Eileen J. Garrett Scholarship

I have been awarded the 2010 Eileen J. Garrett Scholarship by the Parapsychology Foundation. Happily I will be able to commence my PhD research into the Role of paranormal experience in contemporary spiritualism in October.

Thank you Parapsychology Foundation.

The Old Rennaissance and the New

I was just thinking, while reading the amazon blurb for a book on Spiritualism and its role in early feminism ("Radical Spirits: Spiritualism and Women's Rights in Nineteenth Century America" by Ann Braude), about the possibility that mass social change is conduive to paranormal phenomena. A link between the concept of liminality,anti-structure and the paranormal has often been suggested; a major exposition of the issue can be found in George Hansen's "The Trickster and the Paranormal". The rise of spiritualism in the 19th century was coincident with enormous social change: the rise of modern science, the decline of religion, women's rights and so on - by any reckoning an anti-structural scenario. The spiritual phenomena allegedly produced at this time were of an extraordinary variety: full materializations of spirits, levitation, ectoplasmic rods, independent voice, and apports to name just a few. Might it be that these spirit manifestations were so impressive as a result of the seances taking place right in the middle of widespread social flux? If there is a link between intensity of paranormal phenomena and social upheaval, then might the alleged successes of certain mediumship groups (for example the Felix Experimental Group and the Yellow Cloud Circle) in producing materializations be linked to the current state of society? Is our society in a state of change?

The Felix Circle

More of the apparent new rennaissance of physical mediumship.

From what they have been reporting, the Felix circle is one of the most successful physical mediumship circles in operation at the moment.

Rhine Online Magazine

In addition to numerous other interesting features, there is a great article by Hannah Gilbert on "A Sociological Perspective on Becoming a Spirit Medium in Britain" in the latest issue of the Rhine Online Magazine, an web-based newsletter published by the Rhine Research Centre.

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.

Trance Mediumship....

I have recently come into possession of a new set of audio cassette recordings of spirit communications received through trance mediumship. They are fascinating.

This situation provides me with the perfect opportunity to compare two sets of spirit teachings received through separate mediums and recorded at different times and in different locations by groups unknown to each other.

It will be very interesting to see what sort of correlations and possible divergences show up between the two data sets.

Religious Experience and Paranormal Experience...

Labels

There are countless different terms used to describe anomalous experiences including but not limited to: paranormal experience, supernatural experience, psychic experience, mystical experience, transcendental experience, religious experience, spirtual experience, numinous experience and so on. Additionally we might also consider Near-Death Experiences (NDE), Out-of-Body Experiences (OBE) and Psychedelic Experiences to be related phenomena, in that such experiences often possess similar characteristics and effects. In order to account for the conceptual biases associated with some of these terms, new un-loaded labels have been developed such as anomalous experience and non-ordinary experience. Such terms are generic and so may be applied to a wide variety of experiences, not all of which are necessarilly supernatural in nature.

Nevertheless there remains a distinction in the literature between the idea of a religious or mystical experience and a paranormal or supernatural experience, but where do we draw the line between them?

Experiences

Definitions of the term "religious experience" often stress the importance of communion with either a divine being or a sense of oneness with nature and wider reality. Richard Swinburne, as an example of a definition of religious experience, has proposed a five point system of classification:

Type 1 - Experience of God or Ultimate reality mediated through a common, public, sensory object; e.g. feeling union with a divine power when observing a sunrise.
Type 2 - Experience of God or Ultimate reality mediated through an unusual, public, sensory object; e.g. seeing the Virgin Mary in an unusual cloud formation.
Type 3 - Experience of God or Ultimate reality mediated through private sensations that can be described in normal sensory language; e.g. seeing God in a dream.
Type 4 - Experience of God or Ultimate reality mediated through private sensations that cannot be described in normal sensory language; e.g. feeling a distinct sense of presence.
Type 5 - Experience of God or Ultimate reality that is not mediated by any sensations; e.g. direct communion (Swinburne in Peterson et al, 2002, 20-22)

It is clear from such taxonomies that religious experience is a multi-faceted phenomenon. There is a wide variety of forms that it might take in manifesting (not to mention a wide array of possible interpretations of these forms). The essential object of experience in religious experiences, according to this system of classification, is referred to as God or Ultimate Reality; these are concepts widely used to express what it is that the religious experience is of. Other terms are also occasionally used including labels such as; divinity, oneness, the all mighty, love, light, nirvana, unity, the void, joy, bliss consciousness and so on (it is perhaps possible to see a distinction between personalised objects of religious experience, such as a sense of loving presence, and impersonal objects, such as oneness or love).

The objects of paranormal experiences are slightly different, and may be separated into two broad categores; Entity Encounters and Psi phenomena.

