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The countdown to the end of the series on the relationship between religion and the paranormal is on. Tonight, we look at prayer and channeling.

Are they similar or are they nothing alike?

Let’s get to it, shall we?

To give us a base of understanding, my Merriam-Webster Dictionary has this to say:

Prayer

1. a supplication or expression addressed to God or a god; a set order of words used in praying
2. an earnest request or wish
3. the act or practice of praying to God or a god
4. a religious service consisting chiefly of prayers
5. something prayed for
6. a slight chance

Apparently Merriam and Webster are comfy using the word you’re supposed to be defining as part of the definition and hanging a preposition at the end of the sentence…

Channeling

The dictionary is silent on this, except as it applies to television frequencies and digging channels in the ground and stuff. Basically, channeling is the method of communicating with non-human energy. Either you’re talking to it, or it’s talking through you.

Are Prayer and Channeling the Same?

I know, I know…It would be cool if I could drop some sort of bombshell here to explain how prayer and channeling are the same thing because it would tie a neat little bow on our series. I suppose I could make something up, but lying isn’t my thing. Instead, it’s truth time.

Prayer and channeling aren’t merely not the same thing, they aren’t even close.

Just because you’re talking to a spirit doesn’t mean you’re praying to them. You probably talk to dozens of people each day. Are you praying to all those people as well? If you are, I’m concerned, but chances are that you aren’t even trying to do that.

The definition is clear that we’re talking about conversations and/or requests to God or a god…not the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe.

But you knew I’d add a caveat, didn’t you?

Have you ever met someone who says they can actually hear God or Jesus (depending on who they’re talking to) answer them when they pray? Are you one of these people? What about when you’re talking with someone about their spiritual life or trying to convey some religious truth and the words flow from your mouth from somewhere other than your own brain?

And so we’re clear, I’m not talking about schizophrenics.

Some would say that the Holy Spirit is talking through you or that some people can hear God’s answer to prayers as clearly as conversation with a corporeal person. They’d be 100% correct. They’d also be neglecting the fact that when anything speaks THROUGH you, including the Holy Spirit, you’re channeling. (and technically, if you can hear a being that isn’t humanly with you, you’re clairaudient…)

It’s also worth mentioning that any spirit, deity or power you channel has a distinct energy to them. The same energy you feel during prayer to Jesus when you feel like He’s really answering you should be the SAME energy you feel if you’re channeling Jesus…except, it might be a touch more intense. If you think you’re channeling Jesus and the energy is nothing like what it’s been for you during prayer, there’s a good chance you’re dealing with an entity who’s lying to you and pretending to be something it isn’t.

And that would go for anyone you might pray to, not just Jesus, so that should apply regardless of your faith.

What’s on tap for tomorrow in our series on the relationship between religion and the paranormal? Reincarnation. Until then, what are your thoughts on prayer or channeling?

Jen

“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”

Image via Wikipedia

Happy Tuesday, dark passengers. It’s time for the final guest post of our series on the relationship between religion and the paranormal.

Guest poster M. Lane is a mother of two living in Texas. She had a strong Christian upbringing and has also dealt with numerous unwanted entities in her home. Her interest in the paranormal stems, in part, from these unwanted invisible visitors, some of which came with less than sweet intentions.

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It’s hard to justify multiple beliefs, especially now that each ‘organization’ demands 100% commitment.  I go to church weekly and teach my children that Jesus took our punishment.  I also know that there are many different energy sources surrounding us that can control our moods, thoughts, and sometimes actions.

I’ve personally had too many experiences with spirits or ghosts to look the other way and blame it on anything else I can make some semblance of “truth” out of.  I ask which is better, not learning about something you find interesting and want to research further and possibly add to your library of beliefs or that you do all those unmentionables and lie awake at night contemplating your guaranteed ticket to Hell because you don’t always put God front and center?

My justification is that God sacrificed the life of his only son because he knew we were sinners.  He also empowered us to use our minds and hearts to reach out beyond limitations set by delusional Bible thumpers.

As long as the Lord is your holiest power, at the end of your researching and potential new beliefs you say your grace and give your blessings to Him you won’t have to worry about booking your one way,  do not pass go ticket to the eternal inferno.

I give all of my thanks to God but it doesn’t mean I don’t daydream about a parallel universe where I didn’t choose the accident route to work. Or, I imagine I didn’t take my current job on one of those less than perfect days.  I think about the power source that is the center of our universe and what it would feel like to have energy at my fingertips, like some kind of beck and call boy.

At the end of the day when I set food on my table, lie down with a roof over my head, read some subtle sign so I steer clear of otherwise unforeseen trouble, I thank God for the wonderful life I have.

I feel comfortable doing that, even though it may be to the lingering scent of my smudge stick or with a slight lump in my pillow from my amethyst.  Hopefully, the marriage of our quest for knowledge to our battle of beliefs will be infinite.  My comfort comes from the power to justify the two.

M. Lane

Your Dark Passenger does not necessarily believe that all “Bible thumpers” are delusional. However, if you are actually thumping your Bible while you talk to people or, worse still, thumping people with your Bible, YDP reserves the right to reconsider that opinion.

