The Parapsychological Association

Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D.

Atlantic University (carlos.alvarado@atlanticuniv.edu)

Italian psychical researcher Ernesto Bozzano (1862-1943), a favorite of mine, has received some attention over the years. Unfortunately for English-language students with the exception of my papers about aspects of his work, most of these discussions have appeared in Italian. Among them we may mention Giovanni Iannuzzo’s and Silvio Ravaldini’s works (see the bibliography at the end).

                                                                        Ernesto Bozzano

More recently Luca Gasperini has joined the ranks of the students of Bozzano’s life and work, producing a comprehensive thesis for academic work at the University of Bologna, aspects of which have appeared in the Italian journalLuce e Ombrain which Bozzano published a good proportion of his work when he was alive. I have appended at the end of these comments a brief bibliography of modern writings about Bozzano.

                                                                            Luca Gasperini

Gasperini has published an overview of Bozzano’s life and work in his article “Ernesto Bozzano: An Italian Spiritualist and Psychical Researcher” (Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2012, 25, 755-773) which is the best English-language introduction to Bozzano available today. In addition to biographical information the article has a very good introduction to Bozzano’s approach and methodology, not to mention his analyses and evaluations of psychic phenomena in relation to the issue of survival of death.

Gasperini writes: “Ernesto Bozzano . . . was probably the most important Italian representative of psychical and spiritualistic studies before the 1940s, as well as one of the few to emerge on the international scene, thanks to his numerous publications which gained him the esteem of scientists, philosophers, and psychical researchers. He was at the center of an intense network of correspondence with Italian, European, and American intellectuals, receiving an average of 200 letters a month, and was furthermore one of the few Italian scholars to have been named an honorary member of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR), and the Institut Métapsychique International (IMI) . . . [But] Bozzano is completely unknown in Italy to those who do not deal with the history of psychical research.”

He wrote that Bozzano attempted to “create a ‘metapsychical philosophy’ capable of interpreting and coherently connecting paranormal phenomena, above all considering the demonstration of human survival, the topic which interested him primarily, but also secondarily deriving some notions of metaphysical and cosmological order of the general guiding hypotheses with which to return and compare the psychic phenomena in order to justify and organize them in a wider perspective, namely that of the spiritual evolution of the universe.”

Finally, Gasperini concluded: “Bozzano was deeply convinced of his Spiritistic hypothesis and therefore spent 50 years of his life collecting his immense paranormal record of cases in order to demonstrate them scientifically, so that no one could any longer voice doubts about them . . . . The methods of Bozzano, which Iannuzzo . . . defined as observational and naturalistic and which we can also call bibliographic, must have seemed rather simplistic to the parapsychologists of the experimental school . . . . Nevertheless, from a historical point of view, he symbolically epitomized the interest of his time and place for spiritualism and psychical phenomena, and to study him permits, if nothing else, a more in-depth reconstruction of the Italian situation . . . . ”

Some Writings About Ernesto Bozzano (for a bibliography of Bozzano's writings see http://www.bibliotecabozzanodeboni.it/bibliografie/bibliografia_bozzano.htm)

Alvarado, C.S. (1987). The life and work of an Italian Psychical Researcher: A review of Ernesto Bozzano: La Vita e L'Opera by Giovanni Iannuzzo. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 81, 37-47.

Alvarado, C. S. (2005). Ernesto Bozzano on the phenomena of bilocation. Journal of Near-Death
Studies, 23, 207–238. http://atlanticuniv.academia.edu/CarlosSAlvarado/Papers/318846/_2005_._Ernesto_Bozzano_and_the_phenomena_of_bilocation._Journal_of_Near-Death_Studies_23_207-238

Alvarado, C. S. (2007). Remarks on Ernesto Bozzano’s La Psiche Domina la Materia. Journal of Near-Death Studies, 25, 189-195.www.medicine.virginia.edu/.../Alvarado-Bozzano-La-Psiche-Domina-2007-JNDS-Bozzano.pdf

Biondi, M. (1984). Pagine d’appunti di Ernesto Bozzano [A page of notes about Ernesto Bozzano]. Luce e Ombra, 84, 156–164.