Interestingly the apprehension of the objects of paranormal experience often occurs in much the same way as the objects of religious experience (God/Ultimate Reality) are experienced. The object of experience may be:

1. Mediated through a common public sensory object
2. Mediated through an unusual public sensory object
3. Mediated through private sensations that can be described in sensory terms
4. Mediated through extrasensory sensations that cannot be described in sensory terms
5. Non-Mediated direct communion

The only difference, therefore, is in the type of object experienced. Swinburne's 5 types, then, can be used to refer to paranormal experiences simply by replacing the notion of God/Ultimate Reality with, for instance, ghost, apparition, spirit, telepathy, clairvoyance, clairaudience and so on. What makes it difficult, however, is that multiple objects can turn up during a single experience, this will be discussed later.

Fruits

William James argued that a claim to religious experience could be considered valid if it was seen that the experience had brought about a moral change in the experient. - that is based upon the "fruits" of the experience (James, 2004, 211; Bridgers, 2005, 14-15). James considered the characteristics of "philosophical reasonableness and moral helpfulness" (2004, 28) to be the fruits that demonstrated the validity of religious experiences. This transformative factor was key to James' interpretation of the religious experience. Paranormal experiences of all types, for instance UFO sightings, alien abductions, ghost/apparitional experiences and so on, are also found to be associated with personality and world-view transformation. In an investigation into the effects of paranormal and spiritual experiences on people's lives Kennedy & Kanthamani (1995) reported that:

"...the experiences resulted in increased belief in life after death, belief that their lives are guided or watched over by a higher force or being, interest in spiritual or religious matters, sense of connection to others, happiness, well-being, confidence, optimism about the future, and meaning in life. They also indicated decreases in fear of death, depression or anxiety, isolation and loneliness, and worry and fears about the future" (1995, 249)

Such transformations are also often described by those who have had psychedelic experiences having consumed consciousness altering drugs (Leary, Metzner & Weil, 1993).

Connections

Out-of-Body Experiences (OBE) and Near-Death Experiences (NDE) seem to exist in a mid-way position between those experiences that are considered to be religious or mystical and those that are understood to be paranormal or psychic. This transition from the paranormal to the religious via OB and NDEs does not occur in discreet steps, but rather is apparently blurred and intermixed. Numerous reports of OBEs, for example, feature encounters with aliens or trips aboard flying saucers. This extract from an interview I conducted, via the internet, with an NDE experiencer called R.A. clearly demonstrates the merging of religious and UFO experiences during his NDE:

"I did not know that heaven in scripture was squarish shaped before my NDE. I tend to think of it now as some type of spaceship"

On this "big rectangular boxy spaceship", R.A. encountered a "wonderful being" manifested as an "Inexpressable Light of Love". This particular case goes to show how easily the experiences more traditionally characterised as religious, i.e. "light of love", and experiences more common to UFO encounters, i.e. heaven as a "spaceship", can become intertwined.

Similarly, Thomas Bullard (1989) has noted, in his schema for the abduction scenario, that many accounts of alien abduction also feature a form of theophany or encounter with a divine being (1989, 153). Bullard writes:

"...abduction reports sound like rewrites of older supernatural encounter traditions with aliens serving the functional roles of divine beings or nature spirits" (Bullard, 1989, 157-158)

For instance Rojcewicz (1986) has noted that the Betty Andreasson abduction case of 1967 provides a fascinating perspective on the blurring of distinctions between religious and abduction experiences. Betty Andreasson interpreted her abduction experiences as visitations from angelic beings:

"We can clearly see here the fusion between experience and belief, description and interpretation. Betty's Christian beliefs color her interpretation of the appearance of her abductors, calling them "angels," despite her verbal and pictorial descriptions to the contrary" (1986, 138)

Rojcewicz sees this as the intersection of "two or more belief traditions...in one experience" (ibid) (we might even consider the possibility that two or more belief traditions developed from a single experience).

Psychedelic experiences induced via the consumption of psychoactive plants and chemicals also seemingly represent a merging point between the religious and the paranormal. Numerous investigators have explored the relationship between psychedelic drugs, paranormal experiences and psi abilities (Luke, 2008) - much of the work pointing out interesting correlations. Certain psychedelic drugs (e.g. DMT, Psilocybin, LSD) are associated entity communications, often akin to abduction scenarios, fairy encounters and so on (e.g. numerous narrative accounts in Strassman, 2001). Other psychoactive drugs (marijuana, ayahuasca) are traditionally considered to be conducive to the development of psi abilities and experiences.

The experiences listed in this diagram are not exhaustive. It is merely meant to demonstrate a possible spectrum of anomalous experiences. Those experiences highlighted in yellow represent experiences of impersonal union with the oneness of reality; those in blue are experiences involving personified entity encounters; those in purple represent impersonal psi experiences. Any of these experiences may occur independently or in tandem during an NDE, OBE or psychedelic experience.

