Some psychic practices capture the imagination more than others. In fact one, remote viewing, even captured the attention of the US army. Remote viewing is something that has fascinated the public for decades, although it is a skill that has been around since the beginnings of time. Indeed, the ability to see information, an event or physical feature from a distant or ‘remote’ location is something that many of us could see the value in.
But, what is remote viewing, and how does it work? Is this a skill that you’re born with, or can you learn to be a remote viewer? Is there even any proof that remote viewing is possible?
In this post we’ll take an in-depth look at the fascinating psychic talent of remote viewing.
What does remote viewing actually mean?
As the name implies, remote viewing is the ability to view a distant location without being physically present. In theory, this means that you could use remote viewing as a way to see what is happening on the other side of the world, or just down the road. In fact, as we’ll see, remote viewing has been used to view places beyond our own realm.
Is remote viewing the same as astral projection?
Both remote viewing and astral projection are out of body experiences, where the mind is transported to another realm. However, there are differences between the two.
Remote viewing is the act of controlling your mind to access information from a location where you are not physically located. So, you could use remote viewing to view your family halfway around the world, or perhaps use it to verify physical details of a place.
With astral projection, the out of body experience is focused on another level of existence, or accessing the astral plane. As humans, we exist in the material world, but astral projection allows our spiritual being to go beyond this and interact with the spiritual world. It is thought that the common reports of out of body experiences, such as near death experiences, involve a form of astral projection.
Research by the US Military
Perhaps one of the main reasons for the high profile and popularity of remote viewing is for it’s focus by the US military. During the 1970’s, America became aware that the Soviets were conducting their own paranormal research, and so started their own program.
The Stargate program, as it became known, ran from the early 1970s until 1995. Although the Stargate program is known for its research into remote viewing, it also used resources to research other paranormal sciences for military purposes. The project was featured in the book and film, The Men Who Stare at Goats.
The Stargate Project and Ingo Swann
During the Stargate Project, researchers enlisted the help of renowned remote viewing advocate and expert Ingo Swann. Swann’s research started in 1970, and he was recruited to work with Russell Targ and Harold Puthoff at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). This work eventually became part of the Stargate Project, and Swann and his team carried out extensive tests of the possibilities of remote viewing.
One of the most audacious tests carried out by Swann was his remote viewing of the surface of the planet Jupiter. This experiment was carried out in 1973, six years before the Voyager probe visited the planet, and his observations in fact contained many similarities to the images beamed back from the probe.
Targ and Puthoff also conducted tests on Swann’s ability to report back information from specific locations as part of the research. They estimated that Swann provided correct information based on their criteria around 95% of the time.
Can you remote view the past?
Remote viewing is a psychic ability, which means the potential for viewing past events is indeed possible. In fact, there are cases of psychics using remote viewing to solve mysteries from the past, including the disappearance of Amelia Earhart. There is also a fascinating case whereby the US military, as part of it’s Stargate Project in the 1970’s, documented a case where they used remote viewing to explore Mars around 1 million years ago.
Some say that remote viewing is a type of clairvoyance, or extra sensory perception, so the ability to view different points in time is an aspect of remote viewing that can be harnessed.
Is remote viewing safe?
Like other out of body experiences, most of the dangers of remote viewing come from the psychological aspects. It can be stressful and mentally taxing to experience remote viewing, and there is always the possibility that you might see something scary or alarming. Being out of your physical body also means you might not be aware of your surroundings, so if something was to happen to you while in a trance, you may not be able to do anything about it. But, in terms of actual physical danger to yourself as a result of the practice, remote viewing carries a risk close to zero.
Can I learn remote viewing?
Learning to do remote viewing is actually something that almost all humans have the capacity for. In fact, many of us may have experienced a similar out of body experience in our lives before. Or, perhaps, seen a flash of a moment that we haven’t experienced ourselves but later find out to be real.
