The Parapsychological Association announces new officers for 2013, Eben Alexander gets grilled by Esquire, Sheldrake contra Dawkins on London Real, and a few tips for developing telepathy and psycho-kinesis in this edition of Psi in the News.
- Shannon Taggart and Liminal Analytics: Applied Research Collaborative recently hosted George Hansen, author of the seminal Trickster and the Paranormal, for a series of talks at the Observatory in Brooklyn, NY. For those who were unable to attend in person, the talks are now available on Youtube! (The Eyeless Owl)
- The Society for Psychical Research has a new Twitter feed, @spr1882, for those looking for a more consistent digital fix of psychically relevant links and information.
- Abstracts for the upcoming 5th Annual Exploring the Extraordinary conference are now available. (Exploring the Extraordinary)
- Dr. Jeffery Kripal, Rice University, known for his books Authors of the Impossible and Mutants & Mystics, as well as his work examining the history of the Esalen Institute, recently joined the Parapsychological Association as a professional member. (Parapsychological Association)
- In preparation for the upcoming Parapsychological Association conference in Viterbo, Italy the PA has been announcing the winners for this years awards, including:
2013 Schmeidler Outstanding Student Award Winner: Glenn A. Hitchman
2013 Charles Honorton Integrative Contributions Award Winner: Etzel Cardeña
2013 Outstanding Contribution Award Winner: Patrizio E. TressoldiCongratulations to the newly elected officers of the Parapsychological Association which include: Hoyt Edge, Roger Nelson, John Palmer, Christine Simmonds-Moore, and the new PA President Jim Carpenter.
- Carlos Alvarado, Rhine Research Center’s Visiting Scholar, has a piece up in anticipation of the event as well. Alvarado provides details for some of the papers that will be presented at the conference, as well as the researchers and scholars that will be in attendance. (Parapsychology: News, History, Research)
- Parapsychological Association Director, Annalisa Ventola, is featured in a recent interview on Mind-Energy.Net where she discusses her vision for the PA, the upcoming conference, and her perception of the current state of psychical research. (Mind-Energy.Net)
The open sourced peer reviewed, Journal of Nonlocality has been publishing some evocative pieces lately, such as:
Morphic Echoes – Dream Telepathy in Psychoanalysis: an Explanatory Hypothesis, by Anna Aragno, PhD.
- Dean Radin's new book, Supernormal, which uses the Yoga Siddhis as a comparative model to discuss psi potential is now available! (Supernormal)
- Dr. Jim Carpenter, author of First Sight, recently elected President of the Parapsychological Association and long time associate of the Rhine Research Center, has a new post up on his website which discusses maturing into psychical research, and how his pursuit of anomalous phenomena has shown him how integral they are to everyday life. (First Sight)
- Another nice offering appears from our friend Jack Hunter, editor of the Paranthropology, he’s uploaded a paper to Academia.edu which addresses the Anthropology of the Weird: Ethnographic Fieldwork and Anomalous Experience. (Academia.edu)
- A recent Skeptiko interview with Dr. Suzanne Gordon, author of, Field Notes From the Light: An Ethnographic Study of the Meaning and Significance of Near-Death Experiences, highlights the use of ethnographic methodology in exploring NDEs. (Skeptiko)
- An excerpt from Rupert Sheldrake’s book Science Set Free published on Disinfo.com explores this oft asked question, Are psychic phenomena illusory? (Disinfo.com)
- Robert McLuhan remembers Marcello Truzzi, a founding member of CSICOP, who eventually found them to be a bunch of close minded, irrational debunkers rather than serious scientists. (Paranormalia)
- A new episode of IAC Radio features Nelson Abreu, from the International Academy of Consciousness, in conversation with Victor Zammit, co-author of A Lawyer Presents the Case for the Afterlife. (IAC Radio)
- Carlos Alvarado provides a brief summary of Dr. Michael Nahm's article “The Sorcerer of Cobenzl and His Legacy: The Life of Baron Karl Ludwig von Reichenbach, His Work and Its Aftermath,” featured in a 2012 edition of the Journal of Scientific Exploration. Karl Ludwig von Reichenbach’s (1788-1869) speculations on a universal force he termed ‘Od’ caused controversy during his lifetime, and provide a historical background for some of the critiques of Rupert Sheldrake’s work. (Parapsychology: News, History, Research)
- Wikipedia editors are known for their selective use of proper editing, as highlighted again by Michael Prescott in this piece which explores some of the questionable sexual assertions made against medium Eusapia Palladino. (Michael Prescott’s Blog)
- Glenn MacDonald, writing for Discovery News, d etails an evening at the Rhine Research Center which brought together John Kruth, Director of the Rhine, Christine Simmonds-Moore, University of West Georgia, and John Palmer, Rhine Research Center, to discuss the current state of parapsychology. (NBC News)
- Video footage from the recent Spirit Release Forum Conference are available on their Facebook page. The conference focused on forms of therapy that seek to address the potential for discarnate continuation of the human identity. (Spirit Release Forum)
- Aimee Levitt, writing for Riverfront Times, gives a detailed account of her experience at the recent Afterlife Awareness Conference which featured William Buhlman, Julie Beischel, Eben Alexander, Raymond Moody and a number of other speakers addressing issues surrounding the question of post death survival. (Riverfront Times) .
