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.

Call for Papers - 2nd Exploring the Extraordinary Conference at University of York - 24th-25th Sept. 2010

EXPLORING THE EXTRAORDINARY
2nd Conference
University of York, UK
Friday, 24th September – Saturday 25th September, 2010

CALL FOR PAPERS

We are delighted to announce a call for papers for our second Exploring the Extraordinary network conference. We would like to invite people to submit papers based on contemporary studies of extraordinary experiences. Some examples of topics may be:

• Individual accounts of extraordinary experiences
• Health, well being and extraordinary experiences
• Belief systems that incorporate extraordinary experiences
• Theoretical discussions of extraordinary experiences, and/or the potential for interdisciplinary perspectives
• Developing suitable methodologies to research extraordinary experiences

This conference will be hosted by the Anomalous Experiences Research Unit (http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/soci/research/aeru.htm), members of which established Exploring the Extraordinary in 2007 at the University of York, with the aim of creating a supportive researcher network that would encourage interdisciplinary links and discussions regarding the study of extraordinary experiences. By ‘extraordinary’ we refer to experiences that are considered by experients to be beyond the mundane, having significant spiritual or life changing connotations. We include experiences that have been called supernatural, paranormal, mystical, transcendental, exceptional, spiritual, and religious, as well as the belief systems such experiences may connect to.

Papers should be intended for an interdisciplinary audience.

Please submit a 300-500 word abstract to Dr Hannah Gilbert (heg104@york.ac.uk) by the 2nd April 2010. Papers should ideally be 20 minutes in length. Please include contact information and a brief biographical note. Accepted papers will be decided upon by a committee, and a decision will be made within one week of the closing date.

Accepted papers will also be invited to submit a full paper for possible publication in a special issue of the Journal for the Society for Psychical Research, which will be guest edited by Dr Madeleine Castro and Dr Hannah Gilbert. If you would like to be considered for inclusion in the special issue of the JSPR then submit a full paper of no more than 6,000 words in APA format (for guidance click here ) including an abstract of 300-500 words, by no later than the 28th May. If you wish to be considered for the conference but not the JSPR special issue then submit just an abstract (no later than the 2nd April) for your presentation. Please note all papers will be subject to anonymous peer review following submission, and acceptance for the conference will not guarantee acceptance for publication.

Timescale:

2nd April 2010: Deadline for abstract submissions
28th May 2010: Deadline for paper submissions
24th -25th September 2010: Exploring the Extraordinary conference

Inquiries can be sent to

Dr Hannah Gilbert,
Anomalous Experiences Research Unit,
Sociology,
University of York,
Heslington, York,
YO10 5DD

heg104@york.ac.uk

Articles...

A selection of fascinating articles from a variety of writers, including Stanley Krippner, Eric Ouellet, Charles D. Laughlin and David Taylor, are now available in the "Articles" section of the "Transpersonal Anthropology" website.

There are also a number of personal narrative accounts from individuals living with paranormal experiences available in the "Living With the Anomalous" section.

If you would like to submit an article or account of your own anomalous experience then don't hestitate to get in touch via discarnates@googlemail.com.

Transpersonal Anthropology

I have started work on a new website:

www.paranthropology.weebly.com

It deals with issues relating to transpersonal and paranormal experiences.

Four experiencer accounts…

The data in this article were gathered via correspondences with individuals claiming to have experienced alien contact or abduction first hand. The following analysis will endeavour to uncover patterns within these reports as a means to explore the phenomenology of the experience as well as the sociology and psychology of the experiencers themselves. It is not my purpose to ascertain the veracity of these experiential claims; rather I am interested primarily in the perceived features of the experience: how the percipient understands his/her experience.

David Yamane writes:

“…when we study religious experience we cannot study “experiencing” – religious experience in real time and it’s physical, mental, and emotional constituents- and therefore must study retrospective accounts – linguistic representations of religious experience.” (Yamane, 2000, 173)

Similarly we cannot gain direct access to the “experience” of UFO witnesses, contactees and abductees. This presents a problem in trying to explore the phenomenology of anomalous experiences – it is simply not possible. The following investigation is, therefore, based upon retrospective narratives which may, or may not, have evolved with the telling over the weeks, months and years following the

ir experiences.

