The Anthropologist & the Spiritualists

An article that I wrote about my dissertation research has been published in Issue 47 (April 2010 edition) of Paranormal Magazine.

Sacramental Plants and Their Role in Undersanding the Possible Neurochemistry of Psi - David Luke

An article by David Luke entitled "Sacramental plants and their role in understanding the possible neurochemistry of psi" has been added to the "Articles Section" of the Transpersonal Anthropology website.

Take Part in EVP Research

The Furzey Hill Cirlce is currently investigating the EVP phenomenon. As part of their research they have created an on-line survey. This is what they say about their research:

"As part of the research its important to know that our interpretations of voice clips are as accurate as possible. This can be very difficult, when one person may hear something clearly that the second is unable to hear with repeated playing. The only way to determine a common understanding is by asking as many people as possible, to listen to and interpret a clip. Obviously we can not do this for every clip, but we have isolated 8 that illustrate the diversity of the voices.

When you have listened to the clips below and written down an interpretation for each, please click the following link to enter the online submission of your results. If you are unable to understand one or more of the clips, please enter "unknown" in the free text field. You can remain anonymous if you wish and it should only take a few minutes to complete ; VOICE RECORDING RESEARCH

1st Voice

2nd Voice

3rd Voice

4th Voice

5th Voice

6th Voice

7th Voice

8th Voice"

This is a great opportunity to take part in some interesting research.

First Afterlife Research Centre Workshop - 12th April 2010

An informal event for members of the Afterlife Research Centre forum and others interested in the ethnographic study of the afterlife. To be held in Lecture Room 2 in the Department of Archaeology & Anthropology, University of Bristol.

The flyer, registration form and time-table can be downloaded here:

Flyer - Registration Form & Timetable

Speakers to be announced.

Information concerning events can now be found on the "Events page" of the Transpersonal Anthropology website.

The Dark Side - Patrick Huyghe

A great article by Patrick Huyghe, editor of the wonderful Anomalist website, has just been added to the "Articles Section" of the Transpersonal Anthropology website. "The Dark Side" is concerned with scientific, specifically psychological and psychiatric, approaches to the study of anomalous experiences and how to deal with and treat experiencers responsibly.

George Borrow and the Corpse-Candle...

I recently stumbled across a description in George Borrow's travelogue "Wild Wales" of an encounter with a corpse-candle. The account has been reproduced in the "Supernatural Narratives" section of the Transpersonal Anthropology website. It is interesting to note the similarity between Borrow's description of the corpse-candle and its motives, in 19th century rural Wales, and Evans-Pritchard's account of disembodied witchcraft substance amongst the Azande in 1920s Sudan.

Anthropology & The Paranormal Talk at the SPR

The audio recording of my lecture at the SPR is now available on the "Audio & Video" page of the Transpersonal Anthropology website.

Anthropology & The Paranormal Talk at the SPR

My talk at the Society for Psychical Research went really well, and it was wonderful to be able to converse with so many people of a like and supportive mind.

Thanks to everyone who made my visit to London so enjoyable.

The lecture notes and powerpoint presentation for the talk can be found on the "Research" page of the Transpersonal Anthropology website.

Experiencer Accounts & NDEs...

A new short account of the effect of seance attendence on perception of the world, and a description of a family's experiences living in a haunted house have been added to the "Living With the Anomalous" section of the Transpersonal Anthropology website.

There is also a new article up, entitled "Postcards from the Edge", from Will Storr, author of Will Storr Vs. the Supernatural: One Man's Search for the Truth About Ghosts, on the topic of Near-Death Experiences in the "Articles" section.