Religious Demonology Psychology Basics

PSYCHOLOGY - BASICS

The purpose of this information is to give you an appreciation for the breadth of psychological knowledge and phenomenon that could be interpreted as paranormal. Never attempt to diagnose a person or think that you are qualified to do so based on reading this or other information. Doing so can expose you to serious legal liability. This information is to give you a thumbnail sketch of psychology to broaden your thinking about unusual experiences.

This information isn't given with the assumption that paranormal experiences don't happen, just that most are simply misunderstood normal experiences.

Psychological knowledge is important because there are many normal psychological processes that are interpreted as supernatural, paranormal, or demonic. Usually this occurs because the experiences are simply rare in most people's lives. Mental illness can also be misinterpreted as supernatural and is encountered as a fairly common cause of complaint.

One of the first things to realize is that we don't really know about how the brain works and it is far more complicated than most people know. There are over 10 billion neurons (brain cells) and each is connected to thousands of other neurons. These connections change all the time as neurons connect and disconnect from each other. There are over a hundred identified neurotransmitters, of which we usually hear about a handful like dopamine and serotonin. The range of subjective experiences and activities the brain can experience and produce are simply not known in full.

When considering any experience, subjectively when we look at ourselves, or objectively when we consider someone else's claim, we can break it down into sensation, perception, and interpretation. Many people want to rush from some experience to "it was a ghost!" or "there is a demon here!", with very little evidence. Sensation is raw physical stimuli such as light, pressure, sound, smell, and taste. Perception is the character of the sensation, such as "bright", "sharp", "roses", or "sweet". Interpretation is the conclusion we draw about the meaning of the experience, such as "I smelled roses because my grandmother loved roses and her ghost is here" or "I heard banging because the heat duct brackets are loose". When examining a report break it down and get specific about each aspect of the experience.

As the various aspects of our sensory experience are discussed please remember that the brain always attempts to make sense of random stimuli, always finding something close and interpreting it that way. This is why we can stare at any complex pattern and soon start "seeing" faces or other images in it. This has been called "matrixing" by some workers in the paranormal research field.

Vision

Rods are the part of the retina that register light intensity but not color: black and white vision. Cones are the part of the retina that register color. There are many more cones in the center of your retina, where vision is sharpest. There are few cones on the edge of your retina, where your peripheral vision is registered. This means that the edge of your vision is somewhat blurry and mostly detects black and white. "Floaters" are partly opaque objects floating in the fluid of the eye that most people have. They can be seen most easily by looking at a white surface such as a sheet of paper. The presence of floaters in peripheral vision can cause the perception of "something black out of the corner of my eye!"

Sleep deprivation causes many problems including visual problems. Enough sleep deprivation can cause waking dreams, which can be thought of as visual hallucinations.

An interesting hypothesis about the "white light at the end of a tunnel" at death follows. The retina's blood supply comes from a collection of blood vessels just off of it's center. When the blood flow stops the retina cells at the outer edge have the oldest blood and shut off first. As the cells shut down they move from the outside inward, causing the subjective experience of tunnel vision. This is compounded by the retina becoming hyper-sensitive to light as a chemical byproduct of the dying process to form the light at the end of a tunnel effect.

Hearing

Hallucinations based in mental illness are predominantly auditory, not visual. Hearing voices or noises that nobody else can hear can be a sign of certain mental illnesses, sleep deprivation, or a medical condition. When you want to hear something and listen very hard it is easy to interpret normal faint noises as meaningful. This is a kind of aural matrixing. Dreaming while awake could easily take the form of hearing your name called or other sounds. Hearing something apparently meaningful in the sound of a vacuum cleaner or other white noise is fairly common. This is simply the brain trying to make sense of random stimuli. It is my opinion that most EVP's (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) are actually just garbled noise interpreted as meaningful. If an EVP has to be listened to 10 times to hear what the person says is there it isn't an EVP in my opinion. I only regard something as meaningful if the voice is as loud as the regular speakers in the recording, and makes obvious sense.

Scent

It is important to know that the brain tissue responsible for scent is adjacent to the inferior frontal lobe where much memory retrieval is thought to take place. This is why certain scents cause us to have very strong and abrupt memories of things attached with those scents. It could also explain why thinking hard about a certain person or event causes the illusion of smelling something associated with them or it.

Scent seems to be associated with certain spiritual presences. The scent of roses is a common occurrence associated with the presence of Angels or the Virgin Mary. Very bad odors seem to be associated with the presence of the demonic. One important difference between mundane and supernatural odors is their spatial nature. The scent of roses is often everywhere in a home or location with no source. The bad odor of the demonic is often localized where the demon is and moves as it moves, leaving no lingering odor. Static bad smells are often mundane and turn out to be from simple things like mold problems, pet odors, rotting material, etc.

