Instructor: RainTurtle
Date: March 23, 2004 (Wednesday)
<RainTurtle> Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to yet another rudimentary psionics seminar
<RainTurtle> This is not a gaming channel. If you are looking for an RPG, you might want to leave now before you get too weirded out
<RainTurtle> I shall not attempt to prove the existence of the subject matter in this class, nor will I entertain debate on that matter during seminar time. If you care to debate it, wait until after the seminar or take it to the main room
<RainTurtle> Further, this is not a children’s channel. Behaviour common to teen chats and the internet slang common to same are inappropriate here.
<RainTurtle> Questions on that?
<Grael> nope
<Jael> none here
<Aphanas> *shakes head*
<Static> Not here.
<Nuke> no
<RainTurtle> As usual, it is helpful to define out terms for the purposes of this seminar, because in some online communities, and in some reference works, the same words might be used to mean somewhat different things
<RainTurtle> “PK” is short for “psychokinesis”, which is the technical term for “psionically moving or altering an object, animate or inanimate”
<RainTurtle> Examples of this include -but are not limited to- causing items to fly around the room by thinking at them, psionically heating water to a rolling boil, using “psi” to heal a fractured bone, and psychically messing with a computer program or affecting the rolls of dice
<RainTurtle> “Telekinesis”/“TK” is the same thing, in English. It fell out of favour for technical use because, in some languages it also has another meaning
<RainTurtle> (For the curious, the other meaning is closer to “remote presense”)
<RainTurtle> PK may be divided into two kinds: microPK and macroPK. MicroPK is the stuff that requires statistical analysis to establish an effect. MacroPK is the kind that can be demonstrated outright
<RainTurtle> PK can be demonstrated in some pretty convincing ways. Psionically stop a spinning radiometer in front of witnesses trained in Physics, and they will pay attention at the very least
<RainTurtle> If you come from a background that lacks direct experience of psionics, “psiballs” and “empathy” are harder to “prove” to yourself or others, because you can write them off as imagination
<RainTurtle> This is part of why PK is so popular with newbies.
<RainTurtle> Another part is the “Hey, look what I can do!” factor
<Grael> =D
<RainTurtle> The fact that it is popular with newbies has spawned an assortment of hopelessly fluffy creative fiction presented as fact on various websites
<RainTurtle> (Several online communities accuse each other of fluffiness on grounds of disagreement or personal dislike, but that is just “name calling”)
<RainTurtle> If it claims to be a method that “works for everyone”, and especially if it claims to be without any risk, without limits, and without actual effort involved, you can generally assume it is bullshit
<RainTurtle> Even so, feel free to give’em a try. If it works for you, And the effect is not due to more “mundane” factors such as convection currents, I will be more than happy to “eat my words” publically
<RainTurtle> …..which brings us to the concept of “oomph”.
<RainTurtle> It is a nebulous term that I’d been using in the Q&A section at PsiPog in order to point out to certain long-eared and short-tailed people that “visualisation” by itself does not accomplish pk
<RainTurtle> PArt of the definition of “psi” in the context of psionics, is that it is the mechanism/s used to accomplish PK. Therefore, saying to “use psi to pk something” is not a useful instruction by itself
<RainTurtle> There are a variety of approaches which are valid and workable, for pk
<RainTurtle> Describing them in sufficient detail to be usable by a beginner is difficult, but doable.
<RainTurtle> I would expect that methods derived from trial-and-error experimentation (such as Peebs’ method at Pog, or Anka’s at th Guild) are often more understandable to a newbie than methods described by folk whose effort in pk has been geared to controlling it rather than “getting it to work”
<RainTurtle> That said, I am going to try to explain anyway
<Grael> =)
<RainTurtle> The introductory preamble over, are there any questions before I get to “the good stuff”?
<Grael> None here
<Aphanas> None here.
<Jael> none here
<Andy_Hock> Nope
*Dan shakes head no.
<Static> nope.
<Nuke> no
<RainTurtle> Very good then.
<RainTurtle> The first approach under consideration is familiar to most of you, but we’ll take it step by step for the benefit of the new folk
<RainTurtle> Figure out which hand you generally write with.
<RainTurtle> For most people this is not usually a huge puzzle.
<RainTurtle> Tense the index finger of that hand, and point it at the open palm of the opposite hand. (If you have more than two hands, choose the other hand at random)
<RainTurtle> “Pretend” that the tensed index finger is a “laser pointer” and use if to draw a shape on the opposite palm, from a distance of at least an inch.
<RainTurtle> Try it out. Do you see/feel/hear/grok anything?
<Dan> *nods*
<Grael> *nods* Grok!
<Aphanas> Yep.
<Jael> yep
<Static> Yes.
<Dan> Feels a little like off palm does miniscule tensing at aim point.
<Nuke> Whoa
<Nuke> i do
<RainTurtle> Excellent
<RainTurtle> Next time you have a small psi-toy handy (the infamous psiwheel springs instantly to mind), try using the “laser pointer” method with it. From an inch away at first, then increasing distances
<RainTurtle> It will take practice, but bopping the wheel back and forth like a tetherball can be amusing on a slow night
<RainTurtle> A small warning is in order.
<RainTurtle> PK is a physical skill, and it takes a lot out of you. It also messes with your blood chemistry, just as any other heavy exertion does
<RainTurtle> If you feel dizzy, faint, tired, or if your heart starts to “pound”, stop immediately, have a snack and rest
<RainTurtle> Over-enthusiastic practice of pk can kill you. There are already deaths on record caused by it
<RainTurtle> Questions on “laser pointer” or the obligatory health warning?
