CHAPTER 3
Cosmogenic Powers and Abilities
'Everything that relates, whether closely or more distantly to psychic phenomena and to the action of psychic forces in general should be studied just like any other science. There is nothing miraculous or supernatural in them, nothing that should engender or keep alive superstition. Psychic training rationally and scientifically conducted, can lead to desirable results. That is why the information gained about such training . . . constitutes useful documentary evidence worthy of our attention.'In this chapter we come to the heart of our analysis, a discussion of the powers and abilities referred to under Table II-1. This is an awesome task because the concepts involved are revolutionary and mind shaking. The author, who is as awed by the issue as the reader, takes comfort in the fact that while this material is diametrically opposed to the conventional wisdom, some of the greatest thinkers and loftiest saints and mystics of history have said similar things.
-Alexandra David-Neel (1971:xiii)
Those readers who have attended thus far with some courtesy and perhaps even sympathy may feel that in this chapter the author has taken leave of his senses. If ultimate reality is accurately expressed by the physical world, this conclusion is well warranted. But since truth asks for no more than co-existence, the author begs such a reader's brief indulgence for a mere supposition.
Let us suppose that the Pribram-Bohm holographic model of the universe is at least tenable. (Such a model tells us that sensory reality is but a virtual image imprinted holographically on the brain when illumined by the reference beam of ultimate reality.) Then at the very least we would have some scientific grounds for admitting the possibility of what a great many otherwise truthful saints and mystics have told us (not to mention some of the greatest of modern scientists such as Heisenberg and Schroedinger), namely that the physical world is not ultimate
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reality, but is in fact junior to the normal state of consciousness. If by any chance any of these people are even a little bit right, then our whole conception of physics must undergo another revolution as far reaching as the supplanting of Ptolemaic concepts by Copernican ones, or the Newtonian laws by Einsteinian. What we are doing here, therefore, is erecting an intellectual paradigm roomy enough to accommodate some new ideas. When a young man and his wife build a house, it is wise to provide for future children and guests; we are doing the same thing. Hopefully, this explanation will lead to a relaxation in the reader's belief system long enough so that he will be able to let the form and uses of the structure, not his prejudices, determine his judgement. At least he may see, although not agree, with the author's rationale.
We now begin the investigation of a range of physical powers and mental abilities which have the following characteristics:
a) appear miraculous, i.e. neither understood nor completely accepted by science,b) generally involve some kind of altered state of consciousness,
c) often involve some right hemisphere function,
d) are often credited to the Deity or the devil,
e) can be arranged in an ascending scale, (a taxonomy), involving the increase of holiness, or high mental health,
f) demand a revamping of our usual paradigms about the nature of physical reality,
g) involve more a transcendence than an enhancement of ontogenic and phylogenic powers, hence are outside and independent of the laws of mental measurement.
Because of these unusual characteristics, we have labeled these
powers and abilities cosmogenic. They can roughly be divided into
two orders: body powers, and mental abilities. We have arranged them into
a taxonomy where the lower end of the series 3.0 to 3.3 are psychic effects
seen in exceptional persons who are non-saintly, although saints sometimes
report them. From 3.4 to 3.7 we find effects usually confined to saints.
With 3.8 we begin the siddhis or extraordinary epiphenomena which
apparently are developed in saints and yogic adepts; these continue through
4.8.
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In reply to those who would consider this very unstable ground from which to extract data, we point out that while any given datum may in itself be suspect, the plethora of it from all ages and cultures, especially from those persons who have otherwise lived truthful and saintly lives, must command some degree of internal consistency, and hence face validity. Furthermore the putting together of the data to make a meaningful whole would hardly be possible if the data itself were fraudulent. Let the reader then at least suspend judgment until he or she has heard the full evidence.
These abilities seem to differ also from the previous ones in that they appear to be acquired (or conferred) in an esoteric, miraculous or occult way without much reference to previous intellectual level. They are also rare, ephemeral, not tightly held, and not easy either to verify or measure. As Table II-1 indicates, they consist of two levels: physical or body powers, and mental abilities or knowledges, which have been here separated for analysis, although they often occur together.
The religious literature of many cultures connects these abilities with holiness or progression towards self-actualization. Indeed, this concordance of belief about most specifics of these powers is one of the most telling arguments for their validity.
Because the Indian tradition and religious teaching on this subject is so much more detailed than any other authority, we shall use its concepts as useful building blocks. This does not imply total acceptance of this creed; it is merely a convenience on an otherwise unlit and difficult road. Hindu teaching holds that the siddhis (or miraculous powers) may come spontaneously with advancement and enlightenment or they may be developed by certain techniques. Most religious advice counsels the adept not to pay attention to these epiphenomena of enlightenment, lest willful efforts to obtain them distract the individual from progression towards salvation. Thus the reader should keep constantly in mind that the description of these powers and methods of obtaining them does not constitute approval of the practices. This point is important enough for some expert testimony: (Weber 1958:164-5) declares:
Yoga technique on the other hand sought principally to achieve magical states and miraculous powers. Thus for(page 78)
example one sought the power to suspend gravitation and to gain the ability to float around. Moreover, one sought to gain omnipotence with power directly to realize imagined events without external action by virtue of the magical will-power of the yogin. Finally, omniscience was sought, that is clairvoyance especially of other men's thoughts.Rama (1978:102) is another Easterner who advises against use of the siddhis. He says:
The third chapter of the Yoga Sutras explains many methods of attaining siddhis, but these siddhis create stumbling blocks in the path of enlightenment ... The path of enlightenment is different from the intentional cultivation of powers. The miracles performed by Buddha, Christ, and other great sages were spontaneous and for a purpose. They were not performed with selfish motives or to create a sensation. On the path of yoga one comes across the potentials for siddhis. A yogi without having any desire for a siddhi might get one, but one who is aware of the purpose of his life never misuses them ... Siddhis do exist but only with adepts.
1) Cryptesthesia (the lucidity of former writers) is a faculty of cognition that differs from the normal sensorial faculties.These make up the whole of metapsychics. It seems to me that to admit this much is to admit a great deal. To go further is to go beyond the present limits of science.2) Telekinesis is a mechanical action that differs from all known mechanical action, being exerted at a distance and without contact on person or objects, under certain determinate conditions.
3) Ectoplasm (the materialization of former writers) is the formation of divers objects, which in most cases seem to emerge from a human body and take on the semblance of material realities - clothing, veils, and living bodies.
Referring to Table II-1,let us now commence a detailed
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investigation of the cosmogenic physical powers in order.
3.01) Telepathy1
Telepathy may be defined as the transmission of thoughts, ideas, images or symbols from the mind of one person to another without the usual intervening sensory percepts. It may be distinguished from clairvoyance, in that telepathy is in the form of a message, whereas clairvoyance is in the form of a vision. (It is a difference similar to that between radio and television.) Telepathy from the Greek word "tele" and "pathos," literally means "empathy at a distance."
From work elsewhere (1974:24) we quote:
"Telepathy is a kind of intuition, a 'direct knowledge of distant facts.' 'Telepathy produces full and clear impressions in a way that clairvoyance does not.' 'It is a swift process of knowing through being' (empathy)." (Garrett 1949:133).
Sinclair (1971:128) explains the methodology of telepathy as follows:
If you succeed in doing this, you will find it hard not to drop asleep. But you must distinguish between this and the state you are to maintain . . . After you have learned to induce it, you will be able to concentrate on the idea instead of the rose, and to carry this idea into sleep with you, as the idea to dominate the subconscious while you are asleep. This idea taken into sleep in this way, will often act in the subconscious with the same power as the idea suggested by the hypnotist ... You can learn to carry an idea of the restoration of health into this auto-hypnotic sleep, to act powerfully during sleep . . . But this is another matter, and not the state for telepathy - in which you must avoid dropping into a sleep. After you have practiced the exercise of concentrating on a flower and avoiding sleep - you will be able to concentrate on holding the peculiar blank state of mind which must be achieved if you are to make successful experiments in telepathy.
W. E. Thompson (letter to New York Times, 10 May 1971) says:
Imaginative artists like Blake can understand the collective condition of society because the imagination is itself the
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opening to the collective unconscious, and precisely because this consciousness is collective, imaginative people can think the same thought at the same time, even though they are separated by ordinary space.Commenting on this Weil (1972:187) remarks:
Telepathy is nothing other than thinking the same thoughts at the same time others are thinking them - something all of us are doing all the time at a level of our unconscious experience most of us are not aware of. Become aware of it and you become telepathic ...
Myers (1961:265) says of telepathy: "Telepathy is surely a step
in evolution."
Is telepathy, tele, (distance) or it is really sympathy (togetherness-feeling)? Krippner (Mitchell 1974:113) reports that Mesmer believed in a universal fluid which joined all things. What seems separated by distance in three-dimensional space, may in a higher realm be joined together directly, so that what appears to us as telepathy is merely the use of this higher property.
Krippner's fine chapter on telepathy (Mitchell, 1974:112ff) gives many convincing evidences of it, as well as a number of rigorous laboratory experiences, including the Duke research, and his own at Maimonides Dream Laboratory, N. Y. (cf Ullman, Krippner and Vaughn, Dream Telepathy, 1973). He quotes Murphy (p. 120) on evidences of fragmentation, duplication, and accretion which occur in telepathy as they do in severely censored or garbled telegraph messages. He quotes Marshall (p. 125) to the effect that "resonance between brain patterns leads to telepathy. The strength of this influence increases with the product of their complexities, and decreases with the difference in their patterns." (Readers will note the compatibility between this and the resonance and dissipative structure paradigms of Chapter One.)
We quote from earlier work: (1974:12-13)
"We are accustomed to think of the ego as being primarily attentive to the perceptual world of experience; indeed the conceptualizing of percepts furnished the brain through the five senses seems to be the main business of consciousness. So much so in
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fact, that the ego may well be thought of as the substantive of the verb to experience, and its good mental health measured by its reality-orienting aspects. Admittedly, this relationship is a complex one, but it is our task to show that it is not the only function of the ego, for there are some interesting examples of events in which the ego gains knowledge without the ordinary use of the senses.
"A parasensory event is one leading to perception or knowledge not gained through the ordinary five senses; psychic or psychedelic events are therefore parasensory. We may then undertake to catalogue such events in a psychological taxonomy as a first attempt to understand their interrelationships. Parasensory events, while more noticeable when they are not otherwise commonly explainable, are really part and parcel of ordinary experience, not something divorced from it. We will start this analysis with the mention of a possible parasensory event so commonplace and trivial that one dares suggest that it has happened to all of us on many occasions.
"Such an ordinary incident is the sudden appearance of an apparently absent person immediately subsequent to his name being mentioned in conversation. Obviously such an occurrence is not evidential for it is impossible to prove that our mention of the individual is connected with his appearance, but the phenomenon is widespread and may well be the most trivial and familiar example of a parasensory effect which will be called here a 'psychic impression.' For, if chance will not explain such occurrences, the theory here would be that in some way an anterior psychic impression is produced on the coloquitors by the imminent appearance or close proximity of the agent.
"A much more serious and evidential example of a psychic impression is the phenomenon of telepathic transmission of information regarding serious injury or death from a projector (or agent) who stands in harm's way to a percipient (often a near relative or loved one).
"We may define 'psychic impression' more exactly as a parasensory event without sensory imagery occurring to an awake percipient who suddenly and for no apparent reason is overwhelmed by strong feelings frequently resulting in action on behalf of an absent and distant agent or projector who is almost
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always in great danger of severe bodily injury or death. An example
is quoted from Stevenson (1970: 111):
My daughter was away at college . . . I started to write her as usual; when about finished, my right hand started to burn, so I could not hold the pen, and the pain was terrific . . . Less than an hour later, we received a telephone call telling us that our daughter's right hand had been severely burned in the laboratory with acid at the same time I felt the burn . . .
The experience of telepathy is a rather common one, which has occurred
at least once to most of us, and hence the possibility has become believable,
and the rationale is more usefully sought. We shall accordingly not weary
the reader with accounts of telepathic incidents, which may be found everywhere
in the literature, but try for some possible explanations.
The older view is that of a universal fluid or either which connects
everything to everything else. Long (1954:131) states this view as follows:
Telepathy is the sending of messages (as thought forms) along the connecting cords of invisible shadowy body substance which connect one person with another. The messages are sent by the subconscious self and received by it, to be given to the conscious self in due time.As the subconscious spirit has control of all threads of shadowy body substance, all thought forms after they are created in the course of 'thinking,' and of all flows of the low mana or 'body electricity,' we cannot send and receive telepathic messages at will. We must give the subconscious a mental order to do the sending and receiving for us, then relax and wait for it to set to work.
We read further in Long (1954:170-1):
In her valuable book Telepathy, Eileen J. Garrett tells of the frequency with which telepathic messages are received in a form which is partly symbolic. She found that her pupils, in learning telepathy, soon became expert is grasping the meaning behind the symbols which came to them repeatedly.(page 83)Mrs. Garrett also describes the sensation experienced frequently by those who practice telepathy - the sensation of
faint electric tingling or warmth, often accompanied by a tactile response of 'goose-flesh' when a working contact has been made. In her own case these sensations often warn her that a message is being projected to her by someone and that her attention is needed to receive it.A number of psychoactive drugs promote telepathy and ESP according to Rogo (1976:60ff). These act mainly by relaxing the hold of the left hemisphere, thus placing the individual in an altered state of consciousness, where subconscious processes originating in the right hemisphere become more available to consciousness. Rogo speaks of yage, and mescaline, as well as peyote and certain mushrooms. The effects, however, are variable both as between individuals and within the same individual.Deep breathing is a common preliminary to telepathic practice or other forms of psychometrizing - all these related forms depending on the movement of thought forms along a thread of connecting shadowy body stuff.
Watson (1974:256) describes a Russian experiment which monitored brain
waves during a telepathic event. The receiver in Leningrad got himself
into a state of "attentive relaxation" during which his brain was producing
an alpha rhythm. But three seconds after the Moscow sender began sending,
the alpha waves were blocked. Watson continues:
In later tests, EEG records showed similar dramatic changes in the brain patterns of the sender as well as the receiver, and the Popov group reported, 'We detected this unusual activation of the brain within one to five seconds after the beginning of telepathic transmission. We always detected a few seconds before Mikolaiev was consciously aware of receiving a telepathic message.'(page 84)The connection between telepathy and the alpha rhythm is crucial. It seems certain that both telepathy and psychokinesis occur only under certain psychological conditions - and that these are the ones marked by the production of brain waves of a particular frequency. In PK it seems to be the theta rhythm, but in telepathy it is the alpha pattern, between eight and twelve cycles per second. Subjects who score well in laboratory tests all say that they adopt a certain state of mind, which one described as 'concentrating my attention on a single point of nothingness. I think about nothing at all,
just looking at a fixed point and emptying the mind entirely if this is possible.' Another calls the telepathic state 'concentrated passivity,' and a third sees it as 'relaxed attentiveness.'Yoganda (1977:299) says on this matter:
The will, projected from the point between the eyebrows is the broadcasting apparatus of thought ... Man's feeling or emotional power calmly concentrated on the heart, enables it to act as a mental radio that receives the messages of other persons, far or near. In telepathy, the fine vibrations of thought in one man's mind are transmitted . . . into thought waves in the mind of the other person.Another explanation is that of the scientist Puharich who has investigated the subject in depth. Puharich (1962:5) defines cholinergia as a state of activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, brought on by drugs, mushrooms, meditation, trance, and facilitated by the presence of negative ions in the air (see cite, ibid:9). After active experimentation he concludes (ibid:9): "I am convinced of the basic finding that mild cholinergia favors the receptive function in telepathy." (For the biochemistry of cholinergia, see cite ibid: 10, No. 3).
