Heroes is a popular television show about ordinary people who discover extraordinary abilities. Unlikely heroes emerge from all walks of life and so do villains, each with powers such as invisibility, healing, teleportation, telepathy, the ability to fly and superhuman strength.
It’s only natural that we ask “What if?” If these super human powers were possible, what would become of the world as we know it? If I discovered superhuman abilities what would become of me?
Luke Skywalker tapped into the Force and used it to overcome evil. Like the Force, Chi (breath) is a universal energy, the fundamental energy of life that keeps the planets in orbit and binds atoms. Chi is at the core of Chinese medicine and disciplines. Martial artists channel the power of Chi to defeat opponents in battle, no light sabers required.
Stephen King’s first published novel was Carrie, the original girl gone wild. Carrie turned her telekinetic powers on the high school bullies who teased and tormented her. While King has described the work as “raw” and “with a surprising power to hurt and horrify”, the book and subsequent film have gained a cult following. Telekinesis is the ability to move matter with the mind. Pyschokinesis (PK) is a much broader range of abilities such as: object deformation (including metal softening and bending), influencing events, biological healing, teleportation (disappearing and reappearing elsewhere), phasing through matter, transmutation of matter, shape-shifting, energy shield (force field), control of magnetism, control of photons (light waves/particles).
Author Michael Crichton mentioned his experience with PK in his 1988 book Travels. “I looked down. My spoon had begun to bend. I hadn’t even realized. The metal was completely pliable, like soft plastic. It wasn’t particularly hot, either, just slightly warm. I easily bend the bowl of the spoon in half, using only my fingertips. This didn’t require any pressure at all, just guiding with my fingertips. I put the bent spoon aside and tried a fork. After a few moments of rubbing, the fork twisted like a pretzel. It was easy. I bent several more spoons and forks.”
A recent survey of 1000 Canadians forty-five percent picked healing as their top superpower, compared to 25 percent who wanted to time travel, 15 percent who selected telepathy, 10 percent who would prefer to fly and five percent who wanted to steal the powers of other people. Some mystics practice rituals of self injury and are able to override the body’s physical response to injury, stopping pain and blood flow. Skeptics may say the results are due to mass hypnosis, but believers believe they are receiving healing energy from their Deity.
Reiki is a “laying on of hands” healing. Reiki masters describe their healing abilities as a linking with the cosmic radiant energy, an opening of chakras, or an attunement with universal life energy.
Whether super human powers are real or fiction, those who possess them can still suffer fear, loss and grief. They are still human after all.
Find more Story Starters and Creative Writing articles at fictionway.com
Fiction Writer 