The Origins of Psychic Phenomena:
Poltergeists, Incubi, Succubi, and the Unconscious Mind (Paperback)
261 Pages
© 1984, 2007
Stan Gooch
Book Description
Examines unexplained phenomena in psychiatric and psychological terms rather
than occult terms
• Explores how the unconscious mind manifests paranormal phenomena
• Shows how the cerebellum--the seat of the unconscious--is the source of these
energies, sub personalities, and manifestations
• Identifies our neglected “Neanderthal” subconscious as responsible for the
rising incidence of paranormal happenings
Alien abduction, poltergeist attacks, incubi, succubi, split and multiple
personalities, possessions, precognition, spontaneous combustion--the list of
phenomena not just unexplained but ignored by mainstream science seems endless.
Yet the key to the origin of all these manifestations lies deep within our own
brains.
In The Origins of Psychic Phenomena, Stan Gooch explores the
functioning of the dream-producing part of the brain--the cerebellum--and how
the unconscious mind is able to externalize itself. The cerebellum is the
physical seat of the unconscious and was once equal to or even superior to the
cerebrum as essential to our functioning. In modern times it has been shunted
into the subliminal, yet the cerebellum continues to process our worldly
experiences and reveals its concerns in misunderstood, often frightening, and
manifestations. Gooch explains that Neanderthal Man possessed a much larger
cerebellum than Cro-Magnon Man and posits that the modern repression of the
cerebellum’s role in our consciousness has given rise to these supernatural
phenomena.
_________________________________________________________
The serendipitous
events that seem to accompany the books sent me for review are getting just a
little spooky. For example, I’ll be thinking, Gee, I’d like to review (a
certain kind of) Gnostic book and…BAM! It shows up in the mail. Or I tell
myself that I will absolutely, positively never again even look at a book
dealing with the Bible and…BAM! One is sent that really shows “the Book” in
a totally whole new
slant.
In the case of ORIGINS, I told myself that
they might just as well drive a stake through my heart if I had to force myself
to read any more pseudo-scientific, “New Age” interpretations of reality, &
particularly fanciful tales of “historic” reality. But I was drawn to the title
of the book, and even more intrigued when I discovered that original 1984 title
was Creatures from Inner Space. Now how could I pass that
up?
So I started reading, making my little
notes—and before I realized it, it was dawn’s early light.
The book was finished.
Time to crawl back into my crypt.
Like Houdini I have
been drawn to the occult & psychic phenomena—and also like Houdini, I
remain mostly unconvinced, seeing in so-called “Manifestations” little more
than manipulation & clouded mirrors, false memories & serpentine smoke
disguising all the shoddy props—only to fade in the light of common sense. It
was with this fairly closed mindset that I read the Introduction. I came to
immediate attention at this comment: …So what, then, really is a human
personality, and what so much the limits of its powers, as a full,
unrealized extent of them? [P. 3]
Two correspondences immediately entered my
fragile head: DAIMONIC REALITY and SETH SPEAKS. I write this not to suggest
subject redundancy, but to impress upon the reader the type of pan-psychic
(psychological) connection ORIGINS invokes.
Let me stick in 2 links that may add to an
understanding of my general point of view here.
My REVIEW: DAIMONIC REALITY
& JANE
ROBERTS: SETH SPEAKS.
To summarize these
works: DAIMONIC REALITY argues for the existence of an inner reality just as
real & authentic as the external world. This is the reality of unconscious
mind, but in its active 24/7 existence & based on, or spilling over into
what Jung called The Collective Unconscious. This flipside of common reality is
neither black nor white—or gray either for that fact. Just where this
consciousness can be physically located is one of the tantalizing subjects of
ORIGINS.
