A Survey of the Occult Julian Franklyn, Ed
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Journal of the Society for Psychical Research
JOURNAL OF THE Society for Psychical Research VOLS. XXV-XXVI 1929-1930 For Private Circulation among Members and Associates only THE SOCIETY'S ROOMS 31 TAVISTOCK SQUARE, LONDON, W.C.x - All rights reserved I CONTENTS " A Case of " Travelling Clairvoyance 4 Annual Report of the Council for 1928 9 - 27 A Reply to Count Perovsky-Petrovo-Solovovo ; by Dr E. Mattiesen Annual General Meeting of Members 43 Extraordinary General Meeting of Members 45 Accounts of Receipts and Expenditure for 1928 - - - - - 46 A Request to our Readers for Information 49 " " - - Life Beyond Death with Evidence ; by A. W. Trethewy 50 Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society ----- 63 An Apparently Premonitory Apparition 66 Information received at a Sitting concerning Matters unknown to the ^ Sitter - 81 ) The Scripts of Cleophas ; by the Rev. Canon H. Bickersteth Ottley, M. A. 89 j An Alleged Premonition of Death 102 ^ A Veridical Dream ---------- 104 A Series of Premonitory Visions - - - - - - - 120 Two Hallucinatory Bilocations of the Self - - - - - - 126 - - - - - Dowsing in Bombay ; by Theodore Besterman 129 Loan of the Society's Seance Room 141 Institut Metapsychique International - - - - - - - 1 42 Telepathy at a Distance - - - - - - - - - 143 The Supply of Books and Information - - - - - - 156 Paintings of Hypnagogic Visions - - - - - - - 157 A Case of Telepathy 157 - - Non- Veridical Cross-Correspondences ; by H. F. Saltmarsh 159 The Change in the Law of New York relating to Spiritualism by ; Blewett Lee "- 173 An Auditory Premonition --------- 1 Note concerning the Hacking Case ; by J. Arthur HUl and Mrs E. M. Sidgwick 4 - Notes on the Psychology of Nonsense Names ; by H. F. Saltmarsh 5 ', • ",; iv ;, ; ; ,, :Contenis :\ Annual Report (and Accounts) of the Council for the Year 1929 - 19 Another Case of , -, - - - 25 Telepathy .-; , . -
A Lawyer Presents the Case for the Afterlife
A Lawyer Presents the Case for the Afterlife Victor James Zammit 2 Acknowledgements: My special thanks to my sister, Carmen, for her portrait of William and to Dmitri Svetlov for his very kind assistance in editing and formatting this edition. My other special thanks goes to the many afterlife researchers, empiricists and scientists, gifted mediums and the many others – too many to mention – who gave me, inspiration, support, suggestions and feedback about the book. 3 Contents 1. Opening statement............................................................................7 2. Respected scientists who investigated...........................................12 3. My materialization experiences....................................................25 4. Voices on Tape (EVP).................................................................... 34 5. Instrumental Trans-communication (ITC)..................................43 6. Near-Death Experiences (NDEs) ..................................................52 7. Out-of-Body Experiences ..............................................................66 8. The Scole Experiment proves the Afterlife ................................. 71 9. Einstein's E = mc2 and materialization.........................................77 10. Materialization Mediumship.......................................................80 11. Helen Duncan................................................................................90 12. Psychic laboratory experiments..................................................98 13. Observation -
A Personal Memoir of His Step-Grandfather by Tristram Besterman Cornwall, March 2015
THEODORE DEODATUS NATHANIEL BESTERMAN A personal memoir of his step-grandfather by Tristram Besterman Cornwall, March 2015 Frontispiece: portrait of Theodore Besterman made at Studio Harcourt, Paris, in the late 1940s. It is inscribed by Theodore to his wife, Evelyn, my paternal grandmother. Studio Harcourt was formed in 1934 and is renowned for its black and white portraits of celebrities and the élite of Paris society. Still active today, Studio Harcourt boasts an inimitable style that is “Le mariage entre mystère et légende”. 