- Anabela Cardoso was one of the researchers interviewed for a BBC piece on Instrumental Transcommunication and Electronic Voice Phenomena which appeared earlier this year. Reflecting back on the interview and subsequent article, Cardoso feels that the BBC piece was biased and does not reflect a true picture of the Transcommunication field. (ITC Anabela Cardoso)
- Sandy, a frequent contributor to the Weiler Psi Blog, has written an insightful piece on her experiences as a participant experiencer in parapsychological research. (Psi? Sigh)
- Jeremy Polacek reviews Brian Clegg’s recent book, Extra Sensory Perception: The Science and Pseudoscience of Telepathy and Other Powers of the Mind, for the Brooklyn Rail. (Brooklyn Rail)
- Dr. Nancy Zingrone has begun offering online classes in the history and methodology of parapsychology, as noted in a recent post on the Weiler Psi Blog. (Weiler Psi Blog)
- Founding member, and Hon Sec of PRISM, Psychical Research Involving Selected Mediums, Tricia Robinson, discusses her experiences investigating questions of post death survival in a new interview for Spirit Today. (Spirit Today)
- Diane Corcoran, President of IANDS, discusses the science of Near Death Experiences with Robin Fillmore in a recent interview for Natural Awakenings. (Natural Awakenings)
- The Daily Grail has posted a brief introduction to the work of cardiologist Pim Van Lommel, and his research in NDE’s. (The Daily Grail)
- Dr. Eben Alexander’s much publicized NDE has garnered him enough attention to merit character assassination. A recent piece in Esquire calls into question his history and reliability as a witness. (Daily Grail)
- Although, as Greg Taylor points out, the Esquire piece has it’s own flaws with some selective editing when quoting the Dalai Lama, whose meeting with Eben Alexander is available on YouTube. One of the items that the Esquire piece failed to address is the Dalai Lama’s interest in pursuing cross connections between science and spirituality, and his acceptance of the fact that books like Alexander’s raise the kind of questions that help to foster more research. (Daily Grail)
- NDE research Nancy Evans Bush puts the Alexander situation into perspective in a new article that discusses the problems caused when experiencers and researchers enter the world of celebrity based media. (NHNE Pulse)
- Martin Robbins, commenting on the recent Sally Morgan libel suit, highlights some of the reasons that good skepticism doesn’t include media baiting or character assassination. (New Statesman)
- The International Academy of Consciousness has posted a quick 3 step intro to learning telepathy. Results may vary. (International Academy of Consciousness UK)
- Another new post on the International Academy of Consciousness website discusses the life-changing power of the Out of Body Experience. (International Academy of Consciousness)
- The Duke Chronicle has a recent article which provides a brief overview of the recent ‘Psychic Spy’ seminar hosted by the Rhine Research Center. Having been there I don’t recall the buzzing of skepticism or wide eyed curiosity as the author seems to have experienced, but it was an eye opening event that highlighted some of the most in depth research undertaken into anomalous human cognition. Spending time with Ed May and Joe McMoneagle after the event provide an even deeper sense of the reality behind psi phenomena. (Duke Chronicle)
- The Lumenz Network has uploaded a brief video biography on Rupert Sheldrake. (Lumenz Networks)
- Rupert Sheldrake also appears in this recent episode of London Real discussing his feelings about Richard Dawkins. (London Real)
- Marc Demarest brings us a collection of National Spiritualist College and British Spiritualists Lyceum Union Materials from the 1920’s and 30’s. The individual pamphlets are available via PDF at the end of the post. (Chasing Down Emma)
- A new post by Carlos Alvarado details another effort from Demarest, the International Association for the Preservation of Spiritualist and Occult Periodicals, which has been collecting, organizing, cataloging and digitizing a vast amount of historical material from a variety of cultural streams associated with Spiritualism, practical occultism, and New Thought. (Parapsychology: News, History, Research)
- Sandy over at the Psi? Sigh blog has outlined some methods for developing psycho-kinesis using homemade psi wheels. There is also a YouTube video at the end of the post which shows you the results of diligent practice, and some natural aptitude. (Psi? Sigh)
- Nelson Abreu, International Academy of Consciousness, has posted an article addressing some of the assumptions made in the media when covering studies like the one which purported to induce Out of Body Experiences through heart beat rhythms or virtual reality. (International Academy of Consciousness)
- Sean O’Hagan talks to Neuroscientist and speculative fiction writer David Eagleman about the use of fiction to explore scientific and existential questions. (Guardian UK)
Note: Special thanks to Greg Taylor, The Daily Grail, Tom Ruffles, of the Society for Psychical Research, John Kruth, of the Rhine Research Center, Iona Miller, Lian Sidorov, of the Mind Matter Mapping Project and Jack Hunter, Editor at Paranthropology Journal, for a number of links included in this edition of Reality Sandwich’s Psi-in-the-News.
