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Our Secret Powers: Telepathy, Clairvoyance and Precognition. A Short History of (Nearly) Everything Paranormal
Is the paranormal normal?
Many readers will be surprised when learning that reputable scientists, among them several Nobel laureates, have claimed that telepathy is a reality. Their curiosity will increase when reading that Cleopatra's lost palace and Richard III's burial place were recovered by means of clairvoyance. And some will think it to be science fiction when finding out about Stargate--the espionage program where the American military and CIA engaged in the development of psychic spies!
Simonsen, a Norwegian historian of ideas, introduces an array of entertaining paranormal tales from history, archaeology, anthropology and psychology, and presents scientific research that has provided fascinating results. He argues that the stories we hear about telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition ought not to be dismissed as superstition
In step with spiritual and occult traditions, the author suggests that consciousness is not limited to our own head. Rather he thinks that all humans (and perhaps all living beings) are linked together in a "Mental Internet.' Via this network we may exchange 'telepathic emails' with friends and family and make clairvoyant 'downloads' of information. Thus perhaps what we usually call 'supernatural' is completely natural but little understood communications via this Mental Internet?
Our Secret Powers gives us an engaging and entertaining and informative analysis of a controversial subject and would make an excellent travel companion.
Many readers will be surprised when learning that reputable scientists, among them several Nobel laureates, have claimed that telepathy is a reality. Their curiosity will increase when reading that Cleopatra's lost palace and Richard III's burial place were recovered by means of clairvoyance. And some will think it to be science fiction when finding out about Stargate--the espionage program where the American military and CIA engaged in the development of psychic spies!
Simonsen, a Norwegian historian of ideas, introduces an array of entertaining paranormal tales from history, archaeology, anthropology and psychology, and presents scientific research that has provided fascinating results. He argues that the stories we hear about telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition ought not to be dismissed as superstition
In step with spiritual and occult traditions, the author suggests that consciousness is not limited to our own head. Rather he thinks that all humans (and perhaps all living beings) are linked together in a "Mental Internet.' Via this network we may exchange 'telepathic emails' with friends and family and make clairvoyant 'downloads' of information. Thus perhaps what we usually call 'supernatural' is completely natural but little understood communications via this Mental Internet?
Our Secret Powers gives us an engaging and entertaining and informative analysis of a controversial subject and would make an excellent travel companion.
- GenresNonfictionPsychology
388 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 22, 2020
A
short
history of (nearly) everything paranormal? I think not!
This is quite a long history - the longest book I've read so far this year - clocking in at 528 pages. And yet, it does feel short, mostly because Terje Simonsen is clearly so passionate about his subject that there's a lot more that he could say, and every section is prefaced with an apology for lacking the space to go into more detail. The enthusiasm that Simonsen brings to his subject is the most charming part of this book - that and his adorable propensity for Dad jokes and puns, like so:
Some of the book was familiar to me: the amazing story of Stargate. A secret project run by the American military which had some successes in training people to develop their clairvoyant powers. People in the program used their psychic vision to locate lost spy planes and hidden military bases, as well as identifying spies and knowing which items were secretly disguised radios (it's all very James Bond!). The remote viewers had significant results in 34% of their attempts - which is certainly more than one would expect by chance, but alas, less than the military requires for reliable intelligence gathering, and the project closed in the 1990s.
Not to be outdone, the soviets also had their own psychic spy program which involved mediums holding seances to extract information from the subconscious minds of American politicians (apparently the psychics discovered that Madeline Albright hated Slavs and was wildly envious of Russian mineral reserves!), and projecting psychic powers to 'psyche them out' at key moments.
Other parts of the book were entirely new to me, like the subject of paranormal archaeology, which makes sense in retrospect. After all, if you could commune with the dead, wouldn't you ask them where old buildings were located? Philippa Langley recently discovered the body of King Richard III by deducing (through entirely mundane means) that he was buried somewhere in what used to be Greyfriars Church and then wandering around the streets and carpark built over the old church until she walked over the unmarked grave under the tarmac: 'It was a hot summer and I had goose bumps so badly and I was freezing cold. I walked past a particular spot and absolutely knew I was walking on his grave.' Spooky, no?
