Instructor: Rainsong
Date: February 8, 2020 (Saturday)
Seminar: Topic: Introduction to Psionics — Saturday, 8 February, 2020 at 6:30pm/1830hr New York Time — text format in the PSC #lecture room (Discord) — Instructor: Rainsong — Search LECTURE115
Rainsong: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen
Rainsong: Welcome to another psionics seminar here at the social club.
Rainsong: The usual disclaimers apply, yadda yadda
Rainsong: Our topic for the evening is an “Introduction to Psionics”
Rainsong: Is anyone up for a class this evening?
Wayfarer: Hmm :thinking:
PatchesTheCoydog: Is here but might be intermittently AFK
Rainsong: Hi, Wayfarer and Patches
Rainsong: I imagine most people in this community have heard of psionics. The concept itself is not exactly novel.
Rainsong: However, I figured a bit of a review might be handy, with all the new folks around, and to make sure we’re talking about the same thing… even if we disagree about aspects of it
Chirotractor: o/
Rainsong: Hi, Chiro
TehOldeSourcerer: Here in and out
TehOldeSourcerer: :thumbsup:
Rainsong: Hihi
Kaeli: Hi there
Chirotractor: it’s very convenient that thiss is today because I’ve suddenly forgotten how to make a psiball
Rainsong: Hi, Kaeli
Rainsong: We can tuck that in, too, then
Rainsong: We’ll start with a couple friendly definitions:
Rainsong: “Telepathy” is the act or capacity of communicating between two or more minds, without the use of the conventional senses
Rainsong: “Psychokinesis” is the movement or alteration of physical substances or systems by some means other than conventional “forces”… or, less formally, by means of psychic shit
Rainsong: “Psionics” is the study and practice of those and related “psychic” things…
Rainsong: It is to parapsychology, what engineering is to science
Rainsong: It is widely – but not universally – viewed as a form of magic
Rainsong: Any questions about the nature of the topic?
Unicornzilla: what is difference between “psionics” and “energy work”?
Rainsong: Excellent question.
Rainsong: And I don’t claim a definitive answer
Rainsong: We use “psionics” pretty broadly in this community. If it’s a deliberate “psychic thing” that someone’s doing, especially if it produces an objective external effect, it counts as “psionics”.
Rainsong: In some places, they only consider something psionic if it uses some kind of device to help produce the effect: orgone accumulators, pendulums, radionic boxes, copper spirals and the like
Rainsong: Conversely, in some places, “energy work” only includes things that don’t produce an objective external effect.
Rainsong: For our purposes here, they pretty much overlap.
Rainsong: Psionics may also be separated from some kinds of energy work by the methods used. If, for example, you are summoning a demon to assist you in your task, that’s often seen as being a different kind of magic
PatchesTheCoydog: There’s also the definition the guild used where ‘psionics’ came from specific type of energy they viewed as being roduced by the nervous system as a byproduct as opposed to ‘life energy’ and other stuff. I’ve never much agreed with that and psinics comes across to me more like an approach and almost cultural thing some ways to subject ie as said people interested in psionics will also generally be interested in parapsychology and the research into psi abiliites that involve statistical analysis of whie omnimancers interested in research but take different approach to that using lots of sensory stuff which is distinct from sort of approach internal martial artists take to energy work which is all different from what people who call themselves ‘light workers’ do, etc even thugh all fall under the energy work/energy model/energy approach(thugh with some other bits like psychological/communication with subconscious/deeper mind) of/to magic(as opposed to stuff like yeah getting a demon to do or applying principles of sympathy and cantagin primarily though overlap there too which… gets back to thing abut it being in part a subcultural approach to subject).
Rainsong: That’s a good way to explain it. Thanks, Patches.
Rainsong: Sometimes the various subcultures (or, rather, the members of them) get miffed with other subcultures because of differences in approach, values, and so on.
Rainsong: For example, people who do magic as part of their religious practice sometimes get offended by magic being used for trivial purposes such as juggling psiballs
Rainsong: “You’re not taking this serious enough” is an accusation leveled at psionicists on a semi-regular basis by members of some of the religious magic communities.
Rainsong: And, to be fair, “not taking this very seriously”? Guilty as charged….
Rainsong: (Have you ever actually watches someone rattle?)
Rainsong: Any further questions or comments on this bit?
Rainsong: Apparently not.
Rainsong: There are a couple of common misconceptions that we’ll be going into more detail about next week, but mentioning them here anyway:
Chirotractor: Who wants to take things seriously anyway 😛
Rainsong: 1) Being able to do psionics does not mean that a person is necessarily a good person. Don’t consider someone a guru just because they can throw stuff around telekiinetically, or do wickedly accurate RV sessions, or whatever. Contrary to the urban legend floating around the internet, a person does not need to be selfless and pure of heart to do stuff, and do it well
Rainsong: 2) The universe will not in fact protect you from yourself if you do stupid shit, or let other people do stupid shit to you
Rainsong: Chiro: Why take life too seriously? Nobody’s getting out alive anyway…
Rainsong: Psionics is dangerous. It can get you killed.
