Of course you are going to answer no, not everyone has psychic powers. Only psychics have psychic powers. However, you would be wrong. You, I and everyone else has the inherent ability to tap into the unknown. Just as breathing is both a voluntary and involuntary action, so too is our psychic ability.

Everyone, at some time or another can remember when they thought about something totally unrelated to what they were doing at the moment, like the thought of a person they had not seen in many months or years, and within a short time, either ran into that person someplace or saw their name in the paper, something to remind them that they had “sensed” the future. Or you’re walking past a carnival booth where someone has to guess a color and you yell out “red” and the carnival barker at the same time yells “red.” You have just tapped into your psychic abilities.

And how about all those times where your “gut” tells you to go home a different way from work or to go to a different store than your regular store to pick something up and you find either there was an accident on the road that you would have taken home or you run into an old acquaintance at the store you don’t normally shop at. This is your innate sense showing you the way--your intuition. The more we learn to listen to our intuition, the more coincidences we’ll have.

Here’s an interesting question though. Do we actually have the innate ability to “see” into the future, or, by thinking something, are we drawing that energy to us? For instance, out of the blue, we are thinking of iced donuts at the office, and not minutes afterward, one of our co-workers brings in a box of iced donuts. Did we “see” that event happening, or did we “make” that event happen by throwing that thought out into the universe and accepting that reality?

Creative visualization is the practice of thinking, saying or writing something as if it has already happened and then waiting for whatever was asked to manifest. It is kind of like wishing on a falling star only you don’t wish for something to happen, you “know” it is happening and therefore it happens. For instance, you are low on money for the bills for the month and do not have a clue where the extra money is going to come from. You write on a piece of paper several times something like “extra money for the bills is coming to me now,” you thank the universe, and then you put that piece of paper aside and “know” that you are being taken care of. Then you get a phone call from the boss asking if you can work overtime that weekend. You just effectively changed your future by stating a fact to the universe and the universe or power source or whatever you’d like to call it manifests your reality as stated.

Interesting stuff indeed. Here are two fun exercises to do in your spare time to (1) test your psychic abilities; and (2) see if you can actually make something materialize by tapping into the universal energy and applying the law of attraction.

Exercise 1:
Have a psychic party.

Invite two or three friends over whom you haven’t seen for awhile and would like to catch up with. Tell them that you are testing to see whether you have any psychic abilities and ask them not to tell you what they’ve been up to lately. Be sure not to drink any alcoholic beverages before you test your abilities and do so in a quiet room, without the noise of laughter or music. Try and make it as quiet as you can. In fact having a lit candle and low lighting will help the mood. Now, sit before each person individually and take one of their palms into your hand and look at it. Touch the palm with your fingertips. You are not trying to read the palm as you don’t have that ability, but you are trying to tap into the universal knowledge by connecting with the person, and you should, at this time, start getting random thoughts about the person. Throw the thoughts out there no matter how silly they sound. “I see a new blue car. “I see someone going back to school,” etc. Whatever comes to mind, let it out there. You will be surprised that you will most likely pick up on at least one thing about that person if you clear your mind and just let the thoughts come. And if nothing turns up, it doesn’t mean you don’t have psychic abilities, it just means you need to practice more.

Exercise 2:
Visualizing Something to Manifest.

Take a plain sheet of paper and write an affirmation about something you want to happen. If you are looking for love, you may want to say something like “The perfect partner is now in my life.” If you are unhappy in your job and want to find another, you can say “I now work in a job that utilizes my creative skills,” or something like that. At the end of writing this around 10 or more times, at the end write something to the effect that everything is unfolding perfectly and thank the universe. Then fold the paper and put it away. You may just be surprised at how quickly you get an answer to your request. If you get an answer that isn’t quite what you had in mind, you must remember that wording is everything. Your perfect partner may be the grocery boy at the local supermarket who doesn’t appeal to you at all. It sometimes is all in the way you word it.  

