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The Llewellyn Encyclopedia

Term: Consensus Reality

DEFINITIONS

Consensus Reality: The philosophical theory that concepts of what are and are not real must be agreed upon (not by a test or statement, but by “consensus,” a general agreement) by a group or culture. That is, if enough people believe some concept is “real,” whether it is or not, the cultural view is that it is real. An example of this is the concept that at one time it was believed by most Western Europeans that the Earth was flat. Maps and expeditions were made based on this belief. In reality, the Earth is not flat. In fact, the belief that most people during the Middle Ages and before believed that the Earth was flat may, in itself, be a form of consensus reality. There is now a belief that educated and influential people knew the Earth was spherical, and the wide spread popularity of the flat Earth myth actually developed only in the 19th century due to the popularity of Washington Irving’s book, The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus, a novel that claimed most thought the world was flat until Columbus.

Consensus Reality:

The concept that the physical world, as we perceive it, is an illusion—an illusion so powerful that it we accept it as “real” and in our endeavors to understand this reality we have given it still greater “hardness” through our accumulation of  history, myth, fable, and statements of physical laws. All of this has been limited to the perceptions of physical senses and rejection of the non-physical.


source: Astral Projection for Psychic Empowerment, by Carl Llewellyn Weschcke & Joe H. Slate, Ph.D. - Carl Llewellyn Weschcke


ARTICLES

Magickal Imagination
One should have good respect for this thing called "Imagination"—the Imago is a manifestation of the force of Spirit. To those having proper respect for the word imagination, it can be told that the Magickal Imagination may well be over 50% of ...
Relevance:  18 % 18%


The Reality of Psychic Attack
In one sense, we are all victims of psychic attack. We’re psychically assaulted almost constantly by a world that has little respect for our precious selves and that seeks to influence and manipulate us in all kinds of ways, some of them potentially ...
Relevance:  13 % 13%


Being Here Now
Even as we recognize that the physical world—as perceived through our physical senses seemingly affirmed through “history”—is really only a “Belief System” that is constantly updated by “patches” and ...
Relevance:  10 % 10%


The Higher Self
The higher self is that part of your psyche which links you with what one writer calls "the supply of infinite love, wisdom and energy in the universe." Mystics who have experienced it in its pure form describe it as a blinding white light. Mystics ...
Relevance:  8 % 8%


What is Hypnosis?
Hypnosis is a daydream-like state. In this state, the person’s conscious mind becomes quiet or passive. The hypnotist introduces suggestions into the powerful subconscious mind. Let’s take a brief, slightly technical look at how the brain operates. ...
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Using the Astral Sweep Technique
Introduction. This Out-of-Body procedure does not require, but can include, astral travel to distant destinations. Here is the seven-step procedure: Step 1. Statement of Goals. For the focused form of the procedure, formulate your goals around a ...
Relevance:  5 % 5%


Review of the Tarot of Reflection
Summary: Like a fun house mirror that changes and reflects an image, Tarot of Reflection reveals aspects of the reality in which we live. It is like a shamanic journey that is a bit frightening but also fascinating and certainly life changing. ...
Relevance:  5 % 5%


Review of the Tarot of the Silicon Dawn
Summary:  The Tarot of the Silicon Dawn stretches the very bounds of Tarot by swapping elemental associations, adding entire suits (but of only a few cards), mixing Roman and Arabic numerals with the Majors, adding strangely named new Major ...
Relevance:  5 % 5%


The Inner Meaning of "Congrex"
Here’s another of Lou Culling’s fancy words he was so fond of using. It just means intercourse, having sex, sleeping together. But the use of an unfamiliar word, even when the meaning is obvious, does have a certain value of "stop, look, ...
Relevance:  5 % 5%


Circle of Life Tarot Review
Tarot Deck Review Model Summary: The Circle of Life Tarot is nothing less than seventy-eight windows into different worlds. The round cards and fantasy-style art create a sense of being slightly off balance, signaling the mind that something ...
Relevance:  5 % 5%



Whatever your background is, it's bound to happen to you: the scary paranormal case. We're not talking about your run-of-the-mill haunting here. We're talking portal hauntings, negative entities, and bad earthbound spirits—in a nutshell, things that scare us! These cases usually start out as a seemingly routine investigation; then, somewhere... read this article
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