Paranthropology Vol1 No2

ISSN 2044-9216
Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal

Vol. 1 No. 2 October 2010
The Anomalous Anthropologist: Field

Experience as an Insider Medium/
Anthropologist - Paul Biscop
Paranormal
Encounters in
An Experiential Paradigm for the
Anthropology of Consciousness - Kim McCaul the Field
Castaneda’s Controversy and Methodological

Influences - Mark A. Schroll
Ghostly Experiences: More Than Imagination,

More Than Just a Good Story - Rosalyn Dyne
When Researchers Become Eyewitnesses to the

Anomalous: Should Seeing be Believing? - Callum E. Cooper
Maria Lionza and the Induction of Spirit Possession in

Others - A First Hand Account - Allan Marsden
& Much More
P A R A N T H R O P O L O G Y
Contents Introduction
History of the SAC (Part 2) Welcome to the second issue of “Paranthropology: Journal of
Castaneda’s Controversy and Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal”. The general theme
Methodological Influences - Mark for this issue is “Paranormal Encounters in the Field”. In the context
A. Schroll (page 3-6) of the articles presented here “the field” is a term with a variety of
definitions: from the exotic locales investigated by anthropologists,
The Anomalous Anthropologist: and the haunted house of the ghost-hunter, to the laboratory
Field Experience as an Insider setting of parapsychological research.
Medium/Anthropologist - Paul By now I have written and talked about my undergraduate
Biscop (page 6-7) fieldwork experience at the Bristol Spirit Lodge, at differing levels
of detail, in various places. I want this short article, however, to
An Experiential Paradigm for the deal specifically with the most significant event, at least in my
Anthropology of Consciousness - opinion, of my fieldwork experience: the occasion when, during a
Kim McCaul (page 7-10) trance development session, I lost control of my left arm.
It was normal practice for the Spirit Lodge to conduct mediumship
Ethnographic Encounters With development sittings when the regular medium was, for whatever
the Paranormal (page 12-15) reason, unable to attend. During such sittings all present members
were invited to meditate in the Lodge in the hope that spirits might
Ganzfeld Experiences in the make themselves known through any receptive vessel. The
Laboratory - Ian Holfield (page method, therefore, was simply to meditate and see what happened.
At the time I considered this an opportunity to relax in a calming
15-17)
environment, so I closed my eyes and allowed myself to relax,
When Researchers Become breathing normally.
Eyewitnesses to the Anomalous: I wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary to occur, so I just
sat back and enjoyed the music. Soon, though, I began to feel my
Should Seeing be Believing? -
pulse become more pronounced, and my head began to slump
Callum E. Cooper (page 17-20)
forward as though I was falling asleep, despite maintaing an
awareness of my body. This was very strange, as I was conscious
From the Academy to the Street of the fact that I must have looked quite odd to those with their
- Kristen Gallerneaux Brooks eyes open, but I was unable to do anything about it: my head
(page 20-22) slumped forward heavily of its own accord. The sensation of
detachment from my body grew and I began to feel as though I
Maria Lionza and the Induction was floating just behind my body, but very close to it. I could still
of Spirit Possession in Others - A feel my body, but was aware that some sort of shift in the location
First Hand Account - Allan of “myself” had occurred.
Marsden (page 23-25) At the peak of this peculiar sensation I heard the seance leader say
that she sensed a presence with me, over my shoulder, and sure
Impossible Things: Notes from enough I sensed it too. It was at this moment I realised that my
Beyond the Boggle Threshold - left arm was beginning to move: slowly at first, and then increasing
David Taylor (page 26-27) in rapidity until my arm was shaking around erratically. Once again
I was self conscious of the fact that I must have looked quite
Ghostly Experiences: strange to the other sitters, and yet despite this I was unable to
stop my arm from doing what it was doing.
More Than Imagination,
This experience (amongst others of a less intense degree) altered
More Than Just a Good my appreciation of the belief in mediumship. I realised that there
Story - Rosalyn Dyne were indeed experiences that could be classed as “mediumistic”,
(page 27-29) and that even if there was no paranormal component involved in
the development of mediumship traditions, then at least there was
Towards a Cross-Cultural a physiological basis - experiences that feel as though they are the
product of an external agent influencing the body.
View of Parapsychology -
I hope you enjoy this issue of Paranthropology, it certainly contains
Renauld Evrard & Nikolaos
a lot of interesting food for thought.
Koumartzis (page 29-30)
Jack Hunter
Reviews - Sophie Drennan, Jack
Hu n ter, David Taylo r, David
Woollatt (page 31-35)
2 Vol. 1 No. 2
Castaneda’s Controversy and

Methodological Inﬂuences
by Mark A. Schroll, PhD.
This article explores Carlos Castaneda's impact on grimace, because I do not consider myself a
anthropology, and how this controversy continues to Castaneda scholar, yet Krippner did correctly describe
shape its future. We begin with a personal reflection my interest in this controversy; specifically its
on Stanley Krippner that leads us to Douglas Price- challenge to our views of subjective and objective
Williams and his relationship with Castaneda. Leading states of reality. In subsequent conversations with
us to explore participant observation's methodological Krippner he does not remember the incident this way,
challenge, that in 1973 (when UCLA awarded but he trusts my memory of these events.
Castaneda a Ph.D. in anthropology) posed a
significant threat to the practice of field research Castaneda: Shaman or Sorcerer?
whose resistance remains within EuroAmerican
science.
The Strange Tale of Douglas Price-Williams
Celebrating Krippner's 70th Birthday

If there was any moral to be drawn. . . . It might be
said that
On a beautiful sunny day October 6, 2002, I had
the privilege of attending Krippner's 70th birthday,
held in Sheep's meadow Central Park in New York in an quest for magic, in any search for sorcery. . . it
City. Walking to this event with Leslie McQuade from might be wise to first check the human heart. Rod
where we had parked, she pointed to a man ahead of Serling, 1960, pp. 186.
us and said: “that looks like Stanley.” Sure enough, I
called out to Stanley and we embraced each other In April 2003, SAC's 23rd spring conference at the
with a warm greeting. The three of us completed University of Las Vegas-Nevada, I chaired the
walking to the party. Nearly every time Krippner symposium “Castaneda's Controversy: Examining
introduced me, he mentioned my interest in Consciousness Studies Future.” This meetings theme,
Castaneda, and that I was organizing a symposium on “Chance Encounters with Consciousness,” provided an
Castaneda's Controversy. This introduction made me excellent opportunity to re-examine Castaneda's
Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 3

legacy that Joseph Long wisely rejected at the 1974 investigation of shamanism. More recently
American Anthropological Association conference in Castaneda's influence lead to one of the best book’s
Mexico City.1 on shamanism I have ever read, Stephan V. Beyer’s
thoroughly researched book on ayahuasca shamanism
Summarizing (Schroll with Schwartz, 2005), Krippner (2009). Beyer’s years of study in Peru provides an in-
believes Price-Williams' research provides clear depth analysis of both healing shamanism, and its
evidence that Castaneda consistently and significantly deadly opposite sorcery.
“borrowed ideas” from Douglas without ever asking
and without acknowledging their source. But, in a Castaneda's Influence on Methodology
strange ironic twist, if Krippner's suspicions prove to
be true, then Price-Williams should be proud Anthropologists (and most social scientists) prefer
Castaneda chose to exploit him. Because the nomothetic or etic/quantitative analysis to ideographic
counterculture in 1968 was ripe for Castaneda's tales or emic/qualitative methods. Challenging this etic
of a seemingly uptight middle-class Latino whose preference, Castaneda argued that understanding
encounters with an old Mexican Indian unveiled a shamanism requires becoming a practitioner. Sarah
n o n - o r d i n a r y r e a l i t y, a n u m i n o u s s t a t e o f Williams revisits this argument:
consciousness, and corresponding way of life that
provided a serious challenge to rational secular
science (Castaneda, 1968, 1971, 1972).2 These tales His [i.e., Castaneda's] narratives of his interaction
of power also provided a psychological sense of with the Yaqui shaman argued that one could not
personal empowerment for a generation seeking an understand the shamanic worldview without becoming
alternative paradigm to EuroAmerican science's a shaman. No informant could ever convey this,
dominant story. This, says Kremer: because so much of it was experiential. More
fundamentally yet, all the Castaneda writings
proposed the idea that non-technological peoples
• Has led to well-known consequences which are were not primitive, and were as capable of insight as
highly problematic—for example, the threat of their technological counterparts; albeit in different
nuclear holocaust and the possibility for areas of human functioning. . . . What had been
ecological catastrophes such as the destruction categorized in anthropology as “magical thinking” was
of the rain forests and the ozone layer, the suddenly proposed as a valid perspective that the
pollution of air and water, nuclear accidents, discipline must master to fulfill its self-defined task of
and so forth (Kremer: 189, 1988). understanding human beings and their cultures
(Schwartz 2007:7, quoted in Williams:66, 2007).
Consequently, and I think Price-Williams will
understand where this statement is coming from, it My deepening inquiry toward reconciling etic/
was more believable to a rebel generation for objectivity and emic/subjectivity has benefited from
Castaneda to tell these tales than to hear the Castaneda's contributions to the research
message from a white establishment anthropologist. methodology of social science. Specifically,
Considering the importance of raising both public and Castaneda's claim that the only way to truly
scientific awareness of shamanism, if Castaneda had understand shamanism is to become a practitioner
not bestowed this discussion with his charisma, supports the need for subjective narratives as the
colleagues such as Michael Harner (1980, 1993) starting point of all social science research. Schroll
might have had to invent him. The double irony is it (2010) argues:
was a white establishment anthropologist who had
some unique insights into the clash (that has
increasingly been acknowledged) between the Contemplating these concerns (which involved a
worldview of indigenous people's, and our scientific cognitive reiteration of our previous discussion) led
view of the world.3 me to the hypothesis that becoming a shamanic
practitioner transcends our most far-reaching
nomothetic and ideographic methods. This is why
Throughout their many conversations Price-Williams shamans use precise objective methods when
noted that Carlos repeatedly mentioned a book he teaching initiates, because initiates must first liberate
really wanted to write, The Art of Sorcery. This book themselves from their enculturation, erasing the
would explain why sorcery is an art and not a science. parameters of our culture that frame the symbolic
Krippner said he considers sorcery to be a technology construction of our worldvidew. Controversies as to
—neither science nor art. He also stated that Price- the legitimacy of Castaneda's research do not
Williams had concluded that Castaneda was the diminish this challenge, unless we avoid discussing a
embodiment of his own (Price-Williams') shadow and somatic tradition of mystical experience (Schroll
trickster personality; thus, knowing Castaneda 2005). Joseph Long's interest in psi phenomena, and
benefited him toward the integration of his own the many students and colleagues his inspired,
shadow. In sum, while Price-Williams and Krippner support the importance of understanding this core
agree that Castaneda’s books are not important religious experience (Long 1977). Without this, a
anthropological documents, these books played an science of consciousness would have no reason to
important role in furthering anthropology's
4 Vol. 1 No. 2
exist. This thesis (which will require additional objective way. Data is treated as an
experimental and field research to evaluate) rests on “ontological other” or thing that is separate
two central points: from the observer. This approach is not an I/
Thou, Dasein [there being], or wu-wei
1. The necessity of drawing the empirical line; [actionless action] orientation, which are
that researchers need to have a personal perspectives that allow the researcher to truly
encounter with alternate states of become a participant observer. Similar to
consciousness, anomalous cognition, and/or nomothetic methods of research, participant
practice a form of energy or infomedicine, like observation collects, analyzes, and interprets
shamanism, before they can be considered data as an I/it relationship, failing to grasp the
adequately prepared to assess these states of “beingness” of the experience. Ultimately
consciousness. therefore, none of this is doing any good
2. Researchers need to then initiate the process (Schroll: 15-16, 2010).
of integrating their somatic religious
experience with their personal mythology of Notes
how the world works and what their place in it
is (Feinstein et al, 1988; Krippner 2004, 1. A summary of this symposium, plus a
quoted in Schroll: 15, 2010). discussion of psi and anthropology has been
published in (Schroll with Schwartz, 2005).
Douglas Price-Williams has since published his
Bringing this discussion back to the legitimacy magnum opus (2008).
question regarding Castaneda's work, Larry Baron 2. Schroll explores Castaneda's contribution to
points out: “one is not required to be a believer in the methodology in (Schroll, 2010; Hunter
existence of don Juan, any more than one has to explores similar concerns related to psi and
believe in God, in order to do a sociological study of anthropology (Hunter, 2010).
the ideas presented” (Baron: 54, 1983). Baron goes 3. A more complete discussion of this point will
on to say: be taken up in Part 3, “Psi and Anthropology:
Shamanism and Neo-shamanism.”
• The articulation of Castaneda's journey into
the world of nonordinary reality may be
effectively depicted by the use of Alfred References
Schutz's theory of multiple realities. . . . This
affinity between Castaneda and Schurtz is not Baron, L. (1983). Slipping inside the crack between
so far-fetched when one considers that Harold the worlds: Carlos Castaneda, Alfred Schutz, and the
Garfinkel, a pioneer in ethnomethodology, was theory of multiple realities. Journal of Humanistic
Castaneda's teacher and dissertation Psychology, 23 (2), 52-69.
supervisor at UCLA (Baron: 61, 1983).
Beyer, S. V. (2009). Singing to the Plants: A Guide to

Baron offers his own ironic twist to this tale: Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon
Albuquerque, New Mexico: University of New Mexico
• Skeptics have argued that don Juan is a Press.
fiction, the protagonist in Castaneda's
fantasies. . . . Although this is quite plausible, Castaneda, C. (1968). The Teachings of Don Juan.
it could be that don Juan is the fictional Berkeley: University of California Press.
personification of Castaneda's teacher Harold
Garfinkel, keeping the world authentic by
r e l e n t l e s s l y b r i n g i n g i n t o r e l i e f o u r Castaneda, C. (1971). A Separate Reality. New York:
commonsense assumptions. . . . it [thus] Simon & Schuster.
becomes conceivable that Castaneda's books
are an ethnomethodological experiment Castaneda, C. (1972). Journey to Ixtlan. New York:
(Baron: 66, 1983). Simon & Schuster.
Conclusion Harner, M. (1980). Way of the Shaman. New York:

Bantam Books.
Summing up Castaneda's impact on methodology:
Harner, M. (1993, August 26). Shamanism and
• . . . [E]ven though ethnography and other transpersonal healing. Keynote (and brief drumming
narrative heuristic approaches are session) 25 th Anniversary Convocation of the
improvements on strict quantitative methods, Association for Transpersonal Psychology, Pacific
ideographic methods also collect data in an Grove, California. CD available at
www.conferencerecording.com