1 Preamble In assembling these recollections, I have responded to an invitation by Professor Nicholas Cronk, Director of The Voltaire Foundation at the University of Oxford, who suggested that my personal memories would complement the excellent account of Theodore Besterman’s life and achievements by Giles Barber1, written in 2010 for the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. I have drawn on a number of sources: my own memories of the man who was the nearest thing to a paternal grandfather in my life; a few handwritten notes, photographs and letters passed down to me; stories about him that were passed on orally by my father, Edwin Besterman (these have the ring of truth about them, albeit inevitably embellished with repeated telling by an accomplished raconteur); and last, my father’s succinct, type-written memoir on his family. I have structured this account in four parts. Family background is self- explanatory. Earlier fragments covers the period before my birth and Later fragments the period after. In the final section, Reflections, I ponder the complexities and contradictions that characterise Theodore’s distinctive persona. -
THE MEDIUMSHIP of ARNOLD CLARE Leader of the Trinity of Spiritual Fellowship
THE MEDIUMSHIP OF ARNOLD CLARE Leader of the Trinity of Spiritual Fellowship by HARRY EDWARDS Captain, Indian Army Reserve of Officers. Lieutenant, Home Guard. Parliamentary Candidate North Camberwell 1929 and North-West Camberwell 1936. London County Council Candidate 1928, 1931, 1934, 1937. Leader of the Balham Psychic Research Society. Author of ‘The Mediumship of Jack Webber’ First Published by: THE PSYCHIC BOOK CLUB 144 High Holborn, London, W.C. 1 FOREWORD Apart from the report by Mr. W. Harrison of the early development of Mr. Arnold Clare's mediumship, the descriptions of the séances, the revelations of Peter and the writing of this book took place during the war years 1940-41. As enemy action on London intensified, the physical séances ceased and in the autumn of 1940 were replaced by discussion circles. The first few circles took place in the author's house before a company of about twenty people. It was soon appreciated that the intelligence (known as Peter), speaking through the entranced medium, was of a high order and worthy of reporting. So these large discussion groups gave way to a small circle held in the medium's house, attended by Mr. and Mrs. Clare, Mr. and Mrs. Hart, Mrs. Edwards and the author, an occasional visitor and with Mrs. W. B. Cleveland as stenographer. The procedure at these circles would be that, in normal white light, Mr. Clare would enter into a trance state. His Guide, Peter, taking control, would discourse upon the selected topic answering all questions fluently and without hesitation. Frequently, during these sittings, the air-raid sirens would be heard and the local anti- aircraft guns would be in action. -
The Paranormal and a New Theory of the Universe John Nwanegbo - Ben
International Journal of Novel Research in Interdisciplinary Studies Vol. 1, Issue 2, pp: (26-36), Month: November-December 2014, Available at: www.noveltyjournals.com The Paranormal and a New Theory of the Universe John Nwanegbo - Ben Department of Philosophy of Science & Technology Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Nigeria Abstract: Discussions concerning the Paranormal and Science has been on the possible existence of the claimed activities of paranormal feats. The experimental Scientist posits that claims to these phenomena are fraudulent and its possibility doubtful. They went further to believe that only experimental procedures that adopt the accepted scientific methods can prove its truth or falsity. This article assumes that the propaganda for experimental scientific method hampers successful research and investigation into the paranormal. It went further to assert that a careful perusal of paranormal and experimental science shows that all parts of the universe are connected in an intimate way, both in the seen and unseen energies as was previously posited by mystics without scientific proof. The paper concludes that the paranormal is a science of the future. Keywords: Science, Paranormal, Psychic energy, Experimental psychology, Psychokinesis, Telepathy. I. INTRODUCTION Paranormal simply suspect that we do not know everything about nature. The paranormal “consists of alleged occurrences or powers which, if actual cannot be explained by our current understanding of Physics” [Terry Davidson.2010.] Paranormal phenomena are anathema to orthodox scientists because they neglect the central dogma of the materialistic faith: that everything is explicable in terms of physical matter - energy operating according to known Laws. Many scientists are so convinced that the paranormal does not exist and that no amount of evidence will ever persuade them otherwise. -
