The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology

367 Pages·2022·12.316 MB·English

by  Courtney M. Block

Encyclopedia of Parapsychology
Courtney M. Block
ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
To the daughters, the dreamers, and the ghosts.
And to Sam, Allie, and Jenny—you inspire me more than you’ll ever know.
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
An imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
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Copyright © 2022 by Courtney M. Block
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Block, Courtney M., 1986– author.
Title: The encyclopedia of parapsychology / Courtney M. Block.
Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, [2022] | Includes
bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “This work provides an
encyclopedic overview of the field of parapsychology, including
prominent researchers, seminal studies, topics, figures, and more. It
also includes a chapter on the intersection of parapsychology and pop
culture to highlight the many, nuanced ways that the psychical is
intertwined into our culture”— Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022014892 (print) | LCCN 2022014893 (ebook) | ISBN
9781538155455 (cloth) | ISBN 9781538155462 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Parapsychology—Encyclopedias.
Classification: LCC BF1029 .B5596 2022 (print) | LCC BF1029 (ebook) | DDC
133.3—dc23/eng/20220328
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022014892
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022014893
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Contents
Foreword v
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xv
1 A History of Parapsychology 1
2 Prominent Figures in Parapsychology 25
3 What Does the Research Say? A Core Annotated Bibliography
of Parapsychological Resources through the Decades 139
4 Criticisms of Parapsychology 237
Appendix A: Topical Bibliographies to Get You Started! 243
Appendix B: Journals Where You Can Find Parapsychology-Related Topics 249
Appendix C: Parapsychological Research Organizations 251
Glossary 253
Bibliography of Resources Found in Glossary 309
Bibliography 321
Index 339
Person Index 343
About the Author 349
iii

Foreword
Psi exists and it belongs to everyone. precognitive dreams, ghostly encounters, and out of
body experiences, just to name a few.
This position statement accompanied the 2021 It took a while to gather the courage to finally do
reboot of the website that I created at PublicPara what I had already warned a few colleagues that I
psychology.org. Back in 2006, even without a for- would do with my Public Parapsychology reboot:
mal science degree, my efforts to bring academic not just admit to the reality of psi (or “psychic”)
parapsychology to the public’s attention got me into ability, but to acknowledge that, on some level, we
the office of the Parapsychological Association, and all have a personal relationship with it. There is
eventually to the front of the organization as its ex- over 150 years of rigorous research supporting the
ecutive director. After many years of almost exclu- statement “psi exists,” much of which is published
sively serving the needs of professionals in the field, in peer-reviewed journals and likely sitting on the
I recently returned a portion of my time to Public shelves at your local public university, if not freely
Parapsychology to support the trending movements available online.
of citizen and participatory team science. Proof-oriented research on extrasensory percep-
Public participation in science may be trending, tion (ESP) has demonstrated—at the very least—
but it is certainly not new. Consider the historic statistical anomalies relating to human behavior that
“men and women of leisure” such as Isaac New- persist even in the most rigorous laboratory settings.
ton, Florence Nightingale, Benjamin Franklin, and However, Courtney M. Block rightly points out that
Charles Darwin who made major contributions to “not all endeavors at understanding parapsycho-
scientific knowledge outside of academia. Florence logical events are undertaken in a lab with research
Nightingale probably best embodied the radical scientists and academics. . . . For many people, the
spirit of citizen science as she challenged gender goal of engaging with parapsychological concepts
roles and used her passion for statistics to pioneer isn’t to end up being published in a peer-reviewed
evidence-based nursing. Today’s citizen scientists journal.” The drive to create, to intuit, to shape, to
are ushering in discoveries in astronomy, document- investigate, and to rationalize are innate to all hu-
ing ecological and social change, and affecting pub- mans. Psi does not belong only to career scientists or
lic policy. Citizen science is no longer just a hobby to established practitioners. It belongs to everyone.
for the rich, it is becoming a civic virtue. Perhaps, however, you are considering a career in
Meanwhile, one of the greatest scientific mys- science and wish to study parapsychological topics;
teries that we all possess, and quite possibly take perhaps you are already well-acquainted with the lit-
for granted, is consciousness itself. It is unlikely erature of parapsychology but want to access lesser-
that scientists will develop an adequate theory of known work from the women of early psychical re-
how consciousness works until we understand its search. Maybe you are a paranormal researcher who
stranger and seemingly anomalous events such as wants to level up your theoretical understanding. Or
v
vi Foreword
maybe you work in a traditional clinical setting and from re-inventing the wheel—that is, inventing more
wish to better understand the “impossible” events and more elaborate ways to prove that psi exists. Ac-
that sometimes happen around trauma. Perhaps with cessing this rich history of research will likely inspire
a strong grasp of the history of parapsychology you more questions about the processes underlying psi
will change the world, or maybe it is enough just to itself. Together we can shape a field of parapsychol-
deepen your own relationship with psi. ogy that not only validates the lived experiences of
Congratulations on finding this encyclopedia. So individuals, but can interpret and use psi in ways that
many decades of psi research around the globe leaves may positively impact ourselves and our world.
