Part I

UNDERSTANDING OUR ESP

The existence of psychic ability has been known to mankind for thousands of years. History tells us that in ancient times, oracles were used in Egypt and in Greece, and the Bible contains numerous accounts of the psychic experiences of such men as Moses and Ezekiel. Historically, the nature of psychic ability has often been closely tied to mankind's understanding of God, for both of these aspects of human experience involve something that comes from beyond our physical sense perceptions.

However, psychic ability has not always been equated with messages from divine sources; in fact, in many cases it was considered a primary avenue for demonic forces which were seeking to lead mankind astray. Such beliefs have persisted to the present day in the minds of some. But while it is true that these faculties can be used for selfish or destructive purposes, there seems to be a growing body of information which indicates that psychic ability has tremendous positive applications.

In this century we have seen the tools of modern science applied to the investigation of ESP. This work was begun in earnest in the late 1920s by Dr. J.B. Rhine at Duke University. His work and the research of those who have followed him have demonstrated beyond a reasonable doubt that some people do have verifiable extrasensory perception. This has certainly been an important breakthrough in human understanding, and yet it leaves many unanswered questions which are even more significant:

Many theories and models have been proposed to try to answer the first question, and some of these will be reviewed later in this section. The work of theorists is very important, because it seems that in our developing understanding of psychic ability, the greatest need at this time is for an exploration of how ESP works. Hundreds of research papers attest to the validity of the paranormal, yet more work is needed in constructing a model of how ESP operates if we are to approach an understanding of its implications. Another important need is for greater insight into the relationship between psychic ability and the religious or spiritual experiences that many seekers have reported.

In this book a theory and a model of the mechanism of psychic ability are proposed. This theory of how ESP works is developed from statements in the Edgar Cayce readings, and the model is an attempt to illustrate this mechanism in pictorial form. It is hoped that together they demonstrate a context in which psychic experiences can be understood as a part of evolution in consciousness, or soul growth.

No other psychic has left such an extensive documentation of accurate psychic impressions as has Edgar Cayce. His work, which covered more than 40 years, resulted in over 14,000 transcribed psychic readings. Some of the theories and models of ESP that have previously been proposed by parapsychologists have drawn upon the insights of proven psychics. It is only fitting that the theory contained in the work of America's best-documented psychic also be made known and tested.

There is an additional reason why we need a theory to help us understand ESP. Many people are working with the concepts in the Edgar Cayce readings related to meditation, prayer, dream study and physical attunement. Some find that they have spontaneous psychic experiences. A greater understanding of how and why ESP works would very likely help these people to integrate their experiences into the rest of their spiritual search. Here, taken from hundreds of similar accounts, are four reports of spontaneous experiences of psychic ability that occurred in the lives of individuals working with the attunement procedures recommended in the readings:

"I have been working with my dreams off and on for six or eight years. I have a friend named B., whom I see once or twice a year. There is only one time that I ever remember dreaming of him. I woke in the middle of the night with a dream that B. was in some kind of restricted situation-a room with others who were upset. I thought in the dream that it might be a mental hospital. I thought in the dream `He needs help.' Two weeks later I heard that, in fact, my friend had been admitted to a mental hospital."

"We were sitting in a circle meditating. Directly across from me was a man who I knew had been meditating for many years; he was also a man of strong energies. The energies were moving him from side to side as he sat with his eyes closed. I wondered what was happening in his meditation. By will, I moved into his energy field. It was like stepping into a small twister.

All the energies of my body were pushed with great force up into my head. My ears stopped up, my nose stopped up, and my head began to ache. For the next couple of hours I felt as though I had a severe head cold. I learned to stay within my own spiritual space during meditation, and I discovered that even a good vibration from someone else was detrimental when I was opened up to the Christ energy within myself."

"One morning a friend stopped by to see if I needed to fill my water jugs from the well which was about ten miles down the road. I did need to, so after putting my jugs in the car we left. When we got there I picked up a jug in my right hand and my left hand was laid carelessly on top of the open car door. I suddenly gave the door a hard push and the door clicked shut and was closed with my hand caught inside. There I was with a jug in one hand and the other hand caught in the car door.

I said to my friend, 'Pauline, open the door, my hand is caught.' She reached over and opened the door. The pain was excruciating and I dreaded to see what I had done. Quick as a flash I ran over to the well and let the water run over my hurt hand. Then I filled my jugs as fast as I could, got back into the car, laid my hand in my lap and looked at it with compassion. Immediately, the broken flesh began to move together, the blood clot was fast disappearing, and at the same time the pain was leaving.

Meanwhile, my friend had started the car. I told her to stop the car and look at my hand, which was being healed right in front of my eyes. She stopped the car and watched. She said she had never seen anything like it, and neither had I. In just a few minutes there was no sign of the injury to my hand, not even a scar. It was really wonderful, almost unbelievable unless you saw it as it happened."

"Many inventions or new scientific concepts-such as the sewing machine and the benzene ring in chemistry are attributed to dreams. It may be that some of these innovations resulted not so much from dreams as from experiences in the hypnogogic state, the state between wakefulness and sleep. The following experience in my own life illustrates such a possibility.

"After years of normal operation my Volkswagen started behaving peculiarly one summer. It would run fine for a block or two, then stop. Only if I let it sit overnight would it restart. I took it to several mechanics and no one could fix the problem.

I had given up on it, when one night as I was in the hypnogogic state I had two images come to my mind. In one I was at a self-service gas station removing the gas cap from my car, and as I did there was a `pop' like the sound of a soft-drink bottle being opened. In the other image I was driving my car and it stopped running just as it had been doing for some time now.

"I wasn't sure what those images might mean, but when I mentioned them to a friend who is a mechanic he became very excited. He checked the records on my car and discovered that the previous winter the gas tank had been replaced and a newer version had been installed. The tank did not really match the fuel pump in my car.

When the weather got hot enough a suction was created in the gas tank (just like the `pop' I experienced in the hypnogogic image) and my car's fuel pump wasn't able to draw the gas properly. All that was needed was a small hole in the gas cap to keep the suction from occurring. Once we had drilled the hole my car started running fine again."