I wonder if in other disciplines/fields of study, there is as much confusion, disagreement and misunderstanding when it comes to the semantics regarding both those engaging in the practices of the field, and what it is they do. When it comes to the field of psi or “non local perception” (a word that most of the world has never heard of, including the majority of those who actively practice or inadvertently utilize this skill), part of the difficulty in coming up with a cohesive and agreed upon vocabulary is that the existing words are so emotionally charged with connotations that the ego (particularly the male ego or those who want approval from it) just can’t bear to be associated with it.
So they develop new smart guy sounding words, like “non local perception” and then confuse the hell out of mostly everyone else by insisting that what they are doing is not what the definition of the word says they are doing – namely utilizing and developing their “psychic” abilities. This reminds me of Sigmund Freud, who is quoted in Carl Jung’s autobiography, “Memories, Dreams, Reflections” as insisting, after a demonstration by Jung that there is such a thing as recognitions and telekinesis, that even if his entire sexual theory was wrong, it needed to be upheld as a “bulwark against the unknown tides of occultism”.
Also reminds me of Hans Christian Anderson’s story “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, but in reverse: Instead of the emperor thinking he is wearing clothing when he is not, he is thinking he is not being psychic when he is, and everyone else can see it except for him and those who want to be in his favor. So I’ve been reading this discussion of whether someone is using CRV, RV or is a natural psychic. To me, the word “natural psychic” denotes someone who has not been trained but knew they were psychic at a young age, as opposed to some adults who had no inkling they were psychic but received training and discovered they were. Once a “natural psychic” gets some level of training, they can’t be considered to be using no method.
There happens to be other well-developed methods of psychic training besides for CRV. There is the field of Clairvoyant Training (ability to access information via mental image pictures) developed by Lewis Bostwick in the 1960’s of which I write extensively about in my three books. His program required no less than 1 year of rigorous training and 2 or 3 for those over the age of 30 (who were thought to have more mental blocks to get past). There are actually mediumship training programs developed by University based researchers (I sat next to one at the last IRVA conference).
One program that I am currently enrolled in requires no less than 5 years of intensive training before graduation.
Whether RVers want to admit it or not, occasionally they get information in the same way that mediums do, whether from their clairsentient ability – feeling others emotions (aka: the ‘AI”) – and telepathy (hearing the thoughts of others, (aka: p7), just to name a couple. Whether or not an RVer would be abhorred at the thought that they were called a “psychic” or even worse, “a medium”, does not take away from the fact that they are sometimes (even if just once or twice during an RV session) engaging in the same behaviors as one that is called these things. Not all the time, but some of the time.
During the course of a session, any number of abilities can kick in, and the source of information, whether from the subconscious, another person’s mind, another spirit’s mind, from the mind of the all, are at play.
Even when it comes to telepathy between two people, a remote viewer and a psychic can communicate with another’s conscious mind or unconscious, from their ego or from their heart. In the same way, they can occasionally communicate with those in the spirit world directly if that spirit is present, or they can communicate with the memories of these people who may no longer be present in any form. With practice, you can sometimes tell the difference, sometimes not. These abilities are all at play even during CRV sessions, whether or not those in the RV community want to admit it or realize it. Ultimately, the only difference between those who call themselves “psychics” and those who call themselves “remote viewers” is in the methods used and their subject matter (i.e., a live, willing person or a physical target), with the exception that CRV either seems to involve a lot more communication with one’s own unconscious, or in the course of doing a session, it’s easier to recognize when the unconscious is communicating then in other forms of psychic work/methodologies.
The bottom line: It would be nice, in these discussions, if instead of focusing so much on how can we legitimize ourselves, that there would be more information shared on how we can hone our skills, and raise them to levels that have not yet been achieved by remote viewers or anyone else utilizing any psi related discipline. Even the methods of CRV, which I often use and passionately endorse, are not perfect and could be improved on or advanced. I, along with a lot of other people who lurk in the shadows of these RV lists but are afraid to speak up, agree: We need to all come together and instead of debating everything, share new discoveries gained from practice or elsewhere.
This means slaughtering that greedy, psychic hating God we’ve placed on such a high pedestal in our own minds: he whom we are so fearful will disapprove of us that we sacrifice huge amounts of energy, time and each other in order to convince him we are good little scientific boys and girls. Once he is gone, not from the Sci Fi channel but from our own psyches, we will be free to move into a realm of creativity that will allow us to advance our methodology and skill set to even greater heights.
One of the things I frequently tell my students, who are fearful of or even ashamed to tell their own family members about their interests in this subject, is that you are not going to convince them to change their perceptions by any other means then serving as an example. When they see you are happier, more passionate, leading an easier, more authentic, productive life because of your psychic or remote viewing practice, this is what will begin to open their eyes, break down the barriers and peak their interest. And if they don’t change, then you will be at a better place to accept them as they are, because this is really what it comes down to: not finding a way to convince those who are stuck and ignorant, but rather, finding a way so YOU can be OK with them being stuck and ignorant.Yes, conducting and sharing quality, solid research will convince many of those on the fence, and will undoubtedly lead to information that can advance our methods and understanding of the underlying forces at play behind all things psi and even the great mystery’s of life.
Yet ultimately, what will bring the most legitimacy to this field is the good that we do in this world, as remote viewers or as psychics or as whatever the hell we want to call ourselves.