How To Come To Terms With Being Psychic (In A World That Calls You Crazy)
Everyone wants to be "normal," but some of us just aren't!
getty Let’s face it, there are times when we all want to appear "normal." Appearing “normal” makes us feel like we are more likely to be loved and accepted. And geez, who doesn’t want that? On the flip side, coming across as "different" can strike panic in the heart of most. In others, it goes even deeper than that. If this is you, you are not alone!
To make matters more complicated, the science of epigenetics tells us that such trauma gets passed down from generation to generation. Now we’re finding out we carry our grandparent’s unresolved traumas from the war.
And in neuroscience, we’re learning about mirror neurons, and how observing someone getting harmed triggers us just like we are the ones being hurt directly. Even thinking about what we’ve seen, or imagining such horrific scenes, floods us with virtually the same cascade of chemicals and brain responses as we’d experience in person.
So, what would you do if you were psychic or believed you had psychic abilities? That’s certainly different. Would you "come out?"
For instance, imagine that you’ve had a spiritual awakening or near-death experience that has “gifted” you with the psychic ability to heal, read minds or remote places, see “dead” people, channel messages from spiritual beings, or foretell events that have yet to happen. Can you feel the fear of those who have? If it happened to you, could you tell your spouse or family about it?
This is the real dilemma facing the growing number of those who were not born psychic but stepped into the ability later in life. The ones who feel they can share their experience with their loved ones are the lucky few. Those who feel they can’t, knowing that such experiences threaten too many of the family’s fundamental beliefs about the nature of reality, are in agony.
One older man in this position that I worked with felt betrayed and ambushed by his family when he told them what was going on. When he went for a holiday visit, they had him hospitalized after they heard him tell of hearing messages from those who have crossed over to the other side and from angelic or spiritual beings.
Despite the messages being of a loving and helpful nature, and despite all other indications of his being rational and “normal,” he was labeled as having had a psychotic episode and forced to take medication that lulled him into depression.
A young woman I know had a similar experience and was quite shaken when she was hospitalized by her brother, a conventional psychotherapist.
Another woman in her fifties was hospitalized by her husband of 21 years after she told him about her spiritual awakening and newly discovered psychic power and abilities. She’s now desperately trying to ignore it all to save her marriage. And her spouse is an atheist who cannot open up to any possibility of a spiritual life, here or beyond.
It's tragic that there are so many cases. These people are often such beautiful souls that want nothing more than to live a spiritually directed life and career purpose — to help humanity — and yet are forced to worry about losing custody of their children, being abandoned by family, and worst of all, finding themselves hospitalized against their will for a misdiagnosis of a mental illness.
I feel for them. And at the risk of sounding way too dramatic about this, sometimes I worry we haven’t grown that far beyond the mob-led burnings of accused witches and demons — the epigenetic memories of which continue to haunt a huge number of us.
But increasingly, we see some emerging work from fascinating scientists at the courageous edge.
Those like MIT physicist Claude Swanson and his book Synchronized Universe: New Science of the Paranormal, which summarizes much of the science in the process of illuminating how spiritual and paranormal reality is indeed possible. His book was a lifesaver for a teen I know who sees “dead people”, who relaxed about it once she knew a scientist believed in her ability.
Or Ian Stevenson’s research on reincarnation, the data so robust that at a particular ISSSEEM conference, one presenter remarked that the concept should already be accepted as scientific fact. Or William F. Bengston's work to scientifically document the energy cure of a previously “indisputably fatal” form of mammary cancer by the laying on of hands … by skeptics, no less.
I’ll just say, from what I’ve read, especially in quantum physics and bio-field science, there is substantial and mounting evidence of our energy bodies and consciousness that exist beyond the usual material. Of a physical reality that is formed from the underlying energetic layers of reality. Of the way our brain and other aspects of our material body serve as antennae for perceiving and “WiFi-ing” these energies from one domain or frequency band to another (remember E=MC2 where energy appears as matter, or matter as energy, depending on the speed of its light?).
There is even mounting evidence of the role of human consciousness to influence reality, and at great distances.