Rainsong: Also, when trying to help someone else, messing up can make things worse for them, or possibly kill them too
Rainsong: “Trying to do good” with it is not, in itself, a protection of any kind
Rainsong: That said, running assassination ops against a well-protected target can also end badly for you.
Rainsong: Just saying
Rainsong: But it’s not because “assassination is bad”. It’s because the target is competently protected.
PatchesTheCoydog: (The “not taking things seriously enough” is accusation ALSO levelled at chaos mages lots and that tends even more towards active irreverence. Though having fun, being playful and stuff can actually co-exist with respect for things, take it ‘seriously’ in many respects like being devoted to subject and such. Which I try for personally but… dirty chaos mage!). “2) The universe will not in fact protect you from yourself if you do stupid shit, or let other people do stupid shit to you” This very true and “psionics is dangerous, can kill you” is one form of taking it seriously/having respect for subject should have if you don’t want end up dead.Though from magical perspective your spirits might protect you especially if have set up agreements about that beforehand which one possible good idea(my own… quite fine with me being hurt, can set me up for being hurt in order for me to learn from. Will try help make sure never end up permanently damaged in “can’t progress”/”bound/trapped” ways especially. That’s not something can necessarily rely on though and so even if have that kind of thing set up be careful). I STFU, sorry if interrupting.
Rainsong: Certainly, some people have arrangements with various other people (often non-corporeal) to assist and protect. But the universe in general doesn’t care, and I expect that most major deities are too busy doing deity stuff to worry about carnivorous plains apes doing stupid shit
Rainsong: Also, yes, chaos magicians also face the not-serious-enough accusations.
Rainsong: There’s “not being stupid’ serious, and there’s ‘you can only use this stuff for purposes I approve of’ serious
PatchesTheCoydog: Yes
Rainsong: Psionics has an effect on the body, regardless of whether you just use the guild’s concept of ‘psi’ or you’re off in the other direction somewhere.
Rainsong: For some reason, trying hard at this causes the glucose-insulin-potassium balances in the blood to get off-kilter.
Rainsong: You know the hangover-like effect you feel after taying up late cramming for an exam?
Rainsong: It appears to be the same effect, but when it comes about because of a psionic activity, it can happen in minutes, instead of hours.
Rainsong: It doesn’t appear to matter whether ‘what you were trying to do” was working, either.
Rainsong: You’re more likely to run into trouble putting too much effort into getting a pinwheel to spin for the first time than pushing around bowling balls later on.
Rainsong: It might be connected to the emotional component, or just the difference in concentration.
Rainsong: It’s wise to have a snack on hand that will be digested quickly, and which has sugar and potassium (more potassium than sodium) in it… If you have metabolic / systemic medical issues that make such a snack unwise, discuss with your medical professional what the best course of action is for you.
PatchesTheCoydog: https://www.webmd.com/diet/foods-rich-in-potassium#1 https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325728.php
Rainsong: Orange juice (and several other fruit juices) figure heavily here because they are basically just water and sugar along with the assorted micronuitrients and some type of acid (citric, malic, etc). As a result, the body starts digesting it in the mouth.
Rainsong: Chocolate is an excellent food, but the fat in it slows down the digestion, and it doesn’t really start in earnest until it hits the stomach.
Rainsong: Thanks for posting that, Patches 😀
Rainsong: Fortunately, potassium is pretty common in foods.
Rainsong: And the amount you need is relative to the amount of sodium in your system.
Rainsong: However the body has very effective ways to get rid of excess potassium that you eat in your foods, presuming you’re healthy.
Rainsong: It does not have an effective way to keep the potassium levels from dropping too low.
Rainsong: That last part there is why we must be so careful. “Hypokalemia” is literally “low levels of potassium in the blood”…. and it is bad.
Rainsong: Gorging on potassium-rich foods ahead of a working isn’t necessarily a bad idea, but it won’t stop the potassium levels in your body from dropping during the working.
Rainsong: Potassium- and/or snack-related questions?
Unicornzilla: (sodium – potassium pump enzyme comes to mind … don’t know if it’s related to curren topic though)
Rainsong: It’s almost certainly related.
Chirotractor: a wonderful justification for a chocolate adiction
Rainsong: Chocolate is a food group
Chirotractor: the food group really
Rainsong: Ophiel: insufficient data so far to say exactly what is going on in the psionic situations, so I don’t have anything useful to say to the enzyme comment.
Rainsong: The same sorts of situations that cause the problem also register on a Geiger counter, though, if the device happens to be conveniently placed. So I’ve occasionally speculated about the radioactivity in some potassium being connected in some way? But that gets into wild speculation there.