The approach of this exploration, then, might be termed an “as if” approach; one whereby narrative accounts of anomalous experiences are treated “as if” they were real, even in the event that they never occurred (Crabtree, 1988). I trust that the experiences relayed to me are from honest individuals interested only in sharing their stories with a wider audience. No material gain can be achieved through presenting these accounts, and all names have been made anonymous.

The four experiencers live in the United States. I found it particularly difficult to track down abductees willing to talk in the United Kingdom. Whether this is an indication that fewer abductions take place in the UK than in the US is not really answerable with such a small sample size. Each story presents its own peculiarities, and yet each also partakes of similar thematic and narrative characteristics.

1. Encounter on the Mountain

The first experience I will relate occurred on Mount Shasta, California, in 1985 and does not conform to the classic abduction stereotype, indeed it is not an abduction at all, but it does contain many fascinating features including, amongst other psi phenomena; pre-cognition and ESP.

Y’s experience started with a tarot reading given to her husband that suggested he make a journey to Mount Shasta accompanied by a significant female in his life. On the journey Y read a book about UFOs that a friend had given her. In the back of the book she found a telephone number written in pen and an invitation to call it. The number was for Sister Thedra, a resident of Shasta City, and a UFO contactee and channeler of higher intelligence. Despite being complete strangers the couple decided to call Sister Thedra, who invited them to her home. Sister Thedra turned out to be an avid archivist of UFO experiences on the mountain; her home was full of journals and written accounts. The couple told her that they were going to camp out on the mountain that night, to which Thedra responded positively; she had been hoping someone would be up there on that particular evening. She told them to report back to her in the morning, the couple consented, thanked Sister Thedra, and set off for the mountain.

I think you will agree that this sequence of events was a very peculiar prologue to their camping trip; the sheer frequency of meaningful coincidences and synchronicities is most strange, but not as strange as that which followed. Y relates:

“We set up camp in the snow and my husband went to sleep. I was in my sleeping bag with my head outside the tent, watching the stars. A huge round disk appeared that had pastel lights of many colors rotating around a band in the middle. It was very close and hovered over the mountain just above us for over an hour. I tried in every way to wake my husband to no avail.After about an hour, the cone of the mountain began to glow with lights just like the ship and slowly the ship moved toward the cone and eventually went inside. I did not see it come back out and eventually went to sleep. In the morning, I awoke to a very different kind of energy all around us. I woke my husband and as I made breakfast, told him of the experience lastnight. As I was gesturing a bird came and landed in my hand. I told him to put out his hand and another bird did the same. We were both aware of the soft and very different energy. We kept interacting with the birds for an hour or so and the energy didn’t change. We broke camp and went down to see Sister Thedra and told her what I saw and about the energy. She wrote in her journals and thanked us very much. We left and went home.”

Key features of this contact experience include:

• Synchronicities preceding the event
• Multi-coloured luminous flying disc
• Inability to rouse partner from sleep
• Illumination and opening of the cone of the mountain
• Distinct “change in energy”
• Strange animal behaviour

Certain of these aspects are fairly regularly reported by abductees. Naturally, flying discs are the epitome of the UFO phenomenon; they are the most commonly, and historically consistent, reported phenomena. Y stated that the craft she witnessed was definitely a solid, physical, object.

Paralysis is a common feature. In many accounts paralysis is induced by the alien, often utilising a “wand-like” device (numerous references in Vallee, 1988 and Mack, 1994). The paralysis aspect of the abduction phenomenon has been one of the primary reasons for comparison with the sleep paralysis experience (see Hufford, 1982 for a discussion of this experience). In this instance, however, it is not the witness that is paralysed, but rather her husband.

