Jung affirmed that a personal unconscious of repressed or forgotten material existed but that the collective unconscious consisted of patterns of instinctual behaviour, called archetypes. The word archetype comes from the Greek arche, meaning ‘first’, and type, meaning ‘imprint’ or ‘pattern’. Psychological archetypes are thus patterns that form the basic blueprint for human personality. For Jung archetypes pre-exist in the collective unconscious of humanity and determine how we both perceive and behave. These patterns are inborn - part of our inheritance and psychological life as human beings. They are both inside us and outside us. We can meet them by turning inwards to our dreams or imagination, and by turning outwards to our myths, legends, literature and religions.
Psychic or fraud?
A cold reading can be a good way to see if a psychic really can pick up relevant information that can help you. Be aware, though, that some psychics are very skilled at getting information about you without you even knowing it. They may be experts in observation, using every movement of your body and every expression on your face to verify information they give you; even a slight hesitation on your part can speak volumes. They may repeat information that you unconsciously already gave. Another technique is to make general statements or questions that could apply to anyone and to watch your reaction to pick up clues about what you are looking for in the reading. Be sure to recognize this approach - it is not how genuine psychics work.
COLLEGE of PSYCHIC STUDIES
Founded in 1884 as the London Spiritualist Alliance, the college changed its name in 1955 to the College of Psychic Science, and in 1970 it became the College of Psychic Studies. The college is now a non-profit organization, based in South Kensington, London, which explores psychic phenomena and other spiritual matters such as healing. The college seeks ‘to promote spiritual values and a greater understanding of the wider areas of human consciousness, welcoming the truths of all spiritual traditions and, equally, each and every individual.’ An extensive library, materials and courses in psychic development, spiritual healing and mediumship are offered to the general public and to psychical researchers. The college also has a website where useful information can be accessed: www.college-ofpsychicstudies.co.uk.
COLOUR DIVINATION
Because colours are a dynamic part of our lives, affecting us in many ways (see Colours), some believe that colour can be used as a tool for divination and guidance.
All about colours
The following provides some typically accepted attributes of colour that can help us gain insight into people no matter how they present themselves.
Red:Colour of strength and power, linked to sexual energy; can indicate an active person with lots of energy; darker shades can reflect strong emotions, even anger; can also indicate a creative person.
Orange:The colour of fun, creativity and generosity (they may be too generous); a bright and optimistic person.
Yellow:Intelligence, happiness, curious by nature; a person who prefers to take the lead.
Green:Colour of healing; peaceful, emotional balance and compassion; a person who is honest and helpful.
Blue:Spiritual understanding; a person who is usually perceptive, has a need for calm and is deeply involved in their work, sometimes to the point of neglecting other things; someone who is dedicated and talented and can be critical of others.
Indigo:Vision, intuition, psychic ability.
Purple and Violet:Seekers, impatient with others, including themselves; have high ideals but can become depressed if ideals not met; someone who needs and seeks spiritual experiences.
Black:Colour of protection and groundedness, psychic ability; when worn with another colour strengthens that colour; secretive, a quiet strength.
White:Colour of spirit and of balance, could also indicate detachment; a person who is hopeful and spiritual; when worn with other colours amplifies those colours.
Brown:Strength and nobility; someone who is down to earth, practical and helpful; someone who has strong friendships, is a devoted worker but can be overly critical.
Pink:Love warmth tenderness innocence, the impulse to nurture.
Each colour has its own unique qualities. Some are uplifting and exciting, and some are soothing. Some stimulate healing, and some are depressing. We all have colours we like and dislike. Many believe we subconsciously pick colours we know will help us through the day and that it is possible to divine the mood of others by the colours they choose to wear or the colours they are most drawn to.
Energy healers who read auras believe that auras are made up of colours and that the colour of a person’s aura can tell an enormous amount about a person and how she or he is feeling at that moment. For example, a person with a happy disposition might have a bright yellow aura, but it could change to red if they are angry. Someone else might have a red aura, suggesting they are often angry. If someone’s aura has dark spots it could suggest ill health or disturbing emotions.
