On the "Types" and Dynamics of Apparitional Hallucinations

Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal

On the "Types" and Dynamics of Apparitional Hallucinations

S. Alexander Hardison

out." As the authors make clear, the use of The term hallucination carries with it many the word "apparition" does not necessarily connotations and associations. Some im- promote any theory as to the source of the agery that might spring to mind are per- experiences, whether psychological, or sons resting securely at local asylums in more Spiritistic. They further elaborate that straight jackets, or longhaired, overtly op- the apparitional experiences are different timistic psychedelic users, with a bent for from other hallucinatory experiences in exploring their consciousness. But, without that they may contain "veridical informa- delving into the adventures of psychedelic tion of which the experient previously was investigators, or taking a trip into the local unaware; this generally is lacking in psy- insane asylum, quite a large number of chotic and drug-induced hallucinations of seemingly ordinary people, scattered amid another person" (p. 193). Also, apparitions the population, seem to have experienced are usually clearly related to indentifiable visual, auditory and tactile experiences people (or animals), while hallucinatory fig- without the aid of any objective stimulus. ures are "anonymous or known to be non- More often than not, though not always, existent" – the final large distinction is that these particular forms of hallucination are apparitions are often perceived by multiple related to real people, sometimes living and people, while "a psychotic or drug-related sometimes deceased. hallucination cannot be shared." To speak of apparitions, then, is to evoke That inferred difference seems to stem other vague, but popular associations, like from some of the speculations of G.N.M. those of ghosts and spiritual beings. Ac- Tyrrell (1963), one of the key writers on ap- cording to An Introduction to Parapsychology paritional experiences in the 20th century (Irwin & Watt, 2007, p. 192), apparitions are (p. 126; p. 165). Now, this is a claim that does "encountered in a perceptual-like experi- seem to support the idea that apparitions ence" and they relate to persons or animals involve a separate class of phenomena than that are "not physically present, with physi- ordinary hallucinations and, if accepted, it cal means of communication being ruled could be seen as a striking fact in favor of Vol. 6 No. 1 65 Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal their paranormal nature. But, it can be ar- would explain why the other relevant ob- gued, that the distinction exists as a prima servers to the apparitional drama would get facie objection to Tyrrell's theory of appari- pulled into it. tions as telepathically formed idea-patterns If the supposed fact that apparitional – aside from the idea that the sample of hallucinations are collectively perceived material he was evaluating, being largely while hallucinations of other varieties can- from the Report on the Census of Hallucina- not be is accepted, then it is not impossible tions (Sidgwick et. al, 1894), may have in- to explain that in terms of suggestion (at cluded an intrinsic bias against interpreting least in weaker cases). It may be that when apparitions as anything but hallucinatory a person sees a humanoid figure, hears a phenomena owing to the nature of the cen- voice, or has any other sensory arousal in sus question. Simply put, supporters of the relation to an apparitional episode, it is col- telepathic theory of apparitions, which was lectively seen because it is more relevant to developed to one of its most complex, apt all the specators than, say, if the initial ex- and explanatory forms by Tyrrell, will have perient proclaims that he sees a pink ele- to explain why apparitional hallucinations phant. But even that is not very probably should be collectively perceived while sub- applicable to some of the best cases of col- jective ones should not be. lective perception. Asserting that interac- Tyrrell himself states, "I can suggest no tion at or around the time of the experience reason why hypnotic and, indeed, purely may make the subjects of the experience, subjective hallucinations also do not spread unconsciously, more prone to suggestion is to bystanders, whereas telepathic hallucina- arguable – but that explanation is some- tions, in a certain proportion of cases, do. what speculatory and it seems implausible We are very much in the dark concerning as a reasonable contender in accounting for the structure of human personality, which the high proportion of apparitional experi- is probably far more extensive and complex ences that are collectively experienced than at present we have any idea of; and it when more than one person occupies the may be that the telepathic process taps a relevant space (one-third of the time). factor in the personality which the hypnotic However the above hypothesized dis- and subjective process leave untouched" tinction stands, apparitional phenomena (p.141). But, if subjective hallucinations are fairly stable and consistent, so it is clear can't be collectively perceived as the appa- that they aren't just unstructured hallucina- ritional variety sometimes appear to be, it tions. And if the apparitional experience seems imperative to posit that hallucina- does intrinsically tap into an aspect of the tions sparked by telepathic stimuli must, de personality that ordinary hallucinations facto, be interpreted as more "important" leave untouched, or become collective be- than other types of hallucination; that cause of the importance of the stimuli that