La Ciencia Del Médium Las Investigaciones Psíquicas En España (1888-1931)
La ciencia del médium Las investigaciones psíquicas en España (1888-1931) Autora: Andrea Graus Ferrer Directora: Annette Mülberger Rogele Tesis doctoral Barcelona, Diciembre 2014 Programa de Doctorado en Historia de la Ciencia Centre d’Història de la Ciència, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona A la Flora, el Cesc i l’Alba Índice Índice de figuras……………………………………………………………IV Principales archivos consultados……………………………………….…. V Resumen…………………………………………………………………..VI Abstract……………………………………………………………………VIII Agraïments…………………………………………………………………X Introducción………………………………………………………………1 La ciencia del médium………………………………………………………4 Historiografías de la (pseudo)ciencia………………………………………..11 Niveles de análisis…………………………………………………………...19 La mediumnidad psicológica…………………………………………20 La objetivación de los fenómenos mediúmnicos……………………..22 La demarcación científica de las investigaciones psíquicas……………25 Cuestiones metodológicas………………………………………………….29 Resumen de los capítulos……………………………………………………33 I. Mediumnidad y sonambulismo Manuel Otero Acevedo y Eusapia Palladino (1888-1895)……………….35 El desafío que Lombroso rechazó………………………………………….42 Pruebas irrecusables, testimonios irrefutables…………………………………..49 Una prueba irrecusable: la fotografía espiritista………………………..50 Un testimonio irrefutable: Otero Acevedo……………………………56 Experiencias de sonambulismo clarividente………………………………..64 Mediumnidad, sonambulismo y materialismo………………………………71 Conclusiones………………………………………………………………77 I II. La patologización de la mediumnidad Victor Melcior y Teresa Esquius (1895-1905)……………………………80 -
111 Physicians and Séances on the Road Towards The
MEDICINA NEI SECOLI ARTE E SCIENZA, 31/1 (2019) 111-132 Journal of History of Medicine Articoli/Articles PHYSICIANS AND SÉANCES ON THE ROAD TOWARDS THE SPECTACULARIZATION OF SPIRITUALISM GERMANA PARETI Department of Philosophy and Educational Sciences - University of Turin, Turin, I Ibfm - CNR Segrate (MI), I SUMMARY Riding on the wave of the neo-vitalist reaction to mechanistic philosophy, which swept through the fields of medicine and biology in Europe in the second half of the nineteenth century, a large group of scientists embraced the psychical research that had emerged in England – not to be confused with spiritualism – because the aim was to study the spirit-phenomena with scientific tools and methods. In addition to French psychologists and psychiatrists (including Richet and Janet), this group of psychical researchers also included German (Driesch and Schrenck-Notzing), Italian (Lombroso and Morselli) and American (James) scholars. Contributions were also made by poets, writers and musicologists who were attracted to the occult. Meanwhile, the fusion of different types of knowledge gave rise to investigations (more or less scientific) into the growing spectacularization of the paranormal, which today is studied by experts in communication theories. Introduction Vitalism resurfaced towards the end of the nineteenth century, flooding the European philosophical-scientific landscape and, in particular, the fields of medicine and biology. In Germany, after having conducted embryologic experiments under the guidance of August Weismann and Ernst Heinrich Haeckel (some of which were also carried out at the Key words: Psychical research - Spiritualism - Religion - Entertainment 111 Germana Pareti Zoological Station in Naples), biologist Hans Adolf Driesch had be- come a significant exponent of vitalism, as well as a passionate expert in both ancient and modern philosophy. -
Albert Von Schrenck-Notzing and Albert Moll1