States of Consciousness and Dreaming

The normal sleep cycle runs in four-hour blocks. When we wake up at the end of a sleep cycle we often wake well, refreshed and clear-headed. When we wake from a deeper state of sleep in the middle we are disoriented, groggy, and slow to wake. Dreaming seems to occur at all stages of sleep, not just during the REM cycles. The deepest state of sleep is where the body does most of the restorative work and healing. Dreaming at this deepest state is in a more raw emotional form and is more simple strong feelings than complex thoughts or images.

The hypnagogic state is the border between being awake and fully asleep, experienced as we fall asleep. The hypnopompic state is the boarder between being asleep and being awake, experienced as we wake up. These two states are responsible for most reports of paranormal activity. This is because we are half asleep and often superimposing dreams on reality. If you or a person complains of experiences only in bed or upon waking it is fairly likely it is a sleep disorder.

Sleep paralysis, "hagging", aliens and other visitors

The brain secretes a natural anesthesia to the spinal cord at the brainstem when we sleep. This is to prevent our bodies from making all the movements we make in our dreams. Sometimes when we wake up this anesthesia isn't turned off properly and we remain paralyzed for a few seconds or even minutes. This is often combined with the effect of being in a hypnopompic state and seeing a dream superimposed on reality. Since being unexpectedly paralyzed is anxiety provoking it's reasonable that we might have a "bad" dream at that moment. The hallmark that tells us this is a sleep disorder and not an alien abduction or other unlikely scenario is that it only lasts a short time and there isn't reasonable physical evidence of any visitor. One additional note: when half asleep or dreaming the part of our brain that distinguishes between a reasonable idea and one that isn't is turned off, hence the tendency for it to seem so reasonable, and real, at the time.

The reason people feel like there is something pressing their chest down is that they do not have voluntary control of their diaphragm so the effort to take a large breath to scream feels like it is resisted (normal breathing continues).

Drugs and Alcohol

It should be obvious but the use of drugs or alcohol can cloud judgment and in some cases cause hallucinations. Withdrawal can also cause many symptoms of distress, including hallucinations. Always rule out this possibility. Side effects of prescribed medication, or medication interactions should be ruled out with the help of the prescribing physician.

Delusions

A delusion is a false but intractable belief. Classic examples include the belief that others are always talking about one, that the government is overly interested in one, that one is a very important fictitious figure, etc. When someone reacts in violent protest to any challenging of such a belief it could be a sign of a delusion. Delusions can come with various mental illnesses or substance effects. It is best to work with caring family members or professions when confronted with a delusional person. Challenging the delusion will generally only cause agitation.

Dementia

Dementia is a loss of memory and general cognitive resources. This can come from old age, fever, medication side effects, or disease. The person with dementia often forgets what they are doing, switches tracks, and forgets who people are. Dementia can present along with delusions. Confusion or fear isn't uncommon as disorientation can be upsetting to the person.

Psychosis

Psychosis means being disconnected from reality to one level or another. Psychosis can be in thought only, such as delusions, or in the form of hallucinations. One important thing to look at is whether the person experiencing the strange phenomenon is the only person perceiving that, or if other people share the same reality with the person.

Hysteria

Hysteria is basically when people get each other upset or worked up. One's perception of what is going on can be shaded or changed by the attitude and experience of other people present. This is commonly seen in groups when one person gets upset and says that something bad is going on. Often the more people buying into the view the more extreme the distortion of reality is. This is commonly seen in groups who investigate paranormal claims.

Priming Effects

An example of a priming effect is to say "go in there, we think there is a ghost in there". This would cause one to interpret experiences in a less objective manner. It is important to remain as objective as possible in observing phenomenon or cases.

Temporal Lobe Phenomenon

The temporal lobes are the sides of the brain, near the ears. In some people the temporal lobe brain tissue misfires sometimes, causing "temporal lobe transients". These are not seizures but they can cause subjective strange experiences, including a sense of transcendental connection with God. In certain people with full epilepsy that starts in the temporal lobe they will get an "aura" before a seizure where they feel union with God or the universe.

Michael Persinger showed that when the right magnetic fields are placed across the temporal lobes paranormal experienced are had immediately. These experiences stop as soon as the field is shut off. These experiences include sensed presences, hearing voices, out of body experiences, etc. This research underscores the importance of checking for high electric fields in areas where complaints of strange experiences occur.

Epilepsy

Certain types of epilepsy have been high on the list of medical explanations for possession phenomenon. Epileptic seizures can cause extreme strength, utterance of strange noises, and stereotypical movements. This is a reasonable hypothesis and should be explored if indicated. There are many aspects to possession states that do not fit this model: cogent use of languages unknown to the victim, mind reading, supernaturally affecting the states of those in the room, etc.

