Zener Card Diary March 29, 2020.
I keep thinking that soon I am going to reach a dead end with these tests. It hasn’t happened yet because what I saw next was exciting.
Entry 7 found that changing from the French Tarot deck (with no images) to the Universal Tarot (with conventional tarot images) had a significant impact on the test results.
When I investigated the Universal Tarot deck I found that the results seem to diminish in potency. I realized that the experimenter effect could have taken place. This is where the experimenter subtly influences the test to see what they want to. You could even think of this as unconsciously creating confirmation bias. (I can tell you for certain that I was not trying to manipulate any results. It wouldn’t be as fun that way!).
As the experimenter, I have strong intentions and beliefs for the test to end up a certain way, and it did, well so I thought. I wanted to end up some place, and I got there, just not where I wanted.
These results got me thinking that the first attempt at observing the Tarot deck in action created a strong signature. In the case of the Universal Tarot deck, I had embedded a psychic load into the deck . It seemed to be strongest in the first observation session.
What may have happened is that I drained the psychic load from the deck, and needs to recharge.
Recharging The Test
This leads me to think that investigating other decks will reveal something new, and it has.
On the evening of the 27th, I had a session with the Wild Unknown Tarot deck. Then on the 28th, I had another session with the Yeager Tarot of Meditation deck. The results gave me a new conclusion.
Before you see the results, remember that my hypothesis was that each Tarot deck may have its own psychic signature.
What the results show is that the hit score and hit percentage dropped with each test session, as if I was using the same deck.
The graph below reflects the sessions from March 24th, 25th, 27th, and 28th to show the subtle decline in results. Note: there was no session on the 26th.
You can see there is a very small decline in each session. The total hits seemed to drop about 10 points, and the hit percentage dropped about 1-2% in each session.
Here are the individual data graphs for each of the four sessions. Look at each hit percentage line. It creates a signature that is unique. They reveal no consistent pattern with either session.
What caused this? Each deck was supposed to have a psychic signature. I have used each of these decks numerous time and spent much time with them. In a way, they did have a unique graph signature, but the results declined as if I was using the same deck.
I was surprised because the Yeager Tarot of Meditation should have displayed something significant. I have had that deck for about 10 years now. The deck itself is roughly 40 years old (it was printed in the ’80s). Out of all the decks, it should have had the most interesting signature, but it didn’t. It fell into the pattern of a steady decline as if the decks didn’t matter.
These results show that the cards may not be the source of the anomaly. It is likely me, the person who uses the cards. I seem to be the cause of these fluctuations in the data. It is my own conscious and unconscious states that are directing the flow of data.
But how can this be? I am using methods where I cannot possibly know what the cards are. Yet somehow I am still generating these anomalies in the data.
Are my guesses falling into an unconscious pattern, and the data is reverting to the mean average because of it? When I am making guesses and placing cards into their piles this could be taken for a sensory leak. But, there is little chance of any sensory leak because the piles become difficult to visualize quickly.
I do notice that I am remembering my guesses in my head. I guessed this, now I should guess that. Or I could guess this a couple of times because I know that sometimes there are duplicates in the sequence of cards.
It is time for a new method of guessing cards. So far, I have been checking my answers after each test. Each session has roughly 12 individual tests, and then I calculate the whole session afterward.
I wonder what will happen if I change how I do the test? Currently, this is how I am testing.
Test Method
What I do is I take out the four aces from each of the suits in the minor arcana. Then I take out the Magician (1) from the major arcana. I remove the Fool (0) and cards 15 to 21 from the major arcana. Now each suit has 2 all the way to the king giving me 13 cards. Then I have out 2 to 14 in the major (high empress to temperance) to give me 13 major arcana cards. Each of the five categories has 13 cards giving me 65 cards to test with. I put aside the remaining major arcana cards and I set up the test.
I organize the five cards so I can see the aces and the magician. I shuffle the cards well. Usually, 7 or 8 riffle shuffles will do. Then to make a guess I draw a card from the top of the deck and place it under the card I am guessing. If I place the card under the magician I am making a guess that the card is a major arcana card. If I place it under the ace of cups, I guess the card is from the cups family. I do this until all the cards are gone. Then I look at each pile and count how many hits I got. I add them up and calculate a hit percentage for that test. I do 12 tests to complete a session.
By testing this way it is not possible to see what cards are what. The Tarot cards of each deck are clean and have no identifiable marks on them. Even if they did, I have not memorized them to create a sensory leak.
Some challenges with this are that I can see the piles build-up, and I can notice what has not been guessed. However, this goes away quickly. Once the cards build up it becomes hard to see how many cards are in each pile.
I perform guesses quickly. I use my intuition to make the guess and place the card.
It is possible that I am unintentionally guessing in patterns that are creating trends in the data, thus reverting it to mean average.
The next phase of this research is to re-examine the testing method. So far, I have tested by counting my results after. What will happen if I know the results during the test? My first round of testing described in Entry 1 revealed that there is a difference in results when I know the answer of my guess.
My hypothesis is that regardless of the test method it will show that I am the cause of all the anomalous data. Once I begin testing I am certain that the new change will reveal anomalous results. In time it will regress to the mean average within the scope of chance and any patterns will disappear.
Making changes to the tests will present a psychic load into the situation and create an anomaly. Once observed, the anomaly will lose its presence.
Painting With Consciousness
Remember the metaphor of ink on your finger from the last entry? When you place your thumb on an ink pad and make an imprint, the first imprint is the clearest. Your thumb has the most ink on it at that time. If you were to make another imprint without putting more ink on your thumb the imprint will be less clear. Keep doing that and you will run out of ink on your thumb to transfer to the page.
You can also think about painting with a brush. After loading up the brush, the first stroke is the most potent. My thoughts are that testing consciousness and ESP is like loading paint brushes and making thumbprints on paper. The key to it is paying close to attention to the first observation. The first observation is the first stroke of the loaded brush. Those moments will contain important information.
Now, the next problem is how to generate these psychic loads. It has been by chance that I have seen these anomalies happen. It has allowed me to chase down results and make these conclusions. How will I be able to continue this in the future? Stay tuned for more.
Read the next entry here:
Zener Card Diary Entry 9
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