A great deal of the success of the excavation of Tres Zapotes in Mexico depended on the psychic powers of a local labourer, who would turn up unexpectedly to tell the archeologists that he knew just want they were looking for before leading them to the exact location to dig. And in the UK, archaeologist Frederick Bligh Bond had a great deal of success in using automatic writing to receive messages from the final abbot of Glastonbury, Richard Beere, telling him where to find the remains of various chapels (the Church of England, at first delighted with his work, eventually fired him when they discovered it was tainted by spiritualism).
Another chapter which I found very interesting discussed the interplay between the paranormal, psychology, science, and skepticism - not many books on the paranormal give much time to the doubters. And I was somewhat amazed by the very large number of nobel prize winners who have been open to (if not convinced of) the possibility of the paranormal. Parapsychologists themselves have some of the most respectable standards of professional rigor in the sciences, because of course they come under so much hostile scrutiny that they have to be much more scrupulous than other scientists in their experiment design and analysis. Of course, if you've read anything about the replication crisis then suddenly having standards as good as anything else in psychology isn't such a compliment. But even so, it's very strange to see skeptics like Richard Wiseman say: I agree that by the standards of any other area of science that remote viewing is proven!
There's also a very amusing history of James Randi and his ongoing feud with Uri Geller. I think Simonsen comes to the conclusion that both of them are showmen before anything else, and Randi's theatrical 'skepticism' is more about seeking attention than truth. His infamous challenge with it's $1m prize for any proof of the paranormal had a ridiculous standard of proof (ie. Randi himself would be the final and only judge) and a tendency not to reply to serious applicants.
There's a great deal more than this in the book: fairly long biographies of famous psychics from around the world like The Snåsa Man, who regularly performed miraculous healings in a rather modest way and assisted the police in their investigations, or Baba Vanga, who could tell anyone their future (and often proved herself to hostile skeptics by her detailed knowledge of their lives). There's also a good chapter on consciousness and the various models thereof that might allow for psi abilities. I'm afraid that perhaps I didn't do this chapter justice, but whenever any book on the paranormal starts to go quantum - if you know what I mean - I glaze over and think that there's no point in having opinions on the paranormal implications of advanced physics until I've really understood the physics itself!
Now there's a project for me during the coronavirus lockdown.
This is quite a long history - the longest book I've read so far this year - clocking in at 528 pages. And yet, it does feel short, mostly because Terje Simonsen is clearly so passionate about his subject that there's a lot more that he could say, and every section is prefaced with an apology for lacking the space to go into more detail. The enthusiasm that Simonsen brings to his subject is the most charming part of this book - that and his adorable propensity for Dad jokes and puns, like so:
The grand old man of behaviorism - though he did not invent the term - was the Russian physician/physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936). Perhaps the name rings a bell?
Some of the book was familiar to me: the amazing story of Stargate. A secret project run by the American military which had some successes in training people to develop their clairvoyant powers. People in the program used their psychic vision to locate lost spy planes and hidden military bases, as well as identifying spies and knowing which items were secretly disguised radios (it's all very James Bond!). The remote viewers had significant results in 34% of their attempts - which is certainly more than one would expect by chance, but alas, less than the military requires for reliable intelligence gathering, and the project closed in the 1990s.
Not to be outdone, the soviets also had their own psychic spy program which involved mediums holding seances to extract information from the subconscious minds of American politicians (apparently the psychics discovered that Madeline Albright hated Slavs and was wildly envious of Russian mineral reserves!), and projecting psychic powers to 'psyche them out' at key moments.
Other parts of the book were entirely new to me, like the subject of paranormal archaeology, which makes sense in retrospect. After all, if you could commune with the dead, wouldn't you ask them where old buildings were located? Philippa Langley recently discovered the body of King Richard III by deducing (through entirely mundane means) that he was buried somewhere in what used to be Greyfriars Church and then wandering around the streets and carpark built over the old church until she walked over the unmarked grave under the tarmac: 'It was a hot summer and I had goose bumps so badly and I was freezing cold. I walked past a particular spot and absolutely knew I was walking on his grave.' Spooky, no?
