JJ Lumsden's Paranormal and Parapsychology Blog

Dr. JJ Lumsden. Experimental Parapsychologist, and Author of the Parapsychology Book "The Hidden Whisper"

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Parapsychology Association Conference 2017 | Athens, Greece

Interested in attending the annual get-together of parapsychologists from around the world?

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Err... if you are (!), we are meeting up this year in Athens, Greece. July 20-23. More details here:

http://www.parapsych.org/section/54/2017_convention.aspx

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Roger Nelson; Interview by Carlos Alvarado

In the past I have blogged about the Global Consciousness Project (which uses a worldwide network of Random Event Generators to purportedly investigate consciousness responses to global events), and also interviewed one of the project's founders - Dr Roger Nelson.

On his blog, Carlos Alvarado has posted a more recent interview with Roger. It's a good piece. Take a look here.

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Death of Harold Ramis

Very much saddened to see the death of Harold Ramis. Aside from writing and starring in Ghostbusters, he was also the writer on Groundhog Day, Caddyshack, and Animal House. That is quite some legacy to leave!

Dr. Peter Venkman: Egon, this reminds me of the time you tried to drill a hole through your head. Remember that? Dr. Egon Spengler: That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me.

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The 56th Parapsychological Association Convention has been announced. Fancy a trip to Viterbo, Italy?

http://www.parapsych.org/section/45/2013_convention.aspx

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Parapsychology Book now 99 cents on Kindle

Somehow The Hidden Whisper is four years old, which must mean I am also four years older and wiser... hmmm...

Anyhoo - I've decided to drop the Kindle price to 99 cents permanently. I hope you enjoy the read!

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Article on Cancer Research

A little off topic I know - but I thought I'd share an article on Cancer Research. It's a long article, BTW, but fascinating.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9508895/A-virus-that-kills-cancer-the-cure-thats-waiting-in-the-coldc.html

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Meta analysis of Distant Intention Effects Studies

Stephan Schmidt has recently published a meta-analysis of distant intention research studies:

“Can We Help Just by Good Intentions? A Meta-Analysis of Experiments on Distant Intention Effects.” Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 2012, 18, 529-533.

Carlos Alvarado has put up the abstract details on his blog:

http://carlossalvarado.edublogs.org/2012/07/20/evaluation-of-distant-healing-experiments/

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Synaesthesia May Explain Healers' Claims of Seeing People's 'Aura'(s)

Researchers from the University of Granada's Department of Experimental Psychology have just published research in the journal Consciousness and Cognition adding credence to the idea that synaesthesia might explain some instances of people ‘seeing auras’. There’s a link to Science Daily here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120504110024.htm

In 'light' of this new research, it’s time to delve into the hidden recesses of The Hidden Whisper and dig out endnote 62.

62. Synaesthesia and Auras.

Psychics often report that they can see auras around their clients - coloured zones that sometimes get represented as a form of psychic energy. Recent research (Ward, 2004) has suggested that seeing auras might be attributed, under some circumstances, to a form of synaesthesia - an uncommon neurological condition where individuals involuntarily experience sensations in non-related modalities. For example, in what’s known as lexical-gustatory synaesthesia, a person might hear a certain word (e.g. purple) which then evokes the sensation of a particular taste (e.g. the percipient then tastes vanilla). To all intents and purposes, the taste is as real as if they ate the food itself. It’s worth pointing out that with this form of synaesthesia, the words do not have to link semantically (although they can), i.e. people do not necessarily have a taste experience that is citrus or sweet when they hear the word orange.

With aura reading, it has been suggested that a visual experience is fired, in relation to the emotion the reader is feeling at the time. If the reader looks at an individual and feels warm and happy, they might see a pink colour around the head/body of the client. If they feel uncomfortable with the client, the colour may be brown or blue (colours are personal and do not apply uniformly). It should be highlighted that any one theory is rarely able to explain all cases of a particular phenomenon.

ps - for those who are interested, I have posted on Kirlian Photography before:

http://parapsychologist.tumblr.com/post/512647470/what-is-kirlian-photography

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Neutrinos clocked at light-speed in new Icarus test

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17364682

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Survey of Psychic Experiences

Can you help further paranormal research, and participate in an online survey of Psychic Experiences?

Researchers, led by Dr Christine Simmonds-Moore, are interested in learning more about a variety of human experiences, some of which are unusual, but which are by no means uncommon in the general population.

As Christine and the team explains: "We are undertaking an online survey to explore individual differences, synesthesia (the tendency for some people to experience two senses together, e.g., colored words or numbers; tasting shapes; spatially organized calendars, etc.), and a variety of anomalous experiences (for example, extrasensory perception)." The team would very much appreciate it if you would take the time to complete this online questionnaire, even if you have never experienced the things described in the questionnaire. The survey should take about 20 minutes.