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Make sure to join us tomorrow for the final Wednesday in our series on the relationship between religion and the paranormal as we discuss  both channeling and prayer.

Jen

“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”

Image by Zombie Inc. Wholesale zombies for over 20 years via Flickr

Happy Monday, dark passengers. Tonight, we kick off the final week in our series on the relationship between religion and the paranormal. And seriously, is it even possible to do a month-long look at these topics without discussing Jesus?

Okay, it’s probably possible, but it seems like it would be lacking somehow…

Anyway. I’ve heard people of a multitude of faiths agree that Jesus was certainly an enlightened figure capable of performing a variety of acts that are nothing short of miraculous, even if they don’t necessarily believe him to be God, messiah or Savior. So, if there can be some measure of agreement about the healings performed by Jesus, the question as to how he could do it is worth a look.

Healing Powers of Jesus

Before we start, I have to bring up the objection I’ve heard from some about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead after four days. Okay, knowing that back in those days people were often buried alive because their signs of life were too faint for human perception to notice, I can see the justification for the argument. However, the fact remains that Jesus still healed the guy who was so sick that everyone thought he was dead for four days and made it possible for him to start walking around.

Honestly, I think even by today’s medical standards, we’d consider that fairly miraculous, don’t you?

So, where did Jesus’ healing powers come from? We have a few basic options:

• The awesome abilities were hiding somewhere in his body, maybe his spleen
• The Holy Spirit gave them to him
• The power was from Satan
• The power was from God.

Right now, I’m giving Jen’s opinion on this. There are probably some passages in the Bible that would give a definitive answer, but I’m all researched out today. I think Jesus got his healing powers from God. Why?

• I’m not inclined to believe that human beings of their own accord have awesome power, even lurking in the spleen
• I’m under the impression that the Holy Spirit showed up on the planet, after Jesus died and was resurrected
• If there’s no reference anywhere of Satan healing anyone, why in the world would anyone think he would give healing power to anyone, even Jesus?
• Frankly, if the power was from God, it wouldn’t really matter whether you want to believe that Jesus was God, the son of God, or both. Power coming from God covers all three of those.

And if you don’t believe in God, which is the name I use for the higher power/creator I believe in, you couldn’t by definition believe in lightworking either, so I question why you’re wasting your time reading an article about a bunch of stuff you think is crap. Just sayin’…

Jesus and Lightworkers

Truth time. I’ve been thinking about this question for a lot longer than we’ve been discussing the relationship between religion and the paranormal.

A little more than a year ago, I read an article that suggested Jesus spent the years of his life not mentioned in the Bible studying under the Eastern healing practitioners and yogis of his day. I couldn’t find the article, as usual, but I remember it being a fascinating read. Granted, it didn’t seem to have the minor detail of evidential support for the claims.

Even still, that got me wondering if there could be a connection between the healings performed by Jesus and the “new age nutcase” healers.

We’ve already talked about the spiritual gift of healing as it relates to lightworking and reiki, so I won’t bother rehashing that. Instead, I’d like to share a conversation I had with someone I know who has a solid understanding of the Bible. He told me that his understanding was that followers of Christ should be able to perform the same miracles Jesus did back in the day if their faith was strong enough.

At first, I thought that seemed a little far-fetched, but I’ve come to learn that he’s not alone in that view. In fact, the Reiki for Christians organization cites John 14:12 for the basis of this belief:

• “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.” (words of Jesus, New Living Translation)

As with all scripture, the exact meaning of His words remains open to interpretation, but please keep in mind that not all translations specifically mention “works”, which seems to imply his miraculous works to many.

So…Answer the Question, Jen

Okay, I will. I don’t know if Jesus was a lightworker. Certainly, by definition, it would seem related, as both draw/drew their power to heal others from God. (Many Christian lightworkers actually claim to draw their healing ability from Jesus…)

That being said, the healing work of Jesus seems to far surpass any of the healings performed by modern lightworkers and reiki healers. Whether that’s because Jesus was, in fact, God or simply more in touch with God than anyone else since, I’ll leave for you to decide for yourself.

If I wanted to tell you what to believe, I’d be running an evangelistic website, not a paranormal/conspiracy theory/serial killer website…

Okay, so y’all have been EXTREMELY quiet during this series, so someone tell me on Facebook if comments stopped working again. But if they do work, it’s time to share your thoughts on this subject. What do you think? Was Jesus a lightworker? Are the two even related?

Jen

“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”

Image via Wikipedia

Happy weekend, dark passengers. Of course, this isn’t just another normal weekend, it’s the last in our series on the relationship between religion and the paranormal. We’ve still got one more week to go, but things will wrap up by Friday. Today, however, we discuss the existence of angels, demons and ghosts.

I’m going to be really honest with y’all. This is the post I’ve been dreading since we started the series a few weeks back. In fact, I nearly removed it from the calendar altogether.

But no discussion of the paranormal or religion would be complete without taking a look at spirits and entities, so here we are.

Angels, Demons and Ghosts are a Touchy Subject

In general, yes, talking about entities is always a conversation filled with landmines and foot in mouth moments. Of the religions that belief in angels and demons, I’ve found they usually disallow room for ghosts. Other religious and/or spiritual groups don’t believe in demons. Some only view angels as people doing positive works, not in a ethereal form.