A great deal of the success of the excavation of Tres Zapotes in Mexico depended on the psychic powers of a local labourer, who would turn up unexpectedly to tell the archeologists that he knew just want they were looking for before leading them to the exact location to dig. And in the UK, archaeologist Frederick Bligh Bond had a great deal of success in using automatic writing to receive messages from the final abbot of Glastonbury, Richard Beere, telling him where to find the remains of various chapels (the Church of England, at first delighted with his work, eventually fired him when they discovered it was tainted by spiritualism).
Another chapter which I found very interesting discussed the interplay between the paranormal, psychology, science, and skepticism - not many books on the paranormal give much time to the doubters. And I was somewhat amazed by the very large number of nobel prize winners who have been open to (if not convinced of) the possibility of the paranormal. Parapsychologists themselves have some of the most respectable standards of professional rigor in the sciences, because of course they come under so much hostile scrutiny that they have to be much more scrupulous than other scientists in their experiment design and analysis. Of course, if you've read anything about the replication crisis then suddenly having standards as good as anything else in psychology isn't such a compliment. But even so, it's very strange to see skeptics like Richard Wiseman say: I agree that by the standards of any other area of science that remote viewing is proven!
There's also a very amusing history of James Randi and his ongoing feud with Uri Geller. I think Simonsen comes to the conclusion that both of them are showmen before anything else, and Randi's theatrical 'skepticism' is more about seeking attention than truth. His infamous challenge with it's $1m prize for any proof of the paranormal had a ridiculous standard of proof (ie. Randi himself would be the final and only judge) and a tendency not to reply to serious applicants.
There's a great deal more than this in the book: fairly long biographies of famous psychics from around the world like The Snåsa Man, who regularly performed miraculous healings in a rather modest way and assisted the police in their investigations, or Baba Vanga, who could tell anyone their future (and often proved herself to hostile skeptics by her detailed knowledge of their lives). There's also a good chapter on consciousness and the various models thereof that might allow for psi abilities. I'm afraid that perhaps I didn't do this chapter justice, but whenever any book on the paranormal starts to go quantum - if you know what I mean - I glaze over and think that there's no point in having opinions on the paranormal implications of advanced physics until I've really understood the physics itself!
Now there's a project for me during the coronavirus lockdown.
August 6, 2018
This is an interesting, entertaining, non-scientific overview of the subject, most effective when discussing how modern superpowers have attempted to harness the power of what Simonsen calls the “mental internet” which connects all people.
The stories about Stargate–the espionage program where the American military and CIA engaged in the development of psychic spies – are fascinating. As are the KGB experiments documented and discussed.
Simonsen, a Norwegian historian of ideas, introduces an array of entertaining paranormal tales from history, archaeology, anthropology and psychology, and presents scientific research that has provided fascinating results. He argues that the stories we hear about telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition ought not to be dismissed as superstition
All in all a good, fun overview – written in a nice spirit.
The stories about Stargate–the espionage program where the American military and CIA engaged in the development of psychic spies – are fascinating. As are the KGB experiments documented and discussed.
Simonsen, a Norwegian historian of ideas, introduces an array of entertaining paranormal tales from history, archaeology, anthropology and psychology, and presents scientific research that has provided fascinating results. He argues that the stories we hear about telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition ought not to be dismissed as superstition
All in all a good, fun overview – written in a nice spirit.
August 2, 2018
Is the paranormal normal?
—An engaged historical and scientific good-read on telepathy, clairvoyance and related phenomena
Many readers will be surprised when learning that reputable scientists, among them several Nobel laureates, have claimed that telepathy is a reality. Their curiosity will increase when reading that Cleopatra’s lost palace and Richard III’s burial place were recovered by means of clairvoyance. And some will think it to be science fiction when finding out about Stargate––the espionage program where the American military and CIA engaged in the development of psychic spies!
