[different]

Originally Posted by covert

Alas I'm told it can't work in doubters...

Scammers love to use that as an excuse for ineffectiveness..
Reiki is pseudoscience.

[beta]

Originally Posted by different

Scammers love to use that as an excuse for ineffectiveness..
Reiki is pseudoscience.

If something only 'works' on you if you're a credulous dolt, then it doesn't work.

[MJPassion]

Originally Posted by covert

I wonder whether anyone believes that a person's fate or destiny can be controlled by the evil wishes of someone other than themselves.

Thoughts?

Ever heard of MK Ultra?

Curse of all curses so far as I can tell & it’s as real as it gets.

IMHO, most, if not all, psychological disorders are nothing more than curses.

And then...
Why is cursing (cussing) called cursing?

[Dropped Cat]

I'm a skeptic, however, given different levels of observation skills,
magic, spells and various elements of the occult are of interest to me.

I had an event of sympathetic magic way back. My girlfriend
thought she was pregnant this one time and we worried about it.

At that time I happened to be painting the shed barn red and soaked
the paint roller in the utility sink after the job.

Looked like a big bloody tampon in a pool of blood.

She got her period the next day.

Clearly there was no science to back up the effect,
but it can play havoc with the observable concept of science.

Knock wood, lol

[Weird]

Originally Posted by beta

If you can't demonstrate it or prove it with evidence, how do you know it's real?

Personal experience doesn't count. Anecdote has been used to 'justify' belief in literally every crazy ass thing that's ever been imagined.

How specifically do you differentiate between a supernatural belief and pure fiction, barring our very very very biased personal experiences?

the same way it worked before science defined it with hard evidence

soil borne microbial interactions have only been observable on a microbial level since the invention of the microscope but farmers exploited those relationships through observed gross causation of their plants in those specific environments

all science does is view the phenomenon from a different lens and even then it is not always from a perspective that is relative to the human condition

there are simply more than one way to understand the very real basis of any phenomenon then through a granular scientific lens of which there are many scientific lens in which any phenomenon can be looked at especially when it is put into context with humanity

we don't need to know wind velocity to fly a kite, we don't need to know physics to drive a car and there are plenty of aspects of our world that are still undefined by science yet here we are none the less.

Take the science of driving a car for example, which science explains the phenomenon of the phenomenon of driving? the chemistry that defines the fuel? the math behind the engineering? the biology behind our physiology that drives it or enjoys the driving or understands it outside of all the sciences that can be used to define it?

If you where to take a scientific look at belief relative to our evolution and social development you might realize it is an inseparable part of the human condition and even those "practical enough" to believe in anything but science are steeped in DELUSIONAL belief because science doesn't describe the interactions of disparate scientific phenomenon no matter the entanglement. The car example above is one illustration.

[Slim Pickens]

Do you believe that curses are real?

Doesn't matter if I believe they are,it's what you believe.

[Mick]

Originally Posted by covert

As a scientific kind of person I have trouble understanding some things and I have to say the most puzzling of all is this thing they call raykee. No not the turkish alcoholic national drink. The thing they do with their hands above bodies. I mean in principle it would be fantastic if it worked or could be proven to work. Alas I'm told it can't work in doubters so I've never been a good candidate for a self test.

Curses, voodoo, black magic and evil eye are recurring themes in history across cultures.

I wonder whether anyone believes that a person's fate or destiny can be controlled by the evil wishes of someone other than themselves.

Thoughts?

I had a few Reiki healing sessions for back pain and it worked. If you believe curses, voodoo, black magic and the evil eye work, then they do. There's a great book called "You Are the Placebo" by Dr. Joe Dispenza that's a fascinating read.