By Becky Shamen
In our article on DNA morphing machines, we talked
of a future that allows us to imitate second life, by changing real
bodies as easily as we do our avatars. Is this a two way street? Are
there some real world abilities that second life needs to learn?
We explore our worlds. using our senses of sight,
sound, smell, touch and taste. Any of these can, with practice, be improved.
Alas, in the virtual world of Second Life, we seem to be limited to
sight and sound. Are there techniques, we can employ, that will enable
us to refine our senses? In the real world, there are additional, higher
octaves of our five senses, which are collectively known as the sixth
sense, including clairvoyance (seeing) and telepathy (hearing). We all
have these abilities, but few learn to use them fully. Our extra-sensory-perceptions
tell us things, about others, that we are unable to explain how we know.
We use expressions like; He gives off good vibrations, Her smile lights
up a room, He was green with envy, so angry I was seeing red. Those
that have developed these higher senses, called "seers", explain
that we all have energy fields surrounding our bodies, called auras.
The etheric aura radiates information about our physical health. The
colors in our astral aura reveal our moods and desires. Our thoughts
create objects which float about in the aura. By looking at these "thought
forms", a seer can tell what things you spend the most time thinking
about. Like our basic senses, these higher senses, with practice, can
also be improved.
In Second Life, most of the things that others
know about us are seen, in the choice of avatars and the words we type
in chat. If you have a computer that can handle Voice, you also get
to hear how they sound. How is it that, with such limited data, we can,
almost instantly, tell that a demon or big bad wolf is someone we would
like to be friends with, or that a cute little pony might not be invited
to your parties? Does the energy in our auras find it's way through
the internet and into our avatars?
In real life, there are two compliments that
I often receive. The first one is, I have great legs and, looking in
the mirror, I have to agree. The other is, I light up a room, but that's
not as easy to see. In Second Life, I buy my avatar's shape and skin
in the same stores as others. I find most people I meet to be extremely
friendly, helpful and generous and wonder if others, wearing the same
shape and skin, get the same attention. I do have one unique feature,
that might set me apart. I made a custom texture for my eyeballs, which
I have never shared, so am the only one in SL that has them. The eyes
are the smallest detail on the avatar and, more often than not, I am
dancing on a pole. Unless people are zooming in on my profile picture,
my eyes can hardly be the reason for being so popular. I begin to suspect
the light, that people sense in real life, may have found it's way into
the virtual world.
In Real Life, any senses beyond the standard
package of five would be considered to be ESP. On the other hand, in
Second life, having only sight and sound to guide us, there is a far
greater range for potential ESP. This writer's opinions are but one
drop in a vast ocean of players. We must leave it up to our readers
to answer these questions for themselves. Does ESP exist in Second Life?
Can we touch, taste or smell things there? Out of tens of thousands
of players, is some small percentage of them able to see the higher
realms? Do avatars have auras? Can we communicate with each other, telepathically,
without using our keyboards to chat? If you have answers, contact me
and I'll be all ears, especially when I'm in bunneh mode (grin and wink).
Becky "Sha" Shamen
Great article Becky.
ReplyDeleteI do readings through SL, and also occasionally get blessed to do Reiki sessions. I also provide these services in RL, but I find it interesting how easy it is to make a clear connection through SL versus RL at times. I have wondered if perhaps part of that is having the usual senses shut off and being 'forced' more to use the higher senses.
I have noticed this not just in SL. I chat in YIM, and have over time developed very close connections to 'adopted' (and now grown, and I'm so proud of them and how they are turning out) children. One of the things that there were interested in was testing ESP and telepathy. Both teens and adults seem to be equally gifted and the more drive they have to learn to use those gifts the stronger they seem to get. I had one lady, now deceased, who became a 'heart sister' and never failed to know when my hip was acting up or when something very bad had happened...and would call me even if I was at my mother's or shopping and she had to leave a message for me to call her back when I got in.
Getting back to SL's effects, in addition to our senses being so limited I think it helps open our mind by provided input that usually would not be accepted by our waking senses. In RL if we saw a dragon walking around in a tutu or kimono we'd be more likely to check our drink. In SL, the fantastical is 'normal' and so we may be more willing to accept the 'intangible' information that we are picking up.