Simonsen, a Norwegian historian of ideas, introduces an array of entertaining paranormal tales from history, archaeology, anthropology and psychology, and presents scientific research that has provided fascinating results. He argues that the stories we hear about telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition ought not to be dismissed as superstition
In step with spiritual and occult traditions, the author suggests that consciousness is not limited to our own head. Rather he thinks that all humans (and perhaps all living beings) are linked together in a “Mental Internet.’ Via this network we may exchange ‘telepathic emails’ with friends and family and make clairvoyant ‘downloads’ of information. Thus perhaps what we usually call ‘supernatural’ is completely natural but little understood communications via this Mental Internet?
Our Secret Powers gives us a thoughtful and critical analysis of a controversial subject and would make an excellent travel companion.
Cheers
Terje
Praise for Our Secret Powers:
‘Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and experience. Parapsychology is the scientific study of behaviors and experiences that appear to transcend mainstream science’s understanding of time, space, and energy. Most books on this topic are complex and formidable, but Our Secret Powers is an exception. Terje Simonsen has written an overview of parapsychological phenomena that is entertaining as well as informative. Simonsen, a historian, approaches remote viewing, dream telepathy, foretelling future events, and the like not only from a historical perspective but from anthropological, psychological, and popular cultural perspectives as well. His non-judgemental attitude and his use of wit, humor, and anecdotes will delight both debunkers and advocates of parapsychological data. This is an outstanding book and it deserves all the attention it can get. Not only is Our Secret Powers a book for all seasons, it is a book for all reasons!’
—Stanley Krippner, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Saybrook University, Co-editor, Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence
‘As an encyclopedic introduction to the psychic side of the fascinating but puzzling domain known as the paranormal, there is no better choice than Our Secret Powers. Ranging from shamanism to skepticism, psychic spies to fundamental physics, and much more, Terje Simonsen deftly covers the paranormal landscape with a light but accurate touch. This book will appeal to anyone who wonders whether all those tales about ghosts and psychic phenomena that saturate the world of entertainment are just pure fantasy, or something more. Here you will find a sound introduction to the “something more.”’
—Dean Radin, PhD, is Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). He is the author of the award-winning The Conscious Universe (HarperOne, 1997), Entangled Minds (Simon & Schuster, 2006), and the 2014 Silver Nautilus Book Award winner, Supernormal (Random House, 2013).
‘There is a change occurring in science. Consciousness, once considered solely physiological is now being shown across a spectrum of disciplines to have a nonlocal aspect and this is being integrated into science as a fundamental just as Max Planck told us. Terje Simonsen in Our Secret Powers has put together an engaging and informed overview of this evolution (in consciousness) that is worth your attention.’
—Stephan A. Schwartz, PhD, Fellow, William James Center for Consciousness Studies, Sofia University, Palo Alto, California. Author of The 8 Laws of Change
‘Terje Simonsen’s sense of humor and fair coverage of a vast and complex area provides a good introduction to a topic that is often tainted by shallow thinking and uninformed bias despite considerable scientific evidence for its reality and its intrinsic fascination to most people.’
—Etzel Cardeña, PhD, Thorsen Professor of Psychology, Lund University, Sweden. Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Parapsychology and co-editor of Parapsychology: A Handbook for the 21st Century.
‘The American press media commented that the Norwegian Prime Minister spoke better English than Donald Trump, which is no doubt true. This book evidences also a superb use of English, admittedly in a journalistic manner but also highly captivating, jovial and easy to read style. This is not easy given the topic is highly controversial and many of the more scientific findings demand expertise in specialist areas. To successfully write about this area also demands an optimal combination of skepticism and open-mindedness. On the whole I would say Terje Simonsen has succeeded.’
—Adrian Parker, PhD, Clinical psychologist. Parker is Professor at Gothenburg University, Sweden where he is currently carrying out research into lucid dream states and exceptional experiences amongst twins and teaches an international course on ‘Consciousness Studies and Psychical Research.’