COLOURS
Every colour is believed to vibrate with its own energy and to have specific effects on individuals. Seven colours in particular -red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet, the colours of the rainbow - have carried religious, occult, mystical and healing meanings since ancient times.
Red, which has the longest wavelength, typically represents the physical and material, while violet, the shortest wavelength, represents spirituality and enlightenment. White, the combination of all colours, is usually associated with divinity and purity, while black, the absence of all colour, is associated by some people with evil but by others with protection and comfort, like the warm darkness of a summer night. Traditionally, the body is associated with red, the mind with yellow and the spirit with blue.
Healing with colour has a long tradition dating back to ancient times. The Pythagoreans believed that white light, the Godhead, contains all sound and colour and that the seven colours of the spectrum correspond to the seven planets and the eight notes of the musical scale (both the first and the eighth notes are red).
Despite the fact that colour healing has been in use for centuries, it wasn’t until the late nineteenth century that it began to receive attention in the West. In 1878 Edwin Babbitt published The Principles of Light and Colour, reaffirming the Pythagorean correspondences of music, colour and sound, and by so doing drew attention to the potential of colour healing. In the 1930s Dinshah Ghadiali proposed that imbalances are created by too much or too little of particular colours, and that balance can be restored with the use of coloured lights. Today modern colour therapy or healing is a controversial but popular alternative medicine technique involving the use of coloured lamps as well as coloured foods and drinks in coloured containers.
Modern science is able to provide evidence for some of the ancient claims about colour. In the 1970s and 1980s it was shown that coloured light triggers biochemical reactions in the body. Later research confirmed that blues and greens have a soothing effect and help lower stress, brain-wave activity and blood pressure. Warm colours such as orange and red have been shown to have a stimulating effect. Pink has been shown to have a relaxing effect in the short term, although in the longer term it can trigger irritability. Each colour is associated with a specific vibrational frequency, so when there is a predominance of one or two colours in the environment that vibrational frequency -and the characteristics or qualities associated with that frequency - will tend to influence the activities conducted in that environment and the attitude of those in it. It is small wonder, then, that many psychologists use colour to produce beneficial effects in the home, workplace and in hospitals, and in visualization techniques patients are asked to imagine themselves bathed in a particular colour to encourage healing in mind, body and spirit.
COMMITTEE FOR THE SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATION OF CLAIMS OF THE PARANORMAL
A non-profit scientific and educational organization, started in 1976 and based in Buffalo, New York, to ‘encourage the critical investigation of paranormal and fringe-science claims from a responsible, scientific point of view and disseminate factual information about the results of such inquiries to the scientific community and the public’. It also aims to promote science and scientific enquiry, critical thinking, science education and the use of reason in examining important issues. The organization maintains a network of people who critically examine paranormal claims and sponsors research into such claims.
The group originated as an offshoot of the American Humanist Association following a disagreement over the claims made by astrologers. It soon gathered a following of committed sceptics, including scientists, academics and science writers such as Isaac Asimov, Philip Klass, Ray Hyman, Sidney Hook, and others. The Skeptical Inquirer is the society’s official journal, and its aim is to explore and expose public gullibility about the paranormal.
Many local branches of the group are scattered across the US. Members include academics and scientists as well as magicians, many holding religious views, such as atheism, that are not in accord with belief in the paranormal. Although the group has debunked many claims of the paranormal, from hauntings to ESP to faith healing, there are some who believe it goes too far in its attempt to debunk from a scientific point of view. Nonetheless, it does provide a valuable counterbalance to paranormal claims.
CONE OF POWER
See Circle.
CONSCIOUSNESS
A funtion of the mind, generally thought to incorporate qualities such as subjectivity, self-awareness and the ability to perceive the relationship between oneself and one’s environment.
