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All About Remote Viewing

By Stephen Wagner

It's a scientific method of tapping into the "universal mind," transcending time and space, and bringing the unconscious into the conscious - and YOU can learn to do it
ARE YOU CURIOUS about remote viewing? You have most likely heard about this mysterious practice and understand that is has something to do with ESP. What you may not know is that a person does not have to be a psychic to learn and use remote viewing. In fact, you can learn to become a remote viewer and access incredible mental powers you didn't even know you have. WHAT IS REMOTE VIEWING? Remote viewing is the controlled use of ESP (extrasensory perception) through a specific method. Using a set of protocols (technical rules), the remote viewer can perceive a target - a person, object or event - that is located distantly in time and space. A remote viewer, it is said, can perceive a target in the past or future that is located in the next room, across the country, around the world or, theoretically, across the universe. In remote viewing, time and space are meaningless. What makes remote viewing different than ESP is that, because it uses specific techniques, it can be learned by virtually anyone. The term "remote viewing" came about in 1971 through experimentation conducted by Ingo Swann (who correctly remote viewed in 1973 that the planet Jupiter has rings, a fact later confirmed by space probes), Janet Mitchell, Karlis Osis and Gertrude Schmeidler. In the method that they and others developed, there are five components necessary for remote viewing to take place:

a subject (the remote viewer) active ESP abilities a distant target the subject's recorded perceptions a confirmatory positive feedback

A remote viewing sessions lasts about one hour. During the Cold War through the 1970s and 1980s, remote viewing was further developed by the US military and the CIA through such programs codenamed Sun Streak, Grill Flame and Star Gate. The government-sponsored remote viewing programs were successful, according to many who participated. Some of the now-declassified examples include the highly accurate and detailed descriptions of buildings and facilities hundred of miles from the remote viewer including a crane assembly in the Soviet Union. Although these organizations claim that after 20 years of experimentation their remote viewing programs have been abandoned, some insiders believe that they are being continued

2 secretly. Some well-known remote viewers say they were contacted by the US government after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to help locate other possible terrorist activity. WHAT IT ISN'T Remote viewing is not an out-of-body experience. A remote viewer does not astrally project to the target, although some remote viewers occasionally report a feeling of bilocating to the site of the target. It also is not a meditative, dream or trance state. During a remote viewing session, the subject is always fully awake and alert. As Christophe Brunski writes in "Remote Viewing: Conditions and Potentials," "Whereas one might consider a trance state to be 'going down' into the deeper levels of mind, RV might be said to allow information from these deeper levels to 'come up.'" HOW DOES IT WORK? No one really knows for certain how remote viewing works, only that it does. One theory is that trained remote viewers are able to tap into the "Universal Mind" - a kind of comprehensive storehouse of information about everything, where time and space are irrelevant. The remote viewer can enter a "hyperconscious state" in which he or she can tune in to specific targets within the universal consciousness of which all people and all things are a part. It sounds like a lot of "New Age" jargon, but it's a good guess as to what's really taking place. Ingo Swann calls remote viewing a "form of virtual reality traveling" that is brought under conscious control. How well does it work? While skeptics contend that it doesn't work at all and some proponents claim it works 100 percent of the time, the fact is it does work, but not all of the time for all remote viewers. A highly skilled remote viewer may have a success rate that approaches 100 percent; he or she may be able to access a target nearly all of the time, but all of the data obtained may not be completely accurate. There are many factors involved, and some targets may be more complicated to reach and describe than others. WHO CAN LEARN REMOTE VIEWING? Virtually anyone can learn remote viewing. You don't need to be "psychic" to successfully remote view, but it does require training and diligent practice. Some research has shown that left-handed people are more likely to become successful at it. But learning remote viewing has been likened to learning to play a musical instrument. You're not going to be able to read a book (or website) about it and then be able to do it. You must learn the techniques and then practice. As with a musical instrument, the more you train and practice with it, the better you'll be able to perform. It takes time, motivation and dedication. According to Paul H. Smith in his article "Can Remote Viewing Be Trained," remote viewing "training has been nearly always successful to a greater or lesser degree depending on the level of motivation, preparation and innate ability of a given student viewer." Remote viewer Joe McMoneagle has compared it to training for the martial arts.