And so, plenty of reason to continue the scientific journey (especially as our technology improves at quantum speeds of development) to show how ESP, sensing energies, going out-of-body, reincarnation, multidimensional realities of existence, seeing spirit beings, and having visions or dreams of future events are real and potential superhuman powers — some of which even seem teachable and get easier with practice.
With topics that threaten our most cherished beliefs, we inevitably encounter the skeptics who refuse to even look at the data. When asked what kind of data he would accept as evidence of psychic energy healing, one recently responded, “there is no data I would accept.” Case closed.
That’s what those who are increasingly psychic are facing, people who refuse to accept any data supporting psychic phenomena, no matter how scientifically gathered. Ironic, because a true scientist is always open to whatever the data reveal, including whether it supports or refutes a prevailing theory.
Professional ridicule and condemnation is what happens each time we are on the cusp of a revolution in science. It was true of Galileo when his data overthrew the belief in the Earth as the center of the universe and contradicted the teachings of the Catholic Church; he was tried for heresy.
It happened to Einstein, whose findings resulted in a more quantum physics, and completely reshaped our worldview about the nature of time, space, gravity, and matter; yet initially, he was barred from academia and prestigious publication. And it continues today with anyone who dares study psychic phenomena at the fringes of human consciousness.
So, what would you do if you were suddenly psychic? What about those of you who really are? Would you hide it to appear normal?
We can certainly understand this preference. But how does our society evolve in its consciousness if we continue to stunt our individual and collective growth? Would you dare to reveal your new superpower? To allow yourself if necessary to lose all those around you who no longer match you in spiritual consciousness in order to gain a whole new circle of spiritual love and support?
It’s really hard to come out into the open on this. But here are five actions you can take right now to inch forward, even a wee bit, into the brighter light.
1. Notice what in particular scares you about not seeming normal.
For you, maybe it’s simply the unknown. You don’t know what might happen. Or, perhaps you sense that if you come out about your differentness, you’ll lose your bffs or have to change your day job.
2. Make a list of what you believe you will lose, but also what you have to gain if you were to be you.
Let’s say you “see dead people,” and you sincerely think it will freak out your entire family and all of your friends. Write that down. Then think about what your ideal dream would be in using your psychic talents.
Maybe you would enjoy being a medium on television, like John Edward (who was tested positively by former atheist Gary E. Schwartz, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Medicine, Neurology, Psychiatry, and Surgery). Or helping to solve cold case murders and then writing a book about the experience.
Allow yourself to see the new kinds of people and synchronicities you would attract into your life, and how exciting it could be.Maybe you prefer to keep working at your present job, and more subtly share messages from beyond, very selectively and only in your personal life. You get to choose!
3. Consider how likely it is (or not) that your worst fears could really happen.
Most people just don’t actually lose everyone and everything simply because they start revealing their psychic superpowers. Is that truly your situation? Are you 100 percent sure of it? Or is it more like a 30 percent chance for the worst case scenario?
Assigning a sensed probability to it actually frees up most of us quite a bit, as we begin to realize that our freakiest nightmares probably aren’t going to happen that drastically.
4. Write down which aspects of you feel safer to reveal than others.
Don’t think it’s an all or nothing endeavor. There certainly are tiny bits of you safe enough to reveal to at least a few people, even if only a transpersonal psychotherapist. And that can help us breathe some relief.
5. Embrace that “normal” may not be the path for you.
How boring to be “undifferentiated,” and just like everyone else! Consider yourself in the elite company of Galileo or Einstein. James Van Praagh or John Edward. Doreen Virtue or Rosalyn Bruyere. William Bengston or Claude Swanson.
These are among the great number of those who dare transcend ordinary to be extraordinary. And in doing so, change the world, one quantum leap at a time. Decide that being different is a wonderful thing and the only way to shift humanity into its greatest potential.
Write out a mission statement, and take one step at a time toward this best version of yourself. The happiness you will feel in the end will overshadow all doubts and losses you once had. There is nothing more exhilarating than knowing your authentic self is exactly what the world needs now.
Valerie Varan, MS, LPC, NCC is a Colorado-licensed professional counselor and author. Follow her adventures into quantum physics, holistic wellness, and spiritual consciousness on Facebook.