a lot to untangle, and not every public library has a
knowledgeable librarian such as Ms. Block to help Annalisa Ventola
you navigate it. With the help of guides such as this, Founder, Public Parapsychology
career and citizen scientists alike may be deterred Executive Director, Parapsychological Association
Preface
Existing physical science contains several huge question he ponders about the nature of conscious-
puzzles. One of them is consciousness.1 ness is raised time and again by fellow researchers
worldwide, and it’s a question that has been pon-
The figure floating above me has dirt on the hem of dered for centuries. It’s even a question that tran-
its dress. My body is frozen in place. My eyes are scends the realm of science and permeates nearly
wide open as I stare at the dirty hem while a growing every avenue of society—literature, film, spiritual-
sense of dread builds within me. I know that there ity, and philosophy have grappled with the conno-
is something gruesome attached to it, but I’m too tations of consciousness on the human experience.
afraid to look. Everything else in the room appears You have probably paused at some point or another
normal. There’s the closet, with its tangle of scarves to wonder about the link between consciousness
and clothes. There’s the bedroom door, the security and the physical world. Have you ever dreamt of
light in the hallway glowing through the crack in something, no matter how mundane, before it has
the frame. There are the paintings on the wall to happened? Perhaps you’ve encountered that perva-
my right. My eyes start to slowly scan the entity sive phenomenon known as déjà vu, or have gotten
above me, moving from the dirty hem to the tattered an intuition of who is calling before looking at
white bodice of a nightgown, until I finally look all your phone? Oftentimes we chalk this up to noth-
the way up and see its face. I scream internally for ing more than coincidence, and we think no further
my body to “just wake up, just wake up,” but I’m about it because the realm of coincidence is safe.
paralyzed, unable to move even a finger. With what How many of us, though, stop and wonder what if
feels like tremendous effort, I turn my head to the there’s something more than coincidence lurking
right and squeeze my eyes shut. When I open them, just below the surface?
the figure is gone. My body can move. The sense This book highlights the work of those who
of dread has left, even though my heart still beats asked, “what if” and dove into these questions,
rapidly, and I scan the room twice before I convince merging them with research and experimentation.
myself that nothing is there. Sleep paralysis has These experiments, often lumped under the realm
come once again. of parapsychology (or an older term, psychical
Fortunately for us, researchers around the globe science), seek to expand our understanding of the
investigate the mind and consciousness, diving into ways in which our mind interacts with the world
the mysteries of experiences like the one I outline around us. As a result of people asking these ques-
above. Researcher David E. H. Jones, in his book tions, we now have a large and international body
Why Are We Conscious? muses, “I suspect that the of work on various parapsychological topics. This
unconscious mind sometimes makes contact with work continues today.
an unknown world ‘outside our diving bell,’” and Parapsychology is, as defined by the Parapsy-
“that unknown world may contain much informa- chological Association, “the scientific and scholarly
tion never accessed by physical science.”2 The study of three kinds of unusual events—ESP, mind-
vii
viii Preface
matter interaction, and survival.”3 ESP is the acronym OUR PSYCHICAL LIVES: THE POWER
used to refer to extrasensory perception. Survival, as OF THE SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE
the association uses it, refers to the survival of con-
sciousness after death. Mind-matter interactions refer The extremely powerful subjective experience that
to other types of psychical phenomena like precogni- Dr. Kripal mentions is a perfect example of how
tion, psychokinesis, and more. Another way to talk the psi phenomena can affect our lives. While
about parapsychology is to refer to “psychical” phe- laboratory parapsychology takes place in controlled
nomena, or the more modern equivalent, “psi,” which environments organized by research scientists and
is phenomena of or related to the mind. Essentially, academics, it’s clear that it’s not the only environ-
parapsychologists believe that there is more to the ment in which psi is at play. Some other ways it
mind-matter connection than we currently are aware. manifests are through very intense encounters like
As I mention above, and fortunately for those a near-death experience, or in more subtle ways
interested in learning more about this topic, there through intuition, déjà vu, or synchronicity. These
is a long history of scholarly inquiry into parapsy- experiences often leave a mark on a person, linger-
chology, which has not come without obstacles. ing with them long after the event has concluded.