Then there are those, like myself, who deny the existence of Satan. (It’s more that I take issue with the current view of Satan as an evil pitchfork holding schemer and all-around Boogey Man.) Others deny the existence of God. Logic follows that someone who doesn’t believe in God wouldn’t believe in angels; someone who doesn’t believe in Satan wouldn’t believe in demons.

To take it to the hyperbole, do you believe in flying reindeer if you don’t believe in Santa Claus?

But I think we all know I don’t mind barreling through a minefield when I have something to say on the subject. For me, the existence of angels demons and ghosts is a touchy subject because it’s an area of the paranormal and supernatural I know all too well.

Personal Background

In case you haven’t noticed this yet: I’m awesome when I’m talking facts or concepts. If someone needs help understanding something or working through an aspect of their life, I’m all over it.

Yet I falter when it comes to sharing difficult personal experiences.

Oh sure, I can talk about being an Empath all the livelong day, but have you heard me talk about how horrific it was for me before I knew there even were empathic abilities, much less that I possessed them? Unless you’re a personal friend, probably not. In some cases, I haven’t even shared that tale with my personal friends.

Talking about angels, demons and ghosts is basically the same thing for me. Well, it’s probably worse. Even at their worst, none of my psychic abilities scare the hell out of me. Seriously, if a magic genie wisped out of my water bottle and gave me a single wish, it would be that no one has to have a demonic encounter.

I’m dead serious.

Anyway. Before I go further, I think a disclaimer of sorts bears mention. Depending on how long you’ve been reading me, or which of my sites you visit, you may have read this before from me. Here goes: I’m not crazy.

I wish I were. You can treat a mental illness with a pill and be fine. There’s no paranormal pill. But a fun variety of psychiatrists, psychologists, spiritual counselors, neurologists and therapists all seem to agree on that one point of fact. I’m not crazy. I’m not schizophrenic. I don’t have dementia. No super-early onset Alzheimer’s disease. No brain tumors either. And I’ve never been struck by lightning.

Sadly, I’m deemed totally normal by psychiatric standards…except for all the paranormal stuff.

Can Angels, Demons and Ghosts all Exists?

If you’re someone who doesn’t believe in angels, demons and ghosts, good for you. It’s a choice you’re lucky to have. Belief isn’t a luxury for me. Never has been.

They’re all real. Every kind. The world, it seems, isn’t as black and white as some would have you think.

I don’t often discuss the exact nature of my empathic abilities or psychic gifts, and I won’t go into that in detail today either. What I will say is that I don’t just experience other people’s emotions, I read their intentions, their motivations. (You can imagine how much fun high school was, being surrounded by hundreds of guys, all wanting to sleep with basically anything.) My ability also extends beyond people to spirits.

Yes, I pick up the emotions and intentions of angels, demons and ghosts, too.

And before you ask, yes, that sucks beyond words…

I’ve heard it said many, many times that ghosts can’t exists, only angels and demons. I’ve heard the question posed about how someone would know the difference between a deceased relative and a demon playing tricks on you. It’s a valid question. I don’t think everyone can discern the difference.

I can.

To be plain, it’s all about the vibe the spirit gives out. You can’t change your energy, not at the most basic level. To be plainer, I can act like a cat, I can tell you I’m a cat, I can even sound like a cat if I really try, but at the end of the day, I will never be a cat because I’m a human being.

And on a very basic level, there are three distinct energies I’ve encountered from spirits:

• Angels – The energy is pleasant to be around and the underlying intentions are always from a pure or positive place. No deception.
• Demons – The energy sucks the life out of me, plain and simple. It’s dark, it’s painful, it’s angry, it’s heavy. I’ll even go so far as to say it’s evil, pure unadulterated evil.
• Ghosts – It’s usually a weaker energy to me, reminiscent of what living humans put off. The energy itself doesn’t evoke any positive or negative emotions in me, it simply is. The intentions and emotions of every spirit are different.

There are two other sub-groups I’ve encountered, neither is particularly enjoyable:

• Masked Demons – Basically, these are the demons who come at you masquerading as a ghost or an angel. They talk a good game. They keep their emotions neutral. But their underlying intentions always give them away, to me at least.  Literally within seconds, I know they aren’t right.
• Evil Human Ghosts – Let’s face it, some people are just evil. They totally embrace evil through their actions in life. In death, their souls are black beyond measure. While they aren’t technically demons because of the human energy, they may as well be. Sometimes, it takes me a while to discern between true demons and these evil people spirits. For all intents and purposes, the distinction may not matter – evil is evil – but I thought it was worth mentioning.

As you may well imagine, this is an area of the paranormal that’s been difficult for me to reconcile with my religious beliefs…but that’s really a topic for another day.

What are your thoughts of angels, demons and ghosts? (or Elementals, if you prefer) Have you had an experience with any or all? Surely I’m not alone…

Jen

“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”

You might have already noticed that this topic can draw some passionate responses from some. Or you haven’t noticed…which probably means you’ve never discussed the paranormal or religion with anyone but your cat. Or you are a cat. In that case, Meow!

