Gauld Mediumship

8/18/2019 Gauld Mediumship

1/304

Mediumship and SurvivalA Ce n t u ry o f I nve s t i ga t i ons


2/304

By the same author

T h e F o u n d e r s o f P s y c h ic a l R e s e a r c h

H u m a n A c t i o n a n d its P s y c h o lo g i ca l In v e s t i g a t i o n (w i t h J o h n S h o t te r )

Po l t e rge is t s (wi th A. D. Co rne l l )

In the same series

HAUNTINGS AND APPARITIONS by A n d r e w M a c K e n z i e

BEYOND THE BODY: A n I n v e st ig a t io n o f O u t - o f -t h e - B o d y E x p e r i en c e s

by D r S u s a n J . B la c km o re

THROUGH THE TIME BARRIER: A S t u d y o f P r e c o g n it io n a n d M o d e r n

P h y s i c s b y D a n a h Z o h a r

GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED IN PARAPSYCHOLOGY c o m p i l e d b y

M i c h a e l A . T h a l b o u r n e


3/304

Mediumship andSurvivalA C en tury of Investigations

Alan Gauld

Series Editor: Brian InglisPublished on b ehalf of the Society for Psychical Research

H E I N E M A N N : L O N D O N


4/304

W i ll ia m H e i n e m a n n L td .1 0 U p p e r G r o s v e n o r S t r e e t , L o n d o n W 1 X 9 P A

LONDON MELBOURNE TORONTOJOHANNESBURG AUCKLAND

© Alan Gauld 1982

First published 1982

SBN 434 28320 7

Pr i n t ed i n G rea t B r i t a i n by

R e d w o o d B u r n L t d , T r o w b r i d g e , W i lt s h ir e


5/304

To Sheila

W h o u n c o m p l a i n i n g l y p u t u p w i t h a

d i f f i cu l t summer


6/304


7/304

Contents

Lis t of I l lus t ra t ions viii

A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s ix

F o r e w o r d xi

1 I n t r o d u c t i o n 1

2 M e d i u m s h i p : G e n e r a l 17

3 T h e M e d i u m s h i p o f M r s P i p e r 32

4 T h e M e diu m sh ip of M rs L e on ar d 45

5 ‘D ro p - in ’ C o m m u n ica to r s 58

6 Mani fes ta t ions o f Purpose 74

7 Man i fe s t a t io n s o f o th e r Pe r s o n a l C h a rac t e r i st i c s 90

8 T h e C o n tr o ls o f M e d i u m s 109

9 ‘O v er s h a d o w in g ’ an d t h e Su p e r -E SP Hy p o th es i s -

Th eo re t i ca l C o n s id e ra t i o n s 119

10 ‘O v e r s h a d o w i n g ’ a n d t h e S u p e r - E S P H y p o t h e s i s - T h e D a t a 129

11 Obse ss ion an d Possess ion 147

12 R e i n c a r n a t i o n 163

13 M e m o r y a n d t he B ra in 188

14 Ou t -o f - t h e -B o d y Ex p e r i en ces an d A p p a r i t i o n s 226

15 Ap p a r i t i o n s o f t h e D ead 23016 A T h e o r y o f A p p a r i t io n s 252

17 C o n c l u d in g R e m a r k s 261

Bib l iography 268

In d ex 283


8/304

List of Illustrations

Between pages 146 and 147

An ou i ja bo a rd s i tt i ng

M rs L. P i pe r

W i ll ia m J a m e sO l i v e r L o d g e

R i c h a r d H o d g s o n

M r s G . L e o n a r d

M r s M . d e G . V e r r a ll

M rs . H . S a l t e r

M r s W i ll e tt

F . W . H . M ye r s

A u t o m a t i c w r it in gM r s E l e a n o r S i dg w i c k

S k e t c h b y F. L . T o m p s o n

P a i n t i n g b y R o b e r t S. G i f fo rd


9/304

Acknowledgements

Fo r the i r k indness in read ing a d ra f t o f thi s work , an d fo r m an y he lp fu l

co m m en t s an d s u g g es t i o n s , I am m u ch i n d eb t ed t o I an S t ev en s o n ,Brian Ingl is , J o h n St Jo h n , Louise Bloomfield an d Jo h n Beloff. For

va luab le he lp in var ious re la ted m at te rs I have to tha nk Ber nard Car r ,T o n y C o rn e l l, Sa m G ra in g e r , E l ean o r O ’Kee ffe, D . N . C l ark e -Lo wes ,

Emi ly Wi l l i ams Cook , an d Ber t Ha y le t t .

A n um be r in parenth eses in the tex t refers to the source l is ted opposi te

tha t num be r in the Bib l iography (pp . 268-282) .


10/304


11/304

Foreword

Around the year 1873 , Freder ic Myers was to reca l l in h i s Human Personality, a s m a l l g ro u p o f C am b r id g e f r i end s cam e to t h e co n c lu s io n

tha t ne i ther re l ig ion nor mate r ia l i sm had p rov ide d sa t i sfac to ry answers

to ques t ions tha t were puzz l ing them:

O u r at t i tu des of m in d were in some ways di fferent ; but to myself , a t least , its eem ed t ha t no adequa t e a t t em pt had ye t been m ade even t o de t e rm i new he ther an yth ing could be l earn t as to the unseen w or ld or no; for tha t i fanyth ing were knowable about such a wor ld in such fash ion tha t Sc iencecould adopt and main ta in tha t knowledge , i t must be d i scovered by noanalys i s of t rad i t ion , an d by no m anip ula t ion o f metaphys ics , bu t s imply byexpe r i m en t and obse rva t i on - s i m p l y by t he app l i ca t i on t o phenom ena

wi th in us and a r ou nd us of prec ise ly the same metho ds of de l ibera t e ,d i spass iona te exac t inqui ry which have bui l t up our ac tua l knowledge ofthe wor ld which we can touch and see .

Alo n g wi th h is f ri end s - ch i e f am o n g t h em H en r y S id gwick an d

E d m u n d G u r n e y - M y e r s b e c a m e o n e o f t h e f o u n d e r m e m b e r s o f t he

Society for Psychical R ese arc h , w he n i t was forme d in 1882 to put these

ideas in to pract ice , and th is ser ies i s being publ ished to mark the

Society’s centenary .T he ph en om en a o f the ‘unseen w or ld ’ to which Myers re fe r red were

orig inal ly for con ven ienc e put in to f ive categories , ea ch of wh ich a

co m m it tee was set up to inves t igate : te le pathy , h ypno t ism , ‘sensi t ives’,

ap p a r i t i o n s an d ‘ t h e v a r io u s p h y s i ca l p h en o m en a co m m o n ly ca l l ed

Sp ir i tual is t ic’ . O v e r the years the em phasis has to some extent sh i l ted -

in pa r t i cu la r hypno t i sm , w hich a t th a t t ime was d i smissed as an occul t

delus ion , was jus t ab ou t to be acc ep ted as a reali ty , so it ceased to be on

the psych ic s ide o f the fence . Bu t b road ly speak ing , the ph en om en aunder inves t iga t ion a re the same, and the ways in which they have

b een inves t ig a ted h av e r e m a in e d as M y ers p la n n ed .

T h e t e r m i n o l o g y , h o w e v e r , w a s c h a n g e d - a n d c h a n g e d r a t h e r

o ften , wh ich m ad e for some confus ion . M yers h imse l f in t roduc ed


12/304

‘t e l e p a t hy ’, a s ‘t ho ug h t r e a d i ng ’ wa s a m b i gu ou s ; it c ou l d r e f e r t o t he

w a y in w h i ch S h e r lo c k H o l m e s p i c k e d u p w h a t w a s in W a t s o n s m i n d

by w a t c h i n g his express ion . ‘S u p e r n o r m a l ’, h o w e v e r , w h i c h M y e r s

t h o u g h t p r e f e r a b le t o s u p e r n a t u r a l t o d e s cr i b e t h e cla ss o f p h e n o m e n a

wi t h w h i c h t he S oc i e t y wo u l d be de a l i ng , h a s s i nc e it s el f be e n r e p l a c e d b y ‘p a r a n o r m a l ’; a n d ‘p a r a p s y c h o l o g y ’ has b e e n e a s in g o u t ‘p sy ch ica l

re sea rch’ - t hough some resea rche rs p re fe r to re s t r i c t i t s use to

l ab ora to ry- ty pe work , l eav ing ‘psych ica l ’ fo r re sea rch in to spo ntan eou s

p h e n o m e n a . ‘P s i ’ has also c o m e in as a n a l l - p u rp o s e t e r m to desc r ib e

the fo rces invo lved , o r to iden t i fy th em - fo r ex am ple , in d i s t ingu i sh ing

a n o r m a l f r o m a p a r a n o r m a l e v e n t .

I f e v i de nc e we re l a c k i ng fo r ‘pa r a sc i e nc e ’ - a s it m i g h t now m ore

e m b r a c i n g l y b e d e s c r ib e d , b e c a u s e t h e e m p h a s i s o f r e s e a r c h h a s b e e nsh if t ing r e c e n t l y a w a y f rom psyc ho l ogy to phy s i c s - it c ou l d be found i n

t he c om pos i t i on o f t he S oc i e t y, f r om its e a r li e s t be g inn i ngs . T he re c a n

be few o rg a n iz a t io n s w h ic h h a v e a t t r a c t e d so d is t in g u ish e d a

m e m b e r s h i p . A m o n g p h y s i c i s t s h a v e b e e n S i r W i l l i a m C r o o k e s , S i r

J o h n J o s e p h T h o m s o n , S i r O l i v e r L o d g e , S ir W i l li a m B a r r e t t a n d tw o

L o r d R a y l e i g h s - t h e t h i r d a n d f o u r t h b a r o n s . A m o n g t h e

ph ilo sophers : S id g w ick him self , H e n r i Bergson, F e r d i n a n d Sch il le r , L.

P . J a c ks , H a n s D r i esc h , a nd C . D . B roa d ; a m o n g t he p sycho logi st s:

W i l li am J a m e s , W i ll ia m M c D o u g a l l , S i g m u n d F r e u d , W a l te r

F r a n k li n P ri nc e, C a r l J u n g a n d G a r d n e r M u r p h y . A n d a l o n g w it h

t he se ha ve be e n m a ny e m i ne n t f i gu re s i n va r i ous f i e l d s : Cha r l e s

R i c he t , a N obe l p r i z e w i nne r i n phys io l ogy; t he E a r l o f Ba l fou r , P r i m e

M i n i s t e r f ro m 1 9 0 2 - 6 , a n d h is b r o t h e r G e r a l d , C h i e f S e c r e t a r y for

I r e l a n d i n 1 8 9 5 - 6 ; A n d r e w L a n g , p o l y m a t h ; G i l b e r t M u r r a y , R e g i u s

P ro fe s so r o f Gre e k a t O xfo rd a n d d r a f t e r o f t he firs t C ov e n a n t o f theL e a gue o f Na t i ons ; h is suc ce ssor a t Ox fo rd , E . R . Do dds ; M rs H e nr y

S i dg w i ck , P r i n c i p a l o f N e w n h a m C o ll eg e , C a m b r i d g e ; M a r i e C ur ie ;

t h e H o n M r s A l f re d L y t t l e to n , D e l e g a t e t o th e L e a g u e o f N a t i o n s

A s s em b ly ; C a m i l le F l a m m a r i o n , t h e a s t r o n o m e r , a n d F. J . M .

