Subject: psychic power
Date: 14 June 2006
From: Flash Light
To: Dr. Sophronius
Dr. Sophronius,
When tribes began to migrate out of Africa an important member of each tribal group was the shaman, or "medicine man," as he was called by native Americans.
We commonly believe that this shaman's power came from his knowledge of plants and their healing powers. While it's true that a shaman had a knowledge of plants, what is less understood is that the shaman also derived authority from their psychic powers.
As tribes developed into cultures, the shaman became the priesthood. Among the ancient Greeks, Romans and Egyptians the priesthood was still using their psychic powers, and it was common for people to go to such priests to be healed. The Zen tradition among Buddhists also relied heavily of the use of psychic powers. The anthropologist Carlos Castaneda studied under a Yaqui shaman in the Americas, and recorded the psychic phenomenon he demonstrated to his followers.
Last night you related to me an incident wherein
your pastor prayed for you for guidance and correctly predicted that the seven
candidates ahead of you for the graduate school opening
you wanted would drop out. I would agree that was not likely mere coincidence. However,
I would describe it as a demonstration of psychic power, rather than take it as proof that
Jehovah is the one true God.
My point is this: Had it been a Buddhist priest who prayed for you and used his psychic powers on your behalf, you'd now be swearing Buddha was your savior. Had it been a Yaqui shaman, you'd now believe in a god who took the form of an eagle. Had it been an ancient Egyptian priest, you might now be a follower of Anubis.
The reason it was a Christian pastor who demonstrated psychic powers to you is simply that you lived in a Christian society. I'm not trying to denigrate your beliefs. I think a human without a belief system is like a computer without an operating system, i.e. unable to function. The point I'm trying to make is that when you say these other belief systems "are not the real thing," this is a cultural bias, which as a sociologist, you should be able to transcend.