Vol. 6 No. 1 66 Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal initiated any given group's perception, then classes of apparitional experience: the ex- any general theory of the phenomena will perimental class, crisis-apparitional cases, have to account for that feature – or explain the postmortem class, and the stereotypical how and why, if they are inseparable from "ghosts or hauntings cases." Regarding the ordinary hallucinations, they manifest in first, it may be thought that cases of appari- quite different forms. tions are nearly always spontaneous – but In a June 2005 Gallup poll1, 37% of this isn't the case. There exist numerous Americans said they believed in haunted anectdotes in the research literature, for houses, with 32% saying they believed in example, of persons who have attempted, in the existence of ghosts. These beliefs some way or another, to make an apparition tended to reach their peak in the 18-29 of themselves appear before a chosen per- year-old age group and then decline slightly son. Cases of alleged bilocation are an ex- with age. "Ghosts", of course, support one ample of this, at least when the intent of interpretation of apparitional experiences – projecting one's apparition, or "spirit" at that of survival of consciousness- and, the time that the double gets observed is therefore, the actual rate of belief in genu- demonstrated. Irwin and Watt (p. 195) list ine, external entities unrelated to living or an example taken from Phantasms of the Liv- deceased persons (i.e. Angels, demons, Mar- ing (Gurney et al., 1886, Vol. 1, pp. 93-94), ian apparitions, aliens, fairies) may be that of S. H. Beard. Upon opening Phan- higher. Whether or no apparitions have any tasms to the appropriate pages, the original external reality, people do experience them account states: – so much so that a substantial portion of the population report actual apparitional "On Wednesday, 26th July 1882, at experiences: anywhere from 17-32% (Irwin 10.30 p.m., I willed very strongly that & Watt, 2007, pp. 194-195). In any given Miss V., who was living at Clarence case, most apparitional experiences involve Road, Kew, should leave any part of only one or two sensory modalities and that house in which she might happen most are visual – 84 percent, according to to be at the time and that she should Green and McCreery (1975). Auditory expe- go into her bedroom and remove a riences feature in about one-third of cases, portrait from her dressing-table. with 14%, in that study, being entirely audi- tory. Contrast this with psychiatric patients, "When I next saw her she told me that who report auditory hallucinations at a at this particular time and on this day, much higher frequency (Bentall, 2013, p. she felt strongly impelled to go up to 115). her room and remove something from Regarding the so-called "taxonomy" of her dressing-table, but she was not apparitions, Tyrrell (1963), suggested four sure which article to misplace. She

