The Force powers as we know them

The author of the article i linked to makes some argument the force is real, i don't pretend to speak to the accuracy's of any of his observations.

Im sensing my attempts to contribute to the discussions disturbs you and shall withdraw.

My apologies

No need to apologize woodfordjedi…I think there is some background you should have about us before you continue this topic. What the vast majority of us practice here involves the “real “ world. We have various religious backgrounds, but a lot of us have strong science backgrounds as well. We get many people here every year claiming to be psychic, have telekinesis powers of some type, even some who claim to have the dark side force lightning. And not one of them can prove it.

As you can imagine, it’s very disheartening to members of a legally and federally recognized religion and church to have people show up who can’t seperate Star Wars fiction from reality. We even had a guy once claim to get visions from emperor palpitine ( who was orbiting earth in his space ship).

We take what we do here very seriously, and just want to be sure you do as well. We do have thi chi practitioners, reiki masters, Buddhist, and Christians here, and we respect their beliefs……but the line for most of us gets drawn when people start talking about magical powers to float objects across the room or lightning from their fingers……these things obviously put us in a very defensive mood.

Zero wrote: No need to apologize woodfordjedi…I think there is some background you should have about us before you continue this topic. What the vast majority of us practice here involves the “real “ world. We have various religious backgrounds, but a lot of us have strong science backgrounds as well. We get many people here every year claiming to be psychic, have telekinesis powers of some type, even some who claim to have the dark side force lightning. And not one of them can prove it.

As you can imagine, it’s very disheartening to members of a legally and federally recognized religion and church to have people show up who can’t seperate Star Wars fiction from reality. We even had a guy once claim to get visions from emperor palpitine ( who was orbiting earth in his space ship).

We take what we do here very seriously, and just want to be sure you do as well. We do have thi chi practitioners, reiki masters, Buddhist, and Christians here, and we respect their beliefs……but the line for most of us gets drawn when people start talking about magical powers to float objects across the room or lightning from their fingers……these things obviously put us in a very defensive mood.

Thank You Zero, for your counsel and patience.

I claim no psychic powers, and the only time i heard Palpatine was at the movie theater.

I am deeply skeptical of all claims of supernatural things. Personally the scientific principle is the only method of navigating reality. things we cant explain are simply knowledge gaps, not ipso facto proof of the supernatural.

To me the universe is a mechanism that can be quantified and understood if viewed with curiosity and honesty.

I hope this worldview is acceptable in Jediism

WoodfordJedi wrote: I'm sensing my attempts to contribute to the discussions disturbs you and shall withdraw.

My apologies

By all means carry on, if these discussions disturbed me I wouldn't have posted. I apologize if my response seemed dismissive.

As a disclaimer, I do believe some "supernatural" phenomena is real, as I have experienced things I can't explain, and it's made me realize that there is a whole lot of things out there that I ignore. However, I have lost a considerable amount of time in the past pursuing such things, only to realize that

A) I was making a faulty generalization by assuming that because some "psychic" phenomena may be real, all psychic phenomena out there must be real.

There are better uses of my time and focus (Eastern thought itself cautions Siddhis to be distractions from the path)

my work in the energy community has shown that there are no "super powers" or "psychics", but links between people who can empathically feel other people and get clips of information from other people. There's nothing psychic or super about it. It's empathic human connection.

Manu wrote:

WoodfordJedi wrote: I'm sensing my attempts to contribute to the discussions disturbs you and shall withdraw.

My apologies

By all means carry on, if these discussions disturbed me I wouldn't have posted. I apologize if my response seemed dismissive.

As a disclaimer, I do believe some "supernatural" phenomena is real, as I have experienced things I can't explain, and it's made me realize that there is a whole lot of things out there that I ignore. However, I have lost a considerable amount of time in the past pursuing such things, only to realize that

A) I was making a faulty generalization by assuming that because some "psychic" phenomena may be real, all psychic phenomena out there must be real.

There are better uses of my time and focus (Eastern thought itself cautions Siddhis to be distractions from the path)

Thank You Manu.

As a bit of background that i think you will appreciate, i was at the Sydney book launch of "Other temples, Other gods" in 1980
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4806041-other-temples-other-gods

And was active in the community that it was based on, Wicca, The order of the golden phoenix, an OTO style order. Astral projection, etc etc.

Like you i invested a considerable amount of time and energy on the topic, with identical results it would seem.

Personally i found no evidence of Psychic phenomena although like you i saw some things ive yet to explain, but i put that down to a knowledge deficit, not an example of the supernatural.
Mileage will vary, but thats my view.

