“Proper knowledge maps actualities of the real world!” – K Gergen  

“To me it seems the most important and exceedingly difficult task of our time is to work on the construction of a new idea of reality!” Wolfgang Pauli – It would seem “our reality” isn’t working all that well!

Albert Einstein: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them!”

Materialists Fallacies and Delusional Thinking

Critique-Definist Fallacy endorsed by four prominent psychologists: My 2018 critique of materialist methods has been endorsed by the well-known researcher Dr Harold Koenig, the world-renowned psychologist Dr Paul Wong, Dr Stephen Farra, and Stefan Schindler. The critique centered on the Materialist Fallacy as explained by William R. Miller and Carl E. Thoresen: “A philosophical basis for this perspective is materialism, the belief that there is nothing to study because spirituality is intangible and beyond the senses.”  That is a fallacy-delusion – specifically the Definist Fallacy. When you consider the concept of “death” – then following the materialist argument that things that are “intangible and beyond the senses” are not real then “Death” becomes a “figment of your imagination” – which is absurd, of course. The “Definist Fallacy-Delusion” occurs when someone unfairly defines a term so that a controversial position is made easier to defend – like defining spirituality as “intangible” – which uses “loaded terms” The Definist Fallacy is the same as the same as the “Persuasive Definition.” (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

As Justice Rehnquist states, “It is not true if the major premise is not true!” What many academics apparently fail to comprehend is that the belief that “All spirituality is unreal” or “Spirituality does not exist” is delusional thinking as well as being extremely unhealthy.

“It is only a narrow passage of truth that passes between the Scylla of a blue fog of mysticism and the Charybdis of a sterile rationalism.  There will always be full of pitfalls and one can fall down on both sides.”  – Wolfgang Pauli

The “Supernatural” is a Meaningless Artificial Abstraction: After tens of thousands of years of spiritual and religious beliefs, how did the designation of spirituality as “totally unreal” come about? As Nobel prize winning physicist, Brian Josephson observed, academics are largely fixated with the “supernatural” as opposed to the functionality and fruitfulness of spiritual beliefs. “The supernatural” concept derives from the materialist concept that spirituality is “intangible and beyond the senses – except worse in a way because – by definition – the “supernatural” is outside the scope of science. The Definition of supernatural in “Dictionary” is “of a manifestation or event) attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature.” From my research Jesus Christ never once used thew word “supernatural” and the supernatural bears no resemblance to the Holy Spirit or the idea of “God” in the Old or New Testament. It is a bit mindboggling that materialists – using this term – managed to peg or pigeonhole spirituality as supernatural and so meaningless and superstitious nonsense – and other-worldly – disconnecting spirituality from any “real world context-evidence.

As Saint Gregory of Nyssa observed long ago, “Concepts create idols; only wonder comprehends anything. People kill one another over idols. Wonder makes us fall to our knees.”

“Spirituality is a natural human predisposition! It is more primal than institutional religion and concerns a person’s sense of connectedness with self, others, and the world (or cosmos)!” – Kate Adams & Brendan Hyde

Genetics of Spirituality

Tim Spector, in the article, What Twins Reveal About the Science of Faith (Popular Science, August 8, 2013) states, “They [the researchers] estimated the heritability of spirituality to be around 40 to 50 percent, which is quite high considering how tricky it is to measure.”  Even a precursory overview of spirituality in art, music, and mythology reveals that these spiritual processes have been intimately interconnected with processes heavily implicated in creativity, imagination, life-drive, as well as spiritual symbols and symbolism.

Categorization of spiritual actualities-types of spirituality

1. Spirituality of Compassion (Sprecher, S, B Fehr 2005; Saslow, Laura Rose 2011)

2. Musical Spirituality (Schulkin, Jay, Greta B. Raglan. 2014; Cross, Ian.2003):

3. Spiritual Healing in Grieving Easterling, L, Sewell, K. Gamino A., Stirman, L  2000   Gillies, James, and R. A. Neimeyer. 2006: Parker, Julie S. 2005, Kiliánová, Gabriela. 2010)

4. Children’s Spirituality (Hyde, Brendan 2008; Thomas, Donna.2022)

5. Artistic Spirituality (Johnston, Robert K. 2013. Langer, Susanne K 1966)

6. Poetry and Prophecy (Heschel, Abraham Joshua. 1954).

7. Dream Weaving/Creative Transcendence (Hernani, Emmanuel Villoria, Ma Rosita Ampoyas Hernani, and Delmo Amfan Dulay. 2021)

8. Spiritual beliefs in nature – earth as a living force

9. Spirituality and Autism (Visuri, Ingela. 2019)

10. pro-social norm

Prevalence of Spiritual-Psychic Experiences

The religious scholar, Fraser Watts, Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality: Concepts and Applications, points out that surveys show that roughly 1/3 of people report having spiritual experiences (p. 63). Park and Paloutzian report that somewhere between 1/3 to half of people report spiritual-psychic experiences depending on the questions asked. In one study, atheists and agnostics compromised 24% of the people surveyed who had transcendental spiritual experiences. That should be no surprise since human beings have believed in spirit and spirits for tens of thousands of years! So unconscious spiritual symbolism would without doubt be genetically inherited to some extent or another. The fact that atheists have spiritual-psychic experiences would seem a strong argument that spiritual symbolism is a reality in the unconscious. Bargh, the unconscious researcher did emphasize that the conscious is largely separate and distinct from the unconscious. As William James observed – and modern neuroscience confirmed – people “filter” information as part of the selective attention process. It is true that spirituality and life – are what you make of them!

Unconscious Spiritual Symbolism – Sociological Evidence & Unconscious Processes – the Work Horse of the human mind

The unconscious processing abilities of the human brain are estimated at roughly 11 million pieces of information per second. Compare that to the estimate for conscious processing: about 40 pieces per second.  (From: Forbes: Your Brain Sees Even When You Don’t June 24, 2013) Kalshed. Furlotti, and Willaim James argue that emotional motivations (and ideals) are pivotal in the unconscious – particularly in spiritual symbolism. Bargh argues that the processing of social signals is an automated unconscious process. 

The contemporary-modern massive popularity of Star Wars and Harry Potter, and the numerous other imaginative fandoms, provide sociological evidence – massive data and evidence – of the existence of unconscious spiritual symbolism. Furthermore, Rhiannon Grant in The Sacred in Fantastic Fandom, Grant observes in 2001, the British government ran a regular census, but they included a new question about religion. In response, almost 0.8 percent of the total population said they were a “Jedi” or Jedi knight!” (p. 38) Those results were repeated in Australia and New Zealand.

The fandom studies consistently demonstrate that people “engage” in the spirituality of Harry Potter and Star Wars. Catherine Hall, in her article, ‘Reading and [w]rocking’:  Morality and musical creativity in the Harry Potter fandom”, observes, “Wizard rock, often stylized in written form as ‘wrock’, creatively engages with and augments the content world of Harry Potter through musically and lyrically diverse performances. …… Similar to their heroes in the books, these musicians imbue their music and their self-images with the series’ morals, historical tropes and archetypes. I argue that the wizard rock community’s application of fictional heroism through music, lyrics and performance encourages fellow Harry Potter fans to embrace heroic qualities in the real world.” As a point of order, I would add that Kant emphasized that the ideal of “freedom” would remain “unknown” and that it is a complex symbol not readily quantified and outside strict rational analysis.

Personal Spiritual-Psychic – Transcendental Spiritual Experiences

In 40 years, I have had a limited number of spiritual-psychic experiences – with perhaps a dozen documented by emails. The most striking experience happened on October 18, 1981, when I took a notarized a very uninhibited precognitive stream of consciousness, titled “What a nightmare” into the FBI office in Toledo, Ohio, and went over it briefly with an FBI agent. I pointed out three lines to the FBI agent, verbally pointing out “New York” to the agent. An event matching the warning to the FBI on October 18, 1981 occurred two days later in Nyack, New York on October 20, 1981. In which the notorious “Weathermen” terrorist group ended up in a shootout with the Nyack, New York police.  The precognitive “What a nightmare” warning turned out to be exceptionally accurate and detailed:

• “group”
• “money”
• “woman”
• “fabricating bombs”
• ‘death’
• “New York”
• “22 were assembled” (there shootout with the Nyack police which had 22 officers).

The New York Times quoted the Weathermen manifesto: “We are the incubation of your mothers’ worst nightmares.”, and the headline of the written warning was titled, “What a nightmare”! Also, the “tone” of the warning matched the attitude in the manifesto of  “We are the incubation of your mothers’ worst nightmares.”

Besides the explicit details, as with much of historical prophecies, there appears to be some symbolic and metaphorical synchronicities in the “What a nightmare” precognitive stream of consciousness. The statements, “Time is at hand! Time is at hand, Angels said.” – and – “Fight Hard, Die Well! A prophet spoke!” match the deaths of the two policemen (“Time is at hand” – twice by an angel) and the death of one Brink’s guard (“Fight Hard, Die Well” a prophet spoke). Of course, angels could be said to outrank prophets same as policemen outrank Armored car guards. That kind of precise detail of identifying – albeit metaphorically – specific people or types of people who would be prominent in the event is quite literally “unheard of.”

Synopsis of 40 years of spiritual experiences

Political –Historical Situational Sense Some experiences do not fit the crystal ball stereotype

Might Makes Right March 2017 Letters to Allies’ Embassies: “I read an article which said that Trump’s envoy to the United Nations was going to “take names” and dictate terms to the nations of the world. That is an utter disgrace. Some Americans think they have all the power and all the answers. The truth of it is Americans don’t even have the right question.

History repeats itself. America is in the cycle of might-makes-right. After the Athenians defeated the Persians, they rose to the undisputed and unchallenged leadership of the Greek world. They used their power to bully and dictate terms to their allies. The Athenians ended up massacring all the inhabitants of Lesbos on the argument that might-makes-right.”

Intelligence Leaks July 30, 2020: The title of an article in the Indy 100, Independent, “Trump accused of ‘near-sadistic’ bullying of Angela Merkel for ‘vicious attacks’ in private phone call” Although Trump “regularly bullied and disparaged” other leaders like Emmanuel Macron (France), Justin Trudeau (Canada) and Scott Morrison (Australia) 

Conscious perceptions

(1) 10-30-20 email to FBI agent McElwee warned of a “domestic terrorist” threat referring to a “bomb” as the weapon. which is related – of course – to the Nashville bombing on Christmas day 2020 

(2) Phoned in warning to the FBI of the assassination attempt on president Reagan

(3) I called the CIA before 9/11

(4)  miscellaneous: foresight of the fight in intelligence over the CIA whistleblower

Six dreams,

(1) Pakistan and nuclear war (a complex dream) – a month later India launched an attack against Islamic Jihadists in Pakistan and an article about it highlighted nuclear war 

(2) A Hybrid Dream-Perception of the “incel” terrorist in Canada in April, 2018.

(3) Dream about Libya (2-26-2019), A month later the U.S. forces left Libya

(4) Muslim lone terrorist attack in Strasburg, France attack – dream (9-19-20)

(5) Dudayev Dream – had several details matching the death of Dudayev

(6) Fredericksburg bomb Several details matched the death of a woman by a bomb

After 40 years it is easier to say what spiritual-psychic experiences are Not – as opposed to what they are. Spiritual-psychic experiences are NOT powers, supernatural, crystal ball predictions, or mental illness. These are all “norms” and “stereotypes” generated by the psychiatric ideology. I can also tell you that here is Nothing Wrong with my experiences – though I frequently encounter professionals and college graduates who vilify and demonize spirituality. There is not a shred of evidence that spiritual-psychic experiences are automatically and necessarily mental illness – None, Zero, Zip.  For the record, I should highlight the fact that in 40 years I have never “seen” the “absolute truth” – only perceptions. More likely they are it is always perception or more likely – the perception of a perception. The Holy Spirit appears to be the only proper term – description – of my experiences. Many of these experiences are documented by emails w/consistent & reasonable interpretations as perceptions of threats to the group.

Academia has sidelined and marginalized spirituality – especially transcendental spirituality – and for all practical purposes pegged all spirituality as “supernatural” So, the spiritual-psychic factor has not been applied in human consciousness. In my view, the relevance is as a factor in social consciousness. Unfortunately, “social consciousness as force” does not exist yet in academia.

Josephson’s Functionality, Baumeister & Tolstoy

Brian D Josephson, a Nobel-prize winning quantum physicist – the only Welshman to earn the Nobel peace prize – observes, “With religion, focusing on the factuality or otherwise of religious belief similarly misses the point: the significant questions in this context relate to the functions and fruitfulness of religious beliefs.”   

Baumeister’s Paradigm: Baumeister emphasizes that there is no such thing as an “Ultimate Meaning of Life.” Baumeister explains that for people “Meaning” is a holistic synthesis of diverse meanings – such as the meaning of family and parents, the meaning of spirituality and religious beliefs, ethnic values, the meaning of friends, the police and governmental laws, sports, concerts and so on.

Tolstoy’s Fallacy: Tolstoy the brilliant Russian novelist struggled with the meaning of life. Tolstoy systemically studied philosophies and the humanities. Not surprisingly, Tolstoy could not determine the ultimate meaning – purpose – of the universe. Tolstoy became depressed. Tolstoy’s mistake was to believe the meaning of his life was intimately tied to the ultimate purpose of the universe – which is a fallacy. I encounter several college graduates who make the same mistake. When I asked my niece who is a PhD in biology what the meaning of life is, she answered, there is no meaning because science cannot determine any purpose in the universe. When it comes to spirituality it is the same problem – if there is no ultimate supernatural spirituality then there is no spirituality – but similar to Baumeister’s paradigm – there are a large number of diverse spiritual actualities 

“denial of everything that is of a supra-individual order” Guenon

Rene Guenon & the materialist problem: “Rationalism in all its forms is essentially defined by a belief in the supremacy of reason, proclaimed as a veritable ‘dogma’, and implying the denial of everything that is of a supra-individual order, notably of pure intellectual intuition, and this carries with it logically the exclusion of all true metaphysical knowledge….[and] the rejection of all spiritual authority, rationalism and individualism are thus so closely linked together that they are usually confused,”  (p.90)

Guenon’s assessment is correct. Kenneth Gergen, David Hay and Virgilio Enriquez agree that Rational Individualism (a political ideal) has morphed (from the Age of Reason to the Materialist Age) into a form of extreme individualism. Wikipedia has only three references to social consciousness – the most salient being Karl Marx. In western academia, the Rational Individualism norm holds sway. As a point of information, the English language has no words for the Filipino words, Bayanihan (helping others in a community context), Kapwa (shared identity), or loob (relational will – equality)

Alfred Rupert Sheldrake, author, and biochemist at Cambridge University concludes: “The atheist ideology found a powerful ally in materialist science, which by the end of the nineteenth century, portrayed a purposeless, unconscious, mechanical universe where humans, like all life, had evolved without purpose or guidance.”  (p.155)

The “Supernatural” Catch 22 = Prove the Unprovable (Supernatural) Justice Rehnquist: “It is not true if the major premise is not true”    

Definitions of the “Supernatural” as outside the scope of science –

• Mirriam-Webster
  • departing from what is usual or normal especially so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature
  • attributed to an invisible agent (such as a ghost or spirit)
• “Dictionary” Definition: “of a manifestation or event) attributed to some force beyond scientific understanding or the laws of nature.”

I was “told” several times in psychology FB groups that in order to have spiritual and religious beliefs I first need to prove “God” However, ss St Gregory of Nyssa, St Augustine, and several other Christian leaders observe, God is beyond words and beyond comprehension.  “According to the true words of the Lord [Mt 5.8], the pure of heart will see God. They will receive as much as their minds can comprehend. However, the unbounded, incomprehensible divinity remains beyond all comprehension.” ((p.161 Song of songs) Prove the unprovable! Talk about catch 22!

The “Supernatural” vs Real World Context-Evidence

The Supernatural concept is in reality a derivative of the underlying materialist argument that “spirituality is intangible and beyond the senses”! Besides being a fallacy, it is also untrue because there are a number of tangible types of spirituality. The Supernatural Concept has ZERO Real-World Context-evidence.

Point of order: Actualities of Spirituality and Real-World Context-Evidence – Consensus that Real-World context-evidence is a prerequisite for any valid scientific theory.

• Immanuel Kant: “If a concept lacks reference to any object of possible experience, Kant argues, it “has no meaning and is completely lacking in content”   
• Iain McGilChrist: “Thinking is always thinking, but philosophical thinking is, upon the whole, at the extreme end of the scale of distance from the active urgency of concrete situations. It is because of this fact that neglect of context is the besetting fallacy of philosophical thought … I should venture to assert that the most pervasive fallacy of philosophic thinking goes back to neglect of context … neglect of context is the greatest single disaster which philosophic thinking can incur.” 
• Muzafer Sherif: “Sherif emphasizes that real world contexts are important, even if regarded as “messy” compared to controlled lab experiments.”  “A psychological construct—if it is to prove valid and adequate—must be as valid and adequate in handling the stuff of ordinary human affairs as in handling the controlled variables of the laboratory experiment.”

The Supernatural as a Gross Oversimplification vs the Complexity of interconnections in the human brain

Besides having no real-world context-evidence, another methodology issue with the concept is that6 it is a gross oversimplification. Neuroscience research consistently demonstrates that the brain is intimately interconnected and phenomena such as morals or music have important interconnections with many regions of the brain and not the product of an isolated region solely responsible for behaviors. As Durkheim observed spiritual and religious beliefs are the genesis of morality in human evolution.

Funk and Gazzanigna: “Morality is a set of complex emotional and cognitive processes that is reflected across many brain domains. Some of them are recurrently found to be indispensable in order to emit a moral judgment, but none of them is uniquely related to morality…………Some of the emotions processed are more central to morality than others, but all emotions contribute to moral judgment given specific contextual situations…..The neural circuits of brain regions implicated in morality overlap with those that regulate other behavioral processes, suggesting that there is probably no undiscovered neural substrate that uniquely supports moral cognition.”  Brain Architecture of human morality, Funk and Gazzanigna Current opinion in Neurobiology 2009 19:678-681)

Music is interconnected with singing, language and speech, as well as dancing – overlapping other processes. “Music is a core human experience and generative processes reflect cognitive capabilities. Music is often functional because it is something that can promote human well-being by facilitating human contact, human meaning, and human imagination of possibilities, tying it to our social instincts. Music cuts across diverse cognitive capabilities and resources, including numeracy, language, and space perception. In the same way, music intersects with cultural boundaries, facilitating our “social self” by linking our shared experiences and intentions.” (The evolution of music and human social capability Jay Schulkin, medical researcher, Greta B. Raglan Front Neurosci. 2014; 8: 292.)

