Sleep Paralysis and Spirits

Are spirits real, or are they just irrational stories meant to explain things that science now explains better” This is the way the question of spirits is framed by many. According to many recent polls, belief in ghosts in the West hovers around 60%, and one British poll found that more people believe in ghosts than God. These statistics are then typically melded to reinforce the idea that “we hold irrational belief despite all the math we”ve done,” such as this statement from Live Science:

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Guide to Dream Sharing on the Internet

Two announcements today:

First, I just uploaded my guide to Online Dream Sharing to the original articles section. These are my top picks for places on the web to safely share and exchange dreams with other dreamers. All are peer-to-peer dream sharing sites, but many are run by dream researchers and professionals. The guide does not cover dream interpretation or dream dictionary sites (run away!).

Also included are two dream sharing sites where you can use their databases to do your own dream research - this is a great resource for students or for anyone interested in societal patterns of dream content.

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Big Dreams & Archetypal Visions

Big Dreams are usually discussed in the popular media as dreams we remember for the rest of our lives. These could include emotionally intense dreams, powerful dream journeys, and visitation dreams.

However, the “dreams we remember for the rest of our life” are not the Big Dreams that contemporary dream researchers have demarked, but rather a watered down “catch-all” category that is based on the dreaming public’s perceived importance of particular dreams, rather than a set of features and characteristics unique to the experiences themselves.

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Consciousness, Mediumship, and Psychic Detectives

I”ve been spending a lot of time recently listening to the podcast interviews from Skeptiko. Run by Alex Tsakiris, this site is a breath of fresh air for anomalous psychology and psi research.

Neither a believer nor a materialist skeptic himself, Tsakiris walks a fine line as he interviews his guests about their research. More than anything, Tsakiris seems concerned that the research in question follows good scientific methods, even if (and especially when) the findings challenge the accepted paradigm of Western knowledge.

Lately, Trakiris has been on a tear about the so-called “psychic detectives.” Highly recommended listening, especially since shows like Ghost Hunters have made the paranormal momentarily stylish (but not exactly credible) again.

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Can Science Learn from Religion about Dreams?

Dream scholar Kelly Bulkeley was recently interviewed by the Boston Globe on the subject of dream studies and its implications for science and religion studies.

Bulkeley is an unique scholar who is trained in religion studies but often integrates modern neuroscientific findings and anthropological evidence to anchor his findings. Bulkeley’s interviewer is Jonah Lehrer, the author of Proust Was a Neuroscientist.

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A Shift in Consciousness & the Transfer of King Energy

Fiscal conservatives in the US aren’t happy, but around the world there is a sense of hope, promise, and a fresh start for American leadership. As Oprah was quoted as saying to CNN News in Chicago, IL last night:

“We”ve just experienced a profound shift in our consciousness.” Read more