Please do not copy the material on this site, but link to this site instead.
All material Copyright Adam Blai, 2007


	PSYCHOLOGY - BASICS The purpose of this information is to give you an appreciation for the breadth of psychological knowledge and phenomenon that could be interpreted as paranormal. Never attempt to diagnose a person or think that you are qualified to do so based on reading this or other information. Doing so can expose you to serious legal liability. This information is to give you a thumbnail sketch of psychology to broaden your thinking about unusual experiences. This information isn't given with the assumption that paranormal experiences don't happen, just that most are simply misunderstood normal experiences. Psychological knowledge is important because there are many normal psychological processes that are interpreted as supernatural, paranormal, or demonic. Usually this occurs because the experiences are simply rare in most people's lives. Mental illness can also be misinterpreted as supernatural and is encountered as a fairly common cause of complaint. One of the first things to realize is that we don't really know about how the brain works and it is far more complicated than most people know. There are over 10 billion neurons (brain cells) and each is connected to thousands of other neurons. These connections change all the time as neurons connect and disconnect from each other. There are over a hundred identified neurotransmitters, of which we usually hear about a handful like dopamine and serotonin. The range of subjective experiences and activities the brain can experience and produce are simply not known in full. When considering any experience, subjectively when we look at ourselves, or objectively when we consider someone else's claim, we can break it down into sensation, perception, and interpretation. Many people want to rush from some experience to "it was a ghost!" or "there is a demon here!", with very little evidence. Sensation is raw physical stimuli such as light, pressure, sound, smell, and taste. Perception is the character of the sensation, such as "bright", "sharp", "roses", or "sweet". Interpretation is the conclusion we draw about the meaning of the experience, such as "I smelled roses because my grandmother loved roses and her ghost is here" or "I heard banging because the heat duct brackets are loose". When examining a report break it down and get specific about each aspect of the experience. As the various aspects of our sensory experience are discussed please remember that the brain always attempts to make sense of random stimuli, always finding something close and interpreting it that way. This is why we can stare at any complex pattern and soon start "seeing" faces or other images in it. This has been called "matrixing" by some workers in the paranormal research field. Vision Rods are the part of the retina that register light intensity but not color: black and white vision. Cones are the part of the retina that register color. There are many more cones in the center of your retina, where vision is sharpest. There are few cones on the edge of your retina, where your peripheral vision is registered. This means that the edge of your vision is somewhat blurry and mostly detects black and white. "Floaters" are partly opaque objects floating in the fluid of the eye that most people have. They can be seen most easily by looking at a white surface such as a sheet of paper. The presence of floaters in peripheral vision can cause the perception of "something black out of the corner of my eye!" Sleep deprivation causes many problems including visual problems. Enough sleep deprivation can cause waking dreams, which can be thought of as visual hallucinations. An interesting hypothesis about the "white light at the end of a tunnel" at death follows. The retina's blood supply comes from a collection of blood vessels just off of it's center. When the blood flow stops the retina cells at the outer edge have the oldest blood and shut off first. As the cells shut down they move from the outside inward, causing the subjective experience of tunnel vision. This is compounded by the retina becoming hyper-sensitive to light as a chemical byproduct of the dying process to form the light at the end of a tunnel effect. Hearing Hallucinations based in mental illness are predominantly auditory, not visual. Hearing voices or noises that nobody else can hear can be a sign of certain mental illnesses, sleep deprivation, or a medical condition. When you want to hear something and listen very hard it is easy to interpret normal faint noises as meaningful. This is a kind of aural matrixing. Dreaming while awake could easily take the form of hearing your name called or other sounds. Hearing something apparently meaningful in the sound of a vacuum cleaner or other white noise is fairly common. This is simply the brain trying to make sense of random stimuli. It is my opinion that most EVP's (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) are actually just garbled noise interpreted as meaningful. If an EVP has to be listened to 10 times to hear what the person says is there it isn't an EVP in my opinion. I only regard something as meaningful if the voice is as loud as the regular speakers in the recording, and makes obvious sense. Scent It is important to know that the brain tissue responsible for scent is adjacent to the inferior frontal lobe where much memory retrieval is thought to take place. This is why certain scents cause us to have very strong and abrupt memories of things attached with those scents. It could also explain why thinking hard about a certain person or event causes the illusion of smelling something associated with them or it. Scent seems to be associated with certain spiritual presences. The scent of roses is a common occurrence associated with the presence of Angels or the Virgin Mary. Very bad odors seem to be associated with the presence of the demonic. One important difference between mundane and supernatural odors is their spatial nature. The scent of roses is often everywhere in a home or location with no source. The bad odor of the demonic is often localized where the demon is and moves as it moves, leaving no lingering odor. Static bad smells are