(Part three)

"The psychological world," say the authors, "is inside ourselves. It is a compound of personal feelings and memories; at the same time, it is sequential, though, the sequence may not be immediately obvious, and, if we analyze deeply enough, every part is in some way linked with the rest by associations of thoughts and feelings, making up a whole — though not always a tidy, well-shaped whole.

"The psychic world, however, is like the physical, in that what is observed can be entirely independent of us. It does not originate in our own history or memory, our likes or dislikes, but has a spontaneous life and activity of its own. Moreover, what we see of it may be, and often is, quite unrelated to ourselves. It is impersonal."

But how can a person tell whether his perception is objective and, therefore, psychic and not merely subjective — and, therefore, psychological?

Psychic perceptions

The question is indeed difficult. No categorical and final answer can be given because one borders into the other, not to mention, our currently limited knowledge of the psychic field. It may be said, however, that psychic perceptions are somewhat susceptible to objective verifications, whereas, purely psychological ones are usually not. We can compare psychic experiences and perceptions of innumerable persons from all over the world and at different periods in history and see if they agree on the description of the unseen world. It will be discovered that certain common characteristics will emerge, despite vast cultural and historical differences that could not be explained by purely subjective or psychological reasons.

Unfortunately, for Rogelio, no such distinction was made by either his parents or the Western-trained psychiatrists who treated him. When the tranquilizers and other drugs the doctors gave him were rejected by his body, the young Rogelio was brought back to Iloilo, where a local exorcist was sought to separate the "evil spirit" from him. The girl, according to Rogelio, upon learning of this plan, bade him goodbye. She told him, "They do not want us to be friends. I will have to leave you now, but if you ever call my name any time you are near a body of water, I will appear to you again."

Rogelio cried and protested vehemently, but to no avail. The exorcism succeeded. He never saw his invisible friend again.

I believe all parents, teachers, doctors, priests and psychiatrists should be made to realize that most children are, by nature, psychic. The reason is that a child's pineal gland, which, according to Eastern esoteric literature, is the organ of telepathy and is highly developed. This gland gradually shrinks as the child grows older and begins to use his reason more than his intuition and feeling.