 “Supernatural” as an Artificial Abstraction-Distraction

When I asked my partner, who is a Filipina Catholic, if “God is supernatural?” She replied, “Yes.” I pointed out that from my research Jesus Christ never once used the word “supernatural” in the gospels and the concept of the holy Spirit in no way matches the materialist concept of the “Supernatural” – for example, Spirit and Truth – John 4:23-24; Spirit is Truth – John 5:6; or guidance – Luke 1:27. Then there are gifts of the Holy Spirit. In Catholic tradition, the seven gifts are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Lastly, he fruits of the Holy Spirit are nine virtues that are believed to be the result of the Holy Spirit’s presence in a believer’s life, as described in Galatians 5:22-23. These fruits are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

Even worst, the supernatural comes with baggage – such as powers, superstitious nonsense, magic, mental illness. Dr Koenig highlights the fact that historically psychiatry at times views transcendental spiritual experiences as “psychosis!” I felt good that my partner strongly agrees with my point – plus several of my other spiritual and Christian connections definitely agree that is a valid point.

Selective Attention Factor

Unfortunately, materialists have successfully pigeonholed and pegged ‘all spirituality as unreal and superstitious nonsense! It is my view that the materialist “supernatural” and “intangible and beyond the senses” norms-stereotypes have redirected attention form productive and fruitful focus to a focus on a meaningless and empty artificial abstraction.  

David DiSalvo states, “Selective attention,” also called “selectivity bias”—the tendency to orient oneself toward and process information from only one part of our environment to the exclusion of other parts, no matter how obvious those parts may be.” There is a consensus that “selective attention” is absolutely pivotal in human consciousness. Without doubt the supernatural maladaptive stereotype has distorted the thinking of millions of people. That maladaptive stereotype is prevalent in Western culture and academia and is found in many defi9nitions of prophecy and myths – despite being meaningless and unscientific. It is readily apparent that the materialist maladaptive stereotype has successfully redirected the “attention” of millions of people and focused their attention to a meaningless, empty abstraction – a major and very destructive maladaptive stereotype! 

From a Christian framework – the “supernatural distracts form worshipping in “spirit and truth” – 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” To my knowledge, that is the only passage in which Christ mandates the form of worship.

Peer Reviewed 2018 Critique of Materialist Methods Endorsed by Dr Harold Koenig, Dr Paul Wong, Dr Stephen Farra, Stefan Schindler

“When logic and proportion Have fallen sloppy dead and the White Knight is talking backwards!” Fallacies are “Wrong Thinking” in Justice Rehnquist’s terms; but more important, Fallacies are delusions 

1. Dr. Paul Wong: “Your letter to a congressman needs to be published somewhere.!”

Professor Emeritus of Trent University; Edited two large volumes of The Human Quest for Meaning; Keynote speaker at an international conference on logotherapy; Founder and President of the International Network on Personal Meaning; Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Existential Psychology and Psychotherapy[1]. With more than 300 publications in journals and book chapters,

• Dr. Harold Koenig: “Charlie – makes perfect sense to me!

Dr. H Koenig, M.D., M.H.Sc, Director, Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health. Recipient of the 2012 Oskar Pfister Award from the American Psychiatric Association, the 2013 Gary Collins Award from the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC), and the 2021 Frank Minirth Award for Excellence in Christian Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine from AACC.  [2]

• Dr. Stephen Farra: “The Definist Fallacy is spiritual poison, and has hurt us all!”

Professor Emeritus · Columbia International University; published three books: From Sigmund Freud to Viktor Frankl, How Psychiatry Became Human (2012), ACCOUNTABILITY PSYCHOLOGY:[3]

• Stefan Schindler, – The Definist Falalcy is a Methodology Flaw

Award-winning author, retired professor responded to my question: “Would you say the argument about the “methodological flaw” is correct” by stating, “Yes, correct!”

The Materialist Delusion: “spirituality is intangible and beyond the senses!!!”

William R. Miller and Carl E. Thoresen observe, “A philosophical basis for this perspective is materialism, the belief that there is nothing to study because spirituality is intangible and beyond the senses.”[4] “Definist Fallacies” occur when someone unfairly defines a term so that a controversial position is made easier to defend – like defining spirituality as “intangible” – which is a “loaded term.” The Definist Falalcy is the same as the same as the “Persuasive Definition.” (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)

When Death becomes a Figment of your imagination:

Not all that long ago, I happened to be talking with a Filipina college student at a street restaurant in General Santos, Philippines. I went over the materialist argument as explained by Miller & Thompson in the NIH article as “the belief that there is nothing to study because spirituality is intangible and beyond the senses.” Since Filipinas have a reputation for being spiritual, I was a bit surprised when the Filipina college student/graduate agreed with the argument that spirituality is unreal because it is “intangible’.

So, I asked her to consider – for a moment – the concept of “death!” I emphasized that out that – of all things – “death” is “intangible and beyond the senses” and way beyond quantification. Then I pointed out that if you then follow the logic and reasoning of the materialist argument, “Death – then – becomes a “figment of her imagination and superstitious nonsense.” She paused for a second, then agreed with my reasoning – which was a major success for me.

Of course, the idea of death being a “figment of your imagination and unreal” is totally absurd. But then again, the statement that “all spirituality is unreal” is equally absurd and wrong on several levels. First it is a fallacy – a “delusion”! Secondly there are a number of very “tangible” types of spirituality: Spirituality of Compassion, Musical Spirituality, Spiritual Experiences and Healing in Grieving, Children’s Spirituality, Artistic Spirituality, Poetry and Prophecy, Dream Weaving/Creative Transcendence, Spirituality in nature as a living force, and Autistic spirituality

Spiritual Poison: “All spirituality is unreal”! Dr Stephen Farra, wrote: “Charles, I strongly agree that the Definist Fallacy (leading to a closed Materialism) is spiritual poison, and has hurt us all! Frankl writes about how a closed Naturalism leads to a suffocating Reductionism, which leads to a mental and emotional Nihilism and the kind of Moral Corruption he experienced in Auschwitz and Dachau……”

Flawed Materialism: Iain McGilChrist, Rene Guenon, and Jeremiah Reyes – Materialist Method “restricts and limits analyses!” – Iain McGilChrist

The scholar and psychiatrist McGilChrist states, “The scope of inquiry and understanding of the Materialist Doctrine with its rigid adherence to the actually arbitrary principle of quantification and over-emphasis on physiological characteristics is severely restricted and limited in the analyses that can be performed.”[5] 

A quick example of a restricted and limited analysis is highlighted by Kay Deaux. Kay Deaux, a prominent social psychologist, highlights the significance and importance of emotions especially in understanding many social, political or group related behaviors. However, Kay Deaux, highlights the fact that social psychology has historically had an “emphasis on experimenter-created social groups” which “precluded most affective displays.”… “In contrast (to experimental cognitive reactions), natural groups, whether family, fraternity, or nation, are often the arena for intense displays of emotion and strong affective ties.” (p. 794 Handbook)

Rene Guenon, a French Philosopher, reviews the origins of rationalism-materialism. “Rationalism properly goes back to the time of Descartes. Rationalism in all its forms is essentially defined by a belief in the supremacy of reason, proclaimed as a veritable ‘dogma’, and implying the denial of everything that is of a supra-individual order, notably of pure intellectual intuition, and this carries with it logically the exclusion of all true metaphysical knowledge, [and] the rejection of all spiritual authority, which is necessarily derived from a ‘supra-human’ source, [which produced theories] exclusively individualistic

Jeremiah Lasquety-Reyes, author & expert on Filipino ethics said, “Hi Charles, I completely agree with you that this extreme adherence to materialism is too restrictive and limiting, and frankly fails to capture so many richer aspects of human experience and psychology. It leaves the field of psychology all the poorer. I am myself looking for a framework that helps me confront it. Partly, I think an alternative metaphysics is needed, one that respects the reality and meaning of things like love, relationships, and the profound reality of other people as people and not just as a compound of atoms, chemicals, and neurons firing. Glad that we’re on the same page!”

Half of human Conscious is not strictly quantifiable – beginning with art, music, dreams, true love, imagination, creativity as well as ideals and symbolism. Kant viewed “freedom” not as a “concept that can be known like ‘that’s a tree’ Freedom is an idea that is forever unknown to us.” (p.126 beauty) Kant believed that motivations were largely unknown – even to ourselves. Unconscious research has largely confirmed that view      

Symbolism, Social Consciousness & Spirituality Sidelined and Marginalized Symbolism Sidelined and Marginalized

•           Rollo May, an American existential psychologist and author, observes “There has been a radical change during the past three decades… Neither term, “symbol” or “myth,” even appears in the index of the standard psychology textbooks.”  He goes on to say that this oversight was due to the “proclivity” – the materialist fixation – with data “which could ultimately be described in physiological or stimulus-response terms.”[6]

•           Similarly, Elzbieta Halas observes: “After all, symbolization processes are an integral part of social phenomena and are natural to people’s social life. Unfortunately, they are not generally recognized as of primary significance for the examination of social life. Too often symbolism is thought of as an epiphenomenon, a phenomenon that is derivative of what are considered to be more important factors, such as business, resources, power, organization, etc. which are allegedly ‘objective’ facts.”[7]

Kant’s Symbolic Knowledge vs. Knowledge by Quantifiable Data: Is there a conflict between Symbolism and Materialist Quantification Methods?

Symbols are complex and “condense numerous meanings.”

•           Elzbieta Halas states: “Of primary importance is the concept of generic metaphor, around which the dominant symbolism of some social group is created (Turner, 1978: 246; Mill s, 1950: 86). These are key representations set in a symbolic system, which condense numerous meanings and unify multiple signs, such as an ‘open society’, or a ‘rule of law’.[8]

•           Balaganapath emphasizes that “The meanings that these symbolic forms transmit are complex. Instead of standing for a single referent, they evoke a variety of meanings, some of which may be ambiguous.”[9] 

•           Lastly, both Kant and Jung state that symbols “point” to a reality outside of the symbol.

So, yes, there is a consensus among scholars of symbolism that symbols are complicated which “condense numerous meanings” and so makes symbolism and materialist quantification mutually exclusive.  The materialist problem with symbolism being marginalized by materialist bias in academia would seem to prove McGilChrist’s point that materialist methods “limit” analyses that can be performed

Commentary: Rene Guenon emphasizes the “reductionist factor. “It may be noted at this point how well rationalism fits in with the modern tendency to simplification: the latter naturally always operates by the reduction of things to their most inferior elements, and so asserts itself chiefly by the suppression of the entire supra-individual domain, in anticipation of being able later on to bring everything that is left, that is to say everything in the individual order, down to the sensible or corporeal modality alone, and finally that modality itself to a mere aggregation of quantitative determinations. (p.90) The problem with symbolism is that symbols cannot be broken down into their constituent parts. 

Alfred Rupert Sheldrake (born in 1942) is an author, and scientist who worked as a biochemist at Cambridge University, states that “The trouble is that the sciences give us vast amounts of data, but it is devoid of personal or spiritual meaning.” (p.169) That problem, of course is a result of the materialist bias for reduct5iuonsim – breaking things down to their constituent parts.

Viktor Frankl stated “Reducing conscience to the mere result of conditioning processes is but one instance of reductionism. I would define reductionism as a pseudoscientific approach which disregards and ignores the humanness of phenomena by making them into mere epiphenomena, more specifically, by reducing them to subhuman phenomena. In fact, one could define reductionism as sub-humanism…

Spirituality Sidelined and Marginalized 

As Rene Guenon observes, There is yet another kind of simplification inherent in Cartesian rationalism, and it is manifested in the first place by the reduction of the whole nature of the spirit to ‘thought’ and that of the body to ‘extension’; this reduction of bodies to extension is, as pointed out earlier, the very foundation of ‘mechanistic’ physics, and it can be regarded as the starting-point of a fully quantitative science. Earlier I quoted Guenon’ statement that rationalism involves the “rejection of all spiritual authority,”

Similar to Rollo May’s observation that “Neither term, “symbol” or “myth,” even appeared in the index of the standard psychology textbooks,” spirituality has also been sidelined and marginalized in mainstream psychology! In a 700 plus page comprehensive ‘History of Psychology’ – titled “The Story of psychology” – by Morton Hull, and find there is not have one single reference to meaning, spirit, spirituality, or even religion. That being said I should add that Morton Hull did highlight the archaic references in ancient Greek philosophy but left out spirituality as expounded by Jung, Frankl, and William James[10]. I thought perhaps this could possibly been just one individual’s prejudices, so I checked into my comprehensive “reference handbooks” for Self and Identity, as well as, Social Psychology. To my dismay, I discovered there was not a single reference to either spirit, spirituality, or religion.

Evidence that spirituality was sidelined is the fact that, currently, spirituality is an emerging field of research “Psychological research on spirituality and religion has grown exponentially in recent years [11](Paloutzian & Park, 2013) . In the diversity of new research, “spirituality” has proven to be a complex and dynamic term that is challenging to define.” … “Relational spirituality” is a term that has been increasingly employed in psychological literature in recent years with a variety of definitions and within different theoretical orientations.”  – Tomlinson et al Also, William R. Miller and Carl E. Thoresen titled their article in Pubmed “Spirituality, religion and health: an emerging field of research”[12] Lastly, Dr Koenig also notes spirituality is an emerging field of study. Time and again I encounter college graduates – even professors – who think “we” have all the answers about human consciousness – which is not true not only in spirituality, but in symbolism as well.

Geertz’s Outmoded 1965 “universally accepted” definition left out “spirit”

I need to re-emphasize Guenon’s statement that rationalism involves the “rejection of all spiritual authority!” In a blog, Ira Chernus stated, “One of the most influential figures in this social-scientific approach to religion is the anthropologist, Clifford Geertz. In an essay titled “Religion as a Cultural System” (1965), he [Geertz] spelled out a definition of religion that many others have borrowed, adapted, and employed in studying religion…..“(1) a system of symbols (2) which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in men (3) by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and (4) clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that (5) the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic.”

Omissions in Geertz’s Universally Accepted Definition of Religion

1. “Spirit” is pivotal in religious beliefs but wiped off the academic map by materialist delusions-fallacies

2. Religions are groups and communities. The most salient characteristic of religions are that religions are groups and communities

3.  Identity is a very critical characteristic of religion As Gergen and other scholars emphasize – Identities are largely formed around group associations

4. Teachings of religion are without doubt are a primary “function” of religion – especially as Elzbieta and others point out in that “common symbolization” form groups and create order. Spiritual/religious beliefs are a social consciousness as well as a system of symbols 

5. Evolutionary Adaptive Selective attention trait as a pivotal psychological function which focuses attention and over-rides competing needs

Ironically, “The top word millennials used to describe their ideal environment for worship is “community,” followed closely by “sanctuary.” “Millennial Christians……. are attracted to churches whose focus is not only on the members, but on the community and the world.”[13] 

Rene Guenon summarizes materialism: “rationalism, being the denial of every principle superior to reason, brings with it as a ‘practical’ consequence the exclusive use of reason, but of reason blinded, so to speak, by the very fact that it has been isolated from the pure and transcendent intellect, of which, normally and legitimately, it can only reflect the light in the individual domain.” And as Buddha said, “we become what we think”

Social Consciousness Sidelined and Marginalized

An excellent example of this severely restricted protocol would be – as Kay Deux, a social psychologist points out – the fixation of social psychology on laboratory experiments precludes “affective displays” and emotions. Kay Deaux, a prominent social psychologist, highlights the significance and importance of emotions especially in understanding many social, political or group related behaviors. Kay Deaux, emphasizes the fact that social psychology has historically had an “emphasis on experimenter-created social groups” which “precluded most affective displays.” Experiments conducted in a laboratory would necessarily have a contrived and arbitrary aspect to them – very limited – and in that environment, cognitive concepts, structures and paradigms tend to be nice, neat, and precise constructs that are measurable in some sense.

Kay Deux goes on to emphasize that “In contrast, natural groups, whether family, fraternity, or nation, are often the arena for intense displays of emotion and strong affective ties.”[14] (p. 794 Social Psychology Handbook of Basic Principles edited by E. Tory Higgins and Arie W. Kruglanski) That is, the Materialist Doctrine – Ideology excludes some facts, information and evidence due to the fixation on physiological quantification.

Wikipedia has only three references for social consciousness – the most salient being Karl Marx who was the creator of Marxism and Communism. I held two discussions focused on social consciousness with five official anthropologist professors included and the only theory that was brought up was social consciousness as “ontology” – nature of being. The esprit de corps of the US armed forces at the battle of Chosin reservoir during the Korean War who were outnumbered by the Chinese ten to one was not nature of being – that was consciousness as force. The enlightenment movement during the Age of Reason was also not ontology – it was a movement. Ideologies which Geertz describes as “primal forces” is not the “nature of being” – ideologies are forces. Even from a precursory overview of human evolution, it is readily apparent that human consciousness si a force – a powerful force too.

The most “telling” point is that Geertz’s 1965 five-part definition of religion which was “universally accepted as Ira Chernus pointed out left out “Community” as an important characteristic of religion – as well as leaving out the “teachings of religion (a form of social consciousness – which doesn’t exist in academai) as well as “identity” which modern research indicates is pivotal in ethnic separatist groups.

Then there is Allport’s 1927 Fallacy: “There is no psychology of groups!” Allport’s 1927 taboo is still an ongoing issue. Hazel Markus, et al, observe: “Psychologists who study groups approach the idea of a group as an entity only very gingerly. The field, or members of the field, apparently still feel the sting of Allport’s (1927) remonstration of those who were attracted to McDougall’s idea of “group mind.”   Allport’s taboo has significantly limited psychology’s ability to understand social and collective human behavior. Brian McVeigh, author and scholar states Allport’s taboo: “There is no psychology of groups” is a form of extreme individualism.

