Why People Believe in Superstitions, the Supernatural, and the Paranormal

[austintorn@aol.com]

Why People Believe in Superstitions, the Supernatural, and the Paranormal
(These beliefs reflect normal brain activity carried to an extreme?)


I was driving along Rte. 66, America’s Main street of the olden days, the road that once went from Illinois to California. Only sections of it remain.

The crumbling ghosts of yesteryear yet called out and waved to us from another era. I stopped as the pavement turned to overgrown grass and weeds. I heard a voice, one of an angel speaking perhaps…


My passenger was reading a Newsweek article aloud on “Why We Believe” for me in her beautiful strong voice—as we considered these many beliefs only important as windows into the workings of the human mind.

How was it that people claim past lives? Of what mental condition was reincarnation claimed? If only all would believe it, then Iraq’s Sunnis and Shiites might stop fighting—since they might be killing someone was was once one of them. Oh why does not everyone believe what is so obvious? And so it went.

The emerging consensus, we heard, underneath a willow tree, was that belief in the supernatural seems to arise from the same mental processes that underlie everyday reasoning and perception. But while belief in ghosts, past lives, the ability of the mind to move matter and the like originate in normal mental processes, those processes can get hijacked and exaggerated.

Much like what we saw along the fading and disappearing Rte. 66, the ancient notions of beliefs were much dilapidated, threadbare, decrepit, outworn, misty, nearly unmoving, and should have been mostly abandoned and forgotten, but, the believers still stood for them somehow, propping them up in every imaginable way. Why?

They were, all of them, once sure things if some there ever were, or so back then they thought and wished and swore and thus adored—as the Truth—and still do.


So, we, at ToeQuest, as in the article read, ask why; how could this be? There was no more elfin world, but others just as unseen are held onto.


Some topics to be discussed here in this thread could be:

1. — Why do some cling to the invisible notion that the mind, soul, and consciousness are separate from the brain, even being a total duplicate, it would seem? What further notions does this bring about with more slight assumptions?

Are they willing to have their brains removed as useless because they are not just a bag of chemicals? And yet, all is seen to be biochemical/electrochemical. We don’t exactly look like the chemicals that we know in the lab, do we?

Whence forth cometh that which is made up? From what ancient pathways of the mind?


2. — Alien abductions. Why so many claims, but no spaceships observed? And why are the abductees returned afterwards? Where are the aliens? Not another invisible unknown unseen!


3. — God—the most invisible of all; one who can do anything that is nebulous and indirect, but never anything so obvious as curing an amputee.

How is it that human mammals believe merely by pronouncement of the belief? “There is a Deity”, they say. What are they really wishing for?

Is it for their pride that the sun only shines with them in mind—those mammals of such special creation who are never so humble?


4. — Why is Intent or Agency assigned to Nature? Was this of some use to us long ago?


This thread, then, is the purview of the confining of the inquiring mind, and why, through the noting of the wide expanse of fables, faith, hoaxes, lies, imaginations, fictions, foggy notions, guesses, concoctions, phantasms, fantasies, conceptions, falsehoods, misrepresentations, decrees, fiats, proclamations, dead ideas, magic, revelations, scrap heaps, anecdotes, untruths, revelations, hearsay, wild tales, yarns, and fish stories known as belief in the unseeable supernatural through faith without knowledge. These are all figmentations of the imagination.…

Strewn about this panoramic realm of the “possible” and the “conceivable” are all the unknowable fabrications dreamt up by the oft exaggerating human race of mammals. The realm of such non-things has thus become superposed at the edge of Reality, merely by its scope, by all those who have dreamed, supposed, and wished for such legends to become actualized and real-ized; however, these ideas hadn’t ever quite made it into our observable reality at all, in any way, ever but remaining in the minds of the beholders—as varying viewpoints.

Without so much much as a word, we quickly pass what most no longer believe in, but once did, namely, the graveyard tombstone of Astrology—the God of the Stars, and the eternally marbled monuments of the Moon God, the Sun God (Apollo), Baal, Zeus, Wotan, Aphrodite, Thor, Mithras, Isis, Amon, Poseidon, the Druid Gods, plus more, and we even hurry past the ledger of those many Mythologies that had preceded the formation of the Old Testament—those superstitions whose very and various amalgamations came to form it whole.