The content of ORIGINS
is perfectly aligned with the ideas presented in DAIMONIC REALITY; that is, the
philosophy is a perfect fit. Author Stan Gooch is even more critical of the
Jane Roberts material than I am—and that’s saying a lot. However, I seem
to remember finding a great deal of intellectual inspiration in Robert’s first
book SETH SPEAKS, but it’s been aeons since I read the material & heaven
knows what state my own consciousness was in at that remote space in time. I
just remember really relating to the idea presented in SETH SPEAKS that the
everyday personality is just the tip of a multidimensional iceberg-like Entity.
As a psychological
researcher, Stan Gooch’s main intent in this work is to (1) demonstrate the
actual, living presence of unconscious reality & how it affects the awake
or conscious personality, and (2) how that reality translates into the common
(yet profound) experiences classified as psychic phenomena. Not an easy task to
illustrate, but the author most definitely succeeds.
Stan Gooch has written
a number of books, and I have seen them referenced (I really like the title THE
DREAM CULTURE OF THE NEANDERTHAL), but have not read them yet. Judging from
ORIGINS this is my summation of his abilities: He excellently explains the
intricacies of the Science of Psychology. In fact, I enjoy his writing most
when he addressees the specifics of the relationship between clinical
psychology and Psychic Phenomena.
_______________________________
The 1st Chapter titled INCUBI & SUCCUBI
IN SUBURBIA could also include “Alien Abduction” & “Near Death Experience” as subjects. For some time I’ve
thought that such phenomena was a dramatic symptom of a clinical sleep
disorder—and this chapter supports that idea. I feel competent to advocate this
perspective because I have wrestled with a chronic sleep disorder all my
life—which explains why I sit up all night reading books about nightmares &
somnambulism. I have directly experienced almost all the symptoms that others
have claimed were external manifestations of a psychic or alien agency—but the
difference is, I knew that the source of the stimuli was within my own head
(probably originating somewhere in the frontal
lobe area.)
Stan Gooch concludes
the chapter:
…My own feeling,
now, is that there may literally be no limit to what can be achieved by
the human subjective
mind manipulating and actualizing itself in the external, objective
universe around it.
[P. 18]
The quote above
could also be a concise description of the theoretical basis of “magick.”
MAGICK = THE ART OF LIVING CHANGE
The more I read
ORIGINS, the more comfortable I felt with the author’s underlying philosophy.
He was “exposing” the false foundation of “New Age” speculations—and doing so
without belittling the consciousness that contains them.
The location of
phenomena in the distant past, certainly, allows the imagination to run riot
unchecked. Is perhaps the attraction of distant phenomena that they cannot be
disproved?
[Pgs. 19-20]
Regarding demons:
So perhaps [demons] are only as old as our nervous system, or perhaps they
had some separate existence of their own before mankind came along.
[P. 21]
Near the end of this chapter, DEMONS PAST & ENTITIES PRESENT,
Stan Gooch has some remarks on the Witchcraft Hysteria that are most useful.
Among other things, he describes how the psychological principle of projection was
involved in the witch scare. Playwright Arthur Miller used the same theme in
his stage play “The Crucible”
that also focused on the for-profit motive that fueled the Salem trials. Both writers go deeply into the motivation behind the
so-called “Burning
Times.” I feel strongly about this because the innocent victims of this
persecution—those killed as witches—are now being falsely labeled again
as being “witches” and not by religious zealots, but by “Wiccans” who claim to
be “witches” themselves. They’ve transformed Salem into a tacky tourist trap,
and defame the real people who were innocent or otherwise stood up against the
ignorance of the deluded witchcraft persecution.
What they’re doing is akin to selling Star of David
armbands for a buck a pop at some ghastly Auswitchz-land.
Shame on them.
[See also, REVIEW:
RED SCARE Memories of the American Inquisition]
In Chapter 4 the author makes a surprisingly liberal statement
regarding “Spontaneous Human
Combustion.”
Spontaneous human combustion, then, may be the result of an
individual at some point failing to externalize a critical buildup of psychic…energy
(which might otherwise manifest itself as general poltergeist activity)…
[P. 61]
Speculation about poltergeists aside, I thought that the SHC
phenomena had been finally laid to rest. At any event, this statement should at
least mollify Stan Gooch’s critics who claim that he is too orthodox or
close-minded to pop esoteric interpretations of psychic phenomena. Personally,
I don’t buy it.