Allport’s Fallacy is easily refuted because “psychologies of groups” are flagrantly obvious

So, yes, social consciousness was sidelined and marginalized.        

Mannheim’s Paradox and Selective Attention

Mannheim’s Paradigm essentially argues that the political and economic reality of society shapes the social sciences as well as spiritual and religious ideologies. The Paradox is that Mannheim points out value systems generally don’t have the capacity of understanding other worldviews outside their framework of reference.

Willard Mullins observes “Nevertheless, with these few exceptions, Mannheim holds that historical and political thought is determined by the socio-historical location of the thinker and the political aspirations and material ambitions of the group or groups to which he belongs. Such thought is inherently value-laden, one-sided, distorted, and therefore false. In short, all systems of historical-social-political thought are ideologies. And this leads to Mannheim’s famous paradox: if all such perspectives are ideologies, an objective and valid social science is impossible, and Mannheim’s own reflections on the historical process are “self-refuting” – for his perspective can claim no more objective validity than can other perspectives.8  (p.143 Truth and Ideology: Reflections on Mannheim’s Paradox by Willard A. Mullins, History and Theory, Vol. 18, No. 2 (May, 1979), pp. 141-154)

Christina Maimone observes, “Ideology is, as Mannheim uses the term, a mode of thought that obscures the real condition of society to the group holding the thought, thereby stabilizing the shared social reality of the mode of thought.  Groups are simply unable to see particular facts that would undermine their conception of the world, that would show their collective perception of the social situation to be a misapplication of thought to experience.  Ideology is most strongly associated with groups that have a dominant position in society.  Their ideology serves to secure their place in the social order, although the development of their mode of thought was not consciously controlled in this direction.” 

So, what Mannheim is saying is that ideologies are mindsets or modes of thought that filter information – seek certain types of information and filter out other types of information. The modern research on “selective attention” supports the Mullins-Maimone argument. – David DiSalvo states that “Selective attention,” also called “selectivity bias”—the tendency to orient oneself toward and process information from only one part of our environment to the exclusion of other parts, no matter how obvious those parts may be.”  The model of mindsets that filter information applies then to ideologies such as capitalism or communism. It would also apply to religious and spiritual ideologies as well. As such it would be a useful tool for analyzing the diverse varieties of types of spirituality. The materialist ideology which as McGilChrist points out is value laden in that it “restricts and limits analyses fits Mannheim’s Paradigm perfectly – because it has historically excluded information that doesn’t fit its framework such as symbolism, spirituality and social consciousness.

Baruss and Mossbridge + “Groups are simply unable to see particular facts that would undermine their conception of the world,” – Maimone

 Baruss and Mossbridge state that “As a result of studying anomalous phenomena or challenging materialism, scientists have been ridiculed for doing their work, been prohibited from supervising student theses, been unable to obtain funding from traditional funding sources, been unable to get papers published in mainstream journals, had their teaching censored, been barred from promotions and been threatened with removal from tenured positions. Students have reported being afraid to be associated with research into anomalous phenomena for fear of jeopardizing their careers. Other students have reported explicit reprisals for questioning materialism and so on. (Baruss, 2014b, P.L. Berger, 1970; H. L. Friedman & Krippner, 2010; Hess, 1992; Rossman & Utts, 2014; Sommer, 2014; cf. Chargaff, 1977; Jahn, 2001) Siler, Lee, & Bero, 2015) (Baruss and Mossbridge Transcendent Mind p.25) After the last seven years I agree with hat assessment 200%

New Approach & New Reality of Spiritual Actualities Spirit Within: “Divine good is not something apart from our nature, and is not removed far away from those who have the will to seek it; it is in fact within each of us, ignored indeed, and unnoticed!”[15] – St Gregory of Nyssa

“Not far away” is important. The materialist concept of “Supernatural” distances people from spirituality and makes spirituality “otherworldly” By embracing this new approach, we open doors to innovative solutions, improved outcomes, and creativity. Let’s explore how this fresh perspective on the divine within which energizes the unconscious spiritual symbolism can make a significant impact moving forward.

Spiritual Actualities vs the Supernatural, a Meaningless Artificial Abstraction

• Einstein observed, “Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration of this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.”[16]
• Max Planck: “All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force… We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.”

• There is a force in the Universe, which, if we permit it, will flow through us and produce miraculous results- Mahatma Gandhi
• “Concerning matter, we have been all wrong. What we have called matter is energy, whose vibration has been so lowered as to be perceptible to the senses.” – Albert Einstein
• “Divine good is not something apart from our nature, and is not removed far away from those who have the will to seek it; it is in fact within each of us, ignored indeed, and unnoticed!”[17] – St Gregory of Nyssa
• Rumi observed, “I looked in temples, churches, and mosques. But I found the Divine within my heart!!”[18]
• Lev Tolstoy stated: “Don’t seek God in temples. He is close to you. He is within you. Only you should surrender to Him and you will rise above happiness and unhappiness.”[19]
• A person cannot approach the divine by reaching beyond the human. To become human, is what this individual person, has been created for! [20]– Martin Buber
• As Abraham Heschel observed, “We do not suffer symbolically [or supernaturally]; we suffer literally, truly, deeply; symbolic remedies are quackery. The will of God is either real or delusion. This is our problem: We have eyes to see but see not; we have ears to hear but hear not (Ezekiel 12:2). There is God, and we do not understand Him; there is His word and we ignore it.”[21]
• Saint Gregory Of Nyssa supplements Martin Buber’s observation when he stated, “Concepts create idols; only wonder comprehends anything. People kill one another over idols. Wonder makes us fall to our knees.” ― Abstractions – and ego – can distract from being human.[22]
• Being born of the Holy Spirit makes us a spiritual being (John 3: 6).
• Jesus Christ: “He [the Holy Spirit] lives in us!” (John 14: 17).
• John O’Donohue remarked, “The soul is the force of remembrance within us!” as well as “Beauty is the illumination of the soul!”[23]
• Abraham Heschel observed, “Life is partnership of God and man.” Heschel goes on to say “That is why human life is holy!”[24]
• In the Hindu Upanishads the statement “Aham Brahmaasmi” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad) translates to “I am Brahman,” which emphasizes the inherent divinity present within every individual.
• Pragmatism is rooted in the idea that philosophical topics, such as knowledge, language, meaning, belief, and science, are best understood in terms of their practical use.[25] – William James

“Proper knowledge maps actualities of the real world!”[26] K Gergen – People are the only actualities – not abstractions such as the “supernatural”!

A rudimentary categorization of actualities – types of spirituality

1. Spirituality of Compassion
2. Musical Spirituality
3. Spiritual Healing in Grieving
4. Children’s Spirituality
5. Artistic Spirituality
6. Poetry and Prophecy
7. Dream Weaving/Creative Transcendence
8. Spiritual beliefs in nature – earth as a living force
9. Spirituality and Autism
10. pro-social norms
11. Filipino Kapwa (shared Identity) loob (relational will/equality) & bayanihan (community values)
12. “Ubuntu” theology: Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s “ubuntu theology.” The Bantu word “Ubuntu” mirrors Filipino “kapwa” which means “shared identity”! The “phrase ‘umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu’ translates as ‘I am a person through other persons’
13. Western scholars; D. Hay states that the Scottish philosopher John Macmurray observed “that we are persons not by individual right, but in virtue of our relation to one another”; Pierre Teilhard de Chardin: “In the divine milieu, all the elements of the universe touch each other by that which is most inward and ultimate in them!”
14.  Spiritual psychic experiences

Spiritual Psychic Experiences: A recent review of “numerous” studies of people who have spiritual or spiritual-psychic experiences by Park and Paloutzian reveal that somewhere between one third to one half of people have spiritual-psychic experiences – of every type and variety imaginable – though hardly any talk about them. Study after study clearly indicate that – in this open-minded society based on Judeo-Christian beliefs which “value” spirituality – people who have spiritual experiences literally fear retaliation if they speak openly about their spiritual or spiritual-psychic experiences [for good reason I must add]. Park and Paloutzian go on to say that the studies definitely “establish the normalcy of such reports and that social scientists have until recently ignored a common-phenomena.” (p. 67)

I have had a number of personal spiritual-psychic or transcendental experiences with a number having been documented by emails. As Jean MacPhail, author and scholar, observed my spiritual-psychic experiences are unique – in part because the experiences – some conscious, some in dreams – related to events outside myself, in part because many are documented and in part they consistently are ‘perceptions of threats to the group. I would add – for the record – that, from my research, my 1981 warning to the FBI is a remarkably detailed and accurate prediction-warning comparatively speaking.

It is easier to say what spiritual-psychic is NOT than what it is. It is NOT powers, supernatural, mental illness, superstitious nonsense – etc. I encounter the mental illness maladaptive stereotype quite often. These are generally psychiatric norms.  Consistently studies show somewhere between one third to half of people have experiences of one sort or another. There is not a shred of evidence to even suggest that spiritual experiences are automatically and necessarily “mental illness – though a lot of college graduates seem to think so. I should emphasize that perhaps the most salient characteristic of spiritual psychic experiences is “perception”

For perspective Synopsis of 40 years of personal spiritual-psychic experiences which manifest the Holy Spirit – I should add that I have never “seen” the absolute “truth” in 40 years – it is always perception or more likely – the perception of a perception.Here are six dreams, most documented by emails – all with consistent and reasonable interpretations: Here is a truncated list

B. Highlights from forty years of conscious perceptions

(1) my recent 10-30-20 email to FBI agent McElwee warned of a “domestic terrorist” threat referring to a “bomb” as the weapon. which is related – of course – to the Nashville bombing on Christmas day 2020

(2) My very detailed, specific, and notarized warning to the FBI on October 18, 1981 of an impending attack by the then active Weathermen terrorist group. Some [accurate] details are: group, fabricating bombs, money, women, 22 assembled, New York, death, as well as the terrorist weathermen’s manifesto. That is documented by a notarized document with a FOIPA stamp on it.

(3) A very brief (phoned in) warning to the FBI before the assassination attempt on president Reagan

(4) I called the CIA before 9/11

(5)  miscellaneous: foresight of the fight in intelligence over the CIA whistleblower

Reflections and Commentary:

As Aristotle observed long ago, scientific theory – a proper map-model – requires categorization, which precedes analysis, and analysis proceeds conclusions. In my research I have not come across a proper categorization of “types” of spirituality. Materialism does not properly address spirituality. Peoples’ spirituality is the “actualities of the real world”

Prism Paradigm: The Energy-Filter Metaphor:

Energy [light] originates from unconscious spiritual symbolism which is processed and filtered by consciousness producing diverse world views/perspectives!  Spirituality and Life are what you make of them! yet as Ortega Gasset observes – “I am I plus my circumstances”[27] – so the cultural, political, and even physiological circumstances can shape worldviews and perspectives. As an important point of order, the selective attention factor is well accepted in psychology-neuroscience! Selective attention not only focuses attention but filters out “unnecessary” data and information and a pivotal characteristic of worldviews is that they are filters. So, psychology and the social sciences are effectively complex filters.

“I am I, plus my circumstances” – Ortega Gasset

Circumstances are often very salient in spirituality, as well as morals – “but all emotions contribute to moral judgment given specific contextual situations.” Funk and Gazzanigna: “Morality is a set of complex emotional and cognitive processes that is reflected across many brain domains. Some of them are recurrently found to be indispensable in order to emit a moral judgment, but none of them is uniquely related to morality…………Some of the emotions processed are more central to morality than others, but all emotions contribute to moral judgment given specific contextual situations…..The neural circuits of brain regions implicated in morality overlap with those that regulate other behavioral processes, suggesting that there is probably no undiscovered neural substrate that uniquely supports moral cognition.”[28]  Brain Architecture of human morality, Funk and Gazzanigna Current opinion in Neurobiology 2009 19:678-681)

Prisms are filters and “selective attention” not only focuses attention but filters out data. As William James observed, in order to focus attention that requires excluding and filtering out information.

Genetics and Spirituality

Tim Spector, in the article, What Twins Reveal About The Science Of Faith (Popular Science, August 8, 2013) states, “They [the researchers] estimated the heritability of spirituality to be around 40 to 50 percent, which is quite high considering how tricky it is to measure. Other U.S. studies using even more detailed questions in larger numbers have found similar or even stronger genetic influences. These studies demonstrate our variable but innate inherited sense of spirituality, which affects how we perceive the world, ourselves and the universe. This is independent of our formal religious beliefs and practices and, strangely, largely independent of family influence.”[29]

Complementing this is the research of Koenig et al. (2005) who report that the contribution of genes to variation in religiosity (called heritability) increases from 12% to 44% and the contribution of shared (family) effects decreases from 56% to 18% between adolescence and adulthood.”[30] Furthermore, “It is likely that the genes for spirituality were selected because the social cohesiveness that spiritually fosters has a strong survival value.” [31](The Neurobiology, Genetics and Evolution of Human Spirituality The Central Role of the Temporal Lobes NeuroQuantology | December 2010 | Vol 8 | Issue 4 | Page 478‐494 Comings DE., Neurobiology of human spirituality)

1.         Physiological Filters & Autistics: In Ingela Visuri’s study of autistic spiritual experiences what is striking is the very distinct character of the autistics’ experiences. In Ingela Visuri’s words, autistic experiences tend to be characteristically “unexplainable sensory experiences” – invisible touch, invisible presence (i.e., bodies), and even imaginary friends. Now, it would stand to reason that since this unique type of spirituality appears to be peculiar to autistics would to be generated or stimulated the “unique” physiology of autistics brains” who are well known to have a weakness in Theory of Mind processing {ability to make inferences and judge others’ intentions)[32].

2.         Physiological Filter & Circumstances of Distress/Stress: “Distress” and Tapping into Unconscious Spiritual Processes: Ingela Visuri states that “Distress triggers” Spiritual Seeking and Spiritual-Psychic Experiences: Ingela Visuri, as a result of her intensive study of spirituality in high functioning autistics stated that “The results also indicate that distress triggers the participants to seek out supernatural ascriptions and invisible relations.”   In reviewing types of spirituality “distress” appears to be a cause in many different scenarios of spirituality such as the processes of grieving, recovering addicts, depression, as well as many others very likely. Tapping into unconscious spiritual processes which most likely are deeply embedded in the human unconscious, makes a lot of sense. Jean MacPhail, author and scholar, observes that “stress” in her experience has been a major factor in her experiences.[33]

3.         Circumstances of grieving (stress) – grieving as a Physiological Filter with Spiritual Experiences in Grieving as Adaptive Mechanisms

•           Easterling (et al): “Conversely, experience has shown pastoral caregivers that individuals do seem to cope better if they can “actualize” their spiritual experiences in times of crisis.[34]  

•           Julie Parker: study finds that “continuing bonds with the deceased can be adaptive, and spiritual and/or religious belief systems are associated with adaptive outcomes of grief.”[35] 

•           Gabriella Kilianova highlights the views of a Catholic priest in Slovakia. The priest “assumed that such dreams help people deal with the loss of their loved ones.”  That does appear to be part of pastoral folklore as it were.  But also because of the priest’s reflections and comments about the afterlife and connections with souls departed.[36]

•           Adams and Hyde: “Qualitative studies have shown that some children reflect on their dreams and find meaning in them, with some of these dreams making a spiritual impact!”[37]  

•           Donna Thomas: “Whether ‘positive’ or ‘negative’, anomalous experiences can catalyze self-healing for children and young people. Through children achieving greater self-awareness and a sense of intra-connectedness between self, others and the world.”[38] 

4.         Physiological Filter & NF personalities: J. E. Kennedy observes that: “Research studies have found that belief in paranormal phenomena is associated with the N and F personality factors (Gow, et. al., 2001; Lester, Thinschmidt, & Trautman, 1987; Murphy & Lester, 1976). In a study of a technique attempting to induce a sense of contact with someone who had died, 96% of the participants with NF personality types reported after-death contact experiences, whereas 100% of the participants with ST (sensing, thinking) personality types did not have these experiences (Arcangel, 1997). In a survey of parapsychological researchers, Smith (2003) found that the F factor was associated with experimenters who were rated as psi-conducive.”[39]

5.         Physiological Filter & Gender: Kennedy observes: Women tend to be more spiritual and religious than men. This pattern has been found consistently across cultures, across religions, and throughout history (Stark 2002). Women also tend to believe in psychic phenomena more than men (reviewed in Irwin 1993, also see Orenstein 2002). In the Canadian survey, 72 percent of the extreme skeptics were males and 64 percent of the extreme believers were females. The tendency for men to be more skeptical may reflect a genetic tendency to be more inclined toward rational, practical thinking and competition whereas women tend to be more interested in people, relationships, and connections.”

Iain McGilChrist’s observation about modern ways of thinking is relevant to the question of mindset: “An increasingly mechanistic, fragmented, decontextualised world, marked by unwarranted optimism mixed with paranoia and a feeling of emptiness, has come about, reflecting, I believe, the unopposed action of a dysfunctional left hemisphere.” 

6.         Physiological Filter & Conservative Political Beliefs: Nurit Novis-Deutsch et al observe: “Previous studies have shown that religious people tend to be politically conservative, and to support existing social arrangements. The evidence linking religiosity and conservative social attitudes extends across social policy attitudes (issues such as same-sex marriage or abortion) and political attitudes (voting patterns). Typically, the power of religions draws on traditions, authority figures and in-groups, which makes its connection to conservative attitudes clear.”[40]

They go on to say, “Our quantitative findings are generally consistent with the research literature. We found via path analyses that religion affects ideology both directly and indirectly. There is a direct relationship between religiosity and positions on issues such as homosexuality and same-sex marriage. In addition, there is also an indirect relationship in which religiosity is related to values, which in turn are related to ideology.”