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did so and removed an article, but not tively could not stay in the dining- the framed portrait which I had room, and I believe you meant me to thought of. be upstairs, and to move something on my dressing-table. I want to see if you "Between the time of the occurrence know what it was. At any rate, I am of this fact and that of our next meet- sure you were thinking about me.'" ing, I received one or two letters, in which the matter is alluded to and my This is not one of the best examples of al- questions concerning it answered. leged telepathic-influence in the book, S. H. B." since no corrbortatory testimony is given that Mr. Beard was attempting such an ex- The above is an example of what the periment at the time; he may have simply authors came to describe as telepathy exaggerated in response to Miss Verity's let- ("distant-feeling"), and it appears around ter and its status as an "apparitional experi- the time the authors make a transition from ence" might be questioned because of the the experimental research of the first few lack of any sense-perception, aside from pages into spontaneous cases. One of the the conviction the woman felt. However, authors writes, "Mr. B. was himself at Phantasms of the Living is quite possibly the Southall on the evening in question. He cornerstone of research into apparitional has shown the letters of which he speaks to hallucinations ("phantasm" is simply an- the present writer, and has allowed him to other word for "hallucination") and it is a copy extracts." What makes this case inter- monumental testament to the efforts of the esting is that the referenced Miss Verity Society for Psychical Research2 in the Vic- wrote to Mr. Beard without having spoken torian era. Since the book was primarily to him: concerned with apparitional experiences occurring at/or near the time of death, or "On Thursday, July 27th, without hav- intense tragedy, it will also lead into our ing seen or had any communication next category of experience. with Mr. B., Miss Verity (now residing As suggested in a fairly recent Paran- in Castellain Road, W., who allows the thropology article by this author (Hardison, publication of her name) wrote to him 2013, p. 63), apparitions of the crisis variety as follows:– "can be defined as vivid hallucinations of seemingly objective figures, witnessed in 'What were you doing between ten times of crisis. More often than not, they and eleven o'clock on Wednesday correspond to actual veridical events. A evening? If you make me so restless, I woman might awaken in the middle of the shall begin to be afraid of you. I posi- night to find that her husband is standing

Vol. 6 No. 1 68 Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal in her bed-room smiling at her, even the consistency of the experient's perspec- though she knows he is fighting in a war tives using the infection hypothesis: he thousands of miles away." The apparition thought that they'd best be explained by fades and she "inevitably finds that her actual disembodied minds, from what he husband did, in-fact, die unexpectedly at called the metetherial world, somehow pro- the same time she saw his apparition." jecting themselves into the physical layer of In the article, it is clearly noted that the reality. Myers also seemed to imply that all above story "is a fabrication", but it cer- apparitional encounters might not involve tainly does reflect a genuine category of ex- the same "underlying process" (Irwin & periences. Phantasms is filled with such ac- Watt, 2007, p. 203). Further, Myers' theory, counts and pioneering work into interview- and others that suggest that apparitions ing techniques was undertaken by the So- may involve a quasi-phyical element, are ciety in it and, much later, with the SPR's not subject to the minor issue outlined ear- Census of Hallucinations (1894). In crisis lier in relation to Tyrrell's theory; if an ap- cases, rather than evoking the concept of parition occupies physical space in some disembodied minds to explain the phe- way, we can be reasonably sure that subjec- nomena, Gurney and the other writers tive hallucinations do not and, therefore, thought that they represented cases of te- the distinction between the two types of lepathy in action – especially since not all experience is explained. Because Tyrrell's cases involved people who actually died theory is probably the most comprehensive and, even in cases where severe illness was and well-developed, it should be noted that present, the persons sometimes recovered. he highlighted some of the problems of To explain cases where the same figure was Myers' theory and those like it, chiefly in seen by multiple people, Gurney (and his that it is oxymoronic to suppose that physi- skeptical SPR colleague, Frank Podmore) cal space contains a non-physical element would suggest that a form of telepathic in- (pp. 50-53). Additionally, since the appari- fection was occurring, with one initial mes- tions are sometimes collectively observed, sage being sent to one mind and then but not always by everyone present, it is more passed along to others in close spatial prox- plausible to argue for some sort of intricate imity. hallucinatory theory. Frederic Myers, another founder mem- Moving on to the postmortem class of ber of the SPR and an assisting writer of apparition, they involve the experience of the book, later came to disagree, thinking persons who have been dead for at least 12 that even though apparitions of the living hours. About two-thirds of recognized ap- (and dead) could be hallucinatory projec- paritions, in any instance, are of the dead tions inspired by telepathic stimuli, it (Green & McCreery, 1975, p. 188; Haralds- would be difficult for them to account for son, 1985, 1994; Persinger, 1974, p. 150). As