For those of you not fluent in feline, that was a HIGHLY sophisticated greeting…

Anyway, today’s guest post comes to us from a former Christian and current paranormal enthusiast. Michelle Miller is a freelance writer living in Central Virginia. Since she’s published her first novel, I’ll go out on a limb and say she’s probably not a cat. Visit Michelle Miller’s website to learn more about her – and confirm for yourself that she’s not one of our feline readers.

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I am a renounced Christian, however, when I still followed the faith, I was into the paranormal. I have friends who are still Christians and believe that paranormal activity exists. It seems that we all got, and still continue to get, mixed commentary on being a Christian and believing that supernatural things exist.

The BIGGEST claim that skeptical Christians have made to me is that all belief in the paranormal is wrong, because it is witchcraft/sorcery, and God commands us not to mess with such things. These are also the same people who have banned their kids from reading the Harry Potter series for the same reason. While it’s okay to not want to dabble in witchcraft or sorcery (if it conflicts with one’s convictions), it is a pretty bold move to call something that could be very harmless, something that holds a negative connotation within ones circle.

Speaking of harmless (vs. not, such as the demonic), the other claim I have heard from Christians is that ALL paranormal activity is demonic. While I have never had a personal experience, I have done enough research and have enough common sense to know that there are two sides to the paranormal coin. Both benign and harmful (and sometimes demonic) entities exist.

That’s right. I’m not saying that demons don’t exist.

It’s just ignorant to say all paranormal entities are demonic. I know Christians who, very much, believe in angels. While some argue that angels can be real, live people in our lives, the image that comes to a person’s mind when you say “angel” is usually a white, well-lit person with wings. Last time I checked, that isn’t something you see every day, which I think puts it under the term “paranormal.”

Going hand-in-hand with the above arguments, I’ve been told that dabbling in paranormal beliefs (which are supposedly wrong), I am just asking for a demon to come into my life and attach itself to me, to cause me harm. To that, I say– I don’t dabble. I do my research and don’t just go on hearsay.

As for the demonic attachment, I have never willingly gone into a building that I have known has demonic activity in it. Also, I have never actually been on an investigation, but if I ever did, I would go with seasoned investigators and know, very well, how to protect myself. Knowledge is power, and I refuse to be ignorant when it comes to putting myself at risk. You never know– the entity may or may not be harmful.

It’s always best to come prepared.

With all this being said, I think what it all boils down to is that people shun what they do not understand or what others do not understand, and pass on to other people. Some Christians may be very well-rooted in why they oppose the idea of paranormal belief, but from my experience, it seems that they just don’t understand. I think it’s our jobs to help them understand, if they are willing.

Editor’s Note: The opinions and views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of Your Dark Passenger, writing staff or other guest bloggers. YDP classifies both angels and demons as ’supernatural’ rather than paranormal, as stated at the beginning of this series. YDP also agrees that you should NEVER enter a building you believe to be inhabited by demons, even if you’re part of a paranormal investigation team. Demons are dangerous and we think it would be awesome if our readers DIDN’T die.

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Saturday on Your Dark Passenger, we close out the week with a look at the existence of angels, demons and ghosts. Is there room for all three? If you’ve ever wondered why Jen believes what she does about religion and the paranormal, this is a post you won’t want to miss.

Join us, won’t you?

Image of Eva Carriere with light manifestation between her hands via Wikipedia

Happy Wednesday, dark passengers. Tonight, I’m taking our discussion on the relationship between religion and the paranormal in a slightly different direction. As you may remember, this was the point where I was going to discuss the spiritual gift of performing miracles and how it relates to paranormal phenomena and psychic gifts.

I’m not doing that.

Why? I love how y’all always ask when you already know I’m about to tell you…

I believe the paranormal doesn’t undermine religion, people do. I’m not about to become one of those people by trampling all over the concept of miracles.

Here’s the thing: I had some fairly strong connections and relationships between psychic gifts and the other spiritual gifts we discussed. I don’t have that with miracles.

Okay, I actually do have that with miracles, but I’m going to keep my mouth shut…for once.

What Are Miracles?

My super-awesome copy of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines miracles as:

1. an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs
2. an unusual event, thing, or accomplishment: marvel, wonder

Honestly, I think people overuse this word…A LOT. It’s not a miracle when you make it to work despite bad traffic and stupid people on the road, it’s just life. It’s not a miracle when you pass a test without studying, it’s your ability to recall facts reacting to the adrenaline you’re creating by freaking out about not studying.

Every house in your subdivision being demolished by a tornado, while yours stands with barely a broken window? Yeah, that’s a miracle.

That also might make your neighbors all hate you, but that’s a topic for a different Your Dark Passenger series…

What is Paranormal Phenomena?

Don’t worry, I’ll spare you the rehashing of the official definition of I gave of paranormal when we began our series on the relationship between religion and the paranormal. Simply put, paranormal phenomena – including psychic abilities – are unexplainable gifts, events, abilities or things.

Yes…unexplainable.

Sure, I can explain to you all about what it’s like to have empathic abilities, or how being an empath meshes with my life. I can even give you the signs that you might be an empath. What I can’t tell you is why I’m an empath.

