The Fantasy Prone Personality

People who claim to have mystical experiences usually exhibit traits that indicate they have fantasy prone personalities, with certain identifying characteristics of people who fantasize profoundly:




Mental health examinations might find such subjects to be perfectly normal, while more detailed knowledge about their background and habits would reveal a pattern of fantasy proneness:




Similar experiences are more likely to occur in individuals who are predisposed toward mystical beliefs in general, and who interpret unusual sensory and imagined experiences in terms of supernatural theories.

Conventional personality tests are useless for identifying fantasy proneness. In addition, some mystics not fantasy prone may be hoaxers, or exhibit other psychological problems.

Most fantasy prone subjects, who have had imaginary companions as a child, claim to have lived past lives, or to have a dual identity of some type. They may claim to have experienced their own birth, ventured into the future, were transported into space, and so on. They claim that things talk to them; animals, spirits, Etc. They claim to converse with extraterrestrial or divine beings, consider themselves modern-day shamans, or become aliens and speak in robotic tones.

Another strong characteristic of fantasy proneness is that of having clairvoyant, precognitive, or other kinds of psychic powers. Almost all subjects claim to have experienced one or more types of psychic phenomena,. Also common is to claim sensing people's "auras,"  or a history of so-called "visionary experiences."

The overwhelming majority of fantasy prone, mystical subjects report realistic out-of-the-body experiences or "astral travel." They describe a weightless, floating sensation, and even being "floated" from their beds to astral planes, or an awaiting spaceship. Some say they are even able to drift through solid doors or walls.

Most report that they frequently experience dreams that are particularly vivid and realistic. Technically termed hypnogogic or hypnopompic hallucinations, they are more popularly known as "waking dreams" or "night terrors." Often encountering apparitions, "ghosts" or "spirits,"  a large number of fantasizers also report seeing classic hypnogogic imagery, which included such apparition-like entities as "demon-type" beings, goblins, gargoyles, and monsters from outer space. Many subjects report that they were especially grateful to learn that the monsters and aliens they saw nightly could be explained in terms of what the mind does when it is nearly, but not quite, asleep. Many fantasy prone subjects report religious visions, and others have outright hallucinations. Almost all report especially vivid dreams or visions.

Half of all fantasizers report that some spirit or higher intelligence was using them to impart messages, or write poems and songs. Most reported receiving telepathic messages from angels or extraterrestrials, usually with a message about the danger facing the earth. Many of these messages reflect apocalyptic or doomsday notions. Gods and aliens, who represent a "higher communication", purportedly spoke about some "global mission." Many feel they had always known that they could commune with God or that the aliens were testing them to see if they were worthy leaders.



Other indicators:



Others practiced meditation and studied New Age or Eastern philosophy in their struggle to find their "true path." They felt as if they could "talk to plants," worked in the "capacity as a healer," or were interested in numerology and astrology and the like.

In addition to aliens and angels, one subject said he saw earth spirits whom he described as "mirthful little playful creatures." Another said he saw "mythic gods, and winged horses." One "remembered" being born. Many said they had past-life experiences or engaged in time-travel. Several said they were able to drift through solid doors or walls, including claiming their bodies were transmuted into light.

Of course, they can argue that there really are "earth spirits" and "winged horses," or that they really can heal by touch, that extraterrestrials truly are in touch with them, and have bestowed the ability to time travel. Once again, the burden of proof is on the claimant and until that burden is met, it be taken as further evidence of the subjects' ability to fantasize.

Despite their vigorous denial, most mystical subjects have fantasy-prone personalities.