S t r a t t on , P r e s i de n t o f t he Ro ya l A s t rono m i c a l S oc ie t y; a nd S irAl is t er H a rd y , P ro fe s sor o f Z oo l ogy a t O xfo rd .

S uc h a list, as A r t h u r Ko e s t l e r po i n t e d ou t i n The Roots o f Coincidence,

ought to be suf f i c i en t to demonst ra t e tha t ESP resea rch ‘ i s no t a p la y g r o u n d for supers t i t iou s c r a n k s ’. O n th e c o n t ra ry , th e s t a n d a rd s of

r e se a r c h ha ve i n ge ne ra l be e n r i go rous - f a r m ore r i go rous , as

psychologists h a v e on oc cas ion h a d to a d m i t , t h a n those ol psychology .

1 he reason tha t the re su l ts hav e no t bee n acc ep ted is bas ica l ly tha t

xii M ediu m ship and Survival


13/304

they have no t been accep tab le : ex t ra -sensory percep t ion and

psychokinesis h a v e r e m a in e d ou ts ide sc ience’s d o m a in , in spite of the

ev id en ce . An d a l t h o u g h t h e p re ju d i ce ag a in s t p a rap s y ch o lo g y h as be en b re a k in g do w n , so th a t it is be in g a d m i t t e d as a n ac ad em ic

discipline in universi t ies , i t is st il l very far from s ecur ing a firm ba se inthe academic wor ld .

Scep t ics have sedu lous ly p ropaga ted the no t ion tha t psych ica l

researchers be l i eve in ESP, PK, appar i t ions , and so on because they

long to bel ieve, or need to bel ieve. Anybody who has s tudied the

Society’s Journals a n d Proceedings, or at tended i ts meetings, wil l test ify

tha t thi s is a lud ic rous misconcep t ion . M an y o f the mos t as s iduous and

ski l led researchers have or ig inal ly been prompted by rff ibel ief- by a

des i re , say to expose a med ium as a f raud . I t has to be remembered ,

too, tha t m any , p ro bab ly the g rea t majo r i ty , o f the memb ers have been

an d s till a re des irous o f showing tha t pa ra no rm al m an i fes ta t ions a re

natural , an d can be exp la ined sc ien ti f ica lly - thou gh ad m i t ted ly no t in

the n ar ro w te rms o f mate r ia l i s t sc ience, wh ich in an y case the nuc lear

physic ists h av e sho w n to be fallacious.

No: insofar as a Soc ie ty c o n ta in in g such a d iverse collect ion o f

indiv iduals can be sa id to have a co rpo rat e ide nt i ty , it could a lm ost bedescribed as sceptical ; certainly as rat ional , as this series wil l show.

N o t, th o u g h , ra t io n a l^ / . U n lu ck i ly ra t iona lists , in th e ir d e te rm in a t io n

to purge society of i ts rel igious and occult is t accret ions, often fai led to

d raw a d i s ti n c ti o n b e twee n s u pe r st it io n s an d t he o b s e rv ed p h en o m en a

wh ich gave r ise to them - wh ich l ed the m in to such t raps as re fusing to

acc ept the ex is tence of meteori tes , be cause of the associa tion wi th

Jove’s thunderbol ts ; and to th is day , they are prone to lapse in to

su ppo rt for dogm as as r igid , a n d as il l - founded, as an y of those of theCh urche s . I f the ser ies does noth ing e lse, it wil l show how ra t io na l ly -

us ing tha t t e rm in i t s p roper sense - the wr i t e rs have examined and

p resen ted th e ev idence.

O f a l l the issues wh ich hav e been of co nce rn to psychical researchers ,

Surv iva l - com m on ly spe lt wi th a cap i ta l S to ind ica te tha t it means the

surv iva l o f the soul o r sp ir i t a f t e r de a th - has been the hardes t to come

to t e rms wi th . From the s ta r t , the SPR has inc luded some members

who a re Chr i s t i ans , some who a re m em bers o f o the r rel ig ions, somewho bel ieve in re inc arn at io n , an d some w ho f lat ly re ject the exis tence,

or eve n the possibli ty of the existence, of a dis ca m at e spiri t l ife. As the

holders of these d i fferent v iews are apt to hold them to be of

t r an s cen d en t a l im p o r t an ce - n o n e m o re s o t h an t h o s e wh o r eg a rd

Foreword xiii


14/304

t hemse lves a s ra t iona l i s t s - i t has a lways been d i f f i cu l t t o survey the

ev idence for (and aga ins t ) Surv iva l a s agnos t i c s would l ike to see i t ;

w i t h t he sa m e de t a c hm e n t a s , s a y , t he e v i de nc e fo r ( a nd a ga i n s t )

t e l e pa thy . M a n y m e m be r s o f t he S oc ie t y , in fa ct , ha ve f el t i nh i b i t e d

a bou t c ons i de r i ng i t a t a l l .Ye t f o r obv i ous r e a sons S u rv i va l c a nno t be pushe d t o one s i de . I f

p sych ica l re sea rc h has a n y ligh t to s hed o n it, t h e n t h a t l igh t o u g h t to

be shed, be cause w h e t h e r o r n o t th e r e is spir it life i n d e p e n d e n t o f the

b o d y is in d e e d o f t r a n s c e n d e n t i m p o r ta n c e , to all o f us. ‘T h e q u e s t io n

f or m a n m o s t m o m e n t o u s o f a ll ', a s M y e r s p u t it, w a s ‘w h e t h e r o r n o t

h is pe r sona l it y i nvo l ved a ny e l e m e n t w h i c h c a n su rv i ve bod i l y de a t h ’;

a n d he we n t on t o s ta t e hi s be l i e f t ha t t he a nsw e r shou l d be sough t

t h rou gh t he m e t ho d o f s ci ence , a m e t ho d ‘ne ve r yet a p p l i e d t o t he a ll -i m po r t a n t p rob l e m o f t he e x i s te nc e, t he powe r s , t he de s t i ny o f t he

h u m a n s o u l ' . N o b o d y i s b e t t e r q u a l i f i e d t h a n A l a n G a u l d t o t a k e a

d i spa ss i ona t e l ook a t t he e v i de nc e f rom t he m e t a psyc h i c a l - t he t e rm

coined by C har le s R iche t to desc r ibe the n ew sc ience , a s he be l i eved i t

t o be - r a t h e r t ha n f rom t he m e t a phy s i c a l o r r e li g ious po i n t o f v ie w. Dr

G a u l d h as f or m a n y y e ar s b e e n a m e m b e r o f t h e C o u n c i l o f t h e S o ci et y,

h is accou nt o f it s ea r ly yea rs e s t ab l i shed h im as a h i s to r i an in hi s own

right . The Founders o f Psychical Research w a s a w e l l - d o c u m e n t e d a n d

ob j e c t i ve bu t ve ry r e a da b l e a c c oun t o f t he S oc i e t y ’ s e a r l y ye a r s , a nd

the prob lems i t s members faced . In M ediu m ship and Surviv al, h e ha s seth i m se l f t he sa m e h i gh s t a nda rds .

xiv M ediu m ship and Surviv al

Bria n Inglis


15/304

1 In troduction

Peop le ha ve be l i eved o r d isbe l ieved in hu m an su rv iva l o f bod i ly dea th

for var ious reasons , phi losophical , theological , re l ig ious , emot ional ,

mora l , in tu i t ive o r fac tua l . Th is book dea l s wi th the fac tua l reasons

with the em pir ic al ev idenc e (or some of i t) on w hich bel ief in survival ,an d a lso d isbel ief in the very poss ib i li ty of surv ival, has been groun ded .

Phi losophical i ssues wi l l be (br ief ly) ra ised only when they bear upon

the in te rp re ta t ion o f the ev idence .

T h e ga the r ing o f ev idence , o r supposed ev idence , fo r su rv iva l is no

n e w e n d e a v o u r. M a n y a n e c d o te s t h a t m i g h t b e t h o u g h t t o b e a r u p o n

the qu es t ion are s t ru ng tog eth er in l ives of the ear ly sa in ts, in the

Dialogues o f Po p e Greg o ry t h e Grea t , i n v a r io u s l at e m ed iaev a l

co llect ions o f ghos t s to ries , in pos t -R efo rm at ion books o f rem ark ab le

‘prov idenc es’ i l lus tra t ive of G o d ’s mercies , in the works of ear ly

n in e t een th cen tu ry G erm an m es m er is t s i nf l uen ced by Sch e l li n g an d a

rom ant ic ph i losophy o f na tu re . Th ese ma te r ia l s were , however , on ly

ra re ly sub jec ted to c r i ti ca l sc ru t iny, a nd were genera l ly p resen ted no t

as cu r io u s n a tu ra l p h e n o m en a i n n eed o f an ex p l an a t i o n , b u t as

support for re l ig ious bel iefs an tecedent ly favoured by the wri ters .

I t was n o t u n t i l t h e l as t q u a r t e r o f t h e n in e t een th ce n tu ry t h a t a

large-scale at tempt was set afoot to collect and cri t ical ly assess

os tens ib le evidence for surv ival , and to in terpret that ev idence in a

sc ien t i f i c sp i r i t and wi thou t any p r io r commitmen t to re l ig ious o r

su rv iva l i s t i c hypo theses . Th is a t t empt began wi th the founda t ion o f

the Bri ti sh Socie ty for Psychica l Re sea rch ( the ‘S P R ) in 1882 an d of its

Amer ican coun te rpar t ( the ‘ASPR’) in 1884 ( re founded 1907) . Bo th

are s til l ac t ive, an d I have d ra w n heav ily upo n the i r pub l ica t ions in the

p r e p a ra t i o n o f this vo lu m e. T h es e societ ies, it should be no ted , do notho ld co rpora te op in ions , and the v iews advanced by members( including myself) are ent i re ly thei r own.

T h e S P R was no t fou nde d to pursu e the p rob le m of su rv iva l as such.

T h e a im expressed by it s founders was ‘to inves t iga te tha t l a rge g roup


16/304

o f d e b a t a b l e p h e n o m e n a d e s i g n at e d b y s uc h t e rm s a s m e s m e r i c ,

psych ica l , a n d S p i r i tu a l i s t i c ’, a n d to d o so ‘w i th o u t p r e ju d ic e o r

p repossess ion o f a n y k ind , a n d in th e sa m e sp ir i t o f e x a c t a n d

u n i m p a s s i o n e d i n q u i r y w h i c h h a s e n a b l e d s c i e n c e t o s o l v e s o m a n y

p ro b le m s , on c e n o t less o b sc u re n o r less ho t ly d e b a t e d ’ ( 148, p p . 3 a n d4 ) . T he se ob j e c t i ve s sound - i nde e d a r e - a l i t t l e va gue , bu t i n t he

c o n t e x t o f 1 8 8 2 i t w a s r e a s o n a b l y c l e a r w h a t w e r e t h e p h e n o m e n a

i n t e nde d . F i r st o f a ll t he r e w e re c e r t a i n a l l e ge d f i nd i ngs t ha t ha d

i n c re a s i n gl y c a u g h t p u b l i c a t t e n t i o n in t h e w a k e o f t h e m e s m e r ic

m o v e m e n t o f t h e l a te e i g h t e e n t h a n d e a r l y n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i es (see

32 ; 122c; 122d ). T h e f a ct s ( o r supp ose d f ac ts ) o f m e sm e r i sm (o r ‘a n i m a l

m ag ne t i sm ’) w ere a t f i rs t s igh t them se lves suf f ic i en t ly surp r i s ing -

s t r ik i ng c u re s o f c ases g i ve n ov e r by o r t ho do x m e d i c i ne , t he ‘r a p po r t ’ b e tw e e n m e sm e r ic o p e r a t o r a n d his sub jec ts , t h e i n d u c t io n in good

sub j ec t s o f a t r a n c e s t a t e i n wh i c h sub j e c t s m i g h t ‘ pe r c e i ve ’ t he na t u r e

o f t he i r ow n a i l m e n t s , p r e d i c t t he i r c ou r se a n d g i ve p r e sc r ip t i ons for

t h em . O u t o f h a p p e n i n g s o f t h e l as t k in d , f u r t h e r p e c u l i a r p h e n o m e n a

deve lo ped . C er t a in sub jec t s be ga n to mani fes t the ab i l i ty to ‘see’ no t

ju s t d iseased a n d m a l fu n c t io n in g aspec ts o f th e i r o w n in te rn a l

work i ngs , bu t t hose o f o t h e r pe op l e , som e t i m e s e ve n o f d i s t a n t pe opl e.