Although i did enjoya technique called "The lessor banishing of the Loo" as a form of sympathetic Magick, Its effect if anything speaks to me of a good way to manage stress, and for the believer im sure it works as, If nothing else a manifestation of the placebo effect.

I wont post its format here But will happily share it via PM for those who want a giggle.

dwagoonie wrote: my work in the energy community has shown that there are no "super powers" or "psychics", but links between people who can empathically feel other people and get clips of information from other people. There's nothing psychic or super about it. It's empathic human connection.

My own take is very similar.
Ive found ive developed a deep sense of situational awareness. But i dont consider it a superpower, but rather perhaps the regaining of something lost to modern humans.
Wild animals seem to have the same sensitivity, and where i live is teeming with wildlife.

Ive come to know when a hawk is near, long before i can see it. The woodland ducks that freeload on my pond, the cockatoos and other birds all undergo a subtle shift in behavior, and sure enough when i look there is the hawk or eagle cruising for lunch.
Even the lizards know and ive become sensitive to all of these animals ton the point i am part of their network and share their reading of the environment.
I can tell where a snake is in the yard in the same way, even if it cant be seen. The animals all share intel with each other when a predator is near.

My wife and I have been getting into similar subjects a LOT lately. We've had some...odd occurrences and a general sort of malevolent influence for...a long time now.

Some background: I am a Hellenic/Greek Polytheist. So everything I have encountered (which isn't much) in these realms is generally parsed through that understanding as a basis. For example, I can sometimes, if I'm focusing or "reaching out with my feelings" a presence or personality to objects. Usually these are living things, especially trees. Now, I refer to these under the general term "nymphs" because of the Greek spiritual background, but I'm not opposed to the possibility that there are other tree and nature spirits. In other words, I can and do practice "psychometry" - gaining insight or sensing things about physical objects. I am also, I believe, somewhat of an "empath" or clairsentient. I am pretty good at "feeling" or "knowing" how others are feeling, sometimes even what they are thinking about, without having asked. Some of this can be explained away through body language, tone of voice, and similar mundane things, but what about online interactions through text? I get impressions from people very quickly. Again, a lot of this may simply be mundane life-experience. I was born in 1989 and have spent most of my life frequently communicating with people online. So, I am an experienced communicator when it comes to the written word (I'm also a fiction writer, an artistic pursuit that generally requires a high degree of emotional intelligence and mundane empathy). Still, there seems to be "something more" to it. My wife, who I will talk about below, believes I am some level of "empath" as well. We are pretty sure this is something beyond normal, everyday empathy or just emotional intelligence.

My wife, on the other hand has a more powerful set of "psychic" or "supernatural" abilities. Just naturally. We are currently in the process of learning to control and expand those abilities in both of us as part of our attempt to gain some modicum of control over our interpersonal relationships (especially our relationship which has recently been severely damaged, mostly thanks to my chronic...foot-in-mouth syndrome) and our environment. She grew up in a much more...permissive and encouraging environment when it comes to the paranormal and supernatural. I grew up in a...somewhat stifling Christian household where these things were "of the devil." Now, that may be a little overdramatic and unfair to my parents, but you get the idea. Anyway, Alexandra grew up in Gettysburg, PA. Yes, THE Gettysburg. What's more, she was raised in a very old (18th century, I think) farmhouse that actually served as a field hospital for the Confederacy during the 1863 battle of the American Civil War. Probably goes without saying that they all, including unrelated farmhands and laborers, had experiences in and around that house. Particularly involving spectral soldiers and such. If you've never been to Gettysburg...it's a spooky place. It has an energy...a life, even, of its own. And this doesn't go just back to the Civil War, this goes back much, much further to the Native American tribes that lived in and around the area. I'm not sure of the specifics but Little and Big Round Top (two small "mountains" or large hills on the battlefield of Gettysburg that saw significant and protracted fighting during the battle) were either sacred or even taboo to the local tribes. They recognized long ago that this is a place of power and, perhaps, danger from unearthly or "unnatural" forces. Most of her "powers" or "abilities" center around sensing, communicating with, and working with spirits/Gods/guides/ghosts and so forth. She is quite powerful, I believe, and she isn't even taught or practiced. So...I'm looking forward, with some small amount of trepidation, to seeing her powers blossom under her explorations, studies, and renewed practice using those abilities.

