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

Modern psychologists argue that accounts of trips to a strange and alien dimension spring from the imagination, but according to occult theory the astral plane is undeniably real. It is an intermediate and invisible level of reality between the physical plane and the divine realms where communication with higher beings can be established and where the individuals thought forms take on a reality.

ASTRAL PROJECTION/ASTRAL TRAVEL

The astral body is believed to be capable of a very special type of travel. While leaving the physical body at rest, it can get up, walk around and look at its physical body, explore its surroundings and journey to new places. What makes this experience unique is that you are fully conscious and in control throughout the experience.

This process of consciously leaving the body and travelling free of physical constraints is often referred to as astral projection or astral travel. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, experts define astral projection as becoming aware that your consciousness is separate from your physical body. For instance, people describe floating above themselves and viewing their bodies during astral projection. With astral travel an individual uses this conscious awareness to experience a sense of flying to new, non-physical or physical realms.

How the mind disconnects from its everyday type of consciousness and separates from the body remains a mystery. Experts agree that having a relaxed focus, such as in meditation or when you are just about to fall asleep, helps you to reach that state, as concentrating too hard on achieving the experience may interfere with the process.

See also aura, bilocation, out-of-body experiences, lucid dreaming and near-death experiences.

ASTROLOGY

An ancient system of divination that uses the positions of the moon, stars and planets to interpret how their movements in relation to each other affect our lives. According to astrologers, celestial bodies exert forces and exhibit personalities that influence people and events on earth. These influences may be determined by mapping their positions in the sky at various points in time.

Getting started on the astral traveller’s path

Like any skill, astral travel takes time and practise, and it is difficult to prove what actually happens, but those experienced in astral travel tell fascinating stories of their experiences. Some travel to secret realms where they meet spirit guides and spend hours researching ancient texts. When they wake up, their clocks show that only a few minutes have passed. In all likelihood most of us won’t be able to accomplish these feats. But here is an exercise that can help you get started on the astral traveller’s path:

While relaxing, imagine your astral body positioned just in front or above you in the exact position of your physical body.

Take note of how your astral body looks. Check out the back of your head and bodyand parts of your body you can’t normally see.

Allow your consciousness to move into your astral body and look at your surroundings from this new perspective.

Ponder what you would like to do next and where you would like to go. You may want to visit a place or person who is normally far away, through a process called targeting. This can be done by focusing on the image of the location or the person’s face, then seeing it at the end of a tunnel. Move forward through the tunnel until you arrive at the desired place or the intended person.

When you are ready to return, think yourself back into your physical body, and move your body until you feel comfortable back in it.

Astrology appears to be one of the most ancient of the surviving occult sciences, and evidence of highly sophisticated systems in Babylonian, Egyptian and Aztec cultures has survived. For centuries in the West, astrology was a revered method of divination supported by royal courts. Nostradamus used astrology to make predictions in the sixteenth century that are still being studied today. With the development of science in the seventeenth century, astrology was relegated to the realm of superstition, but it never fell completely out of favour. Today it is followed by celebrities and the rich and powerful as well as the general public.

Popular astrology is concerned with the reading of a horoscope, a chart of the positions of the planets, moon and stars at the moment of one’s birth and interpreting the influence of the planets on human affairs. It is based on the belief that the movements of the celestial bodies affect human potential and other events on earth, such as the moon’s influence on the oceans. From your horoscope your zodiac sign can be determined, and this allows an interpretation of what sort of person you are (or will be) as well as what is likely to happen in your future.

True to your sign?

Aries: March 21—April 19

The symbol for this first sign of the Zodiac in Western astrology is the ram; the ruling planet is Mars. Aries is influenced by the fire element and assertive is a good way to describe people born under this sign. They tend to be enterprising, impulsive, warm hearted and confident free spirits who say what they mean and mean what they say, but they can also be impatient, rash, tactless, excitable and bossy.

Taurus: April 20—May 20

The symbol of Taurus is the bull and the ruling planet is Venus. Taureans are influenced by the earth element and a good word to describe them would be determined. Those born under the sign of Taurus are persistent, reliable, loyal and patient individuals with a discriminating taste for quality and the good things in life. The downside is that they can at times be lazy, materialistic and moody.

Gemini: May 21—June 20

The symbol for Gemini is the twins and the ruling planet is Mercury. Geminis are influenced by the air element with inquisitive being a good description of them. Those born under Gemini are intellectual and natural communicators but at times they can also be inconsistent and flighty. Their endearing zest for ideas and something new sometimes makes committing to anyone and anything problematic.