3 HOW YOU CAN LEARN REMOTE VIEWING If you're curious about the potential of remote viewing, there are many resources for learning its methods and techniques. For example, the official Army manual on Coordinate Remote Viewing, written in 1986, is available free online. It provides background, training procedures, how a remote viewing session works and more. There are commercial courses as well, which can range in cost from free to hundreds of dollars and even thousands of dollars. Be cautious and research a company thoroughly before investing any money in training. Be wary of exaggerated claims and find out exactly what you get for your money. Here are a few sources:

Academy of Remote Viewing and Remote Influencing The Farsight Institute Hawaii Remote Viewers' Guild Western Institute of Remote Viewing PSI Tech Straightline Remote Sensing

Why would you want to learn remote viewing? Paul H. Smith answers: "Within its inherent limitations remote viewing has been used in intelligence collection, crime-solving, finding missing persons, market predictions, and - more controversially - space exploration. Yet most people who learn it do so not because of practical applications so much as the challenge it represents - learning to do something that few other people as yet know how to do; or acquiring a skill deemed impossible under the currently ruling scientific paradigm; or because it provides convincing and satisfying proof that we are, indeed, much more than our physical bodies. While skydivers learn that it is possible to transcend the physical fears and bodily limitations that we normally think we are subject to, remote viewers learn something analogous: that it is possible to transcend not only those limitations, but the boundaries of space and time as well."

How To Experiment with Remote Viewing

Remote viewing is the controlled use of ESP (extrasensory perception) through a specific method. Using a set of protocols (technical rules), the remote viewer can perceive a target - a person, object or event - that is located distantly in time and space. What makes remote viewing different than ESP is that, because it uses specific techniques, it can be learned by virtually anyone. Here's how you can experiment with remote viewing.

Here's How:
First Decisions. Decide who will be the viewer (the person who actually does the remote viewing) and who will be the sender (the person who "transmits" the information to the viewer). Create the Targets. Have a third, person who will not be involved in the remote viewing experiment, select 15 to 20 possible targets - the places the viewer will be remote viewing.

4 The targets must be actual places, preferably within driving distance. This third person should write down details about each target on an index card. Information should include key features of the site: landmarks, geographic features, structures and directions. The more strong details, the better. Secure the Targets. The third person should place each target card in its own unmarked opaque envelope. Seal all envelopes. Choose the Target. Have a fourth person randomly select one of the target envelopes and give it to the viewer. Plan a Time. Decide on a span of time that the actual experiment will begin and end. For example, let's say you choose to begin at 10 a.m. and end at 11 a.m. From this point, the sender and viewer should have no contact until the experiment is over. Open the Envelope. In a place separate from the viewer, the sender should open the envelope and for the first time find out what the target location is. The sender should then go to that location, planning to be there by the start time (in this case, 10 a.m.). Viewer Preparation. Before the start time, the viewer should prepare by being in a quiet, comfortable location with as few distractions as possible. Dress comfortably, disconnect the phone or turn off the cell phone and go to the bathroom to avoid any possible interruptions. Get as relaxed as possible; try some breathing exercises. Start Sending. At the agreed time, the sender is at the target location. The sender should look around and begin transmitting by thought detailed impressions of the location. The impressions should include specific colors, strong shapes, structures - even smells. Start Viewing. At the agreed time, the viewer should be totally relaxed and be sitting comfortably with paper and pencil or pen. Write down the impressions that come across. Draw the shapes seen; note color and smell impressions. Notes. Before the experiment is over, the sender should also jot down notes about the specifics of the target location. Perhaps even photos or video can be taken. Ending the Experiment. At the end of the agreed time, the viewer should sign and date all notes and drawings made. These are then given to another person. The Judge. After the experiment is done, the viewer's notes and the sender's notes (and photos, if any) should be handed over to an impartial person (who thusfar has had no connection with the experiment) who will act as a judge. The judge will compare the notes of the sender and the viewer to determine how successful the remote viewing experiment was. The Verdict. Finally, all persons can gather to hear the judge's opinion, view all of the materials and find out the number or percentage of remote viewing hits. Plan Another Experiment. Whether the results are satisfactory or disappointing, plan to try again. Psychic experiments take time and practice. Don't give up.

5 Share Your Successes. If you've conducted a successful remote viewing experiment, let me know about it. Send me the details for possible sharing with readers on this website.

Tips:
1. When the third party selects the target sites, it will be helpful to choose spots that have strong, bold and unique visual features. This will help make the transmission and reception of the target easier and more specific. 2. At no time before or during the experiment should the viewer see or speak with the people who choose the targets and create the cards and envelopes. This prevents the accidental leakage of any information about the targets to the viewer beforehand. 3. When the viewer is writing down and drawing impressions, don't try to interpret, analyze or second-guess them. Record your first impressions without censorship or judgement. Just let it happen. 4. For some viewers, it's preferable to just sit and relax while impressions are received. Say what is "seen" and have someone else write down what is said. Consider recording it on audio or videotape. (This recording person should be absolutely silent during the recording.) 5. Keep trying. Unlike a chemistry experiment in which you mix two chemicals and always get the same result, a psychic experiment like remote viewing is not always sure-fire. Results will vary with the people involved, the time and place, and other circumstances. But keep experimenting. You may find that your percentage of "hits" will improve over time.