Puharich (1962:17) defines the opposite state of adrenergia as the excitation of the sympathetic nervous system, brought on by limbic reaction to danger, and involving fear, fight or flight. While there is less experimental evidence, Puharich (ibid:21-2), feels that this state encourages the sending function in telepathy:
Stevenson (1970) in a book devoted to telepathic impressions, besides reviewing 35 new cases, tabulates 160 older published cases. In most cases the agent was dying or in great danger, and a near relative was the percipient.
It is as though the sender creates a mental vacuum toward which the receiver's mind is drawn. The sender by his need and desire prepares a mental stage; the receiver in turn populates the stage with his own symbols and images.
Tyrrell (1961) in Science and Psychical Phenomena devotes a scholarly book to the evidence for telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition, including an analysis of many cases of each type.
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This book should be read by anyone who is unsure of the reality of psychic phenomena.
For telepathy in famous people see Prince 1963:13 (Burbank) 55 (Swedenborg); 119 (John Hay) (Myers 1961:261ff). Others who have discussed the subject include Gowan 1974:24ff; Mitchell, 1974:112ff. Moss (1974:169ff) has a chapter on telepathy and clairvoyance, with many examples of each.
We have started with telepathy, because it is such a common experience, and is so well attested in the literature. Indeed, Bell's theorem in physics suggests that telepathy may be necessary in the polarity of paired particles. For if the polarity of one is changed by an experimenter, the other changes instantaneously no matter where it is. Perhaps telepathy is an earnest of a basic fundamental connectedness of all things.
3.02) Dowsing
Dowsing is the activity of sensing through the use of a wand or forked stick, the presence of underground water, oil, or minerals. Next to firewalking, no psychic ability of humans is more anciently or firmly established, since the art has been practiced everywhere since the dawn of history and flourishes today. At the same time, there is still no good comprehensive explanation for its existence. Not only are good dowsers able to locate underground water by physically walking on a terrain, but some, at least, are able to do so on a map of the same ground.
Because of the voluminous literature on the subject, (Tromp's analysis
contains over 700 citations), - we shall not attempt a lengthy discussion
here. An excellent review is contained in the inexpensive pocketbook Dowsing
by Hitching (1978) which gives some further insight into its ramifications.
A little card catalogue search in any large library, moreover, will turn
up a plethora of journal articles and books on the subject. This is largely
true because dowsing, alone of the psychic abilities, is a common answer
to farming and industrial needs for water, and hence brings a group of
hard-headed engineers and practical men into contact with a parapsychological
effect which they must use although they cannot explain.
We shall regard dowsing as an excellent example of the
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human mind, when relaxed, to resonate with some collective intelligence, and so to divine hidden secrets. It is therefore part of bringing into consciousness prototaxic and somatic intelligence which is already available.
A very complete review of dowsing with over 700 citations was made by
Tromp (1949:287- 363). Originally skeptical, he became convinced of the
reality of dowsing after much personal experimentation. He concludes:
1) that divining phenomena exist, and number of people sensitive to these is greater than usually assumed,Tromp (1949:324ff) made some very careful investigations of dowsing using ECGs of dowsers
2) that many factors can cause errors, and these explain most of the failures,
3) that the phenomena can be explained by normal physical and physiological laws, therefore they are not paranormal,
4) that many so-called parapsychological phenomena can also be so explained,
5) that careful analysis into such would be of great value to medicine.
a) traversing dowsing zones,
b) walking among human beings,
c) walking through artificial magnetic fields, and
d) dowsing in a moving auto.
In all, 50 ECGs are displayed in plates in the book (pp. 407-31).
In a), both dowsers and non-dowsers were found to have skin potential
changes as shown by the ECG, but the dowsers had more (p. 326). The wand
merely intensified the change.
In b), there was again a change in skin potential when the dowser approached
a human being.
In c), there is also a change in skin potential.
The same is true in experiments d).
Hence the ECGs demonstrated the reality of dowsing phenomena. It was
also found (pp. 328-330) that a large number of environmental forces also
acted on the dowsing reaction, such as electrostatic conditions, sunlight,
aromas etc. In general it may be concluded the Tromp believes that electrical,
magnetic, and environmental acoustic and other effects all contribute to
dowsing sensitivity, and that the phenomenon is therefore capable of scientific
explanation. He devotes a very complete analysis, (p. 323-365) to these
factors.
Hitching (1978:148-9) speculates on the method of dowsing
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transmission and reception by the human being:
But we know, from all the experiments quoted above, that this is not so - weak electromagnetic fields have an undeniable effect on living beings. Therefore, says Bigu, there are only three possible explanations:
1. Electromagnetic radiation must interact directly with the central nervous system, perhaps at the molecular level.2. Our five known senses must respond to wider frequency ranges than they have yet been observed to do, through some mechanism that we do not yet fully understand.
3. There is a completely new kind of radiation, which science has not yet discovered but which the body instinctively recognizes.
Since the passage of electricity through a wire generates a transverse
magnetic field around the wire, it is tempting to speculate that the passage
of water through earth would generate a similar type of field which could
be sensed by the dowser. But this explanation breaks down with regard to
stationary oil or minerals.
Hitching (1978:149-51) concludes regarding the mechanism of transmission:
Although none yet provides a complete model, probably the most promising approach stems originally from the work of the Yale University professor of astronomy Harold S. Burr, who discovered as far back as 1949 that each nerve is surrounded by what he termed a 'life field' (or L-field), consisting of a measurable quantity of electricity. His work is still controversial in part, but other experimenters have repeated his results, and the American biophysicist Robert Becker in turn has suggested that each cell may work like an electrical semiconductor, with biological transistors making the connections between them.The hypothesis was put more technically by one delegate at a congress on biocommunication held in Aspen, Colorado, in 1973: 'There is evidence for solid-state electron conduction mechanisms in living systems, which could easily be adapted to the reception of electromagnetic signals, both low-frequency and high-frequency. . . '
Another delegate had a theory of how genetic changes could come about by an exchange of information within a species or population:
'You can regard DNA molecules as radio-fre-
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quency signal generators, RNA molecules as amplifiers, the cell wall as a noise filter, and enzymes and amino acids as effectors of signals coded in various regions of the spectrum.'
Hitching (1978:154) also reports that the two sensing areas of the
body are the kidneys and the brain.
Moss (1 974:94ff) discusses the use of pranic energy in dowsing, including personal experience. She notes the scholarly Utah State University study of dowsing by Professors Chadwick and Jensen called The Detection of Magnetic Fields Caused by Groundwater, which she feels is the best scientific explanation of dowsing.
We quote from Susy Smith's fine chapter on dowsing (1975: 110-111):
But when Roberts asked him, Henry Gross, 800 miles away in Maine, challenged these assumptions. Using a fresh-cut forked twig, he dowsed maps and revealed the general locations of domes of fresh water in four sources in Bermuda. Now, while there are many wells on the island, most give salty, brackish water. Only several produce palatable water for a few households. But pure fresh water gushed up where Gross had dowsed on his map in Maine.The Bermudian article concludes: 'Kenneth Roberts had proved his point: the dowsing rod works even at long distance, provided it is in the hands of a skilled operator. The author then returned to Maine to conduct additional map-dowsing exploits with Henry.'
Another remarkable case of long-distance dowsing was published in the Revue Spirite in 1932. The previous January, Father Frastre, head of a mission station on Yule Island off the New Guinea coast, had visited Switzerland. While he was there, he called upon the celebrated dowser L'Abbe Mermet. After explaining the difficulties of surviving on the isolated island with its indifferent water supply, Frastre asked if the Abbe could find fresh springs on the island.
Meret then dowsed with his pendulum beyond the opposite edge of the photograph. Father Frastre made careful notes of the dowser's statements about the location, volume, and lime content of a stream in that direction as yet unknown to the missionaries. Soon afterward, he sailed back to Yule Island.
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Eight months later, the priest wrote the letter published in the Revue Spirite, saying that the missionaries had indeed found the stream at the location specified by Mermet and that an analysis of the water sent to Paris indicated a lime content nearly identical to that predicted by the Abbe.
Rawcliffe (1952:333-366) devotes three chapters to dowsing, tests
for it, and "radiathesia." While he is antagonistic to the phenomena, he
offers no explanation of incidents which he accepts as verified.
After an entire book devoted to the subject of dowsing, Barrett and Besterman (1968:275) state:
... the conclusion to which we believe an impartial student of the facts set out in this book must come. The dowser, in our opinion, is a person endowed with a subconscious supernormal faculty, which, its nature being unknown, we call, after Professor Richet, cryptesthesia.
Cryptesthesia comes from the Greek meaning "hidden perception."
We would add that the dowser's rod thus joins the Ouida board, hypnotic
spells, drugs, meditation, and so on, as another device for arousing the
activity of the right cerebral hemisphere while the left is in abeyance,
and so contacting what we have elsewhere designated (Gowan 1975:3) the
"collective preconscious" or the "numinous." It is, as the above authors
have said, a latent subconscious cognitive power which seems to run in
families, but which is capable of some development in most people.
Some dowsers can "see" hidden underground water and minerals, not just "feel" it through the tug of the stick. Vision through opaque objects is a cosmogenic siddhi treated under section 4.3, so it is probable that dowsing is the "little brother" of a larger talent, just a general sensitivity precedes actual sight in animal protoplasm.
Hitching (1967:67) reports that dowsing for land mines was used very successfully in Vietnam, and quotes L. Matacia:
I'm damn sure I personally wouldn't go anywhere in battle without using dowsing, and it must have gotten the same way for the boys out there.(page 90)In the case of Vietnam, there was essentially the sense of need
which is supposed to be at the back of all successful dowsing. However, at the experimental level, there have been two important scientific surveys (described in detail elsewhere in the book) which seem to have shown conclusively that most of us can dowse to a surprisingly sensitive level. Professor Yves Rocard in Paris found that nearly 70 percent and Dr. Zaboj Harvalik in Lorton, Virginia, found that nearly 90 percent of all people tested were able to obtain a dowsing reaction when asked to identify a small change in the earth's magnetic field.Tom Graves, who conducts a course on dowsing at Kensington Institute, a further education college run by the Inner London Education Authority, is even more emphatic: 'Anyone can dowse. It's just a skill which, like any other, can be learned with practice, awareness, and a working knowledge of basic principles and mechanics - a skill which you can use as and when you need.'
Dowsing is explained by Brunler, quoted by Mann (1973: 114), as
due to a biocosmic energy, or para-magnetic quality which surrounds human
beings. This notion ties in with Reich's views on orgone energy (ibid)
and Reichenbach's views concerning od.
Reichenbach in The Odic Force explains dowsing as due to od which is created by flowing water. The flow of the water produces pranic energy much as the flow of electricity produces a magnetic field. This energy field interacts with the human bioenergetic field to tell the dowser where water will be found.
Dowsing (called radiesthesia, or sensitivity to radiations) is widely practiced in the Soviet Union, and Ostrander and Schroeder (1970:176ff) devote a whole chapter to it. The Russians believe there is a force field of unknown origin to which living organisms react.
For recent developments in Russia where dowsing is much better accepted,
we quote Benson Herbart in Parapsychological Review (9:4:15, July,
1978):
Highly detailed and technical papers on the 'biophysical effect' or 'BPE' (dowsing) continue to appear in the USSR, always for the practical use of locating underground ores, oil, and water. A.G. Bakirov, of the Polytechnic Institute of S. M. Kirov in Tomsk, authored such an article in the Newspaper of the Order of the October Revolution and of theRed Banner, claiming(page 91)
that by means of BPE, deposits of ore can be outlined, tectonic ruptures traced, and depths of deposits gauged. Chromite deposits down to a depth of 900 meters were located in the Orenburgsk region; at Letnyeye, an agglomeration of copper pyrites was revealed under a surface drift of porphyrites. Lixiviated magnesite-bearing serpentinites did not yield any BPE reaction, while ochres and nickel-bearing deposits reacted strongly in the hyperbasalt Kempircaisky massif.
The Russians favor a rod shaped like an automobile startinghandle, held at each end, which easily turns, the hands performing a cranking action. BPE reactions are measured by the number of turns made per meter walking distance. Compared to the rate for steel rods, aluminum rods operate at halfspeed and brass at quarter-speed. These relative rates apply to dowsing in cars and helicopters as well as on foot. Among the smaller countries of Eastern Europe, dowsing research is most active in Czechoslovakia.
A magnetic explanation for dowsing is given by Barnothy, 1964:281
) :
We are not the first to have reported the sensitivity of a dowser to a magnetic field. According to a very old book, when the Abbot of Vallemont - in reality the Reverend Father Le Lorrain, S. J., Professor of Physics at College Louis le Grand - places a lodestone before a well-known dowser, 'the rod moves.' S.J. Tromp ('Psychical Physics') causes the dowser to operate with artificial magnetic fields. Joseph Wust finds magnetic anomalies on the ground where the dowsers react. However, none of these authors connects these effects with the detection of water.It appears to us that one may provisionally conclude that the dowser does not detect still water in a pond or running water in a river, but he can detect
a. water filtering through porous media, and
b. water in permeable layers adjacent to beds of clay, since in these two cases water produces electric currents through electrofiltration potential and concentration batteries. If the medium is sufficiently conducting, and the current in the soil is sufficiently high, then there exists at the surface of the soil a small magnetic anomaly.
While the "natural" explanations of dowsing are helpful in understanding
this ancient phenomenon, they emphasize the
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remarkable ability (latent in most persons) of reacting prototaxically through skin changes in potential to minute natural anomalies in electromagnetic charge. It is another example of the skin "knowing things" which do not ordinarily percolate into consciousness. The accomplished dowser may merely be an individual who has perfected his conscious attention to this somatic knowledge. Perhaps it is as Walt Whitman said, "We are all the greatest poets, but only the greatest poets are conscious of the fact." If this be true of dowsing, it may very well be true of all the other exotic factors of intellect we are studying, and especially so of healing.
3.03) Siddhis (Psychic Powers)
Anyone who begins to investigate the exotic factors of intellect and to read the literature on unusual powers of some advanced humans, has his attention immediately drawn to the Hindu "siddhis" or miraculous powers. There are several reasons for this:
1 ) There is more available material,Under these circumstances, anyone who hopes to develop a taxonomy of the exotic factors of intellect is virtually compelled to build on the Hindu model.
2) The material is more extensive and covers more powers,
3) The material is presented in a more orderly fashion,
4) Whereas other traditions (e.g., Christian) present the powers as theophanous graces, the siddhis literature presents them as abilities acquired by certain specific practices.
Before going further, it may be well to state the author's personal views in a kind of caveat. The siddhis involve the use of universal force for personal interest in which there is great danger. The danger consists in that knowledge gives power which may come ahead of purification of selfish ego interests, always demanded in every monastic tradition. The use of universal power for selfish interests is magic and is proscribed by almost all religious leaders. Hence, many of them advise that no willful effort be made to encourage siddhis, and no particular attention be paid to them when they occur as epiphenomena of the developing consciousness, lest fixation on product, rather than attention to process occur. Our attention to them in this section is a research effort, and does not constitute a recommendation to attempt to develop them.
