Posted by Timne on July 2, 2009, at 22:00:12
In reply to Re: This may sound foolish., posted by Dinah on July 2, 2009, at 20:58:07
In the broadest sense, it can only be "life energy." The question becomes more one of how we speak of the unknown than one of "what is the energy."
This is common in occult circles these days. It becomes a matter of authority and confidence. We (we wizards and witches) don't really know what the "energy" is or how it works, but we embrace a definition so broad, it can't be refuted. Then we start working back from our unquestionable position of authority to imply that, since we obviously pronounced the authoritative definition, we also have authority to define, explain and interpret. See, you're a Virgo and there's energy from the planets and...
These "energies" do seem real enough and sometimes, in my experience, extremely paranormal. Godawful paranormal. Caught up in worldwide events paranormal. Back from the dead paranormal. Talked about it before it happened paranormal. It's probably not the best approach to lump them together as some do (*and as I have here) under the rubric of paranormal. Each might involve a different kind of energy. Our thalamus shuts our most incoming information, but sound pressure from a beating heart reaches our ears, whether we listen or not. We "know" our spouse is there because we hear their hearbeat and breathing. We hear them roll over on schedule, whether we know it or not.
But then our perceptions are influenced by our expectations. We knew that lover wouldn't be there in the morning, but we did not entertain those thoughts. When our subconcscious doesn't report the expected subaudible sounds to our cortex for processing, then those thoughts get an audience. So we piece together interpretations from several sources in our experience, and we cloud perceptions with interpretation.
I've known indigenous people to be sensitive to muscle tone and posture in ways atypical for urban folks. It reminds me of animal perceptions, which to me is a complement. We're the young'uns around here. The older species attended to a variety of sensory input we (*we scientists and philosophers) filter out with our thalamus, in preference for a world we think we've pretty well controlled with our language and our symbols and our cultural artifacts. Then, confused by our failure to control it, we start making up definitions I can't expose lest someone feel put down.
poster:Timne
thread:904378
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20090624/msgs/904644.html