The issue of psychics charging for their services is a controversial one. Over the years, I've received a few messages through my personal site that complained that psychics and mediums should never charge for their work. In researching this article, I spent some time in an online chat room that advertised free psychic readings, and I asked for people's opinions on the matter. The topic certainly sparked controversy.

Read more here: » Money and Spirituality: The Controversy Over Charging for Psychic Services

 An Avatar is an incarnation of a fragment of God on Earth. Avatars that are known of in the West include Christ, Buddha, Rama and Krishna. There are many others, however, as enumerated in the Bhagavata, the story of all the major Avatars.

Read more here: » Avatars: Sages, Saints and Avatars

Trance Channeling is first and foremost a means of communication, and is very much akin to what many people think of as telepathy. A fair comparison can be drawn between common television and radio signal receptions and Trance Channeling. Since the most commonly used interactive or two way communications today take place through an instrument known as the telephone, however, we will start by comparing the person doing the Trance Channeling, i.e. the Trance Channel, to a common telephone.

Read more here: » Trance Channeling: The Physics of Trance Channeling

Spiritualism is the opposite of Materialism; every one is a Spiritualist who believes that there is in him something more than matter, but does not follow that he believes in the existence of spirits, or in their communication with the visible world. Instead, therefore of the words SPIRITUAL, SPIRITUALISM, we employ, to designate this latter belief, the words SPIRITIST, SPIRITISM, which, by their form, indicate their origin and radical meaning, and have thus the advantage of being perfectly intelligible; and we reserve the words spiritualism, spiritualist, for the expression of the meaning attached to them by common acceptation.

From "The Spirits book" By Allan Karde (1804-1869.

Read more here: » Spiritism, Introduction of The Spirits book - Part I of VI

Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of existence, truth and knowledge. It incorporates ontology (the science/nature of true being) and epistemology (the study of the origin, methods and limits of knowledge). The student of metaphysics is interested in first causes, the nature of "reality" and in what lies beyond the sensory world. Metaphysics will never be accepted as an integrated science by scientists because it does deal with subjective territory, with events that do not fit perfectly within our present prescripts of comprehension. Indeed, it will not become indefectible and conclusive until the evolution of man-woman is consummated.

Read more here: » Metaphysics: The Chemistry Of Metaphysics

The New Age movement is hardly novel! Its philosophy is rooted in ancient traditions, often based on mystical experiences, each within a different context.

Part II of II, written by Michael Rogge

Read more here: » The roots of the New Age Movement Ð Part II

Man can hardly attain perfection in one life. He has to develop his heart, intellect and hand. He has to mould his character in a perfect manner. He has to develop various virtuous qualities such as mercy, tolerance, love, forgiveness, equal vision, courage, etc.

The doctrine of reincarnation is quite rational. It gives ample chances for man’s rectification, growth and gradual evolution.

The death and dying and the life after death has always fascinated man. This is an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Reincarnation: Reincarnation Is Quite True - I

In Vaikuntha all persons dwell having the form of Vishnu and propitiate Him by means of Dharma which is not prompted by the desire of any fruit

This is an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Lokas Or Planes: Vaikuntha Loka

Changing your lifestyle to live metaphysically is easy, but before you start this process, you need to know what your Mind, Body and Spirit are thinking about the new you. You need to know what each of your energy systems will or will not do to help you reinvent yourself to live more metaphysically.

Read more here: » Metaphysics: Living A Metaphysical Lifestyle Is Fun Easy To Do!

Psychics, like people in any other profession, all work differently. This is why, when you look for a psychic/clairvoyant or reader as we are often called, it's best to find one who fits your personality and needs. There are two very important factors in any reading. They are you and the reader.

From Expanding the Psychic You by Keith Atkinson.

Read more here: » Psychic Reading: How To Have A Good Psychic Reading

 As thoughts are energetic electrical currents coming into the brain, resisting thoughts means we are opposing the natural flow of electrical impulses through our brains. Since resistance is opposition and opposition is the condition of being in conflict or being antagonistic toward, we are creating conflict within ourselves when we resist our naturally occurring thoughts. We are placing our thoughts opposite to or in contrast with our selves. We make our thoughts into an obstacle, an enemy.

Read more here: » Prosperity Consciousness: Resist NoThing Ð About the Power of Thoughts

Death is the most common phenomenon in nature and yet the least understood fact. It is one of the most difficult problems of philosophy, because there is no direct evidence usually available as to what really happens in and after death.
Recently there has been an attempt made in the West by the Psychical Research Society to study the problem of death. Some thinkers have come to believe on the strength of the evidence collected that death does not bring human personality to an end.

This is an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Spiritualism

People wish to know the exact period that elapses from the time of leaving the body and being born again. Does the soul take a new body in one year? Does it take ten years? How long does one live upon the subtler planes before reappearing on the earth-plane? These are some of the questions. Now, there is no definite period of time in this matter. In main two factors decide this issue viz., the nature of the individual Karma and the last impression before death.

This is an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Lokas Or Planes: The Stay In Supra-Physical Planes Between death and rebirth

The prayers, good thoughts or good wishes and Kirtan become helpful to the departed souls. They can be of invaluable assistance to the dead. Prayers for the dead form an integral part of most of the religions. The Catholic Church conducts prayers for the dead.
Prayer acts on the principle of a radio station and broadcasts the waves of good thoughts just as the radio station broadcasts waves of sound.
Prayer or Kirtan is a mighty force which helps the departed souls in their progress towards heaven and their quiet passage through the intermediate state.