often mundane and turn out to be from simple things like mold problems, pet odors, rotting material, etc. States of Consciousness and Dreaming The normal sleep cycle runs in four-hour blocks. When we wake up at the end of a sleep cycle we often wake well, refreshed and clear-headed. When we wake from a deeper state of sleep in the middle we are disoriented, groggy, and slow to wake. Dreaming seems to occur at all stages of sleep, not just during the REM cycles. The deepest state of sleep is where the body does most of the restorative work and healing. Dreaming at this deepest state is in a more raw emotional form and is more simple strong feelings than complex thoughts or images. The hypnagogic state is the border between being awake and fully asleep, experienced as we fall asleep. The hypnopompic state is the boarder between being asleep and being awake, experienced as we wake up. These two states are responsible for most reports of paranormal activity. This is because we are half asleep and often superimposing dreams on reality. If you or a person complains of experiences only in bed or upon waking it is fairly likely it is a sleep disorder. Sleep paralysis, "hagging", aliens and other visitors The brain secretes a natural anesthesia to the spinal cord at the brainstem when we sleep. This is to prevent our bodies from making all the movements we make in our dreams. Sometimes when we wake up this anesthesia isn't turned off properly and we remain paralyzed for a few seconds or even minutes. This is often combined with the effect of being in a hypnopompic state and seeing a dream superimposed on reality. Since being unexpectedly paralyzed is anxiety provoking it's reasonable that we might have a "bad" dream at that moment. The hallmark that tells us this is a sleep disorder and not an alien abduction or other unlikely scenario is that it only lasts a short time and there isn't reasonable physical evidence of any visitor. One additional note: when half asleep or dreaming the part of our brain that distinguishes between a reasonable idea and one that isn't is turned off, hence the tendency for it to seem so reasonable, and real, at the time. The reason people feel like there is something pressing their chest down is that they do not have voluntary control of their diaphragm so the effort to take a large breath to scream feels like it is resisted (normal breathing continues). Drugs and Alcohol It should be obvious but the use of drugs or alcohol can cloud judgment and in some cases cause hallucinations. Withdrawal can also cause many symptoms of distress, including hallucinations. Always rule out this possibility. Side effects of prescribed medication, or medication interactions should be ruled out with the help of the prescribing physician. Delusions A delusion is a false but intractable belief. Classic examples include the belief that others are always talking about one, that the government is overly interested in one, that one is a very important fictitious figure, etc. When someone reacts in violent protest to any challenging of such a belief it could be a sign of a delusion. Delusions can come with various mental illnesses or substance effects. It is best to work with caring family members or professions when confronted with a delusional person. Challenging the delusion will generally only cause agitation. Dementia Dementia is a loss of memory and general cognitive resources. This can come from old age, fever, medication side effects, or disease. The person with dementia often forgets what they are doing, switches tracks, and forgets who people are. Dementia can present along with delusions. Confusion or fear isn't uncommon as disorientation can be upsetting to the person. Psychosis Psychosis means being disconnected from reality to one level or another. Psychosis can be in thought only, such as delusions, or in the form of hallucinations. One important thing to look at is whether the person experiencing the strange phenomenon is the only person perceiving that, or if other people share the same reality with the person. Hysteria Hysteria is basically when people get each other upset or worked up. One's perception of what is going on can be shaded or changed by the attitude and experience of other people present. This is commonly seen in groups when one person gets upset and says that something bad is going on. Often the more people buying into the view the more extreme the distortion of reality is. This is commonly seen in groups who investigate paranormal claims. Priming Effects An example of a priming effect is to say "go in there, we think there is a ghost in there". This would cause one to interpret experiences in a less objective manner. It is important to remain as objective as possible in observing phenomenon or cases. Temporal Lobe Phenomenon The temporal lobes are the sides of the brain, near the ears. In some people the temporal lobe brain tissue misfires sometimes, causing "temporal lobe transients". These are not seizures but they can cause subjective strange experiences, including a sense of transcendental connection with God. In certain people with full epilepsy that starts in the temporal lobe they will get an "aura" before a seizure where they feel union with God or the universe. Michael Persinger showed that when the right magnetic fields are placed across the temporal lobes paranormal experienced are had immediately. These experiences stop as soon as the field is shut off. These experiences include sensed presences, hearing voices, out of body experiences, etc. This research underscores the importance of checking for high electric fields in areas where complaints of strange experiences occur. Epilepsy Certain types of epilepsy have been high on the list of medical explanations for possession phenomenon. Epileptic seizures can cause extreme strength, utterance of strange noises, and stereotypical movements. This is a reasonable hypothesis and should be explored if indicated. There are many aspects to possession states that do not fit this model: cogent use of languages unknown to the victim, mind reading, supernaturally affecting the states of those in the room, etc. Please do not copy the material on this site, but link to this site instead. All material Copyright Adam Blai, 2007