A c la ss o f p rofess iona l an d semi -profess iona l sens it ives g rew up , whose

m e m b e r s , u s u a ll y f em a l e a n d u s u a ll y u n d e r t h e i n f lu e n c e o f o n e

p a r t i c u l a r m e sm e ric o p e ra to r , w o u ld d ia g n o se , p r e d ic t a n d p rescr ibe

for a ll comers . N ow if the ‘c l a i rv oy an t ’ v i s ion of these l ad ies cou ld

re a c h i n s i de pe op l e , o r r e a c h d i s t a n t pe op l e , o r p r e d i c t t he c ou r se o f

d i seases , w hy sho uld i t no t rea ch ins ide o t h e r k ind s o f c losed

c on t a i ne r s , e. g. s e a le d boxe s, o r r e a c h d i s t a n t o r e ve n fu t u r e s c e ne s a nd

e ve n t s? Be fo re l ong , e n t r a nc e d c l a i rvoya n t e s we re pu rpo r t e d l y g i v i ngd e m o n s t r a t io n s o f ju s t these abi li t ies . S o m e , in de ed , b e l ieve d t h a t the ir

v i s i o n e x t e n d e d b e y o n d t h i s w o r l d a l t o g e t h e r , a n d r e g a l e d a d m i r i n g

wo nde r - se e ke rs w i t h v is ions o f he a v e n , a nge ls , o t he r p la ne t s , gu a rd i a n

sp ir it s, a n d t he sou ls o f de c e a se d h u m a n be ings.

O u t o f t h e ‘r a p p o r t ’ b e t w e e n m e s m e r ic o p e r a t o r a n d m e s m er ic

sub j e c t ( suppose d l y d ue t o t he t r a nsm i s s i on o f t he qua s i - e l e c tr i c a l

‘m ag ne t i c f lu id ’ f rom the fo rm er to the l a t t e r ) a rose o th e r a l l eged

‘p a r a n o r m a l ’ p h e n o m e n a . S u b j e c t s c o u l d , it w a s b e li e ve d , r e a d th et hough t s o l t he ope ra t o r , l e e l p i np r i c ks i n f l i c t e d upon h i m , t a s t e

s u b s t an c e s p l a c e d i n h is m o u t h . A n o p e r a t o r m i g h t b e a b l e t o e n t r a n c e

or in f luence th e sub jec t by th e shee r exe rc i se o f h is wil l - it was

suppose d t ha t he e xe rc ise d t h is c on t ro l by d i r e c t i ng t he m a g ne t i c l lu i d

2 M edium ship and Surviv al


17/304

in to ap pro pr ia te par t s o f hi s sub jec t ’s nervous sys tem. Indeed , towards

the midd le years o f the n in e tee n th ce n tu ry , some mesmer ic subjec ts

p u r p o r te d ly fell u n d e r the ‘co n tro l ’ of d e p a r te d spirits a n d o th e r

ex a l t ed b e in gs , an d t h u s b ecam e ‘m ed iu m s ’ for co m m u n ica t i o n

b e tw ee n this w o r ld a n d th e next.T h e s econ d ca t eg o ry o f p h e n o m en a f a ll in g w i th in t h e S P R ’s field

fo l lowed im m edi ate ly from the f irst an d was closely re la te d to it. W ha t

m ay be ca l l ed the sp i r i tua l i st i c wing o f the mesmer ic m ovem ent , the

wing tha t took ser ious ly the t a les o f con tac t wi th ange l s an d dep ar ted

spir i t s ( there was , incid ental ly , a mater ia l is t , even a theis t , wing, which

al l ied i t sel f wi th phre nolog y) , ha d by the la te 1840s beco me

modera te ly wel l known, and had , espec ia l ly in Amer ica , ach ieved

some degree o f ha rm on y w i th the Sweden borg ian s , w ho were l ikewisewell known, an d in some quar te rs in f luen tia l. T hu s it cam e ab ou t tha t

wh en w ha t looked a t f irst like an u nr em ar ka bl e pol tergeis t case , of a

k in d co m m o n en o u g h d o wn th e cen tu r i e s , an d u s u a l l y a t t r i b u t ed t o

d iabo l ic in f luence , took a pecu l ia r (bu t no t unpreceden ted) tu rn , a

new re lig ious mo vem en t was born . D ur in g the ea r ly mon ths o f 1848 ,

the smal l wo oden co t tage o f M r J . D. Fox , a b la cksm i th o f Hydesv il l e,

N e w Y o rk S ta te , was d i s tu rb ed by a va r ie ty o f o d d events . T h e most

n o t ab l e we re s u s ta in ed an d im p e r io us r ap p in g s o u n d s o f u n k n o wn

orig in , which resounded n ight af ter n ight , f raying the family’s nerves

and spo i l ing i t s s l eep . Even tua l ly , in despa i r , Mrs Fox and her

daugh te rs began to address ques t ions and commands to the inv i s ib le

agent , an d to thei r shock an d as ton ishm en t received inte l l igent repl ies,

r ap p e d o u t b y m ean s o f a s im p le cod e . Ne ig h b o u rs we re s u m m o n ed .

T h e r ap p in g s a s s u m ed th e fo rm o f co m m u n ica t i o n s f ro m deceased

persons, a n d sho w ed a s u rp r is in g kn o w led ge o f local affairs. Anen te rp r i s ing local pub l i sher , M r E. E. Lewis, b rou gh t ou t a pam phle t

con ta in ing the s igned s ta temen ts o f twe n ty - tw o wi tnesses (90) . S ig h t

seers began to come from miles around to wi tness the wonders .

E v e n t u a l l y i t b e c a m e a p p a r e n t t h a t t h e p h e n o m e n a c e n t r e d n o t

upon the house , bu t a round the two younges t Fox ch i ld ren ,

M ar ga re t t a (aged f if teen) and K a te (aged eleven) , descr ibed by S la te r

Brow n (19 , p . 99) a s ‘s imple , corn -fed cou ntr y g ir ls ’. O th er s d iscovered

th a t t h ey h ad s im i l a r g i f t s . Th e p h en o m en a s p read b y a k in d o finfect ion . Persons who v is i ted Hydesvi l le found on thei r re turn home

tha t the sp i r i t s wou ld a l so rap fo r them. The Fox s i s te rs wen t on the

ro ad , ex h ib i t i n g t h e i r ‘m ed iu m s h ip ’ in New Yo rk an d o th e r l arg e

ci ties , an d by the ear ly 1850s ‘Sp ir i tu al is m ’ ha d be gu n to spread qui te

Introduction 3


18/304

wi de l y t h ro ug h t he E a s t e rn U n i t e d S ta te s . S p i r i t ua l i s t a s soc i at i ons a n d

S p i r i t u a l i s t n e w s p a p e r s s p r a n g u p , a n d s o o n t h e p h e n o m e n a w e r e

e xp or t e d (wi t h som e w ha t l i m i t e d suc ce ss ) t o Br i t a i n a nd t he C on t i ne n t

o f E u rope . (O n t he e a r l y h i s to ry o f S p i r i t ua l i sm , s ee 19 a n d 122c. )

T h e r e la t io n s h i p b e t w e e n m e s m e r i s m a n d S p i r i t u a l i s m w a s tw o fo ld .T h e m e s m e ri c m o v e m e n t h a d a c c u s t o m e d t h e p u b l ic to th e su p p o se d

p h e n o m e n a o f c l a i rv o y a n c e , a n d to th e ide a t h a t c e r t a i n gif ted

sens i tives migh t pe rce ive , o r be in f luen ced by , the inh ab i t an t s o f the

n e x t w o r l d . T h u s i t h a d p r e p a r e d t h e g r o u n d f o r t h e a c c e p t a n c e o f

S p i r i t ua l i sm . Bu t t he m e sm e r i c m ove m e n t a l so ha d i t s own p re s s a nd

its own suppo r t e r s , i ts ow n op e ra t o r s a n d its ow n c l a i rvoya n t e s . T he se

we re ve ry r e a d i l y tr a ns f e r r e d t o o r a bso rbe d by t he g row i ng S p i r i t ua li s t

m o v e m e n t . M e s m e r i c c l a i r v o ya n t e s, o r t h e t y p e o f p e r s o n w h o w o u l d p rev ious ly h a v e b e c o m e such , n o w e m e r g e d as th e first ‘m e n t a l

m e d i u m s ’ - m e d i u m s w h o s e c o n t a c t w i t h t h e sp ir it s w a s th r o u g h

‘ in te r io r ’ v i sion or hea r ing , o r th r ou gh the sp ir i ts ‘t ak ing ov er ’ an d

cont ro l l ing the i r bod ies o r p a r t s the reof, e spec ia l ly , o f course , the pa r t s

r e qu i r e d fo r spe e c h a nd wr i t i ng .

‘P h y s ic a l m e d i u m s h i p ’ - t h e s or t in w h i c h c o m m u n i c a t i o n w i t h t h e

d e p a r t e d p r o c e e d s t h r o u g h p a r a n o r m a l p h y s i c a l e v e n t s i n t h e

m e d i um ’s v i c in i ty - d i ve r si fi e d du r i ng t he r e m a i n de r o f t he n i ne t e e n t h

c e n t u r y a g r e a t d e a l m o r e t h a n d i d m e n t a l m e d i u m s h i p . F r o m s im p le

r aps , t he sp ir it s, o r t he m e d i um s , o r bo t h , g r a d ua t e d t o ‘t a b l e - t i pp i ng ’

w i th , a n d s o m e t i m e s w i t h o u t , c o n t a c t o f h a n d s w i t h t a b l e ( a n

u p t u r n e d t o p - h a t m a d e a n a c c e p t a b l e s u b s t it u t e f o r a s m a l l t ab le ); to

m o ve m e n t ol o t he r house ho l d ob je c ts , i n c l ud i ng m us i c a l i n s t rum e n t s ;

to ac tua l p l ay ing on those musica l ins t rument s ; to the v i s ib le

‘m a t e r i a l i z a t ion of ha nds wi t h w h i c h t o m o ve ob j e c ts a n d p l ayi n s t rum e n t s ( the se m a t e r i a l i z a t i ons we re he l d t o be m a d e o f a f lu id ic

subs t a nc e , l a t e r known a s ‘ e c t op l a sm ’ , de sc e nde d f rom t he o l d

m a g ne t i c l l ui d o f t he m e sm e r is t s, a n d ge ne ra t e d by t he pe c u l i a r l y

c ons t i t u te d o rga n i sm ol t he m e d i um ) ; t o t he m a t e r i a l i z a t i on o f voc al

a ppa ra t u s t h rough wh i c h t he sp i r i t s c ou l d spe a k d i r e c t l y ( t he ‘d i r e c t

vo ice ) , o f t en wi th the a id o l a speak ing t rumpe t ; and a t l a s t t o the

m a t e r i a l i z a t i on o f c om p l e t e e c t op l a sm i c r e p l ic a s o f t he bod i e s wh i c h

de c e ase d pe rsons ha d fo rm e r l y i nha b i t e d . O f c ou r se m a n y o f t he se p h e n o m e n a re q u i r e d da rk n ess o r n e a r -d a rk n e s s for th e i r p ro d u c t io n

(de l i ca te ec top lasmic s t ruc tures were , i t was c l a imed , l i ab le to be

d am ag ed by light , e spec ia l ly sho r t -w ave leng th b lue l igh t) , a fact which

led cyn ics to sugges t tha t da rk ness w as m ere ly a cov er fo r f raud . Th i s

4 M ediu m ship and Surviv al


19/304

sugges t ion received support , especia l ly in and af ter the 1870s , f rom aser ies of unsavoury ‘exposures’ .