Commentary: Kennedy observes that “Paranormal beliefs and experiences are associated with certain personality factors, including absorption, fantasy proneness, and the Myers-Briggs intuition and feeling personality dimensions. Skepticism appears to be associated with materialistic, rational, pragmatic personality types. Attitude toward psi may also be influenced by motivations to have control and efficacy, to have a sense of meaning and purpose in life, to be connected with others, to have transcendent experiences, to have self-worth, to feel superior to others, and to be healed.”[41] 

Spirituality is a natural human predisposition! It is more primal than institutional religion and concerns a person’s sense of connectedness with self, others, and world!”   Spirituality is definitely more primal. As Anton Killin observes: “The oldest known musical instruments [date] from 40,000 years ago (40 Kya) ….”[42]

Spirituality as an Emerging field of study. People spirituality vs maladaptive “supernatural” stereotype.

• Consistently studies show that somewhere between 1/3 to half of people have spiritual–psychic experiences of one kind or another. That means in America there are minimally 110 million people they know nothing about – that psychiatry knows little or nothing about. As Dr Stacey Neal of Kaiser Permanente (JHU) stated: ‘she (and psychiatrists) has no education or training in “people” who have spiritual-psychic experiences.
• In Park & Paloutzian’s chapter “Mystical, Spiritual, and Religious Experiences” – a synopsis consists of APA “anomalous experiences, hallucinations, near death, past life, mystical, and paranormal experiences!” That presents a very distorted map/model of spirituality.[43] 
• Furthermore, J E Kennedy states: “Very little research has been aimed at investigating the overall effects” on “people!”[44]
• Kenneth J Pargament and Annette Mahoney, emphasize, “Researchers have tended to study spirituality “from a distance,” relying on surveys that contain global distal measures…[45] (p. 616)
• “The past three decades have witnessed a surge in research on spirituality and health. This growing body of literature has linked different aspects of spirituality as well as religion to both positive and negative indices of human health and functioning[46] – Desmond Machu
• “Psychological research on spirituality and religion has grown exponentially in recent years[47] (Paloutzian & Park, 2013) In the diversity of new research, “spirituality” has proven to be a complex and dynamic term that is challenging to define.”[48]   – Tomlinson et al
• Dehumanized Spirituality: In contrast to new approach-categorization, I recently reviewed specifically the chapter “Mystical, Spiritual, and Religious Experiences”[49] in Raymond F. Paloutzian & Crystal L. Park’s Handbook of “The Psychology Of Religion And Spirituality” (Guilford Press, 2013). A synopsis from the chapter of the phenomena covered is a short list of APA “anomalous experiences” – specifically “hallucinations, near death, past life, mystical, and paranormal experiences!” “Anomalous” Experiences is another “loaded” term and completely dehumanizing Here is an overview of the different sections in the chapter, “Mystical, Spiritual, and Religious Experiences”, I found these sections which are titled:
  • “UFO’s and Alien abductions”
  • “Psychedelics or Entheogens”
  • Near-Death Experience
  • Numinous and Mystical Experiences.
• Mayo clinic guidelines on spiritual people Studies have shown that addressing the spiritual needs of the patient may enhance recovery from illness. Discerning, acknowledging, and supporting the spiritual needs of patients can be done in a straightforward and noncontroversial manner. Furthermore, many sources of spiritual care (e.g., chaplains) are available to clinicians to address the spiritual needs of patients. Mayo Clin Proc. 2001; 76:1225-1235“

Commentary: Limits of the Social Sciences: Entangled in abstractions

Frankl’s Disconnect & Muzafer Sherif’s Self-Contained Sand Castles

The creator of logotherapy-psychoanalysis, Viktor Frankl (1905 – 1997) observed, “The pictures by which the individual sciences depict reality have become so disparate, so different from each other, that it has become more and more difficult to obtain a fusion of the different pictures.”[50] (p. 7 will) That is, the different disciplines and schools of thought in science and the social sciences, have effectively become completely separate and disconnected units or entities!

Muzafer Sherif, a founding father of social psychology “mentions that the crisis reproduces itself such that researchers who are in their “self-contained castles” write Social Psychology textbooks, but exclude positions which disagree with their own rather than educate students of a shared paradigm (such paradigms don’t exist, sheriff argues)…Sherif believes this “publish or perish” culture perpetuates a large output of studies that aren’t necessarily high quality, as researchers are forced to publish papers for their careers, rather than for good science. This leads to a loss of direction for the field as rather than working together on a shared paradigm, researchers are in “self-contained castles” within psychology, but also across disciplines in the social sciences.”[51]

“Psychology”, as many people envision it, does not exist. Psychology is a conglomerate of largely disconnected and unintegrated schools of thought – in which psychologists – as Sherif points out – often print pretty much whatever they want with no regard for the ultimate truth or relevance. 

Psychology” – as a science – does not exist as many envision it. I had one Christian woman trained in psychology tell me she knew if there was anything she needed to know her college would have taught her. That is impossible. Here are the top schools of thought in psychology: Structuralism, Functionalism, Gestalt Psychology, Behaviorism, Psychoanalysis, Humanistic Perspective, Cognitive Perspective, Sociocultural Prospective, Evolutionary Psychology. Wikipedia lists 37 schools of thought in psychology. For a student of psychology to know everything they need is not feasible. Frequently I encounter college graduates saying that all the answers have already been answered – and nothing new will be found. If this society is a s good as it gets, we are in deep trouble, The biggest mistake is millions of people are convinced that quantification equate t science, Half of human consciousness isn’t quantifiable: art, music, dreams, ideal, creativity, imagination, etc. Kant observed that the concept “freedom” is actually a complex symbol beyond strict rational analysis and quantification.

If we are not able to ask skeptical questions, to interrogate those who tell us that something is true, to be skeptical of those in authority, then, we are up for grabs for the next charlatan (political or religious) who comes rambling along – Carl Sagan – that applies to materialist norms and values as well such as the supernatural

Science is organized common sense where many a beautiful theory was killed by an ugly fact. – Huxley. It would appear apparent that common sense is likely repressed by the higher cognitive processes – because there are a number of “ideas” in academia which lack common sense.

Framework for understanding spirituality: Synthesis-Consensus Model and Motives: Frankl, Jung and James:

A “Force beyond anything that we can comprehend” – Albert Einstein

Einstein observed, “Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration of this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in fact, religious.”[52]  (p. 384-5 E)

In William James’ classic 1902 work, The Variety of Religious Experience, William James states that spiritual and religious experiences create a “sense of reality!” It is a self-evident fact and truth. When you look at the experiences that William James cites, then it is easy to see that spiritual experiences do indeed shape and influence spiritual and religious beliefs – a fact the modern materialist philosophy with its quantification bias has side-stepped and marginalized [53]. Carl Jung similarly said “Spirt gives meaning to [his] life!”[54] Frankl’s Will to meaning was the foundation of his psychology. In the anthology, Meaning in Positive and Existential Psychology (2014), Paul Wong, observes: “Frankl considers meaning seeking as stemming from one’s spiritual nature.”[55]

The synthesis consensus of Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung, and William James simply put is that “spirit, spiritual processes, and religious beliefs create meaning, a sense of reality – and ultimately Reality, and Truth.

Consistent with the Synthesis-Consensus of Frankl, James, Jung and Durkheim there appears to be a couple of universal beliefs with most “spiritual” people.

• Spiritual experiences help them make sense of the world
  • Spiritual beliefs are a major source of motivation in their lives
  • Spirituality is also an important source of creativity – and energy
  • William James and Carl Jung emphasize that “abstractions” and spiritual symbols engage powerful emotions – making them likely helpful in emotional grieving   

Lastly, I would add an insight of Carel Jung: “From the psychological point of view the phenomenon of spirit, like every autonomous complex, appears as an intention of the unconscious superior to, or at least on a par with, the intentions of the ego. If we are to do justice to the essence of the thing we call spirit, we should really speak of a “higher” consciousness rather than of the unconscious, because the concept of spirit is such that we are bound to connect it with the idea of superiority over the ego-consciousness.”[56] (In Paragraph 643, Jung) I have personally found that to be a significant factor in my life.

V.      New Approach: Categorization of Types

Divine good is not something apart from our nature, and is not removed far away from those who have the will to seek it; it is in fact within each of us, ignored indeed, and unnoticed. – St Gregory of Nyssa

A.   Spirituality of Compassion: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Sociological Background: 1) 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Genetics and spirituality: Tim Spector, in the article, What Twins Reveal About The Science Of Faith (Popular Science, August 8, 2013) states, “They [the researchers] estimated the heritability of spirituality to be around 40 to 50 percent, which is quite high considering how tricky it is to measure. Other U.S. studies using even more detailed questions in larger numbers have found similar or even stronger genetic influences. These studies demonstrate our variable but innate inherited sense of spirituality, which affects how we perceive the world, ourselves and the universe. This is independent of our formal religious beliefs.”[57]

Neuroscience Experiments on Empathy

Dr. Roger Covin, notes that psychiatrists and psychologists have come to realize how “closely intertwined the systems for physical pain and social pain are. “Specifically, the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC and the Periaqueductal Gray (PAG) receive and process information about physical pain when the body is injured. Similarly, these areas of the brain also become activated and process information when someone is rejected.” [58] (p.19) (The Need To Be Liked, p.12)

Tania Singer conducted an experiment to test peoples’ responses to others’ pain’. “Singer found that the women activated the pain distress network in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) and the anterior insula regions of the brain…regardless of who was receiving the painful stimulation.”[59] (p.155 social), Singer also demonstrated that empathy-related brain responses are influenced by the perceived fairness of others, and distinguishes between ingroup or outgroup. (Singer, social University College of London)

Lior Abramsona Florina et al empathy studies indicate that empathy is genetically inherited in some circumstances: The genetic and environmental origins of emotional and cognitive empathy as this study indicates: (“Review and meta-analyses of twin studies Lior Abramsona Florina Uzefovskyb Virgilia Toccacelic Ariel Knafo-Noama”) [60]

Studies demonstrate the correlation of spirituality with compassion

Saslow et al state, “Previous research suggests that religiosity may promote prosociality, by encouraging reputational concerns or by creating a shared identity. Our research suggests that spirituality may give rise to prosociality because of its strong association with compassion and concern for others’ welfare. Our findings argue that spirituality—above and beyond religiosity—may be uniquely associated with greater com- passion and enhanced altruism toward strangers.”[61]  (p. 215) Furthermore, “Spirituality was especially associated with having a spiritual identity, having had transcendent experiences, and tending to pray.[62] (The Social Significance of Spirituality: New Perspectives on the Compassion–Altruism Relationship, Laura R. Saslow et al)

Sprecher and Fehr: “Those who were more religious or spiritual experienced more compassionate love than those who were less religious or spiritual. Evidence was found that compassionate love is distinct from empathy [63](p.629) (Compassionate love for close others and humanity Susan Sprecher Illinois State University Beverley Fehr University of Winnipeg Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 22(5))

Oxford Handbook on Compassion: “Compassion for others and social support have survival value and health benefits…. [64] (p. 171) The powerful consequences of the presence or absence of others are seen as shaping forces in the evolution. Social interactions and within species interdependence are universal components of life on earth. Even bacteria are more reproductively successful in the presence of others of their own species. [65](p.174) (Oxford Handbook of Compassion Science – edited by Emma M. Seppala, Emiliana Simon-Thomas, Stephanie L. Brown, Monica C Worline, C. Daryl Cameron, James R. Dory)

Volunteerism and Compassion

Mother Teresa In 1950, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic religious congregation that had over 4,500 nuns and was active in 133 countries as of 2012. The congregation manages homes for people who are dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis. It also runs soup kitchens, dispensaries, mobile clinics, children’s and family counselling programmes, as well as orphanages and schools.” [66](Wikipedia)

Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (1875 – 1965) received the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize for his philosophy of “Reverence for Life”, becoming the eighth Frenchman to be awarded that prize. His philosophy was expressed in many ways, but most famously in founding and sustaining the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Lambaréné, which up to 1958 was situated in French Equatorial Africa, and after this in Gabon.[67] (Wikipedia)

How Many Caregivers in the U.S.?

Approximately 43.5 million caregivers have provided unpaid care to an adult or child in the last 12 months. [National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP. (2015). Caregiving in the U.S.]

Approximately 39.8 million caregivers provide care to adults (aged 18+) with a disability or illness or 16.6% of Americans. [Coughlin, J. (2010). Estimating the Impact of Caregiving and Employment on Well-Being: Outcomes & Insights in Health Management.] About 15.7 million adult family caregivers care for someone who has Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia.[68] [Alzheimer’s Association. (2015). 2015 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures.]

B. Musical Spirituality: “And those seen dancing were thought insane by those who could not hear the music!” – Nietzsche

“Behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable!”[69] –Albert Einstein                                                                                                                       

“Spirituality is a natural human predisposition! It is more primal than institutional religion and concerns a person’s sense of connectedness with self, others, and the world (or cosmos)!”[70]   – Kate Adams & Brendan Hyde

“It [spirituality] is more primal than institutional religion” It is remarkable just how many studies of music as spirituality and as an evolutionary adaptive trait pivotal in the development of human society. Archaeologists have discovered flutes among Neanderthals – the prehuman species that was a forerunner to homo sapiens. Recent excavations in southwestern Germany uncovered flutes dating back 40,000 years – roughly the same time as the cave drawings in Franc and Spain.

Shulkin and Raglan observe: “The evolutionary record suggests that musical instruments were perhaps well expressed over 50,000 years ago in simple flutes and pipes (Cross, 1999; Morley, 2003) and were depicted in our art (e.g., on bison horn). What began as an extension of communication in a social context became something greater, which was enjoyed in itself. Our evolution is tightly bound to music and to the body as an instrument (e.g., clapping). Music, amongst other things, helps to facilitate social cooperative and coordinated behaviors (Brown, 2006) [71].  Nicholas J Conrad (et al) state that “Here we report the discovery of bone and ivory flutes from the early Aurignacian period of southwestern Germany. These finds demonstrate the presence of a well-established musical tradition at the time when modern humans colonized Europe, more than 35,000 calendar years ago.”[72] A study in China noted that the flute holes were made in the exact same way as the 35,000-year-old flutes in Germany.

Music: Quintessential Spirituality & Evolutionary Adaptive Trait

1. “Music is a core human experience and generative processes reflect cognitive

 capabilities. Music is often functional because it is something that can promote human well-being by facilitating human contact, human meaning, and human imagination of possibilities, tying it to our social instincts. Music is a fundamental part of our evolution; we probably sang before we spoke in syntactically guided sentences.[73]  (The evolution of music and human social capability Jay Schulkin, Greta B. Raglan Front Neurosci. 2014; 8: 292)

• Music is a core human experience and generative processes reflect cognitive

 capabilities. Music is often functional because it is something that can promote human well-being by facilitating human contact, human meaning, and human imagination of possibilities, tying it to our social instincts.

• “It seems likely that proto-musical capacities and their cultural particularizations as

 musics were crucial factors in precipitating and sustaining the social and cognitive versatility that mark modern humans.[74] (p. 5 – 6, Music and evolution Ian Cross)

• Dr. Wong observes that “Awe is always a mixture of emotions, encompassing reverence,

fear and a sublime sense of marvel and amazement. Let’s begin with music, the invisible bridge to Heaven. After George Frederic Handel) had completed the “Hallelujah Chorus”, he exclaimed to his servant with tears in his eyes: “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself!” Music had opened his inner eyes for God’s glory in spite of his blindness. Since 1742, whenever Handel’s Messiah is performed, the audiences automatically rise to their feet as they hear the majestic, awe-inspiring “Hallelujah Chorus”. – Dr Paul Wong

• . Artistic Spirituality:  I paint because the spirits whisper madly inside my head.” – El Greco

Johnston states that “A poll by George Barna at the turn of the millennium not only revealed that 20 percent of Americans turn to “media, arts and culture” as their primary means of spiritual experience and expression….”[75]  In his chapter, Art and the Spiritual in an anthology of ‘Religio-Cultural Discourses,’ Robert K. Johnston observed that “Surely, the expression of the human spirit through art seems to be as old as humankind itself. The complex drawings in Europe’s caves suggest a fascination with creating beauty that goes back to our prehistory. ” Perhaps because the wonder and awe of the “ideal of Beauty” has enchanted human beings for tens of thousands of years and it would seem likely that “Beauty” in the human unconscious is closely interconnected with the intrinsic symbols for the divine and the transcendent within the collective unconscious.

  Johnston goes on to talk about the experience of the ‘transcendent,’ which, in this sense would appear remarkably parallel to “Yugen”: “Is such spirituality simply a human longing, a projection, or can it also be the occasion for an encounter with Transcendence, a numinous experience that comes from beyond us?”[76]  (p. 85) Susanne K. Langer, in her article, The Cultural Importance of the Arts, observes, “Every culture develops some kind of art as surely as it develops language. Some primitive cultures have no real mythology or religion, but all have some art – dance, song, design (sometimes only on tools or on the human body). Dance, above all, seems to be the oldest elaborated art….. Art is, indeed, the spearhead of human development, social and individual. What sort of thing is art, that it should play such a leading role in human development? It is not an intellectual pursuit, but is necessary to intellectual life; it is not religion, but grows up with religion, serves it, and in large measure determines it.”[77]  

A picture is worth a thousand words. Besides El Greco, there are hundreds and hundreds of spiritually inspired painters especially during the Renaissance: List of 10 Remarkable Religious Renaissance Paintings (https://historylists.org/art/list-of-10-remarkable-religious-renaissance-paintings.html)

• Wedding at Cana by Paolo Veronese
• The School of Athens by Raphael
• The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
• The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
• Madonna del Prato (also known as Madonna of the Meadow) by Raphael
• Salome with the Head of Saint John the Baptist by Bernardino Luini
• San Zaccaria Altarpiece by Giovanni Bellini
• Pesaro Madonna by Titian
• The Last Judgment by Hieronymus Bosch
• The Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel the Elder

D. Prophecy & Poetry: Is Prophecy Dead?

Heidegger: The most basic form of language is the poem. Heidegger writes:

True poetry is not just a more elevated mode of everyday speech. On the contrary, it is everyday speech which is a forgotten poem, a poem exhausted by its overuse, whose summons is now barely audible.