Hunter, J. (2010). Anthropology and the ontological was grueling, by the time I defended the Ph.D., four
status of the paranormal. Rhine Online: Psi-News years later, everything had changed. In any event,
Magazine, 2 (1), 4-5. field work often brings change to the worker (Young &
Goulet, eds., 1994), especially in the light of
Kremer, J. W. (1988). Shamanic tales as ways of anomalous experiences.
personal empowerment. In Shaman's Path: Healing, My interest in anthropology began during my
Personal Growth and Empowerment. Gary Doore, ed. years in mental health as an Art Therapist/ Child Care
Pp. 189-199. Boston: Shambhala. Counselor, working with adolescents and their families
from many ethnic and socioeconomic groups. I was
intrigued by the connections between culture, family,
Price-Williams, D. (2008). Life Dreams: Field Notes on personality, and behavioural issues. I hadn’t then
Psi, Synchronicity, and Shamanism. Pioneer Imprints. thought about religion, nor about paranormal
phenomena, in relation to culture. Originally I had
Schroll, M. A. with Schwartz, S. (2005). Whither psi planned to study in cross-cultural psychiatry,
and anthropology: An incomplete history of SAC's documenting pibloctoq among northern peoples. But
origins, its relationship with transpersonal psychology instead I became the anomaly I was studying,
and the untold stories of Castaneda's Controversy. Spiritualist mediums and spirit communication
Anthropology of Consciousness, 16 (1), 6-24. (Biscop, 1981; 1985) Did I have anomalous
experiences in the field? Yes, of course I had
Schroll, M. A. (2010). Toward a new kind of science anomalous experiences, the same ones I had been
and its methods of inquiry. Anthropology of having for many years as a publicly demonstrating
Consciousness, 21 (1), 1-29. Spiritualist medium; the other anomaly was my
stepping back for a while from the practice of
mediumship, while I concentrated on
Serling, R. (1960). Dust. In From the Twilight Zone. being the anthropologist doing fieldwork. I was the
Garden City, NY: Nelson Doubleday, Inc., pp. 170-186. outsider/ anthropologist being the insider/Spiritualist
trying to be the outsider/insider anthropologist:
Williams, S. (2007). Meditations on anthropology decidedly anomalous.
without an object: Boulder hopping in streams of Perhaps the greatest anomaly I experienced
consciousness. Anthropology of Consciousness, 18 was the profound awareness of the entrenched
(1), 65-106. cultural biases which we all share, biases that become
one with our character and personality in early
*** socialization. Those biases arise first out of the long
held basic definitions of reality of the culture we
share. Because those biases begin in Primary
Socialization, they become part of the unrecognized
assumptions and paradigms of social interaction in
Mark A. Schroll has a Ph.D. in our daily lives, part of our personal identity, defended
philosophy of science and has a against anomalous experiences as defined by the
specialized interest in culture around and within us. In Western society,
transpersonal psychology and those definitions have told us that the dead do not
environmental studies. communicate with the living, and that if they appear
to do so, it is the work of “psychosis” or “The Devil”;
there are no viable options other than illness or
deceit, in whatever forms they take. The bias against
the possible reality of spirit communication comes
from within orthodox materialist science (Wallace,
2008) as well as from orthodox religions of the West,
The Anomalous Anthropologist: “home”; so anomalous experiences in the field tend to
Field Experience As An Insider Medium/ be excluded from the likelihood of having any
Anthropologist ontological reality per se; they will be explained away
by the stresses of fieldwork (DeVita, 1992). Even
Paul D. Biscop, Ph.D. strange or unusual experiences at home will be
discarded because we’re used to strange
Most cultural anthropologists who study spiritist experiences in cross-cultural encounters and
phenomena typically do so in “the culture of others” really, how odd can our own culture be anyway?
as outside ethnographers. For most of the history of T h e r e i s a p a u c i t y o f s e r i o u s o p e n - m i n d e d
the discipline, fieldwork was almost always done as anthropological fieldwork among Spiritualists in North
an outsider, with a few exceptions. Having been a America or Kardecists in European societies. At best,
Spiritualist Medium from long before I took up the what there is, typically is a medium (forgive the pun)
profession of Cultural Anthropologist, I began my first for their personal theoretical positions, rather than
field work at a time before the debate on insider/ genuine responses to the phenomena and data.
outsider had largely ended. While my MA defense
6 Vol. 1 No. 2
For most cultural anthropologists, then, experiences An experiential paradigm for the
of the paranormal and spiritistic probably are written anthropology of consciousness
off much as “mumbo-jumbo” as such things used to
be called in other societies by early anthropologists.
But perhaps our earliest colleagues in anthropology Kim McCaul
should be a reminder to us that we can still suffer
from biases, and that we ourselves are subject to
Introduction
social relations of power and control that can shape
our experiences even within the confines of our
discipline itself, and thereby shape the way we explain Many indigenous peoples and religious groups place
the world to ourselves and to others. great value on what we might call “extraordinary
On a personal level, I am a social scientist experiences of consciousness” and actively pursue
and, in general, a skeptic. Nonetheless my them through rituals, ceremonies, drug use and other
experience of 41 years of mediumship has given me a techniques. Anthropology’s key research tool of
“preponderance of evidence” (Tymn, 2009) in support participant observation can open us to this
of the hypothesis that human consciousness continues experiential dimension, and there are now a good
after the death of the body. I cannot ignore that number of accounts where anthropologists don’t just
experience anymore than I can deny the evidence of observe the behaviour of their informants, but weave
relativity of all things cultural, while at the same time their own experiences of consciousness into the
I continue to be amazed and delighted by the beauty account (Young & Goulet 1994). This raises
and profoundity of common humanity and their fundamental questions about the paradigm through
experiences. which we view such data.
References I here argue for the possibility of developing an

experientially based, etic model of consciousness with
Biscop, P.D. (1981). “By Spirit Possessed: A Field which to make sense of the varied extraordinary
Exploration of Some Anthropological Models for Spirit
experiences of consciousness that anthropologists
Possession Among Local Spiritualist Mediums”. MA Thesis,
collect in the field.
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada.
“THERE IS NO DEATH: Belief and the Social Construction of Extraordinary experiences

Reality In A Canadian Spiritualist Church: A Study in the
Anthropology of Knowledge”. Simon Fraser University,
Burnaby, BC, Canada. For the purposes of this paper, “extraordinary
experience” encompasses altered states of
De Vita, P. (1992). ”The Naked Anthropologist: Tales From consciousness such as dreams, trance and out-of
Around the World“ California: Wadsworth, Inc. body experiences, as well as such variety of
experiences as telepathy, premonition, perceptions of
Wallace, Alan B. (2008) “Embracing Mind: The Common non-physical beings, poltergeist effects and even
G r o u n d o f S c i e n c e a n d S p i r i t u a l i t y ”. B o s t o n & uncanny physical sensation.
London:Shambala.
Young, David E. & J-G Goulet (1994). “Being Changed By My own extraordinary experiences started during my
Crossed Cultural Encounters: The Anthropology of first undergraduate summer holidays. On the
Extraordinary Experience“. Ontario: Broadview Press. recommendation of a fellow student I spent time at a
meditation center in Solo, Indonesia. The elderly
*** Indonesian teacher taught a fairly simple meditation
technique that I started to practice on a daily basis.
As a result, my world started to shift. It would be a
Paul D. Biscop, BCATR, Ph.D. very long story to describe all that occurred at the
pabloypablo@shaw.ca Reversing Tides center, or subsequently, and I want to focus on the
Studio, revtides@gmail.com 124 Fry St., experiences that related to my later interpretation of
Nanaimo, BC, Canada V9R 4Y9
ethnographic texts. Some key experiences were:
250-591-2713
• out-of-body experiences (OBEs), i.e. being

conscious of myself as not in my body and my
body as being asleep;
• many experiences of meeting and interacting
with non-physical people during sleep states;
• auditory perceptions of voices when there was
“nobody” there;
• visually perceiving, during the ordinary waking
state, non-physical persons who communicate
with me telepathically.

“What are spirits?” And I continue with the thorny

I have just summarized these events in a few words, question, “What of the great diversity of ideas about
so they may not seem like much, but when they first them throughout the world? How is a student of the
started they were earth shattering. As well as anthropology of consciousness, who participates
altering my sense of the world around me they also during fieldwork, expected to regard all the conflicting
altered my sense of self, especially my sense of spirit systems in different cultures? Is there not a
boundary between self and others. In fact, I spent fatal lack of logic inherent in this diversity?” And the
quite some time wondering about my sanity, reply: “Is this kind of subject matter logical anyway?”
especially as I had no reference point by which to We also need to ask, “Have we the right to force it
understand them. into logical frameworks?” (Turner 1992:30)
On e o f th e th in gs th at h elped me was my I would suggest that spirit systems across cultures

anthropological reading. I developed a particular are not as divergent as Turner suggests, that the
fascination with the literature on shamanism and the subject matter is logical, and that we not only have
various spirit cults that exist around the world. I felt I the right but the obligation to create a logical
could relate to a lot of the experiences that were framework if we want to present our research as
being described, including the seemingly neurotic anything other than interesting, culture specific
behavior of some shamans (some of my own anecdotes. If we truly want to make a contribution to
behaviour probably seemed quite neurotic at times) a wider cross-cultural understanding of
and people’s relationships with spirits, both good and consciousness, I would argue our research must be
bad. grounded in a paradigm that allows for mutual
comprehension of diverse data.
Anthropological Models
Consciential paradigm
I could relate less well to the anthropological
modeling of those experiences. Based on my own Vieira, a Brazilian consciousness researcher,
experiences I considered informants to be describing, emphasizes the importance of combining personal
through cultural filters, real experiences, which the experimentation with theoretical research. He argues
anthropologists were reducing to metaphor and that we must accept ourselves, the human
symbol (Turner 1992). Depending on the analytical consciousness, as scientific research instruments
model, researchers would argue thst spirits are through which to obtain data (e.g. Vieira, 1994, 1997,
actually about power relations between genders, or 1999). Anthropologists know only too well that our
about the social management of neurosis or used to tool of participant observation is both our strength
create social obedience. Only one thing is certain, and our weakness in the eye of the harder sciences.
they can’t be real! As anthropologists we should be In Vieira’s approach we engage in a participant
the first to realize that this attitude itself is a social observation not only of the world around us, but
construct, a point made by De Martino (2001) many crucially also of our own microuniverse.
years ago.
Based primarily of a “projection interpretation” of the
Of course not all anthropologists are reductionist. OBE (Alvarado 2000), Vieira proposes that any
Numerous have exposed their own experiences of, for understanding of consciousness should be built on
example, spirit encounter (Turner 1992), guardian what he calls the consciential paradigm, which
spirits (Schwartz 1994) or OBE (Zurfluh 1981). Such includes the following premises:
accounts, however, usually avoid modeling of the
experience, or confine themselves to the emic model • Consciousness is multidimensional, i.e. it
of the informants. experiences and manifests in more than one
dimension, both during the human, physical,
Because of the background of the culture for which experience and in an extraphysical state during
they are writing, researchers who have extraordinary the OBE and after death;
experiences that they are not prepared to deny find • Consciousness is holosomatic, i.e. it uses more
their capacity to discuss them highly circumscribed. than one body (soma), including the physical
Adopting the discourse of the society where the body, and the psychosoma, a double of the
experiences emerged is the most straightforward way physical body in which we move about during
of circumventing this social censorship. But even OBEs and which is abundantly recorded in the
authors who experietially accept spirits still maintain a ethnographic literature;
resistance to etic modeling. In a significant paper in • The human experience is dominated by
which she clearly expresses her opinion that there are bioenergies; i.e. every living creature,
such things as spirits, Turner asks a series of including plants, has an energetic body and
questions: our interactions with each other and our
environment are fundamentally energetic.
8 Vol. 1 No. 2
Here I can only touch very briefly on each of these Participative anthropology of consciousness
highly complex, and no doubt controversial, premises.
I argue that they can allow us to discuss a host of
This points to a fundamental element of what I am
spirit experiences and altered states of consciousness
proposing, namely that to work with the consciential
without undermining the cultural interpretation of the
paradigm we need to go beyond theory and
experience.
participate in the experiences of consciousness we are
discussing, including OBEs and contact with
For example if we approach consciousness as extraphysical consciousnesses (i.e. spirits).
multidimensional and holosomatic we can make sense
of spirit possessions logically and systematically, not
This produces a certain limitation, because this is not
as psychological fantasy or a ruse to obtain social
everybody’s thing. In fact I would suggest that, at
standing, but as the interaction between two
least for the time being, this sort of research would be
individuals: one with a body and one without. We
limited to a small number of researchers who are that
could also engage with our informants about their
way inclined and prepared to undergo the requisite
dreams from an understanding that includes the
training. Charles Tart’s work on state-specific
possibility of OBEs as real, shared, experiences
sciences has relevance here. In discussing the
beyond the physical body. The concept of bioenergies,
difficulty of consensual validation of states of
finally, has particular relevance to Australian
consciousness Tart argues that such research and its
Aboriginal religious experiences, for example the
validation will need to be undertaken by highly trained
touching and rubbing of sacred objects or natural
individuals - like in any other scientific investigation …
features during ceremony. More broadly it can
provide an analytical anchor to understand a variety
of healing and sorcery practices. I have explored Public observation, …, almost always refers to a
these analytic benefits in the context of Aboriginal limited, specially trained public. It is only by basic
Australia elsewhere (McCaul 2008). agreement among those specially trained people that
data become accepted as a foundation for the
development of science. That laymen cannot
One advantage of this approach is that it increases
replicate the observations is of little relevance. (Tart,
our ability to communicate with our informants from a
1998)
basis of mutual understanding. Of course we can
have conversations about spirit beliefs or soul
journeys without accepting the accounts as reality, Just as the advanced mathematician will struggle to
but in my experience if we bring experiential and find a receptive audience among laypeople, so the
theoretical understanding to such discussions our advanced projector might struggle; but in neither
empathetic connection to our informants is greatly case does it mean that what they have to say may
enhanced and our conversations may take directions not be useful. In the case of anthropology, the science
not otherwise available to us. Another benefit would that studies the human being, I would argue a full
be that we could actually feed some of the e x p l o ra t i o n o f e x t ra o r d i n a r y e x p e r i e n c e s o f
understanding we may get from working with cultures consciousness really goes to the core of the discipline.
with a strong value of extraordinary experiences of
consciousness into our own culture. That way we not References
only improve our understanding of other cultures but
enrich our own. Finally we would open up whole new
Alvarado, Carlos. 2000. Out-Of-Body Experiences. Varieties
fields of investigation. For example, consider the of Anomalous Experience:
following quote by a Western Desert ngangkari, or
traditional healer:
Examining the Scientific Evidence. Etzel Cardeña, Steven
Jay Lynn and Stanley Krippner, eds. Pp. 183-218
“Ananagu doctors work with the spirit of the sick Washington: American Psychological Association
person, both when he or she is awake and when he or
she is asleep. Ngangkari work at night when all is De Martino, Ernesto 2001 [1946]. Sciamanismo e
quiet, gliding among people’s sleeping spirits similar fenomenologia paranormale. Metapsichica
to the way an eagle soars. Ngangkari have special
tools called ‘mapanpa’. Ngangkari travel in their spirit
McCaul, Kim. 2008. The persistence of traditional Aboriginal
bodies at night, meeting up and conferring with each
healers in the 21st century and of anthropology’s struggle
other. Ngangkari do not travel like this in ones and to understand them. Journal of the Anthropological Society
twos; they gather in large groups from extensive of South Australia. 33: 129-166.
areas.” (Wanatjura, 2003, 15)
Schwartz, Lisa. 1994. Being changed by cross cultural
This comment suggests a potential field of nocturnal encounters. Pp. 209-236 in Young, David E. & Goulet, Jean-
investigation, fieldwork during our sleep so to speak, Guy (eds.). Being Changed by Cross-Cultural Encounters:
but only if we are prepared to participate in this the anthropology of extraordinary experience; Broadview
particular manifestation of consciousness, the OBE. Press: Peterborough

Tart, Charles 1998. Investigating altered states of

consciousness on their own terms: A proposal for the
creation of state-specific sciences. Journal of the Brazilian
Association for the advancement of science 50, 2/3 March/
June: 103-116 (accessed on internet at http://
www.paradigm-sys.com/ctt_articles2.cfm?id=42)
Turner, Edith 1992. The reality of spirits. ReVision 15 (1):

28-32
Vieira, Waldo 1994. 700 Experimentos da Conscientiologia.

Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Internacional de Projeciologia e
Conscienciologia
Vieira, Waldo 1997. Projections of the consciousness. (2nd

English edition) Alvaro Salgado, Kevin de La Tour, Simone
de La Tour, trans. Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Internacional de
Projeciologia e Conscienciologia
Vieira, Waldo 1999. Projeciologia: Panorama das

Experiências da Consciência Fora do Corpo Humano. 4th
edition (revised and expanded). Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Issue 3 will have the general theme of
Internacional de Projeciologia e Conscienciologia (also
available in English translation) “Mediumship and Spirit Possession”
Wanatjura, Elsie. 2003. Preface. in Ngaanyatjarra

Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council (ed.) We are therefore accepting article
Ngankari Work - Anangu Way. NPY Women’s Council submissions and book reviews
Aboriginal Corporation: Alice Springs
relating to this theme.
Young, David E. & Goulet, Jean-Guy (Eds.). 1994. Being
Changed by Cross-Cultural Encounters: the anthropology of
extraordinary experience; Broadview Press: Peterborough Articles should be in the region of
1000-2000 words.
Zurfluh, Werner. 1981. Ausserkörperlich durch die Löcher
des Netzes fliegen. Pp. 473-504 in Duerr, Hans Peter (ed.).
Reviews should be no more than
Der Wissenschaftler und das Irrationale: Band 1, Beitrage 1000 words.
aus Ethnologie und Anthropologie. Syndikat: Frankfurt am
Main
The deadline for submissions is

*** January 4th 2011
Kim McCaul studied anthropology at

the University of Kent and the Please send all submissions to:
University of Adelaide and applied
linguistics at the University of New
England. He spent 10 years working
on Aboriginal land claims for the South
discarnates@googlemail.com
Australian Crown Solicitor’s Office and
is currently working at the Aboriginal
Heritage Branch of the South
Australian Aboriginal Affairs and
Reconciliation Division. He is a
volunteer instructor at the
International Academy of Consciousness. His research
interests include cross-cultural relationship building and
dispute resolution, and cross-cultural understandings of
altered states of consciousness.
10 Vol. 1 No. 2
Recollections of an
Indian Magic Show
Richard Cardew
visible bone. I know now that pigeons necks are

I lived in Clyde Road Rawal Pindi in April 1946. very thin, but this was like a small beef joint.
I had just turned 7 years old and my father was Then, back on his dais in front of us, he put the
a colonel R.E of the British Army in India. We head back onto the body, put a handkerchief
army children, with our nurses, went to a magic over it, and the bird began flapping. Then he
show in the local playground, where we sat in walked along the row again showing us the blood
two rows, small children in front, taller ones and inside the tin. When he showed it to me, I could
nurses in the back row. I was in the front row, only see an empty tin with a bit of paper with
with my older sister a few seats away with her writing on it stuck to the bottom. I strained my
friends. It may have been put on as a part of the eyes, and did manage to see a dark stain on the
Victory celebrations. paper. “That must be blood” I thought.
I can remember two events because they Shortly afterwards we walked back to the
were so striking, but they seem now to be fire. The magician took off his shoes and walked
interrelated. The first event was that we all had across the soaking steaming coals. “I can do
to get out of our seats and go round to the back that!” I told my nurse and I started forwards but
where two Indians were lighting a coal fire on she restrained me vigorously, saying “you’ll get
the ground, probably using petrol because the burned”. No one in our family ever argued with
flames were very high. an adult about anything. A long time later I
Then everybody left and went back to their asked my sister, “do you remember that magic
seats, except for me. I was a very dreamy child show?” “What did you see inside the neck? “I
who loved flames so I just stood there absorbed saw it stuffed with straw” she said. “How much
in them, until the two Indians came along with a blood was there?” “The tin was about half full”.
bucket of water and put the fire out, completely. “Did he actually walk through flames?” “Yes,
Only steam came from the coals.They suddenly they were huge”. “If I had walked through them
noticed me watching them. I became really would I have been burned?” “Yes”.
terrified and ran away back to my seat. What strikes me now is that I really
Meanwhile the magician had been doing wanted to “see what I should see”, perhaps like
tricks. As I arrived he held up a flapping pigeon, believing in the scenery of an amateur
put its neck over a small empty food tin and pantomime or a Shakespeare play. I believe that
proceeded to saw away at it with what seemed when people sitting in a séance see something it
to me a very blunt pen knife. I can remember is because they will the phenomena into being,
thinking “that’s not cutting its neck” (much to my just as theatre goers do not grumble about the
relief), when he suddenly held up its head in on scenery lacking verisimilitude.
hand and its body in his other hand. I can
Richard was born 21.2.1939 in Bombay
remember thinking “that bird is flapping its of army parents and returned to the UK
wings” and furiously told myself to try harder to in may 1946. He did a BSC in
see what was really happening. Mathematics at Warwick, became a
The magician walked along the row of teacher of computing in a 6th form
children, putting both head and body in front of college and retired in 1996. Since then
he has collaborated in exhibiting
each of our noses. I cant remember what the mathematical artwork and has also
pigeon’s body neck looked like because I was been researching harmonic ratios,
staring at the neck on the severed head. It mostly as used in the Stone Age. He
seemed to be like a bit of roasted meat, with no live in Salisbury with his wife and
daughter.

Ethnographic Encounters
with the Paranormal
Experience Narratives was some ten feet wide. The blanket seemed by some
strange power to stick fast to his shoulders. It
The short narratives that follow are representative of tightened and I felt the corners that I held on the
just a small selection of descriptions of unusual point of escaping from my hands. I set my feet
encounters recorded in the ethnographic literature. against a kind of cross beam that ran along the
The extracts are taken from anthropologists writing at flooring, but the tension of the blanket almost raised
various different points in the historic development of me to my feet, entirely against my will. Then all at
the discipline - from very early to much more recent once I made a sudden movement and dug both my
times. The descriptions also come from a wide variety arms, blanket and all, deep behind the wooden frame
of different cultural and geographic settings and detail that supported the skin cover of the sleeping room; I
several differing experiences that would generally be and the sleeping room were practically one. "Now we
classed as “paranormal”. Narratives such as these shall see," said I to myself. The tension continued to
clearly suggest that there is something (or, indeed, increase, and lo, the framed wall rose on both side of
many things) going on which seemingly requires that me, right and left. The rays of moonshine entered the
we reconfigure our dominant materialistic world-view room and cut athwart the darkness. A flat tank to the
and learn to appreciate alternate modes of living in, right of my, full of water and half dissolved snow, was
understanding, and experiencing the world. overturning and the ice cold water was spilling on my
Waldemar Bogoras knees. A heap of iron pans and dishes and ladles and
spoons, on my right, was breaking down with much
"So we two were left, the shaman and I, in the noise and clangor. I had a feeling that in a moment
sleeping room of his underground house. Abra had the whole house would tumble in about my ears, and
removed nearly all of his clothing. He took my best from a sheer instinct of self preservation I let go of
American double blanket and placed two corners of it the blanket. It skipped across the space just like a
on his own naked shoulders. The other corners he piece of rubber. Then, all at once, I came to myself
gave me to hold. "Do not let them go!" he warned as and looked around. The water tank was in its proper
he began to crawl out of the sleeping room, which place. Likewise pans and dishes. Everything was just
12 Vol. 1 No. 2
as it should be. The awful old shaman had worked on was ready; he transferred whatever it was into the
me by will power and made things look queer." can and capped the castor oil leaf and bark lid over it.
It was done."
As cited in F.Bowie (2002). “Anthropology of Religion: An
Introduction”. Oxford, Blackwell Publishing. p.204. Turner, E. (1998). “Experiencing Ritual”. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press. p. 149.
Sir E.E. Evans-Pritchard
R.G. Trilles
“I have only once seen witchcraft on its path. I had
been sitting late in my hut writing notes. About “One day I was talking to a ... witch-doctor. I was
midnight, before retiring, I took a spear and went for waiting for my paddlers to bring provisions and I
my usual nocturnal stroll. I was walking in the garden spoke of this to the fellow while wondering aloud if
at the back of the hut, amongst banana trees, when I they were far away and if they would bring me the
noticed a bright light passing at the back of my things I’d asked for. “Nothing could be easier to find
servant’s hut towards the homestead of a man called out!” he cried. Then he took his magic mirror and with
Tupoi. As this seemed worth investigation I followed great concentration pronounced some incantation.
its passage until a grass screen obscured the view. I The he said: “At this moment the men are rounding
ran quickly through my hut to the other side in order this bend in the river (it was more than a day’s
to see where the light was going to, but did not regain paddling away), the tallest man has just shot a large
sight of it. I knew that only one man, a member of bird, it falls into the water. They’ve caught it. They’re
my household, had a lamp that might have given off bringing you back what you asked for.” In fact
so bright a light, but next morning he told me that he everything was true: the provisions, the shooting, the
had neither been out late at night nor had he used his bird, and, as I said, they werer a day away!”
lamp. There did not lack ready informants to tell me
As cited in E. de Martino (1972). “Magic: Primitive and Modern”.
that what I had seen was witchcraft. Shortly London: Tom Stacey Ltd. p.17.
afterwards, on the same morning, an old relative of
Tupoi and an inmate of his household died. This fully Joseph K. Long
explained the light I had seen. I never discovered the
real origin, which was probably a handful of grass lit “It was the height of market day and both shops and
by someone on his way to defecate, but the street vendors had a lively trade going when the thing
coincidence of the direction along which the light appeared. It was a three-wheeled open coffin
moved and the subsequent death accorded well with apparently steering itself into the midst of the crowd.
Zande ideas.” There were three lively vultures perched at one end
and a dead arm hung limply over the side. As if that
Evans-Pritchard, E.E. (1976). “Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic weren’t enough, a hollow voice issued from the
Among the Azande”. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 11 coffin’s interior repeatedly inquiring the location of
Edith Turner one Jim Brown. Hundreds of people saw it - and heard
the voice.”
"And just then, through my tears, the central figure
As cited in S.A. Schwartz (2000). “Boulders in the Stream: The
swayed deeply: all leaned forward, this was indeed Lineage and Founding of the Society for the Anthropology of
going to be it. I realised along with them that the Consciousness” (http://www.stephanaschwartz.com/wp-content/
barriers were breaking - just as I let go in tears. uploads/2010/02/Boulders-in-the-stream-SA.pdf) p. 7.
Something that wanted to be born was now going to
be born. Then a certain palpable social integument Bronislaw Malinowski
broke and something calved along with me. I felt the “I remember well the first time I heard the kosi
spiritual motion, a tangible feeling of breakthrough mentioned. It was a dark night, and I, in the company
going through the whole group. Then Meru fell - the of three natives, was returning from a neighbouring
spirit event first and the action afterward...Quite an village, where a man had died that afternoon and had
interval of struggle elapsed while I clapped like one been buried in our presence. We were marching in
possessed, crouching beside Bill amid a lot of urgent Indian file when suddenly one of the natives stopped,
talk, while Singleton pressed Meru's back, guiding and and they all began to talk, looking around with
leading out the tooth - Meru's face in a grin of tranced evident curiosity and interest, but without a trace of
passion, her back quivering rapidly. Suddenly Meru terror. My interpreter explained that the kosi was
raised her arm, stretched it in liberation, and I saw heard in the yam garden which we were crossing. I
with my own eyes a giant thing emerging out of the was struck by the frivolous way in which the natives
flesh of her back. This thing was a large gray blob treated this gruesome incident, and tried to make out
about six inches across, a deep gray opaque thing how far the natives were serious about the alleged
emerging as a sphere. I was amazed - delighted. I appearance, and in what manner they reacted to it
still laugh with glee at the realisation of having seen emotionally. There seemed to be not the slightest
it, the ihamba, and so big! We were all just one in doubt about the reality of the occurrence, and I
triumph. The gray thing was actually out there, learned afterwards that although the kosi is quite
visible, and you could see Singleton's hands working commonly seen or heard, no one is afraid to go alone
and scrabbling on the back - and then the thing was into the darkness of the garden where the kosi has
there no more. Singleton had it in his pouch, pressing just been heard, nor is anyone in the least under the
it in with his other hand as well. The receiving can

influence of the heavy, oppressing, almost paralyzing something and glared at the twisted ankles for a full
fear so well known to all those who have experienced minute. Brusquely he raised the feet toward his face.
or studied the fear of ghosts, as they are conceived Softly he kissed each foot with his lips. Then he shook
by us in Europe.” the feet again and allowed them to swing back down
by themselves He spoke to the boy, who came out of
Malinowski, B. (1954). “Magic, Science and Religion”. New York:
Anchor Books. his doze and smiled... The boy slid from the table and
landed with both feet firmly on the floor. His knees
Tanya Luhrman shook for just a second, but Palmerio was behind him,
almost pushing him across the floor. The boy took
“The result, to begin with, was chaos and confusion. tentative steps, then bolder steps and finally crossed
Everyone was laughing as we dodged in and out, over to the door unaided and walked away with
creating a tangled knot of yarn. It was scarcely a complete confidence.”
scene of mystical power; a ritual magician would have
blanched pale and turned in his wand on the spot. But St.Clair, D. (1971). “Drum and Candle: First-hand Experiences and
an odd thing began to happen as we continued. The Accounts of Brazilian Voodoo and Spiritism”. New York: Bell
Publishing Company. p. 150
laughter began to build a strange atmosphere, as if
ordinary reality was fading away. Nothing existed by Bruce T. Grindal
the interplay of colored cords and moving bodies. The
smiles on faces that flashed in and out of sight began “As I watched them I became intensely aware of their
to resemble the smiles of archaic Greek statues, back-and-forth motion. I began to see the goka and
hinting at the highest and most humorous of the corpse tied together in the undulating rhythms of
Mysteries. We began to sing; we moved in rhythm the singing, the beating of the iron hoes, and the
and a pattern evolved in the dance - nothing that movement of feet and bodies. The I saw the corpse
could every be mapped or plotted rationally; it was a jolt and occasionally pulsate, in a counterpoint to the
pattern with an extra element that always and motions of the goka. At first I thought that my mind
inevitably would defy explanation. The snarl of yarn was playing tricks wit my eyes, so I cannot say when
resolved itself into an intricately woven cord. The the experience first occurred; but it began with
song became a chant; the room glowed, and the cord moments of anticipation and terror, as though I knew
pulsed with power like a live thing, an umbilicus something unthinkable was about to happen. The
linking us to all that is within and beyond. At last the anticipation left me breathless, gasping for air. In the
chant peaked and died and we dropped into trance. pit of my stomach I felt a jolting and tightening
When we awoke, all together, at the same moment, sensation, which corresponded to moments of
we faced each other with wonder.” heightened visual awareness. What I saw in those
moments was outside the realm of normal perception.
As cited in F. Bowie (2008). “Anthropology of Religion”. Blackwell From both the corpse and goka came flashes of light
Religion Compass, Vol. 2, No. 5, pp.865-866.
so fleeting that I cannot say exactly where they
David St. Clair originated. The hand of the goka would beat down the
iron hoe, the spit would fly from his mouth, and
“I waited in the semidarkness of the room, smelling suddenly the flashes of light flew like sparks from a
the strong incense... A boy came in, aided by an older fire. The I felt my body become rigid. My jaws
man. The boy could hardly stand. His feet turned in at tightened and at the base of my skull I felt a jolt as
such an angle that he was almost walking on his though my head had been snapped off my spinal
ankles... He must have been about eight years old. column. A terrible and beautiful sight burst upon me.
Palmerio lifted him up onto an ordinary kitchen table Stretching from the amazingly delicate fingers and
and examined the tortured feet. Then he closed his moths of the goka, strands of fibrous light played
eyes and swayed slightly, his voice becoming deeper upon the head, fingers, and toes of the dead man.
and deeper as he mumbled a prayer to one of the The corpse, shaken by spasms, then rose to its feet,
Umbanda spirits. The boy’s eyes, which had been spinning and dancing in a frenzy. As I watched,
filled with terror at first, closed and his head slumped convulsions in the put of my stomach tied not only my
forward. Palmerio pressed the deformed feet together eyes but also my whole being to into this vortex of
and shook them, violently. Then he shouted power. It seemed that the very floor and walls of the
14 Vol. 1 No. 2
compound had come to life, radiating light and power, Based on an analysis of this small selection alone it is
drawing the dancers in one direction and then possible to highlight several key factors apparently
another. Then a most wonderful thing happened. The involved in the production and experience of
talking drums on the roof of the dead man’s house paranormal phenomena in the field:
began to glow with a light so strong that it drew the
dancers to the rooftop. The corpse picked up the • Altered States of Consciousness (can be induced in
drumsticks and began to play.” a variety of ways including, but not limited to;
rhythmic dancing, chanting, music, the use of
Grindal, B.T. (1983). “Into the Heart of Sisala Experience: psychoactive drugs, tiredness, physical exhaustion
Witnessing Death Divination”. Journal of Anthropological Research, and so on).
Vol. 39, No. 1, p.68.
• Ritual (is very often the context in which
Conclusions
paranormal experiences occur).
As already stated, this selection is by no means
• Emotionally arousing circumstances (times of
exhaustive. What becomes clear from reading these
sadness, e.g. death, illness, stress, joy, fear, and so
descriptions, however, is the wide diversity of claims
on).
to ostensibly paranormal experiences in the
anthropological and ethnographic literature. What • Often the presence of a magico-religious specialist is
should we make of these observations? I have required: a medium, shaman, priest, healer,
suggested elsewhere (Hunter, 2010), that such witchdoctor etc.
descriptions can be treated as a sort of empirical
data, what Stephen Braude would perhaps refer to as Of course not all of these factors need necessarily be
“semi-empirical evidence”: not generally replicable involved together in a single experience, but it
within laboratory conditions but sufficiently recursive certainly seems as though in the majority of instances
to be taken as indicative that something is actually at least one of these factors is involved.
going on (Wiebe, 2006, pp.512-513). Ethnological References
participant observation, after all, is allegedly a
scientific methodology. As empirical data, therefore, Hunter, J. (2010). “Anthropology and the Ontological Status
these observations can be analysed, and from them of the Paranormal”. Rhine Online: Psi News Magazine, Vol.
inferences drawn, as a means to shed light on not 2, No. 2, pp. 4-5.
only the nature of paranormal experience, but also on Wiebe, P.H. (2006). “Religious Experience” In P. Clayton &
the factors (social, psychological, emotional, Z. Simpson (Eds.) (2006). The Oxford Handbook of Religion
physiological, etc) that contribute to the occurrence of and Science. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
such phenomena.
Ganzfeld Experience in the Laboratory I didn’t repeat these ideas, but as I watched the glow,
I had the slightest impression of a sort of vertical
Ian Holfield condensation forming in the glowing visual field, I
said “A vague vertical shape, an upright…” and then
as I said this, a second one appeared, and then two
This is a record of a ganzfeld session at the Downing
more, smaller and between the first two, as if further
Site Dept of Experimental Psychology Parapsychology
away. I said “there are four now, like the corner posts
lab on 30th March 1979. Session starts 15.00 hrs,
of a boxing ring…” I then had the clear impression of
ends 15.30 hrs GMT
someone jumping vertically up, up into the air, the
Session controller Dr Carl Sargent, sender Ruth P, strong feeling of someone leaping skyward,
receiver 'Ian Holfield' repeatedly. Then an impression of a postbox, and
This record was made after the session by Ian myself posting a letter into the slot…repeated several
Holfield. times.
Next, I had a series of images of an old house, with a
high wall round it. The house in the images was one I
*** had seen in the village where I was living outside
Cambridge, and my description flowed on, describing
it as having wrought iron gates, a crazy paved stone
“I tried ‘thinking of nothing’ with eyes open, feeling pathway to the front door, little trees in pots, clouds
rather silly and just looking into the diffuse pink glow; and birds in the sky; quite unlike the actual house
then with eyes shut, when the colour was a deeper which in fact had a broken wooden gate, and a worn
red glow. Then the pips went. I lay there, wondering and weed infested gravel drive.) Then I said “I am
what would happen. I remember thinking ‘Where do panning up the front wall, and the masonry is
our thoughts come from, anyway?’ Where do images changing into something else…it’s transmogrifying
arrive from under ‘normal circumstances?’ and ‘What into…” and I actually visualised high tension electrical
IS thinking, finally?’ cables stretching into the distance, but I said “it’s