What You Need

index cards envelopes paper pens or pencils tape recorder (optional) camera (optional) video camera (optional)

PRACTICE Like a difficult sport or musical instrument, ESP ability requires diligent practice. Unlike sports or music, however, your progress can be hard to measure because of the elusive nature of psychic phenomena (it's difficult to know how or when it's going to work). So the frustration level can be high, but the key to success is to not give up. (You should know going in, too, that there are no guarantees of success when it comes to trying to develop ESP; yet if you don't try, you're guaranteed not to get anywhere.) "Set aside some time to practice. Calm the mind, play gentle, soothing music and try to relax, recommends Russel Steward. "Allow your thoughts to wander. Sometimes it helps to picture a summer scene, a field or meadow with the sun shining. It's all about getting used to information coming to you from a different source. The more you practice, the easier it becomes. Try pausing before you do something. For example, when the phone rings, pause a few seconds before answering. Can you tell who it is? Try it when someone knocks

6 at your front door. Try it at work. Can you tell when someone is happy, sad or preoccupied?" Such exercises require concentration, an ability you need to develop in and of itself. "You need to have an incredible amount of concentration," says Joe Cepeda in his article, "How Do You Improve Your ESP Ability?" "The type of concentration that calls for you to ignore the crowd at a football stadium in the middle of a touchdown, and be able to clearly recall a passage on a book, a face of a friend or a situation. Thoughts are flowing out there at an incredible rate. Every nanosecond there are thousands, or millions of thoughts flowing back and forth. Each individual is sending and receiving thoughts from outside of his mind. Imagine that all the radio stations are broadcast at the same time into one single frequency on your radio receiver and you will get an idea of what is going in your mind at any point in time. Now imagine that you are able to focus your tuner to receive just one radio broadcast." Don't let frustration or failures make you stop. Be realistic. You can't expect to practice for a few days, then be able to predict when Uncle Louie is going to call or who's going to win the Super Bowl. Psychic abilities, even for those who have developed them to a high degree, can be unpredictable and erratic. The trick is to learn to recognize when your ESP is working... and that comes with experience.

SOME EXERCISES Here are some practical ESP exercises from various sources: Scanning - "Two people - preferably two who haven't met before - stand about 4 - 6 feet apart from each other, facing each other, eyes closed. Each person then closes their eyes, takes a moment to breathe, relax and ground, then visualizes the other as a ball of light or pure energy. Each looks with their inner eyes into the ball of light and scans the person opposite top to bottom, bottom to top, noticing any words, images, colors, thoughts, sensations in their own body,... anything at all that comes up while they're scanning... After a few moment, when they each come back, they tell each other what they saw, felt, whatever, and describe how what the other experienced might fit in their lives at this time." - The Light Ball Exercise Predicting - "Write three predictions for the next day. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, be sure you're comfortable and feet are firmly planted on the floor. After a few deep breaths, project yourself into the next day. See yourself following through on your plans for tomorrow. Look around you. Notice any colors or sensations. Who is with you? What are they wearing? What are they doing? What are you doing? If nothing seems to come, then listen. Any words? Any song lines start running through your head? How does your body feel? Do you smell anything? What subtle changes do you notice? Is your mood changing? Note everything you sense. Write your 'predictions' based on the information you received." - Sensing and Interpreting Online Tests - Work with the many ESP tests that can be found online. Work in a quiet room without distractions. Try different tests and work with them repeatedly. Try them at different times of the day. Are you more successful at certain times of the day than others?