It is in poetry that we hear the speech of being. True speaking is first of all listening: we can only speak to the extent that we listen (58). As things are summoned through language, they ‘come-to-presence’, yet this ‘coming-into-presence’ is always marked by absence. It is a ‘trace’, not a fetishizable and circumscribable presence. It cannot be grasped onto, as it melts away as soon as we seek to do so.[78] (‘Symbol and Sacrament’ Chapter 2: I: Heidegger and the Overcoming of Metaphysics Posted on December 31, 2011 by Alastair Roberts)

Abraham Heschel (1907 – 1972), a “leading” Jewish philosopher and theologian, observed that “raptis mentis” [divine rapture] is common both to poets and prophets. 

“The prophet is like a poet who is frequently overcome by a raptus mentis [raptus conveys seized, captured, trance-like state, and ecstasy and mentis convey standing outside oneself or departure of the mind]. At times the poet is overcome unexpectantly, at other times he prepares himself for the creative moment with a pen in hand and an inkstand on his desk. With his attention concentrated on a specific content, a certain excitement enters his soul, with his thoughts and images flowing upon him.

…. The prophet is a poet. His experience is one known to poets. What poets know as poetic inspiration, the prophets call divine revelation Psychologically considered, prophetic inspiration is not materially different from furor poeticus [ the divine frenzy or poetic madness] of the master-poet or artist. The inspiration of the artist is what is meant by the hand of the Lord which rests upon the prophet.”[79]

Modern artists can often be profoundly prophetic – tale Steppenwolf for example

“This besotted humdrum age of spiritual blindness!”

In the epic novel, Steppenwolf, written by Hermann Hesse and first published in 1927, it would appear that some of the writing in the novel could, in truth, be considered properly prophetic – especially in regard to some of the psychological and spiritual aspects of our contemporary society and culture. Steppenwolf, the character and the central individual in the novel, decries the empty essence and of his society, when he proclaims, “Ah, but it is hard to find this track of the divine in the midst of this life that we lead, in this besotted humdrum age of spiritual blindness, its politics, its men! …. And in fact, if the world is right, if this music of cafes, these mass enjoyments and these Americanised men who are pleased with so little are right, then I am wrong. I am crazy. I am in truth the Steppenwolf that I often call myself; that beast astray who finds neither home nor joy nor nourishment in a world that is strange and incomprehensible to him.”[80] (p. 48-49)

Poets and spirituality

Half my FB friends are poets. Gerlinde Staffler, an award-winning poetess: brief bio and views Take Gerlinde Staffler for instance, who explains her views

“I’m Gerlinde Staffler, a writer from Italy, I started to write in September 2020. My poems are mostly emotional and strongly philosophic and spiritual! These aspects in me are the motivations to live the life in fullest way! Spirituality is a limitless dimension of human experience and has a special approach to life, where research and inner growth counts, extending our life to a deeper level of existence that brings balance to body, mind and soul.”

Mirabai: Hindu spiritual poet-saint- The Spiritual Fire – 

I am mad with love

And no one understands my plight

Only the wounded understand

The agonies of the wounded

When the fire rages in the heart

The world has undergone thousands of technological-scientific revolutions as well as social and religious upheavals and changes, but when it comes to the passion and purpose of spiritual poets, artists, and leaders, it is still much the same as it has always been. Mirabai (c.1498–c.1546) is venerated as Saint Mirabai. Mirabai, a famous Bhakti saint, was a Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Krishna!

There are some remarkable similarities in spiritual views and beliefs between the various different cultures throughout the world. Spiritual leaders throughout the world and widely scattered in human history have relied on poetic expression: St. Teresa of Avila, the monk Thomas Merton, St. John the Cross, Zen Masters such as Dogen, Ryoken, Huang Po, Thich Nhat Hanh, and also Chinese spiritual leaders such as Chuang Tzu, Wu Men, Wang Wei. Rumi is probably the best-known Sufi poet but other Sufi poet-seers include Ibn Arabi, and Al Hallaj. And yes, among spiritual leaders who use the creativity of poetic expression include even Pope John Paul II, and Buddha, as well as Confucius and Lao Tzu. In fact, in the Old Testament, many of the Biblical passages dealing with the works of Moses are in verse and poetic form. Since the poetic verses in the Bible are often overlooked, I felt I should list Moses song for perspective:

15 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord:

1 “I will sing to the Lord,

for he is highly exalted.

Both horse and driver

he has hurled into the sea

….7 “In the greatness of your majesty

   you threw down those who opposed you.

You unleashed your burning anger;

   it consumed them like stubble.

8 By the blast of your nostrils

   the waters piled up.

The surging waters stood up like a wall;

the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

……11 Who among the gods

   is like you, Lord?

Who is like you—

   majestic in holiness,

awesome in glory,

 working wonders?

E.  Healing Spiritual-Psychic Experiences in Grieving

From the earliest history humans have had dreams of death and the deceased. The first recorded dream of the deceased dates from 2100 B.C. in Egypt: “Around 2100 B.C., a Egyptian man named Heni wrote a letter to his dead father, asking him for help with his nightmares.”

Gilles & Neimeyer observe “Death, especially when it takes on the mask of senselessness and meaninglessness, would seem to be the ultimate challenge to the “meaning of life” and the authors note how Janoff-Bulman and McPherson (1997) focused on the subjective “experience” of pain which they relate to the “shattered assumptions” and an “increased awareness” of the fragility of life and human vulnerability.”[81] 

Spiritual Experiences in Grieving as Adaptive Mechanisms

• Easterling (et al): “Conversely, experience has shown pastoral caregivers that individuals do seem to cope better if they can “actualize” their spiritual experiences in times of crisis.[82]  
• Julie Parker: study finds that “continuing bonds with the deceased can be adaptive, and spiritual and/or religious belief systems are associated with adaptive outcomes of grief.”[83]
• Gabriella Kilianova highlights the views of a Catholic priest in Slovakia. The priest “assumed that such dreams help people deal with the loss of their loved ones.”  That does appear to be part of pastoral folklore as it were.  But also because of the priest’s reflections and comments about the afterlife and connections with souls departed.[84]
• Adams and Hyde: “Dreams of the deceased… are thus not uncommon during childhood …. Qualitative studies have shown that some children reflect on their dreams and find meaning in them, with some of these dreams making a spiritual impact!”[85] 
• Donna Thomas: “Whether ‘positive’ or ‘negative’, anomalous experiences can catalyze self-healing for children and young people. Through children achieving greater self-awareness and a sense of intra-connectedness between self, others and the world.”[86]
• Hospice study: “Most participants [58% of 278 participants] reported that their dreams were either pleasant or both pleasant and disturbing, …[87]

“Man is not destroyed by suffering; he is destroyed by suffering without meaning” – Viktor Frankl”

Dr. Paul Wong, author, researcher, psychologist emphasizes that Viktor Frankl, “While incarcerated in Nazi Concentration Camps… discovered the power of logotherapy, which means, “healing through meaning!” Wong goes on to say that “Frankl maintained that healing needs to occur at the spiritual level and that medical practice must address existential questions of suffering and death. “Man is not destroyed by suffering; he is destroyed by suffering without meaning”[88] Frankl (1984).”

F.  Creating Community and Reality: T’boli Dream Weaving/T’nalak – Dreams as divine grace and guidance as well as a source of divine inspiration

“The observer creates the reality!”

R C Henry, a renowned professor of physics and astronomy, in a 2005 essay concludes, “A fundamental conclusion of the new physics also acknowledges that the observer creates the reality. As observers, we are personally involved with the creation of our own reality. Physicists are being forced to admit that the universe is a “mental” construction.” [89]

Eugene Wigner, a theoretical physicist and mathematician, stated unequivocally stated that “It was not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to consciousness.”[90] In a sense, since the most essential characteristic of human consciousness would be “intelligence” it would stand to reason that viewing the universe and the world as embodying intelligence would only be natural (and healthy).

As Hildegard of Bingen (c. 1098 – 17 September 1179) known as the Sibyl of the Rhine, was a German Benedictine abbess observed long ago, “We cannot live in a world that is not our own, in a world that is interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a home. Part of the terror is to take back our own listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light.”

Put another way, as William James observed (1902), spiritual experiences create a “sense of reality” – which is parallel to what R C Henry says “As observers, we are personally involved with the creation of our own reality!”[91] Through art, music, and spirituality – as well as cognitive analysis people create reality.

Community and Identity – Bayanihan: T’boli – Bla’an Dream Weaving/ T’nalak – Dreams as divine grace, guidance and divine inspiration

“The craft of weaving among the T’boli is a sacred spiritual tradition. Designs are believed to arrive from Fu Dalu, the spirit of the Abaca [material for cloth] (p.214). T’boli people are known to be one of the most creative and artistic ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines (Cudera et al., 2020). Among the different T’boli art forms, T’nalak is one of the most popular and admired around the globe.

T’nalak is a traditional hand-woven cloth indigenous to the T’boli (and Blaan) people from the Cotabato region. It is woven in order to celebrate and pay tribute to major life events such as birth, life, marriage, or death within the community. The cloth is woven from abaca fibers and is naturally dyed from bark, roots, and certain plants. The fabric undergoes a unique tie-dye process where it is tied in specific knots measured by finger or knuckle length, and dipped in dyes in order to create ornate patterns that indicate precision in craftsmanship. This is denoted by a distinctive tri-color scheme; the background is painted black while the pattern is white, which is then tinted predominantly with shades of red. However, it is not unusual to see creative variations in such a traditional pattern….

Briefly, for perspective, I would point out that even a brief glance at the t’nalak parade reveals that t’nalak is about community and identity much more than the supernatural

The T’nalak reflects core themes that can be used to understand Filipino American studies, including bayanihan and damay, which are examples of strong community partnership as participant or recipient. The whole process of T’nalak weaving, from dyeing to weaving, is descended from generation to generation of maternal relatives that necessitated a community of woven fabrics and traditional plant based-dying in order to sustain the tradition of T’nalak weaving. By creating specific coloration and subsets of T’nalak, it also provides signs of Filipino cultural identity, rank, and status…….Additionally, T’nalak weaving often became a substitute for income, as bartering with it increased over the years. Local and overseas work made those who stayed at home rely on cultural ingenuity in order to sustain their family. [92]

(T’nalak: The Land of the Dreamweavers – Amanda David Shiela Everett https://uw.pressbooks.pub/criticalfilipinxamericanhistories/chapter/tnalak-the-land-of-the-dreamweavers/)

T’nalak, a woven textile made of abaca or Manila hemp, has many traditional uses for the T’boli. The textile can be used as a dowry, as an instrument of sacrifice to cure an illness, as currency for bartering livestock and most of all the emblem of the tribe’s inspiration. The level of skill involved in creating t’nalak determines a weaver’s status and position in the village (Paterno & Oshima, 2001). Be Lang Dulay, a national artist, popularized T’nalak weaving with her over 100 different T’nalak designs. The national and international recognition and the appreciation of her art has left a legacy. Her valuable craft carries with it the T’boli identity. [93](p.208)

An expert at the museum in Cagayan de Oro explained that many indigenous tribes in the Philippines engage in dream weaving as well – though not all use Abaca. He also emphasized that dreams as a source of divine inspiration was not only used for dream weaving – but dream music as well I connected with some Bla’an students. Their mother observed Bla’an weaving designs are unique – and distinct from the T’boli designs. The Blaan and T’boli, at one time were one tribe that later split away.  

Symbolic Maps of Social Consciousness, Community & Social-Moral Order

1. As Confucius, a Chinese philosopher and spiritual leader who lived from 551 to 479 BCE, observed long ago, “Signs and symbols rule the world, not words or laws!” Modern politics and religion have proved Confucius right. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “We are symbols, and inhabit symbols.” [94]

2. Symbols and symbolism have been evident in prehistoric art from the dawning of civilization. Karen Armstrong highlights prehistoric cave art as the first evidence for human ideologies can be found in the prehistoric cave paintings of “shamans” in the French and Spanish caves dating as far back as twenty or thirty thousand years. Besides the numerous religious art works of the Renaissance, Chelsea Ann Rulofson observes that: “Some modern art movements coined their own spirituality and reflected it in their art; it is easy to see this in artists such as Paul Klee, Franz Marc, and Wassily Kandinsky. I would add that historically, divine inspiration has often been a hallmark of creativity.[95]

3. Hugh Evans: “History shows that all protest movements rely on symbols – boycotts, strikes, sit-ins, flags, songs. Symbolic action on whatever scale – from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to wearing a simple wristband – is designed to disrupt our everyday complacency and force people to think.” – Symbolism in protests is particularly relevant sicne one focus is on protest movements as forms of social consciousness – starting with Lagash in Sumer thousands of years ago.[96]

4. Heschel Symbolism p. 127-128 “As long as man believes in his ability to comprehend the world directly, as long as he is impressed by that which is rather than concerned to express what he thinks, symbolism is one of the techniques of human understanding. When man becomes the measure of good and evil, when the truth is regarded as that which the mind creates, symbolism becomes the sole technique of human understanding.”[97]

5. Religion as “a system of symbols” is a primary characteristic of Geertz’s five-part definition of religion so symbolism would be a good starting point – particularly in that Chernus suggested Geertz’s definition is universally accepted in the social sciences.[98]

6. Elzbieta Halas Model of Social Symbolism: Halas states that “groups exist only on the ground of common symbolization of their members.”  “The processes of symbolization…create a social order, express meaning and control actions. Symbols are not autonomous. They constitute tools of action, indicating and dramatizing social relations”[99]

7. D. Balaganapath observes: “The basis of every culture and every identity is determined by its own established common symbolic expression.”[100] 

8. Erica Hill’s Model as “dynamic social behaviours embedded within the context of daily life of arctic hunter gatherer and beliefs in animal spirits as “human relations with the natural world”; “Their thoughts and actions established and maintained relationships with prey animals and may be more productively conceptualized as dynamic social behaviours embedded within the context of daily life than as privileged ritual acts.” – and the beliefs focused attention (evolutionary adaptive selective attention) of the community on the activity of hunting-gathering of animals.[101]

9. Emile Durkheim’s model: “The forces before which the believer bows are not simple physical energies, such as are presented to the sense and the imagination; they are social forces,”[102]

10. Ramon Reyes Model from prehistoric societies in the Philippines: “In sum, one social and moral order encompasses the living, the dead, the deities and the spirits, and the total environment.”[103]

11.  In a similar vein, Rapport observes, “Few if any societies break the world into the more or less distinct systems distinguished by Western science. Not all of them, surely, distinguish environmental from social relations. Moreover, these understandings and principles, which in the Maring view, account for the structure and state of the world and invest the world and actions in it with meaning, are not confined to the particular material and social regulations regulated. They include as well metaphysical abstractions of great generality.[104] (p. 116 Ecology, Meaning and Religion, Roy Rappaport, North Atlantic Books, 1979)

12. Mannheim’s Model – Historical Synergy between economic political reality and Metaphysical Truths: “Mannheim holds that historical and political thought is determined by the socio-historical location of the thinker and the political aspirations and material ambitions of the group or groups to which he belongs. Such thought is inherently value-laden, one-sided, distorted, and therefore false. In short, all systems of historical-social-political thought are ideologies”![105] (p.143 Truth and Ideology: Reflections on Mannheim’s Paradox by Willard A. Mullins, History and Theory, Vol. 18, No. 2 (May, 1979), pp. 141-154)

Intricate Interconnectivity

The immortal quantum physicist, Max Planck states, “All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force… We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.”[106]

Ruach Hakodesh

All the Prophets spoke “in the Holy Spirit”; and the most characteristic sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit is the gift of prophecy, in the sense that the person upon whom it rests beholds the past and the future.

In Judaism, the Holy Spirit (Hebrew: רוח הקודש, ruach ha-kodesh) refers to the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the universe or over God’s creatures, in given contexts.

Photo below: Tinalak/T’nalak Fiesta Street Parade and Street Dancing taken on South Cotabato SMRAA, Koronadal City during T’nalak Festival on July 18, 2009.The Colors of T’nalak by Louie D. Photography – 3763039917.jpg – Wikimedia

Arctic Hunter Gatherers: “Human relationships with the natural world”

In many different ways spiritual and religious beliefs have become entangled in modern academic abstractions – number one being the stereotype that “All spirituality is unreal” – primarily because western academics are fixated with the “supernatural” according to Welsh Nobel prize winning scientist Brain Josephson – as opposed to fruitfulness. I might briefly mention the beliefs in nature as force of hunter-gatherers is consist with Mannheim’s “law” that the economic-political reality shaped social views.

Erica Hill highlights the relatively detailed procedures and protocols that structured the “human relationships with the natural world!” and details some of precise ways and protocols which specifically determined some relationships.  Erica Hill observes that the “Relations with these persons involved sets of rules and expectations and were predicated upon mutual respect, just as one’s relations with human kin were. Breaches of conduct, misunderstandings and bad manners had negative social implications, just as they did in interactions with one’s affines, cousins or trading partners.” [107]

As Erica Hill observed in her article, “Animals as Agents: Hunting Ritual and Relational Ontologies in Prehistoric Alaska and Chukotka”, the spiritual beliefs in animals permeated everyday behavior of ordinary people as well as pretty much the entire social structure of society. Erica Hill details numerous rituals and particular ways of thinking of animals as “agents” by ordinary people in everyday life as well as by shamans. The spiritual beliefs in animal spirts provided an extensive structure and support for the hunting activity vital to the survival of hunter-gatherers. So, it is crystal clear that the spiritual beliefs in animal spirts played a role in hunter gatherer society and performed a function (in contrast to the Academic Materialist Doctrine that all spirituality is “superstitious nonsense”)[108]

The T’boli had similar views. “Fu, the spirit of the land, has a dual character. At times benevolent, that Fu would help people especially farmers by blessing them with bountiful harvests or healing the sick member of a family, malevolent, in other times, that Fu causes illness and destroys crops. Understanding on the duality of the spirit’s characteristics gives each T’boli reverence to the environment that extends to the different elements that communes with it. In fact, trees, animals, and water are not considered as mere elements but other spiritual [living] entities.