If there’s a cause, a rational explanation, for my psychic abilities, I don’t know what it is.

It’s the same with explaining the appearance of spirits. Or premonitions. All of it.

And if we could give solid explanations and cite facts, it wouldn’t be paranormal.

It would just be normal.

Lightworking, Psychokinesis and Miracles

I still hold that lightworking and psychokinesis are similar to miracles, but I’m not willing to say they’re quite the same. In fact, I don’t think they are. Not really, anyway.

Sure, the ability of a lightworker to cure someone’s physical ailment or illness when medical science gives up is nothing short of miraculous. On the surface. But lightworking is just another type of healing. God’s involved, but I wouldn’t say it was necessarily divine intervention.

And psychokinesis – the ability to move objects with your mind – is seriously cool. Someone with adequate mastery over their gift might even be able to use their mind to levitate. That’s awesome, certainly a marvel, but I wouldn’t call it a miracle.

Instead, I think people can mistake these types of psychic gifts for miracles. But I’ll leave this one open for debate. You tell me whether there are any paranormal phenomena you’d consider miracles. For that matter, what do you consider a miracle to be?

Coming tomorrow: A renounced Christian shares her views on the relationship between religion and the paranormal. Reader discretion is advised.

Jen

“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”

In the meantime, let’s jump in, shall we?

In the introductory post on this sub-topic, I said that the spiritual gift of healing can be compared to the work done by Lightworkers and Theta practitioners. That’s not to say there aren’t other types of energy healing, such Galactic healing, but focusing on these two should be sufficient to make the connection. We can come back later if you have a favorite healing method I skipped.

Lightworking and Theta

If you’re not familiar with these two concepts, some of this will most likely sound like gibberish. Sorry. Neither of these are exactly beginner’s level concepts. Since I’m working to stay on the surface of each as I’ve done in the other posts of this series, I’ll try to make things as clear as I can.

Lightworking

In a nutshell, lightworkers believe there are those whose souls volunteered before birth to work towards healing the planet and all the life on it. They just usually don’t realize it because, as with any other higher purpose in life, you have to discover it as you go. Most see themselves of instruments of healing who channel healing energy from a divine source. Depending on whether they believe the Creator to male or female, they’d call upon God or Goddess for assistance.

And before anyone gets all twisted up over calling upon a female deity, it’s worth mentioning that it’s not only a pagan or mythological concept. Most Christian Fundamentalists would be vehement in their opposition to it, but there ARE Christians who believe God could be a woman. There are also those who believe God is neither male nor female, but instead possesses the characteristics and energy of both sexes.

Anyway.

Lightworkers also call upon the Archangels for help with specific types of healing:

• Archangel Michael – helps remove negativity from people, places and animals; white light
• Archangel Uriel – helps reveal hidden agendas, be it personal or on a global scale
• Archangel Raphael – helps heal trauma; green light
• Archangel Gabrielle – helps improve communication between people.

Theta Healing

Theta is one of the four brainwaves. Theta healing practitioners believe that entering this state of brain activity can help them eliminate attitudes and behaviors that are unproductive and/or unnecessary. As with lightworkers, they draw the bulk of their healing abilities from God.

While in Theta, healers are able to determine underlying causes of physical and psychological pain. Working with God, they help remove these blocks in order to eliminate or soothe pain. Most are able to heal themselves in addition to others.

Spiritual Gift of Healing

1 Corinthians 12 mentions the spiritual gift of healing in verses 28 and 30, but only in passing. The most we seem to get on this gift in the Bible is 1 Corinthians 12:9 where it says “The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing.”

Sadly, that doesn’t give us much in the way of a tangible working definition. In lieu of a perfect scriptural definition, I’ll give my definition of the spiritual gift of healing so we can have some means of comparison.

Healing – the ability use the power of God to help others become whole and/or free of pain in the mind, body or soul.

Healing doesn’t occur strictly with the body, meaning one with the spiritual gift of healing may not be able to heal the bodily ailments of another. Examples of this gift in action without physical healing may include:

• A counselor or therapist who seems to have a knack for helping others get past personal emotional trauma
• A religious mentor who is able to help people reconcile themselves with God and their faith
• A friend who always knows what to say to help you through times of confusion and mental turmoil.

Spiritual Healing

Before I say another word, it’s time for the caveat of all caveats. You should not discontinue medical care in order to pursue faith healing, lightworking or Theta if you suffer from a serious condition, except as an option of last resort. Not everyone who claims to be able to heal you, in fact, can. Moreso, even healers with genuine healing abilities cannot always heal everything.

Why?

Well, if you look at each definition for the various types of healing, you’ll notice a common thread that should be popping out like a blinking neon sign right now. The healing abilities used don’t come from the healer; they come from a divine source. Sorry to burst anyone’s bubble, but God isn’t Burger King.

You don’t always get to have it your way.

At this point, I question whether I need to go on with the comparison of lightworking or Theta to the spiritual gift of healing.  It’s not some magic act or sleight of hand with any of these healers. They don’t have awesome powers. They just happen to be better at communicating with God in order to direct His healing power.

Sadly, I’m not a healer…I don’t think, at least. Having said that, when I’m at the top of my game, I can will away my own headaches and stop myself from getting sick. I’ve had others alleviate my physical and emotional pain before…when I was adamant in my belief that it was all a bunch of crap.

