Telepathic Basics

AN ARTICLE FROM: WWW.AFRICANATURE.COM

TELEPATHIC BASICS
By Jane Hallander

The purpose of this article is not to teach you how to train your African Grey to read minds—they already know how to do that. Instead, I’ll show you how to develop basic telepathic communication between you and your Grey.

My story deal with a different type of parrot intelligence, one that might open a new horizon in understanding avian intelligence. It revolves around a clever, talkative bundle of gray feathers named Jing. Work with Jing and other parrots taught me to develop telepathic communication between bird and human. Since most parrots are eager to communicate with their humans, training them to respond telepathically is a simple matter. Although at first this sounds like a ‘take me to your leader.’ alien parrots from outer space, it is actually based on objective research with both hand fed and wild caught birds.

Humans often place other animal intelligence in one of two categories— either far lower than themselves or on a child’s level, with the learning capability of a two to five year old. This idea appears to come from the perception that humans are at the top of the evolutionary ladder, with all other animals subjective to human mental capabilities.

Other bird and pet owners try to identify with their companion animals, giving them credit for human-like reasoning ability. The idea is if the bird lives with you it will start thinking like you and can be trained by mimicry and association.

The second category has some merit. There’s no question that birds learn by imitating and association. However, there may be much more to avian intelligence than mimicking their owners’ speech and habits.

Jing (which means Crystal in Chinese) is a Timneh Grey. She’s about three years old. I don’t know her exact age because she’s a wild caught bird. She has been my companion for over two years.

At first I thought it would be fun to teach Jing to identify individual fingers on my hand by touching the correct finger with her beak, after hearing the finger’s name. For instance, at the prompt—index finger— Jing touched that finger lightly with her beak. She appeared to learn fingers by their names the first time through, even in foreign languages. I was amazed. My parrot learned much faster than I. Her accuracy was 80 to 100%. I taught her to identify fingers in several different languages.

Thinking I had a pretty clever bird, one day we tried three languages she had not been exposed to— Japanese, Korean and French. Jing correctly chose fingers in those languages without any previous training. Now everything took on a new meaning. Perhaps Jing was READING MY MIND!!!

The next step was just thinking the finger I wanted her to choose. Guess What!?! It was easy for her to pick out the right finger.

I soon found that Jing could also read other people’s minds. I could hold her, placing my hand in front of her. Someone else with a clear mind could think the appropriate finger, without telling me, and she correctly touched my finger. Several notable parrot behavior consultants successfully communicated fingers or objects for Jing to touch. Jing soon graduated from touching fingers to picking up objects, directed by mentally visualizing the object to be picked up, Jing is seldom wrong. Other Greys I have worked with are equally accurate.

HERE’S HOW IT IS DONE:

First, your own mind must be clear, not cluttered with everyday thoughts and problems. People who regularly practice yoga, tai chi or meditate often find it easy to clear their minds. You must also have an open mind about your Grey’s abilities. If you don’t think your parrot can read minds, you probably won’t be able to establish communication.
Start by holding your Grey on one hand, with the other hand held within reach in front of the parrot. Say whichever finger you want your grey to touch. Saying it verbally helps you think about the finger. Your bird will probably not touch the finger–because it doesn’t yet associate touch with your choice of finger. Therefore, after saying the name, touch that finger lightly on the Grey’s beak.
Repeat this several times with the same finger. Soon your Grey will begin reaching for that finger. When it does, immediately reward it with praise—Jing likes a kiss on the beak, along with verbal praise as a reward.

The Greys with whom I’ve worked start touching the correct finger within a few minutes. They should be able to pick any finger on either hand before acting on just mental transmission. When your Grey is consistent at touching the right finger, as you say the name of that finger, try it mentally. The reward is the same.

If you have a friend with a calm, clear mind, let that person visualize a finger, while your Grey sits on your hand, choosing your finger. Make sure your friend doesn’t tell you which finger he or she visualizes, so you cannot unintentionally position your grey in front of tghe right finger. Looking in the direction of the chosen finger is a good way to help you mentally home in on that finger.

After fingers, try small colored objects that your Grey can easily pick up. Look at the object and think about your parrot picking it up and giving it to you. After fingers, this was an easy step forward for Jing and me. Other Greys with whom I have worked are just as talented at object choosing. It appears not to matter whether the parrot is domestically bred or imported. They all have the same ability. With these telepathic basics you are ready for more meaningful communication.

This article was originally published in the Spring 1995 issue of the GREY PLAY ROUND TABLEŽ, the magazine for the concerned African Grey pet human. Jane Hallander is an Avian Behavior Consultant and Animal Communicator. She can be reached for consultation at (415) 899-9998.