HOW DO YOU KNOW IF IT'S WORKING? After your days, weeks and months of meditation, practice and experimentation, how will you know if your psychic powers are improving? "By experience," says Russel Steward. "Store the episodes in your memory. All those things you knew that came true, all the things you could tell other people about themselves, each and every episode fuels your proof." Better yet, keep a journal of your experiences. Write down the results of your online tests and exercises. The physical act of writing it all on paper will help reinforce the consciousunconscious connection. But how do you know if your "hits" are still just coincidence? An increasing success rate will determine that. "At some point," continues Steward, "chance and coincidence are mathematically no longer a factor. You search your feelings, you begin to trust yourself. The mysteries of the universe lay before you, no longer mysterious, but like a giant unread book." THE DEVELOPMENT OF etheric vision is warranted in many cases. Ghost hunters or those who feel they may have some mediumistic talents may feel inclined to develop their visual reference frameworks. Massage therapists and other bodyworkers may feel a desire to take their work to another level, either to augment current practices or develop new ones. Or you may just have a curiosity in such talents. There are many theories, terminologies, names, methodologies associated with etheric vision. I dont necessarily promote or subscribe to any of them, and I will be using terminologies found in different schemas to describe the experiences and phenomena. For example, although I may use the term aura, I am not suggesting anything about the standard aura mythos commonly found in New Age writings. I am also not promoting a belief system I encourage anyone interested in this area to read widely, experiment, and come to their own conclusions, ideas, and applications. The idea of etheric vision and its development has come to me gradually and naturally after many years of full-time bodywork, and I am convinced that communing with invisible fields and energies are a natural byproduct of intense interpersonal focus within the healing arts and similar endeavors. That some people can view the body and immediately and correctly see problem areas without being able to necessarily articulate why, or see colors and moving fields may be a matter of experience rather than anything magical, special, or spiritual. If I (and many, many others, both anciently and modernly) am correct, and these etheric fields really are somewhat objectively present, then it naturally follows that people involved in working with them (my assumption here being that healing somehow involves these fields) may over time acquire the ability to work with and see the fields even without attempting such. This has been my personal experience, and accepting the naturally occurring visual phenomena and subtle promptings therein has deepened my practice.

8 Because of this, I have been prompted to develop this talent, and in the process, I have found many techniques and exercises that can enhance etheric vision. Below are some of these easy techniques. 1. GATHERING AWARENESS AND GROUNDING This is the simplest of techniques, and is warranted preceding any type of focused effort, or just an exercise in itself. Simply mentally gather or call all your awareness from wherever it may be focused (hearing the traffic outside, going over a conversation you had days ago, thinking about what to make for dinner) and bring it behind your eyes. Actually go through the motions mentally of physically gathering all aspects of yourself and your awareness together visualize this as an interactive movie or picture. And/or you can even physically use your hands to call all your awareness together it may look weird, but grab all the pieces in your hands, and cup your hands over your eyes, directing the awareness through your eyelids, through your physical eyes, and release it behind your eyes. Once your awareness is behind your eyes, look out from behind the back of your eyes. Not only is this a great precursor to any type of etheric vision developing or meditative practice, it does wonders when you are just feeling out of sorts, mildly depressed, or not yourself. To take this therapeutic effect a step further, envision a vine or flower tied to your ankles and send down its stem through the floor, through the dirt, and affixing itself strongly and securely to the center of the Earth. 2. LOOKING THROUGH THE EYELIDS This technique takes a bit of focused practice to get it. For this exercise, bring your awareness to looking out of each of your eyes in turn, while both remain open. Most of us favor one eye or the other, so this can be somewhat of a frustrating exercise. With both eyes open, simply focus on an object or point out of your left eye for a few seconds, then focus on the same object with your right eye for a few seconds. Theres really no trick to this you dont need to squint or anything you should be able to switch the dominant viewing after a while from one eye to another. Once you have mastered switching the dominant eye, pick a plain, simple object (a crystal, your other hand, a lit candle, etc.) to use as a meditative device. This object should be about a foot away from your eye, at eye level. Close one eye and cover it with your palm. Now, look at the meditation object using your closed eye as dominant. This takes some practice because it is obviously very counterintuitive, and it is a subtle effect. But you will know when you have mastered it. There is a sense of seeing the object in a very elusive and non-ordinary way. You will have the strange sensation of seeing through your closed eye. Once this feeling is attained, try to keep your focus in this vision as long as possible. After much practice, and with a sustained attention, visual phenomena such as the auric field may be seen. It may help to position the object so that it is more in line with the eye that is covered. Be sure to practice this technique with both eyes in every session. 3. PRACTICING PERIPHERAL VISION This may be the most effective, easy technique in development of the etheric sight. It is said that the dynamics involved in peripheral vision are the same involved in etheric vision.

9 This may have to do with using rods vs. cones (components of your eyes retina). After much practice in developing peripheral vision, you can specifically engage dynamics learned within to facilitate etheric vision. The methods may vary, and will be apparent. The technique is easy and can be varied in any way that is convenient or challenging. To begin, choose an object or spot directly in front of you for a reference point. Bring your arms straight out to your sides (so your body would form a T shape), and begin wiggling your fingers. Keep your vision focused on the chosen reference area in front of you, but direct your attention to finding your fingers. Slowly bring your arms in toward the middle (still outstretched and with wiggling fingers) until you can see both hands.