Cancer: June 21—July 22

The symbol for Cancer is the crab and the ruling planet is the moon. Cancerians are influenced by the water element, and sensitive would be a good word to describe their nature. Those born under Cancer tend to be emotional and empathetic with a good sense of humour, but they can at times be oversensitive and insecure.

Leo: July 23—August 22

The symbol for Leo is the lion and the ruling planet is the sun. Leo is influenced by the fire element and charismatic would be a good description of Leos. Those born under Leo tend to be courageous, vivacious, energetic and natural leaders but they can also be prone to arrogance and attention seeking.

Virgo: August 23—September 22

The symbol of Virgo is the virgin and the sign’s ruling planet is Mercury. Virgos are influenced by the earth element, and a good word to describe them would be methodical. Those born under Virgo tend to be meticulous, disciplined and analytical. They can appear cool and reserved but great sensitivity tends to lie behind the detached exterior.

Libra: September 23–October 22

The symbol of Libra is the scales and the ruling planet is Venus. Libras are influenced by the air element with balance being a good word to describe them. Those born under Libra tend to be peace-loving, agreeable, harmonious people, but their natural ability to understand the viewpoint of everyone and fit in everywhere can be interpreted as insecurity and indecisiveness.

Scorpio: October 23–November 21

The symbol of Scorpio is the scorpion and the sign’s ruling planets are Mars and Pluto. Scorpios are influenced by the water element and intense is a good word to describe them. Those born under Scorpio tend to be passionate, focused, sensitive and sensual, but they can also be secretive and destructive.

Sagittarius: November 22– December 21

The symbol for Sagittarius is the archer and Jupiter is the ruling planet. Sagittarians are influence by the fire element and open minded is a good description of them. Those born under Sagittarius tend to be unconventional, idealistic and visionary, with a need to seek spiritual enlightenment. They can also be reckless and ruthless.

Capricorn: December 22–January 19

The symbol of Capricorn is the goat and the ruling planet is Saturn. Capricorns are influenced by the earth element and steady is a good word to describe them. Those born under the sign of Capricorn are persistent, cautious, self-disciplined, warm-hearted and stable but they can also be mean and inflexible at times.

Aquarius: January 20–February 18

The symbol of Aquarius is the water carrier and the sign’s ruling planets are Saturn and Uranus. Aquarius is influenced by the air element and a good word to define them would be independent. Those born under the sign of Aquarius tend to be idealistic, intellectual, generous, altruistic and unconventional, but they can also be unpredictable and emotionally detached.

Pisces: February 19–March 20

The symbol of Pisces is two fish and the ruling planets are Jupiter and Neptune. Pisceans are influenced by the water element, with imaginative being a good word to define them. Those born under Pisces tend to be intuitive, sensitive and spiritual, but they can also be dreamy, impractical and impressionable at times.

Over the years many elaborate systems have been developed to enable astrologers to predict the future through the movement of the planes. More than one system of astrology has developed. For example, Chinese astrology is based on signs, named after animals, which last a year rather than a month, as in Western astrology.

In popular Western astrology - the sort that appears in magazines and newspapers - the term ‘horoscope’ is based on the position of an individual’s sun sign, or the portion of the zodiac that the sun was passing through when that individual was born. The sun travels through the 12 houses of the zodiac through the course of a year, and so when someone is said to have been born under Aries, he or she was born when the sun was passing through that portion of the zodiac named after the constellation Aries.

Each of the 12 signs has its own personality traits (see box), and the daily positions of the planets affect each sun sign. However, since this method of divination divides the population into 12 different categories many find it difficult to take astrology seriously for character analysis or predictions. That’s why serious astrologers use more detailed horoscopes that chart the position of all the heavenly bodies, not just the sun, at the moment of birth.

Along with the signs and planets, planetary houses are the basic components of a birth chart. As previously mentioned the planets each have a meaning, as does the sign the sun was in at the time of your birth. The twelve divisions of the birth chart are called the astrological or planetary houses and indicate areas of life where the planetary energies become manifest.

The houses carry a theme based on the signs that are part of the natural order of the Zodiac, i.e. Aries equates with the first house, Taurus with the second, Gemini the third, Cancer the fourth, and so on. The planetary effects are interpreted not only in terms of the planets’ positions in the zodiac (for instance, the moon in the sign of Cancer means something different from the moon in Aries) but also in terms of the angles that the planets describe in relation to one another. This branch of astrology is the study of planetary aspects.