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There are some catalogs of these powers and abilities. Bro (1970) enumerates
the powers of the American paragnost, Edgar Cayce (We interpolate the relevant
section numbers in all of the following):
1) commune with dead (3. 1)Saraydarian (1971:220ff) gives the following list of "expanded powers":
2) receive psychic impressions (3.0)
3) see auras (3.5)
4) perform automatisms (3.1)
5) act on people and things (4.4, 4.5)
6) have out-of-body experiences (3.2)
7) possess precognition (4.71)
8) possess retrocognition (4.71)
9) prophecy (4.71)
10) work wonders Al, 4.4, 4.5)
11) guide (4.77) 12) heal Al, 4A
1) intuitive response to ideas (4.77)We give Montagu's (1950:79) nineteen signs of the physical phenomena of mysticism:
2) sensitivity to impressions (3.0)
3) right observation of reality on soul plane (4.4)
4) quick response to real need (4.6)
5) correct manipulation of force (4.5)
6) true comprehension of time element (4.71)
7) mental polarization (4.6)
8) fiery aspiration (4.7)
9) symbolic reading (4.72)
10) devotion to higher self (4.6)
11) continuity of consciousness, lucidity (4.8)
12) conscious contact with guru (4.9)
1) ecstasies (4.6)(page 94)
2) stigmata (3.4)
3) levitation (3.8)
4) bilocation (3.2)
5) luminosity (3.5)
6) inedia (no need for food) (3.6)
7) "non-somnia" (no necessity for sleep), (3.6)
8) "spiritual (precognitive) dreams (4.71)
9) visions and apparitions (4.2)
10) clairvoyance (3.2)
11) vision through opaque bodies (4.3)
12) infused knowledge (4.7)
13) discernment of spirits (4.77)
14) gift of healing (4.1, 4.4)
15) empery over nature (4.5)
16) demonical molestation (poltergeist phenomena)
17) fire of love (psychic heat), (3.3)
18) mystic marriage (4.8)
19) postmortem incorruption (3.7)
The list of siddhis according to Swami Sivananda (1971: 152) includes
the following major eight:
1) Anima, (miniturization) (3.9)
2) Mahima (giantism), (3.9)
3) Laghima (levitation), (3.8)
4) Garima (the opposite of #3), (3.9)
5) Prapti (prophecy, clairvoyance, and thought-reading)
6) Prakamya (invisibility), (3.9)
7) Vashitam (empery over animals), (4.5)
8) Ishitwarn (attainment of divine power).
Minor siddhis include the following (ibid:154-5)
1-3) Independence from Bodily Functions (3.6)
4,5) Clairvoyance, clairaudience
12) Knowledge of past, present, and future (4.7)
14) Prophecy
19) Knowledge of past lives
20) Knowledge of the stars
22) Mastery of the elements (4.5)
24) Omnipotence
25) Levitation (3.8)
26) Dowsing (3.2)
It is interesting to compare Tables
II-1 and III-1
first
to note the very considerable correspondence, and second to note entries
in one table which do not appear in the other. Since Table II-1 is mainly
from Western sources, and Table III-1 from Eastern, one
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TABLE III-I PATANJALI'S YOGA SUTRA BOOK III ON SUPERNORMAL POWER
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may speculate that items found in only one table are cultural rather than universal powers. For example, 3.1, 3.3, and 3.4 (physical mediumship, thermal effects, and stigmata) are not spoken of in Patanjali. In the case of the first two, it may be because they are considered rather common there; in the case of stigmata, there seems to be no parallel outside of Christianity. Similarly sutras 26 and 27 (index 4.0) (astronomical knowledge), may well have been considered an intuitional grace by the Hindus; Western astronomy has made it a science. There are a few other differences in emphasis, but over all, there is a remarkable similarity in the two tables. Almost all the Patanjali sutras are represented somewhere. We left out sutra 46 (to get a perfect adamantine body) because it "comes" naturally as a result of perfection and does not appear to require samyama. It is also to be remarked that some Christian saints acquire siddhis "en passant" or without conscious performance of samyama. Evidently at certain levels, siddhis appear spontaneously.
Let us turn to Patanjali'sYoga Sutras (Aranya 1977), Book III (on paranormal powers) for the authoritative statement on samyama, (or the mechanism for the production of the siddhis. In the following, since we will follow the text closely, the Arabic number is the page and the Roman the sutra number.
"Dharama or attention is the mind's fixation on a particular point in space:" (278-I), (e.g., the navel, the heart, the nose, the tongue). "In the case of intra-organic regions, the mind is fixed directly through intermediate feeling, but in the case of external objects (sounds, forms, etc.), the mind is fixed, not directly but through modifications of the senses." "These three, viz. dharama (fixity), dhyana (meditation) and samadhi (concentration) taken together is (sic) called samyama," (283-IV). "By this samyama the three-fold mutation is directly realized. But these are external with respect to seedless concentration," (samadhi), (287-VIII).
The three gunas are tamas (e.g., mass, inertia), rajas (e.g., activity, energy), and sattva (e.g., lightness, intelligence). The gunas are a basic triplicity, not defined by their examples, and in continual change. "The product of gunas (or three basic constituent principles) is always mutable:" (288-IV), since: "mutation is the nature of the gunas:" (303). "There is no cause:", it being a fundamental characteristic of all phenomena," for "everything
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is essentially every other thing," (308). Thus to get a mental grasp on such a slippery concept one must look at group theory in which a particular finite group (viz, the group of three, e.g., ABC, ACB, BAC, BCA, CAB, CBA) has six different modes or appearances, which may permute into one another. One cannot usefully dwell on these changes, only on the whole group.
Further reflection on this topic indicates that perhaps the gunas may
appear 'in four phases and may operate independently. If so, the repetitions
of four things taken three at a time would be 43
or 64, which, of course, brings us back to the I-Ching.
3.1) Physical Mediumship: Materializations, psychokinesis, apports
The stipulated facts in this remarkable constellation include a medium: generally a woman of child-bearing age, who goes into a trance, (a state of immobility and ego-excursion), with usual amnesia as to events of the seance which involves a group of sitters (usually in a darkened room), and a (disembodied) voice (not the medium's) called a control which acts as a master of ceremonies for the events that ensue. Hundreds of books have been written about these activities, by some very famous sitters (e.g., William James, Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Balfour, to name only a few).
Under this heading we will discuss physical mediumship and possession (including communication with the dead), psycho-
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kinesis, materializations, poltergeist phenomena, apports, and some concluding remarks. Many of these areas have been very extensively treated in the literature, so we shall concentrate on explanations rather than the mere detail of phenomena.
3. 10) Mediumship and Possession
The "possessor" of the medium is called the control. Usually, this is
presumed to be a departed person and, usually, identifies him/herself as
such. The control possesses power (presumably drawn from the medium
and/or the sitters in the seance). The medium is almost always in a cataleptic
trance and usually has no memorability of what went on during the seance.
With regard to these relationships, Susy Smith in a biography of the excellent
medium, Mrs. Leonard, (1964:238ff) had this to say:
Mediums often speak of this condition variously as power or light. What might, perhaps, be the same thing in a denser form is called ectoplasm. Thomas says, 'This psychic emanation is an intermediary which is sufficiently akin to the substance of the Beyond to be usable by discarnates, and sufficiently akin to our matter to affect it under certain conditions. These conditions are in operation when a communicator makes use of it to levitate, say, a table in the seance room, or to speak at a trumpet-voice seance. There have been but few scientific investigations to learn its actual properties.' Drayton Thomas continues that when the late Dr. Osty was studying the medium Rudi Schneider in Paris he became convinced that Rudi could, at times, produce something which, although invisible and intangible, obscured infrared rays.(page 99)Thomas goes on: 'A group of investigators, wishing to verify this, invited Rudi to London for a series of experiments at the rooms of the Society for Physical Research. Their findings are recorded in the Proceedings for June, 1933, from which the following quotations are taken: On nearly every occasion many movements of the galvanometer coil were recorded.... These movements of the galvanometer coil, which confirm Osty's discovery, are very remarkable.... In addition, the bell in series with a selenium cell rang on two or three occasions, indicating an absorption of at least 50% of the infrared radiation. Whatever it is that affects the galvanometer, or bell circuits, appears to emanate from Rudi, since the ray absorption sometimes synchronized with his breathing and sometimes took place immediately after he said it would.
We quote from work elsewhere (1974:193-8) where the subject is discussed extensively:
"The possession of a human being by a demon or disincarnate spirit smacks so much of witchcraft, primitive animism, and outmoded superstition that it is particularly objectionable to Western researchers as an explanation or topic for psychological analysis. The alternative psychoanalytically-oriented construct that repressed and despised aspects of the psyche become so numerous and so strong in the subconscious that they take over the conscious persona is also a possibility, provided we credit the collective preconscious with enlarged powers. Nevertheless, the first construct appears useful in understanding noted cases of mediumship, which appears to be some kind of a way station between the frightening dissociation of schizophrenia, and the professional benign control of dissociation by a medical hypnotist.
"Myers, the great authority on mediumship, devotes a chapter to the subject in his Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death, and notes the close relationship of trance possession to motor automatisms in the following definition (1961:345):
Possession is a more developed form of motor automatism in which the automatists own personality does for the time altogether disappear, while there is a more or less complete substitution of personality; writing or speech being given by a spirit through the entranced organism (i.o.).
"This kind of trance activity has been known since ancient times;
the Bible, in particular, is full of such accounts. Socrates believed that
this was the source of creative genius. The key question then generally
asked is: 'What (good or evil spirit) is controlling the medium?' While
possession has some similarities to the creative inspiration, automatic
writing, and peak-experience and satori, it differs in a most important
respect, namely that the individual is not only not conscious, but the
spirit seems to have vacated the consciousness, leaving it at the mercy
of whatever comes along.
"Possession is not the same as the conscious excursion of the spirit in ecstasy, rapture, OOB experience, or other mystical adventure, for here the consciousness while sometimes out of the body, and certainly somewhat dissociated, is still able later to
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relate what has happened to it during the interval when the body lay cataleptic. The same conscious awareness is not reported in possession .2
"While most mediums, especially those of a spiritualistic bent, seem to turn up little but banality in their control utterances, (as if the gigantic computer associated with the collective preconscious had executed a 'print dump' order), there are a few mediums who have reported significant veridictical material. Perhaps the most prominent of these is the data collected under the membership of 'Mrs. Piper' (Myers, 1961:347).
"It is significant that her 'sitters' and the alleged disincarnate spirits attending her either were or had been men of distinction in psychical research. Apparently the keenness of the intellects of the sitters and the controls in these instances may do much to improve the quality of the communication, since it is not only the preconscious of the medium which is being tapped. Mrs. Garrett, (1968) another noted psychic, reported that after it was discovered that she had mediumistic powers, she found it necessary to 'be developed' by sitting with Hewitt McKenzie, another eminent psychic researcher. We are unsure as to whether there is a gradual education of the uncontrolled 'not-me' aspects of the preconscious, to a more docile aspect, or whether the 'education' is merely a change of locus within the vast area of the preconscious, (as when several users pool their stored memory drum data on a giant computer). Or it may be that parts of the persona become more personalized and discreet, resulting in a fragmentary personality, or two or more persons. It was William James' conclusion (Myers 1961:382) that Mrs. Piper 'has supernormal powers.' Myers himself was one of her 'sitters' and believed in the genuineness of her phenomena; it is interesting that after his death, he was one of the alleged controls in the phenomena of the next medium, Mrs. Leonard.
"Another noted mediumship far above the usual was that of Mrs. Leonard (Smith 1964). As Smith says in the opening lines of the book (1964:11), 'A great medium is a rare phenomenon, rarer than a great painter or a piano virtuoso.' Mrs. Leonard apparently developed her psychic powers so that her sittings (some of which were with Sir Oliver Lodge) had unusual 'power' and clarity, and her control, a discarnate entity named 'Feda' was very accurate. We cannot in this short space give adequate
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examples of this ability, but we shall discuss one of the most unusual
of Mrs. Leonard's powers - that of 'direct voice.' Direct voice occurs
when (on rare occasions) the supposed disincarnate 'deceased' speaks with
his own voice through the medium, instead of communicating with the control
who then speaks through the medium. There is nothing much in the fact that
this happens, but what is significant is that the content of the D.V. messages
reveals an entirely different personality than that of the control. In
the direct voice protocols (Smith 1964:238), the 'direct voice' supplies
words when Feda asks, corrects Feda in content and pronunciation, contradicts
Feda, expostulates with Feda, is unheard, misheard, or only partly heard
by the control. Some examples:
Feda: It's like being put in charge of a department of boars.No one can read these pages without being powerfully impressed with the conclusion that the direct voice communicator and Feda the control are two distinct entities, and that of the two the communicator is more sophisticated and educated. It is as if the medium were a piano, and there are two players, one much more skilled than the other. The direct voice communicator knows where to find the words in the medium's mind that Feda does not. In other words, he has a bigger vocabulary - certainly one of the prime aspects of personality survival. Smith (1964:229) also provides an explanation of how and why 'direct voice' occurs, and its relationship to the whole mediumistic seance.
D.V.: Borstal.Feda: Admiral Idea, he says.
D.V.: Admirable.Feda: A man once said Feda was a spectrum.
D.V.: Spectre.Feda: What do you call it - an empty sone?
D.V.: Zone.
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"A third and final example of an unusually 'high' control for a medium is the recent 'Seth Material' from the mediumship of Jane Roberts (1970, 1972). If we are to believe Seth, he is a highly evolved entity, far above the usual table-rapping type; certainly his material, while somewhat formal and platitudinous, is generally in keeping with his claims. Seth's statements however, like those of other mediums, can be interpreted in one way as communication from the beyond and can also in another way be represented as communication from parts of the preconscious within.
"Roberts (1970:53) quotes the control Seth saying: 'I do depend upon Robert's willingness to dissociate. There is no doubt that he is unaware at times of his surroundings during sessions.'
"And again in the preface Roberts (1970:viii) quotes from The World of Psychic Phenomena by F.S. Edsall as follows: 'The development of trance personalities or controls seems to depend on subconscious experiences related to the medium's background or environment.'
"in appraising the work of mediums, we should note that in a dissociated way, they are also creative, for through their dissociation, elemental energies become focused. Muldoon and Carrington (1951:20) point up this parallelism in stating "With mediums the imagination becomes a creative power of the first order.'
"Among the automatisms exhibited by mediums and others, the facility of automatic writing deserves some passing attention. In automatic writing, the medium does not usually lose consciousness, and the 'possession' extends only to the hand doing the writing. A great deal of trash has been produced in this way, but it must be admitted that Blake, Madame Guyon (see Underhill 1960:66), Rulman Merswin, and St. Teresa (Underhill 1960:194) were outstanding exceptions. In some celebrated cases (Coleridge, Wordsworth), it becomes difficult to distinguish the seizure of poetic inspiration of genius from automatic script. We can only conclude that automatic writing is a feature of the continuum of psychic development, and not a characteristic of any particular stage.
In line with Van Rhijn's hypothesis, we can posit the close
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connection between dissociation and illness. Dissociation produces illness; indeed, we may almost say that dissociation is illness. Those thoughts and actions which cannot be handled with full symbolic cognition, nor yet acted out through archetypes and sign, must eventually become externalized on the body, which as illness or disease is their residual manner of manifesting.
"Roberts (1970:30) says:
In his discussion on health, Seth has always maintained that illness is the result of dissociated and inhibited emotions. The psyche attempts to get rid of them by projecting them into a specific area of the body ... If really large areas of the self are inhibited, a secondary personality can be formed, grouped around those qualities distrusted and denied by the primary ego ...
"Again Roberts (1970:170) speaking of illness in trance, says:
All illness is almost always the result of another action that cannot be followed through. When the lines to the original action are released and the channels opened, the illness will vanish.
