contact with them can be upsetting and even dangerous.
ELONGATION
Term used to describe the elongation of a medium’s body while under spirit control. Historically, elongations were attributed to possession by gods or demons but by the third century AD similar experiences are reported with mediums. Elongations often feature in the data collected for canonization proceedings and some of El Greco’s paintings appear to illustrate saints that are ‘stretched’.
Elongations were a common occurrence in Victorian spiritualist séances, the most well-known and reported being those of the famous Scottish medium D D Home, who allowed witnesses to measure him. At one of the test séances which Home undertook with Lord Adare and the Master of Lindsay, a journalist who was present, H T Humphries, wrote that Home ‘was seen by all of us to increase in height to the extent of some eight or ten inches.’
Elongations are still occasionally reported in séances, but no other medium has even been tested in the detailed way Home allowed. Sceptics argue that elongations are illusions and made possible with simple tricks such as slipping feet out of shoes and standing on tiptoe. Although trickery might have been the case in many instances, throughout his career as a medium, Home was never exposed as a fraud.
EMPATHY
The ability to tune in intuitively or psychically to the moods and characteristics of a person, animal or place. Empathy is a vital skill for clairsentients and may involve telepathy, but it can also simply be derived from an unconscious or conscious reaction to the body language of another person.
Empaths are people with highly developed feelings of empathy to others and the world around them. They are particularly sensitive to feelings of pain and distress and in some cases physical and emotional pain may manifest in the empath’s own body as a result of sensing the pain of others, sometimes resulting in depression and fatigue. In some cases, empaths can sense illness before a person is aware of it, and a person’s death before it occurs. Empaths can also pick up information from places as well. For example, an empath may visit a house and sense particular suffering that has happened there in the past.
Empathy from a distance is most likely to occur when there are strong emotional links between people. For example, twins and long-term partners often have empa-thetic links with each other and mothers are empathetic for their children. There is also evidence to suggest that animals exhibit empathetic links for each other and for their owners. See animal psi.
Are you empathetic?
Empathy occurs when we feel for others, both their joy and their pain. It is possible to develop empathy so strongly that just by touching someone you can feel or experience what that person does. We are all empathetic to some degree but some are more empathetic than others. If you answer yes to two or more of the questions below you should consider yourself somewhat empathetic:
For psychic development and clairsentient awareness empathy can be a valuable asset but it does, however, have a downside. If we are strongly empathetic, someone else’s feelings, emotions and attitudes can register so strongly upon us that we assume these are our feelings. We may not realize that what we are feeling may actually be tied to someone else we have encountered or the location we are in. It is very easy to link with the problems and issues of others and carry them with us as if they are our own. If you are not aware you are doing this you can begin to think you are going crazy.
If you find that you have a strong tendency to be empathetic and to experience what others are experiencing it is vital to find ways to deliberately disconnect yourself from others and to have time to be alone every day. Some suggest using visualization techniques to disconnect yourself, such as visualizing cutting threads or pulling out cords from the other person. Others suggest visualizing a protective bubble of light around yourself during the day. Gardenia and eucalyptus essential oils are also thought to help you remain objective while dealing with others. Just a tiny drop diluted in water and worn like perfume or a few drops in a bowl of water in your bedroom when you sleep at night is all that is necessary.
ENCOUNTER PHENOMENON
Encounters with alternate realities and non-physical beings. Encounter phenomenon covers a wide range of experiences including visions of angels, fairies or spirits, near-death experiences, UFO abductions, channelling and possession. Despite great variety in individual cases, historical records show similar characteristics, such as some or all of the following: psi in various forms; feelings of love, wonder or awe; being anointed as a teacher or leader to humanity; instruction or initiation; the presence of light; transportation to a non-physical realm; revelations and ESP. Encounters with alternate realities seem accidental but more often than not they have intention. For instance, many come to give guidance or help to humans at times of crisis, and some encounters are so powerful that a person’s life is permanently changed.
Research shows that some people are more likely than others to have encounters with alternate realities. It seems that childhood tendencies towards fantasy, role-play and imagination are contributory factors. Childhood trauma is another significant factor. Such trauma can result in dissociation, in which part of the psyche splits off from itself as a means of self-defence.
There are those who believe that encounters with alternate realities are genuine interactions with external non-physical reality, but others hold that encounters are exteriorizations of the unconscious. The encounter is said to happen when the unconscious creates an escape