In Chapter 5 AUTOMATIC
WRITING and Chapter 6 PAST LIVES? the
author explores the nature of mediumship
and the various facets & implications of hypnosis & past life
regression. These chapters are critical, as they lay out the foundation of the
author’s view on the interplay between the unconscious & its
externalization in the psychic phenomena attributed to automatic writing &
so-called “past life regression.”
And true believers ain’t gonna like it…but I sure did.
I think I can convey the general idea without resorting to
extensive quotes from the book because what is presented there dovetails my
personal beliefs in this area.
It’s essential to understand that before Freud
people had absolutely no consciousness of the unconscious and its’ dynamic on
“normal” or awake consciousness. Dreams were sent from demons or gods and
strange behavior was attributed to the same. The great Hellenistic tragedies
like Oedipus Rex were externalized, creative revelations of an unknown/daemonic
and often frightening inner reality. Freud was able to utilize “the Word” (i.e.
the dialectic of existentialism)
to shine light on the hitherto unknown, often dark expansions of the human
mind.
The question we have to address in this current review is just how
expansive the subconscious or unconscious really is. Is it possible, for
example, for an individual to “remember” apparently completely hidden details
from a previous lifetime?
The answer is Yes.
Is this proof final of reincarnation?
The answer is…No.
The unconscious mind and daimonic reality are pretty much
interchangeable concepts. The daemon or The Holy Guardian Angel of Thelema (i.e. “Will”) is a
creative product/projection of the imagination, a sort of self-hypnosis the
ego-self or the observer invents as a spiritual guide into this inner reality
of the Soul.
The unconscious mind is virtually infinite. Its parameters have
only recently (like the past hundred years or so) even been guessed at. It’s a
well-known speculation that we use less than 20% of our potential “Brain
Power.” That leaves almost 80% of energy…just sitting there doing nothing? That
almost 80% is very active indeed. It weaves fantasies, stores up data to rival
& surpass any computer. It is a whole universe unto itself. This seemingly
infinite mind is the very source of “spirituality” and the sense of & deep
felt need for Unity.
The only way I can come close to conveying this reality is to do
something I dislike others doing in material intended for the public: that is,
drawing from personal experience to explain so-called psychic phenomena.
In my youth when I was “experimenting” with psychedelics, I was
involved in an informal, professional (albeit underground) research group known
as Infinite Reality. The purpose of the group was to study the psychic
implications & applications of LSD in a
guided/control setting. The purpose of one experiment was to test the possibility
of telepathy. I had the following experience during this experiment.
As the drug took effect I meditated in the lotus position for
about twenty minutes (this was just prior to the telepathic incident.)
Something “told me” to look up to a corner of the room. At that instant I
experienced mental levitation out of my body to where I experienced my
consciousness located in that particular corner of the room & found myself
looking down at my body still sitting on the floor. I perceived the entire room
from that vantage point, making note of certain details that later proved to be
correct, but could not normally have been perceived from the original sitting
position on the floor. This orb of sight-consciousness then seemed to zoom to
another corner, then another, and finally the last. Then this projected
consciousness returned to my body. The minute details I remembered (certain
tiny markings, a stain, chipped paint, etc.) could now only be verified by the
use of a ladder.
Was this proof of bi-location?
Did I actually leave my body?
No.
What actually happened was that the Awareness Enhancing Substance
created a path for my unconscious to become active in conscious reality. The
mind in its totality was able to project itself in a state close to hypnosis to
that corner of the room & from there gather all the accurate information in
order to make it appear as if I-the-Observer was actually in that corner
making all the observations that validated the experience that the mind
itself had set up. The unconscious is capable of extraordinary perception
perhaps a thousand times that of ordinary consciousness. Obviously we couldn’t
remain permanently in this enhanced state of awareness because we would be
overwhelmed by the amount of details & information flooding through our
senses. So the brain has learned to block about 90% of external stimuli so that
we can function appropriately to perform the tasks needed for survival. The
limited observer-self that remains conscious is the ego-personality.