"Let us assume for the moment that mediumistic utterances can be
taken at their face value, and let us examine critically the content of
the messages in contrast to material on similar subjects produced by prophets,
mystics, religious leaders, and 'third-force' writers. One might assume
that those who purport to speak from the other side of the veil might have
some startling disclosures, some irresistible proselyting abilities, or
some grand eloquence and majesty unequalled by mortal rivals. But this
is not the case. The most eloquent descriptions of the afterlife, of man
and his destiny, of the relation of man to the universe have not been written
by spirits, speaking through a medium, but by inspired humans, in an advanced
stage of development. The trance utterances, to be sure, give some hope
that consciousness may survive physical death, but this doctrine is taught
by many religions, and can be adduced, as we have seen in this book, by
psychological analysis. Despite the elevated quality of the material produced
through the mediumship of Mrs. Piper, Mrs. Leonard, and Mrs. Roberts, it
certainly cannot compare with the New Testament, Paradise Lost,
or the writings of Blake, Whitman, Emerson, or Maslow. Everyone is entitled
to
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make of this what he will, but to this writer, these facts are eloquent concerning the restraints imposed by mediumship. And this brings us back to the central fact of possession, that while there may be benefits, there are also severe debits.
"Edmunds (1968:21) explains it as follows:
This accounts for the limited value of the information usually given out by a medium, although she may sincerely believe she is contacting a high spiritual source, for it will almost invariably be found that the new information unknown to others practically never comes through, but is limited to the total contents of the medium's and the sitter's minds.
"We have focused on mediumship because it is the most progressive
and possibly useful aspect of possession. In reviewing the pros and cons
of mediumship, one must ask oneself what has been accomplished. Perhaps
some good has been done if any persons are persuaded that life is not as
circumscribed by the counting house as Scrooge imagined it to be before
being visited by a trio of ghosts. But what has happened to the medium?
Has the experience facilitated or complicated her development? The grave
loss of control of her own organism can hardly be desirable. Why are an
overwhelming preponderance of mediums women? Is there some sexual aspect
at work here? What would happen otherwise to the medium? Is this some sanctioned
expression of the dissociated elements of the self which otherwise might
later explode into schizophrenia? In our analysis of the developmental
forcing of schizophrenia we referred to the rupturing of a placenta. Certainly
there has been a similar rupture of a placental envelope in these cases.
"We have reviewed examples of noted mediumship where (if one cares to believe the allegations) the medium was controlled by high disincarnate types, whose words make sense and give some larger meaning, but such cases are in the minority. Being a medium seems like hitchhiking a ride: you may be lucky and get to your destination, but you may also put yourself at the mercy of undesirable elements. The medium in effect allows her spirit to be invaded for profit, as the prostitute does her body. No one who values the regnancy or integrity of the human being can be happy at either outcome though men may, for expedience, accept the ministrations of both."
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Possession type mediumship has been considered by the Church since classical times as possession by demons. But many mediums claim that the possession is by departed spirits, and some (e.g. Mrs. Roberts, the "Seth" writer) claim that their control is a high disincarnate spirit. A further possibility, not often advocated by mediums, is that the whole range of phenomena of physical mediumship can be looked upon as the manifestations of the etheric (astral) body. We must also note that while mediums seem "possessed" and go into trances during their manifestations, shamans appear to "possess" their spirits in the manner of wizards or magicians, and seldom go "under" during the exercise of their powers. There seems to be a continuum connecting these two positions, with one grading into the other.
For more on mediums see Mitchell 1974:75ff, Smith 1964 (Mrs. P. Leonard); Twigg's autobiography (1972) and Podmore's two volumes on mediums (1902).
The pranic energy to accomplish feats is evidently communicated in some
cases by touch. Smith, quoting Drayton Thomas (1964:239-40), says:
I was first personally impressed by the reality of an emanation when having a table sitting with Mrs. Leonard. My wife and Mrs. Leonard placed their hands lightly on the bamboo table while I took down the letters as they were spelled out by tilts. Then my wife and I exchanged places. Messages of an evidential character were thus produced. When Mrs. Leonard suggested that my wife and I should sit at the table we did so, but no movements followed. Mrs. Leonard then placed her fingers lightly upon the exact center of the table, where it would have been difficult, or probably impossible, for her to move it by pressure. The result was immediate; for the tilts commenced and continued until the medium gradually withdrew her hand. As she did so, the table slowed down and quickly ceased all movement. Again the medium's hand was placed on it as before and again the movements continued. It was a clear demonstration that something essential to the table movement proceeded from Mrs. Leonard and that neither my wife nor I could produce this mysterious something . . .It would seem that this substance calls for further research. It is tempting to suggest that it will eventually be found to play an important part in the processes of physical life, in the baffling regions of sensation and perception, and in all forms of psychic phenomena.
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It may be a substance which links the material with the immaterial and facilitates their interaction. One may even conceive of it as consisting of many grades, some of which interact with matter while others more easily interact with the substance of the realms awaiting our habitation after departure from the earthly body.
Attempting to explain ectoplasm Stern (1976:50) says:
Our guess is that this large degree of ionization was caused by the flow of prana, (cf section 3.5), the basic vital force producing ectoplasm.
In Jung's presence, an electrical engineer had measured the degree of ionization in the vicinity of the medium's body. He found that the ionization was 60 times greater than normal at the point where the ectoplasmic emanation had occurred, but was normal near the other areas of the medium's body.
Tyrrell (1961:165-375) devotes two sections of a large book to a scholarly investigation of mediums and seances. He studies the case of Mrs. Piper, book-tests, and cross correspondences, - among the best of the evidential material. He also devotes a chapter to the possibility of survival after death, as supported by seance communications. Others who have discussed survival include LeShan (1966:232ff), Mitchell (1974:397ff), and Huxley. (White 1972:39) describes the research of Dr. Osis who found upon a survey over 800 doctor's reports of deathbed phenomena involving luminous visions.
3.11) Psychokinesis: (the moving of objects by mind-force).
While psychokinesis occurs with poltergeist phenomena and in possession trance, as well as with trained mediums, it is one of the best documented of the psychic effects, as it can be observed in light and under rigorous conditions of control. Often called PK, it usually consists of the moving of a compass needle or other small objects (such as a match box) on a smooth table (cf. Ostander and Schroeder 1970:420) also, (Krippner 1975: 135ff).
Psychokinesis is considered by some investigators to be a half-way step toward materialization. The object is moved by some (usually invisible) condensation of the aura, or an ecto-
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plasmic pseudopod, or some other etheric exteriorization of the medium, which though invisible, is capable of exerting force. Some quasi-magnetic effects are also noted. The following notices are examples of these concepts.
Dingwall (1962b:181) reports on the physical manifestations of Pallidino, who "drew pieces of furniture toward her, made them float in air and apparently increased or decreased their weight." On another occasion (ibid:195) she materialized a face and upper torso of a young woman for "about twenty seconds."
Dingwall (1962b:205) on another occasion tells of the materialization of human hands, and the transportation of the table and objects on it through the air. Another especially evidential example of PK occurred in light sufficient to see the movement of a table toward and away from the medium at her command (ibid:206).
Gaddis (1976:174ff) discusses the researches of M. R. Coe into PK effects as caused by static electricity (Fate, July 1959). Coe discovered that humans can cause small strips of aluminum foil to move on a very smooth surface by moving hands near them. Best results were obtained with untired operators under conditions of low temperature and humidity, (both of which favor electrostatic conduction). Coe also (ibid:177) found that after training he was able to produce large bluish-white sparks when flying at an altitude of 21,000 feet. (Those with knowledge of physics will at once think of the Crookes tube - he modern neon light - in which luminosity is aided by a partial vacuum.) Coe felt that maybe this is why psychic phenomena are so prevalent in the altitudes of Tibet.
In talking about the remarkable effects produced by the medium, R. Schindler, with psychokinesis, Mann (1973:148) says: "Schindler usually produced a 'substance' sufficiently condensed to be opaque to infrared light."
In the same place, Mann theorizes that the aura of the medium acts as a force field to accomplish the PK effect and describes a Russian demonstrator who accomplished psychokinesis when her "brain and heart pulsed in rhythm with these vibrations in her force field" (quoting Ostrander and Schroeder). Such pulsations may have caused the object to move as if magnetized.
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As Doyle, (1926:246-7) remarks:
The playing upon musical instruments, especially an accordion, under circumstances when it was impossible to reach the notes, was another of the phenomena which was very thoroughly examined and then certified by Crookes and his distinguished assistants. Granting that the medium has himself the knowledge which would enable him to play the instrument, the author is not prepared to admit that such a phenomenon is an absolute proof of independent intelligence. When once the existence of an etheric body is granted, with limbs which correspond with our own, there is no obvious reason why a partial detachment should not take place, and why the etheric fingers should not be placed upon the keys while the material ones remain upon the medium's lap. The problem resolves itself, then, into the simpler proposition that the medium's brain can command his etheric fingers, and that those fingers can be supplied with sufficient force to press down the keys. Very many psychic phenomena, the reading with blindfolded eyes, the touching of distant objects, and so forth, may, in the opinion of the author, be referred to the etheric body and may be classed rather under a higher and subtler materialism than under Spiritualism.
Long (1954:61) quotes the famous Sir William Crookes on his experiences
with PK:
'The instances in which heavy bodies, such as tables, chairs, sofas, etc., have been moved, when the medium was not touching them are very numerous. I will briefly mention a few of the most striking. My own chair has been twisted partly around, whilst my feet were off the floor. A chair was seen by all present to move slowly up to the table from a far corner, when all were watching it; on another occasion an armchair moved to where we were sitting, and then moved slowly back again (a distance of about three feet) at my request. On three successive evenings, a small table moved slowly across the room, under conditions which I had specially pre-arranged, so as to answer any objection which might be raised to the evidence.'
Schmidt (Mitchell 1974:179ff) devotes a summary chapter to psychokinesis,
especially to the North Carolina laboratory experiments on controlling
the fall of dice, in which p= 1/400. More modern PK experiments have involved
computers and radioactive decay, but psychics tend to tire more easily
in these mecha-
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nistic experiments because of the lack of emotion involved. While this kind of statistical PK effect can be demonstrated, it is not very startling and does not seem heuristic.
Schmidt (ibid:189) speculates that PK may affect only the statistical laws of physics and not the conservation laws. It might be that humans have some entropy-reducing power which collapses the state vector of an event and so disqualifies the law of averages from operating, thus apparently producing a miracle. Such a power would give man domination over events and allow him to interfere in his own future. While there is no hard evidence that the mind has this power, a number of saints, gurus, and other advanced humans have indicated that it may be so.
Krippner (1975) has many accounts of PK effects, personally observed.
With regard to the Russian Kulagina, he quotes Pratt as follows, (p. 138):
The block slid about one-half inch forward toward Kulagina, but angled toward her left, then it moved again in the same way about five seconds later. Both Keil and I saw both motions of the block . . . She was not expecting the objects to be placed before her, so she could not have made preparation in advance.
Krippner also describes (p. 199ff) PK effects which he found in
Prague under the heading of "psychotronic energy." Similar to Reich's "orgone
energy" this type of psychic energy appears capable of influencing a magnet,
and of other PK effects. These are described by Krippner in seven different
demonstrations, in which some kind of energy field appears to be generated
by the human body which is capable of affecting objects. Similar descriptions
may also be found in Ostrander and Schroeber (1970).
Krippner (1975:197) describes some remarkable examples of psychokinesis
during his Russian visit. He also describes the research of Pushkin. Pushkin
wrote:
Our preliminary work with ... Ermolaev indicates the presence of psychokinetic phenomena. In a typical experiment, Ermolaev concentrates on a number of objects resting upon a table - a matchbox, a tennis ball, a few pencils. After a period of concentration, Ermolaev directs his attention on one of the objects and it moves from its resting place.
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At times, Ermolaev would lift up a spherical object, such as a tennis ball, squeeze it between his palms, and slowly move his hands apart. On several occasions, the object would remain suspended in space. The distance between Ermolaev's hands could extend as far as eight inches and the object would still remain suspended. Further, it was noted that the greater the surface of the object, the longer it remained suspended in the air.
Pushkin explained these phenomena on the basis of the biogravity hypothesis of Alexander Dubrov. If living systems can produce and control gravitational waves, these waves could move the items on the table and keep the ball suspended in the air. A ball with a greater surface area would remain suspended for a longer period of time because there would be more surface for the gravitational waves to act upon than in the case of balls with less of a surface area. Pushkin noted that autogravity may help to stabilize one's perceptual world, then concluded:
According to the general theory of relativity, gravitation originates in systems in which space has been distorted. Ermolaev is able to distort space to such an extent that a temporary gravitational field is produced in which objects obey his perceptions of them.Moss (1974:114ff) sees psychokinesis as the transmission of bioenergy, prana, through space to make objects move.
For other citations on psychokinesis see Mitchell 1974: 179ff, and Watson, 1974-131ff).
3.12) Materializations
While there are other minor forms of materializations, such as slate writing, etc., we shall devote what space is available to the materialization of a human figure, and its basis in ectoplasm. For ectoplasm, a viscous, sticky substance, extruded from the medium during trance seems to be the basis for all physical phenomena. It can perhaps be viewed like a tulpa as an exteriorization of energy from the body brought on by trance or thought forms.
Holzer (1975:33-4) says that materialization is performed by drawing ectoplasm out of the body of the medium and the sitters. He claims that this is a "gray or whitish albumen substance"
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with a density from "smoke-like to solidity." Moreover it feels "cold and clammy." Light rays of higher frequency than red interfere with the vibratory aspects of ectoplasm, and so are inimical to it. Materialization, according to Holzer, requires complete cooperation between the entranced medium and the departed, who must hold his thought steady in order to animate the ectoplasm; this can only be done for a few minutes at most.
Turvey, (1911, 0969:55) says of this substance:
I seem to make use of the medium's psychic force ... which appears to draw from his wrists or knees as a sort of red sticky matter (part of his energy body). At any rate that is what happened when on one occasion I lifted a bed with two people on it ...Doyle (1926:124-5) discourses upon ectoplasm in a learned chapter from which we can only quote the following:
Apart from such speculations, the solid knowledge of ectoplasm, which we have now acquired, gives us at last a firm material basis for psychic research. When spirit descends into matter it needs such a material basis, or it is unable to impress our material senses.This new precise knowledge has been useful in giving us some rational explanation of those rapping sounds which were among the first phenomena to attract attention. It would be premature to say that they can only be produced in one way, but it may at least be stated that the usual method of their production is by the extension of a rod of ectoplasm, which may or may not be visible, and by its percussion on some solid object. It is probably that these rods may be the conveyors of strength rather than strong in themselves, as a small copper wire may carry the electric discharge which will disintegrate a battleship. In one of Crawford's admirable experiments, finding that the rods were coming from the chest of his medium, he soaked her blouse with liquid carmine, and then asked for raps upon the opposite wall. The wall was found to be studded with spots of red, the ectoplasmic protrusion having carried with it in each case some of the stain through which it passed. In the same way table-tilting, when genuine, would appear to be due to an accumulation of ectoplasm upon the surface, collected from the various sitters and afterwards used by the presiding intelligence. Crawford surmised that the
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extrusions must often possess suckers or claws at the end, so as to grip or to raise, and the author subsequently collected several photographs of these formations which show clearly a serrated edge at the end that would fulfill such a purpose.Crawford paid great attention also to the correspondence between the weight of the ectoplasm emitted and the loss of weight in the medium. His experiments seemed to show that everyone is a medium, that everyone loses weight at a materializing seance, and that the chief medium only differs from the others in that she is so constituted that she can put out a larger ectoplasmic flow.
