Prescientific Psi Development

Posted on May 15th, 2006 by

The Prescientific Traditions [From Chapter Two of Psi Development Systems]

Ancient humankind accepted implicitly the mind's desire to interact magically with the environment. According to Frazer (1935), "Whatever doubts science may entertain as to the possibility of action at a distance, magic has none; faith in telepathy is one of its first principles. A modem advocate of the influence of mind upon mind at a distance would have no difficulty in convincing a savage; the savage believed in it long ago, and what is more he acted on his belief with a logical consistency such as his civilized brother in the faith has not yet, so far as I am aware, exhibited in his conduct. For the savage is concerned not only that magical ceremonies affect persons and things afar off, but that the simplest acts of daily life may do so too."

Thorndike (1905) goes so far as to maintain that in early prescientific times, everybody was a magician, trying to put magical philosophy, which was universally accepted, into practice. Thus, all the prescientific traditions involving psi development systems originated in a milieu that implicitly accepted the existence of psi, or the supernatural, or divine intervention, with only a minimum of controversy. This world view was so pervasive that in many cases, such as in Tibetan Buddhism, there was no clear discrimination in the language between the normal and the paranormal, the sacred and the mundane. This religious world view is common to all the prescientific traditions with psi development systems.

The thread of psi training runs through hundreds of traditions, each with its cults, variations, offshoots, interpretations, tensions, and critics. Thus, the potential areas for investigation include all priesthoods, all mystical fraternities, all spiritual lineages, and all systems of divination. Given the magnitude of this field, a detailed examination of the original artifacts and documents of all these traditions is beyond the scope of this chapter. Instead, I will refer to secondary scholarly sources, except where original material is available in English. This does, however, place considerable limitations on presenting complete descriptions of psi training methods in these cultures, as reliable investigations of prescientific traditions have rarely focused on techniques alleged to train psi abilities.

Furthermore, in these traditions, psi was not perceived in a way that allows us to distinguish it easily from visionary and mystical experiences or mythological folklore. Nor do we have any reliable measure of the efficacy of possible prescientific psi training programs. Much of the actual psi training is said to have been passed on orally from teacher to student and never recorded. And, few scholars have desired or attained the intimate relationship with an individual who might transmit psi training lore. Fragmentary information does exist for the following traditions discussed in this chapter: shamanism, divination, yoga, Buddhism, Sufism, Judaism, and ceremonial magic.

The fragments reported in this chapter often raise more questions than they answer. The data largely paint an impressionistic historical portrait that speaks for itself. Further background material, of a more general nature, relating to prescientific traditions of consciousness exploration can be found in my first book, The Roots of Consciousness: Psychic Liberation Through History, Science and Experience (1975, 1993).

References

Frazer, J.G. The golden bough, 3d ed. London: Oliver and Boyd, 1932.

Mishlove, J. The Roots of Consciousness. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Council Oaks, 1993. (Originally published, 1975.)

Thorndike, L. The place of magic in the intellectual history of Europe. New York: Columbia University Press, 1905.

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