When carried out using accurate birth information this planetary aspects approach creates an analysis unique to the individual concerned. For this reason it is taken more seriously by some academics and scientists, who believe that it can be useful for counselling and therapy. Psychiatrist Carl Jung began this process when he began to consult the horoscopes of his patients to search for insight. He believed that astrology sprang from the collective unconscious and that it was a symbolic language of inner psychological processes.

Sceptics argue that astrology’s suggested link between planetary position and human destiny is unproven and perhaps even absurd. Several large-scale studies have shown no correlation whatsoever between personality characteristics and planetary positions. Despite this many people still believe that astrology can and does work, leading to the suggestion that it only works when there is an intuitive or psychic aspect involved in its interpretation. The astrologer uses the planetary positions as a rough starting point for the interpretation and thereafter intuition takes over.

Then, in the early 1970s, Professor Alan Smithers of Manchester University compiled data from the British population census showing clearly that architects tended to be born in the spring, secretaries in the summer, miners in the autumn and electricians in the winter. He also asked members of the British Astrological Association to indicate which signs were associated with the professions of nurse and trade union official. Without knowing what the BAA had predicted, Smithers conducted a massive survey of nurses and trade unionists and discovered that, just as the astrologers had indicated, there was a statistical bias of nurses being born under the signs of Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio and Pisces, while trade union officials were born under one or other of the other six signs.

Athenodorus, THE HAUNTING OF

The story of Athenodorus may be the first written record of a haunting, and it dates back at least 2,000 years. The story was related by several ancient authors, the historian Tacitus among them, but the version below is by the Roman letter writer Pliny the Younger (AD 61-115). In it we see the classic chain-clanking ghost, the restless corpse and even the beckoning finger. The translation is that of William Melmoth (1746), slightly revised.

There was in Athens a house, spacious and open, but with an infamous reputation, as if filled with pestilence. For in the dead of night, a noise like the clashing of iron could be heard. And if one listened carefully, it sounded like the rattling of chains. At first the noise seemed to be at a distance, but then it would approach, nearer, nearer, nearer. Suddenly a phantom would appear, an old man, pale and emaciated, with a long beard, and hair that appeared driven by the wind. The fetters on his feet and hands rattled as he moved them.

Any dwellers in the house passed sleepless nights under the most dismal terrors imaginable. The nights without rest led them to a kind of madness, and as the horrors in their minds increased, onto a path toward death. Even in the daytime - when the phantom did not appear - the memory of the nightmare was so strong that it still passed before their eyes. The terror remained when the cause of it was gone.

Damned as uninhabitable, the house was at last deserted, left to the spectral monster. But in hope that some tenant might be found who was unaware of the malevolence within it, the house was posted for rent or sale. It happened that a philosopher named Athenodorus came to Athens at that time. Reading the posted bill, he discovered the dwelling’s price. The extraordinary cheapness raised his suspicion, yet when he heard the whole story, he was not in the least put off. Indeed, he was eager to take the place. And did so immediately.

As evening drew near, Athenodorus had a couch prepared for him in the front section of the house. He asked for a light and his writing materials, then dismissed his retainers. To keep his mind from being distracted by vain terrors of imaginary noises and apparitions, he directed all his energy toward his writing.

For a time the night was silent. Then came the rattling of chains. Athenodorus neither lifted up his eyes nor laid down his pen. Instead he closed his ears by concentrating on his work. But the noise increased and advanced closer till it seemed to be at the door, and at last in the very chamber. Athenodorus looked round and saw the apparition exactly as it had been described to him. It stood before him, beckoning with one finger.

Athenodorus made a sign with his hand that the visitor should wait a little, and bent over his work. The ghost, however, shook the chains over the philosopher’s head, beckoning as before. Athenodorus now took up his lamp and followed. The ghost moved slowly, as if held back by his chains. Once it reached the courtyard, it suddenly vanished.

Athenodorus, now deserted, carefully marked the spot with a handful of grass and leaves. The next day he asked the magistrate to have the spot dug up. There they found - intertwined with chains - the bones that were all that remained of a body that had long lain in the ground. Carefully, the skeletal relics were collected and given proper burial, at public expense. The tortured ancient was at rest. And the house in Athens was haunted no more.

ATLANTIS

The name of a vast island continent and the many civilizations that flourished upon it that sank under the sea in a cataclysm. At least fifty locations around the globe have been proposed as sites of the lost continent, but no proof has ever been found of its existence.