Spectra

Do these experiences, then, occur along a spectrum with one type of experience at one extreme and another at the other, changing only by subtle and varying degrees? Rojcewicz (1986) has suggested that so-called UFO phenomena be considered to exist within a continuum of extraordinary encounters, one which includes encounters with other creatures of folklore and myth; angels, fairies, monsters. Might this same continuum also include encounters with God?

Why is it that the experience of paranormal phenomena, including UFO abduction and contact experiences, are not considered religious in the sense implied by the term religious experience? Is there some form of cultural hierarchy of significance at play that judges the value of an experiene by the type of object experienced?

References

Bridgers, L. 2005. Contemporary Varieties of Religious Experience. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman and Littlefield.

Bullard, T.E. 1989. UFO Abduction Reports: The Supernatural Kidnap Narrative Returns in Technological Guise. The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 102, No. 404, pp. 147-170.

James, W. 2004 [1902]. The Varieties of Religious Experience. New York: Barnes & Noble.

Kennedy, J.E. and Kanthamani, H. 1995. An Exploratory Study of the Effects of Paranormal and Spiritual Experiences on Peoples' Lives and Well-Being. The Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, Vol. 89, pp.249-265.

Leary, T. Metzner, R. & Weil, G.M. 1993 [1965]. The Subjective After-Effects of Psychedelic Experiences: A Summary of 4 Recent Questionnaire Studies. In T. Leary, R. Metzner & G.M Weil (eds) 1993. The Psychedelic Reader. New York: Citadel Press.

Luke, D.P. 2008. Psychedelic Substances and Paranormal Phenomena: A Review of The Research. Journal of Parapsychology, Vol. 72, 77-107

Rojcewicz, Peter M. 1986. The Extraordinary Encounter Continuum Hypothesis and Its Implications for the Study of Belief Materials. Folklore Forum. 19:131-152.

Strassman, R. 2001. DMT: The Spirit Molecule. Rochester, Vermont: Park Street Press.

Swinburne, R. In Peterson, M. Hasker, W. Reichenbach, B. & Basinger D. 2002. Reason and Religious Belief: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Talking With The Spirits - Interview...

Here is a short film that I edited together from an interview conducted a week or so ago with Christine Di Nucci, the founder of the Bristol Spirit Lodge; the venue at which I conducted my dissertation fieldwork.

Due to a change of circumstance interviews with mediums and sitters will now likely be in audio format.

More news to come...

Talking With the Spirits: Bristol Spirit Lodge Documentary Film...

I have just commenced work an an ethnographic/documentary style film about the Bristol Spirit Lodge, a centre for the development and promotion of trance and physical mediumship. The film will feature indepth interviews with members of the lodge, including sitters and mediums, in an attempt to expand upon the fieldwork I conducted there for my dissertation earlier in the year. It's primary focus will be on the way in which seance experiences are interpreted and lived with by those who are witness to them.

More news on the film will be made available as the project develops.

Michael Jackson's Ghost (pt. 2)...

In a PREVIOUS POST I discussed the way in which Michael Jackson, following his death, became associated with the paranormal (in much the same way that many other celebrities have become entwined with the supernatural). I have suggested that this "cult of celebrity" is deeply connected to the realm of mediumship and spirit communication.

This current manifestation of the supernatural-celebrity mediumshp cult has taken another interesting turn: Derek Acorah is set to make contact with Michael Jackson during a live seance to be broadcast on Sky1 (read full article HERE).

Tantalising food for thought regarding the relationship between celebrity and mediumship.

The Portrayal of Spiritualism in the popular media...

Spiritualism, and indeed most paranormal beliefs, have long borne the brunt of ridicule and humiliation; a trend that appears to be continuing. This is likely a concomitant aspect of the general movement towards rationalisation and secularisation that has been taking place over the last 200 years or so, particularly in Europe and North America.

A recent documentary on Channel 4, "Revelations: Talking With the Dead", although providing a fascinating insight into the lives of an East London Spiritualist Church congregation, continued to report based upon the assumption that the beliefs they held were false.

There has been a similar problem in the attempts of anthropologists and sociologists studying Spiritualist groups. Vieda Skultans' (1974) classic study of Spiritualism in a Welsh town focused primarily on the social function of the Spiritualist meetings: on the fact that such gatherings allow for an escape from the mundaneity of day-to-day living and the therapeutic effects this necessarily entails. While this is undoubtedly a significant factor, it inherently ignores the claims of those participating in the groups to communication with spirit entities and other psi phenomena.

The assumption that paranormal beliefs are unfounded and inherently false inevitably leads to a distorted representation of the individuals world-view: it makes them appear ridiculous. A substantial amount of "backstory" is ignored. This is most clearly visible in the documentary sequence between Keith Hudson and the Publican. The Publican is unaware of the philosophical underpinnings of what Keith is saying, so that when Keith speaks of the notion that a spirit chooses his/her parents before incarnating on the Earth-plane, or of the intensity of colours in the spirit world, to the Publican he is doing no more than ranting like a madman. This is very difficult to avoid. It brought to mind classic scenarios of visionary mystics being ridiculed as madmen.

The documentary did provide a fascinating social insight into the lives of the spiritualist congregation, but to some extent I feel that it missed the point; as do many commentators on spiritualism and paranormal belief. Without the necessary appreciation of underlying philosophical and experiential understanding, paranormal beliefs can appear fully irrational and entirely at odds with the "real world". This is unfair.

The anthropologist E.E. Evans Pritchard was one of the first anthropologists to question the assumption that so-called "primitive" beliefs were irrational. Through living amongst the Azande of North Africa, Evans Pritchard came to appreciate the inherent logic in their supernatural belief system. Living within a belief system provides the anthropologist with a necessary "insider" perspective, through which a more substantial understanding can be gleaned.

I have mentioned Edith Turner's 1992 article "The Reality of Spirits" a number of times, and feel I must do so again here. Turner calls for a new approach to the sudy of religious beliefs, one that does not ignore the understanding of those under study. Such an approach might also benefit documentary makers. I am certain that the filmmakers did not intend to make their interviewees appear irrational or foolish, but through presenting their story without providing a deeper context to the Spiritualist movement and its related phenomena the documentary, to my mind, alienated the interviewees. As isolated examples, devoid of wider context the interviewees were made to appear particularly insular, and hence abnormal. The truth of the matter is, however, that there is a much wider context than the documentary even hinted at (i.e. historical background of spiritualism and mediumship, survival research, altered states of consciousness, countless narrative accounts of the phenomenology of mediumship, etc.).

All in all, though, this documentary was very interesting. It was good to see the topics discussed made available to a wider audience in a relatively un-biased fashion.

As an interesting side-note: several commentators on the Channel 4 page for the documentary have noted the presence of Orbs around one of the interviewees.

Famous and Recurring Spirit Guides...

One of the aspects of mediumship that I find particularly interesting is the cross-over of spirit guides, or communicators, between mediums. Occasionally this cross-over can become quite a problem, as in the case of Warren Caylor and Colin Fry's dispute over a communicator called Magnus.

Other communicators appearing through different mediums often include a range of deceased celebrities: Freddy Mercury, Louis Armstrong etc...

In the realm of musical mediumship it is not unkown for composers to channel new music through more than one medium: Liszt and Chopin appear to be common channeling composers.

Grubelei transmitted by Franz Liszt through the mediumship of Rosemary Brown (1916-2001).

In his book Pursuing Physical Mediumship (2007), Robin Foy details various communicators that have not limited their contact with this plane through just one medium. Foy recounts numerous situations in which communications have been received through different mediums (including Leslie Flint) from the likes of Winston Churchill, Oscar Wilde, Emily Bronte, Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir William Crookes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and so on.

Winston Churchill communicating through the mediumship of Leslie Flint (1911-1994) in 1980.

Indeed, there appears to be a propensity towards receiving communications from those individuals who were at one time themselves engaged in the investigation of spiritualistic phenomena. This is, perhaps, as we would expect: an individual that had been fascinated with the mechanics of mediumship throughout life would not hesitate to explore that machinery first-hand when given the opportunity in the afterlife.

Interestingly we also find accounts of communications with those who were skeptical in life, who now, upon experiencing the truth of life after death for themselves, cannot resist but come to communicate how misguided they had been in life. This situation, naturally, seems suspect to any inquisitive researcher (the medium might well be faking it in order to "demonstrate" the truth of life after death and to prove that his/her critics were ultimately wrong) , but it cannot be denied that it is a distinct possibility; we shouldn't rule it out just because it appears improbable, but we'd ought to remain inquisitive.

One argument put forward to account for the recurrence of "celebrity communicators" is that certain discarnate entities will utilise a famous name in order to enhance the enthusiasm of the sitters to communicate, thusly resulting in far stronger phenomena.

Celebrity "possession cults" are not limited to this particular form. The Changun possession cult of Korea is solely centred around the incorporation of famous deceased generals, including the likes of Genghis Khan during the Kut ceremony:

I would suggest, perhaps, that if these entities are not in actuality the individuals they claim to be, that the utilisation of the name of a celebrity/general is to denote elevation. The human being might find that attributing the label of a well known and respected individual to an unknown spiritual entity enables them to better conceive of the "elevatedness" of the entity. By giving it the name of a general, for instance, it is implied that the being is above our status. Conceiving of the spirit as "above our status" might simply be a means for us to abstractify higher dimensionality; I am "normal", the communicator is not; a way of communicating the sense of an uncanny presence.

Some food for thought perhaps...