In Crawford's experiments it was usual for the medium to lose as much as 10 or 15 pounds in a single sitting - the weight being restored to her immediately the ectoplasm was retracted. On one occasion the enormous loss of 52 pounds was recorded.
Doyle (1926:115ff) describes further the enlightening experiments
made by Dr. W. J. Crawford of Queens University, Belfast, in regard to
the nature of ectoplasm and its use in various psychic manifestations:
Doyle (1926:118) commenting on the ectoplasm experiments says:
To understand fully the conclusions he arrived at, his books must be read, but here we may say briefly that he demonstrated that levitations of the table, raps on the floor of the room, and movements of objects in the seance room, where due to the action of 'psychic rods,' or, as he came to call them in his last book, 'psychic structures,' emanating from the medium's body. When the table is levitated these 'rods ' are operated in two ways. If the table is a light one, the rod or structure does not touch the floor, but is 'a cantilever firmly fixed to the medium's body at one end, and gripping the under surface or legs of the table with the free or working end.' In the case of a heavy table, the reaction instead of being thrown on the medium is applied to the floor of the room, forming a kind of strut between the under surface of the levitated table and the floor. The medium was placed in a weighing scale, and when the table was levitated an increase in her weight was observed.
I have compared the whitish, cloud-like appearance of the matter in the structure with photographs of materialization phenomena in all stages obtained with many different mediums
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all over the world, and the conclusion I have come to is that this material very closely resembles, if it is not identical with, the material used in all such materialization phenomena. In fact, it is not too much to say that this whitish, translucent, nebulous matter is the basis of all psychic phenomena of the physical order. Without it in some degree no physical phenomena are possible. It is what gives consistence to the structures of all kinds erected by the operators in the seance chamber; it is, when properly manipulated and applied, that which enables the structures to come into contact with the ordinary forms of matter with which we are acquainted.
Describing the formation of ectoplasm, Doyle (1962:118-9) quotes
a report of Dr. Geley:
A substance emanates from the body of the medium (through the pores and other natural orifices); it externalizes itself, and is amorphous ... in the first instance. This substance takes various forms ... We may distinguish 1) the substance as a substratum of materialization, and 2) its organized development. Its appearance is generally announced by the presence of fluid, white, and luminous flakes ... The substance itself emanates from the whole body of the medium ... The substance occurs in various forms, sometimes as ductile dough, . . sometimes as numerous thin threads ... sometimes as a membrane, as a fabric, or as a woven material ... In some cases it completely envelopes the medium as a mantle ... It may increase or decrease in succession ... It is cold, sometimes viscous and sticky ... and is mobile ... The substance is sensitive to light. Every impression received through the ectoplasm reacts on the medium and vice versa.
Turvey (1969:43), a medium, describes this vital force as red sticky
matter." Compare this with the following quotation about aka the
shadowy body of the subconscious) from Long's discussion of Kahuna practices
(1954:138-9):
It is of such a nature that it sticks to whatever we touch ... and when removed from the contact, draws out a long invisible thread of itself, which connects with the thing contacted ... This substance is an ideal conductor of vital electrical force ... When heavily charged ... it becomes rigid and firm enough to be used as a 'hand' or instrument to move and affect physical objects.
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Further, (ibid: 127):
When I had associated the shadowy body or aka with the subconscious
spirit, and had considered the several root meanings of a-ka, I
discovered that the thing that was 'sticky' was the shadowy body . . .
The root ka means a cord ...
The reader who wishes further information on materializations will find an excellent chapter in Long (1967:201-223), which describe the way Hawaiian kahunas produce the effect. The chapter discusses full and partial materializations of both humans and animals, changes in normal size, and both permanent and ephemeral materialized clothing.
Richet (1923), the famous French explorer of the psychic, was responsible
for coining the word "ectoplasm," the sticky (cf "aka"), ropy, materialized
substance which emanated from the medium's body during trance, and forms
itself into both inanimate objects and phantoms, melting away back into
the body of the medium. Richet had many seances with Palladino, one of
which (1923.496) was dignified by Mme. Curie. In subdued light Richet felt
the ectoplasm form itself into a real hand which melted away in his grasp.
He says of these phenomena (p. 499):
We can assign three phases to these exteriorized phenomena, a first stage in which they are invisible, a second in which they begin to become visible, but are still more or less amorphous, and a third stage in which they take on the semblance of a living organism surrounded by veils which at first mask the imperfections of form, but become thinner as the underlying form becomes more dense.
In another seance with Pallidino, an Italian professor experienced
the "crucial test of an ectoplasmic hand melting away in his grasp" (p.
500). In still another case, wax models of ectoplasmic hands were obtained
(p. 543, 545). "By reason of the narrowness of the wrists, these moulds
could not be obtained from living hands, for the whole hand would have
had to be withdrawn through the narrow opening . . . In the moulds here
considered ... they were produced by a materialization followed by dematerialization
. . ."
In Richet's view ( 923:442) "Telekinesis is the first phase of materialization." (Telekinesis is his word for PK.) All of the objective (material) manifestations of psychic power are connected:
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First raps and noise, then telekinesis leading to levitation, then extrusion of ectoplasm which now becomes visible ending in animate forms. In some cases of levitation of small objects (scissors, ball, cf photograph), Richet (1923:425-8) a thread appears. But this is ectoplasmic thread (much like the "silver cord" of OBE); if "cut with scissors, its continuity is immediately restored" (p. 428). It "seems to be thinner than ordinary thread" and "starts from the fingers." Richet also quotes (ibid) Palladino, who having levitated a glass exclaimed: "The thread, look at the thread! Peretti took the thread and pulled it; it broke, and suddenly disappeared."
Richet (ibid:430) reports the experiments of Crawford (Experiments
in Psychical Science, Watkins, London, 1919) who concluded after careful
experiments with weight distribution between a medium and a levitated table
that the total weight remained constant, and that ectoplasm extruded from
the medium accomplished the feat. He said, "It is invisible, though it
has weight, gives sensation on contact, and makes an imprint on plastic
or colored substances." In another experiment, Richet (ibid: 511)
describes ectoplasm as:
A whitish substance, that creeps as if alive, with damp, cold, protoplasmic extensions that are transformed under the eyes of the experimenters into a hand, fingers, a head or even an entire figure.
On p. 523, after noting his coining of the word, he describes ectoplasm
as a "kind of gelatinous protoplasm, formless at first, that exudes from
the body of the medium and takes form later." On p. 523, he again describes
it as "a whitish steam, perhaps luminous, taking the shape of gauze or
muslin. . . "
Johnson (1953:244) in a chapter on materializations and physical mediumship
describes Osty's experiments with the medium Rudi Schneider in an investigation
of psychokinesis. The object to be moved was protected by an infra-red
beam, which would ring a bell, which would activate a flashlight photograph:
The bell did ring, sometimes for a half-minute or more... the photo showed the medium sitting in his usual position, fully controlled. Whatever obstructed the beam was not a solid obstacle... A significant fact was observed. When the beam was partially obscured, the galvanometer spot of light moved
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in sympathy with the respiratory rate of the entranced medium . . . Some invisible substance with appreciable infra-red absorption appeared to be produced, and its production was shown to be associated with the physiological process of respiration in the medium.
This testimony again points to the formation of an invisible ectoplasm.
Some of the startling materializations during experiments with the medium
Kluski are described by Smith (1975:231):
But all these were just preliminaries. In the main event, according to the witnesses, entire spirit forms were seen walking or floating around the room. These were occasionally captured on photographs by using magnesium flares for lighting. When the photographs were developed, they showed both the materializations and the medium, and this is important. But if you still think Kluski was somehow managing to impersonate these other entities, listen to this: Soon, in walked a lion, then a Neanderthal man, and then an elderly Assyrian priest. They were followed by dogs; cats; squirrels; a mink; and a large bird of prey which the photographer managed to catch in a picture, sitting on top of the medium's shoulder. The dogs jumped up on the laps of sitters and licked their faces.Smith adds that Prof. Richet, in order to prove that the actual materializations did take place and were not hallucinations, made paraffin wax models of hands, which could not be removed except by dematerialization; these were found to be genuine.
Richet (1923:524) gives a particularly telling illustration of the stability and, hence, the reliability of ectoplasmic materialization by comparing two accounts of work with the same medium thirteen years apart:
(page 117)
To confirm the authenticity of the phenomena, I cannot do better than reproduce side by side the notes taken by me in 1906 and those published by Geley in 1920. 1 have changed nothing in either. We experimented quite separately with Marthe, I in 1906 and Geley in 1910. We did not communicate our notes to each other
C. RicHET's NOTES (1906).
On the ground a small white tract which grows, makes an ovoid mass, and puts forth a prolongation. This mounts on the arm of the chair. At this moment there are visible two horns like those of a snail which seem to direct the movements. A lower mass, X, on the ground; and an upper mass, B, united to the former, which has climbed over the arm of the chair. I can look at this formation from a very short distance. The stem is greyish white, with swellings like an empty snake-skin. The mass X is on Marthe's knees, while the mass B spreads itself on the floor like an amoeba. The mass X is greyish, gelatinous, and barely visible. It is then on Marthe's knees. Little by little it seems to split into digits at its end. It is like the embryo of a hand, ill-formed but clear enough to enable me to say that it is a left hand seen from the back. Fresh progress: the little finger separates almost completely: then the following changes, very quick but very clear: a hand with closed fingers, seen from the back, with a little finger extended, an ill-formed thumb, and higher up a swelling that resembles the carpal bones. I think I see the creases in the skin.
GELEY's NOTES. "FROM THE UNCONSCIOUS TO THE CONSCIOUS," 1919.
"From the mouth of Eva there descends to her knees a cord of white substance of the thickness of two fingers; this ribbon takes under our eyes varying forms, that of a large perforated membrane, with swellings and vacant spaces; it gathers itself together, retracts, swells, and narrows again. Here and there from the mass appear temporary protrusions, and these for a few seconds assume the form of fingers, the outline of hands, and then reenter the mass. Finally the cord retracts on itself, lengthens to the knees, its end rises, detaches itself from the medium and moves towards me. I then see the extremity thicken like a swelling, and this terminal swelling expands into a perfectly modelled hand. I touch it; it gives a normal sensation; I feel the bones, and the fingers with their nails. Then the hand contracts, diminishes, and disappears in the end of the cord." (Page 57, English translation.)
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Although generally ectoplasm melts away, there appear exceptional circumstances where this is not so. R ichet (1923:509) tells of a seance where Richet cut the hair of an apparition, which had previously promised that he should do this. The hair upon examination turned out to be human hair.
Richet makes an admirable reporter of the psychic, because while he
is willing to admit that such phenomena exist, he is careful not to admit
any cases not scrupulously investigated. In his conclusion (1923:623) he
rejects three hypotheses:
1) that they are due to activities of the dead,2) that they are due to activities of angels or spirits,
3) that they are due to unknown powers of the human body and mind.
In fine, he states that though the effects are real, he has no hypothesis
to account for them.
But perhaps Prof. R ichet was too hasty in rejecting hypothesis three. The theme of this book is that the powers of man are unlimited, and surely unlimited power implies all the manifestations for which the good Professor was at a loss to account. Or to look at it another way, if the concept of individual and separate human personality is at bottom an illusion (as is the concept of time and space), then when phenomena eventuate in ultimate reality, we must not be surprised that they present an enhanced and transcended aspect of intelligence which seems more divine than human. As is usual with dilemmas, the problem is in the erroneous assumptions which (while they may hold in the partial realm of sensuous reality) do not hold in the plenum of ultimate reality.
Perhaps we can make some progress in understanding these extraordinary phenomena by looking at them in the light of the Pribram-Bohm hologram theory, which states that what we perceive is but a virtual image of a hologram already imprinted on the brain. It is thus possible to imagine a meta-event or paraprocedure (these words are not adequate since the situation is outside time and space) in which there is a brief theophany of some aspect of ultimate reality. This opening, however, falls upon minds unprepared for it, - that is upon a clouded hologram in the brain - and what has to happen in the physical world of
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effect is a "saving of appearances," - a perturbed re-arrangement of' matter, something like the awkward execution of a sudden military order by troops not quite accustomed to it.
3.13) Poltergeist Phenomena
Poltergeist phenomena (raps, knocks, fires, general vandalism without physical agent), appear associated with lonely children near or at the age of adolescence. While scary, they do not last long, and often disappear when a better and more loving relationship is established in the home. They are quite similar to the molestation of budding saints, often ascribed to demonic forces.
Persinger and Lafreniere (1977:108) catalog a number of instances. Sample cases included:
1) - 1790/Wizzard's Clip, West Virginia/object movements, animals drop dead, apports.2) - 1820/__, Tennessee/peak of the "Bell Witch" period; object movements, voices, death associated with unusual forces.
3) - October, 1873/Menomonie, Wisconsin/objects move; dresses ripped to thin shreds.
4) - June, 1880/Essex, England/beds move; furniture moves, shadows seen.
5) - August, 1883/Cedarville, Georgia/objects move, pebbles move in presence of fifteen-year-old girl; dishes smashed; raps heard.
6) - September, 1889/Clarendon, Quebec, Canada/rocks move, fires, hair pulled, objects move.
7) - March, 1892/Chicago, Illinois/objects moved, jewels smashed, curtains ripped; nine-year-old girl sick.
8) - February, 1905/parts of England/outbreak of several poltergeist activities.
9) -December, 1921 /Budapest, Hungary/fires break out; furniture moved in presence of thirteen-year-old boy.
10) - February, 1952/Johannesburg, South Africa/bed sheets shredded; objects moved in house, household attacked by "force."
11) - February, 1958/Seaford, Long Island, New York/ objects move; bottles pop off caps, etc.
12) - January, 1963/Edmonton, Alberta, Canada/objects move; blankets move; pounding sound.
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13) - 1972/Detroit, Michigan/drawers moved; holes in wall; knocking sounds.
From work elsewhere (1974:22) we quote:
"Closely allied to the former, these consist of rappings, knocks, occasional apports or stones, and sometimes mischievous tricks. In this case, the generalized preconscious seems to be stirred up by the growing pains of a somewhat abnormal preadolescent child, just on the throes of adolescence. (The Periodic Developmental Stage Column I possibilities of psychic manifestations should be noted.) The onset of adolescent sexual function usually ends such activities.
"Garrett (1949:147-155) regards poltergeist phenomena as a crude type of haunting, where the dissociated phantasm tries to get the attention of an adolescent through knocking and other psychic manifestations to bring his suit to the attention of the living. Often some long forgotten fancied wrong produces the phenomena, and the passage noted is eloquent on the necessity of gentle forgiveness and release (instead of horror and fright) on the part of the human participant. (It is a little like giving alms to a beggar). When Garrett questioned a phantasm as to why it manifested to an adolescent, the phantasm replied that the adolescent was nicer than other members of the family, and more likely to pay attention to the phenomena. Garrett (1949:156), after commenting sagely on the pitiable state of phantasm she 'exorcised,' sums up the 'not-me' or dissociated aspects of the situation: "
Dissociation has been considered an abnormality and a destructive condition in the lives and personalities of many sensitive individuals. But it would be well to remember that every normal person has his moments of dissociation in fantasy and daydream. Is it possible that such dissociation can continue after death? And if this is so, would it not help to clear up some of the mystery attached to the phantom and to hauntings?