Vol. 6 No. 1 69 Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal an example of a postmortem experience, a The author managed to see the figure as person experience of this author will be he stood all the way up and walked toward mentioned. The experience was written the wall (the door to the room was closed); down shortly after it occurred and memory it was his grandfather, a man who'd passed issues are not likely to have occurred – away in 2003 of a cancerous condition. He though there are no obvious veridical de- was as solid and three-dimensional as any- tails, so the evidence for paranormality is one the author had ever seen and he faded absent. Of primary concern, however, is the away after a few split seconds (seeming to phenomenology and experiences of appari- vanish before getting to the wall). Upon get- tions themselves, not only those cases that ting out of bed, the author walked out of strictly contain veridical content, or those the room to see everyone sound asleep – of the crisis variety (which wouldn't grant a the sun just setting in. His younger brother full-analysis of apparitional experience, but was asleep on the floor and others in the can suggest anomalous cognitive input in house were, likewise, in their beds. and of themselves). In comparing this experience to others, To paraphrase, it was September of 2009 it was spontaneous, a predominant feature and the author was awakened early in the in the apparitional literature. It was also morning, before anyone in his home. A solid (rather than stereotypically transpar- noise had caused this – a popping sound ent), nearby (according to Green & made from a release of pressure on the McCreery, most apparitions are experienced metal bedpost behind the author's head. within 10ft of the subject), appeared at a The author had been sleeping on his side time when the author was waking from and belly, toward the wall, but felt someone sleep (hypnopompia; these experiences are sitting on the bed to the right (near the foot common in both that state and in hypna- of the bed); there had been plastic sur- gogia), he knew the person was dead at the rounding the mattress, at that time, and as time – 70% of apparitions fall into that the person moved to get up, the plastic was category (Green & McCreery, 1975, p. 188; heard to move, the bed seemed to respond Haraldsson, 1985)- and, finally, the appari- with the sensation of movement, and then tion of his grandfather showed an aware- the author turned to his right. Before ness of his surroundings; there was even enough courage was mustered to turn and perceived interaction. As Nicola Holt et al. see the figure, flashes of thoughts entered Note (2012), "theories of apparitions must his mind: Could it have been a burgalar? account for the unified nature of the per- Perhaps it was his younger brother watch- ceptual field (room + apparition) and not ing him sleep (which would have been very merely a figure in isolation." (p. 129) strange). The final category of apparition listed by Tyrrell are the classical conceptions of

Vol. 6 No. 1 70 Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal ghosts/or hauntings. It may be moot to de- of it – this, again, brings up hypnopompia scribe some of the features in these cases, and hypnagogia, though being prone to as the general population is already so mental "absorbtion" in any given situation aware of them, but in the haunting class, might faciliate the encounters. Many psy- apparitions typically aren't nearly as inter- chological correlations between the experi- active, they seem localized to specific ences are not yet entirely clear (Irwin & places, and they also seem to create distur- Watt, 2007, pp. 199-201). bances in their immediate physical envi- Neurological (or Biological) approaches ronment. also seem to be lacking, in many respects. If a theory of apparitions cannot fully Michael Persinger, a Canadian scientist fa- account for all of the features thus-far mous for his "God-helmet", "has argued listed, then it as at best wholly incomplete. that apparitions, or their more rudimentary Numerous attempts have been made to ex- form, the 'sense of presence' may be ex- plain the experiences from various perspec- plained neurologically." His idea is that tives, including the psychological, spiritual- most people are right-handed, and that istic, parapsychological, sociocultural, neu- their sense of "self" is localized in the left ropsychological and environmental (Irwin hemisphere of the brain. The 'homologue' & Watt, 2007; Holt, N. et al., 2012). There are of the sense of self might be interpreted as certainly physical correlations amid surveys another human (or "entity") by the left of apparitional experients, as well as psy- hemisphere. This, it is argued, might occur chological – there seem to be few demo- more frequently in times of intense tired- graphic variables associated with the expe- ness or stress. riences, though. Persinger attempted to stimulate the Among the physical characteristics, the area of the brain thought to be responsible experiences typically seem to occur in regu- for the representation of the sense of self, lar, everyday home environments (12 per- typically in the right temporal lobes, with a cent occurring in places the subject never magnetic pulse. Afterward, researchers visited, according to Green & McCreery, typically "expose both hemispheres of the 1975, p. 123). Additionally, the experiences brain to a different pulse - designed to en- usually happen unexpectedly and indoors. courage the intrusion of right hemispheric Psychologically, most people who experi- representation into the left hemisphere ence apparitions claimed to "have been in (which is thought to interpret the experi- normal health" at the time of their experi- ence)." People in this setup have reported ence and, thereby, not mentally or physi- senses of presence and even hallucinatory cally ill. Still, most apparitions seem to be phenomena, leading Persinger to suggest experienced when the experient is inactive, that some haunting-type phenomena may such as when going to sleep, or coming out result from the activation of the right tem-