turning into a system of

cables, cables under tension…”
Then there was a blank period; I
had a brief sensation of being in a
car somewhere dark, but didn’t
mention this as it seemed too
mundane. I then got the clearest
possible visual image of the Houses
of Parliament, viewed from above
ground level, from the north side of
the building, apparently from about
20 feet up in the air or about a first
floor window level. At the same
time I had the strangest feeling of
numbness in my legs, as though
they had been heavily
anaesthetised; I described all this,
and then had a brief flash of the
side of a London bus, with
advertising on it, a view down the
Thames from Westminster bridge
which had a lot of traffic on it. Then
this sequence also came to an end.
The next part was quite different. I
had the sensation that I was
outside the earth’s atmosphere; I
described having a bubble type
space helmet on, having “the
impression of communications,
telecommunication in space, with
satellites, comsats…stars across
the field of vision, and a selection
of satellites...in the right mid
distance a planet, lit from the right
side like a crescent moon…then I
detected a curved flight of a group
of classic Adamski type flying
saucers in the centre distance, BUT
I EDITED THIS OUT and didn’t
mention it, because it seemed a bit
nutty!
Then I said, “Hold on, there is
something odd here, one of the wrought iron gates, crazy paved (C) Was a small print of the famous
satellites isn’t like the others, it’s a stone path to the front door, a very painting “Light of the World” of
long needle nosed thing pointing prominent brass letter slot in the Christ holding a lantern and
left towards the centre of the field door, little topiary box-trees in tubs standing outside a tower covered in
of vision, its got little stubby each side of the door, birds flying ivy.
triangular wings, I can see the and some puffy clouds in the sky.
outlet of a jet engine, and it’s got (D) This one was folded up like a
One thing is really unusual about
the letters USAF on the left wing…”. triptych, and when Carl opened it, I
this picture, which is called
At this point, the lights came on, was seriously shocked, to say the
“Executive Wife”: the masonry of
and Carl came into the room, with very least. I had already been
t h e h o u s e w a l l s t ra n s m u t e s ,
the duplicate set which he had now incredibly surprised by the first
morphs as we would now say, into
been given, in their sealed picture, which I had described in
a steel net, which is holding back
envelopes. We sat at a table, tea full detail, with NO ELEMENT
the enormous torso of a woman,
and biscuits were brought in, and MISSING without ever actually
which presses it up as she strains
Carl opened the duplicate seeing anything like the image on
upward to the sky, and freedom,
envelopes one by one: the actual target picture! What I
her wedding ring clearly visible as saw now was truly beyond belief,
(A) The first was an art print, her clenched hands press against and I wouldn’t dare write this as
somewhat bigger than a postcard the cables of the net! fiction. The thing was some sort of
s i z e , o f t h e i d e a l d e t a c h e d (B) Was a cartoon drawing of advertising leaflet for a series of
townhouse; stone wall round it, people in a pub, I think by bill Tidy. new books I think...in the bottom
16 Vol. 1 No. 2
right hand side of the picture, two men in spacesuits here was that the ganzfeld was amplifying the
are looking away from us, into the screen; the receptivity of the subjects to precognition, effectively
background is a stars cape with telecommunications allowing them to “see (in a limited way), half an hour
satellites strewn across the field of vision; on the into the future"
right, in the mid distance, a planet is lit from the right
hand side, looking like a crescent moon; in the centre
far distance, a curved flight of 4 or 5 classic disc type ***
UFOs, and just right of foreground centre, but Ian is Irish, educated in Ireland and
pointing into the picture to left, is something like a Cambridge, studied psychology, gave up
Lockheed Starfighter, small delta wings, needle nose, training as a psychotherapist and went
single jet, not rocket, engine, and on the left wing, through various mutations via
the letters USAF. Though I had a slightly higher item journalism,and later some very interesting
engineering projects. For the last 10
count for “Executive Wife” I went for the space picture years he has been living in France
as I preferred it and it was fresher in my mind; it running various businesses, a property
would have had a higher count than the A picture if I business, and an engineering related
hadn’t edited the UFOs out, as they would have business, plus fine arts trading. He lives
scored quite high, as anything idiosyncratic was given with his French wife, a bilingual 19 year
old daughter, and an orange Basset dog.
a higher score. The morphing roof in A scored high as
well.
We went and unlocked Ruth, the sender, and found
she had actually been sending the A target, and she
said it reminded her of her marriage, which she said When Researchers Become
was “like a boxing match, we were scoring points off Eyewitnesses to the Anomalous:
each other all the time…” (she was recently divorced Should Seeing be Believing?
and I was actually having a relationship with her at
this time, and she had introduced me to Carl and his Callum E. Cooper
work.) Ruth said she had “sent” this image with a lot
of personal emotion surrounding it as it summed up
certain aspects of her failed marriage. When it comes to reports of spontaneous anomalous
As I had placed the A picture in second position, the experiences, the importance of reliable eyewitness
session was classed as a ‘binary hit’. At this time, Carl testimony being gathered and recorded has been
was getting 60% direct hits. By chance alone, discussed in parapsychology (O’Keeffe, 2001; Cooper,
obviously you would have a 25% direct hit rate (one 2008). ‘Spontaneous’ is the key word to focus on in
in four, as the targets were in sets of 4). I was by now these events; the phenomenon have, in many cases,
late for an afternoon session in the Fulbourn gone as soon as they appeared (particularly in cases
Psychiatric hospital where I was working. I rushed of apparitions). All that we are left with in many cases
back and was relating what had just happened to are accounts of the events. Psychology has
some colleagues in the office of an acute admission demonstrated that by investigating human memory,
ward when we heard “Hey, come out and see this you and techniques for recall (and even reasons for
lot, quick!” We piled out, and a group of people were memory loss), psychologists and those working in
watching a newsflash on the large TV screen, where a crime investigations can assist a person’s memory
voiceover was talking about someone being seriously recall by applying these techniques to help produce
injured in a London hospital...suddenly, I had a strong an account of events known as the eyewitness
deja-vu type sensation, as I realised that what was testimony (Loftus, 1975). To take eyewitness
actually on the screen was exactly the same view of statements from those who claim to have witnessed
the Parliament buildings as I had described in the the anomalous is extremely good practice for
ganzfeld maybe an hour earlier. parapsychologists and particularly those still involved
in the investigation of spontaneous anomalous
The flash was about the assassination of Airey Neave,
experiences in the field. Baker and O’Keeffe (2007,
a close advisor and friend of Margaret Thatcher, in
pp.225-226) have also proposed the application of
1979 the Prime Minister of the UK. A bomb attached
interviewing techniques as standard practice for any
to the underside of his Jaguar had blown off both his
researcher involved in the investigation of haunting
legs, and he died half an hour later in St Thomas’s
experiences. But where do we go to next when
Hospital. The bomb went off at 2 minutes to 3pm, and
researchers themselves witness these unusual but
he died at 3.30pm. We checked the tapes the next
well-documented events?
day, and my session was from 3 till 3.30pm. It’s a pity
T h e r e a r e m a ny p e o p l e w h o e m b ra c e
I didn’t mention his name on the tape, but I had
paranormal belief whether or not extrasensory
never heard of Airey Neave till that day. Obviously
perception (ESP), psychokinesis (PK) or ghosts, exist.
something other than ‘telepathy’ has to be invoked to
Paranormal belief in itself can occur due to a number
explain how I could describe a target which even the
of reasons including; religious belief, personality types
sender had not seen. As the commonest form of psi
or from an individual claiming to have been a witness
event in the huge anecdotal literature is, in fact,
to a paranormal event (Irwin, 2009). In the latter
precognition, I felt that what was actually happening

case, misinterpretation may have caused someone

to believe they had seen a ghost while being in a
building renowned for haunting type phenomena,
when in fact what they briefly saw in the corner of
their eye was a reflection or a shadow at the end of
a darkened room. This might not be the case for
every individual, but it is one of the most rational
explanations for such experiences. For the person
involved the suggestion of a building being haunted,
and then later seeing something in that building, is a
case of two and two being put together. The
expectation of being witness to an unusual
happening in a haunted location can be very
powerful psychologically, and is very hard to
eliminate from anyone’s current thought when in
that situation. However, there are some cases in
which the activity reported is clearly objective in its
nature and when researchers are called in they get
no rational explanation, what then? This question has
to witness this for themselves. The most common
plagued me for sometime when conducting field
accounts of researchers frequently witnessing
experiments into purportedly haunted locations. If
parapsychological phenomena for themselves are
ever a researcher were to experience anything, or
often found in poltergeist activity.
even have a record of the event on camera, would
In a case of a supposed poltergeist plaguing
people take their research seriously? Many might
the intercom/paging system at an industrial plant,
assume that if you caught ‘poltergeist activity’ on film
which many people had witnessed, parapsychologists
there would be rational explanations for the
D. Scott Rogo and Raymond Bayless were called in to
movement of certain objects, or that the film footage
assist (Bayless, 1979). Both researchers had spent
is simply fraudulent. The only people who could
many years researching electronic voice phenomenon
actually know what happened are those that filmed
(EVP) and were able to witness the unusual
the event and were present at the time. Once again
occurrences at the plant for themselves. Voices were
this brings us back to the importance of producing an
heard which could not be explained, even after the
accurate eyewitness account as soon as possible after
electrical equipment was checked and changed. The
any activity is reported.
well known Enfield Poltergeist case was another in
It wasn’t until 2007 that I personally witnessed
which the researchers, Maurice Gross and Guy Lyon
‘activity’ in a certain location that I could not honestly
Playfair, reported witnessing countless events for
explain. Paul Nunn, Richard Fox (colleagues of mine)
themselves (Playfair, 1980). However, not all the
and I had just begun investigating Clifton Hall in
researchers involved in the Enfield case witnessed the
Nottingham, which later became a two-year project.
activity, or at least were able to maintain their
On the first night there several trigger objects were
sceptical doubts. This in itself is quite unusual and
set up in different rooms of the hall with certain ones
indeed it might once again be explained by the
having locked-off camcorders over them (simply
researchers own beliefs in the paranormal and
depending on how many video cameras were spare).
individual differences with regards to
A trigger object is an item that is placed on a piece
misinterpretation of events. However, this is just an
paper, drawn around and then checked at regular
assumption and not a definite explanation. The fact
intervals to see if it has moved away from its original
that not all the researchers involved witnessed the
position in areas reported to produced poltergeist
activity might simply enforce the true nature of the
type activity. All three of us stayed together
activity and its well-known spontaneity. Therefore
throughout the night and did not split up due to the
anyone would simply have to be in the right place at
small size of the hall. Even though we all had radios,
the right time to witness these rare events.
it was thought that staying together would be the
In cases where a number of people witnessed
best idea so that we could account for each other in
the same supposed paranormal activity, it could be
case any noise, movement or activity was heard in
argued that group suggestion could possibly have
other rooms. I kept the keys to the hall and I was the
caused false memories to play a part in their accounts
first to enter every room and the last one to leave. I
of the events (Loftus, 1992). However, this simply
personally set up one particular trigger object that
leads back again to the earlier point of
was a whistle together with an old English penny.
misinterpretation which we would like to assume (but
However, a camcorder was not left on this particular
can’t guarantee) that researchers of the paranormal
trigger object, but before-and-after photographs were
would take into account. With the poltergeist case
taken. During the course of an hour or so, after all
discussed by Bayless (1979) the activity was clearly
the trigger objects had been set up, several unusual
objective in its nature. Everyone who visited the
noises and voices were heard loud and clear by all
plant at the time of the activity could hear the noises
three of us in various parts of the hall. After we took
and voices produced on the intercom. The problem
a break we returned to check on the trigger objects
is, what caused this? and if it is paranormal and has
18 Vol. 1 No. 2
and to our surprise the penny had moved (see figure the founders of the Society for Psychical Research
1). Though we cannot account for what happened in began and there are still parapsychologists today that
between the time the penny was left and when we support it (Luke, 2009, p. 22). If we apply suitable
returned, I can safely say that the only people in the research methods, suitable field studies can be
hall had stayed together and not gone near the conducted; and there is no harm in getting our hands
trigger objects after they had been set up until we dirty so to speak. Sometimes, to move forward and
returned. There are also video records of our time make new discoveries, we have to be ambitious and
together in the hall and the specific moments when devolve into areas of science that many would frown
the trigger objects were set up and then checked on. upon or simply reject, and this is how parapsychology
On two other separate investigations, around has often been met in the past. But to continue
2008 and 2009, I have witnessed the movement of building a catalogue of data on paranormal events,
objects, some of which occurred on command. These researchers must be grounded in investigative skills
investigations were also filmed. However, with all such as survey designs, interviewing techniques,
these later cases an interesting point about the laboratory research and field investigations. Only
activity was noted. Even though objects (quite often then can we take our studies further in the sciences
stones) were seen to move or be thrown across the dedicated to the paranormal such as; parapsychology,
room as if of their own accord, or by unseen hands, paraphysics, parasociology and paranthropology. This
the starting position of the object was never seen in is the path to being taken seriously and one possible
my experience. Therefore we are still left with the way of understanding the paranormal. More
need to be sceptical about the reported event. researchers at some point might witnesses something
Sometimes the objects thrown were reported not to for themselves, which might support previous
have been noticed in that room before. However, at documented accounts. Anyone involved in the serious
the first glance of any new scene, we could report on study of the paranormal must keep well-documented
visually perceiving and processing no more than four records of these events through interviewing
of five objects or aspects of that scene and techniques. Hopefully, we can then understand the
surrounding environment anyway (Carter, 2002, pp. anomalous through modern science and our
13). It should be well noted though that the position understanding of the mind and it’s vast capabilities
from where the object was thrown was usually an will become more comprehensive.
empty part of the room where no one was standing or
was even nearby. The activity in its nature was References:
purely objective. It was also spontaneous, however,
sometimes it occurred on command, which Baker, I.S., & O’Keeffe, C. (2007). Ethical guidelines
demonstrated some form of intelligence to the for the investigation of haunting experiences. Journal
activity, and this is supported in many texts outlining of the Society for Psychical Research, 71.4, 216-229.
poltergeist phenomena (particularly: Roll, 1976;
Gauld & Cornell, 1979). Bayless, R. (1979). An ‘‘electronic poltergeist’’.
How people choose to look on researchers who Journal of the Southern California Society for
claim to have experienced unusual activity for Psychical Research, 1, 18-24.
themselves, when working in the field, may differ due
to personal opinions on the paranormal. I can only Carter, R. (2002). Consciousness. London:
begin to develop speculative theories to account for Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
the activity I personally witnessed, and it only
supports what I have read in many of the texts on Cooper, C.E. (2008). Apparitions and eyewitnesses.
poltergeist activity. These theories do cover Paranormal Review, 45, 16-20.
psychology, misinterpretation, paranormal belief and
even PK theories. I can say with confidence though Gauld, A., & Cornell, A.D. (1979). Poltergeists.
that my thoughts on the paranormal still remain London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd.
relativity the same as they were before I became
involved and witnessed bizarre activity for myself. Irwin, H.J. (2009). The Psychology Paranormal Belief:
There have been countless events that I have A Researcher’s Handbook. Hertfordshire: University
managed to explain. Some simple, some not so of Hertfordshire Press.
simple, and only a fraction I could not explain (and
nor could others). I remain sceptical and the activity Loftus, E.F. (1975). Leading questions and the
only made me question what the researchers and I eyewitness report. Cognitive Psychology, 7, 550-572.
saw at the time. I also quickly develop a greater deal
of respect for those who had also taken their time to Loftus, E.F. (1992). When a lie becomes memories
research and write up their personal accounts, and truth: Memory distortion after exposure to
others, of unusual activity witnessed in the field. misinformation. Current Directions in Psychological
Seeing might not be ‘believing’, but knowledge Science, 1, 121-123.
of the situations in which spontaneous phenomena
occur, and knowledge of earlier accounts from Luke, D. (2009). Lecture Reports. Paranormal
previous researchers’ work, may be a way forward to Review, 50, 22-23.
understanding these events. Field research is how

