The unexplainable knowledge of spiritualism

A couple of years ago, I was walking down the street when a palm reader asked if I would like to have a reading. Intrigued, I agreed and was told to expect a baby boy in the family. I must admit that to this day, there has been no baby or boy in my immediate or extended family.

It’s comforting to think that there is a world a veil away from ours where our souls eventually go, and that the future has been decided for us by unexplainable forces

However, I think it’s fascinating – almost impressive – that humanity has kept up practices such as palm readings, clairvoyance, and divination for so many centuries. For instance, clairvoyance has been a practice since ancient Egyptian times, when priests and priestesses used it to communicate with the gods and predict the future. So, what still draws humans to these practices after thousands of years?

Spiritualism acknowledges that we cannot perceive or comprehend through the five senses; what is gleaned from these practices cannot be explained because the knowledge is inherently unexplainable. Clairvoyance is often described as an ‘inner sight’ or ‘sixth sense’, an understanding of the universe which the five empirical senses cannot gain. This could include precognition, retrocognition, or even the ability to connect the living with the spirits of the deceased. However, no scientific explanation or evidence supports the reliability of these abilities. Often, the knowledge gleaned from such practices is vague, making it applicable to many scenarios. This makes it easier to believe in future predictions. And I think many people who believe in the validity of practices such as clairvoyance do so because it’s almost an instinct to seek and believe in the answers it can provide. It’s comforting to think that there is a world a veil away from ours where our souls eventually go, and that the future has been decided for us by unexplainable forces.

This desire for knowledge is so strong that we can physically put ourselves in a state that can best receive that knowledge

We, as humans, are naturally curious; we are drawn to the knowledge of things we cannot understand. There have even been suggestions that we can prime our brains to experience things in the universe which cannot be observed with human sight. Practices such as meditation have been shown to deactivate the parietal lobe (the part of the brain that processes sensory information and helps to create relationships between ourselves and the rest of the world). This can cause boundaries between the self and the other to blur until the person feels at one with another presence. Thus, this could suggest that our brains are wired to be susceptible to tapping into a sixth sense.

Once we realise this, there is an obvious answer to why spiritualism practices have continued for centuries: people believe in their validity simply because they want to. This desire for knowledge is so strong that we can physically put ourselves in a state that can best receive that knowledge. Whilst I am not a firm believer in spiritualism nor practice it, I admit that having an open mind about these things can be healthy. In an age of science and technology, we sometimes think we know more than we do about the universe. We want explanations for everything, but sometimes we know something but cannot explain why.