So…I suppose the big question for tonight isn’t whether you can see a connection. Rather, are all these types of spiritual healing little more than mind over matter? Or is there something to it?

What do YOU think?

Jen

“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”

I think you’ll find we do the same tonight.

As you may remember, I use psychic as an umbrella term to encompass all the psychic gifts and abilities out there. The psychic abilities we’re discussing tonight are clairsentience, clairaudience, clairvoyance, psychometry and premonitions – thought some would argue premonitions are one-off occurrences that don’t necessarily relate to an underlying gift.

Before we define the aforementioned psychic abilities, let’s turn our attention to the spiritual gift of prophecy and what the Bible has to say about it.

Spiritual Gift of Prophecy

Unfortunately, the Bible doesn’t give us a perfect definition of this gift, but after spending nearly an hour reading through some things last night, I’ve found that it also fails to give a perfect definition of the hard and fast doctrines of Christianity. Or, perhaps I’d be better off saying that if the Bible does clearly present the core doctrines of Christianity, Christians can’t seem to find that passage and agree upon it. (As evidenced by what the varying Christian denominations each say are the core doctrines of their faith.)

Anyway. The point I was making – I think – is that God didn’t come out and say, “Hey, here’s the definition of the spiritual gift of prophecy because I know you’ll get confused.” Instead, we have three scriptures that reference this gift. According to the New Living Translation of the Bible, they say:

• In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. ~Romans 12:6
• He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. ~1 Corinthians 12:10
• Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. ~Ephesians 4:11

Okay, clear as mud? I thought so. Here’s the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definitions:

• Prophecy - an inspired utterance of a prophet
• Prophesy - 1. to speak or utter by divine inspiration; 2. predict
• Prophet - 1. one who utters divinely inspired revelations; 2. one who foretells future events.

If you’re as mischievous as I am, you’ve probably already thought that the last part of the prophet definition would apply to meteorologists because they foretell what the weather will be – but not accurately if you live in Texas. At this point, I’m going to add my own caveat for purposes of this discussion:

• Jen’s Note: If a person is using scientific means to collect and interpret data as part of making his or her predictions, they are not a prophet. This applies only to mainstream science. Those using means considered pseudoscience or parapsychology should be viewed on a case by case basis.

So, no TV weathermen, okay?

Prophetic Psychic Gifts

Because we’re more interested in the relationship of these gifts to their religious counterparts, I’ll again only give a cursory definition of each. If you’d like more information, let me know and we’ll cover it in greater depth in the future.

• Clairsentience – Clear knowledge; having clear knowledge of past, present or future events without any explainable means of doing so; one with the ability is known as a Clairsentient
• Clairaudience – Clear hearing; receiving unexplainable knowledge of past, present or future events through hearing what others cannot; one with the ability is known as a Clairaudient
• Clairvoyance – Clear sight; the ability to see past, present or future events with as much clarity as one sees that which is right in front of them; one with the ability is known as a Clairvoyant
• Psychometry – the ability to gain past, present or future knowledge about an individual, place or event by touching an object; may occur while in or out of a hypnotic state
• Premonition – an early warning of a future event; intuition or sense of a future event; foreboding.

As usual, I could write volumes on each of these topics, but we’ll save that for another day.

Prophetic Gifts and Psychic Gifts

At this point, I think we can agree that the spiritual gift of prophecy allows one who has it to gain knowledge of future events that wouldn’t be readily available to everyone else. By definition, the same occurs with Clairsentients, Clairaudients, Clairvoyants and those receiving information through psychometry or premonitions. So why are so many people of religious faith willing to believe prophets speak for God, while all psychics are instruments of Satan?

Might have something to do with the goofy clothes and fake mysterious accents…

My opinion? I think it’s a misunderstanding of the spiritual gift of prophecy as provided by the Bible.

Hold on.

Okay. I was waiting to see if lightning would strike me down for that. Since I’m still here, I’ll explain.

If you scroll back up to the scriptures I listed mentioning prophesy, you see that God calls prophets to speak the messages they’re given, but not necessarily to be able to discern where the message is from or what it means. One would require the spiritual gift of discernment to know if the message was from God, Satan or somewhere else. However, because discernment is mentioned immediately following mention of prophesy, it’s easy to think we’re continuing the same thought, even though it should be clear that this is a list of many spiritual gifts.

But let’s face it…How many of us can apply the critical reading skills we learned to use in school on articles, essays and literature to the Bible? Even though it’s the same skill, most of us have trouble understanding the Bible. Right or wrong, we get so caught up in looking for different levels of meaning that we can forget the basics, like stopping an idea when we see a period.

Anyway. If a prophet lacks the gift of discernment, he or she has no clue whether their message is actually from God. I think the same is true of many psychics.

I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention that the Bible condemns black magic and witchcraft, which I’m sure many Christians would point to as a reason why psychics aren’t prophets. Of course, I’d point to the fact that most psychics probably don’t know anything about black magic or witchcraft simply because they have psychic gifts. Since it was out  of the scope of this topic, I haven’t dug into exactly what the Bible says on that subject – and probably won’t for purposes of this series – but I can look into it at a later time if there’s any interest.

