Unexplained and extraordinary spiritual and psychic phenomena have occurred throughout the world since time immemorial. Humans have long reported instances that transcend earthly logic, from paranormal sightings to near-death experiences, and we are not so removed from the wonder and fear that our ancestors held in regard to such occurrences.
While many cultures sought to invoke these interactions via ritual and ancestral rites, others viewed them with a mixture of terror and confusion. In ancient times, exceptional individuals were sought out for their powers of divination, most notably the oracles of Grecian worship.
Across the Atlantic similar medicine workers were revered for their abilities to predict future outcomes, as well as cure the ailing soul. Precognition, psychokinesis, meditative trance work, telepathy, and mystical illumination have all been recorded in geographic-spanning accounts.
While Ancient Mediterranean civilizations employed the services of temple oracles and sacred diviners, the Ancient Egyptians called upon priests of the highest order to determine matters of everything from war and harvests to life after death. Such persons oversaw mummification and burial rites, even placing special spells and curses within tombs to protect the inhabitant.
Pagan belief held (and continues to hold) seasonal rituals to be of crucial importance, a chance to connect to one's ancestral guides, as well as the spirits and deities of the earth and other side. To the Far East, Tibetan Buddhist Mahasiddhas also practiced a form of mystical divination through disciplined meditative study.
The rise of Christianity saw the practice of divination, as well as reported paranormal sightings and stirrings, as an act of heresy and thus punishable by death and/or torture. Divine mysticism was relegated to holy sightings only, and usually recorded by men holding positions of power within the church.
These holy sightings were often used to influence the masses, and gain favor with royals and authorities. The admitted visions of Joan of Arc, which compelled her to assist the French army in the Hundred Years War, ultimately proved to be her undoing when she was tried--and executed--on the grounds of witchcraft.
The arrival of prophetic figures at the dawn of the Renaissance, such as the 16th-century seer Nostradamus, shed a new light on the former views of the Dark Ages. Prophets, seers, and court tarot readers were treated as indispensable aids, and so long as their visions aligned with the desired outcomes of their employers, such men and women were held in the highest regard.
By the time of Mary Shelley and her fellow visionaries Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, Romanticism was met with the newly minted Age of Reason, also called the Age of Enlightenment, and science and spiritualism became unlikely bedfellows.
People were beginning to demand explanations for otherworldly phenomena, looking towards the lab rather than the church for answers. Numerous studies were performed by the educated elite in matters pertaining to necromancy, the afterlife, and likelihood of one returning to earth in spirit form. It's worth noting that this period also saw an unprecedented spike in grave robberies, with corpses routinely stolen and sold for study and experimentation.
The 19th-century Victorian obsession with death and the afterlife sparked a surge in professed mediums, who performed elaborate séances and claimed to produce "scientific" proof of one's spiritual encounter, namely in the form of ectoplasm.
Psychic mediums such as Madam Blavatsky, Edgar Cayce, and John Edward enjoyed widespread fame and equal parts notoriety, while advancements in the art of photography saw many camera laymen claiming the ability to "capture" the spirits of loved ones in photographic form. During this time it also became a standard practice to photograph the bodies of recently deceased loved ones.
By the mid-20th century, psychic specialists were becoming something of the norm, appearing in television programs, commercials, and advertisements, as well as penning best selling accounts of their life's work and early gifts of premonition. American paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren gained considerable fame after the Amityville haunting, with cases such as the possessed doll Annabelle and Enfield poltergeist bolstering their celebrity status, which persists to this day. There have been a number of Hollywood psychic films depicting the couple, namely The Conjuring and Conjuring 2. While many psychic "stars" have since been discredited, others have gone on to enjoy a reputable place in the realm of spiritualism.
While societal views on the paranormal have shifted over time, the individuals experiencing such phenomena remain unchanged. Every day, and in countless parts of the world, men, women, and children alike have revealed bizarre instances that cannot be readily explained away. Ghostly sightings, visitations, out of body experiences, premonitions, and even demonic possession continue to be reported, with certain matters of particular severity earning the Church's attention.
The psychic specialists of today work closely with those dealing with unexplained phenomena, visiting homes and individuals alike to determine what is of this world--and the other.