O th e r p h e n o m en a o f p h y si ca l m e d iu m s h ip i n c lu d ed: l ev it a ti o n o f

t he m e d iu m , e lo n g a t i o n o f t h e m ed iu m ' s b o dy , t h e p ro d u c t i o n o f

‘sp i r i t l ights’, ‘ap po rt s ’ (smal l objects bro ug ht in to the seance r oom bythe sp i r i t s ) , the p rec ip i t a t ion o f pa in t ings on to b lank cards o r

canvases , an d ‘psychic p ho tog rap hy ’ ( the ap pe ara nc e o f ‘ex t ra s ’,

o f ten ve i l ed in c louds o f ‘ec to p las m ’, on s tud io p ho to grap hs o f pa y

ing s it te rs ). Exposures o f psych ic p ho to grap hers were n um erou s and

devas ta t ing .

T h e t h i rd c a t e go r y o f p h e n o m e n a f a ll in g w i th i n t h e p r o v e n a n c e of

psychical re search was less d i rec tly l inked w i th the o th e r two, th o u g hs till h av in g some connec t ions wi th them. I t was tha t o f t rad i t iona l

ghos t s to r ies - appar i t ions , haun t ings , and l inked perhaps there to ,

assorted cases of visions, c rystal visions, a n d so forth.

It was thus, I think, in the historical se t t ing of 1882, fairly clea r wha t

p h e n o m e n a co u ld b e d e s ig n a ted as th e sub jec t m a t t e r of ‘psych ical

r e s ea rch ’. T h e y i n c lu d ed t h e p h en o m en a o f m es m er i s m an d

h y p n o t is m ; o f p a ran o rm a l h ea li n g; o f c l a i rv o y an ce , t h o u g h t -

t r an s fe ren ce a n d p reco g n i ti o n ; o f m en ta l an d p h y si cal m ed iu m s h ip ;an d o f ap p a r i t i o n s an d h au n t in g s . T h e re is n o d o u b t , o f co ur se , t h a t

m any o f the founders o f the S PR hope d fo r a posi t ive ou tcom e to the i r

inqu i ri es; hoped , tha t is, tha t im par t i a l inves t iga t ion wou ld p rove tha t

s om e a t l ea st o f t h e p h en o m en a u n d e r s c ru t i n y were g en u in e . T h e

1870s had been a d ec ad e in w hic h ‘sc ienti f ic’ m ater ia l ism of a ra t he r

c ru d e k in d h ad m ad e u n p a ra l l e l ed ad v an ces a t t h e exp en se of all

var ie ties of re l igious bel ief. H uxle y , T yn da l l , Cl i fford, Bas t ian , drew

u p o n t h e C o n t i n e n t a l m a t e r i al is m o f B ü c h n e r a n d H a e c k e l, a n d u p o nDa rw in ian evo lu t ionary theory , to p ro duc e a ‘ma te r ia l i s t syn thesi s ’

which shook the fa i th o f the o lder gen era t io n and d rove m any ol the

young er in to agnos t ic i sm. U n d e r these c i rcumstanc es the work o f the

SPR as s u m ed in t h e eyes o f s o m e a p ecu l i a r u rg en cy an d im p o r t an ce

(see 44b) . Perhaps i t would be poss ib le to answer mater ia l ism withscience an d to show tha t not a ll the f indings of sc ience tend ed to the

suppor t o f mate r ia l i sm . Ho w eve r one mus t no t l e t the hopes ol ce r ta in

ear ly psych ica l researche rs obscure the fact tha t they were com m it ted

to inves t iga t ing the phenomena ‘wi thou t p re jud ice o r p repossess ion ,

and in a scien ti fi c sp i r i t. ’ O the rs who jo ine d the en te rp r i se were

ded ica ted to demol i sh ing the ev idence fo r su rv iva l and fo r the

mira cu lous in genera l. W h at we have to cons ider here is the va l id i ty o f

Introduction 5


20/304

6 M edium ship and Surviv al d a t a a n d o f a r g u m e n t s , n o t t h e r e l ig io u s a n d p h i l o s o p h i c a l v ie w s ol

t hose who p ro fe r r e d t he m .

W i th o u t d o u b t t h e S P R a n s w e r ed a c o n t e m p o r a r y n e e d . S o m e o f

t h e a b l es t p e o p l e o f th e p e r i o d d e v o t e d a g r e a t d e a l o f t im e , e n e r g y a n d

m o n e y t o r u n n i n g i t , a n d t o c a r r y i n g o u t t h e v e r y e x t e n s i v ei nv e s ti g at io n s r e p o r t e d in its e a r l y p u b l i c a t io n s . T h e y i n c l u d e d H e n r y

S i d g w i c k ( 1 8 3 8 - 1 9 0 0 ), p r of es s or o f m o r a l p h i l o s o p h y a t C a m b r i d g e ,

a nd f i r s t p r e s i de n t o f t he S P R; h i s w i f e E l e a no r (1845 -1936) , s e c ond

p r in c ip a l o f N e w n h a m C o llege , C a m b r i d g e ; F. W . H . M y e r s

(1843-1901) , a poe t a nd c l a s s i c a l s c ho l a r , a u t ho r o f Hum an Personality

and its Su rvival o f Bodily Death ( 1903 ) , a t wo -vo l um e su rve y o f t he fi rst

t w e n t y y e a r s o f t h e S o c i e t y ’s w o r k ; E d m u n d G u r n e y ( 1 8 4 7 - 1 8 8 8 ) , w h o

w r o t e Phantasm s o f the Liv in g ( t wo vo l um e s , 1886 ) , a work on

a ppa r i t i ons t ha t i s s t i l l f r e que n t l y r e f e r r e d t o ; S i r O l i ve r L odge

(1851-1940) , a phys i c is t a n d p i on e e r o f w i re le s s t e l e g ra phy ; a n d F ra n k

P o d m o r e ( 1 8 5 6 -1 9 1 0 ) , t h e h i s t o r i a n o f S p i r i t u a li s m , w h o c o ns is t en t ly

p la y e d th e ro le o f advocatus diabo li, e x a m i n i n g a n d r e j e c t in g a ll ev i d e nc e

w h i c h o t h e r s h a d p r e s e n t e d a s t e n d i n g t o p r o v e h u m a n s u r v i v a l o f

b od i ly d e a th . M r s S id g w ic k w as th e n iece o f a P r i m e M in i s t e r , the

s is te r o f a P r i m e M i n i s t e r , a n d t he s i s t e r- i n - la w o f t he wif e o f t heA r c h b i s h o p o f C a n t e r b u r y . I m e n t i o n t hi s n o t b e c a u s e I t h i n k th a t

sha r i ng t he ge ne s o f p r i m e m i n i s t e rs is a gu a ra n t e e o f i n t e ll i ge nc e (M rs

S idg wic k’s in t e l ligence was in any case mani fes t ) , bu t to b r in g ou t the

p o in t t h a t p sych ica l re se a r ch w as t h o u g h t i m p o r t a n t b y m e m b e r s of

t he i n t e l l e c t ua l , l i t e r a ry a nd e ve n po l i t i c a l ‘ e s t a b l i shm e n t s ’ . Am ong

th e e a rl y m e m b e r s a n d h o n o r a r y m e m b e r s o f t h e S P R w e r e T e n ny s on ,

Rusk i n , G l a ds t one , ‘L e wi s Ca r ro l l ’ , A . J . Ba l fou r , L o rd Ra y l e i gh ,

C o u c h A d a m s , W i ll i am J a m e s , J . J . T h o m s o n , S i r W i l li a m C r o ok es ,G . F. W a t t s a n d A l l r ed R us s el W a l l ac e . T e n n y s o n e x p r e s se d w h a t m a y

ha ve be e n hi s thou gh t s a bo u t t he e n t e rp r i s e i n l ine s f irs t pub l i she d i n1889:

T h e G h o s t in M a n , t h e G h o s t th a t o n c e w as M a n ,But cann ot whol ly free i tse lf f rom M an ,A re ca ll ing t o each o t he r t h ro ’ a d aw n

St ranger than ear th has ever seen; the ve i lIs rending , a nd the Voices of the da yAre h ear d across the Voices of the dark .

I t is p ro ba b l e t ha t s e vera l o f t he e a r ly l e a de r s o f t he S P R - a n d m os t

e spec i al ly F. W . H . M ye r s - t ook a s i m i l a r l y e xa l t e d v i e w o f t he


21/304

Introduction '

ach ievem ents an d po ten t ia li t i e s o f psych ical research . I wo nd er wh at

they wo uld m ake o f the p resen t s t a te o f the a r t . Inves t iga t ions o f

m e d iu m s h ip , ap p a r i t i o n s , an d o th e r s u rv iv al - r el a ted p h en o m en a h av e

be en to a c o n s id e ra b le ex ten t d is p laced by lab o ra to ry ex p e r im e n ts on

te lepa thy , c la i rvoy ance a nd p recogn i t ion . Pro b lem s o f s ta t is t ics andex p e r im en ta l d e s ign l o o m l a rg e in th e li t e ra tu re . C o m p u te r s an d o th e r

e lec t ron ic gadge t s a re wide ly used in bo th the run n in g o f expe r imen ts

an d the assessment o f the resul ts .

Th e re h av e b een i n n o v a t i o n s i n t e rm in o lo g y . Th e C o n t in en t a l an d

Am er ican t e rm ‘para psyc ho lo gy’ is beg in n ing to rep lace ‘psychica l

research’ , to wh ich i t is l a rge ly equ iva le n t . Fr om Am er ica has com e the

te rm ‘ex t rasensory pe rce p t io n’ (ESP) to cover any ins tance o f the

ap p a r en t a cq u i s it i o n o f n o n - in fe ren t i a l k n o wled g e o f m a t t e r s o f f ac t

w i tho ut the use of the k no wn sense organs . E SP is usual ly sa id to have

three var ie ties : ‘te lep ath y’ , in w hich the know ledge is of events in

ano ther person’s mind , ‘c la i rvoyance’ , in which the knowledge i s o f

physical objects o r s tates o f affairs; a n d ‘p re c o g n i t io n ’ ( te lepa th ic or

cla i rvoyant) , where the knowledge re la tes to happenings s t i l l in the

fu tu re . T h e w ord ‘know ledge’ is, however , no t en t i re ly app rop r ia te ,

fo r there may be t e lepa th ic o r c la i rvoyan t ‘ in te rac t ion’ , in which a

p e rson ’s m e n ta l s ta te o r ac t io ns m a y be inf luenced by a n ex te rn a l s ta te

of affairs, tho ug h he does n ot ‘kn ow ’ or ‘co gni ze’ it.

