Observations placeholder
Seeing historical events in detail
Identifier
004230
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Accessing Historical past perceptions - as opposed to the perceptions of the living - is a very specific form of perception recall. 'Past lives' is an area of real controversy because when we can 'see' historical events unfold we may be seeing
- our perceptions from one of our previous lives
- the perceptions of another person with whom we have had contact via a bridge. We should never assume that the events unfolding before us are our past lives, they may be the past lives of someone whose perceptions we have been able to access
- the imprinted record on objects, what has been imprinted by those who have handled the object.
The following observation appears to show that this man could do this. Sadly the detail is a little vague when it comes to who he was with and what he was holding in order for him to do this. But it makes, as such, an interesting observation for this reason.
Dr Shafica Karagulla, born in the Lebanon but whose research took her to the USA and the UK, was a neuro-psychiatrist who spent eight years researching ordinary people who appeared to have extraordinary abilities. She started off being a skeptic as most scientists are [including me] but over time the evidence seemed overwhelming and she set up a research project to find out more. What brought her into the area was a book about Edgar Cayce, what kept her going was an open mind and an insatiable curiosity. Where she is remarkable is that she had no experiences of her own to confirm her eventual conclusions, but like all the very best scientists forgot her own life and concentrated on the observations and evidence.
Her research subjects were carefully chosen. She rejected all those who claimed they had these abilities but instead by a laborious process of enquiry and referral managed to find those who carried on normal professions and who never talked about their abilities but just used them.
At the end of the observation we also have a sentence that shows he was also a synaesthetist
A description of the experience
Breakthrough to Creativity – Dr Shafica Karagulla
Mike can see events in history so clearly they are almost as real to him as the outside world. He finds himself stepping into a time and place in history and sees the events, hears the footsteps of the people, observes their movements and hears the language of the period. He can repeat to an experimental group present with him the words of languages he does not know. He does not like to perform this kind of experiment unless there are people present with him, because he has a tendency to move so far into the time and feeling and life of a historical scene he loses contact with the outside world. This becomes almost like a trance state if he remains in contact with a historical scene for too long. He does not like a situation where he is not in full conscious control of all his faculties. To persons observing him he appears at times to be approaching a trance state. In order to prevent this Mike talks to the experimenters present, repeating the words of the language he hears and describing the scenes.
When Mike first arrived in the United States he had been very ill and was making very little money on his art work. He was suffering from nutritional deficiency. In his weakened condition he went into a trance state very easily when he tried to look at events that had happened in the past. Some of his acquaintances decided he must be having hallucinations. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital for treatment, but a prominent citizen in New York who knew him and understood his problem managed to get him out of the hospital. He took Mike to his home until he had recovered his health.
It is interesting to note that some of the languages which Mike has heard when he observes historical scenes have been identified from tape recordings made at the time of the experiments. What has been said makes good sense. Mike simply repeats phonetically as he hears the words spoken. Scenes and clothing which Mike describes seem to be correct for the period of history which he has contacted.
In connection with his art work I discovered that colour had a taste for Mike. When he looks at cobalt blue, for example, the colour gives him a metallic taste in his mouth.
The source of the experience
Ordinary personConcepts, symbols and science items
Concepts
BridgePerceptions
Perceptions - accessing perceptions
Perceptions - what has perceptions
Psychometry