(Incidentally, the telepathic experience that followed this spontaneous event
was a smashing success—so much so that I can unhesitatingly affirm from direct
experience that telepathy exists. Whether it exists outside a controlled
pharmaceutical setting I can’t confirm.)
Allow me now to illustrate how Brain Power relates to the concept
of Reincarnation.
Just as the unconscious is able to perceive the 80-90% of external
information that’s blocked to the conscious, it also “remembers” every scrap of
information perceived by the senses. Again, 80-90% remains totally lost to or
forgotten by the conscious mind. Under hypnosis this wealth of information
becomes available once again. However, the daemon is a trickster & can
easily manipulate the matter into unrecognizable shapes. This is particularly
true if both the subject and/or the control (hypnotist) have either a conscious
or unconscious agenda—like proving the existence of reincarnation, alien
abduction, satanic abuse, etc., etc.
“But…” you may interject, “how can you explain the subject’s
wealth of verifiable details offered as proof of a past life…or communication
with the dead, etc. etc.?” The response is, again, the unconscious stores a
lifetime of details completely out of conscious reach. There is another factor
to consider: Extended Logic. This is the ability of the conscious to dip into
the unconscious to accurately draw extremely complex solutions to various problems
& challenges. Some people who have this ability sell it as “psychic”
ability—and maybe it is. However, there’s an old adage that goes: The
simplest solution is usually the right one & if it doesn’t make sense, then
it’s probably not true.
[On page 209 Chapter 17 BUT WHERE IN THE BRAIN IS THE UNCONSCIOUS,
the author states: One of the effects of LSD…is effectively to generate
false information in lower centers…such as the pineal gland…which is then
passed on as if it had been received as genuine sensory information.
Obviously I disagree—not so much with the physical mechanism described, but in
the result. Validity of the visions/insights/beauty aside, this apparent
dismissal of the deep emotional catharsis—even spiritual advent experienced by
the use of psychedelics, is unfortunate. During the early days when the
benefits of LSD therapy could legally explored, it was found that the “God
Experience” the drug often triggers, was uniquely helpful in creating a lasting
sense of peace in terminally ill patients.]
Subsequent chapters deal with such fascinating subjects as UFOs, a
more extensive examination into various forms of mediumship, and a look into
disincarnate entities.
Chapter 13 THE DYNAMIC UNCONSCIOUS offers one of the most concise
& understandable explanations of the subject I’ve ever read.
A few examples:
Freud based his initial presentation to the general public of
psychoanalysis and the dynamic unconscious, the Introductory Lectures,
on the most “flimsy” evidence he had—on what is now known as the “Freudian
slip” or motivated error. For Freud well realized that once he could show in
our own everyday lives any sort of purposive mechanism, any kind of
intentional, organized activity in the mind, however slight, other than that
of normal waking consciousness, the case for the unconscious mind was
proven.
[Pgs. 148-149]
It’s amazing the lengths people were required to go in the past in
order to prove the existence of concepts everybody takes for granted today.
On pages 155 – 156 the author tells us that Freud had a very
ambivalent attitude in regards to the occult—and suggests that this may have
triggered a defense mechanism of his own.
I found this description of neuroses interesting:
All neurotic behavior…is characterized by its defensive intent—that
is, to defend some part of the personality against attack or hurt—but equally
by self-defeating consequences of its “solution.” The “solution” is in fact the
illness. Thus in agoraphobia the person concerned is afraid of going outdoors.
The “solution” is to stay indoors. But this solution only means continuing to
suffer from the illness permanently! The true solution involves, or would
involve, finding out in psychotherapy what the outside world really represents
to the sufferer at the unconscious level.
[P. 157]
Chapter 14 MULTIPLE PERSONALITY is a treasure trove of
information, suggestion & possibilities.
