HOW TO EXPERIMENT WITH THE ZENER CARD DECK Five Symbols of Zener Cards Introduction (printable cards below) Zener cards were developed through a collaboration of Dr. Karl Zener (at Duke University) and J.B. Rhine (Harvard biologist) in the late 1920s, and have been used in parapsychology experiments. In the year 2000, the movie "The Gift" featured a psychic reader using these cards with her clients, however this is a Hollywood thing, and not a common thing in real life. Although it is possible to use anything to do psychic readings, Zener cards are better suited to developing and experimenting with psychic skills. They are more like exercise equipment than a tool for reading. There are five different symbols in a Zener Card Deck, and five cards of each symbol for a total of 25 cards per deck exactly as pictured above. We have created a page with a full Zener deck for you to print. It is recommended that you use a heavy card stock of white (traditional), cream or yellow. Use your "print preview" option to see if everything looks the way you want it to before you print. Traditionally, two people use a deck of Zener cards. One person shuffles the deck (the sender) and focuses on each card for a few moments. The second person (the receiver) says which symbol they sense the sender is focusing on. Usually the receiver is visually separated from the sender, perhaps in another room or building. I have found that it works well to sit on the floor on opposite sides of a closed door. When two people use a Zener deck, it is an exercise in telepathy. Telepathy, otherwise known as "mind reading" literally translates to "distance feeling" or picking up on the thoughts of others. You may find that you are a good "sender" and your friend is a good "receiver" or vice versa. Knowing where your strengths are will help you customize any magical or energy workings you might wish to do. If you are using a Zener deck alone, you are most likely exercising your precognitive skills. If there is no "sender" then you are technically "predicting" which card will appear next. This might also be considered remote viewing because the order of the cards is set when you shuffle, and isn't necessarily in the future. Regardless of what term you use, Zener cards can be a useful tool for testing and exercising psychic skills. Instructions • Print the deck as instructed in the introduction, then cut out each card. • Sit in a quiet room out of direct view of your partner. • Have the sender shuffle the 25 card deck well. The sender then places the deck face down in front of him/her. • The sender selects a card off the top of the deck and focuses on it for about a minute. • The receiver calls out the name of the symbol they believe it is (your first impulse is usually the most accurate, don't "over think") • The sender records the actual card on a chart, and the 'guess' of the receiver on a chart. A sample record keeping chart is provided for you below. The next card is then selected, focused on by the sender, guessed by the receiver and recorded and so on. It can be helpful to have a third person (a recorder) doing all recording instead of the sender doing the recording if you have three people. The sender should not speak, only the receiver, you don't want to inadvertently give clues in your vocal fluctuations, etc. • When all 25 cards have been viewed and guessed, the score is calculated. A 20% score is average (5 correct) and would be the score attributable to chance (1 in 5 random chance.) Anything above a 20% (more than 5 correct) may show potential psychic skills. Anything below 20% (less than 5 correct) may also show potential psychic skills. Some people may guess the incorrect answer more often than is attributable to chance. This "Reverse Psychicism" is an unusual phenomena that should be identified and controlled whenever it is detected to improve your psychic and magical workings. • Keep practicing and try the experiment with other people. You might find that you work better with different people and you may find that you work better at different times of the day. Finding your peak times is also helpful for timing your other magical and ritual workings. If you are alone, make sure that all your cards look identical on the backs and act as your own recorder. • To make these experiments the most accurate, we recommend that you calculate an overall score after doing many tests, say 100 or more. This overall score is more objective, but does not necessarily make a high score less valid. Make notes of the time, date, weather conditions, experimenters' names, or anything else so that when you do have a high score, you can find out what helped it to become so. Record Keeping Good record keeping will help you accurately determine your progress. Zener Cards Memory test at http://www.paginar.net/matias/misc/zener/ http://www.salemtarot.com/cgi-bin/rhine.pl another zener test list of ESP tests http://www.paranormality.com/esp_tests_list.shtml continuing online ESP test http://www.ibiblio.org/ais/epsi.htm INS tests http://www.gotpsi.org/bi/gotpsi.htm Card test http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Zone/2788/psi1.html A number of psi researchers have summarized some of the factors believed to consistently favor the production of psychic phenomena under controlled laboratory conditions. Taking their various suggestions into account, here's a short recipe for learning to harness your own psychic potentials: Reduction of sensory input [quiet your senses] A good dose of relaxation A pinch of enthusiasm and confidence Shifting of awareness toward internal processes [pay attention to what's going on between your ears] Non-analytic, intuitive "right-brain" mode of functioning [try to pay attention to images, feelings and emotions] An orientation toward creative spontaneity rather than habit A feeling of relatedness with the world [If in an experiment] A positive and warm subject-experimenter relationship Feedback about your psi performance Investigating ESP And PSI Courtesy: The UPI Association The following 12 tests are used within the investigation of ESP and PSI phenomena: Test 1 : Zener Cards.Named after a researcher at the American University of Chicago where pioneering experiments were carried out by Dr. Joseph Rhine in the late 1920s. The Zener cards are designed to assess the ESP or mind-reading ability of a volunteer subject.To carry out the experiment, first shuffle the cards thoroughly and lay the pack face down. Lift the first card and, while keeping its face from sight place it next to the pack, face down and allow your volunteer up to 30 seconds to name the symbol on the card. Make a note of what the subject has stated and move onto the next card. Repeat this procedure until all cards have been done. Now check your notes to see if they were right on any of the cards. Add the number of correct guesses up. A score of five is in this case the chance factor. If the subject scores more than five, this may indicate an Extra Sensory Perception. If in any doubt, complete the test again, checking the subjects’ remarks. If the subject scores less than five, then there should be no reason to continue the test. Test 2 : Hidden Pictures.The subject is asked to handle five sealed envelopes, which conceal five cards with pictures on them. When the subject is ready, ask them to state what the pictures are on each card, in each envelope. Note down their statements and complete all five. Make sure the pictures cannot be seen through the envelopes. When finished, reveal the results. This experiment is only conducted once. Chance factor is one in five. If the subject gets more than one correct, it may be necessary to conduct the experiment again in the near future. Test 3 : Semi PK.There are numerous ways to test for Psychokinesis (PK). When you first try to use the power of your mind to move a physical object, it is probably that this power, if any, is only weak (an obvious exception would be people associated with poltergeist phenomena, who seem to have a powerful, though poorly controlled, PK ability). It seems sensible to try and develop PK by attempting to move the lightest possible objects before trying more ambitious feats. Smoke is just about the lightest material with which you can test PK ability. If you blow out a mouthful of cigarette smoke, very gently, through a long straw which extends into a tall glass, you can produce a ‘puddle’ of smoke in the bottom of the glass which will persist for several minutes, particularly if the glass is upside down and then placed on a saucer to eliminate draughts. Now ask the subject to concentrate on the smoke. Envisage the smoke bubbling up in the middle, or collecting any one side of the glass. The subject may be lucky enough to produce distinct movement in this lightest of all targets. This experiment should only be done the once, and investigators should try to eliminate any drafts. Test 4 : Pendulum PK.The subject is asked to try their skills on something a little more tangible, a piece of cotton with a small ball of Blue Tack (or similar substance) on the end which is fastened to the bottom of the inside of a tall glass, placed upside down on a working surface will act as a pendulum which also has eliminated the chance of movements by drafts.