Psychotronics is the name of a field concerned with the alleged influence of the human mind on its surroundings, on matter and on other people in ways that known physical mechanisms do not explain. The term was popularised in the 1960s and 1970s in Czechoslovakia, where it was used by Zdeněk Rejdák among others, and from there it spread to other Central European countries, including Poland. Psychotronics brings together parapsychology, dowsing, mind techniques, divination and unconventional healing.
It should be said straight away that the scientific status of psychotronics is disputed: the phenomena it deals with have not been confirmed in rigorous, controlled studies, and most scientists regard it as a pseudoscience. Below we describe how its supporters themselves understand its areas – as beliefs and practices, not as scientific findings.
1. Parapsychology and the concept of psi
The concept of psi was proposed as a neutral term covering a variety of “parapsychological” phenomena – free of the built-in assumptions carried by terms such as psychokinesis, telepathy, spiritualist phenomena, apport, teleportation or exteriorisation (the out-of-body experience).
The main problem is that these terms lack precise definitions that would clearly indicate which phenomena count as psi and which should be excluded. Psi is usually defined as an “unknown factor” in psychic experiences – a factor that is supposed to operate outside the conventional sensory channels.
2. Dowsing
Dowsing was once understood solely as the art of finding underground water with a rod or pendulum. Today its practitioners also use it to search for objects, locate so-called underground water veins or assess the “energy” of places. Two kinds are distinguished:
- Physical dowsing – drawing conclusions from the movement of a pendulum or rod without asking any questions, for example while walking over the ground in search of water.
- Mental dowsing – the dowser asks questions silently and reads the movement of the pendulum as a “yes” or “no” answer, often working over a map, plan or special chart without being on site.
The movements of pendulums and rods are usually explained by the ideomotor effect, described as early as the nineteenth century: small, unconscious muscle movements that reflect the expectations of the person holding the instrument. In controlled tests, dowsers have not done better than chance would predict.
3. Brain waves and “programming” the mind
Supporters of psychotronics believe that by “tuning” the mind and its physical basis – the brain – one can consciously shape one’s own life and surroundings. There are many such techniques; most of them are meant to synchronise the work of both brain hemispheres in a common rhythm, usually in the alpha state. The first step is learning to lower the frequency of one’s brain waves using simple relaxation and visualisation techniques. This frequency changes many times a day, and it is most noticeable in the evening: when we lay our head on the pillow and close our eyes, the brain slows down by itself so that we can rest.
The brain’s electrical activity is measured with EEG, and its rhythms are divided into several frequency bands. They are associated with different states of mind; supporters of psychotronics also link some of them with paranormal experiences.
- Delta waves (approx. 0.5–4 Hz) – dominate in deep sleep, when we are unaware of our surroundings.
- Theta waves (approx. 4–8 Hz) – appear in drowsiness, light sleep and deep meditation, accompanied by imagery and strong emotional experiences. According to supporters of psychotronics, this is a good starting point for parapsychic experiences.
- Alpha waves (approx. 8–13 Hz) – typical of relaxed wakefulness, especially with closed eyes, and of daydreaming. Supporters of psychotronics associate this range with hypnotic states and parapsychic experiences.
- Beta waves (approx. 13–30 Hz) – accompany active thinking and everyday tasks; the typical rhythm of an alert, focused mind.
- Gamma waves (above approx. 30 Hz) – associated with intense concentration and the integration of information from different senses.
As we fall asleep, the brain moves from the beta rhythm through alpha and theta into deep sleep, dominated by delta waves. Sleep is not uniform, however: it consists of cycles lasting about 90 minutes, repeated several times a night. Most deep sleep occurs in the first half of the night, while towards morning the phases of REM sleep grow longer – the phases in which we have our most vivid dreams and the EEG resembles wakefulness.
According to supporters of psychotronics, to use parapsychic abilities you need to learn to bring the brain into the alpha or theta state and keep it there without falling asleep, for as long as you wish. This is described, among others, by William W. Hewitt in his book on developing psychic abilities. The most popular methods include:
- Visualisation – imagining pictures and situations, which is meant to make it easier to reach the theta state at any moment and use it for experiences that supporters call parapsychic.
- Huna – a system described in the twentieth century by Max Freedom Long, who presented it as the ancient knowledge of Hawaiian priests; its followers regard it as one of the foundations of work with the subconscious, although historians question its supposedly ancient origins.
- The Silva Method – a set of mind techniques for working in the alpha state, developed in the 1960s by José Silva; it has many followers around the world.
- Hemisphere-synchronising recordings – a method developed by Robert A. Monroe, using specially prepared sound recordings (so-called binaural beats) that are supposed to help “tune” the brain.
Relaxation, visualisation and meditation can help you calm down and concentrate better. There is, however, no reliable evidence that putting the brain into a particular rhythm makes it possible to develop paranormal abilities.
4. Divination
Divination is any foretelling of the future on grounds other than rational ones. It includes:
- Fortune-telling – an attempt to assess a person’s current situation and predict the future from a seemingly random arrangement of symbols (playing cards, tarot, runes, horoscopes, numerology) or by other techniques, such as palmistry or the pendulum.
- Precognition – a supposed form of extrasensory perception. The word literally means “knowing beforehand”. People convinced of its existence describe future events passing before their eyes like a film, with the information reaching them at a distance, without being present on the spot. The concept was introduced partly so that it could be studied with special tests – but their results have not proved that the phenomenon exists.
- Clairvoyance – according to its supporters, the ability to perceive things beyond the reach of the senses: to “see” clearly, without any physical contact, what is happening in a distant place and even at another time – clairvoyants are said to reconstruct past events and foresee future ones. In its simplest form it is a strong hunch that something will or will not happen. Supporters of this idea believe it was an innate ability that helped early humans survive, and that people relied on it less and less as writing and language developed.
5. Healing – bioenergy therapy
Bioenergy therapy is a form of unconventional healing that is supposed to treat people by means of so-called biological energy. Psychotronics accepts the existence and action of this energy without reservation: its source is said to be the Universe, and the bioenergy therapist merely directs its flow through the patient’s body during a session. The existence of such energy has not been scientifically confirmed, and the effectiveness of bioenergy therapy has not been demonstrated in studies – it cannot replace treatment by a doctor.
Psychotronics and science
Psychotronics remains a set of beliefs and practices that have personal and spiritual meaning for many people. Anyone interested in it should bear in mind that its claims have not been scientifically confirmed, and treat it as a cultural phenomenon rather than as proven knowledge about human beings.