Such dramatic and fundamental change (as in the case of
multiples-ed.) can be observed (a) in hypnotic subjects regressed to a “past
life,” (b) in mediums in deep trance, and (c) was observed, and photograph in
Carlotta (a multiple, -ed.) Such change must have been seen and noted in
medieval and ancient historic times, and probably ever since man evolved, in
those said to be possessed of demons and devils. Probably indeed the world-wide
religious edifice of demons and angels has no other basis.
[P. 172]
Hmmm…I bet that observation ruffled some feathers!
In fact, I know it did—but I’ll return to this in a minute.
Chapter 17, BUT WHERE IN THE BRAIN IS THE UNCONSCIOUS? is the
last, save two chapters, from the end of ORIGINS, and will conclude this
review.
The query this chapter raises, where in the brain is the
unconscious, is one of the most relevant & important questions of the
current age. Trying to even imagine one’s own unconscious is on a par with
laying on the grass watching the night sky & trying to imagine where the
universe ends or wondering how God could exist before the beginning of time—or
that old favorite, trying to imagine non-existence or actually being dead.
These are problematic scenarios that test the limits of our mortal
understanding.
This term (i.e. the “unconscious” –ed.)…is nevertheless an
unfortunate one—for the unconscious mind is not necessarily unconscious of
itself, it is only (as a rule) unconscious to normal waking consciousness A
better name for the unconscious would be “alternative consciousness,” a name
that rightly suggests the separate identity, autonomy, and “own logic” activity
of this biological and psychological phenomena.
[P. 203]
This could also well apply to our concept of the personal “Daemon”
and “The Holy Guardian Angel.”
It is a remarkable circumstance that neither Freud nor Jung, nor
any…psychiatrist, ever made a concerted attempt to identify the physical basis
of the unconscious—which…they were…prepared to defend with their professional
lives…Why…do…psychiatrists continue to duck the issue of the physical basis of
the unconscious?
…Even if such a basis is found, the psychological events concerned
cannot be reduced to the physical events. Psychological events are an
independent and higher order phenomena. They exist in their own right.
[P. 203]
The chapter continues to examine possible locations of the
unconscious in the brain. This investigation is fascinating & extremely
well written. My only critical comment is that I feel this section would
benefit with the inclusion of a graphic illustrating the various areas of the
brain.
I promised I’d return to my perception that certain sections of
ORIGINS would ruffle feathers. As readers are probably aware, customers can
write reviews of material sold on Amazon. I was curious about what other
readers felt about this book. Most of the reviews were as positive as this one,
but an expected negative review was there as well.
This negative review was vituperative & irrationally vehement.
When people become irate over purely speculative & theoretical
matters, it usually indicates that the person feels threatened over issues that
expose fallacies in the person’s preconceptions and worldview. New Age
advocates—like spiritualists of the late 19˚ into the first part of the
last century—are prone to react rather aggressively when their beliefs are
analyzed in the clear light of day. Can it be that they, like the instigators
of the Salem Trials, also feel their livelihoods are being threatened? Much, if
not most, of the New Age philosophy is geared to the profit motive exploiting
people’s hopes & fears (as in the case of ALL religion, banking on
individual fear of death & hope in personal survival.) They understandably
resent it when their cherished beliefs are rationally examined.
ORIGINS OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENA provides an alternative approach to
subjects held as sacrosanct by the new True Believers.
Click to Order
What I find amazing
is that ORIGINS really doesn’t negate the existence of psychic phenomena. On
the contrary, the book interprets the experience from a valid psychological
perspective. If anything, ORIGINS OF PSYCHIC PHENOMENA gives a new life &
vitality to the continued investigation of the subject. The book dispels the
antiquated, externalized view of the phenomena and replaces it with an
internalized, psychological mode that validates the reality of psychic
phenomena, while at the same time affirming the depth of the individual
psyche—the House of the Soul.
REVIEW: JEFarrow
Updated 11/07