If nothing else, these are fun exercises that will open you up more and more to the unexplained possibilities that the universe has to offer.

Automatic writing is defined as writing that is produced not from the conscious mind. This means that when one is automatically writing, they are channeling the writing from an outer source or one’s own subconscious.

Automatic writing is also sometimes referred to as “trance” writing as many believe that in order to fully be able to channel messages, one must first go into a trance. Therefore, this practice is primarily done by mediums able to go into a deep trance to receive messages from outside themselves.

There are believers who have written of witnessing mediums or psychics going into trances and automatically writing. One such medium by the name of Mabel Collins was believed to have gone into a trance while writing several novels and the information contained in those novels therefore may have been channeled from otherworldly sources. She was witnessed to have started writing and then while “asleep” or uncommunicative, continued to write the books she was working on. Much of her writings were guidelines on how to study mysticism. Today, they would still be a relevant read for those interested in new age topics.

Another well-known writer by the name of Ken Carey, who wrote “The Starseed Transmissions” trilogy, did not know he had the power to “channel” light beings until he became quite ill and, for unknown reasons, got down an old typewriter and began to write what he now says are messages he received from star beings and, later, from an entity who introduced himself as Christ. Although Carey’s writings are decidedly steeped in Christian reference, the fact that some of what he writes goes beyond most people’s casual understanding of spiritual matters might lead one to believe that he was able to channel other-worldly entities in order to automatically pen several books.

And then there are people who believe that Nostradamus had the ability to go into trances and automatically write the visions he saw.

As interesting as these accounts are, perhaps the only way automatic writing could possibly be proven not to be a hoax is by conducting a simple experiment whereby two people are separated either in different rooms, different places, or even different countries and then told to try and channel thoughts from the other person. The person from whom messages are being channeled will be writing the message while the “channeling” medium is allowing himself or herself to receive the message clairvoyantly and is automatically writing it down at the same time.

Is this possible? There have been private, unpublished accounts of this very experiment being successful between a Hungarian minister/spiritualist living in the United States and corresponding regularly with a medium in Hungary. Their writings were so similar when compared as to make one believe that yes, automatic writing is not only possible but probable.

If nothing else, it is always fun to test these things out for ourselves. The next time you find yourself without anything to do, why not get comfortable, go into a meditative state, and have pen and paper handy to write whatever comes to mind. Who knows? You may just be the next great author of a book that is entirely written by someone or something else outside your realm.

Ah, the age-old question. Can psychics really “see” into the future? Do they have a gift for predicting future events or have they just honed the craft of stating things in such a generic way or asking just the right questions and getting information from you without you realizing so as to make it appear that they are tapping into the unknown?

For instance, a psychic may say to you, I see someone older around you who has passed, perhaps a parent or a grandparent? 90% of people will say yes, of course, and be astounded that the psychic has just tapped into Aunt Jenny or Grandma Mary. The other 10% who say, no, no one that I know of, will just have the psychic coming back and asking if it is someone close to you, a friend, or a co-worker who has had someone pass? Of course! There you go. Someone old has passed away and a psychic has picked up on it. Incredible stuff.

But seriously, are there people who actually can pick up on events in another person’s life without knowing that person’s background? An acquaintance of mine tells two stories that would have us believe that yes, there are bona fide psychics out there who can actually tap into someone’s future. Here are her stories.

“I went to Memphis quite a few years ago to visit a friend, who had set up an appointment for both of us to go see a local psychic for readings. For $20 each, this lady would sit in a chair and slowly shuffle a deck of cards. She would stop occasionally to give me her ‘impressions.’ Some of the things she told me were generic, like I would meet and marry a man older than me (this did not come to pass), and that I would live in a house with lots of windows (again, this did not come to pass).”