Bozzano, E. (1924). Autobiographical sketch. Journal of the American Society for Psychical
Research, 18, 153–155.

Di Porto, B. (no year). Ernesto Bozzano. In Dizionario Biografi co degli Italiani (Vol. 13, pp. 578–580). Rome: Treccani.http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/ernesto-bozzano_(Dizionario-Biografico)/

Gasperini, L. (2009-2010). Ernesto Bozzano: Tra Spiritismo Scientifico e la Ricerca Psichica [Ernesto Bozzano" Between Scientific Spiritism and Psychical Research]. Laurea thesis, University of Bologna.

Gasperini, L. (2010). L’annosa disputa Bozzano–Morselli [The age-old dispute Bozzano-Morselli]. Luce e Ombra, 110, 290–306.

Gasperini, L. (2011). Ernesto Bozzano, i “popoli primitivi” ed Ernesto de Martino (Ernesto Bozzani, "primitive people," and Ernesto de Martino]. Luce e Ombra, 111, 17–25.

Gasperini, L. (2011). Criptestesia o ipotesi spiritica? Ch. Richet ed E. Bozzano a confronto [Cryptesthesia or spiritistic hypothesis? The confrontation of Ch. Richet and E. Bozzano] Luce e Ombra, 111, 113-126.

Iannuzzo, G. (1983). Ernesto Bozzano: La Vita e l’Opera [Ernesto Bozzano: Life and Work]. Verona: Luce e Ombra.

Ravaldini, S. (1993). Ernesto Bozzano e la Ricerca Psichica: Vita e Opere di un Pioniere della
Parapsicologia [Ernesto Bozzano: Life and Work of a Pioneer of Parapsychology]. Rome: Mediterranee. (For a review seehttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2320/is_n4_v59/ai_18445604/)
 

Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D.

Atlantic University (Carlos.alvarado@atlanticuniv.edu)

Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org/)

This library covers a variety of subjects, including Spiritualism and related matters. It includes other collections such as Project Gutenberg, and holdings from Google Books. The books appear as facsimiles of the original, as well as text files.

Here are a few examples of the holdings.

Bray, C. (n.d., ca 1866). On Force, its Mental and Moral Correlates. London: Longmans,
Green, Reader, and Dyer.

Crowe, C. (1848). The Night-side of Nature (2 vols.). London: T. Newby.

Cumberland, S. (1880). A Thought-Reader’s Thoughts. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington.

Davis, S.W. (1907). A Future Life? Los Angeles: Humanitarian Review Publishing House.

Dendy, W.C. (1841). The Philosophy of Mystery. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longman.

Hyslop, J.H. (1908). Psychical Research and the Resurrection. Boston: Small, Maynard.

                                                      James H. Hyslop

Leger, T. (1846). Animal Magnetism; or Psycodunamy. New York: D. Appleton.

Mitchell, T. W. (1922). Medical Psychology and Psychical Research. London: Methuen.

Sweet, E. (1870). The Future Life (2nd ed.). Boston: William White.

Williamson, M.J. (1873). Modern Diabolism. New York: James Miller.

Gallica (http://gallica.bnf.fr/)

This project, covering practically all areas of interest, is produced and maintained by the Bibliotheque Nationale de France. Consequently, most of the books and journals offered online are in French. It also includes many other auditory and visual files (e.g., illuminated manuscripts).

Books

Barety, A. (1887). Le Magnetisme Animal: Etudie sous le Nom de Force Neurique Rayonnante et Circulante dans ses Proprietes Physiques, Physiologiques et Therapeutiques. Paris: Octave Doin, J. Lechevalier.