In popular language the term ‘consciousness’ denotes being awake and responsive to one’s environment; this contrasts with being asleep or being in a coma. The term level of consciousness’ denotes how consciousness seems to vary during anaesthesia and during various states of mind such as daydreaming, lucid dreaming, imagining, etc. Esoteric techniques such as meditation and pathworking and shamanic techniques such as chanting, rhythmic drumming or dancing, as well as experimental techniques such as sensory deprivation and narcotics to induce hallucination all involve altered states of con-ciousness. Non-consciousness exists when consciousness is not present. There is speculation, especially among religious groups as well as occultists, psychics and spiritualists, that consciousness may exist after death or before birth.
Consciousness is notoriously difficult to define or locate. Many cultures and religious traditions place the seat of consciousness in a soul, separate from the body. Conversely, many scientists and philosophers consider consciousness to be intimately linked to the neural functioning of the brain.
CONSTELLATION, USS
The USS Constellation, floating in the harbour of Baltimore, is perhaps one of the most haunted ships in America.
The ship was commissioned by the US navy and first launched as a 36-gun frigate in 1797. Commodore Thomas Truxton was the first captain, and he set a bloody precedent. In 1799, after the Americans had won a battle against the French, the captain learned that seaman Neil Harvey had fallen asleep while on watch. The captain ordered another sailor to run a sword through the sleeping man and then had Harvey’s body tied to a cannon and blown to pieces in order to warn the other sailors. Many visitors to the ship report seeing Neil Harvey’s ghost wandering on deck, and it is said that some people even mistake him for a costumed tour guide.
During the nineteenth century the warship was damaged in battles, and the original ship was broken up in 1853. The Constellation reborn in 1855 as a sloop, and served the US navy until 1933, when it was decommissioned and sat quietly in harbour. In 1955 it was brought home to Baltimore to await repairs, and this is when stories of ghosts began to be told. Sailors standing night watch on nearby ships said they heard odd noises and reported seeing ghosts walking on its deck.
To this day reports of sightings of spirits continue to occur. Captain Truxton has been seen, and cries and moans have been heard in the hold. An anonymous seaman has been spotted sadly wandering around the gun deck. He is believed to be a sailor who became overwhelmed by the harsh life at sea and hung himself.
The USS Constellation is docked at Pier 1 in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and is open to the public for tours.
CONTROL
A discarnate entity or spirit of the dead that is thought to communicate through a trance medium. The term is derived from the notion that a control is the entity that generally controls the trance state and decides which spirits will communicate and how they will communicate to the living through the medium. The term control would have been a familiar one during the height of spiritualism, but today it isn’t widely used and mediums prefer to use terms such as spirit helpers, gatekeepers or friends instead.
A control manifests during a trance state and generally takes over a medium’s body and consciousness, communicating through the medium. According to various controls that have been questioned, controls are separate entities from the medium, and during trance, when the control takes over, the medium’s consciousness is displaced out of body or transported to the spirit world. In some case a medium may not be aware of the control until told by others who have witnessed the manifestation. A medium typically has one control, as was the case with Mina Crandon and her spirit control, Walter, but some may have more than one.
There are many who believe that controls are secondary personalities of the medium rather than spirits of the dead. Even prominent mediums like Eileen Garrett concluded that her control might have been a construct drawn from her own unconscious. Most controls do reflect aspects of the medium’s personality, and it is logical to conclude that they are secondary personalities of the medium. However, if controls are secondary personalities, they are unusual in that they do not interrupt and intrude during waking life, as secondary personalities do in multiple personality disorders.
COOK, FLORENCE [1856–1904]
Florence Cook is best remembered as the medium who was able to produce the full spirit materialization of her controls. She said she first noticed her psychic powers as a child when she heard angel voices and experienced her first trance state at the age of 14. At the age of 15 she lost her job as a teacher due to poltergeist phenomena and from then on devoted herself to her development as a medium.