The illumination and opening of the mountain cone is interesting, and fairly unique. Mount Shasta itself has a long mythological history, and in relatively recent years has had an association with the lost land of Lemuria, with stories of the mountain representing the gateway into an underground realm inhabited by displaced Lemurians.

The positive change in energy is also a recurrent theme in some manifestations of the abduction phenomenon. The psychiatrist John Mack (1994), for example, emphasized the transformative power of the abduction phenomenon in his writings on the subject.

The strange behaviour of the birds the morning after the experience may be likened to the animal “screen memories” reported by Budd Hopkins. Hopkins notes that the actual abduction experience is often obscured in the memory of abductees by vivid recollections of encounters with animals: owls and stags are regularly reported. John Mack similarly noticed that “the aliens themselves seem able to change or disguise their form, and…may appear initially to the abductees as various kinds of animals” (Mack, 1994, 396).

2. Visitors in the Home

The next account I will discuss is that of a 40 year old male from Florida, referred to here as X, and amazingly comes complete with a fascinating array of photographic evidence (a couple of which are included herein). There are photographs of purportedly semi-materialized “grey-type” entities, and even a video of a fully formed being peering around a door, as fantastic as that sounds. It is not only greys that are in contact with X; he has also encountered reptilian-type entities in his home, as well as orbs and mists. X claims to have had over 2,000 visits from these entities (2,555 to be exact).

Fig. 1. A still from one of X's videos depicting a small grey-like entity peering around the bedroom door

X also claims that there are “star gates” in his home leading to other worlds, and that he has been through them. On the other side of the “star gates”, X has witnessed numerous “fascinating places” such as subterranean tunnel networks, marine environments, deserts and unusual rooms filled with strange equipment. He has seen excavations being carried out in ancient, or lost, cities, perhaps indicating that the entities are looking for something; treasure or answers.

Fig. 2. A still from one of X’s videos portraying a semi-materialised “grey type” entity

X’s experience can, in the analysis of its primary features and the nature of the contact, be likened to Whitley Strieber’s account in the book Communion (1997 [1987]). In this instance numerous contacts were made within Strieber’s home; the aliens, in other words, would come to him while he slept. Again, such an experience bares striking similarities with the sleep paralysis phenomenon. Key elements of the sleep paralysis phenomenon include:

• A sense of presence entering the room (often apparently with malevolent intent)
• Bodily paralysis

The presence of photographic evidence in this case, however, differs from cases of sleep paralysis: sleep paralysis does not generally leave physical evidence, and I am unaware of any victims of sleep paralysis who claim to have taken photographs of the intruding entities they have sensed.

3. Visitors and Implants

The following account is from a 52 year old female, Z, from Arkansas:

“I have never had much interest in UFOs, but I did have an experience. One night, I was asleep in bed lying on my back. I was awakened by something standing beside me. It was a small grey being with the typical alien shaped head with large black eyes. Standing behind it was a tall white being in a long cloak. The small grey being put its hand on my arm as if to comfort me. The tall white being turned and walked through the bedroom wall towards the outside yard. I distinctly remember the folds of its cloak swirling and the weight of the fabric. The little grey one mentally told me to turn my head away, which I did. It touched me with something behind my right ear. A sort of electrical feeling, not unpleasant, went through my body and I went back to sleep or lost awareness. The next day, I was pretty creeped out by the whole thing.” (Emphasis mine).

Again, this experience carries all of the hallmarks of the “classic” abduction account: The presence of grey-type entities, and the seemingly superior “tall white being”; telepathic communication between the entities and the experiencer; the surgical implantation of a device behind the ear. Z’s experience did not end here, however:

“I also have experiences of hearing what I call “radio voices”. It is a sort of radio-like transmission that occurs inside my head behind my right ear. It is not the English language, but I understand on some level what is being said.”

Z is apparently being communicated with via the object implanted behind her right ear by the small grey being in her bedroom.