‘Terje Simonsen is a remarkably balanced and insanely well-read guide into a literally impossible subject. He employs the elegant metaphor of a Mental Internet remembering and connecting everyone to explore an astonishing array of psi phenomena: from occult or intuitive archaeology, military mysticism, and cold war clairvoyance; through paranormal paranoia, James Bond (sort of), anthropology, Goethe, and (my favorite) a wise vampire hunter; to hippie physicists, entangled twins, a telepathic terrier, the nature of time, and reincarnation memories. The international scope of the figures and cases discussed is particularly welcome and especially important. The final result is an optimistic and collective vision of “our secret powers,” a species-wide vision of a new, and yet ancient, superhumanity.’
—Jeffrey J. Kripal, PhD, J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religion, Rice University, Houston, Texas, author of Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred
Our Secret Powers was very well received by reviewers and academics when it was published in Norway in 2013:
‘a sympathetic, charming and personal book,’ ‘easy to read,’ ‘a fine introduction to the misty landscapes of parapsychology.’
—Tom Egeland, fiction author and critic, published in 26 countries
‘a great, exciting and well-written book’
—Jan-Erik Ebbestad Hansen, PhD, Professor of the History of Ideas, University of Oslo
‘This is an enchanting book––brimming with knowledge about the esoteric and the paranormal, presented in a joyous way that entertains, as well as educates, the reader.’
‘Simonsen gives the reader huge amounts of information, but manages to present it in a light, funny and eloquent way.’ ‘I can recommend Simonsen’s book for anybody interested in the paranormal.’
—Anne Kalvig, PhD, Professor of Religious Studies, author of The Rise of Contemporary Spiritualism
‘The author overviews an impressively broad scope of the research that has been conducted about- and within the paranormal field.’
—Vinjar Fonnebo, MD, PhD, director of the National Research Centre in Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the University of Tromso
—An engaged historical and scientific good-read on telepathy, clairvoyance and related phenomena
Many readers will be surprised when learning that reputable scientists, among them several Nobel laureates, have claimed that telepathy is a reality. Their curiosity will increase when reading that Cleopatra’s lost palace and Richard III’s burial place were recovered by means of clairvoyance. And some will think it to be science fiction when finding out about Stargate––the espionage program where the American military and CIA engaged in the development of psychic spies!
Simonsen, a Norwegian historian of ideas, introduces an array of entertaining paranormal tales from history, archaeology, anthropology and psychology, and presents scientific research that has provided fascinating results. He argues that the stories we hear about telepathy, clairvoyance and precognition ought not to be dismissed as superstition
In step with spiritual and occult traditions, the author suggests that consciousness is not limited to our own head. Rather he thinks that all humans (and perhaps all living beings) are linked together in a “Mental Internet.’ Via this network we may exchange ‘telepathic emails’ with friends and family and make clairvoyant ‘downloads’ of information. Thus perhaps what we usually call ‘supernatural’ is completely natural but little understood communications via this Mental Internet?
Our Secret Powers gives us a thoughtful and critical analysis of a controversial subject and would make an excellent travel companion.
Cheers
Terje
Praise for Our Secret Powers:
‘Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and experience. Parapsychology is the scientific study of behaviors and experiences that appear to transcend mainstream science’s understanding of time, space, and energy. Most books on this topic are complex and formidable, but Our Secret Powers is an exception. Terje Simonsen has written an overview of parapsychological phenomena that is entertaining as well as informative. Simonsen, a historian, approaches remote viewing, dream telepathy, foretelling future events, and the like not only from a historical perspective but from anthropological, psychological, and popular cultural perspectives as well. His non-judgemental attitude and his use of wit, humor, and anecdotes will delight both debunkers and advocates of parapsychological data. This is an outstanding book and it deserves all the attention it can get. Not only is Our Secret Powers a book for all seasons, it is a book for all reasons!’
—Stanley Krippner, PhD, Professor of Psychology, Saybrook University, Co-editor, Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence
‘As an encyclopedic introduction to the psychic side of the fascinating but puzzling domain known as the paranormal, there is no better choice than Our Secret Powers. Ranging from shamanism to skepticism, psychic spies to fundamental physics, and much more, Terje Simonsen deftly covers the paranormal landscape with a light but accurate touch. This book will appeal to anyone who wonders whether all those tales about ghosts and psychic phenomena that saturate the world of entertainment are just pure fantasy, or something more. Here you will find a sound introduction to the “something more.”’