Vol. 6 No. 1 71 Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal poral lobe, or the pariental lobes and other study by French et. al (2009), researchers areas in the limbic system. attempted to see whether more anomalous Holt et. al (2012), point out that the only experiences were reported in a location replications that have been undertaken with complex electromagnetic fields, infra- come from Persigner's lab, without inde- sound, or a combination thereof, as com- pendent replications (and one failed one; pared to an ordinary, baseline, constructed see Granqvist et al., 2005). Suggestion may 'haunted room'. The experimenters re- have played a role in Persigner's positive ceived some reports of anomalous experi- findings, particularly if the subjects knew ences in the faux-haunted room, but these what the magnetic stimulation was sup- were taken as products of suggestion – not posed to bring about beforehand; addition- environmental influence (the participants ally, the areas of the brain which are stimu- were informed that they might have strange lated are also associated with memory and and unusual perceptions while in the if the subjects had prior apparitional expe- chamber). riences (as one subject did; he reported a Whatever the causes of apparitional positive experience in Persinger's lab, simi- phenomena may or may not be, they de- lar to his initial one) then perhaps such serve attention – for one thing, they are stimulation is only triggering the memories profound and life-changing experiences for of the initial encounters. Thus, at least in its a good number of ordinary people in the current incarnation, Persinger's theory population. Charles Ollier once said (1848), seems lacking in sufficient empirical sup- "It may be laid down as a general maxim, port. that anyone who thinks he has seen a To draw to some form of conclusion, ghost, may take the vision as a symptom environmental factors have also been pro- that his bodily health is deranged. Let him, posed, but these are most applicable to therefore, seek medical advice, and, ten to cases of hauntings and don't sufficiently one, the spectre will no more haunt him. To explain the full spectrum of apparitional see a ghost, is, ipso facto, to be a subject for experience. These factors might include the physician" (p. 10). Ollier made that lighting, or variations in electromagnetic statement before the rising-tide of Spiritu- fields at given locations, two things which alism ever rushed into Victorian society and can facilitate abnormal experiences (Wise- certainly before the onslaught of Darwin- man et. al, 2002). There have also been sug- ism lead the founders of the Society for gestions that infrasound (sound that cannot Psychical Research to embark on their so- be perceived, at around 19 HZ), might ex- ber quest of sorting through the nonsense plain the high occurrence of apparitions in of religion and the occult in the hope – allegedly haunted locations (Tandy, 2000; which has proven somewhat futile- of find- Tandy & Lawrence, 1998). In a more recent ing that Man has an element within him