The link to the survey is here: Psychic Experiences

There is lots more information about the study on the survey pages.

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Ghostbusters

Okay, I'll admit it ;) I've always had a soft spot for Ghostbusters - although I've never come across the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, or Gozer the Gozerian, in real life. On Friday, I was walking through Central London and saw these scale models of "Ecto 1", the 1959 Cadillac ambulance that starred in the film.

At £160 though for the big one though - nostalgic warmth comes at a price! 

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Have yourself a very Kindle Christmas

A YouGov survey has estimated that 1-in-40 UK adults received an eBook Reader last Christmas. And 92% of those are thought to have been Kindles.

http://mediatel.co.uk/newsline/2012/01/04/the-kindle-christmas/

Time for a promo on The Hidden Whisper ;)

Until the end of January, the ebook will be : $2.99, £1.92, E2.60. Hurrah!

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Neutrinos still Faster than Light in second test

Neutrinos still FASTER THAN LIGHT in second test.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/18/neutrinos_faster_than_light_confirmed/

Am really enjoying seeing where this goes :)

Update: And there you have it.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17560379

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Stanford Prison Experiment - 40 years old

It has been 40 years since one of the most (in)famous experiments in psychology took place - Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment. What took place has become required reading on just about every human behaviour module on every Psychology course.

The premise was simple: take a group of people, divide them into Prisoners and Wardens and see what happens. Scheduled to last for 2 weeks, the experiment was cut short after just 6 days...

The BBC has put a good 'looking back' write-up to the experiment here

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Parapsychology Article and Interview Index

It's that time of year when I update the article index. I hope it's useful for navigating the site. I've also added some Twitter and Fbook buttons to the blog, I'll use them to help work out what sort of content people would like to see.

Articles I

Parapsychology and Consciousness Conference

What was the Star Gate Project?

What is Parapsychology ?

Psychokinesis (Telekinesis) - What is it ?

What is Extra Sensory Perception?

Near Death Experiences

Kirlian Photography

Death by Psychokinesis

Extra Sensory Perception

The Global Consciousness Project

Basic micro-Psychokinesis research in 5 easy steps

Zener Cards

Pseudo Psychics and the Art of Cold Reading.

  Articles II

Haunt sites - Dragsholm Castle, Engso Castle, Edinburgh Vaults

Precognition in New Scientist

Paul the Psychic Octopus - no longer with us

Paul the Psychic Octopus

Online Parapsychology Course

How Do You Become a Parapsychologist?

  Interviews

Interview with Dr David Luke on Parapsychology, Shamanism, and Nettles

Interview with Professor Chris French on Scepticism

Interview with Chris Carter: Near Death Experiences and Skepticism

Interview with Nelson Abreu: Researching Out of Body Experiences

Interview: Professor Stanley Krippner

Interview with Dr Stuart Wilson - Psychologist and Parapsychologist

Interview with Dr Ian Baker - Psychologist and Parapsychologist

Interview with Roger Nelson, Founder and Director of the Global Consciousness Project

Interview on mind-energy.net (with me)

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Interview with Dr David Luke on Parapsychology, Shamanism, and Nettles

Dr David Luke is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Greenwich (London) in the Department of Psychology and Counselling. He currently teaches the Psychology of Exceptional Human Experience, Individual Differences and Abnormal Psychology, and Research Methods. He is the current President of the Parapsychological Association

An oldie but a goodie to start with. What first got you interested in parapsychology?

It was a combination of a few factors. As a truanting schoolboy I would loiter in second-hand book shops and give myself a more self-directed education, reading anything left field in science I could get my hands on. A whole stack of copies of the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research appeared on the shelf one day for 10 pence each and I bought the lot. Somewhat perplexed by the dense language I was nevertheless utterly fascinated with the subject matter.

I later joined the Society before heading off to university. My interest in altered states of consciousness went back even further and grew right from the moment I could spin round until I went dizzy. I experimented widely with all sorts of altered states and gradually realised I had a deep calling for them beyond mere hedonism. I decided to study psychology to make sense of my extraordinary experiences in these states and headed off to university for a degree, but finished that feeling somewhat disappointed with the sheer limitation of the answers that emerged from mainstream science. I travelled across Mexico for 18 months, discovered shamanism, explored plant entheogens, and finally figured that a doctorate in parapsychology was the closest branch of academia to where I would find my answers. I returned to study and this was certainly a very good start.

You are currently the President of the Parapsychological Association; what is the PA, and what does it represent?