—Dean Radin, PhD, is Chief Scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS). He is the author of the award-winning The Conscious Universe (HarperOne, 1997), Entangled Minds (Simon & Schuster, 2006), and the 2014 Silver Nautilus Book Award winner, Supernormal (Random House, 2013).
‘There is a change occurring in science. Consciousness, once considered solely physiological is now being shown across a spectrum of disciplines to have a nonlocal aspect and this is being integrated into science as a fundamental just as Max Planck told us. Terje Simonsen in Our Secret Powers has put together an engaging and informed overview of this evolution (in consciousness) that is worth your attention.’
—Stephan A. Schwartz, PhD, Fellow, William James Center for Consciousness Studies, Sofia University, Palo Alto, California. Author of The 8 Laws of Change
‘Terje Simonsen’s sense of humor and fair coverage of a vast and complex area provides a good introduction to a topic that is often tainted by shallow thinking and uninformed bias despite considerable scientific evidence for its reality and its intrinsic fascination to most people.’
—Etzel Cardeña, PhD, Thorsen Professor of Psychology, Lund University, Sweden. Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Parapsychology and co-editor of Parapsychology: A Handbook for the 21st Century.
‘The American press media commented that the Norwegian Prime Minister spoke better English than Donald Trump, which is no doubt true. This book evidences also a superb use of English, admittedly in a journalistic manner but also highly captivating, jovial and easy to read style. This is not easy given the topic is highly controversial and many of the more scientific findings demand expertise in specialist areas. To successfully write about this area also demands an optimal combination of skepticism and open-mindedness. On the whole I would say Terje Simonsen has succeeded.’
—Adrian Parker, PhD, Clinical psychologist. Parker is Professor at Gothenburg University, Sweden where he is currently carrying out research into lucid dream states and exceptional experiences amongst twins and teaches an international course on ‘Consciousness Studies and Psychical Research.’
‘Terje Simonsen is a remarkably balanced and insanely well-read guide into a literally impossible subject. He employs the elegant metaphor of a Mental Internet remembering and connecting everyone to explore an astonishing array of psi phenomena: from occult or intuitive archaeology, military mysticism, and cold war clairvoyance; through paranormal paranoia, James Bond (sort of), anthropology, Goethe, and (my favorite) a wise vampire hunter; to hippie physicists, entangled twins, a telepathic terrier, the nature of time, and reincarnation memories. The international scope of the figures and cases discussed is particularly welcome and especially important. The final result is an optimistic and collective vision of “our secret powers,” a species-wide vision of a new, and yet ancient, superhumanity.’
—Jeffrey J. Kripal, PhD, J. Newton Rayzor Professor of Religion, Rice University, Houston, Texas, author of Authors of the Impossible: The Paranormal and the Sacred
Our Secret Powers was very well received by reviewers and academics when it was published in Norway in 2013:
‘a sympathetic, charming and personal book,’ ‘easy to read,’ ‘a fine introduction to the misty landscapes of parapsychology.’
—Tom Egeland, fiction author and critic, published in 26 countries
‘a great, exciting and well-written book’
—Jan-Erik Ebbestad Hansen, PhD, Professor of the History of Ideas, University of Oslo
‘This is an enchanting book––brimming with knowledge about the esoteric and the paranormal, presented in a joyous way that entertains, as well as educates, the reader.’
‘Simonsen gives the reader huge amounts of information, but manages to present it in a light, funny and eloquent way.’ ‘I can recommend Simonsen’s book for anybody interested in the paranormal.’
—Anne Kalvig, PhD, Professor of Religious Studies, author of The Rise of Contemporary Spiritualism
‘The author overviews an impressively broad scope of the research that has been conducted about- and within the paranormal field.’
—Vinjar Fonnebo, MD, PhD, director of the National Research Centre in Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the University of Tromso
September 12, 2018
Several years ago, my wife and I were visiting the Olsen family of Mandal, Norway and Haydom, Tanzania. Often their next door neighbor, Terje Simonsen, would join us for meals. I found him to be a very interesting man to talk to with as he shared all sorts of ideas in excellent English, and a had a very good wit about him. The writing in this book brought me back to our earlier conversations and I was happy to hear his voice again. I do not normally read books about paranormal activities and ones that are around 500 pages long. Terje knew I do a lot of reviews for Goodreads and asked me if I would consider reading the book and reviewing it.
