Psychics
From mankind's earliest recorded times, man is been trying to find a sense of security, power over his fate and that of others, by attempting to find supernatural keys to unlock the pages of the future.
In ancient Babylon circa 2000 BC, the first systems of studying the inter linked sciences of astronomy and astrology were developed to help man make sense and order out of the confusing Universe around him and look for clues to futurity. The first zodiac dates back to the time of Sargon of Akkad, 2270 BC - 2215 BC, who was one of the first emperors ever and is thought to be the much-reviled figure, mentioned in the Book of Genesis, as Nimrod.
Consulting the Oracle
The first and most famous psychic seer of classical antiquity was the mysterious Oracle at Delphi, who prophesied for one thousand years. This figure grew up out of a prehistoric shrine to the goddess Gaia in the 8th century BC. A succession of priestesses took this role and was known as the Pythia, a figure swathed in legend and awe, even in her own times. From her temple at Delphi, on the slopes of Mount Parnassus, the Pythia, or sibyl sat alone in a chamber, seated on her tripod throne, above a fissure in the earth. For divine inspiration she inhaled the vapours that rose up from this pit and the mists from a warm spring that ran beneath her chamber. It was believed that Apollo having slain Python, had dropped his body into this crack in the ground, from which the fumes of decomposition wafted. The sibyl would be overcome by these fumes, and reach a higher plateau of the mind, a trance, allowing Apollo to possess her and speak through her. These fumes are now thought to have been ethylene gas, which acts as a euphoric and speeds up the nervous system. The men of might bowed down before the Pythia, known to be the mouthpiece of Apollo, intoning her proclamations on the fates of kings and nations. She was renowned across the globe for her accuracy and even mighty Roman Caesars consulted her; the Greeks themselves ran their major national policies around her predictions. She must've known her stuff! Her influence was so great that the fabled, King Croesus of Lydia visited her to ensure his plan to attack Persia would be successful. Herodotus records that the Pythia told Croesus,
'If you cross the river, you will destroy a great empire.'
Croesus crossed that river, confident that he had a guarantee from Apollo, he did, his empire fell! The Oracle pronounced her last known prediction in 393 AD. There remain today 500 recorded prophecies of the Oracle.
During the war between the Carthaginian military commander Hannibal and the Romans in 133 BC, a volcano created a new island. In a famous prophecy the Oracle predicted both the Roman victory and the sudden creation of the island:
When Trojan race (the Romans) the victory shall win
From Punic (Hannibal) foe, lo! Wonders shall begin;
Unearthly fires from out the sea shall flash,
Whirlwinds toss stones aloft, and thunder crash,
An isle unnamed, unknown, shall stand upright,
The weak shall beat the stronger in the fight.
The Roman Emperor Nero, famed for his very unnatural ways and severe personality problems, had just murdered his mother when the Oracle told him,
'Your presence here outrages the god you seek. Go back, matricide! The number 73 marks the hour of your downfall!'
It seems our world leaders today could do with a return of the Oracle and her guidance.
Nostradamus was another great seer of worldwide renown for whom time has established an enduring reputation. He is credited with having prophesied most of our major landmarks of recent history, including Hitler's rise and the recent Balkan war. Born in 1503 in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, in the south of France, he went on to study astronomy, linked as it then was with astrology, arithmetic, music and geometry at Avignon university. He then became an apothecary, which was an all-encompassing role of chemist, formulator of medicines and herbal tonics, midwife and surgeon, all based in his own shop. After marrying and having two children, his wife and children promptly died of the plague and Nostradamus set about doing what few would, aiding a physician in treating plague victims during a large outbreak of the pestilence in Marseille. Later he would fight the plague alone, treating those he could in his hometown and surrounding areas.
All these brushes with the Black Death certainly had an effect on Nostradamus, whose interest turned from healing to the psychic and prophetic, as in 1550 he published his first almanac of prophecies. It was an instant hit with the public which delighted Nostradamus, who kept the almanacs coming thick and fast from then on. In all he published 6,338 prophecies, written in quatrains (four line verses).