O’Keeffe, C. (2001). Interviewing eyewitnesses in relevant is the “home circle,” Spiritualism’s private
spontaneous cases: The need for a Cognitive counterpart to public mediumship. These small groups
Interview style. Paper presented at the 25th were common in rural areas where distance from
International Conference of the Society for Psychical larger city centers made it prohibitive to travel to
Research, Clare College, Cambridge. participate in private sittings and demonstrations with
the mediums of Boston or New York, for example.
Playfair, G.L. (1980). This house is haunted: The These groups acted as bricoleurs, piecing together
investigation of the Enfield poltergeist. Glasgow: their information from the publications that were a
Souvenir Press Ltd. byproduct of the informational output of the
Spiritualists. Such notions of privacy, exclusivity, and
Roll, W.G. (1976). The poltergeist. Metuchen, NJ: modes of self-education parallel the formation of
Scarecrow Press. contemporary ghost hunting groups.
Beginning in the 1980s, the ASPR and SPR
*** seem to have turned their focus inward, focusing on
lab experimentation and becoming educational
I'm originally from Nottinghamshire andresources through their maintenance of paranormal
have a long standing interest in the archives. Published materials concerning this topic are
history of haunted locations and the volatile by nature, but on looking through the
investigation of spontaneous cases. In organization’s respective journals, it is possible to see
2009 I received the Eileen J. Garrett
a rich history of contribution to abnormal psychology,
Scholarship from the Parapsychology
the research of anomalous phenomena, psychic
Foundation and I'm the current student
representative of the Parapsychology testing experiments, and records of scandal. Similarly,
Association along side Renaud Evrard. Ithe few remaining paranormal research labs located
graduated from The University of within American universities have continued to close
Northampton with a BSc (Hons) in Psychology. I have over the years, but this near extinction of
written on numerous topics, particularly survival of academically based research in the US should not be
death and have been involved in many projects including interpreted as a decline in belief, but as a paradigm
investigating purportedly haunted locations, Ganzfeld shift to the DIY aesthetic of modern ghost hunting
research and exploring new methods of testing the sense of groups, which, although generally less professional,
being stared at. I am involved in the media now and then continue to posit similar questions.
as a representative for parapsychology. I am currently
based at Sheffield Hallam University reading for an MRes in
II. Conduits of Communication:
Psychology (exploring survival from the perspectives of
cognitive psychology, the psychology of death and beliefs). The basic ghost hunter toolkit contains a
variety of devices that increase the potential for
paranormal communication through audio-visual
digital technologies. Glitches and failures in machinery
are often interpreted as direct actions of the
From the Academy to the Street paranormal -- simple battery drain is often
interpreted as a spirit harnessing the energy of
Kristen Gallerneaux Brooks technology. So the unseen/unheard attributes of the
twenty-first century ghost are not due to a decrease
This paper traces the lineage of the public in the belief levels of society, but our need to safely
representation and processes of belief within process experience through technology. Not that the
paranormal investigative groups, from the early use of technology in ghost hunting is unique to our
antecedents of nineteenth-century psychical research era. Since the 1850s, science has been inextricably
societies to modern vernacular ghost hunting groups. linked to researching the paranormal. In the
My interest in this type of research supports my idea nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, however,
of “visual legendry,” in that ghost-hunting groups specialized detection equipment was associated with
perpetuate folkloric principles by the presentation and the more wealthy, academic psychical researcher,
negotiation of belief through material and visual whereas in the age of localized ghost hunting, basic
evidence. I also believe the field of parapsychology tools are widespread and affordable to most. This
contains explicit legend-making processes and increased availability of cheap technology lends itself
folkloric traditions – an idea that is rarely addressed to the formation of ghost hunting groups, and to an
in the humanities. increased chance to “prove” the existence of the
supernatural. Items essential to the modern-day
I. Foundations: ghost hunter’s toolkit can be purchased for under
A multitude of writings concerning the $200, though much of this equipment is not being
foundations of Spiritualism already exist, so rather used for its original intention. High-tech visual
than devoting a large amount of space to the history recording technologies exist to reveal the liminal zone
of that religion, let us instead consider that the of the unseen: thermal cameras reveal heat
practices and claims of its mediums literally created signatures and anomalous energy transference, and
the need for psychical research societies. Also infrared cameras are thought to capture ghostly
energy emissions that lay outside of the visible
20 Vol. 1 No. 2
spectrum. Contemporary investigative techniques are own beliefs” (1999:3). Belief in the paranormal can
multi-sensory, and seek to make concrete those still be seen as vulgar—a primitive throwback—and, in
sensations we most value in Western society. the academy, “traditions of disbelief” dominate.
“Because vision often takes priority in American Folklore, in this sense, is inclusive in its
culture, Americans tend to believe what they can acknowledgment of reflexive methodologies, and
see” (Tucker 2007:46). So, the ability to provide accounts for the polarization of believers and
recorded evidence lends veracity to personal disbelievers. In line with Leonard Primiano’s
narratives. philosophy concerning vernacular religion, belief here
is a blanket approach where experience is key; it is no
III. Tactile and Tenuous Spaces: more valuable if it abides by a strict set of codified,
In both folklore and parapsychology, patterns institutional traditions than if it exists through oral
in narratives concern themselves with the mechanics and material tradition alone (1995:44).
of the haunted house. There is the notion of a happy So the ritualistic actions of the Spiritualists in
or unhappy house, or residual hauntings where their séance rooms are no less valid than those within
energies and habits of previous owners can become the cathedrals of Judeo-Christian religions; an
“locked in.” Gillian Bennett speaks of place-centered unexplainable effect witnessed by a ghost hunter is no
issues in haunted houses, focusing on liminal spaces less admissible than an inexplicable measurement
that are “betwixt and between”: cellars, attics, taken by the parapsychologist in the controlled
thresholds, and stairways (1999:44). Architectural laboratory. While ghost hunters may identify with a
ruins act as a beacon for supernatural experience. specific religious faith, strange experiences have the
When a building is abandoned, its mortality becomes potential to create metaphysical belief where there
evident, and we invert its intended purpose—to previously was none, colliding with the pure
provide a site for the intermingling of the processes of boundaries of “ideal” religion.
the living and the dead. Paranormal television programming, in its
The physical presence of ghost hunters in functional position to replace the traditional printed
ostensibly haunted locations is more complex than text as legend-teller, is parallel to the principle of
one might think. Property owners, cognizant of the “ostension,” as adapted by Linda Degh and Andrew
negative attention an investigation could attract, are Vazsonyi (1983:19-20). Here we are most concerned
frequently reluctant to give access. Professional ghost with “ostension itself,” which is the desire for
hunting groups have individual codes of ethics, and individuals to engage in legend-creating activity
one contentious issue is the necessity of gaining themselves; and “pseudo-ostension,” hoaxing or
permission for entry. Some groups respect the rights imitating elements of a legend to perpetuate its belief
of the property owner, while other “renegade” groups (Ellis 1989:208-209). Mikel Koven contributes the
choose to forgo this rule, and act with the same additional category of “cinematic ostension,” the
attitudes as “urban explorers.” dramatization of legends using filmic representation
Of course, a recent innovation entirely (2007:185). It is possible to see all forms of ostension
removed from tactile experience allows for literal at work in these shows, and issues of pseudo-
armchair research—the paranormal webcam. The ostension are certainly prevalent.
home computer user engages in a virtual ghost hunt The forensic approach of a program like Ghost
through real-time surveillance cameras set up in a Hunters is meant to quell the resulting disbelief
variety of “active” sites. Most ghost-hunters, however, caused in part by its mediated nature, but
exclusively conduct their research in the traditional, nevertheless it is not alone for having come under fire
tactile sense. f o r f a k e r y. “ S t a g i n g c r e w s ” a r e b e c o m i n g
In one such case, in September of 2009, a 29- commonplace, with network employees planting
year-old woman was illegally exploring a “haunted” evidence the investigators themselves may not be
building on the campus of the University of Toronto. aware of in order to bolster ratings. In reality, most
As she was crossing rooftops, she fell to her death. ghost hunting expeditions turn up very little evidence
Police labeled her demise as “death by misadventure.” in comparison to the amount of time they spend in
This was an apt description, because while other the field, and are denied the hierophanies they seek.
buildings on the campus share reported paranormal Koven believes that Most Haunted is in itself a
activity, the building in question had no such kind of televised ‘legend-trip’” (2007:186). The
associations (Huber 2009). Here is a case where the legend trip serves as a ritualized pilgrimage to a
visual codification of what constitutes a haunted location associated with paranormal activity, a “ritual
location had grave implications. of rebellion” (Ellis 1996:439) enacted by teenagers to
prove courage and contribute to the formation of
IV. Maps for Action: identity. Abandoned houses and cursed gravestones
At the core of paranormal belief, issues of are just two examples—locations identical to those
authenticity have been as much a source of debate as explored by ghost hunters. The stories associated
they have been of upheaval, from early organizations with such markers “do not keep teens away from the
like the SPR to contemporary groups. But the ethical legendary spots but, paradoxically, function as dares
position of the folklorist conducting fieldwork is a that excite repeated visits to invoke danger” (Ellis
special case, as Gillian Bennett believes: “researchers 1996:439).
should not disbelieve informants on the basis of their

Late one night in 2006, a group of teenage human creativity converge to create new forms of
girls from Ohio trespassed onto a property rumored to experience, and in turn, legendry.
be haunted, acting out the classic legend trip. In fact,
the house was inhabited by the reclusive Allen Davis References:
and his mother, “who [had] a cauldron-shaped planter
in the yard that gained her a witchy reputation among Bennett, Gillian. Alas, Poor Ghost!: Traditions of Belief in
kids” (Smyth 2007). Davis woke up, and, being used Story and Discourse. Logan, Utah: Utah State University
to trespassers, fired warning shots to scare off the Press, 1999.
girls. Unsure of the origins of the noises, they
Degh, Linda, and Andrew Vazsonyi. “Does the Word ‘Dog’
returned to investigate. Davis fired again, this time
Bite? Ostensive Action: A Means of Legend Telling.” Journal
striking seventeen-year-old Rachel Barezinsky in the of Folklore Research. 20. 1983:5-34.
shoulder and head, paralyzing her. Davis was
sentenced to nineteen years in prison. This case Ellis, Bill. “Death by Folklore: Ostension, Contemporary
became known as the “Spooky House” case, going Legend, and Murder.” Western Folklore. 48. 1989:201-220.
beyond a simple enactment of a folkloric principle and
entering the court system to become a discussion of Ellis, Bill. “Legend Tripping.” American Folklore: An
property protection rights (Smyth 2007). If Bennett Encyclopedia. Ed. Jan Harold Brunvand. Garland reference
believes that memorates act as “tradition in library of the humanities, vol. 1551. New York: Garland Pub,
action” (1999:5), Bill Ellis takes this thought one step 1996.
further: “…folklorists must acknowledge that
Huber, Jordana. “Alleged ghost hunter falls to her death in
traditional narratives exist not simply as verbal texts
Toronto.” The Vancouver Sun. September 10, 1009.http://
to be collected, transcribed, and archived. They are www.vancouversun.com/life/ Alleged+ghost+hunter
also maps for action [...]” (1989:218) and their +Toronto/1980869/story.html (accessed 8 December 2009).
enactment, can be alternately benign and dangerous. Web.
V. Conclusion: Koven, M. J. "Most Haunted and the Convergence of

So, when considering the recent histories of Traditional Belief and Popular Television." Folklore London.
vernacular ghost hunting groups in comparison to the 118.2, 2007:183-202.
established histories of the psychical research
movement, it is possible to see a direct philosophical Primiano, Leonard N. "Vernacular Religion and the Search
lineage from one to the other. In both groups, there is for Method in Religious Folklife." Western Folklore. 54.1
(1995): 37-56.
a drive to provide definitive evidence of the afterlife
that is equally wrought with issues of authenticity and Smyth, Julie Carr. ““Spooky House” Case Splits Ohio
the ultimate goal of providing visual proof of the Suburb.” Associated Press. August 21, 2007. http://
unseen. Records of investigations from groups like the news.aol.com/story/ar/_a/spooky-house-case-splits-ohio-
SPR and ASPR, considered through folkloric principles, suburb/20070822091209990001 (Accessed 1 December
reveal Spiritualist mediums in a different light: as 2009).
embodied legends, representing ambiguous evidence
in living form. The fraudulent behavior of these Tucker, Elizabeth. Haunted Halls: Ghostlore of American
mediums laid the groundwork for vernacular ghost College Campuses. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi,
hunters, addressing the need for a heightened 2007.
awareness of human interference with paranormal
evidence. As a result, psychical research has set ***
standards for professional investigation—or hoaxing,
depending on one’s moral point of view. Mediums
under strict scientific investigation have in the past Kristen Gallerneaux Brooks was
defended fraudulent behavior through the explanation raised in a Spiritualist household
in Canada. She has an MFA in Art
that while some of the phenomenon was authentic,
from Wayne State University in
given the pressures of the controlled séance room, Detroit, Michigan, and is now an
bogus material was often used to meet expectations. MA Folklore student at the
Considering this, the elevation of contemporary ghost University of Oregon. She is
hunting groups into the media and subsequent currently building a visual
accusations of purposeful manipulation of evidence is reference website about
not particularly sensational or unique. paranormal material culture:
The material and visual culture of the www.revenantarchives.com.
paranormal are not static, but are imbued with a
record of belief and attitude, serving as a locus point
that simultaneously documents customary practices of
belief negotiation, approaches to mourning, and
performative aspects of the same. The liminal zones
of the paranormal are thresholds—thresholds at which
the intersections of belief, science, and modes of
22 Vol. 1 No. 2
Maria Lionza and the Induction of Spirit