The PA website sums this up excellently, so I'll borrow heavily from there. The Parapsychological Association is the international professional organization of scientists and scholars engaged in the study of ‘psi’ (or ‘psychic’) experiences, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, remote viewing, psychokinesis, psychic healing, and precognition. Such experiences seem to challenge contemporary conceptions of human nature and of the physical world. They appear to involve the transfer of information and the influence of physical systems independently of time and space, via mechanisms we cannot currently explain. The primary objective of the Parapsychological Association is to achieve a scientific understanding of these experiences.

In view of this, PA members develop and refine methodologies for studying psi and its physical, biological or psychological underpinnings. They assess hypotheses and theories through experiments, conceptual models and field investigations, and seek to integrate their findings with other scientific domains. PA members also explore the meaning and impact of psychic experiences in human society, and assess the possibility of practical applications and technologies.

While covering a wide range of perspectives, the PA, as a whole, is committed to: Promoting scholarship and scientific inquiry into currently unexplained aspects of human experience; disseminating responsible information to the wider public and to the scientific community; and integrating this information with knowledge from other disciplines.

The PA was first established in 1957, and has been an affiliated organization of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) since 1969. As of the year 2002, there are approximately 300 PA members from all over the world.

You list ‘experimental and field parapsychology from a multidisciplinary perspective’ as one of your research interests. Can you expand upon this ‘multidisciplinary’ style a little?

Well I have a background in psychology, but my fascination with plant shamanism has led me into exploring anthropology, ethnobotany, phytochemistry, neurobiology and, more generally, consciousness and transpersonal studies. In practice, my research extends only as far as field parapsychology experiments informed by ethnography and with the aim of shedding some light on the neurobiology of psi. This largely amounts to some preliminary psi experiments with people under the influence of psychedelic jungle decoctions and mountain brews. I think it's important, for me at least, to take psi research back to its natural sources.

Shamanism is probably the oldest magico-religious practice known to man and has seemingly been used for millenia for accessing psi-conducive states. Many of those states involve plant psychedelics, and it is the study of the use of these within a parapsychological context that can likely tell us the most about the neurobiology of psi. Simultaneously, there is a personal dimension to my research and as much as I study these things for advancing the field I follow this trajectory to expand my own personal wisdom and knowledge too. And of course both of these endeavours feed into each other, you just have to be prepared to be transformed in the process of doing this kind of research.

So not only is this research multidisciplinary, it is also multimethodological, as it is both empirical and experiential, and in the latter mode it is also polyphasic too, to borrow a term from Charles Laughlin, in that it incorporates many states of being. I'm also a fan of the other Charles too, Tart, and his state specific sciences. We haven't even begun to understand the world scientifically yet from a non-pragmacentric view – that is from within other states of consciousness – although the indigenous shamans of traditional cultures have been doing so for thousands of years, so we would be wise to study them, and from every possible direction. You can't just put them under a microscope though, the early anthropologists tried that and eventually realised how blinkered they had been until they embraced participant-observation. So my approach is more mutidimensional than just multidisciplinary.  

You have ‘hit the road’ previously and travelled widely to investigate healing in different cultures and from different perspectives – what have been some of your headline findings?

My field research has so far been key in indicating how difficult and demanding this kind of research is. I would have been wise to have noted from my colleague and teacher Dr Serena Roney-Dougal just how slow and arduous this kind of research is, after the six long years it took her to complete two studies in India, while living in various ashrams and monasteries. Nevertheless, this research direction is also the most rewarding, personally at least.

So while I have been less than successful in some of my field psi research, some of it has paid off, and more than that, I have had the benefit of having had innumerable anomalous experiences upon which to draw upon and ponder in my quest for some kind of ontological truth. It's good to remember this too when you find yourself cueing up to have your eyeball scraped with a kitchen knife and have a pair of forceps shoved  all the way up your nose, or when psychedelically purging yesterday's breakfast in an unbearably hot sweatlodge whilst being whipped with nettles under the weight of a transpersonal dark night of the soul. I guess my headline findings are yet to come, if they are to be found, meanwhile they read more like a travel section feature on how to end up in strange places doing even stranger things.

I would say, though, that we still have some enormous questions yet to ask as scientists, let alone begin to answer, and that these primarily relate to the area occupied at the edge of the study of parapsychology and altered states of consciousness. Indeed, here be dragons, because currently we Westerners are the medieval cartographers in a land populated by pygmies with GPS. I think in this territory it pays to acknowledge one's ignorance instead of bragging about how obviously clever we are just because we've read a few books. Science is an excellent tool kit, but I think we have to be prepared to jump over the fence at the edge of our field of expertise and be prepared to get our feet wet,... or even not to land at all -  Excelsior!

Thank you very much David