Theresa Cheung - The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World - The Ultimate A–Z of Spirits, Mysteries and the Paranormal

Divinationand healingare forms of channelling, as is possession, when an entity seizes control of an individual. In the Middle Ages possession was seen as demonic rather than divine. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when spiritualismwas at its height, channelling grew in popularity. The Fox sisters, three young women from New York, first brought public attention to channelling in 1848 when they announced the arrival of spirits in their séances.

One famous medium of the mid-nineteenth century was Nettie Colburn, a trance channeller whose spirit guidesadvised President Lincoln. Between 1861 and 1863 Mrs Lincoln called her to the White House to use her skills to advise the President on a wide variety of subjects -advice he was known to have followed. For example, Colburn channelled advice about how Lincoln could raise morale among the Yankee troops, and her advice worked.

After spiritualism declined in the early twentieth century, channelling did not receive widespread attention again until the early 1970s, when Jane Robertspublished the Seth books, which were allegedly channelled to her by a non-physical entity called Seth. Channelling is no longer a hot topic, but popular interest remains to this day.

Different mediums have different ways of channelling. Sometimes it happens when the channeller falls into a sudden trancelike state, or it can be induced. Methods to induce channelling include meditation, prayer, hypnosis, fasting, chanting, dancing, breathexercises, sleep deprivation and taking hallucinogenic drugs.

Direct voicechannelling occurs when another entity or personality takes temporary possession of the channeller’s body, often using voices and mannerisms different from those of the channeller. The channeller may be unaware of what is being said or done and may not recall anything afterwards. Mental channelling, the mediation of thoughts, words, images and feelings, is also done in a state of light trance, but this time the channeller is aware of the process. The channeller’s voice may or may not change, and he or she may communicate through automatic writing, a Ouija boardor similar device, or even sleep or dreams. Physical channelling involves physical effects such as psychic healing, apportsand levitation. In the wider sense of the term, channelling could also include intuition, inspirationand imagination, and as such it becomes a way for everyone to connect to a higher source of wisdom.

A number of theories have been put forward to explain channelling. The simplest is that channellers do actually get in touch with the spirit world. Others believe that channellers engage in deliberate fraudor that it is symptomatic of multiple personality disorder. The trouble with the latter argument is that mentally ill people do not tend to have control over their communicators, but channellers typically do. The view advanced by some psychologists is that channelled entities are not separate entities but part of the channeller’s subconscious that takes on the personality of an entity in order to express itself.

Many psychics believe that channelling is a skill anyone can learn and that it shouldn’t just be the preserve of professional mediums. It’s important to remember that everyone will have a different experience of channelling, and the insights received may come in any number of different forms. It is up to the individual to translate and interpret.

The frequent repetition of a word, phrase, or mantraas part of meditationor a religious or magical rite. Some believe that chanting is a way to achieve an altered state of consciousnessso that psychicpower or energy can be raised for the purposes of healingor magic. Others believe that chanting helps them commune with the divine.

Chanting can be done alone or in a group. It can be accompanied by hand clapping, drumbeats, musical instruments or dancing. Sometimes chanting is melodious; sometimes it is monotone.

In all major religions the most powerful chants are the names of God. In Vedic scriptures the name of God awakens spiritual consciousness. The Hare Krishnas incorporate the name of God in their group chanting believing it can help liberate them from reincarnation. Various Hindu and Buddhist chants use the word Om, a sound that is believed to encompass the whole universe. Followers of Islam chant the 99 names of Allah, called the beautiful names, and the name of Jesus figures strongly in Christian chants.

In primitive tribal societies chanting was used to raise psychic energy, appease supernaturalpowers and bring blessings. The practice occurred in ancient Greece, where female sorcererswould howl their chants, believing that strong vibrations enhanced the power of their words. Medieval sorcerers and magiciansalso sang their chants in very forceful voices, and the practice was continued into the twentieth century by men like Aleister Crowley, who believed that the sound of chanting could profoundly affect both humankind and the universe. Native Americans also observe chanting in preparation for activities and ceremonies such as healing, hunting, fighting, rites of initiation and funerals.

In magic, the belief that the success of a spellcan depend on the sound vibrations created by chanting dates back thousands of years. It is thought that rhythmic chanting sends out waves of energy that help the magician or witchsummon their inner power. Modern pagansand witches still combine chanting and circle dancing to raise a group psychic energy field called a cone of power. When the energy peaks, the group releases it towards their goal, such as a spell or healing.

A principle from quantam physicsthat suggests that chaos or lack of order does in fact obey particular laws or rules and only appears to be random. The theory was first brought to public attention with the butterfly effect discovered by Edward Lorenz in 1961 (a theory whereby the flapping of a butterfly’s wings might, through a series of events involving climate and location, cause a storm on the other side of the globe). The idea contradicts the traditional Newtonian principles of physics, which states that unseen effects can be predicted through precise measurements, as according to chaos theory even tiny errors can result in enormous unpredictability, far out of proportion to what would be expected mathematically. In a nutshell, what chaos theory means is that anything is capable of affecting anything else - a principle belief of New Ageand holisticthinking.

Coming from the Greek charisma meaning a gift of grace, charismatic is a term often used to describe someone with psychic and/or spiritual gifts, which can include channelling, healingand the ability to perform miracles.

Now a municipal building but formerly a stately home, Charlton House in Greenwich, London, has been the focus of many paranormalinvestigations by ghost researchers.

Charlton House was built in the early seventeenth century and sold in 1680 to William Langhorne, a wealthy East India merchant, who, desperate for an heir to his wealth, married for the second time, at 85, to a woman of 17. He died two months later, in 1715, before his new wife conceived. His restless ghostis said to haunt the house to this day, still looking for a woman who will bear him a child. There have also been sightings of a servant girl from the Jacobean period carrying a dead baby in her arms, and of phantomrabbits.