But, here we halt, at that Testament, to mark the new and moving lines of the belief in the invisible, the point at which some beliefs still prosper, such as Angels, sitting on top of or next to some of the timeworn memorials, and on the crumbling cemetery gateposts, as well, being the much livelier and near-living representations of the three demigod-like spheres of the heavenly host: Seraphims, Cherubims, Ophanims, Thrones, Dominions, Principalities, Powers, Archangels, Angels, and last, but probably of the most use to us, the Guardian Angels that are said to protect children.

So, there you have it. The invisible reigns supreme.

But why?
Are some humans irrational?
Are decisions made by emotions?
Are some just not able to think scientifically?
Are patterns seen in mere coincidences?
Do ghosts have minds and memories, or do we just wish it?

Comments are welcome on why people believe in superstitions, the supernatural, and the paranormal… as in either falsely or truly…

It doesn’t matter if you are pro or con about the material world—it’s immaterial to me!

Lucky charms, rabbit’s feet, and wishing wells are fun, too…

…and by some other kind of luck from a map, we found where Rte. 66 picked up again…

[Mikal]

Hi Austin....its quite evident that you have no knowledge of the true system of ancient Astrological thought!

Now you take the 12 astrological signs for example, they represent the 12 main neurological nerves, located on the length of the spine and functionary to the Central Nervous System. Aries as a nerve represents functioning of the adrenals. Taurus as a nerve represents functioning of the thyroid gland. Gemini as a nerve represents functioning of the nerves in the right and left lung. Cancer as a nerve represents functioning of the alimentary canal. Leo represents functioning of the heart and spinal chord. Virgo as a nerve represents functioning of the brain and connections to the CNS. Libra as a nerve represents functioning of the kidneys and the lower spine in the lumbar region of the back. Scorpio as a nerve represents formation of cells in the reproduction system. Sagittarius represents the pituitary gland and functioning of the liver, also volition in locomotion. Capricorn represents functioning of the gallbladder, spleen, cells in bones, skin and teeth. Aquarius represents functioning of the pineal gland and entire circulatory system. Pisces represents the thalamus and its effects on the nervous system.
Furthermore, the Sun represents your right eye letting in light to the left lobe of brain. The Moon represents your left eye which functions with the right side of the brain. The earth represents your physical body. Mercury represents your brain and the fact that you can think. Venus resprsents your five physical senses and a higher sixth sense. Mars is your right ear and Saturn is your left ear. Jupiter represents gradations of consciousness. Uranus represents complex and possible interconnections of neural pathways in the environment of the brain. Neptune represents the esthetic domain of consciousness. Pluto represents the subconscious domain in the strata of consciousness.

Astrology is an ancient thought system about consciousness and I have studied it for many years. It would just be a laughing situation to you if I told you an Angel showed me the true Circle of Life....so I will spare you the whole story and tell you that sometimes life is not about what we believe but moreso some of the mysteries brought before us as we begin to challenge this thing we call belief....




Mikal

[austintorn@aol.com]

Thanks, Mikal,

That was a good one—had me going for a minute, but then I realized that the actual signs of the zodiac are now about 35 days ahead or behind of the astrological signs, which never altered to keep up, remaining as they were ages ago when they were invented.

Anyway, never fear, for it is a festive night, and you should always feel free to post and tell further of the story of the angel. I never bash the messenger (and not the message either; that was some other guy!). Maybe some playful stuff.

So, tomorrow, and you can all do this, too, take Rte. 666 to a graveyard on Halloween to see if any spirits rise, especially, Houdini's, on the eve of All Hallows /All Souls.

Then, hopefully, on the weekend, if still alive, the greatest musical ever written—the Phantom of the Opera.

The year is dying—and November is of full of no-no's (can anyone name any?)

(This thread will show how beliefs come about. You know I never show up unprepared…)

[Mikal]

Sorry Austie but when the signs represent the nerves in the body and the planets represent the vital organs, all the systems of the nervous circuitry, the brain, the heart and consciousness...it has nothing to do with signs being out of place. It is a thought system about consciousness and has nothing to do with position of signs. It also has no connection to what we call modern astrology.

Yes the Phantom of the Opera...excellent musical drama...I went to Toronto to see this! Enjoyed it immensely....Halloween, a good night for the kiddies to have fun and enjoy real playing....