<Dan> No
<Aphanas> *shakes head*
<Jael> none here
<Grael> nope
<Static> Non here.
<Nuke> nope
<Andy_Hock> Nope.
<RainTurtle> A similar, but fluffier-sounding, approach is to “pretend” to project a stiff beam of psi from your eyes. That “intense stare” that RPGs associate with psionicists.
<RainTurtle> Fluffy as it sounds, it can work for pulling on things as well as for pushing. I don’t recommend it, as much, because the risks of messing up appear to be greater when working pk from the head
<RainTurtle> The “beam” feels like it is about 8“ in diameter, and fuzzy….stiff with some give, kind of like a pole made of yew wood and covered in velvet
<RainTurtle> It’s warm, too…almost like that ki stuff the Reiki people use
<RainTurtle> Questions?
<Grael> nope
<RainTurtle> (I’ve only ever used it on stage-doors)
*Jael raises hand
<RainTurtle> Jael?
<Nuke> none here
<Jael> Are there any known differences (in results or effects on the body) from working from the hands or the tummy?
<RainTurtle> No. Not that I know of. Some people have a decided preference, but whether it is a question of effectiveness, personal comfort, or of some idiosyncracy of the field, I do not know
<Jael> okay…thanks
<RainTurtle> That said, if you run “psi stuff” through the nerves, you risk permanent damage. If you move it from one part of your field to another, keep it outside the nerve fibres
*Aphanas raises hand…
<RainTurtle> With both the laser pointer and the fluffy eyebeam thing, the “oomph” is that stuff you felt on the palm of your hand….If you want to try the eye thing, push out a “beam” and feel it with the palm of your hand in front of your face
<RainTurtle> Aphanas?
<Aphanas> Heh… I’ll post it anyway, but my question was just answered.
<Aphanas> In all of those methods, what separates using lots of “oomph” from only using a little “oomph” with each method? Is it the strength of the feeling/groking that was detected with the finger-pointing exercise, a level of focus, all of the above, etc?
<Aphanas> 🙂
<RainTurtle> 🙂
<RainTurtle> Focus will affect it, but the “oomph” is the force with which you push the “laser beam” or the beam from the eyes
<Aphanas> *nods* That makes sense. Thanks.
<RainTurtle> 🙂 no prob
<RainTurtle> Anyone else?
<Jael> no more questions here
<Aphanas> No more here.
<Static> Nope.
<Grael> huh uh
<Nuke> no
<RainTurtle> The “eyebeam” thing is probably related to the “third eye” method I’ve sometimes come across. I will leave that method to people who actually believe in chakras, though.
*Aphanas raises hand…
<RainTurtle> mmhmm?
<Aphanas> I was just curious on how you discovered the eyebeam method… is it also related to the “this is really annoying me” feeling?
*Aphanas notes that glaring at things seems to help sometimes…
<RainTurtle> In the middle of opening night, some idiot forgot to close the stagedoor quietly, and let it slam behind him……I stopped it by “Staring” at it, and the yew-in-velvet feeling is the effect I noticed
<Aphanas> *nods* OK. So you just did it, and then said “Hmm, this feels different…”?
<RainTurtle> …held the door, then closed it slowly.
<RainTurtle> Ye
<RainTurtle> yep
<Aphanas> OK, just wondering for discovering other methods of making it work. Thanks.
<RainTurtle> You’re welcome….that is the whole idea of this seminar, after all
<Aphanas> Heh… true.
<RainTurtle> Closer to –but not identical to– Anka’s approach to things (see the Education section of www.psionguild.org for his approach)…..
<RainTurtle> ….push a puff, or a series of puffs of psistuff from your belly, or as high as the heart-level of your torso
<RainTurtle> By puff, I mean something like blowing out a candle by going “puh” at it
<RainTurtle> If you are picturing the puff, think in terms of a sudden cloud of mist or smoke ….rounded, and broken off from the source by pinching off
<RainTurtle> A good solid puff will feel like you’re doing push-ups, after a few months of being a couch-potato
<Grael> That noticable?
<RainTurtle> Yes
<Grael> *nods*
<RainTurtle> This approach has an assortment of uses: disrupting magnets’ fields, some kinds of healing, pushing the ball on a tetherball game, sucker-punching your buddy’s field in math class….
<Grael> =d
<Grael> =D*
<RainTurtle> A sustained push is also workable, but a lot more effort. In some situations, the extra effort might be worth it
<RainTurtle> For example, if you happened to be sitting in the same room with a certain Mr J. Randi, pushing him out of his chair…..
<Aphanas> lol
<Jael> hehe
<RainTurtle> …or bending the spoon he’s using
<Static> haha
<Grael> hehe
<RainTurtle> For those who maintain Shields, extending a tendril out from it and using the tendril to grasp the object you want to move is another option. If you want a visual for extending the tendril, pull a bit away from some melted cheese or bubble gum…
<RainTurtle> For adding more oomph, faking an emotion, as though you were about to Send certain kinds of pings can help.
<RainTurtle> Likewise, actual emotion of the more intense variety can help add oomph….doesn’t do much for control, though
<RainTurtle> Strangely, the microPK tests do better if you gently send psi-stuff at it, while calmly picturing the desired end result (not the process). Pushing hard will often send the results in the wrong direction
<RainTurtle> You’d still get statistical significance, but the opposite effect
<RainTurtle> Any questions?
<Andy_Hock> Nope.
<Static> nope
<Grael> nope
<Aphanas> No more here at the moment.
<Jael> none here either
<Nuke> no
<RainTurtle> Alright then, thus endeth tonight’s seminar.
<RainTurtle> Thanks, Bester. Good night, all