Even today there exists, among some, a fervent The personal experience I share at the begin-
disagreement about the value of scholarly inquiry ning of this preface is one of the reasons I became
into psychical phenomena, not to mention para- interested in parapsychology. Having always been
normal phenomena at large. Even though the topic a vivid dreamer, it wasn’t until a few years ago
of parapsychology sometimes continues to be a that I started experiencing bouts of sleep paralysis.
contentious topic among researchers, noted re- Anyone who has experienced this will immediately
searcher and academic Dr. Jeffrey Kripal outlines know what I’m talking about, but for those who are
the importance of having an intellectual imagina- unfamiliar, sleep paralysis happens when your mind
tion4 when it comes to these topics and hopes that awakens before your physical body, resulting in a
the academy is on the verge of a flip in attitude. In type of paralysis that exists somewhere between
his 2019 work, appropriately titled The Flip, Dr. being fully awake and fully asleep. Quite often, a
Jeffrey Kripal discusses the epiphanies people have symptom of sleep paralysis also includes feelings
after encountering anomalous experiences—epiph- of immense dread and/or seeing strange figures as
anies that made them question their fundamental if they are in the room with you. The scariest thing
materialist worldview. He writes, “The general ma- about sleep paralysis is that you cannot separate the
terialistic framework of the sciences at the moment dream state from the waking state—in other words,
is not wrong. It is simply half-right. We know that any hallucinations you have in this state seem as real
mind is mattered. What these stories suggest is that as if you were fully awake and aware. During yet
matter is also minded.”5 another episode, I saw a green goblin with shocking
Dr. Kripal goes on to discuss how, for many in red hair crouched on my bed. On yet another occa-
the academy, it takes an extremely powerful per- sion, I saw a black horned figure standing next to
sonal experience to “flip” their attitude regarding me as I slept.
the value of psi research. He also reminds us that Because of my intense dream experience, I began
this type of research doesn’t devalue the knowledge keeping a dream journal. In doing so, I started to no-
the science already gives us. In fact, he writes that tice that I dreamt about things before they happened.
the academy can engage in it “without surrender- Before you get too excited, no, I never dreamt about
ing an iota of our remarkable scientific and medical winning lottery numbers. The things I dreamt of
knowledge about the material world and the human were mundane, like a scene in book I would read
body.”6 My work here is an attempt to bolster Dr. later in the week or of conversations that would
Kripal’s words by showing readers the vast amount happen a day or two later. And as mundane as these
of information regarding parapsychology—informa- dreams were, nevertheless, the experience left me
tion which may, in fact, challenge some to question wondering what this means about the intersection of
certain assumptions and/or beliefs. consciousness and our physical world.
Preface ix
This brings me to an important point. While and for many, myself included, it contains a spiritual
it is beneficial to scientifically study the various element as well.
phenomena related to parapsychology, it is equally
important to muse upon (and make space for) the
subjective power of the paranormal experience. The A MAGICAL MINDSET: SOCIETY AND
laboratory setting of the paranormal experiment and THE PARANORMAL FROM ANTIQUITY
the powerful, subjective nature of the paranormal
experience are equal in value. While the scientific Before diving into chapter 1, a history of parapsy-
view can help us add to our scope of knowledge chology, let’s delve further into the sense of wonder
about the world around us, the subjective experience and mysticism for a moment. Remember, magic was
does that too while also activating a personal sense once viewed as part and parcel of daily life. We see
of wonder and reverence for the mystical. Our sub- one example of this in ancient Greek society. The
jective experiences can even motivate us to become Greeks made regular employ of women known as
citizen scientists, spurred on by our own personal oracles. At Delphi, this oracle was referred to as
encounters to learn more about the anomalous, Pythia. These women would divine messages for
which brings me to another important point. Not prominent members of the community. Researcher
all endeavors at understanding parapsychological Libby Ruffle tells us that these oracles were key
events are undertaken in a lab with research scien- members of society and “connected the human to the
tists and academics. People just like you can explore divine.”7 The oracles remained important figures of
the mysteries of the psychical through conducting society, particularly at Delphi, and prophesized from
your own experiments. For many people, the goal of 800 BC to 380 AD.8 Of course, in this example, the
engaging with parapsychological concepts isn’t to act of divination is intimately connected to religious
end up being published in a peer-reviewed journal. life, but nevertheless this serves as a reminder that
Their goal is, perhaps, to simply deepen their per- mystical abilities connected to seeing beyond one’s
sonal relationship between the known and unknown normal capacity have existed since antiquity.
Figure P.1. The Oracle at Delphi Entranced by Heinrich Leutemann
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