Poltergeist phenomena often involve spontaneous fires. Persinger
and Lafreniere (1977:106) catalog some of these:
Incidents concerned with spontaneous or sudden fires involved sixty-three cases. Only those cases that involved no
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obvious or reasonably obvious source were considered. The frequent association of the phenomenon with a teenage human subject was also apparent in these events. Sample cases involved:
1) - August, 1856/Bedford, England/forty unexplained fires in short period.2) - May, 1878/Bridgewater, England/fires repeatedly start near twelve-year-old female, sounds.
3) - August, 1887/Woodstock, New Brunswick, Canada/ forty fires in house in short period; child found in flames.
4) - 1905/parts of England/spontaneous fire episodes; noises, explosions in surrounding area.
5) - August, 1929/Antigua, West Indies/girls' clothes flame; no burns found on body.
6) -1939/Borley Rectory, England/famous "Borley Rectory" burns down following episode of spontaneous fires.
7) - 28 March, 1953/Silver Springs, Maryland/accordion catches on fire while eleven-year-old female playing.
8) - August, 1957/Stephenville, Newfoundland, Canada/ many fires erupt in closets, drawers.
9) -August, 1958/Talladega, Alabama/fires near ceiling of house, reddish-blue in color.
10) - 1966/Columbia, South Carolina/bed found on fire; no reason or source.
Gaddis (1967:181ff) has a whole chapter on poltergeist fires which contains numerous accounts of such spontaneous occurrences. Again the prevalence of a teenage agent, often forlorn and alienated, is noted.
It is possible to look at poltergeist phenomena as extreme cases of unstressing, where the energy is exteriorized. (For more on unstressing, see Gowan (1974:123; 1975:31). While this most ordinarily occurs with an alienated youth, it can also occur with a budding saint, as the penalty to be paid for over-rapid progress in spiritual grace, which leaves mis-stored physical energy, (often sexual), unspent. Consider some descriptions of the trials of the Cure of Ars, who believed that these disturbances were due to the Devil himself, (Farges 1926:347):
(page 122)
Sometimes he would knock nails into the floor as with the heavy blows of a hammer, then he would split the wood, plane the boards or saw the paneling, or else bore all night ... or again drum on the table, on the mantelpiece, on the water jug, giving preference to objects that made the largest sound.Sometimes in the lower room the Cure would hear as it were a large escaped horse prancing; it would rise to the ceiling and then descend heavily with its four hooves on the floor. At other times there was a noise as of a large flock of sheep passing over his head. It was impossible to sleep . . . One night when the Cure was more put out than usual he said: 'My God, I would willingly sacrifice a few hours of sleep for the conversion of sinners.' The infernal flock immediately departed, silence reigned, and the poor Cure was able to sleep. We have these details from M.Vianney himself.
After amusing himself by making a terrible din on the stairs, the Devil would enter, catch hold of the curtains of the bed, and shake them with fury, as though he wanted to drag them down . . . It often happened that the evil spirit knocked like someone wanting to come in; a moment later without the door opening, he was in the room, moving the chairs, upsetting the furniture, rummaging everywhere, calling to the Cure in a mocking voice: 'Vianney, Vianney' adding to his name, outrageous adjectives and threats ...
The poltergeist nature of Vianney's molestation is also described
by Johnson (1953:256) who ascribes it to dammed-up psychic energy brought
on by the Cure's unremitting mortifications and sexual abstinence.
In work elsewhere (Gowan 1975:145) we quoted Gaddis (1967:203): on the
causes of poltergeist phenomena:
Such stresses within the subconscious mind, if unrelieved and sufficiently intense, can result in a psychological state known as dissociation ... When these conditions exist, a person can commit acts, including destructive acts representing his repressed frustrations and desires, and then return to his normal self with no conscious memory of what has been done. In poltergeist phenomena we are witnessing the projection and dramatization of subconscious repressed tensions and conflicts ...(page 123)
"Another researcher who believed in the 'poltergeist psychosis' was Fodor (1948), (1959) who 'cured' many such cases by offering love and understanding to the adolescent agent (Gaddis, 1967:205).
"A thorough account of the subject was made by Owens (1964) in Can We Explain the Poltergeist? Some of the reported phenomena make it look as though in some manner the numinous influence (which in concert with the adolescent agent appears to produce the phenomena) does so by increasing the rate of oxidation of inanimate objects in the surround. This increase in oxidation furnishes the heat energy which is then employed in tricks involving mechanical energy, and occasionally in the instances of spontaneous combustion when the oxidation rate is very high.
'In the Parapsychology Review for November-December, 1973, (4:6:4:2), the statement is made that when the psychic Rudi Schneider was stripped and searched as a matter of routine during his performances, it was found that during every exhibition of telekinesis, he had had an orgasm. This fact is extremely suggestive. In particular it points to the chakra center in the genital area as connected with apports, and one is immediately reminded that poltergeist phenomena (also prominently connected with apports) is almost always characterized by the presence of a pubescent adolescent, for whom masturbatory activity would be quite probable. Is it possible that orgasm in trance is the cause of telekinesis?"
The relationship between sexual awakening and poltergeist phenomena
is also discussed by Johnson (1963:255-6) who gives a number of instances.
He quotes Price in an interview with the husband of a young Austrian medium:
. . . who informed him that at the height of his wife's sexual excitement in their early married life, ornaments would sometimes fall off the mantelpiece in their bedroom; also that during menstruation the physical phenomena of mediumship did not occur ...[obviously this is not necessarily a psychic phenomenon! - JCG]
Poltergeist phenomena can be looked upon as an inversion of the
'two-fluid theory' at nearly total disorder. (We may recall that in this
theory, when the entropy is very small, the fluid divides into one part
which contains all the entropy and another
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which is completely free of it). So here, oppositely, one part (the adolescent subject) preserves a semblance of order by exteriorizing a psychic entity of total disorder. In this process the disturbed and unloved adolescent becomes an inferior and spontaneous medium, which catalyses the display of low grade psychic energy.
Others who have discussed poltergeist phenomena include Brown (1972:141-57)
in the Stafford poltergeist; Fodor (1964: 168-9), Johnson (1953:241); Mitchell
(1974:375ff); Osborn (1966:68ff), and Watson (1973:150ff).
3.14) Apports
Apports are small objects either materialized or teleported such as ashes, stones, flowers, etc. Again, there is an extensive literature on the subject, and some of it is evidentiary. Apports, particularly small stones, are frequently experienced in poltergeist phenomena.
As Long (1954:196) tells us:
An apport is something which is dissolved into invisible form at one spot, is carried to a desired place, and solidified to the original state. Spirits of the dead are usually associated with the process.Living creatures have been frequently used as apports, and have ranged from tiny insects through birds, fish, beasts, and men. Hot objects have been apported, and remained hot upon their arrival.
After summarizing a number of cases, Long (1954:200) concludes:
There is no injury done plants, insects, animals or people when they are used as apports, even when brought from a distance and passed through sealed doors into the seance room. By comparison, the use of the same processes to heal a broken bone is but a trifling matter.(page 125)
Yogananda (1977:212) reports that astrally produced objects, such as apports, are evanescent and eventually disappear. Melting of matter into the astral may produce a rumbling sound (ibid: 217).
Persinger and La Freniere (1977:102-3) report:
A significant number of apport cases are involved with stones, buckshot or other objects appearing at about ceiling level and falling. Thirty-eight events were placed in this subcategory. Events were only placed in this category if they predominantly involved the appearance or disappearance of objects. If other classic poltergeist symptoms were evident, the event was classified in the previous subcategory. The geographic distribution of these cases in conjunction with spontaneous fire and opening door/window episodes is shown in Figure 33. Sample cases involved were:
1) - 09 December, 1873/Bristol, England/couple report floor opening; almost engulfed into dark void from which came voices.2) - January, 1888/Caldwell County, North Carolina/ large-stones fall inside closed room.
3) - March, 1929/Newton, New Jersey/buckshot falls from ceiling of garage for days.
4) - 1952/San Bernardino, California/bracelet of unknown metal appears/disappears.
5) - December, 1962/Toledo, Ohio/objects appear/disappear.
6) - May, 1970/Oakland, California/rings disappear from fingers, clocks disappear.
A curious feature concerning apports is that they appear to rematerialize
at about ten feet above the ground. As a result they fall the remainder
of the distance with only moderate speed. This effect augurs for a certain
intelligent consideration in their production.
Susy Smith (1975:214-5) tries for some explanations:
As an answer to the question asked by the title of his writings, 'How Are Apports Brought into the Seance Room?' Bentley states:(page 126)
An apport is something which can be dissolved into its essential particles at one place, carried to another spot, and reassembled into its original form. Spiritual discarnate beings are usually associated with this process.An electrical current of sufficiently high voltage can break down an atom and transform certain elements into others. So, at superconscious levels, can spirit beings release the electro-vital force in man to transmute visible matter into invisible elements and back again to the visible. Spirit can control temperature changes and can use living creatures - fish, birds, beasts, and man - as apports, as well as minerals and inanimate matter ...
Another hypothesis to explain penetration of matter through matter is that, since matter is made up largely of empty space, perhaps the atoms could somehow become aligned such that two objects could pass through each other. But atomic physics gives no clue as to what this 'somehow' might be.
Yet another hypothesis is the concept of the 'fourth dimension,' which goes back to the 1870s when the German physicist and astronomer Johann C. F. Zollner first postulated it to explain apports witnessed at sittings with the American medium Henry Slade. Zollner was a professor at the University of Leipzig who sought proof of life after death in experiments outside his own professional world of physics and astronomy. He defined apparent telekinetic (PK) happenings in the presence of mediums as a form of 'matter passing through matter,' suggesting that 'in the presence of spiritualistic mediums there must have been operative so-called catalytic forces, hitherto concealed from us, which were able to release and convert into active force a small part of the potential energy laid up in all bodies.'
Long (1954:199) gives further indication of the apportation process
in the following:
One of the most famous and most studied mediums of the past century was Mme. d'Esperance. A spirit called 'Yolande' frequently appeared, fully materialized as a pretty Arab girl, in good light and produced apports so that the sitters could observe all that was to be seen in the process. On June 28, 1890, she brought as an apport a rare golden lily measuring more than seven feet from roots to top and carrying eleven perfect flowers. Toward the end of the sitting she tried to dematerialize the plant to take it away, but the force was too(page 127)
weak by then and she failed. She asked that it be kept in a dark closet until she could try again. The plant had been borrowed, so she said, and had to be returned. At half after nine on July 5th, the plant was removed from the dark closet and placed in the center of the circle of sitters. Almost instantly it vanished. Another spirit, not Yolande, explained that the plant, in its invisible form, had been brought into the room at the first sitting fully an hour before it was solidified and became visible.
That energy is necessary both for dematerialization and rematerialization
of apports is evident from the following furnished by Long (1954:197):
Ernesto Bozzano, one of the most famous Psychical Research leaders, reported an apport case which will well illustrate the matters under discussion.'In March, 1904, in a sitting in the house of Cavaliere Peretti, in which the medium was an intimate friend of ours, gifted with remarkable physical mediumship, and with whom apports could be obtained at command, I begged the communicating spirit to bring me a small block of pyrites which was lying on my writing table over a mile away. The spirit replied (through the mouth of the entranced medium) that the power was almost exhausted, but that all the same he would make the attempt. Soon after the medium sustained the usual spasmodic twitchings which signified the arrival of an apport, but without hearing the fall of any object on the table or on the floor. We asked for an explanation from the spirit-operator, who informed us that although he had managed to disintegrate a portion of the object desired, and had brought it into the room, there was not enough power for him to be able to reintegrate it. He added, 'Light the light.' We did so, and found, to our great surprise, that the table, the clothes and hair of the sitters, as well as the furniture and carpet of the room, were covered with the thinnest layer of brilliant impalpable pyrites. When I returned home after the sitting I found the little block of pyrites lying on my writing table. Missing from it was a large fragment, about one-third of the whole piece, which had been scooped out.'
3.15) Conclusion
The section on physical mediumship details phenomena which is perhaps the most crude and physical, the most researched
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and published, and perhaps the most evidential with which we shall have to deal. It establishes rather clearly the necessity for the construct of an etheric force-body as a dual of the physical body, and either the survival of such a vehicle after death or the accessibility of such a vehicle out of time past. This vortex of force or energy which constitutes the etheric body is generally invisible, though it has an often visible aura, and can, under suitable circumstances, materialize ectoplasm, - a sticky viscous substance which has a damp and clammy feel.
From the simple fact that psychic effects in seances last only a short time, it is obvious that a) they consume energy, drawn mostly from the medium, b) the energy is rather limited, and c) when it is depleted, the effects cease, (as indeed the controls have often stated). The energy here is prana, about which more will be said in section 3.5.
Consider the prescience of the North American Reviewer (April 1855, as quoted by Podmore 1902:290), in attempting a theory to account for some of the phenomena of physical mediumship: "it is probably . . . the right hemisphere of the brain which in the trance state acts independently of its usual controlling centers in the left hemisphere .
After a long book filled with instances, the hard-headed and methodical
Richet (1923-579) sums up:
Cryptesthesia, telekinesis, ectoplasms, and premonition seem to me founded on granite; that is to say, on hundreds of exact observations and hundreds of rigorous experiments. The thing is a certainty; and even though among these thousands of observations there may be defects, gaps, errors, and illusions, sometimes mistakes of testimony, occasionally trickeries, more often casual coincidence, still more often ill-considered assertions, still the thing is certain. It is not possible that all these observers should never have made mistakes, but the whole constitutes a sheaf of testimony so large and homogeneous, that no criticism of details, however acute, will be able to disintegrate and disperse. Therefore:(page 129)
1 ) There is in us a faculty of cognition that differs radically from the usual sensorial faculties (Cryptesthesia).2) There are, even in full light, movements of objects without contact (Telekinesis).
3) Hands, bodies, and objects seem to take shape in their entirety from a cloud and take all the semblance of life (Ectoplasms).4) There occur premonitions that can be explained neither by chance nor perspicacity, and are sometimes verified in minute detail.
He concludes that "Metapsychic science will go much farther than
I have ventured to think."
3.2) Time and Space Distortions
Our physical bodies and our ordinary state of consciousness are locked
in the prison of space and time. Every mystic tells us that this prison
is to be transcended, and indeed the great Einstein declares (N. Y.
Times, March 29, 1972, p. 24, Column 6):
A human being is a Part of the whole, called by us 'Universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest - a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us . . . Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures ...While this section will seem incomprehensible to men of conventional thinking, ultimate reality beyond the holographic image is outside of both time and space, and therefore this section represents dawning efforts of consciousness to become aware in those realms. Such efforts lead to a number of spectacular powers including out-of-body experiences (OBE's), bilocation, clairvoyance, precognition, teleportation, and other time-warps.
3.21) The Out-of-Body Experience, (OBE)
A very considerable literature has grown up detailing the first-hand experiences of those who have been able to detach consciousness from the body. Among the most famous are those of Sylvan Muldoon (Muldoon 1970), and Monroe (1971). The most authoritative writer on the subject is Crookall (1964, 1966, 1970), although Muldoon teamed with the psychic writer Carrington to produce Phenomena of Astral Projection (1971).
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In general it may be said that the vehicle for the OBE is the etheric, astral or energy body; sometimes this vehicle gains consciousness, and sometimes not, so that there are incidents of phantasms of the living when the paragnost is not conscious that the etheric body is visible to a distant witness.
One of the best summaries of OOB experiments is that of Rogo (1976:72-93),
who devotes a chapter to a very detailed and scholarly review of the field.
He is particularly explicit concerning the very careful analyses of Crookall,
and the various kinds of OOB experiences. He concludes (p. 91-2) that there
are three direct effects of OOB experiments on psychical research:
1) the study of apparitions,
2) the survival of death, and
3) the nature of consciousness.