This is an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Sraaddha: Prayer For The Dead - Prayer And Kirtan For The Dead

There are two fascinating qualities that can enter into our lives or the lives of those we care for at any moment: love and addiction. At first these two may appear to be strange bedfellows: love evokes pleasurable images of couples passionately embracing or tenderly gazing into each others' eyes, while addiction brings up a darker, grim, even desperate image of people struggling against a part of themselves that is out of control. Yet at their core, both have in common a profound spiritual yearning, the desire to transcend the self, to experience powerful states of bliss and ecstasy and to merge with and feel a part of something greater than oneself.

Read more here: » Relationships: Addictive Love Relationships

The underlying reason the big questions are so difficult to answer is ultimately personal - we are swamped in a plethora of identities, most of them false. These false personas were imposed upon us from the outside by society and from the inside by our own muddled thinking. For most of us, there is no single unified self, no uniform field of continuous consciousness. Our "common sense" notion to the contrary, that we are one person with a singular identity, is based on a false assumption.

Read more here: » Personality dissociation: The Problem Of the Subtle Sybil Effect

There are varieties of hells that a Jiva has to experience in accordance with the Karmas which he does through sin and passion. Twenty-nine kinds of regions of sufferings are described in the Bhagavata, when Jivas are said to be born due to their Karmas

This is an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » Lokas Or Planes: Karmas And Hells

A dictionary of Parapsycology. Please note that words in grey are hyperlinked to a corresponding archive with articles related to that particular topic.

For more dictionary entries, see » Mediums Dictionary

The question of rebirth, of life after death, has remained an enigma through the ages. Human knowledge is hardly capable of answering all the problems that life foreshadows, and as Gautama Buddha would say, “In this world of forms and illusions created by our senses according to our illusions, a man either is or is not, either lives or dies, but in the true and formless world this is not so, for all is otherwise than according to our knowledge, and if you ask, does a man live beyond death, I answer No, not in any sense comprehensible to the mind of man which itself dies at death, and if you ask, does a man altogether die at death, I answer No, for what dies is what belongs to this world of form and illusion.”

The death and dying and the life after death has always fascinated man. This is an excerpt from the book What Becomes Of The Soul After Death by Sri Swami Sivananda.

Read more here: » What Is Death?: Rebirth And Evolution Of Man

Possession

1)    A ritual trance state, learned through extensive training and achieved in religious ceremonies, during which individuals are said to experience the indwelling presence of powerful spirits. Possession may be an involuntary condition or one deliberately sought. It may be a peripheral experience, judged negatively by the culture, for which an expert in curing (exorcism) is required. It may be the central experience of a religious group, highly valued and desired, for which an expert guide sometimes serves as an enabler. Possession is a relatively widespread phenomenon found in religions ranging from Shinto to Santeria, but the experience of or belief in possession occurs only under specific conditions. Possession trance cannot occur unless the religious community acknowledges both the independent existence of spirits and the reality of possession. Other factors supportive of possession include a high degree of rigidity and differentiation in social roles outside the religion, the acceptance of psychological vulnerability for the sake of wisdom, and a religious worldview including multiple spirit worlds.

2)    The traditional Christian and popular Western view of possession limits it to the unwanted presence of demons and evil spirits who maltreat the human host, although glossolalia, or speaking in tongues, and the experience of being "moved by the Spirit" are related phenomena. Other religions, with more flexible understanding of the varieties of spiritual experience, encourage the direct communication with them that possession rituals allow; possession is thus an important element in many indigenous religions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas, as well as in the African-influenced new religions of Umbanda, Santeria, and Voodoo. In those communities, greater and lesser spirits are worshiped directly when they descend into the bodies of devotees or specially trained mediums; once among their followers, the spirits transform the behavior and appearance of the one possessed and offer transcendent advice for the spiritual and material problems of their congregations.

(See also: Possession , New Age Spirituality, Body Mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Mediums Dictionary

Table-turning The spiritualistic or astral phenomenon of motion produced in a table when the sitters at a seance hold their hands over or on it, and varying from risings into the air and movings around the room, to giving tilts in answer to code-questions.

Ordinary Occidental intelligence seems incapable of imagining anything between a purely mechanical action and a full-blown human intelligence. The phenomena are usually supposed to be either due to tricks or some kind of unconscious muscular action on the part of the sitters, or to be spirits of the departed. But there are a variety of degrees between physical mechanism and self-conscious volition, just as there are multitudes of living beings in widely differing states of materiality filling the gap between physical organisms and the spirits of the departed.

The astral light is filled with an enormous variety of beings, mostly of a low type, not using physical bodies, not human in their nature, but having a sort of consciousness of their own; and the conditions provided by the vitality of the medium and sitters may vitalize, stimulate, and to a certain extent direct, these beings and thus at times cause them to become active in the production of physical phenomena.

Again, the human organism in all its ranges itself is composed of a vast number of elements, physical, astral, etc., which in normal life are held together in a unit and in subordination to the general life of the person. Some of these elements may become temporarily extruded, especially in natural mediums or those who have cultivated mediumship; and thus the phenomena may be caused unintelligently or ignorantly by the sitters themselves -- and just here is the instrumental cause of nearly all the physical phenomena produced by mediums, or mediums and sitters together.

(See also: Table-turning , Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body mind and Soul)

For more dictionary entries, see » Mediums Dictionary

A dictionary of parapsychology. Please note that words in grey are hyperlinked to a corresponding archive with articles related to that particular topic.

For more dictionary entries, see » Mediums Dictionary