4. Life –long Abduction

W, a 60 year old female from Wichita, has been abducted frequently from around about the age of 4. Her story is long and complex, involving not only herself but also her children and parents. Her account contains many fantastical features, and is interwoven with other paranormal elements, namely telepathy, psychokinesis and pre-cognition. One of her earliest abduction memories reads as follows:

“My abductions started in the early 50's. I was born in 49. … I found myself and my older sister hand in hand with these beings standing in front of a huge black shiney [sic] sphere that looked more like glass. I was very curious about it and was touching it rubbing my hand over it feeling its texture. It felt so smooth and polished and cool to the touch. I could see my refection in it clearly. I did this while these beings were comunicating telepathicly [sic] with each other and then they walked us home. I don't recall being afraid of them at that time as it felt like they were friends and didn't want to hurt us. I remember clearly that my sister and I were in our flannel night gowns my mother had made for us with no shoes on. So I assume this happened some time in the night. I began to miss them when they would leave us.”

W and her sister were placed in a “program of sorts” in which they were taught to communicate telepathically with one another and to manipulate objects with their minds:

“I often found myself placed in a big room that I can only describe as being sterile and lighted brightly by an unknown source. There were always other children my age there. We were given things to play with that didn't look like any known toys I'd ever seen. One I can remember looked like a sphere that was metallic. I can remember I wasn't sure what to do with it and the being in the room told me that I could make it work with my mind… The being had one of the children come over and teach me. All I had to do was to mentally think it to rise off the floor and make it go where I wanted it to go and it would do what I wanted it to. It took a long while and alot of mental energy but eventually I learned to play with those toys quite well to the point that I was asked to teach other children to do the same.”

As W matured, however, the abduction experience became progressively less enjoyable as her children were also being taken:

“It seemed like a few years I struggled with our abductors. I began to fully realize no matter who they were or what they resembled they were in no way good even when they tried to convince me they were. Everything about the abductions were wrong. The God I knew didn’t hide behind the darkness nor was he into taking anyone against their will. So when I was with them I started demanding that they for once start answering some questions for me. That was great with them unless I asked them anything that had to do with God, or Jesus... They first tried to convince me that they were in someway as was I a god all rolled into one.... When I wouldn’t except that as a true answer they stopped answering me. They got pretty exashperated [sic] with me. Hymns would come to mind and I would start singing those. My visits would end pretty fast that way.”

W turned increasingly towards religion as a means to combat the alien intrusion on her family’s life. On one occasion a visiting minister asked to pray over her child, despite being unaware of his abduction experiences. The prayer called for the child to be watched over and protected by angels. Soon the boy was no longer complaining of unpleasant experiences with aliens, but was instead telling of the beautiful angels he was seeing at night.

Overall W’s experiences have been perceived negatively. Her interpretation of religion did not accord with the perspective of the entities she was in contact with.

More to come...

References:

Crabtree, A. 1988. Multiple Man: Explorations in Possession and Multiple Personality Disorder. London: Grafton Books.

Mack, J. 1994. Abduction: Human Encounters with Aliens. London: Simon & Schuster Ltd.

Strieber, W. 1997 [1987]. Communion: Encounters with the Unknown. London: Arrow Books Ltd.

Vallee, J. 1988. Dimensions: A Casebook of Alien Contact. London: Souvenir Press Ltd.

Yamane, D. 2000. Narrative and Religious Experience. Sociology of Religion. Vol. 62, No. 2, pp. 171-189.

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.

Anthropology and Paranormal Videos...

I have started to compile a list of lectures, interviews, videos, documentaries and films that deal with issues of anthropology, philosophy, sociology, religion, religious experience, mysticism, the paranormal, altered states of consciousness, mediumship, psychedelics, entity encounters and so on. The list can be found here:

www.anthropologyandtheparanormal.blogspot.com

I am searching for video links that can serve to provide a line of enquiry for those who have an interest in such matters.

Naturally the list is not exhaustive, but I am hoping to keep adding to it as new videos come to my attention.

If you have any links that you think would be suitable please don't hesitate to get in touch via discarnates@googlemail.com