For further particulars in regard to OBE experiences we quote from
work elsewhere (1974:17ff):
"Despite the spectacular nature of such phenomena, and despite their relative rarity as contrasted to the earlier-noted experiences, these phantasms of the living are quite well documented in psychic research. One of the best evidential examples is the so-called 'Elsie projections' (Fox 1962:56- 63), wherein a young man while asleep appears to his inamorata, Elsie, in her bedroom. Prince (1963:30-1) tells of a similar projection vouched for by none other than William James, and another case (1963: 166) in which Gilbert Parker is the guarantor. Much of the psychic material of Castanada (1972) in the 'Don Juan' protocols, can be explained along these lines. F. W. H. Myers (1961) in Personality and Its Survival After Death, represents (1903) the earliest accounts of the British investigators. Other sources for similar phenomena are Sylvan Muldoon (1970), The Projection of The Astral Body, and G. N. M. Tyrrell, Science and Psychical Phenomena (1961).
"We believe that in some way, either through accident, illness, or learned knack, the projector, while in the hypnogogic state just preceding deep sleep, and having a desire to appear, connects somehow with the generalized preconscious, and is able to affect the sensorium of the percipient - sometime (and this is more difficult to explain), even the sensoriums of several perci-
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pients at the same time. The projector is always asleep at these times and is not aware of the projection until it is later confirmed, and the projection itself does not speak or show other signs of consciousness.
"We now come to the last in the continuum of related phenomena, which can be called the conscious out-of-body experience. This episode, the rarest and yet the most spectacular of the series, occurs when the percipient is alive and awake (or at least not asleep) and is conscious that he is projected, (that is, he has consciousness of being in another place than that where his body is); he can describe this location, so that frequently it can afterwards be identified evidentially, and very often he can communicate with and show other conscious awareness of the percipient. In some (perhaps advanced?) cases, the projector can consciously will and affect his projection. At other times, the projector is also the percipient; in these, there seems to be clear and distinct differences between such experiments and the purely subjective revery of imagining oneself at a distant spot.
"This conscious legerdemain is known as 'astral projection;' the projected consciousness often being known as the 'astral body,' the 'Etheric body,' or simply as 'the double.' In all cases of such projection it appears to be connected to the physical body by an infinitely extensible 'silver cord.' There also appears to be momentary unconsciousness when the projector leaves the physical body, and a 'click phenomenon' upon his return.
"The most authoritative writer on this subject is Crookall (1964, 1966, 1970), an investigator who has amassed a great deal of corroboratory evidence. He believes (1970) that the etheric double is released in two stages: the first stage involves quitting the physical body with the vehicle of vitality. Doubles of this type (1970:127) are never seen by the projector who does not have consciousness but only by others. The projector is usually mediumistic, in a dreamy, slightly dissociated condition, and the double, which is not an instrument of consciousness, is perceived as solid and lifelike, not luminous, subtle or tenuous. The conscious vehicle is the product of a second unveiling, quitting the vehicle of vitality, in which case there is a click, pop, or repercussion when the double re-enters the physical (1970:125).
"Crookall records comments by other investigators on the
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subject. He quotes Myers (1970:19) as saying 'Astral projection is the most significant of all psychical phenomena.' Crookall (1966:81) describes the OOB experience of Mrs. Garrett (a famous medium) and alleges that it 'proves' that the 'psychical body is an object and not as some orthodox investigators believe, no more than a mental image of the physical.
"Garrett (1949:26) says: 'I can project a part of myself into distant places and into the presence of people I know.' She also says (p. 171 ) 'Paranormal faculties are of general distribution throughout the human race, requiring only to be developed to become more active and positive.'
"Crookall (1966:19) points out that persons who experience OOB 'May lack the vitality to keep physical and psychical bodies in gear.' This 'half-dead' condition 'as well as prolonged fasting' tend to physical collapse 'with the exterioration of the psychical body.' Crookall believes this is because the physical body is vibrating too slowly for their coincidence. But Crookall is quick to point out that mystics in good health may suffer from the opposite condition, 'that the psychical body is vibrating too rapidly for the physical' and this may cause an OOB experience also.
"Crookall is not the only witness for these strange activities. Lady
David-Neel, after extensive investigations in Tibet, found that the monks
there had very realistic explanations of the 'double' (1971:28):
During life in the normal state this 'double' is closely united with the material body. Nevertheless, certain circumstances may cause their separation. The double can then leave the material body and show itself in different places, or being itself invisible, it can accomplish various peregrinations. With some people this separation of the double from the body happens involuntarily, but the Tibetans say that those who have trained themselves for the purpose can effect it at will. The separation is not complete for a strand subsists connecting the two forms.
"She concludes that this silver cord is only severed sometime after
death.
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"Monroe, R. A. in Journeys out of the Body (1971:171), says that the psychical body 'has weight as we understand it. It is subject to gravitational attraction, although much less than the physical body.'
"(p. 178) 'The relationship between the second body and electricity and electromagnetic fields is quite significant.'
"(p. 171) 'The early penetration into the second state thought and action are dominated almost entirely by the unconscious subjective mind.'
" (p. 222) He notes the 'click phenomenon' upon rejoining the physical body.
"Muldoon and Carrington in The Phenomena of Astral Projection
(1970) discuss this subject thoroughly. A section of their introduction
reads as follows. (1951 :x):
Many times in talking to people about the psychic phenomena and the nature of phantoms especially, we have been surprised to find that they confuse in their minds such entirely different manifestations as apparitions and materializations, and will say: A saw a materialization' when what they really mean is that they saw an apparition. Of course this is a great mistake. One is a semi-solid or solid form, while the other is usually subjective, having no space-occupying quality . . . We have tried to show in several places in this book, how it is that phantom forms may vary greatly in the degree of their objectivity, and that the degree of this objectivity may even vary from moment to moment. That is why a phantom may be visible one moment and vanish the next ... The evanescent and fluidic character of all these manifestations should ever be kept in mind; and if this were done, much of the controversy regarding the degree of objectivity of phantasms would be done away with.
"in discussing two evidential cases (1951:112-3) they point out
the 'great importance of suppressed desire' and also (1951: 114) note the
'click' phenomenon, upon return.
"Muldoon was himself capable of astral projection, and his books are enlivened by personal accounts. Carrington, as a topflight psychic investigator, made an admirable co-author. In an
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earlier book (1929:65), they laid down the fundamental law of astral
projection:
If the subconscious will becomes possessed of the idea to move the body, and the physical counterpart is incapacitated, the subconscious will move the astral body independent of the physical.
"Muldoon identifies the connecting link between the conscious and
the preconscious as 'passive will.' He says: with respect to projections
(1929:239):
You can never force the passive will successfully, for the instant you try to force passive will, it becomes active will. You must just have the desire to project so strongly within you that it produces passive will, which in turn builds up the stress of the desire, and convinces the subconscious mind that the visions you imagine concerning projection are perfectly reasonable and possible."This section is quoted because this is a clear statement of the manner in which the union between the individual consciousness and the generalized preconscious is established, and therefore is of more universal application than astral projection alone."
The force and reach of the generalized preconscious is also understood
by these authors, as witness the following remarkable passages (1929:250-1):
The crypto-conscious mind is the intelligence which elevates the astral body, throws it under and frees it from the spell of catalepsy, turns the body in the air . . . and performs various maneuvers. The crypto-conscious mind can execute an endless number of the most dextrous and clever capers with the astral body, controlling it as a hypnotist might control his subject; yet the curious part is that one can be conscious all the time he is under the influence of the crypto-conscious will ...With many mediums the crypto-conscious mind operating this hidden force does curious things, such as producing physical manifestations. The power is in the medium, and is directed by the crypto conscious mind, while 'spirits' are credited with producing the phenomena. Even the medium himself does not realize that the intelligence behind the mani-
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festations is the crypto-conscious mind.
Wilson (1971:543) describes the OBE experiments of Fox:
In 1902, Fox had a dream, during the course of which it struck him suddenly that he must be dreaming. He went on dreaming; but the knowledge that this was only a dream produced a feeling of great clarity, and the scenery of the dream became unusually vivid and beautiful. He tried to develop this knack of 'self-awareness' in dreams; it happened infrequently, but when it did, he always experienced the same feeling of clarity and beauty.He also discovered that once he was 'in control' of the dream, he could float through brick walls, levitate and so on. What was happening was, in fact, the reverse of a nightmare, where your legs refuse to run. He gradually became fairly expert at inducing these dreams, but observed that if he tried to prolong them, he experienced a pain in his head. He assumed this to be in the pineal gland, the unused 'eye' in the center of the brain, which occult tradition declares to be the doorway to 'other' states of being. If he ignored the pain and continued the dream, the result was a feeling of 'bilocation,' as if he had left his body and was floating above it, although still aware of his body.
Eventually he discovered that if he tried determinedly he could overcome the pain. When this happened, there was a kind of 'click' in his head - which he identified with the opening of the pineal 'door' - and he then felt himself to be wholly located in the scenery of his dream, which, as before, would appear far more beautiful than normal. These dreams were followed by a return to his body, and another dream to the effect that he was back in bed and walking up. (Broad points out that another observer, the Dutch physicist van Eedeen, also had false awakening dreams after 'lucid dreams' similar to Fox's.)
Fox then attempted to induce these states while awake, lying on a bed and putting himself into a trance. He would feel his body becoming numb, and the room would seem to take on a golden colour. He had then to use his imagination, and picture himself hurtling towards the 'pineal doorway.' If he was successful, he felt himself passing out of the body, and the golden colour increased; he would experience a sense of great clarity and beauty, just as in his dreams. Sometimes he was unsuccessful, and would then experience a depressing
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sense of his 'astral body' fading and the golden colour dying away. Once he had passed the 'pineal doorway,' he would be able to float over scenery which was sometimes familiar, sometimes not, and see people at their ordinary occupations although they did not seem to see him. Sometimes they seemed to sense his presence, and were frightened.Bilocation is the name given to the phenomenon of a person being in two places at the same time. It will quickly be grasped that bilocation is the end product of the travels by the etheric body while the physical body is asleep or in a cataleptic trance. The Germans have even a word for this effect: "Doppelganger" or 'doublegoer.' It will also be appreciated that some instances of bilocation might be explained by teleportation.
Muldoon and Carrington (1951:18) recount the famous case of the Italian monk Liguori, who on the morning of 21 Sept. 1774 at Arienzo, four days journey from Rome, fell into a cataleptic sleep and upon awakening stated that he had been present at the death of the Pope. He was seen at the deathbed where he led prayers for the Pontiff.
One of the best books on OOB experiences is that of Whiteman (1961). Not only did the author have "separation" experiences himself, but he was cognitive enough to arrange them into a discriminative taxonomy, and to formulate a theory that it is mainly through such experiences that accession to increasing orders of grace occur in incipient sainthood. His views are too complex for easy summarization, but the reader who wishes guidance in such matters is advised to consult this experienced guide. These experiences, he reports (1961:49), begin with "lucid dreams" and then progress to partial and then full conscious separation of the consciousness from the body.
Numerous examples of "doppelgangers" or etheric doubles will be found in the chapter on this topic by Catherine Crowe (Garrison, 1973:119-42). These are mostly unconscious out of body experiences connected with death. For other material on out-of-body experiences, consult Black (1975), Mitchell (1974: 349), Moss (1974:269), and Watson (1974:159).
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3.22) Clairvoyance
Clairvoyance is from the French "to see clearly" but which unfortunately is often given other meanings:
1) "Traveling clairvoyance," to see at a distance as a result of a conscious out-of-body excursion there;
2) "Pure clairvoyance" to know facts without necessity of the OBE, hence, similar to the higher powers of chapter 4;
3) "Infused knowledge" of section 4.7;
4) Sometimes mistakenly used for precognition or psychometry.
In this discussion we shall follow the excellent example of Stanford
(Mitchell, 1974:133ff) in his fine chapter on the subject from which we
quote his definition (p. 134): "If a person or animal behaves as though
it had extrasensory knowledge of some currently existing object or current
physical event that is unknown to any other organism, we term this clairvoyance."
Clairvoyance is thus separated from telepathy which involves extra-sensory communication between two organisms. Stanford notes that sometimes psychometry, dowsing, radiesthesia, and automatic writing can be classified as clairvoyance, though we shall attempt to treat them separately. The problem of separating clairvoyance from precognition is more complicated, since to validate clairvoyance the order of the cards in the pack (for example), heretofore unknown, must he examined, and it is possible that the clairvoyant has read the future knowledge of the examiner.
Stanford quotes Jephson (p. 137), a researcher, that the faculty: ". . . is widespread, and that we can experiment with it as we can with other senses and that it is bound ... by . . . known psychological laws . . Stanford also notes the remarkable Rhine experiments in clairvoyance. In the Peirce-Pratt series the "p" log characteristic was -8 (C. R.3 = 5.6); the Columbia University "M" study yielded a log characteristic of -7 (C.R. = 5.3); a Colorado study produced a C.R. of 29; the "C.J." study produced a C.R. of 37, and we are left to imagine what the log characteristics of the probability must have been like. (A log characteristic of -1 means 1 decimal place.) These chances are, therefore, bordering on the impossible.
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Powell (1965:232-235), writing from an occult viewpoint, declares that
there are four ways by which clairvoyance is produced:
1) by means of an astral current or "Tube," somewhat analogous to magnetization of polarization;
2) by projection of a thought form;
3) by travelling to the location in the astral body (travelling clairvoyance), and
4) by travelling in the mental body.
From work elsewhere (1974:24) we quote: "Probably the most famous
example of clairvoyance is the incident in which Swedenborg, while in Gothenburg,
clairvoyantly saw and described the progress of the great Stockholm fire.
The account (Prince 1963:48) goes on:
About six o'clock Swedenborg went out and returned to the company pale and alarmed. He said that a dangerous fire had just broken out in Stockholm... and was spreading very fast. He was restless and went out often. He said that the home of one of his friends, whom he named, was in ashes, and that his own was in danger. At eight o'clock after he had been out again, he joyfully exclaimed, 'Thank God, the fire is extinguished, the third door from my house.'
There was, of course, in those times, no direct contact between
the two cities, but subsequent news confirmed Swedenborg's vision in every
detail. It is interesting that Swedenborg went outdoors to experience these
continuing clairvoyant visions.
"Prince (1963:104) also describes the clairvoyant visions of Lord Balfour when looking into a crystal ball. These were confirmed by witnesses."
Traveling clairvoyance (which cannot be separated from a conscious OBE experience) is well attested. Slater Brown in The Heydey of Spiritualism (1972:29-49) devotes a chapter to some rather evidential cases.
3.23) Precognition
If there is one special extrasensory phenomenon which challenges materialistic thought most outrageously, that effect is
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precognition. For if precognition is a fact, either the law of cause and effect is violated, or else we live in a deterministic universe. Despite its seeming impossibility, the phenomenon of prediction and precognition has been known since the most ancient times in every culture. The Bible and the Classics from the Witch of Endor, the Delphic Oracle, and the alienated Cassandra are full of it, and even Caesar had his Ides of March soothsayer.
Dean (1974:154ff) has an authoritative chapter on precognition. After a brief history of the ancient origins, and the astounding examples of prophets, from Ezekiel to Nostradamus and Cayce, Dean gives some famous examples of precognitive dreams, including the precognitive dream of Mark Twain, regarding his brother's tragic death.