Possession in Others – A First Person
Account
Allan Marsden
In July 2008 a castle in central Europe hosted a week-

long private retreat for a group of several hundred
followers of Wicca, a modern pagan religion1. One
strand of the talks and workshops at this meeting was
a talk I gave on the Cult of Maria Lionza, a syncretic
religion from Venezuela with elements of Kardecian
spiritism, Catholicism and other afro-carribean
religions bolted on to pre-existing indigenous worship
of a nature-spirit – Yara – who was renamed Maria
Lionza by the Catholics. In its present form, the
spiritist element of the cult generally involves the use
of a banco to induce trance, and subsequently
possession by ancestor-spirits2, in others. I have
is happening. At 100%, the entranced has no
visited Venezuela and spent time at Sorte, the sacred
awareness of what their mind and body are doing,
mountain which is the cult centre3 on several
and the body’s actions are entirely controlled by the
occasions, have participated in a number of rituals
spirit.
and have been given a variety of cult objects by one
of the bancos there to enable me to continue the None of the participants other than myself had any
practices on my return to Europe. prior knowledge of the Cult of Maria Lionza.
Furthermore, Wiccans in general (including most of
Following this talk, a demonstration was arranged in
those involved on this occasion) have limited
which I took the role of banco, and sought to induce
experience of spiritism. To accommodate this, and to
trance, and subsequently possession, simultaneously
allow for the fact that the majority of participants
into a group of five volunteers. In this, I was assisted
were a long way away from their homelands, I made
by a further group of five helpers whose primary role
the express purpose of the ritual to contact the ‘earth
was to ensure the safety and comfort of all involved,
spirits’ (spiriti loci) of the area in which the retreat
and by a small group of experienced djembe
took place, rather than to contact ancestor spirits as
drummers whose rhythms were used to help induce
such.
the trance state. An audience was allowed to be
present as witnesses, and photography by the Preparation for the demonstration consisted of:
audience was actively encouraged. A video of the
event was taken (with permission). - emptying the room of furniture (or stacking it
in corners) , with chairs set up around the
This was my first attempt at inducing trance periphery of the working space for non-
possession in others, and was done in a spirit of participants to watch the demonstration
enquiry rather than from a belief in or knowledge of
what would happen. My earlier attempts at trance - setting up an altar to Maria Lionza in one
possession in myself had been successful in part, but corner of the room, using the items I had
full possession had never been achieved. brought with me for the purpose,
Among participants in the Cult of Maria Lionza, - placing various oils, unguents, fruits, cigar(s),
possession is judged to have occurred to a level of and bottle of rum on the altar for use during
25%, 50%, 75% or 100% in any particular instance. the demonstration.
25% possession is where the presence of the spirit is
felt and communication is possible, but the entranced - lighting numerous candles around the
remains fully conscious and in control of their mind periphery of the working space, and
and body. 50% possession involves a situation in
- creating five horseshoe shaped figures on the
which the entranced and the spirit have roughly equal
ground using lines of talc, large enough for a
control of the mind and body. At 75%, the spirit is in
person to lie prone within them, with their feet
control, but the entranced retains awareness of what

The drumming was stopped and a period of silence

ensued. Roughly three to five minutes later, without
warning, Participant A leapt from the supine state to a
crouching position, and started talking in an agitated
manner. I spoke with him. He said we were in great
danger, and when questioned further explained that
the angels were coming, terrible angels who dragged
their massive swords behind them, ploughing up the
landscape as they did so. He expressed considerable
confusion as to where he was and who we were, but
was certain that the danger was real and
considerable.
After a few minutes discussion, I was able to convince

him that although we humans would not be able to
help the situation (as he insisted), Maria Lionza might
be able to. I lead him to the altar, introduced him to
Maria, and left him in a position of silent prayer, being
watched over by some of the helpers.
By now, several of the other participants were

showing signs of movement. I assigned helpers to
watch over them while I addressed Participant B.
Participant B stated that he had come from the Stone

People. He carried a message. In the old days, the
Stone People had been revered by humans, but now
they were ignored. He asked that we should pay them
due reverence. I agreed to do what I could, and after
a few minutes lead Participant B to the altar and left
him too communing with Maria Lionza.
at the open base the horseshoe pointing
towards the altar in each case. Candles were lit Participant C stated that he was a nature spirit which
at points along these horseshoes. Figure 2 had been trapped in a kind of well for many years,
shows the equivalent at Sorte. and the invocation had released him. He was very
grateful. He was fairly swiftly led to, and left at, the
The demonstration itself started with prayers to Maria altar.
Lionza to assist us and keep us safe, followed by
‘spiritual cleansing’ of the participants. Participant D also appeared to be possessed to a
greater or lesser degree, but I cannot recollect at this
The participants then lay face-up in the horseshoe stage the details. She too was fairly swiftly led to, and
shapes on the floor, and were instructed to clear their left at, the altar.
minds of all thoughts. The drummer commenced a
slow, rhythmic drumming. Over the next half hour or When I initially spoke with Participant E, she stated
so, I anointed each of the participants with the oils that she was not possessed. A little later, her watcher
and unguents4 and rubbed them with fruit pulp, I suggested that I speak with her again. This time she
blew cigar smoke over them, I spat rum over them whispered to me that she was in fact sharing her
and I walked around them, banging my stick (itself of mind, but she did not wish to make this public, as the
Venezuelan origin, and supposedly containing an possessing spirit was an angel, and she feared a
indwelling spirit or nkisi – see Figure 4) on the ground confrontation with Participant A. She stressed that
around them in rhythmic patterns. angels were kind, loving, wonderful creatures, and in
no way similar to what Participant A had suggested. It
It should be noted that during this process I myself was notable that Participant E was speaking as
fell into a light trance state. I was more or less fully herself, describing what the angel was saying, rather
conscious, however, and not aware of being ‘ridden’ than speaking as the angel. After a while she too was
by any external spirit. led to the altar.
24 Vol. 1 No. 2
S E Q U O I A C L U B
After a while, I began the closure procedure, which - Participant E stated later that she had
involved thanking Maria on behalf of all present, then deliberately misled me during the process of
following a set of steps to persuade the spirits to persuading the spirit to leave after the
leave the bodies they has taken over. I then asked demonstration, and that in fact the spirit was
each participant a series of questions designed to still with her, and she continued to converse
confirm that the original owners were back in control with it. When pressed why she had done this,
of their bodies, with acceptable responses. The she stated that in her youth she had been
demonstration was then drawn to a close. involved in a serious accident which left her
with many broken bones. She was prescribed
It was possible over the following days to have wash- morphine for pain relief during her hospital
up meetings with the participants both singly and as a stay, and had become addicted. She stated
group. The following information of interest was that the feeling she had got from the presence
gleaned from these meetings: of the angel was the first time since her
addiction when she had felt a ‘high’
- None of the participants were 100%
comparable to the effect of the morphine on
possessed, in that they all retained memory of
her. I was unable to persuade her to rid herself
what they (or the possessing spirit) said and
of the spirit. Fortuitously, one of the ‘helpers’
did during their possession. Participants A and
at the ritual lived with Participant E, and I left
C claimed to have been 75% possessed, and
him to keep a lookout on her once the retreat
hence unable to control their actions during
was over. I was later told that the ‘angel’
their possession. The remainder claimed about
remained with decreasing intensity for some
50% possession, although arguably Participant
months before eventually fading away.
E was only 25% possessed, as she continued
to speak with her own voice. I do not seek to draw conclusions from any of this. I
merely report it as it happened to, or was reported to,
- It proved possible to identify the Stone People.
me. I think it is interesting, though, that even if you
These were boulders raised locally using rubble
don't really know what you are doing and don't
left after bombing during the second world
particularly believe in it, this sort of work produces
w a r. T h e b o u l d e r s w e r e p a i n t e d w i t h
real and significant effects. I'm not willing to
caricatured human faces, and could be seen in
speculate on what these effects 'mean', or even what
several of the local villages. It is almost
they 'are' in any absolute terms. That is, to me, less
certainly correct that these were reverenced
important.
when first raised, but are now generally
ignored. Participant B claimed not to have
***
known about these prior to the ritual but may
have seen them in passing unthinkingly. Allan Marsden is an Engineering Consultant
in his 50’s living in Mid-Wales. He has been a
- Participant C recently stated: “I had an Wiccan since the early 1980’s, and a follower
immense feeling of gratitude (about being of Maria Lionza since 2006. Allan has no
freed from the well) that stayed with me for formal qualifications in Anthropology, but
months, making me able to experience many has been a keen amateur for many years.
other things I might not without this
experience.”

Impossible Things : Notes from the her to ring me! This was getting stranger by the
minute, and it had only just begun!
boggle threshold
We worked it out that the voice was asking, even
David Taylor telling us to go to Avebury, the stone circle in
Wiltshire. The next ‘9th’ was in a couple of weeks –
Alice laughed: “There's no use trying,” she said; Saturday 9th February. The ‘all of you’ could only
“one can't believe impossible things.” relate to a small group of researchers, psychics and
“I daresay you haven't had much practice,” said the mediums that met in the Warwicksire area of which
Queen. “When I was younger, I always did it for half I was a member. Unfortunately it proved impossible
an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as to get the others to go at short notice. So the
many as six impossible things before breakfast.” afternoon of the 9th saw three of us, Jane, myself
and our friend Robin, traveling down the motorway
Alice in Wonderland. to Wiltshire, unsure exactly what to expect.
It could be argued that it is a brave or perhaps a It was dark by the time we arrived in Avebury. The
foolish man who admits to having had an majestic splendor of the largest Neolithic stone
experience that takes him to the edge of his own circle in Europe was lost on us due to the dark. The
boggle threshold. occasional road side stone was illuminated in the car
headlights, adding to the eerie atmosphere of the
Certainly the anthropological literature is only now whole journey.
coming out of the shadows, with a few brave souls
willing to share their own experiences with what we Unsure exactly what to do or expect, we had a drink
would describe as the ‘paranormal’ while engaged in in the village pub. At 8.30pm we made our way
ethnographic research. down towards the church. The voice had not been
specific about where in Avebury we should go. As
My own experience at investigating anomalous we crunched our way up the church path the church
phenomena spans 25 years. In that time I have clock struck 9. We all jumped out of our skins before
been fortunate to have a few experiences, although bursting into laughter. This was getting tense! It
these are few and far between. When writing this was then that Jane commented that she had the
article I have had to consider which experience to feeling we were being watched. With my heart still
share. Should it be the responsive poltergeist or beating from the shock of the church clock and with
perhaps the apparition I saw while on an my tongue in my check, I addressed whatever ‘it’
investigation at a local education centre. Eventually was that had sent us all this way on this
I settled on a truly bizarre experience I had in the supernatural errand. I said we had come a long way,
early 1990s. that we weren’t expecting much, nothing too
spectacular, a couple of flashes of light would do.
Late one mid-week evening in January my peace We waited. And of course, nothing happened!
was shattered by the telephone ringing. It was late,
but it was something I was used to – late night calls Feeling that we had been made proper fools of, we
from people wanting to report a variety of decided to cut our losses and have another drink in
paranormal experiences. But this phone call was the pub before the long journey back to Coventry.
different. The voice on the other end of he line was But before we entered the pub I noticed a gate
different, strange even. A very deep gruff voice opposite the pub car park. Perhaps, I suggested, we
asked to speak to me. When I replied it was me should have a look in the field, see what was there.
speaking the voice became even deeper, almost
more animal. In a deep, snorting voice it said Grudgingly we crossed over the road and into the
“Averbury. The 9th. All of you”. Thinking fast I tried field. Three huge stones loomed up out of the
to stall for time, and mumbled something about darkness. We examined them, and decided that the
Avebury. Before I could finish the voice continued pub was still looking like a better idea. It was then
“Avebury. The 9th. 9 o’clock. All of you”. And before I that we saw a bright white flash of light in the
could open my mouth, the phone went dead! clouds above the pub in front of us. We stopped in
our tracks and waited. Nothing. It was then that
The experience left me a little shaken. If this was Robin suggested we stand by one of the stones and
someone’s idea of a joke, it wasn’t very funny. meditate. With nothing to loose we did just that.
Before I could compose myself the phone rang. Not After 10-15 minutes we opened our eyes. Before we
again I thought! This time it was my friend Jane could move there was another bright white flash of
from Coventry. She asked, rather sheepishly if I had light in the clouds above the pub. Again we waited
just had a strange phone call. I replied that I had for it to happen again. We must have stood there
and asked her why. She recounted that she had had for 20 minutes. Nothing happened. Our minds raced
a similar phone call to the one I had just had. The back to earlier at the church and Jane’s feeling of
only difference is that her mysterious caller had told being watched. Had we got what we had asked or –
a couple of flashes of light?
26 Vol. 1 No. 2
Ghostly Experiences: More Than

We drove back to Coventry in silence and Imagination, More Than Just a Good
puzzlement. Why had we been instructed to go to
Avebury? Who or what was the voice? What had Story
caused the flashes of light? Could they have seen
car headlights? No, because we had seen plenty of Rosalyn Dyne
those all night, and they were completely different.
Could it be something meteorological ? Again no, as In the July 2010 issue of Paranthropolgy Eric Ouellet
I was able to rule this out a few weeks later after observes; “there is a serious need for a social
making enquiries with the relevant experts. science and humanities equivalent to the Journal of
Scientific Exploration or the Journal of
With reports such as this, it is easy to mock and be Parapsychology.” Not only do I agree with his
skeptical. No one was more skeptical of the sentiments, I also argue that the various disciplines
experience than me! within the Humanities and Social Sciences should
discard their wariness of all things paranormal;
To be of value scepticism must be informed. instead, accepting that such phenomena is worthy
Psychical research has been challenged by many of scholarly interest. Folklorist, Gillian Bennett
sceptics during its long history, but few of them maintains, that this ‘wariness’ has meant there is
have taken the trouble to make a proper study of “little opportunity to revise popular stereotypes or
the evidence. Most have argued from a priori counteract educated prejudice” surrounding
positions – it can’t be, so it isn’t – so their “supernatural folklore.” She further contends that a
comments are valueless. To be of value, scepticism broader study of paranormal phenomena, which
must be constructive. It is not enough for the explores beyond the boundaries of the Sciences, is
sceptic to indicate the shortcomings of an required especially as “people continue to have
explanation; they must be able to offer a better experiences […] that science as we define it today
one. cannot provide.”
Personal experience narratives, such as
John Michell, writer and earth mysteries researcher those discussed by Bennett in Alas, Poor Ghost,
who died recently, was a great opponent of what he offer more than just material for psychological
called ‘Explanationism’, our need to explain analysis. Although studies that explore these
everything we encounter in relation to our own aspects of paranormal phenomena play an
cultural understanding: “Explanationism is a disease important role in the overall understanding of such
of cranks which makes them explain everything in phenomena, negative issues concerning experients’
terms of their pet theory”. Michell believed that mental health or personality traits, which are often
mysteries were not to be explained away, but implied by these studies, have the effect of
entered into, a form of initiation, a way of seeing d e t e r r i n g m a ny p e o p l e f r o m s h a r i n g t h e i r
the world differently. We should not be surprised experiences. My research, which explores the
that there are bitter arguments over the reality of ghostly experiences of non-Indigenous Australians,
witnesses’ experiences. The impasse seems examines how studies pertaining to these
formidable until we abandon those extreme either/ experiences and Australian paranormal phenomena
or positions. Most paranormal phenomena are in general, would benefit by moving beyond the
ambiguous, and I think it is significant that they are Sciences and into the Humanities and Social
often dream-like events. Perhaps they are special Sciences. This would enable a better understanding
forms of reality which bridge the internal and of ghostly experiences and, specifically, their link to
external worlds. Because of their paradoxical beliefs concerning death and an afterlife; as well as
nature, I sometimes liken the paranormal to the the subsequent effect of these beliefs and
Taoists’ ‘Uncarved Block’. They are like fragments of experiences on individuals, families, and society in
a primal reality. Pregnant with a myriad of possible general.
manifestations, before they are whittled and Apart from their link to afterlife beliefs,
polished into intelligible shape by the way we ghostly experiences and the stories they engender
process our perceptions and expectations. If this are often viewed merely as entertainment; however,
sounds mystical, so be it. they have a lot more to offer. Tales of ghostly
encounters can, for example, provide a means for
"There is a theory which states that if ever anybody studying the history of an event, or site. In his
booklet Now I Believe … in Ghosts! Brian McDonald,
discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it a former tour guide, recounts some of the ghostly
is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced experiences of those who either worked at, or
toured, Sydney’s Quarantine Station at North Head,
by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. in New South Wales; all the while, recounting the
There is another theory which states that this has history of the site and the lives of those who passed
through its gates. While Jack Sim, who conducts
already happened.” -- Douglas Adams tours in and around the city of Brisbane,
Queensland, not only tells of events that gave rise