So, do you see the connection between prophets and psychics? Are you part of a non-Christian faith that also believes in prophets? What do your religious beliefs teach on the matter?

Jen

“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”

Image by schmish via Flickr

Happy Saturday, dark passengers. Tonight we continue looking at how Christian spiritual gifts relate to specific psychic abilities as part of our month-long series on the relationship between religion and the paranormal. Last night, we looked at the spiritual gift of mercy as compared to empathic abilities. Tonight, we take a closer look at the gift of discernment and how it applies to Empaths.

And Intuitives and Telepaths, to be exact.

As always, before we can talk about how all these radically different things are related, we must have a basic, common understanding of the terms. So let’s waste no time in laying the foundation so we can get on with the good stuff.

Spiritual Gift of Discernment

According to 1 Corinthans 12:10, the spiritual gift of discernment is:

“to clearly distinguish truth from error by judging whether the behavior or teaching is from God, Satan, human error or human power.”

To put it plainly, is you possess the spiritual gift of discernment, you should be paying careful attention to when your “spidey sense” goes on full alert because it’ll clue you in bad stuff around. For the non-Spiderman fans, this could also be a heightened sense of foreboding or the little hairs at the back of your neck standing to attention.

But let’s really unpack this scripture to break it down to its most basic, universally understood levels. What this line tells us is there are four possibilities for any behavior or teaching. These are:

• God – Good, truth
• Satan – Evil, lies
• Human error – Mistake, misinterpretation, misunderstanding
• Human power – Motive, intentions.

On the surface, the spiritual gift of discernment is a bit ho-hum, but once you get to the heart of it, you discover that this gift can not only help you discern the difference between truth or lies, but also whether the person is being untruthful by mistake or by design.

Editor’s Note 4/20: The above definition is from MinTools, using 1 Corinthians 12:10 as a basis. The New Living Translation of this passage actually says “He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.”

Empaths, Intuitives and Telepaths

Y’all, I could write volumes on each of these psychic gifts. In  the interest of getting to the point sometime before we all fall asleep at our computers, I’ll keep it to the bare bones concept. If you’re new to or hazy about any of the following types of gifted individuals, please speak up. I always welcome questions. (Unless it’s about what I’m wearing. That’s just creepy.)

Empaths – Experience the emotions, feelings and, at times, physical pain of others as their own.

Intuitives – Do not experience the emotions and pain of others as Empaths do, but possess a heightened awareness to it. May know things without cause or explanation that will happen or have already occurred.

Telepaths – Can read the thoughts of others, whether they intend to or not. They may experience the thoughts of others by seeing them, hearing them, knowing them or some combination of the three. Discussion exists as to whether a Telepath must touch the person to read their thoughts or if proximity matters at all.

Note: It’s possible to possess more than one of these psychic abilities at a time. In fact, over a lifetime, your psychic gifting can evolve into new areas as you grow more comfortable with your gifts or as you need them.

Discernment and Psychic Abilities

Although not one of the above mentioned psychic abilities is exactly like the spiritual gift of discernment, you get very close if you have a mixture of the psychic gifts. We’ve already established that discernment is a bit like being a human lie detector with an extra-awesome setting for underlying motives. How do these different classes of psychics relate?

Oh, you SO know I’m going to tell you…

Each of these groups of people are crazy hard to lie to. Here’s why:

• If an Empath is feeling your emotions, they’re going to know something’s up with what you’re saying from the way you feel about it…unless you’re a total sociopath, but in that case, they’d still know something was off about you.
• If an Intuitive is hyper aware of your emotional state and possibly has unnatural knowledge pop into their head, your lie isn’t getting you anywhere.
• If a Telepath can read your mind…Really? Do I even have to explain this one?

And, honestly, these are just at the most basic levels of each gift. If I’m actively trying to read someone – or I’m having one of those days when I can’t block people out of my head for crap – there’s a lot going on. I’m experiencing their emotions in contrast to my own, picking up on their underlying motivations, sometimes seeing a clear image of what they’re about to say in my mind and picking up on whether they have any clue what they’re talking about.

Does that mean no one can lie to me? I wish. In reality, I’m shielded seven ways from Sunday because the majority of my psychic gifts are distracting to daily life.

But you may not get so lucky with others with gifts, be it empathic abilities, intuitive gifts, telepathy or discernment.

Advanced Applications of Spiritual and Psychic Gifts

Fair warning, this is the point at which I blow someone’s mind. All of the gifts – psychic and spiritual – that we’ve been investigating don’t just apply to people. And I’m not talking about animals, although Empaths seem to have a heightened connection with them.

I’m talking about spirits. Angels, demons and ghosts.

Now, I have to be brutally honest. This won’t apply to everyone with these particular gifts. You must also be a Sensitive (one who is aware and/or more susceptible to paranormal and/or supernatural phenomena).

This is an across the board thing, regardless of your faith. I’ve noticed Christians who were oblivious to an angel in the room, just as I’ve seen Intuitives who didn’t have a clue that there was a non-human presence lurking nearby. Maybe you’ll find this frustrating, the idea that you’re not alone and don’t realize it. While anyone can work to develop their sensitivity, I wouldn’t.