A no the r A m er ica n t e rm is ‘psychok inesi s ’ (PK) , the d i rec t in f luence

of m en ta l even ts on phys ica l even ts ex te rna l to the ag en t ’s body . Th e

term ‘psi ’ (G ree k le t ter T ) is somet im es used to cover bo th ES P an d

P K .I canno t , in the space ava i lab le to me , under take a genera l rev iew

and assessmen t o f the ev idence for ps i -phen ome na . T h a t a fa ir ly goodcase can be m ad e o u t for ESP wil l be taken fo r g ran te d in m uc h o f the

res t of thi s book . (For a su rvey o f E SP research I rec om m end Pa lm er ,

118a. ) Les t thi s be tho ugh t a s ign o f such c redu l i ty as to und erm ine the

rem a in d e r o f m y a rg u m en t , I s h o u ld p e rh ap s p o in t o u t , wh a t w i l l It rus t b eca m e c lea r l a te r on , tha t i f the re were no evidence at all for ESP,

the ‘case for surv iva l’ cou ld well be much stronger than it is.

Desp i te chang es o f em phas i s the parapsycho log ica l en te rp r i se today isrecogn izab ly con t inuous wi th the under tak ing se t a foo t by those

d i s t i n g u i s h ed an d ea rn es t V ic to r i an s o n e h u n d red y ea r s ag o . Th e re

has in fact been in the las t dec ad e or so som eth ing of a revival of in teres t

am on g pa rapsy cholog is ts in the pr ob lem of survival . I t is my task in


22/304

t hi s book t o r e v i e w som e o f t he f a c t ua l e v i de nc e , o l d a n d ne w, w h i c h

h a s b e e n t h o u g h t t o b e a r o n e w a y o r a n o t h e r u p o n t h i s p r o b l e m . I

emphas ize the ‘ some’ , fo r i t i s bo th imposs ib le and undes i rab le to

a t t e m p t t o b e c o m p r e h e n s iv e . T h e q u a n t i t y o f p o t e n t i a l l y r e le v a n t

m a t e r i a l is e no rm ou s ( a s el ec t b i b l i o g ra p hy wi ll be foun d in 44e ), a n dthose wh o have no t t ak en a se r ious look a t com ple te set s o f the

Proceedings a n d Journal o f t h e S P R a n d t he A S P R h a v e p e r h a p s li t t le

idea of it s ex ten t . So m e of thi s m a te r i a l I ca n cu t ou t a t once , b ecau se it

cons is ts m a in ly o f ev iden ce for f rau d a n d se l f -decep t ion . I om i t it wi th

r e g r e t , f o r m u c h e n t e r t a i n m e n t i s t o b e d e r i v e d f r o m s t u d y i n g t h e

m e t h o d s o f p s y ch i c p h o t o g r a p h e r s a n d f r a u d u l e n t p h y si c a l m e d iu m s .

A no t he r c la ss o f m a t e r i a l wh i c h I shal l om i t is m uc h h a rd e r t o de fi ne

sa ti s fac tor ily . I t cons is t s o f ev idence , m ay be soun d , m ay be no t , for p h e n o m e n a w h ich , if g e n u in e , c o u ld w i th som e d e g re e o f p la usib i l i ty

be in te rp r e t e d in te rm s o f th e su rv iv a l h y p o th es is if t h a t w e re

a n t e c e de n t l y e s t a b l i she d , bu t wh i c h do no t by t he m se l ve s e ve n be g i n

t o c ons t i t u t e e v i de nc e fo r t ha t hypo t he s i s . P he nom e na suc h a s t he

p ro d u c t io n o f ‘s pir it l igh ts ’ a t a seance , o r th e e lo n g a t io n o f the

m e d i um ’s body , o r t he l e v i t a t i on o f t he m e d i um i n t o t he a i r , w i l l

p e rh a p s serve as ex am p le s . S u c h p h e n o m e n a h a v e o f ten been

a t t r i b u t e d t o t he a c t iv i ti e s o f ‘t he sp ir it s ’, a n d t he y m a y we l l be ve ry

d if fi cu lt t o e xp l ai n ; bu t t he r e is no t h i n g a bo u t t he m , t a ke n j u s t in

themse lves , to suggest to us tha t they a re m ani fe s t a t ion s o f a

pe rsona l i ty , stil l less o f the p e rs o n a l i ty o f a d e c e a s e d h u m a n being.

L e t u s go one s t a ge fu r t he r . S u ppose t ha t a t a s e a nc e o r in a ha un t e d

h o u se t h e r e a p p e a r s a n d is p h o t o g r a p h e d a p e r f ec t s i m u l a c r u m o f a

ce r t a in deceased pe rson , an d th a t the re is no s ign of t r i cke ry ; o r le t us

suppose th a t the reco gniza b le vo ice o f a ce r t a in de ceased pe rso n ist a pe - r e c o rde d , a n d t ha t t he ‘vo i c e -p r i n t ’ m a t c he s up w i t h t h a t o f his

v o i c e w h e n a l i v e . W o u l d t h e s e a s t o n i s h i n g p h e n o m e n a by themselves

cons t i tu t e ev idence tha t the pe rson h imse l f has surv iv ed th e d i sso lu t ion

o f hi s body? T h e y wou l d no t . A s i m u l a c rum o r shel l, o r a ho l l ow voi ce

m o u t h i n g e m p t y w o r d s, n e e d h a v e ‘b e h i n d ’ t h e m n o p e rs o n a li ty , n o

su rv i v i ng se n t i e n t m i nd . F u r t he r e v i de nc e wou l d be r e qu i r e d be fo re

we could begin to take the surviva l i s t explanat ion ser iously . And i t i s

easy , up to a po in t , t o see w ha t such ev iden ce w ou ld hav e to cons is t in.W e wou ld need ev iden ce ol in t e l ligence , ol pe rs ona l i ty cha rac te r i s t ic s ,

ol goal s, purpo ses an d a l lec t ions , a n d of a s t re am o f m em ory , tha t a re

l a rge ly o r recognizab ly con t inuous wi th those once possessed by a

c e r ta i n f o r m e rl y i n c a r n a t e h u m a n b e in g . T h a t is t h e s o rt o f e v id e n ce



23/304

we are concerned wi th , and a mate r ia l i za t ion , ‘d i rec t vo ice’ , o r t ape-

recorded sp i r i t voice , would have to provide i t in addition to m e re

physica l s im i la r i ty before we co u ld beg in to take it seriously as

evide nce for surv ival. F or that reason ph en om en a of these c lasses wil l

not of ten be ment ioned in th is book.

I shal l ins tead , and by the same token, concentra te upon c lasses of

p h e n o m e n a - c e r ta in sorts o f ap p a r i t io n s , a n d some case s o f m e n ta l

m e d iu m s h ip an d o f o s ten sibl e r e in ca rn a t i o n - wh ich d o s o m et im es

ap pe ar to p rov ide ev idenc e fo r the su rv iva l o f a persona l i ty . O f course

the no t ion o f persona l iden t i ty is a comp lex a nd e lus ive one , an d some

people w o u ld say th a t p e rsona l id en t i ty is logically as well as factu ally

l inked to bodi ly co nt inu i ty , so th at it ma kes no sense to ta lk of a person

surv iving t he dis solution of his body. I shall tou ch briefly on this issue

la te r on . A no the r poss ib il ity to be born e in m ind - one wi th wh ich no t a

l i t t le of the evidence could be squared - i s that there is surv ival , but

su rvival on ly o f a d imin i sh ed a n d t ru nc a te d som eth ing , cap ab le ol

man i fes t ing as a quas i -person in ce r ta in c i rcumstances , bu t no t

ord inar i ly to be th ou gh t of as a person a t a ll. T h e la te professor C. D.

Bro ad discussed this idea u n d er the na m e of the ‘psychic facto r’ or ‘ psi-

component’ hypothesis (18a, pp. 536-551; 18c, pp. 419-430). I do not ,however , want to spend too much t ime d iscuss ing such issues in the

abs t rac t befo re I have g iven some concre te exam ples o f the ev idence, o r

supposed ev idence , wi th which we have to dea l .

M ost of the m ate r ia l wh ich I shal l c i te wi ll , as I hav e said , com e from

the p u b l i cat i o n s o f t h e SP R an d t h e ASPR . Occas io n a ll y I s ha ll d raw

u p o n ev id en ce o f co m p ara b l e q u a l i t y f ro m o th e r s ou rces ; an d wh e re I

c i te cases of m ore d ub ious aut hen t ic i ty , it wi ll be ma inly to i l lus t ra te possibilities . O f co urse th e q ues t io n im m e d ia te ly arises of w h a t , in this

co n t ex t , w o u ld co n s t i t u t e ev id ence o f ap p ro p r i a t e q u a l i ty . So m e

wri ters of scept ical ten de nc y are apt to de ny not just th at we have, but

tha t we ever cou ld have , ev idence s t rong enough to es tab l i sh the

g enu in en es s o f s uch p a ra n o rm a l p h e n o m en a as te l ep a th y o r

p reco gn i t ion , let a lo n e to es tablish h u m a n survival o f bod ily d ea th .

The pos i t ion o f these ex t reme d i sbe l ievers was d i scussed by Edmund

Gurney in an i l luminat ing essay f i rs t publ ished in 1887 (54) . Many o lthem have impl ic i t ly based themse lves on p r inc ip les der ived f rom a

ce leb ra ted essay on mi rac les by the e igh teen th cen tu ry Sco t t i sh

ph ilo so ph er , D a v id H u m e . H u m e ’s a r g u m e n t (su itab ly e m en d e d ) is,

in essence, this. T h e cu m ula t iv e ev idence in favou r of cer ta in basic

Introduction 9


24/304

‘l aws of n a tu re ’ is imme nse ly s t rong , so s t rong , in fac t, t h a t no ev ide nce

i n f a vou r o f a n e ve n t c o n t r a ve n i n g one o f t he m , i n f a vou r , t h a t i s, o f a

p a r a n o r m a l p h e n o m e n o n , c o u ld ev e r o u tw e ig h it . H e n c e w h e n e v e r we

e n c o u n t e r s u p p o s e d e v i d e n c e f o r a p a r a n o r m a l e v e n t , w e a r e a l w a y s

ju s t i f ied in d ism issing t h a t e v idenc e . T h e ‘laws o f n a t u r e ’ t a k e n byupho l de r s o f th is doc t r i n e a s ‘ba s i c ’ a r e c om m on l y one s wh i c h t he y

t h i n k f u n d a m e n t a l t o a r a t h e r c r u d e l y m a t e r i al i s ti c v i e w o f t h e

universe .I f p r a c t i s i ng sci en ti s ts a s a bod y ha d e ve r c om e t o t a ke t h is a rg um e n t

ser iously we would, I suppose , s t i l l be l ieve ourse lves to inhabi t a

un ive rse whose l ead ing fea tures would be conce ived prec i se ly a s they

w e r e co n c e iv e d a t t h e m o m e n t o f m a s s c o n v e rs i o n t o H u m e ’s d o c tr in e s.