PatchesTheCoydog: Na+/K+-ATPase/sodium-posassium pump… https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3390818/ this relevant for anyone interested, it’s article on energy budgeting for neural computation which Na+/K+-ATPase major part of and which psionics probably involves some heavy expenditures regarding. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2466/pms.2002.94.3.927 https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/jnp.13.4.515 articles on some of little researhc currently done n neurophysiological correlates of psi stuff, maybe something interesting for someone(Michael Persingers work in general has lots of interesting stuff that’s worth reading.)
Rainsong: Excellent. Thanks for this.
Rainsong: Questions? Commentary? Ideas?
Rainsong: There is a surprisingly large number of useful basic exercises for getting better at psionics.
Rainsong: Psiballs are one of these.
Rainsong: We’ll run throuogh a quick review of one psiball method, because of Chiro’s comment earlier, not bothering about whether he was or was not being serious at the time.
Chirotractor: oh one second
Rainsong: Aaaaand, we’re back to friendly definitions, just in case someone reading this in the logs hasn’t encountered psiballs before: They are little clumps of psi-stuff, shaped like spheroids.
Rainsong: Okay, sure
Chirotractor: Okay go ahead
Chirotractor: 😛
Seian Verian: peers in with interest
Rainsong: Choosing a psi-ball method at semi-random… We’ll review the -four-count breath method this time.
Rainsong: Like most skills, this one is made up of several smaller skills.
Rainsong: One of these is “counting to four”
Rainsong: Another is “breathing”
Rainsong: Any questions about either of those?
Rainsong: Okay, cool.
Rainsong: Next is to start a bit a movement of “stuff” in your body’s field, moving up and down the body, starting at the feet.
Rainsong: If you have any trouble moving energy-stuff, direct it by running a finger or two fingers along the track you want it to follow.
Rainsong: So, move it up the leg for a slow count of four, breathing in; and back down for a slow count of four, breathing out.
Rainsong: No hitches or holds between the breaths, for this one
Rainsong: Gradually move the psi-stuff more quickly, until you can get it all the way to the top of your head on one four-count in-breath
Rainsong: Once you’ve got it moving like that, start having it go down your arms to your hands instead of all the way back down to your feet on the out-breath.
Rainsong: This is a relatively simple and friendly way to move psi-stuff around. It’s also the basis of a healing modality called “Quantum Touch”
Rainsong: If you keep your hands closed into fists while you do this (except for the finger being used to guide the stuff, if you need it), you’ll very likely find they start to feel “full” and may be flushed and red, too.
Rainsong: Open your fists and direct the psi-stuff between your hands into a ball-shape.
Rainsong: It can help to pretend the psi-stuff is water or another fluid, when moving it around.
Rainsong: Questions? Comments?
Rainsong: If you want the psiball to stay together, add a duration to it. One way to do that is to imagine a clock or timer indicating the amount of time you want it to stay together
Rainsong: “fifteen minutes”, “until 3:47pm” or whatever
PatchesTheCoydog: (One fun thing can try to do once have the basic process down is try to throw it at a cloud and see if can get a hole)
Rainsong: 🙂
shadowsword: Psi feels a bit like a magnetic force imo
Rainsong: Also, if you’ve over-extended yourself a bit at the gym, on the dance floor, or in the dojo,… A muscle is complaining? Put this through the muscle.
Rainsong: It can feel that way, yes.
Seian Verian: I’ve only started working with psi very recently, but I’ve noticed that trying to focus energy through limbs can seemingly help you move faster with less fatigue, or slightly alleviate pain
Seian Verian: This has been relevant recently when using the recumbent bike at the gym
Rainsong: This is true.
Rainsong: Refer to the above warnings, earlier in the class about pushing that too much. And a strange thing about psionic healing is that various people are good at various aspects, and the things that work or don’t work for them don’t necessarily make any logical sense.
Rainsong: For example, it would be logical to presume that “minor” issues are easier to work on that major ones. But being able to re-knit bones doesn’t mean you can necessarily relieve muscle cramps, even though loosening tight muscles ought to be much, much simpler
Rainsong: To be clear, relieveing cramps in legs or other areas can be done, and many people can do it. It just isn’t necessarily easier than dealing with a more complicated problem.
Rainsong: Strange, but true
Rainsong: Questions? Commentary?
Chirotractor: Not from me!
Seian Verian: Not me at the moment either
Rainsong: Not seeing anyone else typiing, I think we’ll call it a night.
Rainsong: Thanks for participating, everyone 😀
Unicornzilla: Thank you for lecture
PatchesTheCoydog: Thanks for lecture. Hope you and everyone else have good night.
Rainsong: You too 🙂
Rainsong: Next week’s topic is “Concerning Abusive Dynamics in Psi and Magic Communities” (suggested by Patches… and bumping a review on oomph)’
Archaeus: I was lurking. thanks!
Rainsong: Hi, Archaeus
Archaeus: well not really. Just caught the last 10 mins of the lecture
Rainsong: That’s fine, too 🙂