What I liked when I started reading the book was that it is written in the same conversational style I experienced in talking with Terje in Mandal. He pulls you in with his interesting stories, good humor, and his clear explanations of different paranormal activities and what people have thought of them over the years. At times, the topic was more than would be covered in a normal conversation and I wished I was taking a class from Terje on this topic. He would be a very enjoyable professor, as evidenced by how he explains all the many ideas in the book. This may have been the first, and possibly the last book, I will read on paranormal activities, but I feel like I know quite a bit (or possibly "nearly everything") about it after being taught by Terje Simonsen through this book. The book is worth reading and checking out.
What I liked when I started reading the book was that it is written in the same conversational style I experienced in talking with Terje in Mandal. He pulls you in with his interesting stories, good humor, and his clear explanations of different paranormal activities and what people have thought of them over the years. At times, the topic was more than would be covered in a normal conversation and I wished I was taking a class from Terje on this topic. He would be a very enjoyable professor, as evidenced by how he explains all the many ideas in the book. This may have been the first, and possibly the last book, I will read on paranormal activities, but I feel like I know quite a bit (or possibly "nearly everything") about it after being taught by Terje Simonsen through this book. The book is worth reading and checking out.
September 19, 2018
It is some time since I last read a book on the paranormal, and I cannot imagine a a better refresher course than Our Secret Powers. Books on this subject tend to fall into two categories: the sensational and popular or the heavily academic. Our Secret Powers is based on sound research, but is written in a lively and often witty manner, and evinces an eloquent use of English that is unusual in a non-native speaker – the author happens to be Norwegian. Simonsen casts his net both wide and deep, drawing on the history of paranormal research as well as on recent findings. The book explores, inter alia, clairvoyant archaeology, out-of-body experiences, predictive dreams, shamanic journeying into the spirit world, reincarnation and much else, citing many fascinating examples from past and present. Altogether a most informative and thought-provoking work.
October 1, 2018
One should not expect to sit with this lengthy volume and consume it cover to cover. Although it was enlightening and entertaining to sit with it for significant periods of time. It is not the author's intent to "create believers" rather his hope to open some minds.
The anecdotes and evidence presented come from historical as well as respected sources, many of which are scientific or from "men of science." Popular cultural references are also included both to entertain and to allow the reader to ponder the possibilities.
Some psi powers explored deal with transfer of information, others with transfer or conversion of energies. There is an entire section dealing with skepticism.
The author takes the concept of a Greater Collective Intelligence or Unconscious and presents it in terms of a Mental Internet - linked, available and communicative.
Perhaps it is the conversational tone in which this book is written but I would love to read this along with other open minded individuals and discuss each chapter as we go. There are turns of phrase that made me laugh. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Parapsychology, in Psychology, in History or Literature. In lively controversial conversations.
If you consider yourself an intellectual, or wish others looked at you as such, this is the sort of book you should keep laying in the open to impress others and to start conversations.
I know I will be picking it up again and revisiting various ideas.
The anecdotes and evidence presented come from historical as well as respected sources, many of which are scientific or from "men of science." Popular cultural references are also included both to entertain and to allow the reader to ponder the possibilities.
Some psi powers explored deal with transfer of information, others with transfer or conversion of energies. There is an entire section dealing with skepticism.
The author takes the concept of a Greater Collective Intelligence or Unconscious and presents it in terms of a Mental Internet - linked, available and communicative.
Perhaps it is the conversational tone in which this book is written but I would love to read this along with other open minded individuals and discuss each chapter as we go. There are turns of phrase that made me laugh. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Parapsychology, in Psychology, in History or Literature. In lively controversial conversations.
If you consider yourself an intellectual, or wish others looked at you as such, this is the sort of book you should keep laying in the open to impress others and to start conversations.
I know I will be picking it up again and revisiting various ideas.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews