Understanding the Psychic Powers of Man (Revised Edition)

UNDERSTANDING the

PSYCHIC POWERS of Man

Copyright to this digital edition © 2008 by Jaime T. Licauco

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner and the publisher.

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ANVIL PUBLISHING, INC.

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Book design by Arnold R. Ramos

E-book formatting by Arvyn Cerezo

ISBN 9786214201372 (e-book)

Version 1.0.1

Foreword to the First Edition

From Cape Kennedy to Ulan Bator in the Soviet Union, billions of dollars and rubles, tons of gold, and the utilization of all sorts of exotic material, not to mention a savage toll in human effort and blood, have been expended in man’s desire to probe the mysteries of the planets and outer space. Fanciful motion pictures like Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind have become runaway box-office hits. How little, in sharp and bitter contrast, has man done toward exploring himself and the psychic powers he possesses—powers in their own fashion more awesome and mighty than can be found elsewhere in the universe. Man has walked on the moon, but his knowledge of himself is darker and more impenetrable, it seems, than the dark side of the moon. His aircraft and spaceships have sundered the sound barrier, but he has failed to pierce the flimsy barriers of ignorance he has set up against the exploration of his own soul, a reluctance to accept new concepts he often excuses by invoking the sacred name of "science."

The tragedy of this world is that when something is chanced upon that cannot be measured, weighed, dismantled, set against accepted yardsticks, put under a microscope, or run through a computer, it is dismissed either as rank superstition or the work of the devils. The Doubting Thomases have even incorporated themselves into an international syndicate, brandishing as infallible weapons their diplomas and doctorates from established universities and medical institutions. And yet, the same schools and institutions they venerate also teach courses in history—and history, time and again, has shown that mankind progresses only when a few cranks, crackpots, eccentrics, wild inventors, innovators, and madmen dare to be different and challenge what insecure philosophers and wise men glorify as universal truths. Jesus Christ was such a revolutionary. The Wright brothers (with due apologies to Leonardo da Vinci and Icarus) had to prove to a disbelieving public that man could fly even though the good God had not seen fit to equip him with wings. And Cristobal Colon, Magellan (not to forget Sebastian Elcano who completed the voyage), Prince Henry the Navigator, and other crazies had to sail uncharted oceans to verify that the world was not flat and thus puncture the notion that if you ventured too far you would fall off its edge into bottomless oblivion.

In his writings, Jaime T. Licauco, too, dares to be different. He seeks to tear the veil of ignorance that holds our timid spirits in thrall. Each time we have published his controversial articles in SUNBURST Magazine the response has been electric from all over the world. Read this book and perhaps you’ll understand why.

Maximo V. Soliven

Associate Publisher

Sunburst Publications, Inc.

Foreword by Dr. Alfred Stelter

There are many books on psychic phenomena that are written today all over the world. But this is the first time that a book on this subject has been written by a citizen of the Philippines, one of the most psychic peoples in the world.

The author has studied very thoroughly the various aspects of this area not only in its literature but is himself gifted with some psychic abilities. Understanding the Psychic Powers of Man gives a very good introduction into the whole field of paranormal phenomena and a thorough study of this book can spare the interested individual the trouble of having to go through many other volumes dealing on the subject.

The author was able to condense a large and complex subject matter into a compact but understandable form without neglecting or omitting any of the essential points. He has combined the old esoteric teachings with the findings of modern research scientists. He specially brought many convincing case histories or examples of the last ten years from the different parts of the world, the United State, India, Europe, etc. and especially also about the sensational mediumistic healings in the Philippines.

The book shows in a most convincing way that our current scientific knowledge is not yet able to explain all events, phenomena and human processes that take place both in nature and in the cosmos. The book also shows that our scientific reasoning is only considering a very small and fragmentary abstraction of a much, much larger reality. And because of this, the book opens the door to larger horizons and a greater understanding and appreciation of the higher aspects of man’s consciousness.

Dr. Alfred Stelter

German physicist, nuclear chemist and parapsychologist; author of the bestselling book,

Psi Healing

Preface to the Revised Edition

How the Book Came to Be

This book Understanding the Psychic Powers of Man has had a long and colorful history. It is the first book of its kind written by a Filipino author. It first came out in commercial book form in 1978 and was in print for 20 long years! It only ceased to be printed in 1998. My publisher, Anvil Publishing, had been asking me to revise it so that they could publish a new edition of it but I didn’t have time, or the interest to do so until now, 30 years after its first publication.

Let me recall how this book came to be written. In the early ’70s after I obtained my Master in Business Management (MBM) degree from the Asian Institute of Management, I went back to my hobby or avocation, namely, doing psychic research and experimentation. I resumed reading books and magazines about the subject. If these books were not available in the Philippines, I would order them from abroad or else ask friends going to the United States to buy them for me. I even attended seminars on the subject that were given by both local teachers and visiting foreign experts.

Because of this unusual interest of mine in psychic and paranormal matters, I shared with friends the fruits of my readings and found many of them to be very interested. They began asking me questions and during social gatherings and parties, I found myself the center of attention or curiosity among the guests because of the uniqueness or novelty of the ideas I was sharing with them. Some of them expressed great skepticism about these topics but very few ignored them even if they didn’t believe in them.

In a few years, I developed enough knowledge about the subject to be considered some sort of an authority on it, although it was far from the impression I had of myself. I never considered myself an expert on the subject. In fact I was as skeptical about the things I was reading as some friends of mine were.

Then I noticed that the questions were the same ones being asked wherever I went. I found myself repeating the same answers I had given to others before. So, one day, I thought of summarizing the most significant lessons I had learned from these readings, as well as true-to-life experiences of people who were good enough to share their psychic stories with me.

The summary I wrote grew into a hundred or so pages which the late Proserfina, wife of officemate Prescillano Adamos, typed. I printed only 100 copies of the typewritten material and sold them to my friends at cost. The mimeographing was done at the printing press of a friend from San Beda College, Liberato San Jose, who was then living not far from our residence in Sta. Ana where I lived for several years after my marriage. However, he soon after migrated to the United States with his family and I lost track of him.

Meantime, I had the mimeographed manuscript displayed at the seminar of Chita Albert-Cu Unjieng, who was then teaching ESP in Manila. A few of her students bought my work and I was very happy at the response, although I did not make money out of it. That was not the intention, anyway. I was happy to share my findings with those interested in the subject.

One day, the aunt of Chita, named Telly Albert Zulueta, former editor of Weekly Women’s Magazine, happened to read the manuscript and asked me if I would be interested in having it serialized in the magazine. Although she was no longer connected with the magazine, she would ask the current editor, Luisa Linsangan, to take a look at it. Ms. Linsangan liked it and ran the whole manuscript in four long installments in her magazine. The response from readers was so amazing the editor asked me if I could contribute articles to the magazine on a regular basis. That launched my career as a writer.

Not only that. One day, I received a call from Ben Ramos, whose family owned National Book Store, the largest book store chain in the country. Ben was also into the book publishing business. My first cousin, Maximo Licauco III, married Ben’s sister, Cecilia Ramos. But we had never really met personally. Ben asked me if I would be willing to have my series of articles in the weekly Women’s Magazine published in book form. I said, Why not, if you think it is worth publishing as a book.

Ben told me the series is too small for a book, but if I could add one or two more chapters, then he would publish it. I said I would try. I never really expected such a development and I was very happy that my first attempt as an author had gotten the attention of a publisher. After adding two chapters to the series that came out in the women’s magazine, I asked a friend, Narzalina Lim (who later became Secretary of Tourism under the Cory Aquino administration) to edit the work and fortunately she agreed to do it.

Then I asked the well-known veteran journalist and educator, Maximo V. Soliven, to write the Introduction or Foreword to the book and to my great surprise, he agreed to do it. I used to contribute to his sleek tourist-oriented magazine Sunburst and that’s how we came to know each other. I also asked a German scientist and parapsychologist, Dr. Alfred Stelter, to comment on the book which he did.

When the book finally came out in 1978, many people bought it during its launching. And many prominent people came. The book became an instant bestseller and it had been reprinted about seventeen times until it ceased publication in 1998, when the publishing arm of National Book Store was absorbed by Anvil Publishing Inc., its sister corporation.

In the first printing of the book I asked a lady friend if she could pose naked for the cover. Just out of fun, she agreed to do it, provided her face would not be shown and that her identity would not be revealed. I asked the well-known professional photographer, Toch Arellano, to take the photo and the rest was history.

The book has since become a classic in the field and in book-publishing history.

Why the book had such staying power may be attributed to the following factors:

First, it fulfilled a hunger of the Filipino public for rational and credible answers to many questions regarding psychic experiences that could not be explained by either science or religion.

Second, it was written in a very simple and easily understood language. Even elementary and high school students could read the book and understand it. Every new word I used was explained simply and with examples. I even provided a glossary of terms at the end of the book.

Third, I found out that some professors of Psychology and English Literature in several schools, such as San Beda College, the University of the Philippines and the Perpetual Help College in Las Piñas recommended the book as collateral reading material to their students. One faculty member also required his students to read my column in the newspaper and discussed it in class.

Many students began to write term papers and theses about the subject of ESP or Psychic Powers for their school requirements. And teachers were encouraging such research on these subjects because they themselves were interested in them.

I also discovered later that the book could be found in almost every school library all over the Philippines. My children and later my grandchildren would suddenly find the book in their school libraries, to my great surprise.

The influence the book has had on the lives of many people has been simply incredible and really unexpected. One female doctor, for example, told me in the late ’80s that the book saved her from being confined in the mental hospital.

How? I asked her. She said she was having strange psychic experiences she could not understand and which no medical specialist could explain. She was seeing spirits and hearing voices. She thought she was going crazy, then she read the book and learned there were people who possessed such powers and this didn’t mean they were hallucinating. She found out she was clairvoyant. She could see and hear things others could not see or hear. Then she studied pranic healing and became a pranic healer as well as teacher of this healing modality.

Another person wrote to me a very interesting story of how he got hold of my book. He was a junk dealer and buyer of old newspapers and magazines which he sold for recycling. One day, he saw a small book among a pile of old newspapers. Its cover had already been torn, but he got interested in it and started reading it. He found the subject matter very interesting. It was my book Understanding the Psychic Powers of Man. He was so fascinated by the book that he said he read it over and over again. When he read my name in the newspaper with my address in it, he decided to write me to tell me how he found the book among the old newspapers he was about to sell. He thanked me for the knowledge he had acquired about the subject.

When the book ceased to be published in 1998, people still kept looking for it. It became a collector’s item. Some who wanted to have a complete collection of all my books, which after 20 years had mushroomed into 15 books, had the first book photocopied. One of those who found my works so fascinating that he had to have a complete collection was the former Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines, Ambassador Dada Olisa. Another was a Russian healer and researcher named Yuri Vedov who also had the original book photocopied. And I don’t know who else.

So after much prodding from my publisher and some friends, I decided to revise and update the book for the benefit of those who never had a chance to read the first book written in this field by a Filipino author.

JAIME T. LICAUCO

2008

Note to the Reader

How does the original 1978 book, which has been out of print since 1998, differ from this latest revised edition?

This is practically a new book. A great deal of new material has been added, although I tried to retain the flavor or tone of the original. This edition is more scientific rather than esoteric. And it contains some of the latest theories and findings on neuroscience and parapsychology.

The first edition contained only 138 pages; this one is 192 pages long. The bulk of the new material in this new edition goes into the list of the different varieties of psychic powers man is capable of. Whereas the original edition contained only 8 of them, this edition lists down and discusses over 35.

Many of the examples of psychic powers contained in this