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Do you believe in psychics? Well, neither did I.
We were a small group of young families who got together once a month for dinner and discussion of current world problems. The format was as follows. One couple hosted the dinner and another one chose the problem discussed, and we switched each time.
I was the only physician in the group and it was our turn to host the dinner. Previously we had discussed abortion, premarital sex, and birth control at our last few meetings.
The current topic selected was psychic phenomena. As a doctor with a scientific background, I thought this was a lot of hooey. I was brought up a Catholic and was taught from a young age not to believe in psychics.
Besides my wife and I, there were two other young couples and an older neighbor, age 60, who had six children.
The couple in charge of selecting the topic brought a psychic of some renown in Phoenix. He was known simply as Louie.
After dinner, we all settled down for the discussion. After some benign banter, one of the women present asked Louie how many children she would have. Louis answered, “I see two children for you.” In fact, she did have two children. Good guess, I thought.
My wife was next and she said, “How many do you see for us?” He answered, “I see the potential for three children.” Well, we had two children, and we were not planning any more, but I figured there possibly could be a third since we were still young. But this sounded like BS to me.
Next up was my 60 year old neighbor. My immediate thought, as an OB/GYN, was this woman is menopausal, he certainly is not going to be able to guess here, because she's not having any more children.
His answer, “For you I see six children. And your youngest child will receive a gift bunny for Easter.” Easter was only several days away. OK, I must admit this perked me up.
The next young woman was anxiously awaiting asking her question. “How many do you see for me?” Noticing how nervous she appeared, Louie hemmed and hawed, not wanting to answer the question. However she persisted and repeated it. “How many do you see for me?”
We all knew that she had two children. Finally, Louis with some reluctance said, “Actually for you, I see no children.”
The woman was almost in tears. It turned out that, unbeknownst to us, both her children were adopted and she and her husband had been trying for many years to have a baby.
Although, after sometime, I lost track of this couple, to my knowledge she never did conceive.
It also turned out that my neighbors daughter did receive a bunny as a gift on Easter.
I have to admit this completely changed my feelings about psychics and psychic phenomena and this became a major interest for me to pursue in the future, along with my medical practice. And after my visits to India, I became well known in the Phoenix area as someone who had an interest in psychic phenomenon.
Skeptic Turned Seeker
I have seen things that are totally unexplainable in this material world, although unexplained phenomena don't suddenly negate my scientific beliefs. But that night, my world expanded. It forced me to acknowledge that our understanding of reality is incomplete. The human mind, and the connections that may exist beyond our usual perceptions, became a source of fascination for me.
This experience humbled my certainty. It ignited a lifelong exploration of the mysteries that lie at the edge of science, a journey that runs parallel to my commitment to medicine and the tangible world.
And by the way, I now I have three children.
Charles Bollmann, M.D., FACOG,, FAACS, CEO BAREskincare.com
