I read an article in the New York TIMES this morning and it really got me thinking about us humans. Here is the first paragraph or so.
…BANGKOK — Don’t be fooled by the skyscrapers, the roads clogged with the latest luxury cars or the high-tech gadgetry in pockets and purses. This country of 65 million people has embraced modernity, yes, but many Thais will tell you that ghosts and spirits still wander the streets and inhabit buildings. Important business decisions often require consultations with a fortune teller. Cabinet ministers and military officers are sometimes so concerned with numerology and advice from their shamans that politics in Thailand could be called the black art of the possible….
…West and East, many people enjoy a good ghost story or a peek at their horoscope now and again. What sets apart Thailand and other countries in Asia is the prevalence of fortune telling and other supernatural-related activities at the highest levels of government (Nancy Reagan’s astrologer notwithstanding)…
So, it got me thinking how much of a “real” difference there is in the “paranormal” thinking and (acting on that thinking) among the various scattered tribes of suggestible apes we call Homo Sapiens.
On this day, 1/1/11, I would like to invite everyone to examine their own lives carefully. Take Socrates seriously today and make a concerted effort to “Know Thyself” when it comes to YOUR OWN “paranormal” beliefs and activities. Regardless of how rational you consider yourself or how scientific you consider your approach to what you think of as reality… do it. Make a list if it helps, but, one way or another come to understand a little better, on this auspicious numerical date, just how much (or how little) paranormal beliefs influence your life.
Do you buy lottery tickets with lucky numbers, have a rabbits foot or lucky tie or socks? When you drop a salt shaker do you throw some over your shoulder… do you knock on wood? Do you walk under ladders, not speak ill of the dead? Think about these things today and, if you like, share them with the rest of us here in the Garage.
Perhaps, on 1/1/11, YOU can add one to the long list strange beliefs and unnatural happenings that are all to common in and around Mrs. Neutrons Garage. Don’t be afraid. We won’t tell anyone.
Mrs. Neutron's Garage 
Hi there, and Happy New Year! I tend to think that people who believe in ghosts, etc., are the same people who believe in god…it’s all part of the supernatural foolishness.
The closest I come to having a good luck charm is a 7-pointed star I wear around my neck, always. Each point represent a powerful, positive message to me that I meditate on if I think of it. It’s more of a reminder to believe in myself than a charm.
The town I live in promotes the whole “haunted hotel” tourist traps. People actually come here thinking they’ll meet the ghost of some dead hooker or whatever. I know a girl who stayed at a local inn and waited up for the ghost. Of course she didn’t meet one, but she still believes.
Does believing in karma count? Because that I do!
How about you?
YES believing in karma counts! “Deborah” (not Debbie)
Of course it does. It’s saying that somehow, somewhere, there is “something keeping score” of everything and seeing to it that it all ends up fair and square in the end. It’s a paranormal belief. It’s another way of saying I believe in god, but, with a small “g”. It’s like people who say… “Oh NO, I’m not religious at all, BUT, I do think everything happens for a reason.”
Don’t feel bad… It makes you normal. (bet that’s a load off your mind) Human Beings “create reality”. It’s in here… not “out there”.
The only important question is …”At what level of illusion are you the healthiest in mind and body. No one size fits all.
(I believe that when I leave the room the furniture disappears)
Yes you’re right, the concept of “something keeping score” does sort of shoot down the whole “I’m not superstitious” argument! But I’m not sure I believe it in quite that way…it’s more like, send out to the world what you want to get back.
Nah, I don’t think bad stuff happens for a reason, that’s just something people say when life’s random horrors happen. People try to make sense of the senseless, can’t blame them.
It’s all a mystery to me—and to everybody, but not everybody can deal with puzzles that can never be solved, so they make stuff up. It’s all about self-preservation, right?
Deborah says….. “It’s all a mystery to me—and to everybody, but not everybody can deal with puzzles that can never be solved, so they make stuff up. It’s all about self-preservation, right?”…
Deborah is wise. (And for somebody named “Debbie from Connecticut”… that’s nothing to sneeze at! Bravo!)