Med. Hist. (2012), vol. 56(2), pp. 255–276. c The Author 2012. Published by Cambridge University Press 2012 doi:10.1017/mdh.2011.36 Policing Epistemic Deviance: Albert von Schrenck-Notzing and Albert Moll1 ANDREAS SOMMER∗ UCL Centre for the History of Psychological Disciplines, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK Abstract: Shortly after the death of Albert von Schrenck-Notzing (1862–1929), the doyen of early twentieth century German para psychology, his former colleague in hypnotism and sexology Albert Moll (1862–1939) published a treatise on the psychology and pathology of parapsychologists, with Schrenck-Notzing serving as a prototype of a scientist suffering from an ‘occult complex’. Moll’s analysis concluded that parapsychologists vouching for the reality of supernormal phenomena, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, telekinesis and materialisations, suffered from a morbid will to believe, which paralysed their critical faculties and made them cover obvious mediumistic fraud. Using Moll’s treatment of Schrenck-Notzing as an historical case study of boundary disputes in science and medicine, this essay traces the career of Schrenck-Notzing as a researcher in hypnotism, sexology and parapsychology; discusses the relationship between Moll and Schrenck-Notzing; and problematises the pathologisation and defamation strategies of deviant epistemologies by authors such as Moll. Keywords: Academic Freedom, Boundary Work, Epistemic Deviance, Hypnotism, Parapsychology, Psychical Research Albert von Schrenck-Notzing: From Psychopathia sexualis to the Materialisation of Dreams Baron Albert von Schrenck-Notzing was born in Oldenburg, Germany, on 18 May 1862. After entering Munich University in 1883 to train as a physician, he studied hypnotism under Hippolyte Bernheim in Nancy, together with Sigmund Freud, in the late 1880s. -
'Problem of Evil' in the Context of The
The ‘Problem of Evil’ in the Context of the French Enlightenment: Bayle, Leibniz, Voltaire, de Sade “The very masterpiece of philosophy would be to develop the means Providence employs to arrive at the ends she designs for man, and from this construction to deduce some rules of conduct acquainting this wretched two‐footed individual with the manner wherein he must proceed along life’s thorny way, forewarned of the strange caprices of that fatality they denominate by twenty different titles, and all unavailingly, for it has not yet been scanned nor defined.” ‐Marquis de Sade, Justine, or Good Conduct Well Chastised (1791) “The fact that the world contains neither justice nor meaning threatens our ability both to act in the world and to understand it. The demand that the world be intelligible is a demand of practical and of theoretical reason, the ground of thought that philosophy is called to provide. The question of whether [the problem of evil] is an ethical or metaphysical problem is as unimportant as it is undecidable, for in some moments it’s hard to view as a philosophical problem at all. Stated with the right degree of generality, it is but unhappy description: this is our world. If that isn’t even a question, no wonder philosophy has been unable to give it an answer. Yet for most of its history, philosophy has been moved to try, and its repeated attempts to formulate the problem of evil are as important as its attempts to respond to it.” ‐Susan Neiman, Evil in Modern Thought – An Alternative History of Philosophy (2002) Claudine Lhost (Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy with Honours) This thesis is presented for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia in 2012 1 I declare that this thesis is my own account of my research and contains as its main content work which has not previously been submitted for a degree at any tertiary education institution. -
Hamilton Family Fonds (Mss 14, Pc 12, Tc 70 (A.79-21, A.79-41, A.79-52, A.79-56, A.79-65, A.80-08, A.80-25, A.81-09, A.86-56, A12-109))
University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections Finding Aid - Hamilton Family fonds (Mss 14, Pc 12, Tc 70 (A.79-21, A.79-41, A.79-52, A.79-56, A.79-65, A.80-08, A.80-25, A.81-09, A.86-56, A12-109)) Generated by Access to Memory (AtoM) 2.3.0 Printed: March 23, 2017 Language of description: English University of Manitoba Archives & Special Collections 330 Elizabeth Dafoe Library Winnipeg Manitoba Canada R3T 2N2 Telephone: 204-474-9986 Fax: 204-474-7913 Email: [email protected] http://umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/ http://umlarchives.lib.umanitoba.ca/index.php/hamilton-family-fonds Hamilton Family fonds Table of contents Summary information ...................................................................................................................................... 8 Administrative history / Biographical sketch .................................................................................................. 8 Scope and content ........................................................................................................................................... 9 Notes ................................................................................................................................................................ 9 Access points ................................................................................................................................................. 10 Collection holdings ....................................................................................................................................... -
