A recent scientific study has given scientific credibility for the first time to the notion that healers have psychic abilities. This includes the ability to see auras (clairvoyance) and the ability to feel the another person’s feelings (clairsentience).
This really is revolutionary and will change what some skeptics think about healers. But this news comes at a terrible cost.
You see, psychic abilities have been shown to be a form of synesthesia. Syne-what you say? Synesthesia is a fascinating neurological condition. People with synesthesia (called synesthetes) have a cross-wiring in their brain. This might enable them for instance to “see” sounds or smells, to “hear” colors and to “feel” other people’s feelings.
People with synesthesia see the world in a different way. Often they go insane. But with time and treatment they learn to use their gift to see the world differently. Many of the world’s greatest artists have been synesthetes. These includes painters David Hockney and Wassily Kandinsky, musicians like Billy Joel, and great inventors such as Nikola Tesla.
According to the University of Granada study, published in the prestigious journal Consciousness and Cognition, healers can in fact see auras because of their emotional synesthesia. Here is a summary of their findings about one of the famous healers in the study:
Many people attribute “paranormal powers” to El Santón, such as his ability to see the aura of people “but, in fact, it is a clear case of synesthesia”, the researchers explain.
El Santón presents face-color synesthesia (the brain region responsible for face recognition is associated with the color-processing region); touch-mirror synesthesia (when the synesthete observes a person who is being touched or is experiencing pain, s/he experiences the same); high empathy (the ability to feel what other person is feeling), and schizotypy (certain personality traits in healthy people involving slight paranoia and delusions).
“These capacities give synesthetes the ability to make people feel understood, and provide them with special emotion and pain reading skills”, the researchers explain.
Source: PsyPost
But there’s a terrible catch
The above research sounds great – a scientific explanation for many psychic abilities. Our skeptical mates wont laugh at us again. But at what price?
You see, synesthesia is a neurological disorder. As wonderful as it can be (e.g. for the artists I mentioned above), you wouldn’t really wish it on anyone. People who acquire synesthesia through trauma often go insane because they cannot handle or control their gifts. (Now that I think about it, many people with a psychic or kundulini awakening have the exact same adjustment problems as acquired synesthetes.)
How do you become synesthetic / psychic?
The main causes of synesthesia are genetics and trauma. Some people are born synesthetes, others become synesthetic after experiencing head trauma. Many other things can cause synesthesia if they can alter neural pathways (the connections between parts of the brain to each other and to the outside world). Examples include deep meditation and mind-altering drugs.
Not suprisingly, the way to becoming psychic seems the same as the way to become synesthetic. Some people are born psychic, usually because they have psychic relatives (i.e. it’s genetic). Some people have a sudden awakening after some trauma or near-death experience (trauma is a cause). Finally, deep meditation, mind-altering drugs and certain spiritual practices can “awaken” psychic abilities. These spiritual practices do relate to changing beliefs (altering neural pathways).
In short, I am 100% convinced that some (not all) psychic abilities and synesthesia are one and the same thing, and that some (not all) psychic development courses are creating a mild form of acquired synesthesia. Why do I believe this? Well for one thing, the link between trauma and psychic abilities is actually well established.
The best example I can think of comes from my former healing teacher (VS), who was quite open about her childhood trauma caused by having a mother with multiple personalities. As my teacher said, “I learned to be psychic to protect myself, I needed to know who my mother was going to be when she came home so I knew whether to hide.” (it would be funny if it weren’t so sad.) That’s one good anecdote but I’ve heard the same basic story from countless people including my wife. (Read about her story here.)
I am convinced beyond a shadow of doubt that there is a link between trauma and acquired psychic abilities. This raises all sorts of difficult questions like, “is it worth the price?” And what about intuition development courses – can they ever work without causing the necessary trauma?
Is it safe to study intuitive / healing courses?
In part 2 of this article, I will examine the implications of this research for people who undertaking psychic development or healing workshops. I’ll be examining important questions such as:
- Does developing your psychic potential damage your brain?
- Is there a way to enhance your intuition without this psychic damage?
- Can RPT heal the damage caused by “psychic development,” let alone synesthesia?
- How is RPT mastery different to being psychic?
Your comments and questions please
I’d love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this article.
Do you think that psychic abilities and neurological damage are one and the same? If being psychic meant acquiring synesthesia, do you still want to be psychic?
I’d love to hear from you.
Warmest wishes;
Simon
Sue Healy 
Michaela 
Mats 
I will read once I get the chance.
Rebecca Dettman 
…I still take information and rehash it so the average person can understand it, but I’ve just changed subject matter! 
Tim 
Ravi 
Melissa Feick 
Lori Bell 
Oliver J R Cooper 
Susannah 
Hlengiwe 
Dawn Jones 
Matt 
Abdur Murray 
shawn 
Jasmine 
Angelo 
erika dearen 
So are you saying that you now believe in psychic abilities but that it now has a scientific basis or that psychic abilities are just sensory crosswiring that people have previously misinterpreted as a sixth sense because it seemed mysterious and couldn’t explain it any other way?
