h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Psychic Shielding – The basics - A6972041
Author: Senor_Onion - U1498412

I really need some help with the guideML

Take a look at the <./>GuideML-Clinic</.> for some GML advice, but I think the one real problem with this entry is that you assume that everyone believes in psychic shielding and the possibility of psychic attacks. Many people do not believe in such things and I think you need to make the entry more hypothetical.

I assume that if you did not belive in it you would not be intrested in learnig how to psychicly shield

Oops commented in the wrong place

It would be wise to mention that those with beliefs in such things may chose to use psychic shielding, as opposed to leaving it general

Perhapd you could also mention a little about cleansing and protection as well as shielding? I personally find a mental 'circle' makes a greart shield

Senor Onion, just because people don't believe in something it doesn't automatically follow that they aren't interested in it.

As it stands this would be unsuitable for the Edited Guide for the reasons already stated. Psychic phenomena cannot be accurately proven, therefore presenting them as pure fact will not work for the EG.

I'm not sure I entirely agree with that Mr. D. Where there is a significant number of people who use something, or believe in it, or would find it useful, lack of proof is not such an issue. eg an entry on How to Make an Pagan Alter doesn't include statements to appease scientists (I'm assuming it's scientific proof you are referring to) A642098

I'd really hate for all Edited Guide entries to have to pass some kind of test re scientific validity

emr , I also disagree that this entry needs to be made more hypothetical. As the Pagan Alter entry shows, it is possible to have a well written, 'how-to', specific entry on a subject that not everyone believes in.

However I can see why some people would feel uncomfortable with the entry, and it certainly needs some work to get into the edited guide. Maybe we can make constructive suggestions on how Senior could change their entry?

Like Serephina, I think something at the start might help - for instance an introduction saying that psychic shielding is a technique used by pagans, wiccans and others who work with psychic phenomena would acknowledge that this practice is specific to certain people.


Senior, I would say that if you are intending this entry for the Edited Guide, then it will need further work (the EG has it's own set of style and content guidelines). Maybe you could let us know if you want help with this. I'd be happy to comment further if you do

This will certainly need work.
I am not familiar with these beliefs and as such cannot understand powering a shield. - please add how this is done/ some mechanism.
Also the initial definition is wrong. Perhaps you should split this to form a definition of Psychic and a separate definition of shield..?

i'll help with guideML if you like, although i'm not a guru (or even close).

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Point taken, kea, but I still think some sort of note (perhaps in that well-suggested introduction) should explain that the phenomenon has not been scientifically proven.

hmmm... I don't see that it has anything to do with science. There will be people who think psychic shielding is b*ll*cks but not for science reasons - should we accomodate them too?

I really don't see why this entry needs to meet a criteria set by a branch of knowledge that it has nothing to do with. Do you want to say why you think it should?

Personally I think if the entry acknowledges that psychic shielding is used by specific groups withing society that should be enough.

Hmmm. I also don't think it's the unscientific nature of this that's necessarily the point.

But I also think that in terms of the EG being for 'factual' entries, this one does cross the line as it currently stands:

>>People are constantly making psychic attacks and being attacked but rarely know it or control it<<

I mean, with that approach, anything goes. If I submit an entry headed 'Confiture Transmigration - the basics' and open with the line "People are constantly being turned into pots of jam and being spread on toast but rarely know it or control it" ... then as long as I can find a few like-minded people (or assert that I could find such people), then I can claim it has validity?

The link Kea gave to the Pagan Altar entry shows exactly how it should be done, I think, because it's set in a particular context and it allows for a framework of lots of other entries on Paganism and Wicca to support it and the history of those things to provide a 'whole' of which it is a part.

Whereas I can't really see what the framework for this would be, I'm afraid, because it's *not* just Paganism: it's Victorian theosophy, it's Golden Dawn and Aleister Crowley and various fictional ramifications - and confidence tricksters, last but not least - all of which it would be interesting to see addressed ... but which aren't addressed here.

This just 'asserts' and 'assumes' - it would need to get into the history and the background a bit more, I feel. Because ...

>>I really don't see why this entry needs to meet a criteria set by a branch of knowledge that it has nothing to do with<<

I agree - I also think it would be pretty redundant for every guide entry to have to say 'various religious beliefs see this differently' where it's a scientific subject or 'science would explain it in this way instead' if it's religious or spiritual - but this isn't being presented as part of *any* 'branch of knowledge', it's just being 'presented' as 'the truth'.

So I suppose it's 'the basics' that's the problem here, in the end. That this needs to be more objective doesn't mean it has to defend psychic shielding on scientific grounds at all, but it does have to locate it in some sort of framework (or in this case several different frameworks, perhaps).

Well said, Trin.

Yep, well saidTrin That's very helpful.


>> it would need to get into the history and the background a bit more, I feel. <<

A huge problem, IMO, with the 'new age' movements in the West is that they are largely devoid of cultural or historical context (except when they're ripping off other cultures). The information in this entry "could* have direct connections to the Theosophists, but it also could have been taught entirely outside any structure or philosophy at all.

I agree that a wider entry on the historical context would be very interesting. And I can see that a straight 'how-to' entry could still be written, showing what Theosophists or Pagans etc do, without the presenting it as the Truth.

I think we need to hear back from Senior_Onion if he wants to do more work on this (I'd like to wait for this before commenting on the content of the entry).


btw Serephina's entry on Candle Magic currently in Peer Review is another entry that could be used as an example of writing in a specific context, without asserting the truth.

I know it needs A lot of work this is a very early draft and I wanted a better idea of what need to be added and changed

but I will not adress wehter poeple belive in psychic phenomenon becuse that is it's own entry and I want to keep the subject of this narrow

It doesn't actually say *how* to psychically shield - it says what types you can choose from, but how would I actually do it? Do I just imagine a shield, or is it deeper than that?

I will try to add that soon can't belive I forgot it. all you have to do is imagine it and put energy into it until it feels done

Author elvised and Entry not particularly strong on the reality front - time to take this out of the Writing Workshop, I think.

This Entry has been seconded (F43882?thread=3835955) and has been added to a list of Writing Workshop removals. The Entry will hopefully be removed shortly.

Ok, the Entry has now left the EGWW.

*unsubscribes*