“But there was something more specific that she told me that absolutely did come to pass that I wish hadn’t. She told me that she saw police surrounding me and some sort of trouble but it wasn’t anything too awful. Later that night, my friend and I were involved in a car accident where I drove my car into a deep culvert that I didn’t see on an unlit street. The police came to the scene but didn’t issue a ticket; however, the damage to my car was almost $1,000. The woman called it dead on.”

My friend told me of another encounter years later with a famous psychic over the phone that absolutely sealed her belief in the existence of psychic powers.

“I was listening to the radio one day when the famous NC psychic, Gary Spivey, came on the radio asking people to call in for free readings, and I did. I just asked him if he could tell me a little about my marriage and my husband, general things. I was happily married so I didn’t need any real advice, just wanted to know things about our future.

Mr. Spivey asked me if I was a little self-conscious since I put on weight and he was absolutely right. He said that my husband was someone whom everyone, including animals and insects, was drawn to. My husband was well-liked in the community and was a beekeeper. And Mr. Spivey said he saw an exotic place that surrounded us, either someplace we were moving to or that we were from. My husband is from Brazil and we actually moved to Brazil a few years later to live for a brief period. Mr. Spivey gave me enough correct information to make me a believer.”

This is just one person’s experience with psychics, which doesn’t really prove one way or the other if psychics can tap into the unknown. However, if you are interested in finding out for yourself if psychics are real, it doesn’t hurt to ask around and see if there is someone you know who has visited a psychic who did a decent job of making predictions that came true.

If you don’t know anyone, you can visit the website of notable psychics with a good track record like Gary Spivey and John Edward. Gary Spivey gives private readings as well as seminars and retreats throughout the year around the country. John Edward can only be contacted by attending one of his upcoming live performances, which sell out incredibly fast. However, if you visit his website, he has a list of other psychics that he recommends, so you may be able to find one that way. Also, both Spivey and Edward occasionally do live radio broadcasts where they take calls from listeners and give short readings. Both of these psychics have upcoming broadcasts listed on their websites.

So, back to the question, are psychics for real? That is a question that only your personal experience can answer. Hopefully, though, we’ve given you something to think about.

Just about everyone knows about the “game” of Bloody Mary that is played at pre-teen slumber parties across the nation. There are many variations, some have more than one person playing along at a time, and some have just one person at a time playing the game.

Basically, how Bloody Mary works is one or more persons go into a small darkened room that has a mirror in it. Some use a bathroom, others a closet. They get adjusted to the darkness of the room and then one, or more, of them say the name Bloody Mary at least 3 times. After saying the name Bloody Mary, they supposedly are treated to a “vision” of Bloody Mary in the mirror. Depending on whom you ask, Bloody Mary doesn’t like people doing this so there is a revenge component to the story that has Bloody Mary scratching the mirror or some say even the participants in the game.  

The results are usually the same. Someone “thinks” they saw something, and lets out a terrified scream which leads to yet another scared teen with a Bloody Mary story to tell to the next generation of curious pre-teens.  

However, there is scientific evidence to indicate that a practice known as “sensory deprivation” can actually lead to hallucinations along the same lines as witnessing a scary witch in a mirror. In a scientifically-controlled study, several test students were placed individually in a specially-designed room where all light and sound had been filtered out and the person was left basically alone with his thoughts. According to the study findings, after just 15 minutes in the deprivation chamber, subjects began to experience hallucinations such as objects and faces that were not there, and some even felt an “evil” presence in the room with them.

Upon taking a test after the experience, every study participant reported having had at least some hallucinations or delusions, even those who are not prone to having hallucinations. The hypothesis of the study was this: “hallucinations happen when the brain misidentifies the source of what it is experiencing...,” or what the researchers call “faulty source monitoring.” To simplify, the researchers put it like this “…basically, something that actually is initiated within us gets misidentified as from the outside.”

Read another way, it would appear that when we don’t have light and sound to take the onus off our brains to make stuff up, our brains make up some very weird stuff, like, for instance, Bloody Marys.