Telepathy - Ramblings About Pings

by Rainsong

A telepathic Ping is a very simple, primitive mode of communication. Most often there is only single concept being Sent, rather than a complex conversation. It may be Sent to a single person, or broadcast to a wide audience. The pulse-Sending that the Russians played with could be considered a form of Ping. Telepathic Pinging may be compared with the computer-chatroom kind of Ping, in terms of activity. In fact, that may be where the term originates.

One of the popular methods of connecting telepathically with another person is to extend a tendril of your Shield and brush the person's field with it. The tendril in question is an extension of one's outermost Shield, in a form resembling - yes, you guessed it - a tentacle or tendril. Often overlooked, especially when merely parroting someone else's instructions, or conversely when giving a thumbnail description rather than instruction per se, is that the tendril is an extension of the Shield. It is a part of the Shield. Therefore, if you do not maintain Shields, or even use them at all, this method will not be useful to you.

Sometimes it is desirable to convey the impression of a physical gesture: a brush on the cheek, a pat on the back, a hug, a one-finger salute, and so on. This is not hard to do. First, decide on the gesture you wish to convey. For practice purposes, actually make the gesture, physically, and notice how it feels. Now repeat the mental commands to your body that caused the muscles to move that way, but stop the impulses from actually moving your body. Intercept the signal before it activates the muscles. Don't be too surprised by how odd it feels to stop your own nerve signals. Try it a few times to get used to it. The intercepted signal is what you Send, either on a single pulse to your target, or repeatedly in Russian fashion if you want to be absolutely certain it gets through.

Brushing is exactly what it sounds like: the end of the tendril bending slightly on contact with the other field, and is gently drawn across or through the surface of that other field. The effect is very similar to holding a feather by the quill end and running the "fluffy" end along your cheek. Just as different kinds of feathers will produce different degrees of sensation, there are variations in the sensation of Shield brushing. You may vary the intensity, apparent temperature, speed of movement, or even add a thought- or emotion-concept to the brushing.

In common with most forms of telepathy, Pings may be performed in any emotional state. However, the novice may find that some emotional states are more psi-conducive than others. Calm contemplative semi-trance works well for some folks. On the other hand, accidental Pings tend to be under conditions of panic, so you might try pretending that you absolutely must get the message through, a few times, and compare the results you get to those you achieve in semi-trance. Note-keeping is a good idea in such experiments, because it is too easy to forget which one worked, the next time you want to Ping someone, if this isn't something you do every day.

Personally, I have found that at relatively short range - under twenty kilometres or so - pushing the psi out through the sternum towards the target person works well, even when the person is an untrained non. Push the stuff rhythmically, while repeating the Ping-message to the same rhythm, and concentrating on the person to whom you are Sending.

As you can see, Pinging is a very basic skill. It is worth learning well, though, because it makes a nice, friendly introduction to telepathic Sending. And, if you have cause to contact submarines under the pack-ice, you'll know how to do it.* (Might confuse some submariners, but that's half the fun)

~ Rainsong

* Confused? The Russian's used their pulse-Sending, a kind of pinging, to communicate with submarines under pack ice, in some of their experiments. Their results were encouraging, have better reliability than any other technology discovered to date.

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Last Modified on August 04 2002