Empathy, Connections/Bonds, & Shifts

[Darklilone]

Do you think it's possible,
Whether or not one person is Otherkin, but if they are empathic and have a connection (of any sort, friendship, relationship, psychic bond, etc) with someone who is otherkin,
Do you think it's possible for the Empath to experience, even partly, the shift of their Otherkin friend/lover/etc?

I've always believed empathy to be about emotions. However, it's a sensitivity to energy as well. If there's a change of some sort in a close one's energy, could an empath perceive it in some way? Could they feel the shift, lik ethey do emotions?

[The Night Watchman]

Oh, absolutely.  An Empath is attuned to energy just an much as emotions.  In fact, i believe that Empaths are mainly attuned to energy.  Every thought pattern and emotional state that we have creates a different wavelength of energy that we project.  It's something that science is just now noticing and starting to tap into.  I believe that it's this energy that we Empaths likely tap into and pick up on.

As for Otherkin, I do believe fully that an Empath can pick up on the changes.  Weather or not the Empath is aware of what it is, or is even aware of Otherkin and what they are, they will likely still feel and pick up on the change in the person.

[The Sentinel]

Empathy isn't an Otherkin-exclusive experience. If you are an empath you are sensitive to everybody and can very readily sense changes in energy, mood, or just about anything else that shows up. Even at a distance. My fiance (Watchman, actually) and I can sense one another's emotions from 700 miles away. Someone that sensitive can easily pick up changes in people around them, though they may not necessarily understand what the changes are.

[The Night Watchman]

Yes, Sentinel and I are both Empathic.  This is one of the main reasons that we wound up together.

[RKCoon]

Didnt someone in the medical community prove that as a person's mood changes, so too does certain chemical processes in the brain? If so, it would stand to reason then that if one were sensitive to energies (which could be connected on a strictly biological level, in a similar manner one might feel heat difference through flesh or sound difference through hearing), that one would pick up on such.

[The Night Watchman]

Absolutely.  It's been known for quite some time that emotions are handled by levels of chemicals within the brain.  This is why people with actual, clinical emotional problems (such as sociopaths or manic depressives) are often referred to as having a "chemical imbalance".  However, they have also found that the human brain projects certain electrical wavelengths that change depending on mood, desire, thought patterns, and mental processes.  Different brain conditions will also effect these electrical signals.

The science is called EEG, or "Electroencephalography".  Google it!  It's fascinating stuff!  EEG was first used to diagnose such things as epilepsy, brain tumors, and stroke, since the brain produces significant, readable electrical disturbances during such conditions.  By placing electrodes onto the scalp, they can literally pick up on and map the changes in these electrical signals by introducing different stimuli and exercises to the patient. 

Over time, scientists began to see the possible ramifications of transferring EEG technology from the medical sciences to the practical sciences and thus began to work on ways to read, map, and understand these different electrical patterns, and developing systems to understand those changes and translate them into electrical signals that a computer can understand and utilize!

About a decade ago, I saw a documentary that spoke in great detail about a man who had become completely crippled.  He was unable to move or even speak at all.  This man volunteered for the procedure and in time they managed to rig up a huge home computer system in his room (complete with multiple monitors and tie-ins to the light, heat, and sound systems in the room) that was completely rigged up to electrodes that he wore on a rig strapped to his head.  By nothing more than the power of his thoughts, this man was able to move the cursor on his computer and drag or click files and open programs, change music and turn up or down the volume, turn on and off the lights in his room, have the computer speak for him, and a multitude of other processes.  He described the system as "difficult to get used to at first" since there was no muscle memory.  For example, if someone tosses you a ball, you don't think about it... your arm reflexes up and you snatch the ball.  With the system, he would have to constantly think "Lift my left arm... open my hand... close my fingers around the ball...etc".  However, he said that over time and with practice it started to become second nature for him.

A few years before that, the scientific world was all abuzz due to their first mechanical breakthrough in the realm of EEG control.  They bound a monkey in place and set the electrodes to his head.  The electrodes were hooked to a computer that controlled a pair of robotic arms.  They placed bananas in front of the monkey, and by nothing more than desire and the power of will, the monkey was able to reach out with the mechanical arms and perform tasks, such as open the bananas and feed itself.

If you go to "ThinkGeek.com" right now, you can find a device on sale that is marketed as a "Star Wars Force Trainer".  They suggest that you use "the Force" to move a small ball inside of a tube that is marked with different levels.  The machine will tell you which level to move the ball up or down to, and you use "the Force" to move it.  The actual mechanics behind the device are the world's first mass produced, marketed EEG system.  The player straps a headpiece on (that has electrodes) and by thinking about where you want the ball to move, the signals your brain emits are read by the electrodes, understood by a microprocessor in the device, and then a fan in the base of the device will blow harder or weaker depending on how much you want the ball to move up or down.  Yes, with just the power of your mind!

It's actually very interesting and amazing stuff, and they are still just starting to break ground on it's potential.  Just imagine the kind of things they will be able to do in the years to come.  Fully articulated mechanical limbs for amputees that work by sheer will?  No further use for a keyboard or mouse for your home PC, and just strap on a headset and go to work?  It's an amazing time we live in, and I can't wait to see what's around the corner!

It is within these electrical and chemical changes and projects within and from the brain that I believe quite a bit of where Empaths pick up on the states of others.  Many of us already know that we are able to pick up on the energy of others, so likely these electrical patterns or chemical changes are a part of that. 

The idea of electrical projections from the brain are more and more moving into the realm of scientific fact and reality.  And what are Metaphysics but that which science has yet to prove?  Just look at the thousands of things that were once considered fiction, fantasy, heresy, or lunacy that are now commonly accepted as scientific fact.  Empaths, vampires, energy leeches, hell even thropes and the like... they're all widely known to be fantasy.  But those of us here are all believers of such things to be reality in this world, aren't we?  It's amazing to see how many things slowly slip from the realm of science fiction to science fact.  Brain-powered computers?  What will be next?!


*Just a small side note; my Mother has epilepsy and has been through quite a few EEG tests over the years, so I have been researching information on such things for well over a decade.

[Darklilone]

Empathy isn't an Otherkin-exclusive experience. If you are an empath you are sensitive to everybody and can very readily sense changes in energy, mood, or just about anything else that shows up.

I am aware *nods* i was just wondering if empathy could apply to shifts, as well as emotions and such..

Didnt someone in the medical community prove that as a person's mood changes, so too does certain chemical processes in the brain? If so, it would stand to reason then that if one were sensitive to energies (which could be connected on a strictly biological level, in a similar manner one might feel heat difference through flesh or sound difference through hearing), that one would pick up on such.

I remember seeing on the Discovery Channel, "The Science of Love" (though i'm sure it's mentioned elsewheres too), people do naturally pick up on chemical changes in each other, or they should. People do pick up on various things such as verbal communication, body language, pheromones, etc. I believe every person also can pick up on energy changes, as yes, they are interconnected with your chemical changes (metaphysical parallel to the physical), though it seems empaths are either more susceptible to it, or simply just more aware. or something >.>..

[The Night Watchman]

*pokes*  Hey hey, read my posts too!  Chemical AND electrical changes!   

[Darklilone]

*pokes*  Hey hey, read my posts too!  Chemical AND electrical changes!   

i got lazy, i sowwy.

such as open the bananas and feed itself.

*confused*
Monkeys don't naturally peel the banana, to my knowledge they just eat it.

I did read it, it is very interesting.
My brother-in-law has epilepsy.

[The Night Watchman]

After further research, I found this:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7423184.stm

In this, they actually hold out bits of food and the monkey is able to reach for it and take it to feed himself.