It is a working hypothesis of mine that postmodern questions about the existence of a fully individuated self that is immanently knowable may have led to a cultural anxiety at least partially exercised through science-fiction writings.  From a psychoanalytic standpoint, any such writings that deal with the borders between human minds (telepathy or mind control) or the effects of the human mind on exterior reality (precognition, mystic healing/revivification) would seem to imply a pre-occupation with these questions about selfhood and existence.  

However, it has been brought to my attention that accounts dealing with such phenomena are not limited to modern science-fiction in its myriad incarnations.  Psychic stories have been a part of recorded human history since – well, since humans started recording history, pretty much!  This site examines mystic and psychic phenomenological accounts from the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome.  The chapters of this Storybook attempt to re-interpret some of the themes and anxieties these accounts express in their original form in a more modern light, and hopefully illustrates that the existential dilemmas of these ancient cultures are not as far removed from our own postmodern malaise as we might like to believe. 

Further, if one takes to heart the philosophy put forth by Descartes and others that reality is literally created by our projected mental perceptions and is not merely an objective interpretation of external events, these stories may serve to illustrate the range of phenomena that may have been possible and may remain possible in the presence of a human mind unfettered by the rules governing conventional reality.  (Did I just get too Matrix-y there and lose everybody?  Let Me Know.)  Taken at face value, the events in these accounts certainly justify questioning our limited perceptions of the limitless potential of the human mind.

The chapters of this storybook revive in modern form various accounts of “the famous ‘psychic’ Sosipatra,” the soul-projecting Aristeas of Proconnesus, the “prominent sophist [professional lecturer and teacher]” Aelius Aristides, and the accused ‘philosopher [practitioner of the occult]’ Apollonius and his disciple, Damis.  Sosipatra was something of a psychic child prodigy complete with a fairytale-mystical upbringing: two strange men show up at her parents' house one day and tell them that she is destined for to wield great psychic power in the story "Disconnected".  Aristeas' story  follows in "Disembodied".  Aelius Aristides was  roughly the ancient equivalent of new age spiritual healer/guru, who claimed to be in receipt of divine knowledge detailing powerful healing rituals; his story is recounted in "Disbelieving".  Finally, the philosopher Apollonius and his disciple Damis were accused of practicing the occult, although Apollonius denied these accusations and averred that the apparent miracles he wrought were the product of such advanced mental faculties that they could only seem like magic to outside observers.  Their stories are close up the storybook in "Dispossessed" and "Disrupted".

My primary narrative strategy for synthesizing all this raw material revolves around a fictional modern-day institute that employs ‘psychic detectives’ to study psychic phenomena.  Since many or most readers are not familiar with these stories, the recounting of some the original stories within the new stories became an important secondary narrative strategy.

It's STORYBOOK time, Kids!