Anyway, I guess my main question is: Why bother adding the Jedi overtones to things that already have names? We don't need to insist that these things are of "the Force" to internally recognize them as such and telling others their power is not "spiritual" or "supernatural" but of that "force" seems counterproductive and bound to stir up controversy. These are charged issues sometimes and people like to use their own turns. However, you didn't say you intended to force your Jedi views on everyone else, just making a point. It's important to be sensitive to others especially when we're talking about the spirits of dead loved ones or similar. What difference does it really make if that "guardian spirit" is "just a Force ghost" or something else? Does it even matter? If all things are of the Force, as Jedi believe, then isn't it simply assumed that it all, to some degree, issue from that Force? I think this is my question because I already have religious/spiritual beliefs that color my thoughts, feelings, and beliefs on such topics and I've never seen the point in reflavoring those with a sprinkling of Jediism. But, that's just me. If it helps you or works for you, then by all means, call them "force ghosts" or "force visions."

A more productive question for everyone: What abilities do you believe/know you have? What do your friends and family have? From what I understand such abilities often run in families, sometimes being said to "skip a generation." Which psionic/psychic/force abilities do you believe actually exist in our material/spiritual world?

Great topic! Thanks for bringing it up!

Also! I'm very interested in possibly beginning to learn about or even practice Reiki or some similar energy healing/protection system. Any information people have on this subject, or references they can point me to, would be welcome! Thanks!

Systems helping systems :side:
In seriousness though, old labels for things tend to bring baggage IMO, which is counter-productive to me beyond referencing out of my system.

If not because many names might be for different reasons, some of which might have import into the question of why would Jediism use its own names.
Yes perhaps the different names developed in isolation (ie ignorance of others) or used unique labels just to distinguish themselves, and could be instead shared. But perhaps the meanings are actually nuanced to mean slightly different things, or perhaps the labelling represents the doorway (which is designed to be entered) rather than what is revealed within - which might represent the particular avenue of approach that could be unique to the traditions techniques and culture rather than the shared revealed thing itself. Especially if the label is trying to work with ineffability
And also a lot of really old stuff seems to have been distorted as translations and cultures evolved, so what they are said to mean might not actually be quite what they originally meant!

But moreso to me labels are useful if they carry forward the language and symbology that is associated with it... and in the context of a skill, then that context IMO is the particular training used to acquire it, use of it, or to a lesser extent some other variation of how it might be valued in acquiring or applying - not comparative or referential to other similar systems like might be if using other systems labels. And for me, my Jediism tries to learn from the past but build for the future, so it's all about building systems which work (or might work) and that then defines the labels which work best.

To the other question, just a bit of extra sensory perception (ie sensing what I seemingly shouldn't be able to sense), and some precognition from dreams (rare and seemingly associated with loss of life). For the later it's important for 'hits' to be too specific to be imagined, in things like time, place and activity, and as a result of that I've found that they tend to occur not too far into the future (short range precog) if not at the same time (ESP). Given those conditions, I've discounted a ton of kewl experiences, but the imagination is so powerful when it gives peak integrated experiences there can be way too much to possibly parse into any framework beyond rich hallucination... as asserting truth or otherwise seems a waste of time as our faculties are not powerful or reliable enough. Such that with my conditions it makes repeatability seemingly impossible so far for me.

Lykeios wrote: A more productive question for everyone: What abilities do you believe/know you have? What do your friends and family have? From what I understand such abilities often run in families, sometimes being said to "skip a generation." Which psionic/psychic/force abilities do you believe actually exist in our material/spiritual world?

Also! I'm very interested in possibly beginning to learn about or even practice Reiki or some similar energy healing/protection system. Any information people have on this subject, or references they can point me to, would be welcome! Thanks!

So as to that more productive question, I'd say that personally i've dabbled in some weird stuff over the years, but to say I had an specific abilities, that would be hard honestly. I'd like to say I have a pretty natural ability to deescalate situations that might be in part due to my ability to be empathetic towards others and actively listen, but I don't know if that's me being an "empath" per say. I also have a knack for martial arts, accumulating and projecting energy, and learning things very quickly after having only seen something once or twice. However again I can't really say that's due to anything extraordinary. I'd like to believe however that i'm gifted with these abilities due to my connection to the energy that surrounds me. I'm currently a Master Teacher in Usui Roho Reiki, so I definitely have an affinity for channeling energy and what not, but I don't assume to command it either as I'm just the vessel/lightning rod for the energy being given.
I've never seen anyone else in my family manifest any such abilities that i've mentioned above, or anything that i've tuned into. My family doesn't really believe much in any sort of other abilities, psychic or otherwise, and has always just been very plain jane. I'm really the only one that I'm aware of that has had any contact with such abilities and has learned how to utilize some of them.
I know you said you'd like to learn more about Reiki, so I am master teacher certified, so if you'd ever like to learn anything please message me! I love to teach and share what knowledge I have.