Duhem, P. (1904). Contribution a l’Etude de la Folie chez les Spirites. Paris: Steinheil.

Figuier, L. (1860). Histoire du Merveilleux dans les Temps Modernes (4 vols.). Paris: L. Hachette.

Gyel, E. (1899). L’Etre Subconscient. Paris: Felix Alcan.

Hartmann, E. von (1885). Der Spiritismus. Leipzig: W. Friedrich.

Mesmer, F.A. (1779). Memoire sur la Decouverte du Magnetisme Animal. Paris: P. F. Didot le jeune.

Mesmer, F.A. (1785). Aphorismes de M. Mesmer Dictes a l’Assemblee de ses Eleves et dans lesquels on Trouve ses Principes, sa Theorie, et les Moyens de Magnetiser. Paris: M. Quinquet l’aine.

                                                               Mesmer

Puysegur, A.M.J.C. (1811). Recherches, Experiences et Observations Physiologiques sur l’Homme dans l’Etat de Somnambulisme Naturel et Dans le Somnambulisme Provoque par l’Acte Magnetique. Paris: J. G. Dentu.

De Rochas, A. (1906). L’Exteriorisation de la Motricite (4th ed.). Paris: Chacornac.

Articles

Flournoy, T. (1899). Genese de quelques pretendus messages spirites. Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Etranger, 47, 144–158.

Janet, P. (1886). Note sur quelques phenomenes de somnambulisme. Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Etranger, 21, 190–198.

Janet, P. (1886). Deuxieme note sur le somneil provoque a distance et la suggestion mentale pendant l’etat somnambulique.Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Etranger, 22, 212–223.

                                                             Pierre Janet

Richet, C. (1884). La suggestion mentale et le calcul des probabilites. Revue Philosophique de la France et de l’Etranger, 18, 609–674.

                                                             Charles Richet

Paulham, F. (1892). Les hallucinations veridiques et la suggestion mentale. Revue des Deux Mondes, 62(s. 3), 65–100.                                                                

Sudre, R. (1927). Revue de la quinzaine: Metapsychique. Mercure de France, 198, 692–697.

Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D. 

Atlantic University (Carlos.alvarado@atlanticuniv.edu)

Parapsychology has lost an important pioneer and worker, William George Roll (1926-2012). Bill, as he was generally called, had a rich life, as you can see in biographies:http://archived.parapsych.org/members/w_g_roll.html;http://www.parapsych.org/articles/37/129/obituary_dr_william_g_roll.aspx,http://www.pflyceum.org/379.html, and in an online autobiographical sketch (http://www.psychicalresearchfoundation.com/about.html) available in the Web.

Like many in parapsychology, I was influenced by Bill’s work. I still remember the excitement I felt reading his bookThe Poltergeist when I started reading about the field during the early 1970s. I last saw him at Utrecht during the conference “Utrecht II: Charting the Future of Parapsychology” (http://www.pflyceum.org/451.html), to which he was invited as one of the few surviving participants of the original 1953 Utrecht meeting sometimes referred to as the First International Conference of Parapsychological Studies (http://www.pflyceum.org/432.html). There he was invited to present a paper entitled “Parapsychological Concepts.” Bill was 27 years old at the time and he may have been the youngest parapsychologist in the program. There he was talking about conceptual issues related to psychic phenomena to an audience mainly composed of older and far more experienced and distinguished scientists and scholars, among them C. J. Ducasse, Marcel Martiny, C.A. Meier, Gardner Murphy, H.H. Price, S.G. Soal, Robert Thouless, and René Warcollier.

Many newcomers and young workers in parapsychology think mainly of Bill in terms of his poltergeist work. While there is no doubt that his contributions to this area were very important—from his first paper on the Seaford case (Pratt, J.G., & Roll, W.G. (1958). The Seaford disturbances. Journal of Parapsychology, 22, 79-124) to his last published contribution in 2012 (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22229671) –his career included much more than that. Rather than present a detailed overview of Bill’s life and career I would like to honor his memory by presenting some highlights of his early days in parapsychology.