Yes, indeed should be an interesting thread...


Mikal

[Mikal]

There are three awarenesses to consciousness, the awareness we are now evolving to concerns...
"the places where the inside meets the outside of the human material body in terms of gas liquid and solid. The guts and the enteric nervous system have been known to have unusual neural activity" –posted by Mike 5 in the forum The Biology of the Human Body.

This is what the ancient astrological thought system was about...The Human Enteric Nervous System....


Mikal

[austintorn@aol.com]

I was just joking about the astrological being the same as another astrological so no one would ever confuse it. Still, the planets matching the body parts is not showing anything—or at least you didn't mention any thing, and planets and moons are part of the other kind of astrology. I'll stick to astronomy over both astrologies.

Those ancients are just a bunch of old guys—they are probably over 900 years old now and quite senile.

Of course there is neural activity in the stomach area and still is (butterflies), for it was once the only "brain" that was to be had.

[Mikal]

The ancient astrological thought system is astronomical in nature. It places man in the Universe and the Universe within man. It also is connected to ancient Alchemy and the fact that the ancient Alchemists who were the first scientists not only studied the system of thought but also undertook the process involved in the thought system. It also is connected to the fact that the ancients had mystery schools and used consciousness rising techniques to experience altered states of consciousness which is why Gnosis means "experiential knowledge." Furthermore you take the sign Gemini which is the nerves to the right and left lungs, in the myth of Gemini as the Twins...it is not one set of twins but two therefore making four, representing its nerve conduction with the heart and its 4 interior chambers. This is why in the myth Gemini is called "the little brain in the heart." Hense the connection between Mercury which is your physical brain, the lungs which in consciousness rising techniques alter breathing affecting the nerve conduction to the heart where heart cells pulse differently producing a stronger electromagnetic signal which involves enlivining and exciting spatial proximity in heart cells, entrains frequencies and alters heart rhythm within the neural circuitry of the heart. That is just one example of what consciouness rising and altering is about. Why is Leo Gold? Why is it said there is Gold in the heart? Pure consciousness is an enlivened state between the brain in your head and interconnected nerve conduction with the brain in your heart....

Looks like the old guys were pretty intelligent...


Mikal

[austintorn@aol.com]

Looks like the old guys were pretty intelligent...

Except that these associations don't really do anything.


As for the ancients telling of the planets, you almost had me (good one), but all those planets had not been discovered back then, only those visible to the naked eye.

Looks like the old ancient guys were pretty new guys...

Uranus was discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1781.

Neptune was discovered by John Couch Adams in 1846.

Pluto was discovered by astronomer Clyde Tombaugh in 1930.



(After midnight, my wrapped up wrist will turn into the mummy's hand and may not be controllable—it could even reach through your computer screen…

Oh, no it's starting already and going toward New Zealand—oh, whew, got it back; now going toward England, oh, no, not there; retract, retract…

[Mikal]

Our ignorance of the ancients intelligence is immense. Their thought system is about the three awarenesses....especially the awareness we are evolving too now! We may need telescopes to discover new planets...they never needed telescopes. They had the true knowledge of the earth's magnetic energy vortexes which their pyramids and archetectural structures are all about. "I will give you new eyes to see" means clarity and clearing of perception. "I will give you new ears to hear" pertaining to the ability to know and understand the meaning behind all words, also Taurus means..."the Labyrinthe"...pertaining to a nerve deep in the inner ear...the journey through introspective consciousness, nerve conduction to the heart, the integration of consciousness which is simply uniting the brain in your head with the brain in your heart which produces electrical activity in the frontal lobes of the brain. One of Venus's several meanings..."to decipher." The ancients knew about all the planets, that is very evident in the meanings of their thought systems.

You better control your wrapped up wrist or the lady with the wrapped ankle will not be too pleased with you...best to not get on the wrong side of a woman! Of course you can lose control and come through my screen but I am not too scare-a-ble after the experiences I have went through in life...


Mikal

[Mikal]

"the Moon God, the Sun God (Apollo), Baal, Zeus, Wotan, Aphrodite, Thor, Mithras, Isis, Amon, Poseidon, the Druid Gods, plus more"...Austin...

As Carl Jung stated.."the ancient gods were symbolic representations of the human psyche..." for example Zeus...means..."consciousness."

Man And His Symbols...


Mikal