Vol. 6 No. 1 72 Paranthropology: Journal of Anthropological Approaches to the Paranormal that is transcendent and even immortal. REFERENCES But, since that day and age, we've found Bell, V. (2008, December 2). Ghost Stories: Visits that experiencing apparitions is really just from the Deceased. Retrieved December 4, an aspect of the human condition that oc- 2014, from curs in ordinary people during hypnagogia, http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/g in non-exotic, "ordinary" awareness – host-stories-visits-from-the-deceased/ though there may nearly always be some fluctuating degree of dissociation present- Bentall, R. (2013). Hallucinatory experiences. In and even during bereavement (Bell, 2008). Cardena, E., Lynn, S. J., & Krippner, S. Va- rieties of anomalous experience: Examining the In light of this, "Why, then, has this aspect scientific evidence (pp.109-143). American of human experience been marginalized?" Psychological Association (APA). is an acceptable retort. Single, monistic approaches to this French, C., Haque, U., Bunton-Stasyshyn, R. & subject will clearly not be comprehensive, Davis, R. (2009). 'Haunt' project: An at- as has been made clear; rather, pluralistic tempt to build a 'haunted' room by ma- and multi-disciplinary approaches should nipulating complex electromagnetic fields and infrasound. Cortex, 45, 619-629. be the norm. Tyrrell (1963) dealt with the philosophical and perceptual implications Granqvist, P., Fredrikson, M., Unge, P., Hagen- of apparitional experience, which is essen- feldt, A., Valid, S., Larhammar, D., et al. tial reading for any student of representa- (2005). Sensed presence and mystical expe- tionism, or general perception (pp. 91-108; riences are predicted by suggestibility, not pp. 172-178); McCreery (2006) continued in by the application of transcranial weak that tradition with a more modern and complex magnetic fields. Neuroscience Let- generalized analysis of hallucinations and ters, 375, 69-74. their implications for perception. Perhaps Green, C. & McCreery, C. (1975). Apparitions. with continued effort, aided by more intel- London: Hamish Hamilton. lectual scrutiny and debate, we will under- stand more about the variables involved in Haraldsson, E. (1985). Representative national the experiences themselves. Looking for surverys of psychic phenomena: Iceland, resolution and closure on the "ghost ques- Great Britain, Sweden, USA and Gallup's tion" is an open-ended pursuit. Appari- multinational survey. Journal of the Society tional experiences embody elements of for Psychical Research, 53, pp. 145-158. mystery, intrigue, reassurance and mortality Haraldsson, E. (1994). Apparitions of the dead: – looking to them for meaning and psycho- Analysis of a new collection of 350 reports. logical insight, in turn, can help us better In E.W. face our own haunted existence.

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Irwin, H. J. & Watt, C. (2007). An Introduction to Tyrrell, G.N.M. (1963). Apparitions. New York: Parapsychology. Fifth edition. Jefferson, NC: Collier. (Original work published 1942) McFarland. Wiseman, R., Watt, C., Greening, E., Stevens, P. Lyons, L. (2005, July 12). One-Third of Ameri- & O' Keeffe, C. (2002). An investigation into cans Believe Dearly May Not Have De- the alleged haunting of Hampton Court parted. Retrieved December 4, 2014, from Palace: Psychological variables and mag- http://www.gallup.com/poll/17275/OneThir netic fields. Journal of Parapsychology, 66, d-Americans-Believe-Dearly- 388-408. May-Departed.aspx. I'm a psychology student who is McCreery, C. (2006). Perception and Hallucina- very interested in the beliefs sur- tion: the Case for Continuity’. Philosophical rounding "ex- Paper No. 2006-1, Oxford: Oxford forum. traordinary" ex- periences: both With Gordon Claridge: Retrieved 1/11/2014 their formation f r o m , and their main- tenance. Addi- http://www.celiagreen.com/charlesmccreery tionally, I'm inter- /perception.pdf ested in the his- tory of psychol- ogy and para- Persinger, M. A. (1974). The paranormal. Part 1. psychology, Patterns. New York: mss Information Cor- which to some degree, are inseparably intertwined. Dissociation and extreme phenomena associated poration. with dissociative states of consciousness are of pro- found interest to me. I think that future inquiries into those sorts of phenomena (and experiences) will lead Ollier, C. (1848). Fallacy of Ghosts, Dreams, and research into that which is sometimes considered Omens; With Stories of Witchcraft, Life- anomalous toward a bright, revealing future. In-Death, and Monomania. Southampton street, Strand, London: C. Ollier.

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