E-grāmata: Sixth Sense Reader

What is the sixth sense? Is it physical, mental or spiritual? Do we all possess it or is it unique to exceptional individuals? Might there be a seventh sense and an eighth sense as well? What role does culture play in determining the range of our perceptual abilities?The search for a supplementary sense has taken many directions and yielded numerous possibilities for an additional faculty of perception - from magnetism and movement to dreaming and clairvoyance. Stimulating reflection and debate, The Sixth Sense Reader explores the cultural contexts which give rise to such reports of psychic and other powers that exceed the ordinary bounds of sense.In this groundbreaking volume, leading scholars in history, anthropology and biology take the reader on a tour of the far borderlands of consciousness. From the world beneath to the world beyond the five senses, every potential avenue of sensation is opened up for investigation. The assumption that we have five senses, each with its own domain, has a long history. But throughout the ages and across cultures there have been those who questioned the adequacy of the model of the five senses and posited the existence of additional faculties of perception. The Sixth Sense Reader covers a startling array of cases, ranging from kinesthesia and intuition to shamanic flight and extrasensory perception. With contributions from Anthropology, History, Religion and Biology, among other fields, this volume showcases many fascinating and provocative insights into the varieties of extra/sensory perception and experience. It concludes with an ABCDERIUM of so-called psychic and other powers, which provides a concise reference glossary and opens further avenues for investigation. The Sixth Sense Reader will prove vital to all those interested in probing the far borderlands of consciousness.