me for any details I might have missed over, but I hope this cleared up the assumptions, and some shady areas you might have had, about myself, and the community. Once again, I apologize for anything I may have missed over or not gone into enough, if there is something specific you would like added, you may leave a comment that can either act as an update to this history, or I will add it to it.
Thank you everyone who has been there and gone through the wonderful ride we called the United Psionics Club.
Take Care,
~Chris aka Float
I've had this book for quiet some time now. Because this review, if you want to call it that, is already looking to be quiet lengthy, I'll skip over most of the unnecessarily information and get right into the book.
The books entire set up is on a basis of psychic awareness, and development, coming from "The Four Psychic Reception Areas" as they have chosen to so eloquently call them. The areas that they are refering to are; psychic vision, hearing, feeling, and intuition.
The first of these that they taught about and discussed was "Feeling." They call this area the most accessible, and the easiest to open and interpret. They claim that this is what happens when you get "gut feelings" or "instincts." They call these events "psychic impressions " that are "...plucked from the energy field that surrounds us."
"All people, places and objects constantly radiate vibrational patterns, and your physical body is like a large antenna able to register and assimilate their meanings as inner feelings..." They say that this area is linked to a physical sensation. It's location is in the solar plexus... "...the solar plexus functions as a "master antenna." Numerous nerve networks associated with the autonomic (or involuntary) nervous system are located there, spreading over the abdomen like a latticework of fine wires. The autonomic nervous system not only provides direct access for psychic impressions to the subconscious mind, but it also is linked to every major organ and most endocrine glands..."
The method they offer for accessing this is about what you would assume from a book titled "You Are Psychic." It's as follows:
1. Relax your body by taking several deep breaths and slowly exhaling. Sit or stand comfortably, facing away from anyone who is present, and close your eyes.
2. Focus your awareness on the solar plexus area ad feel the
impressions you are receiving.
3. Don't try. Don't force. Just be open and aware, You should feel
as if you have full access to the master antenna in your solar plexus
area.
4. Note the impressions you experience.
Does the room feel calm or vibrant? Does its energy feel sluggish, smooth, or
scattered?
5. Briefly go to several other rooms or environments and
tune in the same way. compare and differences in feeling you sense from each
location. They then ask you to tap into this feeling receptor and think about several people that you know, one at a time. Essentially they are asking you to practice empathy. They want you to see how they feel right now, etc... You know the drill. They want you to practice this regularly and to learn how to feel a persons own individual "vibration, or aura," essentially their "Psionic Signature" (not in the book) They say that doing this will help you access this Psychic Feeling on command.
After this they move into the psychometry section entitled "Psychometry: Psychic Feeling Through Your Hands." Afterwhich is no more teaching. The rest is discussion about how to practice, what it does for you and the like.
Psychic Intuition
The reception area, as told by the book, is located at the top of the head. In an almost funnel/whirlpool like image. The book states that Deja Vu, Precognition, etc... All stem from this area
"The neurobiological basis for locating the Intuition Psychic Reception Area
at the top of the head is that the central fissure of the brain lies there. That central fissure provides the most direct and unobstructed pathway to the corpus callosum, the massive nerve bundle that interconnects the two hemispheres of the brain. with the recent emphasis on the advantage of using both the right and left sides of the brain, access to their primary connection may well be of profound importance. Moreover, shifting your awareness upward to the crown of the head consistently causes a marked increase in alpha-brain-wave activity--the brain-wave pattern most frequently associated with altered states of consciousness and increased extrasensory ability" "Tapping the Gateway to Psychic Intuition"
1. Relax, sit comfortably, and close your eyes.
2. Picture a funnel, it's wide end extending up and out from the center of the top of your head.
3. Gently guide your awareness upward and focus your attention out through that funnel. Be open to whatever you experience. 4. Remember, do not try too hard; do not force your concentration!