Unless you have demonic activity in your home threatening you or your family, ignorance really can be bliss. Dabbling with oil paints is messy. Dabbling with entities is dangerous. Period.

And with that warning, I’m going to stop here for the weekend. We’ll go into more detail about how these gifts are useful when dealing with spirits before the end of our series, but on Monday we return with a look at the spiritual gift of prophesy.

Until then, I’m opening it up to you. What do you think about the spiritual gift of discernment, empathic abilities, intuitive gifts and telepathy? Are you seeing a common ground yet?

Jen

“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m an Empath – on this site, at least. In work settings, I try to be normal and blend into the group. What I haven’t mentioned until now is my personal mix of spiritual gifts.

Yep, the “crazy psychic lady” actually has spiritual gifts and knows what they are. Surprise!

Personal Spiritual Gifts Inventory

When I took my first spiritual gifts inventory a few years back, my strengths were discernment, administration and one other I can’t recall right now. Just for grins, I thought I’d take a new inventory to see where I stand today. Actually, I took three in preparation to write this because I wanted to ensure I was accurate. (I’ve given links to the spiritual gifts inventories I used in the Resource section at the end of this post if you’d like to take one for yourself.)

The spiritual gift of administration rounds out my top three, but the other two are new…in a way. Mercy was off the charts high, with the gift of exhortation (to come along side of someone with words of encouragement, comfort, consolation, and counsel to help them be all God wants them to be. Romans 12:8) running a close second.

And all the inventories agreed, so I’m calling this an accurate assessment.

Setting aside administration as irrelevant to the conversation at hand, I can’t say I’m surprised by the top two spiritual gifts I possess, just as I wasn’t surprised by discernment. I mean, beyond the Empath thing, I’m the person people seem to gravitate towards when they need to talk or unburden themselves. But anyway, now that I’ve made full disclosure of where I’m coming from, both from a spiritual gifts perspective and a psychic gifts perspective, let’s get on with it.

Empathic Abilities

Without getting into a full-blown dissertation on what it means to be an Empath, let’s quickly cover the basics:

• Feels the emotions, feelings and/or pain of others as if they were their own
• Often suffers as a result of empathic abilities
• Sometimes unable to tell where other people’s emotions end and their own begin.

If I’m honest, being an Empath isn’t a totally positive experience…AT ALL. Some people learn how to block out others, but it’s not always absolute, as things can still trickle past your defenses. For other Empaths, they never gain the ability to effectively shield against the emotions of others.

Spiritual Gift of Mercy

We talked about this yesterday, but let’s refresh ourselves on the definition of the spiritual gift of mercy:

“To be sensitive toward those who are suffering, whether physically, mentally or emotionally, so as to feel genuine sympathy with their misery, speaking words of compassion but moreso caring for them with deeds of love to help alleviate their distress.” – Romans 12:8

In one of the spiritual gifts inventories I took, it provided a lengthy section of information on the spiritual gift of mercy. It discussed all the merits of the gift, then went on to warn:

“However, left untrained, you may destroy yourself by your tendency to take people’s problems home with you. Your empathy can become detrimental without personal training on how to deal with it.”

Note: Because that comment on mercy was part of the assessment sent to me via email, I’m not sure if it’s accessible through a web link or not, otherwise, I’d link to it for you.

Editor’s Note 4/20: The above definition is from MinTools, using Romans 12:8 as a basis for it. The NIV translation actually says “If it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

Empaths and Mercy

At this point, can you see the overlap between those two? Both types of gifts have the ability to experience the emotions and pain of others and can suffer as a result. At times, both groups need training to learn how not carry the negative – and often lasting – effects of their gifts.

But let’s be very clear: empathic abilities and the spiritual gift of mercy are not one in the same. Not totally. You can feel sympathy towards someone’s suffering without actually experiencing it when you have the gift of mercy. Empaths don’t get that luxury.

Being an Empath is somewhat like having the gift of mercy if it were on steroids.

Now, is it possible that some Christians who have the spiritual gift of mercy are, in fact, Empaths? Absolutely. The inventory analysis didn’t provide details on how exactly people with mercy suffer and how they learn to deal with it. I sort of doubt your neighborhood pastor is going to teach psychic shielding techniques, so I can only assume it has something to do with prayer and fortifying oneself with God’s love before and after showing mercy towards others.

Of course, I doubt people with the spiritual gift of mercy view it as the same burden so many Empaths view their gifts to be . I mean, seriously, is there a Christian Empath alive who hasn’t prayed to God at least once to ask that He take away their gifts?

Oh…just me? Never mind then...

Tomorrow we’ll return to examine the spiritual gift of discernment as it relates to Empaths, Intuitives and Telepaths. Until then, tell me what you think about empathic abilities compared to mercy. Do you see the common ground between the realm of religion and the paranormal?

Jen

“Let your dark passenger come out to play…Be your own nemesis!”

Resources:

Ministry Tools Resource Center’s Online Spiritual Gifts Test Inventory

Church Growth’s Free Spiritual Gifts Analysis

Elmer Towns’ Spiritual Gifts Questionnaire