O f course sc ien ti s ts do no t t ake i t ser ious ly , an d we no long er be l ievet ha t t he e a r t h is f la t. T h e a rg um e n t e r r s i n t he f irs t p l a c e by e q ua t i ng

‘pa ra no rm a l ’ e ve n t s w i t h e ve n t s wh i c h v io l a t e c u r r e n t l y a c c e p t e d la ws

of na ture . I f, a t a seance , an ob jec t (o r a pe rson! ) su dd en ly f loat s up in to

the a i r , t h is does n o t necessa r ily cons t i tu t e a v io la t ion o f the l aw of

grav i ty . T h e f ir st r eac t ion of an obs e rv in g sc ien ti s t (o r say h is second

re a c t i on , be c a use h i s f i r s t r e a c t i on wou l d c e r t a i n l y be a s t on i shm e n t )

w o u l d b e t o lo ok fo r t h e u n k n o w n f or ce o r t h e u n k n o w n s t r u c t u r e (a

for ce o r a s t r uc t u r e p e rha ps i n no c on fl ic t w i t h t he a c c e p t e d p r i nc i p le s

of me chan ics o r phys ics ) wh ich ha d ra i sed it up . B ut in an y case the re

can be no l aw of na ture tha t i s so so l id ly e s t ab l i shed as to be immune

f rom rev i sion. C on s id e r th e fo llowing poss ib il ity . A l aw o f na ture

c ha nge s ove rn i gh t . F o l l owi ng Hum e ’s a rgum e n t we r e fu se t o a c c e p t

a ny e v i de nc e wha t e ve r t ha t i t ha s c ha nge d . W e sa y ‘ t ha t c a n ’ t be

r igh t ! ’ , ‘ tha t can’ t be r igh t ! ’ , and so on . Consequent ly a l l our

p red ic t ion s a n d c a lc u la t io n s c o n t in u e to b e hopeless ly w ro n g . W h e red i d we e rr ? T he a nsw e r is obv ious . F i r s t o f a ll we a s sum e d t ha t t hee v id e n c e i n f a v o u r o f t h e o ld l a w g r e w s t r o n g e r b y a c o n s t a n t a m o u n t

wi th each success ive ve r if i ca tion ; hence we could ha rd l y exp ec t i t t o be

o v e r t h r o w n in a n y p e r io d o l t im e s h o r t e r t h a n t h a t a l r e a d y t a k e n to

b u i ld up this m assive a c c u m u l a t io n ol ev idenc e . It is, h o w ev e r , c lea r

tha t wh a t , a s a m a t t e r o f psycholog ica l fact , ea ch one o f us ac t s up on is

no t som e c onspe c t u s ol t he a c c u m ul a t e d wi sdom o f t he age s, b u t a k i nd

o f runn i ng a ve ra ge o l t he m ore r e c e n t obse rva t i ons . Nor ( t hough Icannot go in to th i s fu r the r ) i s i t i r ra t iona l to ac t upon such a bas i s .

Secondly , we d id no t a l low th i s ev iden ce in favou r o f the ne w law to

a c c um ul a t e . W e d i sm i s se d e a c h p i e c e o l e v i de nc e se pa ra t e l y on t he

grounds tha t s ince i t conf l i c t ed wi th an e s t ab l i shed l aw i t cannot really



25/304

have been sound evidence. A nd this is wh olly irr at io nal . Ev ide nc e is good if

i t fu l f i l s cer ta in cr i ter ia appropria te to evidence (e .g . the wi tness or

ex p e r im en te r i s o f g o o d r ep u t e , h e m ad e r eco rd in g s w i th i n s tru m en t s

genera l ly ag reed to be re l i ab le , and so on) . I t does no t become bad

ev idence jus t because the p he no m en on it is ev idence fo r is reg ard ed asa n t e c e d e n t l y i m p r o b a b l e .

I t has , in fact , been pecu l iar ly cha racte r is t ic of those hos t ile to the

c l aim s o f p a rap s y ch o lo g y t o ad o p t t h e s eco n d o f t h e ab o v e -m en t io n ed

s t ra tagems . T he y say in ef fect ( I am quo t ing G urn ey here ), ‘T h e fact is

so improbab le tha t ex t remely good ev idence i s needed to make us

believe it; a n d this ev idence is not good, for how can you t rus t people

who bel ieve such ab surdi t ie s?’ (54 , p. 264) . Co m m en t would be

superf luous . I t i s not superf luous , however , to poin t out that thoughex t r em e s cept ic s h av e p u s h ed t h e i r a rg u m en t s t o t h e v e rg e o f p a ran o i a ,

it is non e the less v i ta l wh en e xa m inin g the a l leged evidenc e for novel

a n d d e b a t a b l e p h e n o m e n a t o m a i n t a i n a s tr ic t w a t c h f or c e r ta i n

rec ur re n t sources o f e r ro r. Th ese sources o f e r ro r ca n a r ise in a ll the

areas which I propose to discuss, so i t wil l be as well to say something

n o w ab o u t each o f t h em in t u rn . I f t h ey can b e e l im in a t ed f ro m th e

ev idence under rev iew, we sha l l be ab le to p resen t tha t ev idence , a t

leas t provis ional ly , as bein g of a qu al i ty w hich me ri ts ser ious a t ten t io n .

Th ey m ay b e t ak en u n d e r two h ead in g s : h o ax in g an d f r au d ; an d

mis taken tes t imony .

1. Hoa xing and Fraud

Hoaxing and f raud cou ld v i t i a te the ev idence we have to dea l wi th in

one of two ways:

(a) the supposed wi tnesses o f appa r i t ions , an d o th er exper ien t s incases o f ‘spo n tan eou s ’ ES P o r PK , migh t have conco c ted the i r s to ries

fo r amusement , no to r ie ty , o r even fo r what they conce ive to be the

g o o d o f h u m an i ty ;

(b) m ed ium s who s tand to prof i t f inancia l ly f rom successful s i tt ings

might take s teps to deceive thei r c l ien ts .

T h e firs t of these possibili t ies does not s trike me as a very serious one,

a t least so far as the cases inves t igated by the SP R are con cern ed. I t is

t rue th a t severa l hoaxes ha ve com e to l ight a f t e r the p ub l ica t ion o f thecase reports . But in the great m ajo ri ty of cases the wi tnesses have been

persons o f u n b le m is h e d r e p u ta t io n , w i th no a p p a r e n t m ot iv e for

decei t . T he y have as a m at t e r of rou t ine g iven s igned s ta teme n ts to theSoc ie ty ’s rep resen ta t ives , they have submi t ted to ques t ion ing , the i r

Introduction 11


26/304

f r i e n d s h a v e g i v e n c o r r o b o r a t i v e t e s t i m o n y , a l l r e l e v a n t s u p p o r t i n g

do c um e n t s , e .g . de a t h c e r t if i ca t es , ha v e be e n ob t a i n e d a n d pu t on file;

a nd so fo r t h . I do no t t h i nk t ha t unde r t he se c i r c um s t a nc e s i t i s

r e a s o n a b l e t o p o s t u l a t e w h o l e s a le h o a x i n g as a g e n e r a l e x p l a n a t i o n o f

the inf low of case repor ts .T h e m a t t e r s t a n d s s o m e w h a t d i f f e r e n t l y w i t h r e g a r d t o p o s s i b l e

f r a u d b y m e d i u m s . M a n y p h y s i c a l m e d i u m s , a n d s o m e m e n t a l

m e d i um s , ha ve be e n c a ug h t in t he m os t e g re g i ous t r ic ke ry . S ti ll , I shal l

n o t i n t hi s b o o k b e d e a l i n g w i t h p h y s i c al m e d i u m s h i p t o a n y e x t en t ,

a n d t h e m e n t a l m e d i u m s w h o m I s h a l l p r i n c i p a l l y d i s c u s s - m o s t

n o t a b ly M r s P i p e r a n d M r s L e o n a r d - w e r e n e v e r c a u g h t in f ra u d

de sp i t e som e r igo rous p r e c a u t i ons . I n t he c a se o f M rs P i pe r t hese

p r e c a u t io n s in c lu d e d o p e n in g h e r m a i l a n d h a v i n g h e r s h a d o w e d byd e t e c t i v e s t o a s c e r t a i n w h e t h e r o r n o t s h e e m p l o y e d a g e n t s . M r s

L e ona rd wa s a l so a t one t i m e sha dowe d by de t e c t i ve s . I do no t t h i nk

tha t the f raud hypothes i s wi l l he lp us he re .

2. M istaken Testimony

T ha t e ye wi t ne s s t e s t i m ony , e spe c i a l l y a s t o unusua l o r b i z a r r e

h a p p e n i n g s , c a n n o t b e r e li ed u p o n , is a c o m m o n p l a c e o f s ce p ti ca l

a s sau l ts u po n t he c r e d i b i l it y o f e v i de nc e for t he so r ts o f ph e n om e n a we

a r e c o n s id e r in g ; a n d it is a c o m m o n p l a c e w h i c h c a n b e s u b s t a n t i a t e d

by a n a p p e a l to a la rg e b o d y o f p sy c h o log ica l f indings. T h e s e f indings,

h o w e v e r, b e a r s o m e w h a t u n e q u a l l y u p o n d i f fe r en t p a r t s o f o u r s u bj ec t-

m a t t e r. T e s t im o n y c o n c e r n i n g th e p h e n o m e n a o f p h y si c al m e d i u m

s hi p, w h i c h a r e c o m m o n l y e x h i b i t e d u n d e r c o n d i t i o n s o f n e a r d a rk n e s s

a n d o f e m o t i ona l s tre ss , is no t o r i ous l y un re l i a b l e . H ow e v e r I sha ll

p re se n t ve ry l i t t le o f such te s t im o n y . W h e n it c o m e s to m e n ta lm e d i um sh i p t he c a se i s d i f f e r e n t . W e usua l l y ha ve c om pl e t e

c o n t e m p o r a r y r e co r d s o f w h a t s u ch m e d i u m s s a y o r w r i te , so t h a t t h e

que s t ion of mis t aken t e s t im ony ra re ly a r ises . I t is ov e r s tor i es of

a p p a r i ti o n s a n d r e la t ed p h e n o m e n a t h a t t h e p r o b l e m i m p i n g e s m os td i r e c t ly u po n t he su b j e c t -m a t t e r o f t hi s book .

Some wr i t e r s ( see , e .g . , 169a) appea r to want to d i smiss a lmost a l l

t e s t i m o n y c o n c e r n i n g a p p a r i t i o n s o n t h e f o l l o w i n g g r o u n d s :

(a ) I n on ly a few c ases d i d t he pe r c i p i e n t s i m m e d i a t e l y w r i t e do w n afu ll a c c oun t o f t he i r e xpe r ie nc e . S t o r ie s t o ld m on t hs o r e ve n ye a r s a f te r

the even t a r e l ike ly to be se r ious ly in e r ro r , l o r me m or y is no tor ious ly

fa l l ib l e , and t a l l s tones t end to g row wi th re t e l l ing . In one ce lebra ted

c as e, t h e p r i n c ip a l w i tn es s, S i r E d m u n d H o r n b y , c l a i m e d t h a t h e s aw

12 M ediu m ship and Surv ival


27/304

Introduction 13

an ap pa r i t io n whi ls t he was in bed wi th h i s wife, wh o a l so conf i rmed

the s to ry. H ow ev er it was l a te r es tab l i shed tha t a t the da te o f the

s u p p o s e d a p p a r i t i o n S i r E d m u n d w a s n o t y e t m a r r i e d .