to Brisbane’s ghostly phenomena but also the recounting of an interview he conducted with a
history of the people and area in which these young male who was originally from Chinese
phenomena have occurred. McDonald and Sim are Malaysia, but is now residing in Perth, Western
just two of many individuals, and groups, who Australia. Despite the young man’s father voicing
conduct ghost tours in various towns and cities concerns about his son’s ability to carry out the
around Australia – all of which add a different required “devotions towards the dead” now he lived
dimension to the telling of an areas’ history. in Perth, his father was also worried about his own
John Pinkney, on the other hand, believes death and who would perform the necessary rituals
that tales of ghostly encounters “point persuasively when the time came. He had good reason to worry.
to the apparent existence of a universe parallel to After his father’s death, the young man decided not
our own.” Although the tales presented in his book to carry out all the rituals, choosing only to do those
Haunted: The Book of Australia’s Ghosts, resemble that ‘fitted in’ with the beliefs he adopted since his
those in other anthologies centring on ghostly move to Australia. His decision upset many family
phenomena, Pinkney appears to believe the tales members, none more so than his sister, who,
are true because many are told by supposedly although she had married an Australian, been
reputable people. For example, apart from stories educated in a Catholic school and now also resided
retelling the ghostly encounters of “well known in Perth, desperately believed all the rituals should
Australians,” he also states that “others who express be observed or their father’s ghost would not find
their belief in ghosts include an RAAF Wing rest. After much debate, the young man carried out
Commander, a CSIRO scientist, [… and] Australian an important ritual for their father, and in so doing
Army personnel.” Pinkney is not alone in believing finally gave his sister some peace of mind.
that the tales reinforce claims that such phenomena The cultural issues displayed in this example
are ‘real.’ However, mainstream scientists do not are particularly relevant in a multicultural society
consider experiential examples provide sufficient such as Australia, where people from many cultures
evidence for the actuality of ghostly, or paranormal and religious backgrounds come together. However,
phenomena; preferring, instead, experiments that during my research into Australian ghostly
deliver results which display repeatability between experiences I observed that these experiences, and
experimenters. phenomena, although relevant to cultural issues
While scientists may dismiss experiential within that society, remain under-researched.
evidence, some social researchers have found that Furthermore, that Australian ghost stories, as a
tales recounting ghostly experiences provide literary genre, are often overlooked in publications
valuable indicators of the mores, morals and beliefs in which one would expect them to be represented.
of a society at any given point in history. Ronald C. For example, Nicholas Birns’ and Rebecca McNeer’s
Finucane, for example, found that “ghosts of the book A Companion to Australian Literature Since
twentieth [century] have one overriding function to 1900, while devoting an entire chapter to science
play in society: to demonstrate the existence of an fiction, failed to mention one ghost story – despite
afterlife;” while those in “postmedieval” times were the increase in publication of these tales.
used “not to reinforce beliefs about heaven, hell and Rather than entering into the debate
purgatory, but to confound and refute atheists and concerning the ‘reality’ of ghostly phenomena, my
Sadducees by proving that an afterlife existed.” research aims to show there is more to
However, it has also been found that beliefs understanding such phenomena than the study of
pertaining to death and an afterlife can have serious psychological issues; or as Pliny inquired of his
consequences; especially emotionally. friend, Sura, nearly two thousand years ago,
Peter Read, while primarily exploring the idea “whether you think there are such things as ghosts,
of ‘inspirited’ earth in his book Haunted Earth, and whether they have their own shapes and some
observes that generational changes in beliefs within divine existence, or whether they are unreal images
migrant groups, such as those relating to specific that take their forms from our own anxieties.”
burial rites to prevent the dead returning as ghosts, Moreover, I maintain that such experiences offer
can have an adverse effect on family relationships more than just an entertaining tale to be told on a
as well as individual cultural identity. This is cold, stormy night in the hope of scaring some poor
especially so if one family member has discarded soul. Ghostly experiences and the narratives they
the family’s supernatural belief system in favour of engender supply much more – they supply a means
one that does not allow for any supernatural of exploring history, social and cultural issues,
connections, and/or diminishes the need to perform religious doctrines, and literary styles. But more
certain burial rites required for the appeasement of importantly, for the experients and those who
the decedent’s spirit/soul. believe their tales, they supply hope there is more
Tales of ghostly encounters, while exhibiting to life than this life.
a society’s afterlife beliefs, also evince traditional
ideas associated with ghosts and hauntings. Many of References
these ‘traditions’ focus on the use of correct burial
procedures to ensure the deceased does not return Bennett, Gillian (1999). Alas, Poor Ghost! Logan,
as a ghost. Read highlights the importance some Utah: Utah State University Press. Pages 1-2.
individuals place on these rituals through a
28 Vol. 1 No. 2
S E Q U O I A C L U B
Birns, Nicholas, and Rebecca McNeer, eds. (2007). A

Companion to Australian Literature since 1900.
Rochester, New York: Camden House. Passim.
Felton, D. (1999) Haunted Greece and Rome: Ghost

Stories from Classical Antiquity. Austin, Texas:
University of Texas Press. Page 62.
Finucane, Ronald C. (2001) “Historical Introduction: Toward a cross-cultural view of

The Example of Early Modern and Nineteenth-Century parapsychology
England.” Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidisciplinary
Perspectives. Eds.James Houran and Rense Lange.
Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., A new site, World of Parapsychology (WoP, http://
www.thewop.org), was launched in July 2010, based
Pages 9-17.
on an idea of Renaud Evrard an a brilliant
McDonald, Brian, ed. (1999) Now I Believe … In t e c h n o l o g i c a l a c h i e v e m e n t b y N i k o l a o s
Koumartzis. Initially it was based on research
Ghosts! Sydney: Privately Published, Passim.
conducted for the White Book of Parapsychology
Ouellet, Eric. (2010) “Parasociology: Integrating the (published in 2009 by the Institut Métapsychique
Concept of Psi into Sociology.” Paranthropology: International, Paris), the website soon became a very
Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the ambitious project to aggregate relevant information
on what is going on today in parapsychology
Paranormal Vol. 1, No. 1. Page 4.
worldwide, and by whom.
Pinkney, John. (2005). Haunted: The Book of
Australia’s Ghosts. Rowville, Australia: The Five Mile All around the world, often isolated researchers are
Press. Page 8-9. trying to communicate the standards of scientific
research on paranormal phenomena. On its side, the
Read, Peter. (2003). Haunted Earth. Sydney, public seeks the most reliable information on
Australia: UNSW Press Ltd. 127-141. parapsychology in the middle of a jungle in which
access is difficult, especially when English is not their
Sim, Jack. (2005). Haunted Brisbane: Ghosts of the native language. WoP proposes to address these
R i v e r C i t y. B r i s b a n e , A u s t ra l i a : J a c k S i m ’s needs by using modern collaborative tools: everyone
Publications. Passim. can contribute to WoP and, reciprocally, share what
they find on their networks. Furthermore, this
*** website, initially in English, can be translated into all
languages by just one click, and translations can be
Rosalyn M. Dyne, B.A. (Hons) Master of improved collaboratively.
Philosophy (Religious Studies) Research
Higher Degree student at the University
Each team or society known for the quality of its
o f N e w c a s t l e , N S W, A u s t r a l i a .
Researching: The ghostly experiences contributions to parapsychology has its own page on
of non-Indigenous Australians. the website, summarizing essential information and
linking to frequently updated news. Conference
programs, calls for papers, calls for volunteers, grants
opportunities, new publications, podcasts etc.: all
verifiable and relevant information can be transmitted
no matter its geolocalization. The parapsychological
community, which is quite small on the scale of
sci e n t i f i c r e se a r ch , su d d e n l y b e co m e s m o r e
interconnected.
This project provides a great opportunity to observe

the cultural differences in the reception of
parapsychology. Just picking some examples from the
pages of the website: in Brazil, the Integrated
Experimental Parapsychology Center lies at the heart
of a spiritualist organization that, however, ensures its
ideological independence. This situation recalls the
beginnings of societies such as the Society for
Psychical Research in London and the Institut
Métapsychique International of Paris. Kardecian
spiritualism has always claimed to be compatible with
a strictly scientific approach, although it emphasises

certain hypothesis and research topics. This is the There have been several cross-cultural studies
situation in Japan too, where the acceptance of chi comparing the narratives of exceptional
and other subtle energies helps to legitimize and experiences (e.g., Belanti et al., 2008). Other
fund numerous research projects on the exceptional recurrent publications help to show the specificity
abilities of the human body. Their experimental of parapsychological research in a country or a
findings suggest that a strange energy materializes region (e.g. Angoff & Shapin, 1973) but there is
there more than elsewhere. In other religious and still no cross-cultural or transcultural vision that
more or less economically developed countries, emerges.
parapsychology has still not emerged. In sum, the
disparities between countries and cultures become We hope that the WoP project will soon serve as a
important. In some countries (like France and basis for a global ethnography of parapsychology.
Greece, according to our personal experiences), Other questions arise: Will such a globalization
people cannot imagine that parapsychology is an project help to standardize the common information
academic discipline, while in others, particularly in on parapsychology? Will there be a better
the United Kingdom, this is commonplace. distribution of resources? Will it be the tool to
overcome language and cultural barriers? Any
S o, w hy i s t h e c o n t a g i o n e f f e c t b e t w e e n contribution to this ambitious project is welcomed...
neighbouring countries not larger? Some
sociologists (eg., Méheust, 1999) showed that each References
society developed a deep personal relationship with
the paranormal, whose signs are visible across the
Angoff, A., & Shapin, B. (Eds, 1973). Parapsychology
centuries, with cyclical effects. Forgetfulness can today: A geographical view. New York: Parapsychology
quickly engulf a continent of research (such as Foundation.
those on “animal magnetism”) which will re-emerge
elsewhere (i.e. after a sophistication via Anglo-
Belanti, J., Perera, M., Jagadheesan, K. (2008).
Saxon cultures). By comparing the history of
Phenomenology of Near-death Experiences: A Cross-
development of parapsychology in different cultural Perspective. Transcultural Psychiatry, 45,
contexts, we learn much about the links between 121-133.
science and society.
Hansen, G. (2001). The Trickster and the Paranormal.
One question that arises from these cross-cultural Philadelphia: Xlibris.
studies, is the unbridled pursuit of invariants. There
are several visible here: First, in countries where Institut Métapsychique International (2009). Livre blanc
parapsychology is undeveloped, there is often one de la parapsychologie. Free e-book on http://
researcher who will be the ambassador of m e t a p s y c h i q u e . o r g / I M G / p d f /
parapsychology, often for several decades. The Institut_Metapsychique_International_-
media, other scientists and people living _Livre_Blanc_de_la_Parapsy.pdf
exceptional experiences ask him to answer all their
questions, as if he had all the necessary skills; Méheust, B. (1999). Somnambulisme et médiuminité (2
while skeptics will draw a caricature of him, which vols). Paris: Les Empêcheurs de Penser en Rond.
will prevent them from having to analyze what the
f i e l d o f p a ra p s y c h o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h r e a l l y
demonstrates. These ambassadors often show ***
great originality in their experiments which goes
along with the limited means at their disposal. Renaud Evrard is a PhD student in
Psychology at the University of Rouen
(France) and a co-founder of the Center
Other effects suggest the invariance of the
for Information, Research and Counseling
archetype of the Trickster (Hansen, 2001), which is on Exceptional Experiences (http://
an anthropo-sociological pattern of incompatibility www.circee.org)
between "parapsychology" and
"institutionalization". Where parapsychology is the
most institutionalized, approaches are more
cautious and less proof-oriented. “Classic”
parapsychology is reflected in liminal environments
where data are retrieved via New Age theories.
Some local facilities are independent replications of Nikolaos Koumartzis is a PhD
the Trickster effect, as this setting "one foot in, one student in Journalism Department at
foot out," which combines the Eötvös Loránd Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
University of Budapest and the parapsychological (Greece) and a coordinator of
activity of the Racio Association led by Hungarian Hellenic Society of Metaphysics.
physicist Zoltán Vassy.
worldofparapsy@gmail.com
24 Vol. 1 No. 1
Events
2010
October 23rd-24th Fortean Times June 2th-4th Academy of Spirituality and
Unconvention, University of Westminster, Paranormal Studies Conference -
London. “Spirituality, Science and the Paranormal” -
K u t z t o w n U n i v e r s i t y, K u t z t o w n ,
Pennsylvania, USA. (www.aspsi.org)
October 25th-30th Swindon Ghostfest
(http://hswin.moonfruit.com)
2011
March 11th-13th Spooksfest, York 2011
(www.spooksfest.co.uk)
Reviews Books & Events

Magic Robert Ralley
The academic study of so-called Western Esotericism has really taken off in recent
years, with more and more universities offering opportunities to study this intriguing
aspect of European history. This short book by Robert Ralley perhaps represents a
break-through of this growing academic exploration of magic into the popular sphere.
“Magic: A Beginner’s Guide” takes the reader on a tour of magical history in terms that
are easy to understand, without an excessive oversimplification of the subject matter.
Ralley introduces the reader to the the key figures of the western magical tradition:
Paracelsus, Cornelius Agrippa, Pico, John Dee, amongst others and traces the
developmental line between the “experiments” of these renaissance occultists and the
tricks and illusions of contemporary stage magicians. Ralley also charts the
development of modern occultism in the 19th century giving insights into the
contributions of Eliphas Levi, Aleister Crowley and Gerald Gardner, and others, to the
development of modern paganism, witchcraft and ritual magic. The final chapter,
entitled “Analysing Magic”, examines anthropological approaches to the study of magic,
beginning with the still influential work of E.B. Tylor and J.G. Frazer (magic as a stage
“Magic” in the evolutionary development of the modern scientific intellect) in the late 19th
Author: Robert Ralley century, right through to the works of Durkheim, Mauss, Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown
Pub: Oneworld, Oxford and Evans-Pritchard (magic as a social-functional system). It is a shame that the
ISBN: 9781851687138 chapter does not go a little further to explore the current state of anthropological
Price: £9.99/$14.95 investigations of magic, for example with the anthropology of consciousness, or into
the fascinating realms of the experiences of ethnographers participating in magical
rites in the field. Nevertheless, Ralley’s inclusion of an anthropological perspective in
conjunction with the historical approach of the majority of the book is highly
admirable.
Jack Hunter
SLIders Hilary Evans

