In Episode 1, I introduced you to this podcast and its original intent. Now, over two years later, we’ll revisit its goals and talk a bit about the true magic of making your own goals reality. Are you ready to manifest your dreams? Stick around!

<music>

Happy holidays and welcome to the PEEP Podcast! I’m your host Nicolle Morock.

I’m sorry for the slightly delayed release today on the Winter Solstice of 2022. You see, my nephew is on leave from the Army for the holidays and home for a few days, and spending time with him and our family has been my top priority. Prior to his arrival, I had the “super cold” that’s making the rounds and no voice or energy, so I was woefully unprepared to record today’s episode any sooner than right now.

Before I get to our topic, I’m in the midst of a giveaway and you should know about it. You can enter to win signed copies of all three of my books, The Tritium Hypothesis, The Dark Season, and Please, don’t call me psychic: Stories from my paranormal life. One winner will be drawn from my newsletter subscriber list on December 30^th 2022. This giveaway is only open to US residents because I honestly can’t afford international shipping. If you’ve already subscribed to the newsletter, you’re automatically entered,  and you don’t have to do anything else. There’s no purchase necessary. I’ll draw the winner at 3:30 pm Eastern, using a random number generator and reach out to the winner via email. If you want free books, this is your chance! Just go to nicollemorock.com and subscribe to the newsletter. The button is right there on the homepage.

Given that we are in the middle of Hanukkah, nearing the end of Advent, and approaching Christmas, with 2023 fast on its heels, I thought today would be a good day to talk about how goal setting and magic can mix to become amazing reality.

Now, before anyone gets riled up about my use of the word “magic,” keep in mind that I’m talking about anything science has yet to explain. Today’s use of technology would have been magical to a person who lived just a century ago. And as I’ve stated in past episodes, I believe that the study of psi, by those terms, is the study of magic. Real magic. Not illusionist magic. And eventually, I hope we can understand the how of psi because we already have studies that prove that psi happens.

While I was sick, I finally finished reading Dr. Dean Radin’s “Real Magic: Ancient Wisdom, Modern Science, and a Guide to the Secret Power of the Universe.” It’s a relatively easy read with bits of humor thrown in to make a scientific and historical discussion of magic and the study of psi entertaining. Of course, the subject is one of my passions, so I might be biased about considering it fun, but if you’re listening to this podcast, I’m guessing you’re in the same boat.

One aspect of magic that Dr. Radin covers is the idea of enforcing your will on the universe. While that sounds ominous and might make us think of supervillains in Disney or James Bond films, it can be quite innocent, really. Think about it, when we pray, we’re often asking for what we want to happen. And at this time of year, when we talk about New Year’s resolutions or goal setting for the new year, we’re thinking about how we want our personal dreams to be fulfilled within a finite amount of time. It all lives on the same sliding scale with us exerting some level of control over our future.

Here's an example of influencing the world with focused intention from the book:

In a double-blind study, different sets of chocolate were either blessed by monks or not blessed and given to study participants who were to eat the chocolate and record their mood over the course of a week. The results showed the blessed chocolate had a greater positive effect on mood. Now, I’m simplifying this recap for the sake of time, so if you want full details of the study protocol, you really should read the book.

Before you say, “Well, there’s obviously a placebo effect happening,” let me tell you that they did a similar study with blessed water and plants. And the plants that received the blessed water grew better than the ones that received non-blessed water. I’m pretty sure, although I could be wrong, that plants don’t have belief systems that would affect their response to blessed versus non-blessed water. So, the placebo effect isn’t really a thing here.

These studies were repeatable and impressive!

So, how does this relate to manifesting our visions for the future? The monks who blessed the chocolate and the water, focused their intentions of blessing specifically on one set of water bottles or chocolate and practiced the act of blessing them for a full 20 minutes. And the intention plus the act worked!

In order to achieve the goals we set, we must create a vision, set intention, determine achievable benchmarks, and do what we can to ensure nothing takes us off course. And that’s where many New Year’s resolutions fail. People make lofty statements that sound great after a night of celebrating and then do nothing or very little to actually make them happen in the following days, weeks, and months. That’s why I don’t make resolutions. I set goals and I follow through.

And when someone practicing “magic,” sets a goal, visualizes its positive outcome, and puts focused intention behind it until it comes to fruition, they’re exerting their will on the world around them in a small way.

Why doesn’t that mean we can all when the lottery with this process? Because the universe is always pushing back. Creating change is difficult and requires more focus and attention than most people seem to have these days.

Technology is working against us. Social media has reduced our attention spans to that of less than a goldfish, if you believe some statistics I’ve seen repeated in recent years. Fewer and fewer of us have the time or understanding to make things happen through shear intention.

So, my challenge to you as we head into 2023 is to pick one thing you want to change in your life, create a vision of how your life will be when it occurs and imagine it happening as if you’re experiencing it in the present moment, set achievable benchmarks with deadlines to keep yourself on track, and take inspired action to hit those marks. Ask God, Source, the Creator, the Universe, or whatever you want to call the higher Consciousness for assistance, and expect magic to happen. Because it will.

You can do it! Just believe.

When I started this podcast, my original intention was to show how scientists and academics research the paranormal – from ESP and apparitions to UFOs and cryptids – while also exploring how everyday people experience those things. Over the last year, I’ve drifted a bit from that. After reading “Real Magic,” I’m refocusing the podcast. While I still want to interview people who have paranormal experiences to share, I’m going to include more reviews of studies and hopefully line up more interviews with researchers. (They tend to be harder to schedule because they have a lot going on including research and often teaching at universities.)

There are many awesome podcasts out there dedicated to experiencers – Into the Fray, Sasquatch Chronicles, and Monsters Among Us – to name a few, but there are few podcasts that focus on the scientific study of it all. That’s my niche, and I’m happy to be here. I hope you’ll stick with me.

I wish you a wonderful holiday season filled with peace and joy. And don’t forget to take some time to consider what you want to manifest in the new year. Thanks for listening!