This belief system guides them to commune with nature and all entities that co-exist from it. From this belief, they anchor their respect and regard to all things that exist. They conserve, protect, and manage their natural resources like how they treat their relationship to each other. They build and strengthen their relationship with the spirits by taking care of its manifestations, the things that exists, the physical world”[109] [p.202 – Dancing With the Dreamweavers: A Narrative Discourse of the T’bolis of the Southern Philippines January 2021 Emmanuel Villoria Hernani, Ma Rosita Ampoyas Hernani, Delmo Amfan Dulay)

Among Native American cultures, there appears to have been a nearly universal acceptance of the concept of “spirit-life-force” intrinsic to the world, nature and people, pervasive in the Native American culture. For instance, the Sioux embraced the concept of wakd or mahopa; the Algonquin, the idea of manitowi; the Mahopa Shoshone used the word pukunt. Across the Iroquois tribes, the concept was referred to variously as orenna or karenna by the Mohawk, Cayuga, and Oneida, urente by the Tuscarora, and iarenda or orenda by the Huron. Orenda (or orenna) is an Iroquois name for a spiritual power intrinsic to people and the world. The world and nature were viewed as an eternal struggle of one orenda against others. The role of orenda was viewed in ways similar to the Judeo-Christian tradition (as well as Islamic) in which the Holy spirit was the source and force for prophecy, divination, miracles, blessing, prayer, and worship.

G. Dr. Ingela Visuri: Spirituality “The Case of High functioning Autism”[110]

In Ingela Visuri’s study of autistic spiritual experiences (Visuri, I. (2019). Sensory supernatural experiences in autism. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 10(2): 151-165.), what struck me is the very distinct character of the autistics’ experiences. In Ingela Visuri’s words, autistic experiences tend to be characteristically “unexplainable sensory experiences” – invisible touch, invisible presence (i.e., bodies), and even imaginary friends. It would stand to reason that since this peculiar type of spirituality appears peculiar to autistics it would seem to be generated or stimulated in turn by the peculiar way “autistic brains” process information which are well known to have a deficit in Theory of Mind processing {ability to make inferences and judge others’ intentions) and so would likely be an influence or cause of this peculiar type of spiritual experiences. The question – in light of William James “practical use” principle would be – are these experiences and phenomena an expression of a physiological compensatory effect.[111] 

Visuri, I. (2019). Sensory supernatural experiences in autism. Religion, Brain & Behavior, 10(2): 151-165.

H. Real World People – Real World Study

Intro: For perspective – a minimal study of spiritual psychic experiences – here is an excerpt from J E Kennedy – It is a minimal study but as J E Kennedy observes, “very little research” has been done on ‘people’ who have spiritual psychic experiences.  

“Data from a convenience sample of 120 people actively interested in parapsychology who reported having had at least one paranormal and/or transcendent experience showed that these experiences increased their interest and beliefs in spiritual matters and increased their sense of well-being. More specifically, the majority of respondents indicated that the experiences resulted in increased belief in life after death, belief that their lives are guided or watched over by a higher force or being, interest in spiritual or religious matters, sense of connection to others, happiness, well-being, confidence, optimism about the future, and meaning in life. They also indicated decreases in fear of death, depression or anxiety, isolation and loneliness, and worry and fears about the future.

A large majority of respondents indicated that these effects resulted from a combination of more than one paranormal and/or transcendent experience. The magnitude of changes in well-being and spirituality were positively associated with the number of anomalous experiences. Measures of current well-being and current importance of spirituality were positively associated with reported changes in well-being and spirituality resulting from anomalous experiences.” [112]

(An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Paranormal and Spiritual Experiences on Peoples’ Lives and Well-Being J.E. Kennedy and H. Kanthamani (Original publication and copyright: The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1995, Volume 89, pp.249-265.)

Linda: “Spirit” covers a wide range of beliefs and experiences that are personal! I don’t think it’s possible to pin it down to just one ‘thing’…. for myself, it was a gradual awakening as to who, I AM. It was always there waiting, my first direct experience was at a meditation retreat in Montana… 30 days, no talking, nothing but meditation, food, sleep. One morning, while watching the snow come down outside through a big picture window, I heard the phrase: “this”, is all there is”! Later Linda added that “My spiritual practices GOT ME TO HERE! There are many paths, many teachings and many teachers…. seek and you will find the right One For You…

Angel (old counselor of mine): “Spirit, to me, is literally; everything. It is the universe beyond our very small, limited existence as human in a physical world. This encompasses your view too, of Spirit being a creative force. It is THE creative force since it is everything. So, when we as humans, create or connect or dream or heal…we tap into Spirit.”

Gerlinde (Italian poet and writer from Italy: My poems are mostly emotional and strongly philosophic and spiritual! Spirituality is a limitless dimension of human experience and has a special approach to life, where research and inner growth counts, extending our life to a deeper level of existence that brings balance to body, mind and soul. I have written the poem “The path.my path” during a walk in nature…walking is like let flowing my feelings and thoughts about life inside and outside me. The path is a writing about our choices for the future

Annie, a psychology student in a master’s program: “I went through a major ‘dark night of the soul’ for a few years that led me to question and dig deep deeper into my false beliefs and what is really going on in the world. In a separate comment she told me that “Spirit is definitely primordial – existing prior to, within and after material. Everything is energy. Like a fish in water, many are just unaware. It’s also largely a highly personal experience so the experience may come sooner for others or not at all if they choose to look at a superficial level.”.

Mirabai, a Malaysian, is a very independent hybrid Christian-Hindu, states that “In our Vedas teachings, we each have a Dharma…a sort of duty… There is the Dharma of an educator…there is the Dharma of an intellectual person…who will always be in the pursuit of gaining knowledge…& enlightening others about it… There is also the warrior Dharma…The merchant Dharma… The labourer Dharma… The other is the outsider Dharma… These are the people who change things… None is superior or inferior. All the above is needed for us to function in this world, relying on each other’s Dharma.”

As a point of information, I would add that Nancy Poiteau, a counselor who has worked with people on their spirituality and spiritual-psychic experiences did emphatically state that – these people do tend to be very independent – something I have found to be true as well.

Marwa, a passionate – and sometimes fiery – Muslim woman who has had some spiritual experiences of her own said spiritual experiences are a “Gift by Allah, giving to those who love believing in him, and give them this spiritual gift” – a “gift and will commit leading to creativity and geniuses.” Marwa, went on to list the different types of spirituality: wisdom (Loguman); clemency and patience (Ashajj ibn Qays; intense faith of Abu Bakr,’Uthman’s modesty; Ali’s bravery; Abu al-Darda’s wisdom; Amr’s resourcefulness; Mu`awiyah’s leadership skills; discernment, inspiration, and memory (Al-Bukhari and Ahmad ibn Hanbal); poetic gifts (Sibuwayh, al-Khalil)

The Christian view of spiritual gifts in Corinthians 1 is remarkably similar to Marwa’s view. I would add that my guiding lights are “spirit and truth” from John 4:23-24 and I found people of other religions have not objected to that (so long as I stay away from religious issues which tend to engage the powerful emotions connected with the ingroup-outgroup syndrome). I thought it was amazing that Marwa could reel off so many Muslim examples of spirituality. Corinthians 1: 12: 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.

7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues,[a] and to still another the interpretation of tongues.[b] 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”

Nora’s story, as told by Daniel Scott 

Daniel G. Scott observes, “Children’s experience will feel normal to them. It has its own logic but when shared may receive a reaction that alters their feelings about that experience. Those responses can alter their freedom to express, and even experience, what was normative for them, producing emotional conflict for the child. 

First is Nora’s account of her ability to see auras as a younger child: “When I was four or five years old, I was playing dolls with two friends. One of them asked what my favorite color was. I replied ‘Pink.’ She asked what shade of pink? I said the shade of pink of the light around your head. Both little girls said ‘What light around the head?’ A fear like a knife went through my heart as I knew they were telling the truth; they didn’t see the light. I was seeing something they could not see. I never saw lights around people again until I was in my 30s. Nora considered seeing auras normal until she realized her friends could not. Suddenly there was something unacceptable about her ability to perceive light around people’s heads. It is not clear why her fear was so immediate but it seems to be based on a sense of appropriateness or safety. She shuts off her perception interrupting her capacity to see auras until, in adult life, she began a deliberate process of study:”[113]

The significance this had on my life after I remembered this experience has made me a seeker of higher consciousness. A believer that my function on this planet is significant to every person on the earth. Although Nora’s account is from early childhood, she models the process of re-constructing her sense of self and life journey based on a recovered capacity.

In other accounts that I have of the ability to see auras, the loss of the perception in response to the reactions of others is common. I seem to hear stories from people who have recovered their capacity but wonder how many children have perceptual capacities lost while growing up. How many children have not regained their perceptions? What are the cultural implications of severed capacities in children’s lives?”

(Retrospective spiritual narratives: exploring recalled childhood and adolescent spiritual experiences, Daniel G. Scott International Journal of Children’s Spirituality)

In my personal encounters with my connections Nunzi told me she also sees auras, as well. Of course, the documented psychic Edgar Cayce is well-known to have seen “auras.” There is the story of a woman he encountered who had no visible aura. The next day she was dead. 

I.    Up close and personal: The Fear Factor

The Fear Factor:  J E Kennedy observes that “Although 45% of the respondents indicated that a paranormal experience had made them very afraid, this fear appeared to be temporary or mixed with positive feeling because only 9% indicated that their experiences have been scary with no positive value. Further research should investigate the extent to which the findings for this selected sample apply to other populations and the extent to which motivations relating to spirituality direct or underlie the occurrence of paranormal phenomena, including in experimental settings.”[114]

The Fear Factor: Flynn’s Story 

Flynn’s story: “I am 55 years old with 5 children 8 grand daughters and have been through an immense amount of pain and trauma in my life more than most yet I still love all. I found it difficult to handle my main experience and struggled for a long time, but finally once I got a ‘structure’ worked out I keep my balance pretty well.”

My mother was murdered when I was 9 so I believe that has a significant bearing on things yet she also taught me how to strengthen my mind using cards and guessing what they were from a very early age and she was an extreme humanist feminist kind person……. I have had several instances in my life of it [spiritual-psychic experiences] – from my mother’s murder to girlfriend leaving me to accidents going to happen to asking god creator for direction and sign and getting it immediately; none of it make too much sense to me and I don’t understand why it happens to me so frequently!”

Rebecca: “fractured by this weighted sight”

Fear of the unknown is a well-known factor in the human mind. Rebecca’s poem captures that aspect of spiritual experiences. Rebecca, who is very private about her experiences, as many are, spoke about the essence of spiritual-experiences in a poem about her personal experiences and how she views them. Rebecca’s poem is truly eloquent and very succinct. The pivotal issue is as Rebecca explains – her experiences put her in a position in which she is forced to choose: “I must believe or not believe” Yes, spiritual experiences ask Hamlet’s soliloquy expresses the ultimate dilemma of life: “To Be or Not To Be; That is The Question!” Rebecca’s poem also reflects Viktor Frankl’s insight that “It is life itself that asks questions of man…It is not up to man to question; rather, he should recognize that he is questioned, questioned by life; he has only to respond by being responsible; and he can answer to life only by answering for his life.”[115]  (p. 62)

Rebecca’s Poem: “I must believe or not believe”

The gift and curse of this sight

Colors my world in shades of blue

I must believe or not believe

Stay blind or walk the path to you

And while I surrender to the mystery

All the feelings come along too

I get fractured by this weighted sight

This is a common theme of several spiritual people I have spoken with who have been confronted by an intense experience – I must believe or not believe! The experiences are questions that demand answers. Spiritual people with intense experiences often have some common shared characteristics. History also testifies to the trauma involved in transcendental spiritual experiences

Karen Armstrong: Isaiah’s vision and “Otherness”

It is strange how the original meanings – perhaps what some might consider the “true” meanings – of words often gets lost or transformed-evolved. The original meaning of Kadosh means “otherness” – involving a radical separation.

Isaiah intense vision of Yahweh in a visit to the Temples is legendary. Isaiah saw Yahweh sitting on the throne in heaven which was positioned directly above the Temple. Karen Armstrong explains that in Isaiah Yahweh was “attended by two seraphs, who covered their faces with their wigs lest they look upon his face. They cried out to one another antiphonally: “Holy! Holy! Holy is Yahweh Sabaoth. His glory fills the earth.” At the sound of their voices, the whole Temple seemed to shake and was filled with smoke, enveloping Yahweh in an impenetrable cloud similar to the cloud and smoke that had hidden him from Moses on Mount Sinai.”[116] Karen Armstrong A History of God chapter One God p. 40-41

Point of order: An evolutionary adaptive trait?

One of the observations from my own experiences as well as others is that as in Nora’s words: “The significance this had on my life after I remembered this experience has made me a seeker of higher consciousness.”  It is nearly a universal among people who have spiritual experiences is that spirituality is a motivation for them. Furthermore, a common thread would also seem to be that experiences make people question – to seek. Since a number of my own personal experiences – such as 9/11 involve horrific political events and death, my view of God would be parallel to Jeremiah’s view, so I am a bit cynical. When people talk about how wonderful transcendental information is – that makes me shudder.  So, from a certain perspective spiritual experiences could possibly have the aspect of being God’s way of kicking people in the butt. Often people do react dramatically from spiritual experiences.

Modern neuroscience supports William James’ observation about “attention”

The neuroscientists, Hommel (et al) state, “How is this related to attention? A few sentences after that famous phrase we quoted above, James wrote that attention “implies a withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others.” interact with another stimulus is indeed accomplished, quite literally, within the approach circuit of the rostral tectum.” Hommel goes on to say, “And while these simple circuits for governing interactive behavior may seem far removed from the higher cognition of humans, they are indeed the precursors to the mechanisms that control what has been called “selective attention.”[117] (No one knows what attention is: Bernhard Hommel et al)

John Bargh, a researcher and psychologist of the unconscious, observes that when he made a recording of stories told by his grandmother at a crowded family gathering. They were captivated by the stories and had no problems hearing them – but when he listened to the recording – “What a disappointment! Just noise, noise, noise, a million people talking at once and no way to pick out her voice from the other people talking, even though we heard her so clearly at the time. We quickly figured out that we hadn’t noticed the background noise because we had been so captivated by our grandmother’s stories. We’d filtered out what everyone else was saying.[118] (p. 111 Before you know it)

G. Funk and Gazzanigna observe that: “Morality is a set of complex emotional and cognitive processes that is reflected across many brain domains. Some of them are recurrently found to be indispensable in order to emit a moral judgment, but none of them is uniquely related to morality…Some of the emotions processed are more central to morality than others, but all emotions contribute to moral judgment given specific contextual situations….The neural circuits of brain regions implicated in morality overlap with those that regulate other behavioral processes….”[119] Brain Architecture of human morality, Funk and Gazzanigna Current opinion in Neurobiology 2009 19:678-681)

The synthesis-integration function in processing and analyzing information is important. I should add the Funk – Gazzanigna approach is remarkably similar to the approach in analyzing musical ability and processes.

J.  People Stories

A Genetic Predisposition for Seeing Ghosts.

I would briefly review people who see “ghosts” – which appears to be a genetic predisposition with some people. As Dr Visuri observes, autistics tend to have “unexplainable sensory experiences. It would appear readily apparent that this particular and peculiar phenomena of “unexplainable sensory experiences” would be a result of their physiology.  Similarly, J.E Kennedy observes, “In a study of a technique attempting to induce a sense of contact with someone who had died, 96% of the participants with NF personality types reported after-death contact experiences, whereas 100% of the participants with ST (sensing, thinking) personality types did not have these experiences (Arcangel, 1997). So, an important point here is that as the personality studies show some peoples’ minds filter information differently – and in this case NF personalities do appear to have a predisposition for sensing contact with the deceased.

Everyone in Gensan seems to know I like to talk – lol. But I also listen while I talk – and learn.  I encountered a woman, M…. in Easton, who told me when she was very young that she had “ghost” experiences but grew out of them. However, she added her brother also had experiences – and her brother still has visions of ghosts to this day. I mentioned this study to her and added that with some people that is just the way their brains are wired – and that is not necessarily pathological in and of itself. 

As a point of information, I would add that an Icelandic study of psychic experiences which reports that “Having had some experience of a deceased person is also common, being reported by 45% of the women and 28% of the men (a notable sex difference).  About half of these experiences had been visual in nature, with 60% of this group of respondents having encountered a deceased close relative, 39% a stranger, and 4% their deceased spouse. More than half had experienced more than one encounter with a deceased person.” AS Muzafer Sherif pointed out real world circumstance and real-life situations are pivotal and the Icelandic study did not explain if grieving was part of the situation or distress – which as Jean MacPhail argues is relevant[120]. ([Icelandic] Psychic experiences – third of a century apart. Two representative surveys in Iceland. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 75, 903, 76-90. January 2011 The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 75(9ö3):76-90 Erlendur Haraldsson University of Iceland)

“R” visions of president JFK and Recognition

Real friendship or love is not manufactured or achieved by an act of will or intention. Friendship is always an act of recognition. [121]– John O’Donohue

I would add that “recognition” is an important need for many people -something people all want. In researching schizophrenics, I came across two cases where western psychiatrists were unable to help two schizophrenics – while shamans were able to heal two people. Shamans view schizophrenics as a spiritual reality as shamans in the process of being born. One, as I recall was a young man in pretty bad shape that a shaman was able to almost completely heal. I can tell you from personal experience psychiatric “treatment” is horrifically dehumanizing – actually hateful in some cases.  Julie Parker, Dr. Ingela Visuri, as well as Jung all highlighted the fact that people who have spiritual experiences are very sensitive about others’ views about spirituality. In my view is mainstream psychologists-psychiatrists literally lack the capability to distinguish hallucinations from reality. There are two women – Licia and Nunzi – who spoke about dreams of their fathers who had passed away. It shouldn’t be a surprise at all – but with psychiatry all dreams of the deceased are hallucinations and delusions (according to two psychiatric studies I overviewed). Lyssa, a Blaan student connection friend observed that ancestors in dreams is often viewed as trying to help and communicate. My read of Licia and Nunzi’s dreams about their father’s is that the dreams were about processing meaning – not the supernatural. 

Sometimes in exceptional or extreme cases it is possible to discern different aspects of human consciousness. When you look at St Joan of Arc, and Reed, the contemporary American nemesis of ten commandments who simultaneous with the rise of the right-wing Christian movement who backed Trump, a racist – took his car and knocked down ten commandment monuments in Arkansas and Oklahoma – saying he was the white rider in Revelations – they both heard voices – yet the political environment was political. So, the question si did those two translate perceptions of political threats into voices?

