Are Psychics Real pt. 2

As I mentioned in my last blog, ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ was the perfect movie for me to see during a time of deep sadness. The ending had to do with the deaf-mute Native American picking up an attached sink and throwing it out a barred window to make his escape.

I sat unmoveable in my seat with the thought if that guy can pull himself out of his circumstances, I can. I can, too.

I had to face all the things I was hiding from, face my flaws, my stupidity, naiveté, and gullibility, and build strength; mentally and physically.

Easier said than done and a lifelong process.

Which brings me back to psychics. Are they real or a con job?

Let me digress to the function and role of psychics, we might call them oracles, shamans, gurus, or profits. These people held a sacred space for centuries. They helped their communities long before our modern era with psychology, therapy, and drugs to handle emotional troubles.

Pythia was an oracle in Ancient Greece and gave her visions to the priests and nuns who tended to the temple at Delphi. Mystics in Ancient India included dedicated yogis, wants, and gurus. Druids were the keepers of the mysteries of the universe in the northern countries, and we cannot forget one of the most famous of the seekers: Merlin the Wizard.

Civilizations have cultivated spiritual guides for centuries. As a way to distinguish the men and women who practiced medicine in ancient cultures, medicine women assisted with childbirth and developed tonics, salves, and potions to repair wounds or alleviate physical disorders. This was a trade passed from one woman to another. Medicine men were the keepers of the tribes’ spiritual practices, ethics, and morals.

Shamans were different. They had had a psychological break that usually occurred during adolescence. We all face a break as the body changes from child to adult. For some, the change can also be coupled with a significant event such as seeing the death of a loved one, or a catastrophic event such as an earthquake, or war, or something we have a name for now but there was not one until 100 years ago; a schizophrenic episode. Each of these events signaled that the world is not the world as known but something different, dangerous, and frightening. This was a break in belonging.

The shaman has been to the edge of living and survived. This was the healing tonic of a psychic/shaman, it gave the community a place in which they are accepted as they are. The shaman understood. They granted grace to the suffering. In modern terms think of addiction recovery, only an addict can speak to another addict, because they have been there; only a soldier can speak to another soldier for the same reason.

Consider the stories of superheroes as redesigned stories of shamans. Batman sees his mother and father murdered in front of him when he was 12, Spiderman got bitten by a radioactive spider when he was in high school, Black Panther was a child when his father was murdered and he succeeded the throne of Wakanda, Jean Grey saw her best friend killed by an automobile, Tony Stark (Iron Man) parents died when he was young. I could go on.

Look at some of the darker characters. Doctor Doom vowed vengeance for the loss of his parents, Electro, Max Dillion was electrocuted by a power line and developed superpowers after he was defeated by Spiderman, he vowed vengeance and joined with a group of criminals.

There are superheroes that juggle between the dark and light side of having extra powers. Electra’s mother was shot in her pregnancy and died giving birth to her. She trained as a ninja and was happy until her father was killed during a hostage situation she turned more deadly. The Fantastic Four struggle between altruistic goals and fighting with their egos.

But these too show up in the real world. There are stories of the guru in the woods or on top of the mountain. These are not the nicest men. They were rather cranky and didn’t like people, but they did provide information to the villagers of upcoming dangers, be it a storm, earthquake, drought or to prepare for the plague. These men could see the future events.

Next post I will dive into the real spiritual gurus and the fake.