In addition to his field studies, Bill contributed to parapsychology in many other ways. One of them was conducting ESP experiments. His initial work, before he had published in the field, was referred to in the Journal of Parapsychology as follows: “The Committee of Advanced Studies at Oxford University has quite recently made a year’s grant to Mr. William G. Roll for the establishment of a small parapsychology laboratory at Oxford. Mr. Roll is a graduate student working on a thesis which deals with the philosophical implications of ESP . . . He will work under the supervision of Professor H. H. Price . . .” (Bateman, F., & Soal, S.G. (1953). Science and ESP research. Journal of Parapsychology, 17, 275-297, see p. 295). This work, also funded by the Society for Psychical Research and by the Parapsychology Foundation, took place between 1952 and 1955 and was reported in his thesis Theory and Experiment in Psychical Research(1959), for which he received a Masters in Literature from Oxford University (published later by Arno Press in 1975). In this work he included a great variety of experiments, as discussed in headings such as: Experiments with the Bernreuter Personality Inventory, ESP Experiments with Hypnotized Subjects, Neurophysiological Relations, and The Effect of Dissociation, among others. Later work included studies of psychometry (Roll, W. G., & Tart, C.T. Exploratory token object tests with a "sensitive." Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1965, 59, 226-236).

The thesis also included much conceptual and theoretical material, which was another area in which Bill distinguished himself. Some of his early conceptual writings included “The Problem of Precognition” (Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 1961, 41, 115-128), “The Psi Field” (Proceedings of the Parapsychological Association, 1964, 1, 32-65), and his widely cited “ESP and Memory” (International Journal of Neuropsychiatry, 1966, 2, 505-552). In a paper presented in a Parapsychological Association Convention (PA) in 1959 Bill argued that “very little attention has been paid to the stimulus that evokes psi, since it became apparent that psi is probably not dependent on known physical laws . . . . It was suggested that there may be external conditions that do not fall within the scope of present-day physics on which the transmission of ESP stimuli may depend. The theory, which involves the postulate of new constituents of material objects with new causal properties, is also intended to provide a unified description of the various types of psi phenomena, such as ESP, PK, and precognition” (Towards an Explanatory Model for Psi Phenomena. Journal of Parapsychology, 1959, 23, 288).

Bill also contributed to methodology and to survival research, among other topics. The latter includes his frequent defenses of studying the transcendent phenomena of the living consciousness, such as out-of-body experiences, as opposed to obtaining evidence of the continuation of consciousness after death.

Furthermore, he devoted much time to editorial and administrative work, contributions that tend to be forgotten. Bill worked hard to develop the PA. In fact, he was the last survivor of the first PA council, formed in 1957. He held office together with Robert McConnell (President), Gertrude Schmeidler (Vice-President), Rhea White (Secretary), Remi Cadoret (Treasurer), and Council Members Margaret Anderson, and Karlis Osis. Bill served in the council in different capacities during the forming years of the PA, through the late 1950s and the 1960s, and he was PA President in 1964.

These brief comments are only highlights of Bill’s early work. As such they are not adequate to convey the beginnings and even less the later developments and contributions of a man who devoted most of his life to parapsychology. Plans are on foot to discuss his contributions in more detail. One of these is a panel I am organizing for the next PA Convention (http://www.parapsych.org/section/41/2012_convention.aspx), in which I hope some of Bill’s colleagues with discuss his contributions to various areas, and over his long and productive life.

Carlos S. Alvarado

Atlantic University

Carlos.alvarado@atlanticuniv.edu

The new issue of the Italian journal Quaderni di Parapsicologia (QP), published by the Centro Studi Parapsicologici (http://cspbo.altervista.org/b/english.htm), has just been published (September 2011, Vol. 43, No. 1). It is the first issue edited by physician Massimo Biondi (http://www.pflyceum.org/38.html), who is well known for his high quality writings about parapsychology such as the books La Ricerca Psichica (Psychical Research, Rome: Il Minotauro, 2004) and Parapsicologia (Parapsychology, with  Patrizio E. Tressoldi, Bologna: Il Mulino, 2007).