I think it’s a bit early to jump on the “psychic ability = synesthesia” bandwagon. It may well be true that people with psychic abilities also display some signs of synesthesia but, to me, it’s a big leap to then say “therefore psychic abilities = synesthesia”. That’s like saying most people with blonde hair have blue eyes therefore blonde hair causes blue eyes. No, blonde hair doesn’t cause blue eyes. Genetics (related to ancestry from cooler and less sunny climates) causes blue eyes. Those genetics then cause both the blonde hair and the blue eyes.
To me this is an example of how some scientists are so eager to disprove anything paranormal that they’ll forget their own rules – correlation doesn’t equate to causation! I don’t have any objection to the observations showing a correlation but I do object to the notion that “science has now proven that psychic abilities are nothing more than a brain disorder”. In fact the words “disorder” and “damage” are loaded words because they imply that there’s something “wrong” or “bad”. Obviously extreme synesthesia could be difficult to cope with in extreme cases but, from my limited experience, whilst some psychics can be a bit “different” I haven’t seen any correlation between the skill of the psychic and their ability to cope in the world. The differences I’ve observed relate more to beliefs and consequential behaviours rather than functional abilities. If there was a direct correlation then that correlation should be consistently proportional but I haven’t seen it. Whilst I don’t think of myself as psychic, I’ve certainly had some psychic moments and I’ve never once in my life heard the colour red or tasted green.
Rather than being a disorder, it may actually be a more advanced form of perception. Just because it’s “abnormal” doesn’t mean it’s bad. So long as it doesn’t interfere with one’s ability to function in the world it doesn’t sound like anything to be afraid of and some of the names you mentioned seemed to have done pretty well. Some of the symptoms actually seem quite intriguing like being able to “see music”. I think that’d be quite cool (or should I say I think that would taste quite cool
)
Clearly, if psychic phenomenon is real then those with that ability must have something different with their brains than the majority. Even if one believes in non-physical energy and spirit, those that can perceive it are doing so through their brains at some level or else they wouldn’t be able to perceive it – the brain has to ground it in physical reality even if something beyond the physical brain is also involved. So there must be a difference in the brain and perhaps synesthesia comes along with the territory to some degree but that’s not the same thing as saying psychic ability is synesthesia.
Sorry but I’m not convinced. Whilst the observations may be real I think the conclusions drawn from those observations are more a reflection of the beliefs of the authors than any objectively valid truth.
[Reply]
Simon Rose Reply:
May 6th, 2012 at 11:31 pm
hi mate, excellent comments as always. No, I’m not saying a=b, and I’ll re-read it in the clean light of tomorrow morning.
Probably the confusion here is because I decided to split the article in half, so I’m afraid you need to wait till Tuesday’s part 2, in which I expand on what I believe. But here is a very quick overview.
I see this synesthesia as being another piece of the puzzle. A puzzle I started putting together with the Peak States explanations about intuition.
If there’s a point (and I’m not sure that there is one other than “hey cool, scientists believe in some psychic stuff”), then it is this: I do not believe that psychic abilities are the rational goal of any well-balanced individual. I know some wonderful psychics, but they are all broken (usually it’s child abuse but it could be other trauma). Clearing their trauma does relieve them of the burden of this “gift.” And they are grateful.
If I can be of some service through my blogging, I hope that I can sacrifice some of the new age’s sacred cows. I cry to see people actively traumatizing themselves in the hope of achieving this elusive psychic ability.
Probably the happiest I’ve ever made someone was when I said to a client (she was a theta healing teacher) that there was nothing wrong with her. She was so upset because everyone else in her group could “hear god” and she couldn’t. She lacked the requisite trauma. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but she trusted me when I answered, “nothing; nothing at all is wrong with you.”
Most of this response has been repeating Tuesday’s part 2, so it probably makes sense to adjourn till then.
I will just add that I don’t see the relevance of the causation v correlation argument since no one is arguing causation. When you re-read my admittedly very loaded sentence ““science has now proven that psychic abilities are nothing more than a brain disorder,” I hope you’ll see that it contains no assertion of causation. For what it’s worth though (and this again is part 2), the causation is just as likely to be the opposite of what the scientists think, ie psychic activation causing neurological damage, rather than the damage causing psychic activation. I have more personal experience with the former than the latter, but would not want to argue for causation.
Thanks again and I’ll re-read this article in the morning with the intent of clarifying those points you raised.
warm wishes
Simon
[Reply]
Shane Marsh Reply:
May 7th, 2012 at 12:13 am
Okay, thanks for the clarification – makes more sense now. I’ll wait for part 2 to get the full picture
[Reply]