Journal of the Society for Psychical Research V27 1931-32
JOURNAL OF THE Society for Psychical Research VOL. XXVII 1931-1932 For Private Circulation among Members and Associates only THE SOCIETY'S ROOMS 31 TAVISTOCK SQUARE, LONDON, W.C.i All rights reserved CONTENTS PA8E Impression received at the Time of a Friend's Death - 3 A Premonition - -- -- -- --18 Annual Report of the Council for the Year 1930 20 Apparition of a Relative seen at the Time of her Death - 34 Annual General Meeting - - - - - - 52 A Notable Booktest obtained at a Sitting with Mrs Leonard ; by Theodore Besterman ------ 59 A Series of Mediumistic Statements made to Four Sitters - 74 Poltergeists by W. H. Salter - - - - - - 91 ; A Case of apparent Haunting in Moscow by Count ; Perovsky-Petrovo-Solovovo ------ 95 The Medium Frau Silbert by Rudolf Lambert - 112 ; Two Incidents - -- -- -- -- 126 Towards a Theory of Dowsing : I. Introduction by Theodore Besterman - - - 142 ; II. The Art of the Dowser ; by Vicomte Henry de France -------- 143 III. Dowsing as a Physico-Physiological Phenomenon ; by Graf Carl von Klinckowstroem - - - 147 IV. Reply to Graf von Klinckowstroem by Vicomte ; Henry de France ------ 152 V. Reply to Vicomte de France by Graf Carl von ; Klinckowstroem - - - - - -155 VI. The Psychical and Physical Theories of Dowsing ; by Theodore Besterman - - - - - 157 The Lourdes Cures - -- -- -- - 165 Ancient or Unknown Controls by A. W. Trethewy - - 178 ; A Prophecy in Old Moore's Almanack Theodore Bester- ; by man - - - - - - - - - - 182 24851.9 iv Cements PAGE Annual Report of the Council for the Year 1931 195 in Classical by Prof. Supernormal Occurrences' Antiquity ; E. R. Dodds - - 216 Annual General Meeting - - - 234 An Experiment in Long-Distance Telepathy by Theodore ; Besterman - - ------ 235 Sitting with Bert Reese by Dr Walter Franklin Prince - 249 A ; The Relation between Parapsychical and Paraphysical - - 268 Phenomena ; by W. -
JSE 254 WEB.Indd
JOURNAL OF SCIENTIFIC EXPLORATION A Publication of the Society for Scientifi c Exploration (ISSN 0892-3310) Editorial Offi ce: Journal of Scientifi c Exploration, Society for Scientifi c Exploration, Kathleen E. Erickson, JSE Managing Editor, 151 Petaluma Blvd. So., #227, Petaluma, CA 94952 USA [email protected], 1-415-435-1604, (fax 1-707-559-5030) Manuscript Submission: Submit manuscripts online at http://journalofscientifi cexploration.org/ index.php/jse/login Editor-in-Chief: Stephen E. Braude, University of Maryland Baltimore County Managing Editor: Kathleen E. Erickson, Petaluma, CA Associate Editors Carlos S. Alvarado, Atlantic University, Virginia Beach, VA Daryl Bem, Ph.D., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Robert Bobrow, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY Courtney Brown, Emory University, Alanta, GA Etzel Cardeña, Lund University, Sweden Jeremy Drake, Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, MA Bernard Haisch, Digital Universe Foundation, USA Michael Ibison, Institute for Advanced Studies, Austin, TX John Ives, Samueli Institute, Alexandria, VA Roger D. Nelson, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ Mark Rodeghier, Center for UFO Studies, Chicago, IL Michael Sudduth, San Francisco State University, CA Book Review Editor: P. D. Moncrief ([email protected]) Assistant Managing Editor: Elissa Hoeger, Princeton, NJ Society for Scientifi c Exploration Website — http://www.scientifi cexploration.org Chair, Publications Committee: Robert G. Jahn, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ Editorial Board Dr. Mikel Aickin, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ Prof. Olivier Costa de Beauregard, University of Paris, France Dr. Steven J. Dick, U.S. Naval Observatory, Washington, DC Dr. Peter Fenwick, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK Dr. Alan Gauld, University of Nottingham, UK Prof. Richard C.