                                  Dr. Massimo Biondi      

The issue of the QP opens with an editorial by the previous editor, Dr. Bruno Severi, and another by Biondi. This is followed by eight articles in Italian:

Mediumship and Survival: Is the Debate Reopened?, by Roberto De Angelis

Trance: An Open Door to Another World, by Gilberto Camilla

Twins and Telepathy, by Diane H. Powell

The Myth of the Schizophrenic with Telepathic Gifts, by Renaud Evrard

Renaud Evrard

On the Nature of the Poltergeist, by Massimo Biondi

Dreams and Anomalous Cognition, by Giuseppe Perfetto

Parapsychological Phenomena Taking Place Near Death, by Carlos S. Alvarado

De Carlo, Fellini, Castaneda, by Brunilde Cassoli

Brunilde Cassoli

The rest of the QP consists of news, abstracts of published articles, and book reviews.

Congratulations to Dr. Biondi and to the Centro Studi Parapsicologici for producing another issue of this journal.

Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D.

Atlantic University

Carlos.alvarado@atlanticuniv.edu
 

Nancy Zingrone (http://www.parapsych.org/users/nanzingrone/profile.aspx) and I recently returned from a long trip to Brazil during which we participated in several activities related to parapsychology representing Atlantic University (http://www.atlanticuniv.edu/). In Curitiba, on the south of the country, we attended two conventions. In the first one, the “VII Encontro Psi” (7th Psi Meetinghttp://www.unibem.br/cipe/11_inde.htm), organized by Fabio da Silva (http://www.parapsych.org/users/fabio5/profile.aspx), there were many Brazilian presenters, as well as some from other countries. Presentations were in Portuguese, English and Spanish. I shared the honor with Stanley Krippner of presenting one of the two invited addresses at the Encounter. The presentation, delivered in Spanish, was entitled “Exploring the Varieties of Human Experience: The Contributions of Psychical Research.” It was a discussion of the importance of psychic phenomena to psychology regarding issues such as the expansion of our views of what constitutes human experiences and an acknowledgement of the relations existing between ESP and other phenomena and psychological experiences and aspects such as dissociation, dreams, and beliefs.

 Stanley Krippner

Just after the Encounter we had in the same place the 54th Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association, which brought together many of the participants at the Encounter, as well as others (see the 2011 program herehttp://www.parapsych.org/section/24/convention_abstracts.aspx). Here presentations were in English (with translations to Portuguese). In another invited address entitled “Distortions the Past” (see page 50 here:http://www.parapsych.org/uploaded_files/pdfs/00/00/00/00/24/2011_pa_convention_abstracts.pdf) I discussed how some parapsychologists distort the history of their field in their writings. This was part of the Outstanding Contribution Award the Association granted to me at the 2010 convention in Paris (http://www.parapsych.org/articles/29/29/2010_outstanding_contribution.aspx). I also organized a panel discussion about “Future Directions in the Study of Mental Mediumship” in which I discussed the need to research mediumship and dreams.

Nancy L. Zingrone and Carlos S. Alvarado                       Alvarado presenting at PA Convention

From Curitiba we went to Sao Paulo, where Nancy had a five lecture course in which students registered to hear about the psychology of psychic experiences. This took place at the Institute of Psychology (http://www.ip.usp.br/portal/index.php?lang=en) of the University of Sao Paulo (http://www5.usp.br/en/) where our friend Dr. Wellington Zangari has a tenured position and a research unit in anomalistic psychology named Inter Psi: Laboratory of Anomalistic Psychology and Psychosocial Processes (http://www.ip.usp.br/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1691:laboratorio-de-psicologia-anomalistica-e-processos-psicossociais&catid=52&Itemid=66&lang=en). This unit, directed by Zangari and by Dr. Fatima Machado, brings together several psychology graduate students and other persons seriously interested in research in anomalous phenomena.