If you want to learn how to do remote viewing, it is in fact a relatively simple process. You just need to prepare, be patient, and have self discipline to achieve results.
The step by step guide to mastering remote viewing
Like all psychic disciplines, the trick to mastering remote viewing is by putting yourself in the right mental state and being ‘in the moment’. Before you begin following the step by guide, start by paying attention to your surroundings. Try and subtly take notice of the things you see around you; colours, shapes, special features, sounds, the amount of specific items or features, smells, textures…
The aim is to increase your sensitivity to your surroundings and to minimise ‘clutter’ or ambient interference.
To be a successful remote viewer, you’ll also need to be able to focus your mind and put intrusive thoughts to one side. Again, this is a technique often used by psychic mediums to channel their spiritual energies, and is the same process that will help you practice remote viewing. Once you have mastered the ability to focus your thoughts and to channel subconscious information, you will be able to follow this step by step guide to remote viewing.
Training yourself to do remote viewing
Before you start, keep a notebook, or clean sheet of paper, and a pen to hand. Make a note of the time, date and your location.
- Ask a friend or family member to choose 5-10 images of places and to place these images, individually, into envelopes. The person doing the remote viewing training should not look at the images beforehand.
- Try to eliminate external distractions. In early stages it might be best to try and do this somewhere with the least amount of noise, although as you become more adept at it, you should be able to do it anywhere.
- Take one of the sealed envelopes and let go of your mind. In the CIA training documents, it is noted that correct RV data is impressionistic or vague, or that novice viewers may even find that information is non visual. By relaxing your mind and trying not to force it, you should be more open to these subtle signals.
- Note down whatever comes to mind, or if you prefer you can also keep an audio recording. Don’t edit yourself, try and get down everything that comes to mind, no matter how vague it might seem. You might see shapes, colours or even just experience a feeling. It’s also suggested that after an initial session of 10-30 seconds, you should relax for a moment and just let the images come to you.
- By now, you will likely start to feel the information starting to come in as your mind relaxes into the location. In the CIA training documents, it is suggested that you take the initial sensations and note them. After this you might experience a vivid or distinctive image, which you should make note of – however the CIA suggests that this is often incorrect. After this vivid imagery, focus on what you can and make as many notes as possible about what you are experiencing.
- Once you feel you have enough information, try and draw a sketch of the location. Don’t worry about it being a work of art, just put down whatever you can.
- If you feel like you can, try to make yourself drift through the location. Ideally you want to get a birds eye view of your target location, but if you can through it in three dimensions, you might also be able to build a bigger picture.
- At the end of your session, you should make a note of the time. Consolidate your notes and then take a look at the target location image. Assess what you saw against the image, but don’t be too worried about accuracy at the beginning. You’re trying to train yourself to interpret the images, so when you’re feeling ready, move onto the next one and see how you do….
The CIA report suggests that it can take around 20-30 training sessions for viewers to identify the relevant information and become adept at remote viewing. So, in the early stages, focus on getting the information from your mind onto the page.
Interpreting your remote viewing data
With the nature of remote viewing data, you might find that vague shapes relate to distinctive features. For example, angular lines might be buildings, man made structures, cliffs or vehicles.
Curved or snaking lines could be terrain features such as rivers or water, rolling terrain or hills.
Straight lines or jagged lines might be mountains, water boundaries or forests.
Practice does make perfect with remote viewing, so make sure to regularly train your mind to focus on the details that you receive.
In summary
Remote viewing is a fascinating skill and one that can be learned with some patience and practice. Some people may have a natural ability, some may find the progress a little slower, but don’t worry. As we have seen, remote viewing is even something that the US government saw fit to invest time and money in. Although the Stargate Project is discontinued, which some see as a sign that it was unsuccessful, for those with an interest in the skill of remote viewing there is some fascinating data to explore.
If you would like to use the skills of a professional remote viewer, you’ll find psychic mediums offer an excellent way to experience it. Speak to one of our online psychics about remote viewing.