Nostradamus sat alone in the deepest hours of the night, echoing the Pythia of old, he seated himself on a tripod and stared into flames or water to induce a state of altered consciousness and some say he took a pinch of nutmeg or hallucinogenic herbs, to aid his psychic visions and open the windows to the future to him. He soon became feted by the great and good, charting their astrological futures and making psychic predictions for them.
His most famous work was called the 'Les Propheties,’ The Prophecies, which Nostradamus described as divinely inspired by an Angelic spirit, who opened for him the vaults of what would soon be and in far ages to come. A single quatrain conveys an event or epoch. These prophecies have astonished and perplexed all who read them since their first publication. Some of them give astonishing detail of names, geographical locations and events while other prophecies are so jumbled that they might mean anything. Nostradamus was deeply worried about the Inquisition who tortured and executed whomever they wished on the slightest pretext, witchcraft or heresy being their two favourite excuses, if anyone looked at them in a funny way. Fearful that he might be arrested by these fanatical and tyrannical despots, Nostradamus wrote his prophecies in ways that might disguise their immediate meanings, and deflect any accusations of occultism or sorcery, which would have meant his execution, avowing that posterity would understand his meanings.
Although Nostradamus could prophesy the future with astounding accuracy on occasion his worries for himself were unfounded and he was asked to court by Marie de Medici where he was given high office as court physician and astrologer and counsellor to the King.
In the 19th century the spiritualist movement across the Anglo Saxon world took prominence, with the bereaved believing they could be guided by mediums in touch with the life beyond death, who could guide them. Daniel Douglas Home was infamous during the mid nineteenth century for his abilities to levitate himself and commune with the deceased. This trend was satirised affectionately in the 1945 classic film comedy, 'Blithe Spirit,' in which a couple encounter Madame Arcati, played with delicious aplomb by Margaret Rutherford. Madame Aracati is a medium who gets everyone into trouble when her spirit guide catches a cold. A tribute to these women and a stunningly funny parody of Noel Coward's ideas on mediums and psychics.
Are you Psychic?
Many people wonder if they too have psychic abilities, do they have a latent Nostradamus or Pythia within. Well do you and how can you be sure?
The phone rings and even though you're not expecting a call, you know who it's going to be before you pick up. Perhaps you wake up with a feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach only to have these feelings confirmed as making sense when you get sacked from your job and your lover moves out to be with Twiddles, his new sweetheart, the flea bag cat from over the way and all before you've had your morning bath. You just knew it would be one of those days when staying in bed was the only sensible option.
Or maybe you get the feeling you've visited somewhere before and no it's not just a new branch of Waitrose, you really haven't been there before, but somehow you feel an inner sense of recognition.
Maybe you often get senses of something, someone, a thought will enter you mind unbidden and then something connected to that very thing will happen out of the blue. Maybe you can predict the sex of unborn children before the hospital scan and without any real thought or guessing, you just know.
Sometimes celebrities and acquaintance will pop into your mind for the first time in years only to find a week or day or two later that they die? If this happens to you too, don't tell anyone, they wont like it...
Have you always been drawn to the paranormal and bizarre, we're not talking of any strange tastes you may have shown in the opposite gender here. Or do you often know what people are going to say and not just because they are always repetitive and dull!
Have you ever had dreams that predicted a future event you couldn't possibly have known about? The more of these questions you have answered yes to, the more psychic your abilities. Many believe that the psychic sense is actually latent in all of us to a greater or lesser degree and that honing and listening to your psychic inner voice will strengthen your psychic muscles.
Try asking yourself next time the phone rings, who it is. Start letting your psychic instincts through, don't question the voice, go with it, listen take note and you may well find that you become increasingly in tune with this voice and better able to receive it's protective aid when you need it. Think of it as a radio signal, keep tuning, one day the voice may come over loud and clear. It does seem that the psychic sense is not that different from our other senses, we just don’t usually acknowledge it or teach our children to use and appreciate it.