I am very nonjudgmental in assessing others experiences – in part because I know my understanding is limited – in part because spiritual people – in the end are people. When I first met “R” – a woman who had some pretty wild experiences. At first, she accused me of not believing her. I explained that while I have no idea what a ghost looks like or feels like, I know from my own experiences that her experiences are real. R explained that she had visions – and conversations with – president JFK. She told me how she saw JFK on TV and she had a “relationship” with JFK. I am sure there was a reason why she developed a “relationship” with JFK (she got mad at “Jack”, etc.) but I have no idea why. After her “grandma” dies she “heard” ghosts for a while. Also, she had a dream about JFK and his death – and death in general.

“R” told me about a dream she had in which she was in a car accident. The next day she was driving with her husband when an incident set off her husband’s road rage. She yelled at her husband to stop – to no avail. Her husband did finally pull off the road. She said what was interesting is that when they pulled back on the road, the car in front of them had JFK on the license.

I told her about Mera’s story of seeing ghosts when she was young – but growing out of it. R told me – she wished she had been like Mera and grown out of it. Personally, I view R as a spiritual woman in very challenging circumstances. 

Addendum I: Quantum Leap over the Outmoded-Outdated Billiard Ball Physics

It used to be true that professionals could exclude transcendental spirituality and paranormal experiences because of the standard billiard-balls physics model which did not allow them since they are physically impossible.  Quantum physics and quantum entanglement has changed all that.

A.        “Spukhafte Fernwirkung” – Albert Einstein

Quantum entanglement is an “entangled pair” of subatomic particles in which the spin of one subatomic particle will react directly and immediately (at speeds faster than the speed of light) to the spin of the other subatomic particle even though separated by arbitrarily large distances. A conclusion from experiments in quantum entanglement is that the reactions in a quantum entangled pair of particles occur at a speed faster than light – which to Einstein was impossible according to his own theory. In fact, Albert Einstein called quantum entanglement, “Spukhafte Fernwirkung” – which means, in German, “spooky action at a distance.” To Einstein quantum entanglement was an impossibility.

Niels Bohr was a Danish quantum physicist stated unequivocally “If quantum mechanics hasn’t profoundly shocked you, you haven’t understood it yet. Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real. “[122]

B.        “The future caused the past” Professor Truscott

1. Professor Truscott concluded that his experiment showed that; “A future event causes the photon to decide its past.”[123] Summary of Experiment: The bizarre nature of reality as laid out by quantum theory has survived another test, with scientists performing a famous experiment and proving that reality does not exist until it is measured.

2. Stephen Hawking: “Time travel used to be thought of as just science fiction, but Einstein’s general theory of relativity allows for the possibility that we could warp space-time so much that you could go off in a rocket and return before you set out.”[124] (Experiment confirms quantum theory weirdness Science Daily, May 27, 2015 Australian National University)

C         Reflections and commentary 

I should briefly add that the Schroeder’s Cat argument which says that quantum physics only applies to subatomic particles technically can’t be applied to human consciousness. Quantum entanglement has been shown to effect particles as large as molecules – and the electrons involved in the firing of neurons are much smaller than molecules.

Wolfgang Pauli, a Nobel prize-winning quantum physicist, was careful to recognize that “although [particle physics] allows for an acausal form of observation, it actually has no use for the concept of ‘meaning’!” That is, meaning is not a fundamental function of reality but an interpretation superimposed by the human observer.

a.    Daryl Bem’s Successful-Repeated Precognition Experiments!

The parapsychologist, Daryl Bem, through successfully repeated experiments demonstrated that precognition experiments do, in fact, produce consistently “successful” results. In 2016, an article about a meta-analysis of Daryl Bem (et al) very successful precognitive experiments states that “When Bem’s own experiments are included, the complete database comprises 90 experiments from 33 different laboratories located in 14 different countries. A total of 12,406 individuals participated in these experiments.” The article goes on to say that the results showed that the experimental design focused on sex [instinctual] was by far outperformed the other designs. The meta-analysis of Bem’s replications convincingly demonstrated that, indeed, the results, though – in the grand scheme of things relatively small, were very consistently positive.  [125](A Summary of “Feeling the Future: A Meta-analysis of 90 Experiments on the Anomalous Anticipation of Random Future Events by Bem, Tressoldi, Rabeyron & Duggan)

Perspective on Bem’s research: Richard S. Broughton observes that “The tragic events of 9/11 brought a flurry of cases to the attention of parapsychology labs. The cases ranged from dramatic dreams of airplanes crashing or exploding to the more frequent examples of unusual departures from normal routines that ended up saving someone’s life.”[126]  (Encounters at the Frontiers of Time: Questions Raised by Anomalous Human Experiences Richard S. Broughton) It would be rather self-evident that visibility of the 9/11 event is a major factor. Historically – before 9/11 there were no historically documented instances of warnings or predictions of terrorism. Visibility – plus modern social media – would likely be salient factors.

Mayo clinic guidelines on spiritual people

Studies have shown that addressing the spiritual needs of the patient may enhance recovery from illness. Discerning, acknowledging, and supporting the spiritual needs of patients can be done in a straightforward and noncontroversial manner. Furthermore, many sources of spiritual care (e.g., chaplains) are available to clinicians to address the spiritual needs of patients. Mayo Clin Proc. 2001; 76:1225-1235

Here is a link to the full mini-essay on my profile on academia.edu

Addendum II Personal Perspective:

“I believe that we can ‘sense’ the future. We just haven’t yet established the mechanism allowing it to happen!”   – Welsh Nobel Prize Winner Brian Josephson

A.   Introduction

As Jean MacPhail, author and scholar, observed, my personal spiritual-psychic experiences are unique – in part because the experiences – some conscious, some in dreams – related to events outside myself, in part because many are documented and in part they consistently are ‘perceptions of threats to the group (only thing I seem to be good at). From discussions with people who have spiritual experiences, “perception” appears to be a large part of experiences – definitely not “powers” I have never met anyone who had experiences who talked about powers – and neither has angel a former counselor. But that is what psychiatric norms convey.   From my research, my 1981 warning to the FBI is a historically unprecedented and comparatively speaking exceptionally detailed as well as accurate prediction-warning of a terrorist attack. I would add that – to my knowledge – I am the only person who can (theoretically subpoena federal agents as well as I have the only warning prediction which is notarized with a FOIPA stamp on it.

After 40 years I should strongly emphasize that it is easier to say what spiritual experiences are Not than to explain what they are – particularly since spiritual experiences can be very complex. Spiritual experiences are Not about “powers”, “supernatural”, “unreal-intangible”, “superstitious nonsense,” “make believe”, etc. Furthermore, I should strongly emphasize that there is nothing inherently wrong with spiritual-psychic experiences and there is Not a Shred of evidence that spiritual experiences are automatically and necessarily mental illness – Zero! I would add that after 40 years, I sat down and reviewed my experiences.

In 40 years, there are perhaps two or three illustrations which could be labeled “precognitive.” In fact, when I reviewed the experiences, there was a consistent pattern of experiences in which “alienated” people were pivotal. That would indicate that telepathy was a factor. One should consider that in all other neuroscience phenomena (such as morals or music), numerous processes were involved and there is a consensus that the human brain is incredibly complex and interconnected.

• Historical Documented warnings and predictions:

While, “psychic” warnings or predictions of assassinations are the only truly consistent type of historically documented illustrations. Across the centuries – until modern times – there are only a limited number of historically documented illustrations of warnings or predictions of deaths of leaders or assassinations:

1. The assassination of President John Kennedy: Jeane Dixon tried to warn JFK through a DC socialite who had been on his inauguration committee. This is documented only because one of her biographers interviewed the socialite.

2. The assassination of Julius Caesar, whose assassination was predicted by a seer-high priest as well as in his wife’s bloody nightmare the night before his assassination, which is historically documented.

3. The assassination of Abraham Lincoln who had a nightmare about his own assassination in which he had dreamed that he saw his casket lying in state in the White House. It is historically documented because he told his cabinet about it a short time before he was assassinated.

4. Catholic Saint Liguori, who went into a coma as his leader, the pope was on his death bed.

5. The assassination of Assyrian King Sennacherib documented as a prophecy in the Old Testament

6. My own notarized, precognitive “What a nightmare” warning to the FBI about the terrorist group the Weathermen (now actually the Weather Underground) as well as my verbal warning to the FBI of the impending assassination attempt of President Reagan).

7. Nostradamus’ famous quatrain 35 that purportedly related to the death of a French king at a jousting tournament, while talked about in letters of ambassadors to France, is now argued by scholars to have been first published after the event of the French King’s death, so I can’t really use it as a “documented” illustration.

8. Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 – 1772), a Swedish philosopher, Christian theologian, and mystic notable for his stance against slavery, as well as introducing the first known concept of the neuron. In 1741, at age 53, had a spiritual awakening. Consistent with others I speak with his spirituality became amotivation and drive. IN this case, “according to Swedenborg’s work The Heavenly Doctrine, the Lord had opened Swedenborg’s spiritual eyes so that from then on, he could freely visit heaven and hell to converse with angels, demons and other spirits”

“In 1745, aged 57, Swedenborg was dining in a private room at a tavern in London. By the end of the meal, a darkness fell upon his eyes, and the room shifted character. Suddenly, he saw a person sitting at a corner of the room, telling him: “Do not eat too much!”. Swedenborg, scared, hurried home. Later that night, the same man appeared in his dreams. The man told Swedenborg that he was the Lord, that he had appointed Swedenborg to reveal the spiritual meaning of the Bible and that he would guide Swedenborg in what to write. The same night, the spiritual world was opened to Swedenborg” (Wikipedia)

Human Consciousness has Changed

I should add that from my research, it is readily apparent that if you compare apples to apples – since roughly WWI there has been an explosion of spiritual-psychic experiences – Edgar Cayce, Remote viewing, the Long Island Medium, etc.

The tragic events of 9/11 brought a flurry of cases to the attention of parapsychology labs. The cases ranged from dramatic dreams of airplanes crashing or exploding to the more frequent examples of unusual departures from normal routines that ended up saving someone’s life. Just a few days after the event one of the participants in an experiment I was running related to me her sister’s experience.

Her sister worked in an office on one of the upper floors and was exceptionally scrupulous about not missing work—reportedly had never missed a day. On the morning of the 11th her alarm woke her, but she could see it was going to be a lovely sunny day and she was taken with a feeling of being a bit naughty and skipping work that day. She would think up a reason later. So, she turned off the alarm and went back to sleep. It was only when she emerged from the shower a few hours later and turned on the TV did she realize what she had missed being a tragic part of. Is this also precognition?

Obviously, there is no way of telling, but these instances are sufficiently common—far more common than the dramatic examples—that we run the risk of missing some important clues if we ignore them. If precognition is part of an evolutionarily determined, survival-oriented system that is integrated with our memory and emotional subsystems, these could be seen as the “normal” operation information from the future on behaviour in the present.”

Dean Radin also states a number of ‘documented’ precognitions of 9/11 came to his attention. Dean Radin, a prominent parapsychologist and senior scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, has explored the concept of precognition, particularly in relation to the 9/11 attacks, which he discusses in his book The Conscious Universe and Entangled Minds. Radin’s work on 9/11 suggests the possibility of collective premonitions or anomalous physical reactions related to the event, even if not fully conscious or clear visions, due to what he describes as the brain’s potential for memory repression and suppression of anxiety-inducing impressions.

Key points regarding Radin’s work on 9/11 and precognition:

Collective Premonitions:

Radin’s research includes discussions of collective premonitions, implying a potential for widespread, though not necessarily clear, anticipatory feelings related to significant events like 9/11.

Anomalous Physiological Responses:

Radin’s research explores “Predictive Anticipatory Activity” (PAA), which refers to unconscious physiological changes that occur before a future event, similar to precognition but involving a physical response rather than conscious awareness.

Role of Consciousness and Global Attention:

Radin, in collaboration with others, has investigated the potential for large-scale human attention and coherent consciousness to influence global systems, as suggested by analyses of data from 9/11.

Suppression of Impressions:

Radin posits that the human brain may have mechanisms for suppressing clear visions or premonitions of catastrophic events to protect mental health, leading to less vivid, or more repressed, experiences of precognition

Historical Perspective When National Death Threatens: Old Testament Prophecy

The prophets dealt with man, not as an atom, but as a part of a social organism, a living member of a living body. To heal this body when diseased (Isa. I:6), to warn it against coming dissolution, and to bring it back to the paths which lead to perfection in God, was their great and only mission (Jer. 6: 6). Hence, they were always the more numerous when national death threatened. Just before the fall of Samaria and the fall of Jerusalem we find them working in the greatest number and with the greatest energy.  (The Old Testament Prophets As Social Reformers, Rev. Geo. Stibitz)

Hate Speech increases terrorist violence

 There is a correlation between Trump Hate Speech and the horrific increase in violence in the USA.

 The recent assassination of United Health CEO confirms Piazza’s conclusion: “I find that hate speech by politicians is a significant, substantive, driver of domestic terrorism.” New York Times: “Minnesotans awoke on a recent Saturday (6-15-25) to reports that an assassin (pro-Trump psycho) had spent the night ticking his way down a list of Democratic targets, wounding one state lawmaker and his wife and then, just as the police closed in, killing another, along with her husband and their dog. It was shocking. But it quickly seemed to become just another episode in a recent spate of political violence. Since last July, two people have tried to assassinate Donald J. Trump, an arsonist set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while the family slept, an assailant fatally shot a couple leaving the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington and a man was charged with attempting to kidnap the mayor of Memphis.”[i] “A car that plowed into pedestrians near SoFi Stadium in Inglewood on Saturday night left at least six people injured, and a witness tells KTLA that the driver of the car was trying to show off for the crowd.” KTLA 5’s Gene Kang

Furthermore, 800+ children-teenagers have been killed in US K12 school shootings (excludes colleges) Studies by Hodwitz & Massingale; Piazza; Nacos, Shapiro, Bloch-Elkon, consistently indicate a correlation between hate speech and increased violence. Most horribly -). In 2024 CNN said there have been “82 school shootings.”. In contrast there has been only 1 school shooting in Spain & 2 in the Philippines.in their entire history – while in the USA there have been 73+ school shootings for the last 4 consecutive years. The surge began in 2015 – when Trump entered politics. It is distressing “to me” many American leaders don’t seem to grasp the severity of the situation and how horribly more violence occurs in the USA compared with other

A.   Synopsis of 40 years of spiritual experiences

Preface: I should start by highlighting the fact that in 40 years I have never “seen” the “absolute truth” – only perceptions. More likely they are it is always perception or more likely – the perception of a perception. The Holy Spirit appears to be the only proper term – description – of my experiences. Many of these experiences are documented by emails w/consistent & reasonable interpretations

Six dreams,

(1) Pakistan and nuclear war – a month later India launched an attack against Islamic Jihadists in Pakistan and an article about it highlighted nuclear war  

(2) A Hybrid Dream-Perception of the “incel” terrorist in Canada in April, 2018.

(3) Dream about Libya (2-26-2019), A month later the U.S. forces left Libya

(4) Muslim lone terrorist attack in Strasburg, France attack – dream (9-19-20)

(5) Dudayev Dream – had several details matching the death of Dudayev

(6) Fredericksburg bomb Several details matched the death of a woman by a bomb

Conscious perceptions with Consistent and Reasonable Interpretations

(1) my recent 10-30-20 email to FBI agent McElwee warned of a “domestic terrorist” threat referring to a “bomb” as the weapon. which is related – of course – to the Nashville bombing on Christmas day 2020

(2) My very detailed, specific, and notarized warning to the FBI on October 18, 1981 of an impending attack by the then active Weathermen terrorist group. Some [accurate] details are: group, fabricating bombs, money, women, 22 assembled, New York, death, as well as the terrorist weathermen’s manifesto. That is documented by a notarized document with a FOIPA stamp on it.

(3) Phoned in warning to the FBI of the assassination attempt on president Reagan

(4) I called the CIA before 9/11

(5)  miscellaneous: foresight of the fight in intelligence over the CIA whistleblower

Might Makes Right March 2017 Letters to allies’ embassies

In letters that I mailed to the embassies of our allies in Mid-March 2017, I stated:

“I read an article which said that Trump’s envoy to the United Nations was going to “take names” and dictate terms to the nations of the world. That is an utter disgrace. When it comes down to it, at times, Americans can be downright arrogant. Some Americans think they have all the power and all the answers. The truth of it is Americans don’t even have the right question. History repeats itself and has definite cycles. I believe America is in the cycle of might-makes-right. After the Athenians defeated the Persians, they rose to the undisputed and unchallenged leadership of the Greek world. They used their power to bully and dictate terms to their allies. The Athenians ended up massacring all the inhabitants of Lesbos on the argument that might-makes-right. Their policies ended up backfiring.”

Intelligence Leaks July 30, 2020: The title of an article in the Indy 100, Independent, stated that “Trump accused of ‘near-sadistic’ bullying of Angela Merkel for ‘vicious attacks’ in private phone call” The article went on to say How Bernstein of CNN observed that Although Trump “regularly bullied and disparaged” other leaders like Emmanuel Macron (France), Justin Trudeau (Canada) and Scott Morrison (Australia)  However, his most “vicious attacks” were reserved for women, the report claims. Bernstein quoted one of his sources as calling Trump’s phone calls with Merkel and May “near-sadistic”. Some of the things he said to Angela Merkel are just unbelievable: he called her ‘stupid,’ and accused her of being in the pocket of the Russians. He’s toughest with those he looks at as weaklings and weakest with the ones he ought to be tough with. The intelligence leak from foreign intelligence sources led to further revelations such as how Trump called May a “fool” on a phone call which was later verified by former National Security advisor Bolton in his book.

Commentary: As Brain Josephson points out – scientists are fixated with the supernatural – and precognition. An important point is that the “Might Makes Right” letters which were right on target had zero precognition – rather they resulted from a political-historical situational sense.

