Halloween, Attitudes and Beliefs
Today being Halloween, I was thinking about some of the deep beliefs that some people across the world still hold about this day.
I’ve just come across an extremely interesting report from Baylor University entitled American Piety in the 21st Century.
It is a survey conducted by the Gallup Organization of 1,721 randomly selected individuals, that examined some of their beliefs and attitudes.
I was particularly drawn to it because of the undoubted relationships between health, faith, religion and spirituality.
Here were some of the key findings:
- 8% of men and 18% of women surveyed thought that psychics fortunetellers. Astrologers and palm readers could foretell the future
- 41% believed that ancient civilizations such as Atlantis once existed
- 37% believed that places could be haunted
- 28% thought that it was possible for the mind to directly influence the physical world
- 25% believed that some UFOs are extraterrestrial spaceships
My first reaction to these figures is just how low they are. Certainly lower than many previous studies of this type.
I was also struck that few of the respondents could have been aware of some of the research that seems to indicate the existence of some form of psychokinesis: the ability of the mind to influence objects in the material world.
Of course this work is controversial, but there really is enough data for us to realize that there is a case to be answered.
If you are interested in looking into this in more detail, I recently compiled a short reading list that you can find on the Amazon website.
Dr. Richard G. Petty, MD is a world-renowned authority on the brain, and his revolutionary work on human energy systems has been acclaimed around the globe.
He is also an accredited specialist in internal and metabolic medicine, endocrinology, psychiatry, acupuncture and homeopathy. He has been an innovator and leader of the human potential movement for over thirty years and is also an active researcher, teacher, writer, professional speaker and broadcaster. He is the author of five books, including the groundbreaking and best selling CD series Healing, Meaning and Purpose. He has taught in over 45 countries and 48 states in the last ten years, but spends as much time as possible on his horse farm in Georgia.