  Wellington Zangari                   Fatima R. Machado

The course included seven lectures consisting on a general introductory discussion, which was followed by presentations about ESP, apparitions and auras, out-of-body and near-death experiences, and a final one about current problems and future needs in research (I presented two of them and participated in the final one). Some days later Nancy and I also made presentations in a small conference entitled “Inter Psi Seminar: Anomalistic Psychology in Context.” Here I presented a paper similar to the one I read at the 7th Psi Encounter. In addition there were three other papers: “Anomalistic Psychology and So-Called Anomalous Experiences,” by Wellington Zangari; “The Academic Study of Anomalous Experience Around the World,” by Nancy Zingrone; and “Anomalous Experiences in Brazil: The Need for Psychological Understanding,” by Fatima Machado.

Between the presentations in Sao Paulo we flew to Juiz de Fora, where we had lectures at the Federal University of Juiz de For a (http://www.ufjf.br/cri-eng/ufjf/), in the state of Minas Gerais. Here we presented to a group of students and faculty organized by psychiatrist Alexander Almeida-Moreira (http://www.parapsych.org/users/alexander/profile.aspx). Nancy presented a discussion entitled “Methodology in Parapsychology,” while I was asked to discuss topics related to the history of the field. These were “Conceptual and Methodological Issues in the History of Parapsychology,” and “Eusapia Palladino and Psychical Research.” I also presented another version of the paper given at the 7th Psi Encounter to an open audience consisting mainly of students.

 Alexander Moreira-Almeida

I greatly enjoyed my visit to Brazil. The people and the culture are very welcoming. I found particularly satisfying to see old Brazilian friends and to be able to bring information about parapsychology to good and motivated students.
 

Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D.

Atlantic University

I had the pleasure of presenting an invited address at the last PA Convention held in Curitiba, Brazil. The address, entitled "Distortions of the Past,"  was part of the Outstanding Contribution Award the Parapsychological Association granted to me at the 2010 convention held in Paris, for which I thank the Association. The topic of my address was a discussion of examples of distortions of the history of parapsychology as seen in the writings of some parapsychologists.

I hope to publish the paper in the near future. In the meantime here is an abstract.

While no view of past parapsychological developments is free of problems it is worthwhile to discuss how our accounts can be distorted if only to be more aware of our working assumptions. In this address I will focus on the writings of parapsychologists, and particularly on some problems in these writings producing a distorted view of the past of the discipline. I argue that the past is distorted when we neglect the work of specific groups and individuals (such as lesser known figures, and women); when we see the past as a function of the present (neglect of unpopular ideas today, justification of research programs); and when we focus mainly on positive aspects of the study of psychic phenomena (neglect of critics and of examples of the rejection of the field). It is my hope that a consideration of these issues will assist us to expand the reach of such writings.

Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D.

Atlantic University

This paper, in Spanish, was written by Ernesto Bonilla. It appeared in Investigación Clinica, a journal published in Venezuela.

Conexión Mente-Cuerpo, Fenómenos Parapsicológicos y Curación Espiritual. Revisión [Mind-Body Connection, Parapsychological Phenomena and Spiritual Healing: A Review. Investigación Clinica, 2010, 51, 209-238.http://www.parapsych.org/uploaded_files/pdfs/00/00/00/00/23/bonilla_mente_y_cuerpo.pdf

Abstract from the paper:

 Evidence regarding the influence of the mind on the body is abundant. Several mind-body healing procedures are currently being used, among them hypnosis, biofeedback, meditation, visualizations, management of emotions and prayer. Since the Big Bang, we are entangled with everything.
This interaction would let individuals to communicate with the minds and bodies of others. The field of parapsychological research has provided a lot of information about significant events, including apparitions, communications with the dead, near-death experiences and out of the body experiences. It looks apparently evident, that consciousness can persist in the absence of brain function. According to the model that assumes that it is consciousness and not matter, the base of everything that exists, what survives after death is the “quantum monad” or spirit. It is said that spiritual cures are practiced by discarnate physicians who diagnose and prescribe conventional treatments, but very often they use unknown procedures based on the management of energy fields that are currently being studied by many physicists. Representative examples of the practice of spiritual medicine were the mediums Ze Arigo, George Chapman, Barbara Guerrero (Pachita) and presently the Brazilian medium John of God. Case reports of paranormal phenomena observed and studied by honest and serious scientists are very important for the advancement of parapsychology, because it has not been clearly established which approach, the qualitative or the quantitative, is more useful for the development of this field.

Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D.

Atlantic University

Discussing the negative views of parapsychology expressed by some scientists Dr. Mark Leary, Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Director of the Social Psychology Program at Duke University, has stated that "when it comes to parapsychology, many scientists are not skeptics but rather dogmatic . . ." (Why Are (Some) Scientists so Opposed to Parapsychology?Explore, 2011, 7, 275-277).

Leary discusses arguments such as the ideas that parapsychology is a pseudoscience, does not meet standards of scientific rigor, cannot explain its findings, and is related to occult beliefs. He also states: "The fact that many attacks on parapsychology are highly dogmatic and emotional and couched in ridicule and intimidation rather than scientific argument suggests that parapsychology threatens something quite important to these critics. That something may be their grasp of reality."

The article ends with the following comments:

"I can readily identify with the intellectual difficulty of accepting most of parapsychology’s claims. I have a tremendous amount of trouble understanding how any of it can be true. Yet I also see the results of
decades of well-designed research suggesting that psi might in fact occur and, from a scientific perspective, I don’t have the luxury of simply ignoring research findings that make me uncomfortable, and I
don’t think I would be justified in condemning researchers who study such things . . . .  I find it harder to understand why anyone would suggest that such research should not be conducted or that researchers in the field are misguided or irrational. Even people who do not believe in psychic phenomena should want
additional research to provide an answer once and for all. The questions are so interesting and potentially important that we really should know the answers, however they may fall."

Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D.

Atlantic University

Much was written during the nineteenth-century and later about the alleged pathology of mediumship. A historical study of French ideas on the topic was published by Pascal Le Malefan (Folie et spiritisme: Paris: L’Harmattan, 1999).

The topic has been discussed again recently in an article published by Adair Menezes, Jr., and Alexander Moreira Almeida, "Mental Health of Mediums and Differential Diagnosis between Mediumship and Mental Disorders" (Journal of Scientific Exploration, 2011, 25, 103-116). The abstract appears below.

Abstract

The issue of the mental state of mediums, and whether experiences considered mediumistic are symptoms of mental disorders, has long been subject to debate. Recent empirical studies may help to shed light on these controversies. As there are only a few studies on the mental health of mediums, fi ndings regarding hallucination and dissociation in non-clinical populations are presented and discussed. Recent studies have not found an association between mediumship and mental disorders. Mediumistic experiences often occur in healthy and well-adjusted subjects. The occurrence of psychotic and/or dissociative experiences alone are not enough for a diagnosis of a mental disorder. It is essential to take into consideration the sociocultural context and the impact of these experiences on a patient’s life. In some cases, the emergence of mediumship may appear in the context of physical and

 Alexander Moreira Almeida

mental symptoms, which poses a challenge for differential diagnosis. Further research is still necessary in order to discover enough elements to make a definitive differential diagnosis between mediumship and mental disorders.

Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D.
Atlantic University

In my article “The History of Psychical Research in the Journal of Scientific Exploration,” published online in the Psypioneer Journal (http://www.woodlandway.org/PDF/PP6.12December2010.pdf), I mentioned articles that have been published in the “Historical Perspective” section of theJournal of Scientific Exploration(http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/), as well as book reviews that I have commissioned in my capacity of Associate Editor, or written myself, about important publications from the old spiritualist and psychical research literatures. It is my hope that these papers and reviews will help newcomers to parapsychology and others to realize the value and richness of the old literature. In these comments I would like to present an update of what has appeared in the JSE after the publication of my article.

Only two papers have appeared since the article was published. Both focus on gifted individuals.
The most recent one did not appear in the Historical Perspective section, but covers a relevant topic. In is entittled “An Important Subject at the Institut Métapsychique International: Jeanne Laplace: The 1927–1934 Experiments,” and was authored by Giullio Caratelli and Maria Luisa Felici (JSE, 2011, 25, 479-495). The other one is my paper “Eusapia Palladino: An Autobiography” (JSE, 2011, 25, 77-101;http://www.intuitive-connections.net/2011/EusapiaPalladino.pdf).

Several reviews of old and important books have been published. These include, in order of the publication of the original work: Catherine Crowe’sThe Night-Side of Nature (1848, by Guy Lyon Playfair, JSE, 2011, 25, 177-181), Robert Hare’s Experimental Investigation of the Spirit Manifestations (1855, by Michael E. Tymn, JSE, 2011, 25, 172-177), Edmund Gurney, Frederic W.H. Myers, and Frank Podmore’s Phantasms of the Living (1886, by Bryan J. Williams, JSE, 2011, 25, 367-384), René Warcollier’ La télépathie (1921; by Djohar Si Ahmed, JSE, 2010, 24, 767-778), and Charles Richet’s Notre Sixième Sens (1928, by Djohar Si Ahmed, JSE, 2011, 25, 583-590).

In addition there have been essay reviews of several other works. In “Extreme Phenomena and Human Capacity” Michael Grosso discussed Father Herbert Thurston’sThe Physical Phenomena of Mysticism(1952, JSE, 2011, 25, 131-152). I have discussed 16 other works in three essays. In “Unorthodox Concepts of Force and Psychic Phenomena” (JSE, 2011, 25, 121-129) I commented on Raoul Montandon’s Les Radiations Humaines (1927), Hereward Carrington’s Laboratory Investigations into Psychic Phenomena (n.d., ca 1939), Alexandre Baréty’s Le Magnétisme Animal (1887), Albert de Rochas’L’Extériorisation de la Sensibilité (5th ed. 1899), Hippolyte Baraduc’s L’Ame Humaine(1896), and Gabriel Delanne’sL’Evolution Animique (1897).

This was followed by “Apparitions of the Living: The Views of William H. Harrison and Gabriel Delanne” (JSE, 2011, 25, 365-374), an overview of Spirits Before Our Eyes (1879), by William H. Harrison, and Les Apparitions Matérialisées des Vivants & des Morts. Vol. 1: Les Fantômes de Vivants(1909), by Gabriel Delanne.

Finally, I discussed the topic of “doubles” and out-of body experiences in an essay entitled “On Doubles and Excursions from the Physical Body, 1876-1956” (JSE, 2011, 25, 561-578). This consists of comments about the following articles and books: “On the Trans-Corporeal Action of Spirit,” by William Stainton Moses (under the pseudonym M. A. Oxon, Human Nature, 1876); Posthumous Humanity (1887), by Adolphe D’Assier; Le Fantôme des Vivants (1909), by Hector Durville;The Case for Astral Projection(1936), by Sylvan J. Muldoon;Les   Phénomènes de Bilocation (1937), by Ernesto Bozzano;The Phenomena of Astral Projection (1951), by Sylvan J. Muldoon and Hereward Carrington; “ESP Projection: Spontaneous Cases and the Experimental Method,” by Hornell Hart (Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1954); and “Six Theories about Apparitions” by Hornell Hart and collaborators (Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 1956).