Next time you are walking down the street, walking back from the pub
perhaps, and one of the street lights in front of you goes out, it may not be a
faulty bulb, but an SLI effect! SLI stands for ‘Street Light Interference’, and
describes the apparent ability that some people have to make street lights go
out. Why you may ask? Well, this is a very good question. This is exactly what
Hilary Evans, veteran investigator of anomalous experiences and author sets
out to investigate. For several years now Hilary has been co-ordinating SLIDE -
Street Light Interference Data Exchange. Back in 1993 ASSAP published a
booklet by Hilary on the early stages of his research. As bizarre as this ability
may sound, Hilary has an impressive collection of these reports from around
the world. There are various theories to explain this phenomena, from the
unlikely faulty street light to psychokenisis. I should, at this point, probably
express an interest in this book, as I have experienced something similar to
“SLIders: The Enigma of this myself (only a few times, 25 years ago), and indeed these are detailed in
Streetlight Interference” Hilary’s book. As strange as this all sounds - people being able to turn street
Author: Hilary Evans lights off at a distance - this excellent new book by Hilary Evans shows that it
Pub: Anomalist Books is a very real phenomenon. As this is the first full length book on the subject,
ISBN: 1933665475 this is destined to become a classic.
Price: £10.95/$14.95
David Taylor
Grimoires Owen Davies

Owen Davies’ book “Grimoires: A History of Magic Books” takes the reader slightly
deeper into the world of Western Esotericism, focussing particularly on the
development and spread of grimoires (defined as “books of conjurations and charms,
providing instructions on how to make magical objects such as protective amulets and
charms”). In charting the development of these magical books, Davies is able to
explore wider social and historical themes such as the development of science, slavery,
the interaction between religions in early modern europe, the witchcraft trials and
general trends in religious doctrine. All of this is achieved through tracing the
movements through history of certain key magical texts (Greater and Lesser Keys of
Solomon, Picatrix, the works of Agrippa et al.). Throughout the course of their
existence these books have been condemned as demonic and frequently rooted out to
be destroyed. Despite this persecution, however, such books have maintained a huge
popular interest and as a consequence have somehow managed to avoid complete
destruction, offering us a spectacular glimpse into the world of medieval magical
“Grimoires: A History beliefs and practices. But it doesn’t stop there, Grimoires follows the story of magic
of Magic Books” books right through to the present day, examining their effect on popular culture, and
Author: Owen Davies pop culture’s reciprocal effect on the grimoire tradition (a trend most evident in the
effect of H.P. Lovecraft’s dreaded Necronomicon). All in all this book is a gripping read,
Pub: Oxford University
Press full of exciting characters and fascinating stories that is well worth getting hold of.
ISBN: 9780199590049
Price: £9.99/$16.95 Jack Hunter
26 Vol. 1 No. 1
Weird 10 Conference
Warminster 21st-22nd August 2010
Weird 10 is the second such event to be held at the Athenaeum Theatre in

Warminster, Wiltshire, which is dedicated to discussion and knowledge
transfer regarding the paranormal, UFOs and aliens. This review is based on
the second day, (21st August 2010) of the conference and will take in the
two main talks regarding the areas of ghostly paranormal events and
parapsychological research. The first speaker to address the conference
was Dr. Ciaran O'Keefe, the first part of his talk was used to explore the
different areas of parapsychology and the diverse areas of research that are
undertaken, including into extra-sensory perception and psychokinesis.
Ciaran talked the audience through the notion of mind trickery and the ability for the mind to believe that it has
experienced something that is unexplainable, when there are other possible explanations for the event. An
example of this was carried out with the audience being told that they were about to experience an episode of
telepathy, two people were called from the audience who had never met each other, they were asked to sit at
different ends of the stage and hold a notebook each, one was to be the sender and one the reciever. Needless
to say this experiment was a success with the exact message in the form of a picture being sent and received.
Telepathy had seemed to be the only reasonable explanation, or was it? As a reviewer it would not be fair to
reveal any further details about the other possibilities that could lay behind this extraordinary stage
experiment, I'm sure if you ask Ciaran he would be happy to give you a clue. During the talk Ciaran also noted
the need within current parapsycological research for more work to be conducted out actually in the field. At
the moment a lot of experiments are conducted under laboratory conditions, whereas the very nature of the
paranormal is unpredictable - it needs to be investigated where it is allegedly occurring: in it's own
environment, rather than tests that are simply conducted in a setting that is quite foreign to anomalous events.
He explained that television shows such as Most Haunted provide a very honest objective, in that the locations
are well known and researched haunted locations where the actuality of events occurring is quite often not
analysed enough parasychologically, the element of TV and spectacularisation gets in the way.
He also talked about the ability in such situations for group hysteria to play an important part in investigations,
particularly the notion of one member hearing an unidentified sound, which then, through the power of
suggestion, leads other members, whether they heard it on not, to confirm that they did indeed hear the noise.
This lead neatly onto analysis of his work and continued involvement with the television program Most Haunted
where he stated that there have been a number of situations which have proved interesting. In the first
instance where there has not been an obvious explanation for an alleged paranormal sound or event, but when
undergoing further analysis the event can be explained as completely scientifically possible, however he did say
that through his work with the show there have been a few events that to this day have avoided a scientific
explanation. The overall emphasis of his talk was to give a broad introduction to the world of parapsychology,
with real world examples of how the mind can be tricked, whilst highlighting the fact that this area of research
is not always about a rational denial of extraordinary events, but more work and research needs to be done in
real world situations rather than the controlled laboratory which is the mainstay of current enquiries in this
field.
The second part of this review will focus on a talk by ASSAP representatives Nicky Sewell and Dave Wood. This
talk was used to first explain who ASSAP are, The Association for the Scientific Study of Anomalous
Phenomena, and their positioning in the field as a neutral body who hold a scientific interest in the investigation
of paranormal events. Nicky spoke in detail with regard to the epidemic of ghost hunting groups, and linked
this to television programs that feature ghost hunting as a method of scientific data collection for anomalous
events. Nicky highlighted the problems with this culture of ghost hunting that has endeavoured to replicate on
screen ghost hunting yet has merely represented it with even lesser rigorous standards of authenticity.
Examples of this were provided highlighting a new culture of the hobbyist ghost hunter who goes out with
friends at the weekend for fun after a few drinks in the local and then may end up stalking out the local grave
yard, having performed little or no research and certainly no thought about any scientific framework or
approaches to a supposed haunted location.
This talk was fascinating as Nicky and Dave provided some compelling examples and anecdotal evidence for the
shifting in contemporary society toward a more widespread engagement in the ghost hunting field, which is no
bad thing, whilst at the same time questioning the approaches being used by emerging groups. The now
widespread use of the Electro Magnetic Field (EMF) meter to confirm that there is a spirit near by is a direct

result of the contemporary ghost hunting TV program, the problem is, as Nicky and Dave point out, the use of
such a meter and it's ability to detect anything of this nature is totally unfounded, therefor a mass collection
of data of this kind is futile and will only lead to there being a huge collection of information and research that
has no bearing or scientific worth as far as furthering our understandings of anomalous experiences. In
conclusion ASSAP as an organisation feels that this area of ghost hunting may need to start over again,
questioning their practices and methodologies of scientific data collection.
In all the Weird conference was a very well organised and well rounded event, highlighting the very different
areas of the paranormal and drawing together not only some internationally renowned speakers who are
hugely respected in there field but also some very engaging interdisciplinary debate. If you wish to find out
more about these events you can check their website: www.mystical-county.org.uk
David Woollatt
Second Annual Exploring the Extraordinary Conference

University of York 24th-25th September 2010
Building on the success of the initial Exploring the Extraordinary Conference last October at the University of
York, this year has proved to be even more worthwhile in regards to the content, quality of speakers and the
organisation of the event, which has now expanded into a welcome two day affair. Originated to explore
divergent theories within the anomalistic field, speakers draw their inspiration from anthropology, sociology,
transpersonal, spiritual, cultural and parapsychological areas, so creating a cosmopolitan mixture of interests
and friendly debate, with invited speakers from a truly international community.
The sessions over the two days were split into themes and the first day focused on the more ‘experience’
based talks, beginning on a high note with a presentation from psychotherapist Josefine Speyer on the impact
of extraordinary experiences within the bereavement process – a study conducted with Dr Mary Murray, who
unfortunately was not able to attend. It was interesting to note that during her interviews, Josefine recognised
the familiar reluctance individuals have in recounting strange experiences to others, although, in this instance,
the overall impressions gained were of benefit. Following this was a talk by a very jet-lagged Michele Knight,
who had flown directly from her home in Australia to attend – a sign of true dedication! She reviewed her
current PhD project detailing how communication between the bereaved and deceased can positively impact
on well-being and spiritual growth.
Directly after the coffee break, Alice Herron captured the audience’s attention again by sharing her personal
experiences of being actively involved within a new religious movement and her subsequent investigation into
whether spiritual leaders have distinctive personality aspects which enable them to develop into such roles.
Before lunch (and before stomachs began rumbling too loudly), Dr Jenny Hallam and Candice Sunney
presented their joint research project which explores qualitatively the experiences of individuals involved in a
(so-far) undefined ‘earth energy’ spirituality, and which generated many interested responses from the
audience.
Following the lunch break, the sessions resumed with Dr Gerhard Mayer and Rene Grunder (who had travelled
across from Germany), and a fascinating study of the impact of extraordinary experiences on the
development of heterodox beliefs, especially neo-paganism and which aroused considerable interest.
Unfortunately, Keith Beasley was not able to attend, and so his paper was presented by Tamlyn Ryan from the
University of York, who successfully managed to direct any subsequent queries via email to the man himself!
The keynote lecture in the afternoon by Dr David Clarke on experiences involving UFOs proved to be highly
entertaining and soon managed to energise any flagging souls within the audience. With such subject matter
always garnering controversy, Dr Clarke, with a background in folkloric studies and journalism, demonstrated
a unique knowledge of previously secret British Government files that had been amassed on UFOs – with
apparently more still undisclosed....researchers form an orderly queue here, please! At the end of such an
enervating first day, delegates were invited to attend a privately arranged Ghost Walk around the historic city
of York, plus a meal at a local hostelry (which became unintentionally involved with an ‘A’ list celebrity party in
the same building...who could have predicted that?), plus a spot of after-dinner storytelling.
As the second day commenced the weather changed for the worse, but which happily, did not manage to
dampen the delegate’s enthusiasm. The general theme for the day encompassed more of the spiritual nature
34 Vol. 1 No. 2
of anomalistic events and the morning began with an engaging talk by Sarah Metcalf from the University of
York on her PhD research. This examined the contemporary concerns facing psychic practitioners and the
consequences of the ‘emotional labour’ involved and produced obvious support from the audience. Sarah was
followed by Jack Hunter, who presented his unique insight into a branch of the Spiritualist movement in
Bristol, specifically within the Bristol Spirit Lodge. With a background in anthropology, his research strives to
understand the experiences gained by both mediums and sitters within a spiritualist group as and when they
occur. Having recently been awarded the Eileen J. Garrett grant from the Parapsychological Foundation, this
year his research will continue to strengthen. Preceding the lunch break was an exploration of Lady Cynthia
Sandys, aristocrat and medium, from Dr Fiona Bowie. Dr Bowie shared her fascination with this intriguing
figure, particularly regarding the books that were published from the ‘channelling’ of deceased members of
her family and acquaintances.
After another delicious lunch, the afternoon sessions were launched by Ann Davies, a professional artist just
at the beginning of her PhD studies into phenomenological art. She also practices as a ‘psychic artist’ –
channelling pictures and portraits of spirits. She provided the audience with a thought-provoking presentation
which included a portrait of a young girl that had been verified by a bereaved family member as being
incredibly accurate, and willingly discussed aspects of fraudulent medium behaviour with clarity and sincerity.
The late afternoon presentations began with another international traveller – Dr Yves Marton – discussing his
long-term anthropological project in Brazil and Los Angeles. He succeeded in shocking the audience by
revealing the latent prejudice towards certain working class communities and their beliefs, especially Santeria
(the worship of Saints), in both Americas.
Next to the podium was the well-known current President of the Parapsychological Association, Dr David Luke,
who offered a presentation on the relationship between anthropology and parapsychology. Although, fighting
against the clock, he still managed to review how two apparently disparate fields often have close
connections, exploring historic figures such as Andrew Lang, who championed such a worthwhile marriage in
the face of hostility - possibly also echoing attitudes in the contemporary world? Last, but by no means least,
Dr Paul Marshall as the final speaker of the event, discussed further the connections between what is defined
as being either psychic or mystical in nature. With a relaxed style of presentation he was able to enthrall the
audience one last time with his review of the comparisons that can be made between such extraordinary
experiences, and how each area could actually learn from each other and utilise methodology in
understanding such occurrences.
As is seen from the above programme, the diversity of the presentations is to be commended and it was
gratifying to see so many delegates attending from such varied academic and interested perspectives. The
two days generated so much discussion, both at the conference and socially, with many new acquaintances
formed, that that the 3rd Conference in 2011 will no doubt prove to be even more popular and something very
special, too.
Sophie Drennan

Next Issue
The next issue will be available in January 2011. Its theme will be “Mediumship and Spirit Possession”. If you would be interested in
contributing a short article, roughly between 500-1,000 words (longer articles are also accepted), or an account of your own personal
encounters with the paranormal while engaged in ﬁeldwork, please get in touch via discarnates@googlemail.com.
Contact
If you would like to contribute an article, review, have an event publicised, suggest something you’d like to see, or simply comment on
something you have read in this journal, please don’t hesitate to get in touch via discarnates@googlemail.com.
Acknowledgements
A special thank-you to everyone who contributed to this issue – it would not be possible without the time and effort they have put into
writing their articles. The cover artwork was created by Gavin Nelson, he can be contacted via gavin.nelson@gmail.com. A big thank-you
also to those who have read the journal.
36 Vol. 1 No. 2

Paranthropology Vol1 No2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Paranthropology Vol1 No2

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Paranthropology Vol1 No2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ISSN 2044-9216

Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal

The Anomalous Anthropologist: Field

Castaneda’s Controversy and Methodological

Ghostly Experiences: More Than Imagination,

When Researchers Become Eyewitnesses to the

Maria Lionza and the Induction of Spirit Possession in

Castaneda’s Controversy and

Celebrating Krippner's 70th Birthday

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 3

Beyer, S. V. (2009). Singing to the Plants: A Guide to

Conclusion Harner, M. (1980). Way of the Shaman. New York:

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 5

References I here argue for the possibility of developing an

“THERE IS NO DEATH: Belief and the Social Construction of Extraordinary experiences

• out-of-body experiences (OBEs), i.e. being

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 7

“What are spirits?” And I continue with the thorny

On e o f th e th in gs th at h elped me was my I would suggest that spirit systems across cultures

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 9

Tart, Charles 1998. Investigating altered states of

Turner, Edith 1992. The reality of spirits. ReVision 15 (1):

Vieira, Waldo 1994. 700 Experimentos da Conscientiologia.

Vieira, Waldo 1997. Projections of the consciousness. (2nd

Vieira, Waldo 1999. Projeciologia: Panorama das

Wanatjura, Elsie. 2003. Preface. in Ngaanyatjarra

The deadline for submissions is

Kim McCaul studied anthropology at

visible bone. I know now that pigeons necks are

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 11

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 13

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 15

turning into a system of

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 17

case, misinterpretation may have caused someone

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 19

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 21

V. Conclusion: Koven, M. J. "Most Haunted and the Convergence of

Maria Lionza and the Induction of Spirit

In July 2008 a castle in central Europe hosted a week-

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 23

The drumming was stopped and a period of silence

After a few minutes discussion, I was able to convince

By now, several of the other participants were

Participant B stated that he had come from the Stone

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 25

Ghostly Experiences: More Than

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 27

Birns, Nicholas, and Rebecca McNeer, eds. (2007). A

Felton, D. (1999) Haunted Greece and Rome: Ghost

Finucane, Ronald C. (2001) “Historical Introduction: Toward a cross-cultural view of

This project provides a great opportunity to observe

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 29

Reviews Books & Events

SLIders Hilary Evans

Grimoires Owen Davies

Weird 10 is the second such event to be held at the Athenaeum Theatre in

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal 33

Second Annual Exploring the Extraordinary Conference