(b) N u m ero u s ex p e r im e n ta l i nv est ig a ti o ns hav e ca st d o u b t o n t h e

re l i ab il i ty ol eyewi tness t es t imony even w hen tha t t es t imony has beeng iven immedia te ly a f te r the even t .

I do no t th ink tha t these ob jec tives a re very powerfu l. W i th rega rd

to (a) we do have the witnesses ’ co n te m po rar y s ta temen ts in a

modes t nu m be r o f cases . F ur the rm or e there is no reason to be li eve tha t

perc ip ien ts ol a p p a r i t io n s have a gen e ra l te n d en c y tow ards

re t rospec t ive exaggera t ion . S tevenson (153b) g ives a number o finstances in w hich wi tnesses hav e wr i t t en a second acc oun t m an y years

a l t e r t h e first w i th o u t i n t ro d u c in g s u b s t an t i a l ch a n g e s o rex ag g e ra t i o n s .

Th is f ind ing rece ives sup por t f rom expe r im en ta l s tudies . R ece n t f resh

ev id en ce co n ce rn in g t h e H o rn b y ca se r a th e r s ug gest s t h a t S i r E d m u n d

H or nb y an d hi s wife ha d s imply fo rgo t ten tha t they were no t ye t marr ied

at the t im e wh en the ap pa ri t io n was seen (44a) . (b) T hes e inves t igat ions

show th a t eyewitnesses a re l i ab le to be mis taken over de ta i ls im po r tan t

for forens ic purpo ses , e .g . w ho f ired f irst , o r w ha t co lou r jack et the

accused was w earing . T he y do not show that wi tnesses are l ikely to bemis taken upo n po in t sc ru c ia l to the assessmen t o fa pp ar i t i on s tor ies, e.g.

wh ethe r the f igu re which s tood before one was tha t o f one ’s m ate r na lg ran d fa th e r .

Suppose , then , tha t we accep t , p rov i s iona l ly and fo r the purposes o f

a rg um en t , tha t we do possess some quan t i t i eso f ev ide nce , no t so in fer ior

in qual i ty as to be ins tant ly d ismiss ib le , wh ich seems primafa cie to suggest

t h a t c e r t a in fo rm er ly i n ca rn a t e h u m an b e in g s h av e s u rv iv ed t h edissolu tion of thei r car na l bodies , an d c on t inu e to exhib i t some at least of

the me mo ries a nd perso nal ch arac ter is t ics w hich they possessed in life.

H ow are we to in te rp re t thi s ev idence? Discuss ions o f the p ros and cons o f

the ‘surv ival ’ hypothes is wi ll occup y m uc h of the res t ol the book. Th er e

are , however , two recur ren t coun te r -hypo theses which mer i t a

me n t ion a t thi s poin t.

Chance CoincidenceThe f i r s t , and less impor tan t , i s wha t may be ca l l ed the chance

coincidence hypothesis . I t is seen at i ts s implest in connection with

a l l eg ed ly p reco g n i t i v e d ream s . Th e re a re i n p r i n t q u i t e a n u m b er o f

case s in wh ich a d rea m er h a s ap p a re n t l y d rea m ed , w i th co n s id e rab l e


28/304

c o r r e s p o n d e n c e o f d e t ai l, o f a n e v e n t w h i c h , a t t h e t i m e o f t h e d r e a m ,

h a d n o t y e t h a p p e n e d . Is th is p r o o f o f p r e c o g n i t i o n ? T h e f o l lo w i n g

c o u n t e r - e x p l a n a t i o n m i g h t b e o ff er ed . T h e r e a r e i n th e w o r l d , o r e v e n i n

t h a t l im i t ed p a r t o f t h e w o r l d w h e r e t h e p u b l ic a t io n s o f t h e S P R a n d t he

A S P R c ir c u la te , m a n y m i ll io n s o f p er so n s, e a c h o f w h o m p r o b a b l yd r e a m s s e v er a l d r e a m s a n i g h t . A y e a r ’s t o t a l o f d r e a m s w i ll a d d u p to

t h o u s a n d s o f m i ll io n s. G i v e n s o m a n y d r e a m s , s u r e l y w e w o u l d e x p e c t

t h a t n o w a n d a g a i n , a n d sim ply by chance, one o r t wo o f t he m wi l l

c o r r e s p o n d , t o a m a r k e d e x t e n t , w i t h s o m e i m m e d i a t e l y s u b s e q u e n t

e v e n t? T h e s e d r e a m s w ill b e r e m e m b e r e d a n d t a l k e d a b o u t , w h i l e t h e

o t h e r s - w h i c h w e m a y c a l l t h e ‘f o r g o t te n al so r a n s ’ - w ill s i m p l y p a ss i n to

o b li v io n . T h u s it c o m e s a b o u t t h a t t h e p u b l i c a t io n s o f c e r t a i n l e a r n e d

s oc ie ti es a r e s w el le d w i th a g r o w i n g n u m b e r o f a c c o u n t s o f d r e a m sfalsel y t hou gh t t o ha ve be e n p r e c ogn i t ive .

A v e r y s i m i l a r a r g u m e n t c a n b e a p p l i e d t o c e r t a i n s t o r i e s o f

a p p a r i t i o n s . T w o s o rt s o f a p p a r i t i o n c as e t h a t f ig u r e p r o m i n e n t l y i n t h e

l i t e r a t u r e a r e c a s e s o f a p p a r i t i o n s c o i n c i d i n g w i t h t h e d e a t h o f t h e pe rs o n

s ee n, a n d c as es o f a p p a r i t i o n s s i m u l t a n e o u s l y s e en b y m o r e t h a n o n e

pe rson . N o w s up po se w e m a k e th e a s s u m p t io n t h a t som e p e o p le ha v e

ha l l uc i na t i ons o f a c e r t a i n t ype ( i.e. s ee a pp a r i t i ons ) m ore f r e q ue n t l y

t h a n t h e y l et on . T h e y k e e p q u i e t a b o u t it fo r f e a r o f b e i n g t h o u g h t

u n b a l a n c e d . T h e n w e m i g h t e x p e c t th a t n o w a n d a g a i n o n e o f th ese

h a l l u c in a t i o n s w o u l d , j u s t b y c h a n c e , c o i n c id e w i t h a d e a t h , o r c o i nc i de

s p a t i a l l y a n d t e m p o r a l l y w i t h s o m e o n e e l s e ’ s h a l l u c i n a t i o n . T h e

p e rc ip ien ts will be p r e p a r e d to ta lk a b o u t these h a l l uc i na t i ons , be c a use

t he y wil l no t t h i nk suc h t a l k wi ll e n da ng e r t he i r r e p u t a t i on s for s an i ty .

H en ce s to r i es o f ‘c r is i s ’ ap pa r i t io ns an d of co l l ec t ive ly pe rce ived

ap pa r i t io ns wi ll ge t in to c i rcu la t ion . T h e ‘fo rg o t t en a l so ra ns ’ wi ll no t beh e a r d o f a g a in .

T h i s i ssue will r e c u r la te r . H e re I sha l l s i m p l y r e m a rk t ha t a nu m be r o f

su rveys , o l d a nd ne w, sugge st qu i t e s t r ong l y t ha t w ha t m a y be c a l le d the

‘spo n t a ne ous ha l l u c i na t i o n r a t e ' in t he po pu l a t i on a t l a rg e is no t ne a rl y

h i gh e nou gh t o sup po r t t he a rg um e n t ( s e e 57 ; 58 ; 83; 118b; 146; 169b ).

A va r i a n t o f t he c ha nc e c o i nc i de nc e hypo t he s i s i s o f t e n a pp l i e d t o

e x p l a i n a w a y t h e ‘ h i t s s o o f t e n s c o r e d b y m e n t a l m e d i u m s . M a n y

m e d i um s , i t i s he l d , de a l t o a c ons i de r a b l e e x t e n t i n ba na l i t i e s . T he yd e li v er m e ss ag e s f ro m th e b e y o n d w h i c h w o u l d p r o b a b l y b e

ap pr o pr ia t e fo r a h igh pe rce n ta ge o f l ike ly si tt e rs , e spec ia l ly s it t e rs o f the

sex, a ge a n d c la ss g ro up o f t he c u r r e n t c l i e n t. N a t u ra l l y t he m e ssa ge s

a p p e a r e v i d e n ti a l to th e s it te r; b u t t h e y a r e n o t. T h e m e d i u m h a s



29/304

succeeded by a m ix tu re o f chan ce an d skill.T h e p ro b l em to u ch ed o n h e re can b e a ve ry r eal o ne , an d a t t em p t s

have been m ad e to dev ise s tat i st i cal m ethod s o f as sessmen t to

c i rcu m ve n t it. I do no t, however , th ink tha t the p rob lem is an im por ta n t

one fo r ou r im m ed ia te purposes , fo r I do no t be l i eve tha t in the majo r i tyo f ex am p le s o f ap p a ren t l y su cces sful m en ta l m e d iu m s h ip wh ich I s ha ll

ac tua l ly c i t e anyone would se r ious ly ra i se the chance co inc idence

hypothesis .

‘Super-ESP’

T he second com m only p ro fe r red coun te r -h ypo thes i s to the su rv iva l is t ic

one is w ha t H a rt (60b) has cal led t h e ‘su pe r-E SP ’ hypothesis . I t is tha t al l

t h e p h en o m en a w h ich we a re t em p ted t o tak e as i n d i ca t i n g t h e s u rv iv a l

o f the mem or ies a n d persona l it i es o f ce r ta in deceased persons can be

more s imply and sa t i s fac to r i ly exp la ined in t e rms o f ESP by l iv ing

p e rs o n s - by th e m e d iu m s w h o d e live r th e messages, th e p e r c ip ie n t s w h o

see the app ari t io ns , an d so on . Th is hypothes is , pu she d to i ts limits, lands

us in t h e fo ll owin g d i l em m a . I f ap i ece o fp u t a t i v eev id en ce fo r s u rv iv a l is

to be of use , i t m ust be ver i f i ab le - we m ust be able to chec k by consu l t ing

records or surv iv ing fr iends that the in for ma t ion g iven by the os tens ib leco m m un ica to r was co r rec t . Bu t if the sources fo r check ing i t a re ex tan t ,

they m igh t in theory be t e lepa th ica l ly o r c la i rvoy an t ly access ib le to the

m ed ium or perc ip ien t . S ince we do no t kno w the l imi ts o f ES P we cann ev e r say fo r ce r t a in t h a t ESP o f t h e ex t r ao rd in a ry ex t en t t h a t wo u ld

often be necessary - ‘super-ESP’ - i s ac tual ly imposs ib le . This i s the

cen t ra l d i l e m m a in the i n te rp re ta t ion o f os tens ib le ev idence fo r su rvival ,

an d i t wil l c rop up aga in a n d aga in th ro ug ho u t the rest of thi s book . I

have no c onven ien t sword wi th which to cu t thi s Gord ian kno t . Bu t as agu id ing p r inc ip le in ap pr oa ch ing i t I p ropose the fol lowing . O ne shou ld ,

whenever poss ib le , avo id main ta in ing any hypo thes i s by engag ing in

specu la tions which do no t , so fa r as we can a t the m om ent see, com mit

one to proposit ions which can be tested against the facts . I t is , for

ex am p le , q u i t e u n p ro f i t ab l e , b ecau s e b a r ren o f fu r t h e rco n s eq u en ces , t o

m a in t a in t h e s u p e r -ES P h y p o th es i s b y p o s tu l a t in g t e lep a th y b e tween

the unconsc ious min d o f the m ed ium an d the unconsc ious m ind o f some

dis tan t pe rson, for this is a process uno bser vab le in pr incip le , and n ot hing fu r ther can be done to check up on i t ; and i t i s equa l ly bar ren to

exp la in a w ay m is takes and incons is tenc ies by a purpo r ted med iumis t i c

co m m u n ica to r b y s u g g est in g t h a t t h e e r ro r cam e n o t f ro m th e s u p po s ed

co m m u n ica to r b u t f ro m ly in g an d m a l i c io u s im p e r s o n a t i n g s p i r i t s .