The Trump-Christian No Mask Madness

April-10-2020 Email to FBI agent McElwee, From: Charlie Peck charlie.peckjr@comcast.net To: mvmcelwee@fbi.gov Date: 04/10/2020 5:21 PM

 I said, “To me much of humanity looks like an uncontrolled pack of lemmings on a suicide run.”

 I got into an argument on one of the Baltimore County FB groups about the No Mask Christian Madness. I brought up Christ’s commandment to Love one another (Luke 34??) One came up with a quote from Daniel, two others quoted the constitution as a reason for endangering others. then I told them they could take their fake “Gods” and shove them where the sun doesn’t shine (literally) – surprise – surprise – they threw me out of the group!

At the end of the year in 2020, one article estimated that due to the “Christian No Mask Madness” an estimated 100,000 Americans died needlessly due to negligence and stupidity. Another estimated 50,000.

The US excess mortality rate from COVID-19 is substantially worse than Europe’s by John Muellbauer Janine Aron / 29 Sep 2020

The US has 4% of the world’s population but 21% of the global COVID-19-attributed infections and deaths. This column shows that when comparing excess mortality rates, a more robust way of reporting on pandemic deaths, Europe’s cumulative excess mortality rate from March to July is 28% lower than the US rate, contradicting the Trump administration’s claim that Europe’s rate is 33% higher. The US Northeast – the region most comparable with individual European countries – has experienced substantially worse excess mortality than Europe’s worst-affected countries. Had the US kept its excess mortality rate down to the level in Europe, around 57,800 American lives would have been saved.  (John Muellbauer Senior Fellow Institute for New Economic Thinking; Senior Research Fellow Nuffield College; Professor of Economics University Of Oxford)

Covid-19: At least two thirds of 225 000 excess deaths in US were due to virus BMJ 2020;371:m3948 Janice Hopkins Tanne Janice Hopkins Tanne

The US had more than 225 000 excess deaths between March and July this year, and about two thirds of them were due to covid-19, reports a study published online in JAMA by authors from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and Yale School of Public Health.1

When compared with 18 other countries the US had high covid-19 mortality and high excess mortality, said researchers from Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania.2 If the US had the same death rate as Australia, 187 661 Americans would still be alive, they estimated. If the US had the same death rate as Canada 117 622 Americans would still be alive. It was not clear whether this pattern would continue through the autumn, the authors said.

When National Death Threatens: A Classic: The 1981 “What a nightmare” Warning to the FBI – Mustard Seed Epiphany

Preface: 9/11 Tragedy – Historically Unprecedented Precognition of Terrorism: a change in human consciousness

Richard S. Broughton observes “The tragic events of 9/11 brought a flurry of cases to the attention of parapsychology labs. The cases ranged from dramatic dreams of airplanes crashing or exploding to the more frequent examples of unusual departures from normal routines that ended up saving someone’s life.” [127] (Encounters at the Frontiers of Time: Questions Raised by Anomalous Human Experiences Richard S. Broughton) Dean Radin also noted a number of experiences people related to him. I have had a few people report to me experiences of their own or their family.

1981 warning – what a nightmare is a very detailed warning to the FBI of impending Weathermen terrorist attack is historically unprecedented – so worth reviewing, in my view.  Point of order: would be that nearly all of my experiences would easily fit into a category parallel to the alarm calls of animals.   

Your Life Is A Script You Didn’t Write – Carl Jung

1970 High School Yearbook Poem

Seeing nothing,

he searched for Godot,

found Steppenwolf,

and touched feet with the wall

Setting the Stage

Bargh in his article The New Unconscious states that the combined research of social psychology, cognitive psychology, and neuroscience does clearly indicate that much of the unconscious is beyond the awareness of cognitive processes and that the unconscious appears form their research to be the primary engine for the processing of information, perception, motivation, as well as beliefs and worldviews. Furthermore, Bargh categorically states that in certain circumstances the unconscious can steer a course for long periods of time and be able to make substantial adjustments in order to achieve a goal.

Waiting for Godot

In the iconic Waiting for Godot play by Samuel Beckett, the two main characters, Vladimir and Estragon, monopolized the spotlight, but it was an empty plot in which they waited around, engaged in an aimless, tedious, monotonous, and dull dialogue that had no deeper meaning or purpose – all in anticipation of the arrival of a man named Godot. Godot was this elusive, unknowable, and totally mysterious person who was assumed to be a man of portent and destiny. Godot never arrives!

Found Steppenwolf

In the epic novel, Steppenwolf, written by Hermann Hesse and first published in 1927, it would appear that some of the writing in the novel could, in truth, be considered properly prophetic – especially in regard to some of the psychological and spiritual aspects of our contemporary society and culture. Steppenwolf, the character and the central individual in the Herman Hesse’s novel, decries the empty essence and of his society, when he proclaims,

“Ah, but it is hard to find this track of the divine in the midst of this life that we lead, in this besotted humdrum age of spiritual blindness, its politics, its men! …. And in fact, if the world is right, if this music of cafes, these mass enjoyments and these Americanised men who are pleased with so little are right, then I am wrong. I am crazy. I am in truth the Steppenwolf that I often call myself; that beast astray who finds neither home nor joy nor nourishment in a world that is strange and incomprehensible to him.” (p. 48-49)

Commentary

Like “Searching for Godot”, I drifted through an empty life without meaning or purpose. However, I would say I found Steppenwolf on October 18, 1981, when I took a notarized a very uninhibited precognitive stream of consciousness, titled “What a nightmare” into the FBI office in Toledo, Ohio, and gone over it briefly with an agent, verbally pointing out “New York” to the agent. An event matching the warning occurred two days later in Nyack, New York on October 20, 1981. The precognitive “What a nightmare” warning turned out to be exceptionally accurate and detailed: group, money, woman, fabricating bombs, “22 were assembled,” death, New York. The precognitive “What a nightmare” warning was notarized by Dorothy Soldwich on October 18, 1981, and the copy that I have has a FOIPA stamp on it.

The Wall: Touching Feet with the Wall is intriguing.

Touching feet brings to mind “Boko Maru” and its absurd meaningless religion In Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Cat’s Cradle, Boko-maru is a practice of Bokononism, the satirical religion created by the island’s philosopher Bokonon, which involves the mingling of souls through the soles of the feet. It serves as an ultimate sensual, yet profoundly spiritual, connection between individuals, emphasizing a shared awareness and love that extends to all people. 

Perhaps a dark reflection of “the New Right’s idolatrous nationalism, misogynist-racist politics of fear and hate” “Within the dying Modern World and its dying Industrial Civilization, many in the new Global Oligarchy act like they are self-made gods. Beginning especially with fossil fuels, and now especially through hi-tech and hi-finance, this new Global Oligarchy is using its gargantuan hyper-wealth and hyper-power to inflict cruel social suffering and unsustainable ecological devastation. Also, to expand their hyper-wealth and hyper-power, many oligarchs are now also promoting the New Right’s idolatrous nationalism, misogynist-racist politics of fear and hate, repressive libertarian-authoritarian dictatorships, and venomous deformations of religion. JOE HOLLAND (Professor Emeritus of Philosophy & Religion, St. Thomas University President, Pax Romana / Catholic Movement for Intellectual & Cultural Affairs USA Co-Founder, Spirituality & Sustainability Global Network (SSGN) “The Wall” is bizarre in that Trump and his racism is what set me in motion so to speak. I have wonde3red if historical cycles have a lot more influence than one might ordinarily think

Reflections

My beliefs are similar to Albert Einstein and Max Palnck – except I believe my experiences do reflect the Holy Spirit. My views is a rather limited understanding pf the Divine which as St Gregoy said is beyond words and beyond comprehension – though I can argue scientifically my beliefs are reasonable beliefs in light of my experiences. I would add that the Divine – and life – are what people make of them.

•        Einstein observed, “Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible laws and connections, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration of this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion.”

•        Max Planck: “All matter originates and exists only by virtue of a force… We must assume behind this force the existence of a conscious and intelligent Mind. This Mind is the matrix of all matter.”

Miracles are a matter of perspective. I walked into the Toledo, Ohio with a wild – and even wacky – stream of consciousness that at first glance [second glance as well] appears like the utter ravings of a madman. It was a stream of consciousness and some of the lines were “monkey screams,” “snake hiss,” “exorcism,” “Fight Hard Die Well!” So, in a sense, the miracle – for me – was that I walked into an FBI office with what appeared to be the utter “ravings of a madman”………… and walked out without the FBI throwing a net over me and hauling me off to the nearest asylum.

A synopsis–analysis – Removing the fluff-chaff which was not-straightforward and qualified (such as “comes to mind”), leaving these sentences from the 1981 “What a Nightmare” Warning”    

Psychic Prediction: “What a nightmare” October 18, 1981

1.       A group with money fabricates a terrible bomb;

2.       In a nightmare it came to me that 22 were

3.       assembled against me, I being America,

4.       I have no time!” [the timing was “soon” – a few days]

5.       Like a bat out of hell from the future I flew!

6.       Security bonds – money – a woman – keys to the whole thing.

7.       Near Miss, you said – where? – might be New York or Miami.

8.       Time is at hand! Time is at hand and angel spoke [for perspective & allowing for symbolic interpretation – two policemen were killed]

9.       Fight Hard; Die Well – a prophet spoke [for perspective & allowing for symbolic interpretation – the armed guard of the Brink’s truck was killed]

10.     the Faith – the Mustard Seed

11.     It almost seemed that Christ was there.

The summary above leaves out lines that were not statements such as lines with “comes to mind” From a certain perspective, precognitive details, for me are trivial compared to the miracle of being able to walk out of the office after presenting to them what appears to be the ravings of a madman – and walked out in one piece, so to speak. Below is the “original” which has a FOIPA Stamp as well as a notary stamp and comments like “no action necessary”. It is handwritten and the writing is rather small. Historically, comparatively speaking, from my research, it is by far the longest written warning-prediction.

Description of meeting with FBI agent on October18, 1981: I walked into the FBI office, in Toledo, Ohio. I rang the doorbell at a window then sat down with an agent in a small cubicle, briefly. I pointed out a couple of lines to the FBI agent in the tiny cubicle. Actually, there are only three straight forward line in the entire stream of consciousness. When I got to the line of “New York” or “Miami,” I asked the FBI agent who was seated across from me at a small table, which he thought it would be – New York or Miami – instantly the FBI agent retorted angrily, “How the Hell would I know! It is your dream!” I hastily pointed out “New York”

My guess is that the FBI agent wasn’t a believer in psychic phenomena – but he played the role of an FBI agent and asked several questions – like about the timing. I told him that my birthday came to mind – October 23 – which turned out to be just a couple days off. Quite a lot of telephone telepathy seems to work via the process of association (“birthday” was produced by association with my own framework of reference.” Anyway, even though I consciously did not believe in psychic, spirt, prophecy or anything remotely spiritual at the time, there I was – sitting down and pointing out the only three lines in the “What a nightmare” that made any sense, to the FBI agent. I went over it calmly with the FBI agent – walking out without them throwing a net over you – and then it turns out to be the longest written-documented warning-prediction in history (written documents are like hens’ teeth – Nostradamus only had 4-line quatrains) stream of consciousness, and the only one at the time (prior to 9/11) about terrorism. For the record, in documented history, there are only 7 or 8 documented warnings about assassination.

Analysis

Comparatively speaking the 1981 warning to the FBI, which happened on October 18, 1981 is an exceptionally detailed spiritual precognitive warning. There are eight details in the “What a nightmare” warning to the FBI, which turned out to be accurate: group, fabricating bombs, money, woman, 22 were assembled, New York, death, weathermen terrorist manifesto.

Two days after I talked to the FBI agent in Toledo, Ohio, Katherine Boudin, a former leader of the notorious Weathermen terrorist group (now called Weather Underground), was arrested after a shootout with the Nyack, New York police force which had 22 officers. The shootout resulted after a chase which started with the botched robbery of a Brink’s armored truck. Bomb making materials and plans

were found in the terrorists’ apartment. “Fabricating bombs” was an incredibly precise description since none had been made but it looked like they were working on them. The New York Times quoted the Weathermen manifesto: “We are the incubation of your mothers’ worst nightmares.” The “What a nightmare” warning stated “Time is at hand! Time is at hand, and Angels said. “Fight Hard, Die Well! A prophet spoke.” It could be argued that the “Time is at hand” stated twice symbolizes the two policeman who were killed, while the prophet’s statement symbolizes the one Brink’s guard who was killed.

Besides these explicit details, as with much of historical prophecies, there appears to be some symbolic and metaphorical synchronicities in the “Mustard Seed” precognitive stream of consciousness. The statements, “Time is at hand! Time is at hand, Angels said.” – and – “Fight Hard, Die Well! A prophet spoke!” match the deaths of the two policemen (“Time is at hand” – twice by an angel) and the death of one Brink’s guard (“Fight Hard, Die Well” a prophet spoke). Of course, angels could be said to outrank prophets same as policemen outrank Armored car guards. That kind of precise detail of identifying – albeit metaphorically – specific people or types of people who would be prominent in the event is quite literally “unheard of” in the long centuries of documented historical precognitive warnings-predictions. 

Besides referring to angels, prophets, nuns, at the end I concluded with a statement about the “Mustard Seed.” In the Gospel of Matthew, the parable of the Mustard Seed says, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches.”  (Matthew 13:31–32) I must confess, I have never been able to completely grasp and fully comprehend the Mustard Seed Parable. I’m not sure exactly how Christ meant the Mustard Seed Parable and the concept of Kingdom of Heaven – as a state of mind, as a spiritual truth, or as a transcendental reality – or all three.

__________________________________________________________________

For perspective: Dream “foretelling” the ‘Pakistan-India International conflict after an Indian air raid on an Islamic Jihad group in Pakistan. Creating Reality

R C Henry, a renowned professor of physics and astronomy, in a 2005 essay concludes, “A fundamental conclusion of the new physics also acknowledges that the observer creates the reality. As observers, we are personally involved with the creation of our own reality. Physicists are being forced to admit that the universe is a “mental” construction.” [128]

Eugene Wigner, a theoretical physicist and mathematician, stated unequivocally stated that “It was not possible to formulate the laws of quantum mechanics in a fully consistent way without reference to consciousness.”[129] In a sense, since the most essential characteristic of human consciousness would be “intelligence” it would stand to reason that viewing the universe and the world as embodying intelligence would only be natural (and healthy).

The Dream of ‘Pakistan and ‘Nuclear War’ from 1-18-2019 deserves some special attention, and there is some new “news” about that situation in an article by former Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo. The email (of 1-22-2019) said “In the past few months for some reason, I have had several dreams about foreign countries which seemed a bit precognitive. In a rather strange dream from the night of 1-18-2019 to 1-20-2019 (which I emailed to k…. on 1-22) I had a somewhat vivid dream about Pakistan in which ‘nuclear war was an aspect. Of course, one can’t take dreams literally. On top of that spiritual experiences and particularly dreams do have symbolic aspect to them. That particular dream was different and a bit strange because it “dualistic” or “split world” characteristic. In the dream, I was in the U.S. with my son, yet – in the dream – simultaneously in Pakistan at the same time. That in itself is interestign since I have two spiritual “Indian friends” and I have no salient connections in Pakistan.  

Recently I came across this update posted “Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has claimed that he was awakened to speak to his then Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj who told him that Pakistan was preparing for a nuclear attack in the wake of the Balakot surgical strike in February 2019 [Indian airstrike on a Pakistani target was in retaliation for an Islamic Jihad attack on Hindus in India] and India is preparing its own escalatory response. “How Close…”[130]: Ex US Secretary Of State On India-Pak Nuke Threat After Balakot. In his book “Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love”, Mike Pompeo says the incident took place when he was in Hanoi for the US-North Korea Summit on February 27-28, 2019 NDTV 1-24-23

A.      psychic experiences as perception – not Powers

St. Gregory of Nyssa stated, “According to the true words of the Lord [Mt 5.8, the pure in heart will see God. They will receive as much as their minds can comprehend. However, the unbounded incomprehensible divinity remains beyond all understanding.” (SoS J.246 & M.941, p.161)

1.         Scientific Perspective – Time Travel: Stephen Hawking Time travel used to

be thought of as just science fiction, but Einstein’s general theory of relativity allows for the possibility that we could warp space-time so much that you could go off in a rocket and return before you set out. The future caused the past. Professor Truscott Professor Truscott concluded that the experiment showed that; “A future event causes the photon to decide its past.”[131] (Experiment confirms quantum theory weirdness Science Daily, May 27, 2015 Australian National University)

Quantum entanglement: Quantum entanglement is the reality that in an “entangled pair” of subatomic particles the spin of one subatomic particle will react directly and immediately – at speeds faster than the speed of light – to the spin of the other subatomic particle even though separated by arbitrarily large distances. A conclusion from experiments in quantum entanglement is that the reactions in a quantum entangled pair of particles occur at a speed faster than light – which to Einstein was impossible according to his own theory. In fact, Albert Einstein called quantum entanglement, “Spukhafte Fernwirkung” – which means, in German, “spooky action at a distance.” To Einstein quantum entanglement was an impossibility – something which just couldn’t happen. Quantum entanglement was a complete and baffling mystery.

It used to be academics could say precognition just isn’t possible – but that si just no longer true.

2.         Early on I also grappled with the question as to the purpose of prophecy.

I had been told that I should write down predictions. That was a Big Deal in 1981 – and it is a question brought up in the first line of my notarized warning to the FBI on October 18,1981. The question I asked is – does making predictions to make predictions make any sense biologically, psychologically, or even spiritually? The conclusion I came to is that purpose and motivation is pivotal.  

That is, “purpose” is pivotal to prophecy – and spirituality – especially in light of “Spirit is Truth” (John 5:6)

The importance of motivation is very consistent with the spiritual beliefs of people I have engaged. When “spiritual people” are questioned – in many, spiritual beliefs are not just a motivation but a very profound source of inspiration. Historically, after tens of thousands of years of spiritual and religious beliefs – though incredibly it is not in academia – spirituality and religiosity would clearly be a powerful drive and motivation.

Resources

Spirit as Life Force, Symbol, Archetype: “Spirituality concerns connectedness with self, others, and the world!”

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