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Chapter Three way can “trigger” psychosis. What I do think is that it can open a door to reveal psychosis that already exists within the mind and which, if careful analysis is undertaken, will be seen to have been present all along, manifesting in many symptoms of the body and life of the individual. The issue of whether or not using a board, or any other type of unconscious accessing tool can “invite” possession is rather like asking which comes first, the chicken or the egg? Dr. Baldwin brings this issue up in an interesting way. Even though he has reasonably assessed so many other things, on this issue, he demonstrates that he, too, has fallen under the spell of the movie “The Exorcist”, and draws illogical conclusions. The evidence, as Baldwin describes it himself, tells us that the state of “possession” probably already exists in any given individual and the use of the conscious bypass only allows it to “speak” and reveal itself. But that presents its own set of problems. Obviously, anyone who is not trained in the techniques of Spirit Release should never open such a door. By the same token, based on reasonable assessment of the situation, an individual who has no knowledge of these techniques, who has not spent a considerable period of time learning about them and working with them, ought never to attempt to channel either in any context! To do so is to invite disaster. And that, of course, brings up the obvious question as to why “channeling” has become such a popular sport? The Spiritualist Theory, of course, declares that the messages that may come clearly originate from “outside”. Spirits or forces are contacted and channeled through the board. The Spiritualist Theory posits that the communicants are discarnate spirits or other ethereal beings who have a purpose for contacting the living. Nevertheless, even the Spiritualist Theory depends upon the theory of automatism for actual operation. The discarnate spirit is able to connect to the operator via the subconscious or unconscious mind and take control of the ideomotor responses, bypassing the conscious mind, and generating movement of the planchette via stimulation of nerve impulses. Naturally, this theory posits that, as soon as the communication has ended, the spirit leaves, and all is well and good. The evidence, however, indicates that if certain knowledge is not available, and certain actions are not taken, the spirit does not leave! It merely withdraws into the “interstitial” spaces of the energy field of the host and becomes quiescent, continuing to drain life force for its own sustenance.