Incidentally, precognitive dreams of famous people are more apt to be recorded because the famous are more often involved in historical events which are recorded. Prince (1963:20, 68, 70, 73, 98, 101, 106, 110, 114, 121, 134, 136, 190, 201, 202, 216, 255, 257) records 17 cases of such precognition among famous witnesses regarding historical events. (There is no reason to believe that ordinary people do not have precognitive dreams, only that they are not so often recorded.) Two astounding examples of precognition (the announcement of the moons of Venus by Swift, 150 years before they were scientifically discovered, and the novel about the sinking of the Titan(ic) fourteen years before it happened, are cited by Krippner (1972).
Garrett (1949:138-9) quotes a good example of precognition:
There is an element of surprise and adventure about the experience of precognition which would appear to free itself from all conscious direction, even from personality itself, for when any action becomes automatic and effortless, it ceases to evoke consciousness. One enters into a place of participation which has no connection in time and space with conscious direction, or conscious telepathic communication. The experience remains as 'real' as any other and suggests that there must be a timeless and spaceless communion between our intuitive selves and the great eternal laws of nature.
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In his book Something of Myself, Rudyard Kipling wrote, 'I am in no way 'Psychic.' Yet he records a dream which was purely precognitive. 'I dreamt that I stood, in my best clothes, which I do not wear as a rule, one in a line of similarly habited men, in some vast hall, floored with rough jointed stone slabs. Opposite me, the width of the hall, was another line of persons and the impression of a crowd behind them. On my left some ceremony was taking place that I wanted to see but could not unless I stepped out of my line because the fat stomach of my neighbor on my left barred my vision. At the ceremony's close, both lines of spectators broke up and moved forward and met, and the great space filled with people. Then a man came up behind me, slipped his hand beneath my arm, and said: 'I want a word with you.' I forgot the rest: but it had been a perfectly clear dream, and it stuck in my memory. Six weeks or more later, I attended in my capacity of a member of the War Graves Commission a ceremony at Westminster Abbey, where the Prince of Wales dedicated a plaque to 'The Million Dead' of the Great War. We commissioners lined up facing, across the width of Abbey Nave, more members of the Ministry and a big body of the public behind them, all in black clothes. I could see nothing of the ceremony because the stomach of the man on my left barred my vision. Then, my eye was caught by the cracks of the stone flooring, and I said to myself: 'But here is where I have been!' We broke up, both lines flowed forward and met, and the Nave filled with a crowd, through which a man came up and slipped his hand upon my arm, saying, 'I want a word with you, please.'
From work elsewhere (1974:25) we quote: "Because we are 'clutched
into' time, precognition, of all the powers, seems the most mysterious.
But the collective preconscious does not exist in our time, but in the
eternal now and, consequently, it has access to future as well as past.
Prince (1963:136) tells the famous story of Goethe's predictive vision
of himself in later life. Riding a horse when about twenty, he saw himself
on horseback on the path coming toward him dressed 'in a suit such as I
had never worn.' He did wear the suit later when riding over the same route.
"Premonitions figure strongly in precognition, especially premonitions of death, such as the dream Lincoln had before his assassination. A similar premonition (Prince, 1963:256) caused
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Schumann to change the title of a composition to 'The Funeral Fantasy.' Premonitions are often about imminent events, and as such bear a striking relationship to psychic impressions, for they are about an event about to occur in a different time, while the psychic event is about an event to occur in a different space."
Moss (1974:199) has a chapter on precognitions, and gives many examples including the precognitive dream of President Lincoln. Precognition was the subject of an entire chapter in Maeterlinck's book on the paranormal (1975:87ff). He cites a number of verified cases.
For precognition and knowledge of the future in famous people, see Prince 1963:68 (James Otis), 70, 73, 98, 101, 106 (Chauncey Depew) 110, 114 (Carl Shurtz), 121 (Susan B. Anthony), 134-6, (Goethe) 190, 201, 202, 216 (Fulton Oursler), 255 (Saint Saens), 251 (Schumann), Fodor (1964:21). Others who have discussed precognition include Gowan (1974:25); Mitchell (1974:170ff); Osborn (1961), and Smith (1964:1 57ff).
One of the objections many rationalists have to precognition is that it requires (they believe) a deterministic universe. But this may not be the case. The objective of many precognitive dreams, it seems, is to get the dreamer to take evasive action which will forestall the disaster, so that the dream actually is precognitive only if not acted upon. It may be that the psychic force impelling the manifestation of one or more accidents is determined in the realm of possibilities, but the actual manifestation is at least partly under the control of foresighted reaction to the imminent event.
Dean (1974:163) reports that Mrs. Rhine, in sifting 1,427 precognitive cases, found only three successful interventions. Serious and shocking events predominated over happy ones by a 4 to 1 ratio, death being the commonest event. Emotional shock seems to be a factor in generating precognition experiences. Close personal relationships are conducive to precognitive dreams. The time interval is usually short - a few days or hours. Dean then details (pp. 165-67) a large number of successful precognition experiments carried out in the laboratory. Strange as it seems, precognition is evidently a factor in human ability.
If precognition works at all, it must involve the human being with some intelligence which is outside time. Elsewhere
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(Gowan 1974:134ff; 1975:3ff) it has been pointed out that the collective preconscious and the numinous element have access to this out-of-time knowledge, and it is also known (ibid:361) that in the Adamic Ecstasy state (4.7) this condition occurs. A full discussion of this matter involves us in the matter of time itself, which we defer until section 3.24.
3.24) Teleportation and Time-Warp
There have been a number of first-person accounts in the literature about teleportation (or more accurately supernormally fast movement of automobiles over distances, not possible to cover normally in the elapsed time recorded). One was reported in FATE (Jan. 1977) p. 34ff, from Rhodesia and involved a UFO. Another concerned several incidents in or near Niagara Falls, NY, about 1972, as reported in FATE, March 1977, p. 61ff. Neither of these cases is strongly evidentiary, because of unsupported personal testimony, and the possibility of hallucination. They are only two of a fair amount of such cases in which automobiles are felt to be travelling "off the road" or "through time" or in some other strange manner, which usually results in disorientation in the passengers.
A classic case, often repeated in the literature, is recounted by Glesmer
(n.d.p. 9):
On the morning of October 25, 1593, a soldier disappeared from Manilla in the Philippine Islands. Instantaneously, he appeared on the plaza before the palace in Mexico City. Gil Perez was of the regiment which was guarding the walled citadel of Manilla. The soldier said the governor of the Philippines had been killed the night before. The authorities were puzzled why the soldier could travel 9,000 miles in one night. Perez said the teleportation took 'less time than it takes a cock to crow.' Two months later news arrived from the Philippines that the governor had indeed been killed. Passengers of the ship that brought this news had seen Perez in Manilla the day before he appeared in Mexico City.
Smith (1975:230) reports of the medium Kluski: "Another time, when
the meeting was terminated, the medium was found to have disappeared from
the locked, sealed room. He was
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later located in another room some distance away, still in an unconscious trance state."
Holzer (1975:36) describes the teleportation of Ms. Guppy, a medium, in front of witnesses of over a mile apart, as well as lesser examples.
Uri Geller (1975:267-8), the psychic, gives a first-person account of his teleportation from the sidewalks of New York to Ossining, more than 30 miles away, on Nov. 9, 1973:
So a very few minutes past 6:00, 1 was starting to jog about a block away from the apartment (which was east of Second Avenue)... I clearly remember approaching the canopy of the building right next to ours... Then I remember having the feeling that I was running backwards for a couple of steps ... Then I had the feeling that I was being sucked upward. There was no sensation in my body. I closed my eyes, and, I think, opened them almost immediately. When I did, I found myself being propelled in the air a foot or so away from a porch screen, over the top of a rhododendron bush, about to crash through the screen at a point eight or ten feet off the ground. I crashed through the screen and landed on a circular glass-top table... I was conscious all through this, but slightly dazed when I hit the table and floor... But what shocked me was that I recognized the porch and the table, because I knew them so well. This was Andrija's (Puharich) screen porch at Ossining.
It was 6:15 when Dr. Pulharich heard the crash of Uri's landing
through the screen; fortunately, while shaken up, he was not injured.
A postulate of plane geometry states that, "A straight line is the shortest distance between two points." This is true in an Euclidian three-dimensional world. For us this "d" is a constant, but in the ordinary physical world, it is actually the maximum the two points can be apart when there is no psychic influence. Under any psychic effect, this distance shortens, and in ultimate reality becomes zero. The same thing is true of time, except that it works oppositely. Mathematically:
do = max. If D is assumed to be variable under psychic influence then dD/dt = a measure of the strength of P (the psychic influence).
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In cases of teleportation and supernaturally excessive speed which have
been reported in the literature, it is incorrect to think that the speed
is excessive. What has happened is that the distance has become shorter
and the time longer.
Time-Warp: Under this heading we include only those distortions of time in which some thing or event (such as a journey) is accomplished in significantly less time than it would normally take to accomplish it. We thus rule out a number of other phenomena such as "deja vu" experience, physical immersion in past time (such as the English girls' visit to the court of Versailles), mystic Adamic ecstasy experiences which are out of time (such as George Fox's Lichfield experience (cf Gowan 1975:365), also infra sect. 4.7), all precognition, (cf supra 3.22), and all psychometry (cf infra 4.01).
Frankly, we do not feel competent to discuss this subject thoroughly at the present time, and with the present language, which is one of tensed verbs. What is needed at the start is a means of communication which is "untimed," and where there is an "untimed" tense which means, in effect, "is, was, and ever will be." We have tried elsewhere to use an integral sign with the verb "to be," (viz. S is), to indicate this concept, but it is clumsy. Some others, who have tackled this formidable problem with perhaps some success are Bentov (1977:42ff), Ouspensky (1945) and Arnot (1941). The views of these people are too involved to quote, and we urge reading them in the original. We continue, however, with some of the less difficult aspects of this vexing subject.
One of the best documented aspects of time-warp is accelerated mental process. Elsewhere (1975:136-7) it was said: "While not directly a part of healing, accelerated mental process (AMP) is connected to it by the speeding-up of reaction time. Only in this case it is a mental rather than a physical speed-up that is involved. AMP is another example of the fact that our sense of time is part of the OSC and that in an ASC something peculiar seems to happen to it.
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"Cooper and Erickson (1959:157-8) in their definitive study, note that time distortion can be demonstrated in a majority of subjects under hypnosis: 'The experiences are continuous. Thought under time distortion... can take place with extreme rapidity... recovery of materials from the unconscious (and) ... creative thought can be facilitated.' Other experiments have shown that a slowing down of time can also occur. Both distortions can have therapeutic applications.
"Aaronson (1968) describes a study done with six males in which time distortion under hypnosis was observed.
"Accelerated mental process is not only interesting for the remarkable effects it produces, and the light it throws on the prodigious activities of certain creative geniuses, but also for the implications it has regarding the relativistic nature of clock time. It is one thing to try to understand Einstein's relativity theories; it is much more immediate that time distortion can occur in an ASC as well as at very high speeds. It suggests that the speed of light is a boundary not only for our physical universe but for the OSC upon which a knowledge of it depends."
Readers wishing more information on accelerated mental process (AMP) should consult Cooper and Erickson (1954), Mc Cord and Sherrill (1961), Krippner (1972), and Huxley (1962: 210) as quoted by Gowan, Khatena, and Torrance (1979:159).
Jean Houston in a summary of AMP (1973:265-6) says:
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We found that it is possible to greatly increase the rate of thought or amount of subjective experience beyond what is ordinarily possible within a unit of clock-measured time. That is to say, under certain conditions of altered consciousness a person might experience within a few minutes, as measured by the clock, such a wealth of ideas or images that it will seem that hours, days, or even longer must have passed for him to have experienced so much. Only a few minutes of objective (clock) time have elapsed; the change has been on the level of subjective experiential time and the explanation lies in the phenomenon of accelerated mental process (AMP).It has long been known that AMP occurs spontaneously under conditions of dreaming sleep (the 'hours long' dream
that takes only a few seconds or minutes of clock time). Then there are the cases related to great emotional stress. A man falling from a bridge, and expecting to die, but who by some chance is saved from death, may later recount that during the fall his whole lifetime flashed (as images) before his eyes, or that he relived his entire lifetime or at least relived all significant events, so that it seemed his whole lifetime was lived through, and lived through without any haste, events all seeming to happen at the same rate as they happen during everyday working experience. This last-mentioned kind of experience is also an experience of images, but it is an experience in which the person participates fully, as a dreamer may participate in some of his dreams. The Swiss Alpine Club has recorded hundreds of such experiences reported by mountain climbers who have fallen, expecting to die, but who survived.Persons who have taken psychedelic drugs sometimes experience the accelerated mind phenomena, only to discover that all of the mental experience occurred within just a minute or two of time as measured by the clock.
It is important to note that in all of the above mentioned experiences of AMP, imagery plays a predominant role. This would seem to be in part because imagistic thinking does not seem to be bound by the time-inhibited mechanisms which retard the flow of verbal thought.
Those who have speculated on the significance of time have often
postulated a second time dimension which we do not intuit. For example,
Dunne (1931) in An Experiment with Time hypothesized such a second
time dimension. While there are advantages in this approach, there are
also some difficulties. It may be only an easy crutch for not having to
visualize a realm outside time and space.
Dunne was not the only man to do this. We regret that the citation for
the following quote is missing:
Adrian Dobbs, a brilliant Cambridge mathematician and physicist, has hypothesized a second time dimension inhabited by imaginary particles called psitrons. As far as the incredibly complex theory can be simplified, an individual's actual state would be surrounded in imaginary time by a number of possibilities which, even if they don't happen eventually, influence the actual course of events. The(page 147)
psitron - for which distance in space is irrelevant - travels between matter and mind or mind and mind. When it impinges on 'critically poised' neurons in the brain, it can trigger off a 'chain reaction' of neural events.As Floyd declares (White 1974:302): "When the brain waves are still, time stands still, and when time stands still, the illusion of motion becomes impossible and with the impossibility of that illusion, the fundamental illusion of separate selfhood is in double jeopardy."
Roberts (1974:327) through "Seth" gives a good explanation of the "bottleneck" aspect of the conscious mind, holding us into consciousness of the present, although past and future are also there. Of our bodies and consciousness Seth says: "(they) are relatively free in time. They exist in a multidimensionality with which rational consciousness is not yet equipped to deal."
As Zukav (1979:240) states: "If, at the quantum level, the flow of time has no meaning, and if consciousness is fundamentally a similar process, and if we can become aware of these processes within ourselves, then it is also conceivable that we can experience timelessness."
Time is a very difficult subject to discuss accurately. This is due, not only to the fact that we don't have a proper intuition of it, (as we do of space), but also that our language involves tensed verbs, which are completely inadequate to express out-of-time constructs. Outside of mathematics, the poet is the best at getting outside time. Eliot's "Four Quartets" is a fine example of such poetry.
In a recent book on Timewarps, Gribbin (1979) speculates widely on physics (especially the newer particle physics) in support of his theory that time is not uniform, but can be compressed or expanded. Gribbin also evokes a concept of parallel universes to substitute for our view of a etheric plenum from which we select only one out of an infinity of possibilities for manifestation here. Leading him to the world of psychic phenomena, this parallel universe view helps him to explain the psychic realm as part "of the road not taken."
A similar construct of the variability of time was held by the brilliant Australian physicist, Arnot (1941), except that he
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believed that time was constantly expanding, just as the spatial dimensions
of the universe were in process of expansion. His theories are too complicated
for analysis here, but deserve more attention than they have received.
For a theosophist similar view, see Pearson's Space, Time, and Self
(1957). We acknowledge frustration in having to leave this important area
unresolved.