5. Practice alternating between your normal eyes-open awareness, and thinking up with your eyes closed (turning your attention upward to the Intuition Psychic Reception Area)
6. Feel how a multitude of impressions seems to be pouring into your mind through the funnel. Notice the sensation of heightened attunement that opens to you there. They say that this area is the easiest to switch on once you know how. This area is used to gain knowledge. They used an example of a graduate of "Free Soul" who used this method, and was given the exact time and date of her child's birth, as well as the birth weight, three weeks prior to the event. That, as well as the writing using a similar version of this to help with his academic success at MIT.
Psychic Hearing
This area is located at either side of the head, above ear level. They say that this section of the skull lies over the cerebrum that processes auditory information. That at this location nerve signals from the inner ear are gathered, sorted, and integrated so that sound waves striking the ear drum can be perceived as words or language.
This section is used when focusing in on peoples conversations across the room, or in a noisy environment. They give a method for this, as expected, and it seems to be scarily similar to methods prescribbed for "clairaudience" practice.
1. Sit comfortably; relax.
2. Take a deep breath and exhale gently.
3. Practice sensing the different parts of your head area. Without touching them, be aware of your ears and the level of your ears.
4. Now shift your focus upward and sense the area above your ears. Be aware of the sides of your head one or two inches above ear level.
5. Note how this area has heightened sensitivity, like a microphone ready to amplify any sound or signal. Picture huge megaphones channeling psychic vibration directly to the temporal lobes.
6. Alternate the levels of focus several times, first aiming your awareness at ear level, then letting it slide up to the temporal-lobe area above the ears. This reception area is located at the third eye region of the forehead (about a half inch up from the middle of your eyes) 1. Before pinpointing your exact Vision Psychic Reception Area location-your third eye-it is important to understand the foci or center points of both the physical and psychic vision fields. An awareness of how that center point shifts when you switch from physical to psychic vision is crucial to understanding and effectively using your Vision Psychic Reception Area.
7. Begin by finding the center point of your physical vision field. Relax and look straight ahead. While looking at the entire scene in front of you, feel where the center of your vision field is in relation to you race. For example, if a perfectly straight and level line were extended back toward you from the center of your field of vision, where would that line touch your face? most people find that the center of their physical vision field lies between their eyes and about an inch below their eyebrows, approximately at the bridge of the nose. 3. Experiment to get the clear feeling of where your physical vision's center point is. If you are having difficulty extend your arm, pointing a finger at yourself and with your eyes open gradually bring your finger closer and closer to you (keeping it in the center of your fiend of vision) until it touches your face. Do not stare at your finger. Look straight ahead and keep your finger in the center of what you see until it touches your face. This point is the center of your physical vision field. The steps continue until about 6. You get the general direction they are trying to go in. From this step they basically tell you to try shifting your vision to this location. They tell you that you have both visions accessible with your eyes open, but this is often ignored.
After some exercises they go into other clairvoyance related things; dream interpretation, psychic vision, etc...
The book continues with some other interesting and semi-entertaining sections. They teach some mind over matter stuff like biofeedback. That particular section is entitled "Mind over Pulse: Learning Heart Control." They also talk about some Healing topics, among a lot of other things. The book is about 260 pages of actual information.
This book was fairly well written I must admit. I don't really appreciate the way in which it was written though, so if you pick it up, don't expect it to value your intelligence. I cannot say I disapprove with the authors methods though, especially when you consider that this book is entitled "You Are Psychic," It's fairly obvisus to locate the target audience. That audience more often than not being a group of people looking for direct, straight to the point explanations and exercises for developing psychic-abilities. It's a pretty cheap book, around $11.20 on amazon. I have read better articles online about some of these topics, so I wouldn't point you in that direction if that's all you're gunning for. It does have some very good information about the mind and related content though. Those sections are what made this book worth reading for me. If you're just bored though, I'd recomend picking it up. It's a very easy read and you will probably get through it in a day or two.
The book, and all quoted material is sole property of the author. Copyright 1989 Pete A. Sanders, Jr. All rights reserved.
Buy It