Introduction 15


30/304

F in a ll y, I m u s t e m p h a s i z e t h a t t his b o o k i s o n l y a b r i e f i n t r o d u c t i o n t o

s o m e e x c e e d in g l y d i ff ic ul t a n d c o m p l e x p r o b l e m s . L a r g e v o l u m e s c o u l d

be - in d e e d h a v e b e e n - w r i t t e n u p o n top ic s o r cases to w h ic h I h a v e b e e n

a b l e to d e v o te o n l y a c h a p t e r , o r a p a r a g r a p h , o r a se n te n c e. T h o u g h I

t ry t o d e v e l o p c e r t a i n li ne s o f a r g u m e n t , a n d t o r e a c h c e r t a i nc onc l us i ons - t he book w ou l d be ve ry f la t i f I d i d n o t - I a m m o re

c o n c e r n e d t o p r e s e n t t h e d a t a a n d t h e i s s u e s t h a n t o p r o m o t e a

p a r t i c u l a r set o f views. T h e c o nc lus ions t h a t I in fac t offer a r e fa ir ly

m o d e s t. I p ro fe ss n o o v e r w h e l m i n g c e r t a i n t y a s to t h e t r u e e x p l a n a t i o n s

o f t h e p h e n o m e n a u n d e r r ev ie w . I a m , h o w e v e r , c e r t a i n o f t w o t h in g s.

T h e fi rst is t ha t we a r e he r e c on f ron t e d w i t h a g r e a t r a n ge o f unso l ve d

p ro b le m s a n d u n e x p la in e d p h e n o m e n a , all o f w h ic h a r e p o te n t i a l ly o f

g r e a t p syc ho l og i c a l a n d ph i l o soph i c a l i n t e re s t . T h e se c ond is t ha t t heseis sues a r e n o t o f m e r e l y a c a d e m i c c o n c e r n . T h e y a r e i m p o r t a n t t o

a n y o n e w h o t h i n k s a n d feels a b o u t t h e h u m a n s i t u a ti o n . I h a v e h e a r d

m a n y p e o p l e o f a b l u f f a n d f id dl es ti ck s t u r n o f m i n d t a lk s o m e w h a t a s

fol lows. ‘O f course we a l l pe r i sh u t t e r ly a t ou r dea ths . But one li fe, l i ved

t o t he ful l, shou l d be e nou gh fo r a n yo ne . ’ S u c h pe op l e ha ve , I t h i nk ,

c o m m o n l y h a d c o m f o r ta b l e a n d p r o s p e r o u s lives. T h o s e - t h e m a j o r i t y -

w h o h a v e b e e n less f o r t u n a t e , o f te n t h r o u g h n o f a u lt o f t h e i r o w n , m i g h texpress o th er fee lings.

16 M edium ship and Surviv al


31/304

2 Mediumship: General

W ith t h e p h e n o m en a o f m ed iu m s h ip , wh ich w ill o ccu p y t h e nex t s ev en

ch ap t e r s, we a t o n ce r each t h e v e ry h ea r t o f t h e d e b a t e co n ce rn in g t h e

al leged evid enc e for surv ival. I gave in the f i rs t ch ap te r a br ief acc oun t

o f m o d e rn Sp i r it u a l is t m e d iu m s h ip an d its o r ig in s w i th in t h e an im a lm ag n e t i c m o v em en t o f t h e ea r ly n in e t ee n th cen tu ry . B u t th e se form s

o f m ed iu m s h ip - k n o wn a t l e a s t b y h ea r s ay t o m o s t m em b ers o f

co n t em p o ra ry W es t e rn s o ci ety - a r e o n ly l o cal an d cu l t u ra l l y s h ap ed

vers ions o f ph en om en a w hich have , an d have had , the i r equ iva len t s in

many socie t ies , pas t and present . This poin t wi l l be forcefu l ly brought

home to anyone who g lances a t some o f the qu i te numerous f i e ld

s tud ies o f possess ion and k indred phenomena pub l i shed by soc ia lanthropologists (e.g. 7; 25; 38; 65; 124; 168). I am talking here about

‘possession’ in a s tro ng sense - th e ostens ible con tro ll in g of som eo ne’s

s p eech an d b eh av io u r b y a d i s cam a te en t i t y cap ab l e o f i n t e l l i g en t

com m un ica t ion . In s ome socie t ies a ll k inds of d iseases an d a i lme nts are

at tr ib ut ed to possession by m ale vo len t spirits ; bu t with ‘possession’ in

th is sense we are not concerned.

Possessed persons may be d iv ided in to two broad categories : those

who a re the v ic t ims o f possession , w ho a re invo lun ta r i ly t aken ove r andmanipu la ted by d i scamate en t i t i es (usua l ly hos t i l e ) ; and those who

invi te and indeed cul t ivate possess ion by bet ter-d isposed beingsth ro u g h wh o se ag en cy g o o d wo rks of o n e k in d o r an o th e r m ay b e

perfo rm ed . A m o n g th e l a t t e r class of persons a re the sham an s ,

wi tchdoc to rs , cu nn ing men , seers an d spi r it m ed iu ms w ho fulf il s imi la r

ro les in so many widely d i fferent and widely separated socie t ies . The

discamate ent i t ies which possess persons of these two categories

inc lude in m an y cu l tu res n o t ju s t deceased hu m an be ings (as inW este rn Sp ir i tual ism ), bu t a l l sor ts of gods, godl ings, d em ons, devi ls ,

and animal sp i r i t s . These las t , I th ink , are usual ly not the sp i r i t s of

ind iv idua l deceased an imals , bu t a re e i th er the sp ir it s o f t ige r - in -

genera l , c rocod i le - in -genera l , and so fo r th , o r superhuman en t i t i es


32/304

w h i c h a s s u m e t h e f o r m o f a n i m a l s , a s in t h e n u m e r o u s o r i e n t a l t al es o f

fox spi r i t s , monkey spi r i t s , e tc .

A n t h r o p o l o g i s t s o f a n e a r l i e r g e n e r a t i o n w e r e p r o n e t o w r i t e o f !

s h a m a n s a n d w i t c h d o c t o r s a s i m p o s to r s o r h y st er ic s o r s om e a m a l g a m

of the two. S i r J a m es F ra ze r , fo r ex am ple , wro te in 1913 (42 , p . 15):

. . . these persons m ore or less cr az ed in the i r wi ts, a n d pa rt ic ula rlyhys te r i ca l o r ep i l ep t i c pa t i en t s , a re for tha t very reason thought to be p ecu lia r ly f avo u red by th e spir it s, a n d a r e th ere fo re c o n su l te d as oracles ,t he i r w i l d an d w h i r l i ng w ords pass ing fo r t he r eve l a t ions o f a h i g he r pow er ,w he the r a god or a ghos t , wh o cons ide ra te ly sc reens h i s too da zz l ing l igh tun de r a th i ck vei l o f da rk say ings an d myster ious e j acula t ions . I need ha rd ly p oin t ou t the v ery serious d an g e r s w h ich m e n a c e a n y society w h e re sucht h e o r i e s a r e c o m m o n l y h e l d a n d a c t e d u p o n .

De sp i t e F ra z e r ’s p rogn os t i c a t i ons o f doo m , m a n y soci et ie s i n wh i c h

sha m a ns a n d w i t c hdoc t o r s p l a y a l e a d i n g ro l e ha v e su rv i ve d ve ry wel l,

a nd l ook l i ke c on t i nu i ng t o do so . T h i s sugge s t s t ha t , wha t e ve r

a ppe a ra nc e s t he r e m a y be t o t he c on t r a ry , suc h pe r sons posse s s a f a r

g r e a t e r d e g r e e o f w o r l d l y e ff ic ie n cy t h a n V i c t o r i a n a n t h r o p o l o g i st s

a l l o w e d . M o d e r n a n t h r o p o l o g i s t s r e c o g n i z e t h i s , a n d t e n d t o r e g a r d

s h a m a n i s m n o t a s a f o r m o f m e n t a l a l i e n a ti o n , d a n g e r o u s to t h esu f f e r e r a nd t o h i s soc i e t y , bu t a s a phe nom e non wi t h m a ny f a c e t s ,

r e q u i r in g , p e r h a p s , e x p l a n a t i o n o n a n u m b e r o f d i ff e re n t lev els. O n e

le ve l o f e xp l a na t i on m a y , i nde e d , i n som e ca ses be t he p syc hopa t ho l og i -

c al . T h e ‘c l as s ic a l’ E sk i m o o r S i b e r i a n sh a m a n o f t e n unde rgoe s du r i ng

hi s t r a i n i n g o r i n i ti a t io n a p e r i o d o f e m o t i o n a l i n s ta b i li t y a n d m e n t a l

d i s t u r b a n c e ; b u t f r o m t h i s h e m a y e m e r g e a s t r o n g e r a n d m o r e

i n t e g ra t e d pe r son t ha n he wa s be fo re (37 , pp . 23 -32 ) . He ha s be e n

c u re d t h ro ug h su ff er ing , o r r a t he r ha s c u re d h i m se l f t h r ou gh suf fe ri ng .F o r nov i ce sha m a ns in o t he r pa r t s o f t he wo r l d e ve n t h is pe r i od o f

su f fe r ing a n d d i s t u rb a n c e m a y no t be ne c e s sa ry . Af t e r c o nd uc t i ng i n-

d e p t h i nt e rv i ew s w i t h t e n S h o n a ngangas, M i c h a e l G e l f a n d c o n c l u d e d

tha t a l l we re ‘phys ica l ly an d m en ta l ly n o rm a l ’ (47, p . 133) , whi l s t t he

e d i to r s o f a s t a n d a r d a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l w o r k o n s p ir it m e d i u m s h i p in

Afr i ca, s t a t e (7, p. xxiv) tha t in Afr i ca m ed ium s a re b y no m ean s c raze d

i n the i r w its . ‘O n t he c o n t r a ry t he y a r e u sua l l y sh r e wd , i n t e l li ge n t , a nd

a c c e p t ed m e m b e r s o f t h e ir c o m m u n i t ie s . ’

Al t h oug h b e i ng ‘posses se d by d i s c a m a t e e n t it i es , a n d t he c onve rse

Date post:	06-Jul-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	jugoslavija
View:	225 times
Download:	0 times

Gauld Mediumship

Documents