There are numerous legends about the Atlanteans and how their highly advanced civilization was destroyed by their misuse of power, but the story was first recorded by Plato in around 350 BC. Plato described the Atlanteans as a wealthy, successful, politically advanced and militarily powerful society that overran Europe with its armies before being defeated by the Greeks. Shortly afterwards an earthquake caused Atlantis to sink beneath the ocean.

The modern myth of Atlantis began in 1882 with the publication of Atlantis: The Antediluvian World by former American congressman Ignatius Donnelly Donnelly proposed that Atlantis might be located in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, to serve as a bridge and source of culture to other areas around the globe.

Numerous other theories have been put forth. The Atlanteans have been linked to the Titans of Greek mythology, the first race of beings on earth who came from the sea and possessed the power to create thunderbolts, earthquakes and terrestrial disturbances. Madame Blavatsky, mystic and co-founder of the Theosophical Society, believed that Atlantis was located in the North Atlantic Ocean and that the Atlanteans were psychically developed descendants from another legendary lost continent, Lemuria. The Lemurians migrated to Atlantis when their own continent was destroyed. In The History of Atlantis (1926), Lewis Spencer, who founded and edited The Atlantis Quarterly, a journal reporting on Atlantean and occult studies, concluded that Atlantis existed on both sides of the Atlantic and was the means of dissemination of culture from East to West.

American medium Edgar Cayce believed Atlantis was located at Bimini, one of the Bahama Islands off the coast of Florida. Cayce said that the Atlanteans had misused the forces of nature and destroyed their own continent and that in subsequent reincarnations Atlanteans exhibited the same potentially destructive traits.

Of all the world’s unsolved mysteries, that of the lost continent of Atlantis is probably the biggest, exerting an influence over humankind for thousands of years. Even though centuries have passed, and scientists and scholars seem intent on banishing it to obscurity, interest in the fabled continent has not diminished and probably never will.

ATMOSPHERE

A term used by psychics to describe a feeling for the environment they are in or the people they meet. Walking into a house with an unhappy atmosphere may leave them with an unsettled feeling, whereas meeting someone who is genuinely kind and honest and friendly creates a positive feeling or atmosphere.

We all pick up information from the environment we are in and from any person we meet for the first time. On a visual level we are influenced by the way a person looks and dresses and by the colours, shapes and styles around us. Sounds and smells influence us too, even before we consciously decide if we like what we see. Operating alongside our other senses is a kinaesthetic awareness, which registers an emotional reaction to the atmosphere that exists in an environment or in a person. In some people this awareness is more developed than others, and for clairsentients, who can sense and respond to the atmospheres created by places and people, it is highly attuned, giving detailed information about the physical, emotional and energetic nature of people and places.

Few of us have not felt at some time that a place is spooky or unfriendly or that we feel irritable or afraid for no reason. When this happens we are psychically tuning in to an atmosphere, and a person who readily senses an atmosphere in a place usually has that same knack when summing up people.

Clairsentients who work with environmental energy believe that everything that happens within an environment affects the way it feels. For example, there is a dis-cernable difference between the feeling of a room used by people who respect and love each other and the feeling of a room in which people have been in bitter competition. Practitioners of the art of feng shui know a great deal about the need to balance environmental energy, and in feng shui the placing of objects such as mirrors and ornaments can help to regulate energy that is out of balance and create a healthier, more harmonious atmosphere in which to live and work.

Some clairsentients may be able to channel a form of healing energy, which can harmonize the feeling of a room, or they may, like feng shui experts, suggest colours, shapes, objects or spiritual practices to help transform the feeling or atmosphere of an environment.

AUBREY, JOHN [1626—1697]

One of the first known collectors of ghost stories, antiquarian and biographer John Aubrey’s compilation, Miscellanies, was published in 1696 and is packed with eye-witness accounts of ghostly sightings gathered from all points of Great Britain. Aubrey’s interest in the supernatural was reinforced by his own personal experiences. In Miscellanies, Aubrey writes about strange knocking sounds on the walls of his house a few days before his father died. ‘Three or four days before my father died’, he wrote, ‘as I was in my bed about nine o’clock in the morning, perfectly awake, I did hear three distinct knocks over the bed’s head, as if it had been with a ruler or ferula.’ This mysterious incident, when combined with his interviews of others who had encountered ghosts, utterly convinced Aubrey that the spirit world existed.