Happy Holidays!

The very charming drawing below is the work of the late Dr. Elizabeth McMahan—BettyMac to her friends. BettyMac was a scientist and a researcher at the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory from 1943 to 1954 (and she died in 2009).

When I was researching the history of the former Duke Parapsychology Laboratory, BettyMac’s letters were my favorites to read because she always included personal details and I feel like I got to know the lab scientists, many long gone, through her.

I couldn’t find a list of illustrations to explain this drawing, but I believe she made it in 2001, and I’m guessing it was for her nieces and nephews. Thank you for sharing your wonderful drawings BettyMac, and Happy Holidays everyone!

ESP Cards – A Great Stocking Stuffer

I was browsing the Rhine Research Center website and I noticed again that they have ESP Cards for sale. “The set includes a box of 25 cards, a manual written by Dr. Louisa E. Rhine and a packet of standard ESP record sheets. Cost is $25.00/set includes shipping & handling. International orders please contact us first.

“Zener cards is the original name given to the ESP cards, named after the perceptual psychologist Karl Zener, a colleague of JB Rhine’s who suggested the five symbols to be used on the cards.”

If you haven’t been to the Rhine website in a while, it’s worth revisiting. The latest Rhine Newsletter is available for download, and I also learned that they plan to start live streaming their lectures and presentations.

Here is a picture from the Rhine Research Center archives of Gaither Pratt with ESP cards. I don’t know who the woman is, but if someone can identify her I will update this post.

Old photographs of Mediums

I love old photographs of mediums, they’re usually so beautiful. The pictures below are from The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult. This one is from 1921, the photographer was Staveley Bulford, and the medium was Miss Evans.

This is from 1925, and it’s of Mina Crandon, aka Margery. There are many posts here about Mina. If you put Margery in the search box on the upper right you’ll find them. The photographer is only credited as Gerke, and the pictures show ectoplasm coming out of Mina’s nose and ear.

Do Tables Tilt, Turn And Float? Table Levitation Phenomena, 1850-2006

A free lecture examining the photographic and video evidence for table levitation phenomena, 1850-2006, including experiments in which the presenter, Walter Meyer zu Erpen, BA, MAS, President, Survival Research Institute of Canada, participated.

Thursday, October 4, 7:30 to 9:00 pm
University of Manitoba Archives
Room 330 – Elizabeth Dafoe Library,
Fort Garry Campus, Winnipeg

More information here. The picture below is from The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult. The photographer credited is Sven Turck, and it is dated 1940-1945.

Near Death and Immortality

An interesting piece in Frontiers in Human Neuroscience called, Near-death experiences between science and prejudice.

And, an article about a 5 million grant from the John Temple Foundation to UC Riverside philosopher John Fischer for research on aspects of immortality. Here is his website, The Immortality Project.

Scientists at the former Duke Parapsychology Laboratory. The original immortality project (in America).

Parapsychological Assn. 55th Annual Convention & Other Links

I’ve been so behind posting here I have a few links I want to share. First up, the Parapsychological Association is holding their 55th Annual Convention. “Leading scientists and other academics from around the world will gather to present the latest parapsychological research into psi and related phenomena, such as extra-sensory perception, psychokinesis, psychic healing, altered states of consciousness, mediumship and possible survival of bodily death. Hosted by the Rhine Research Center and Atlantic University, the event will be open to the public and academics alike.”

There’s going to be a panel honoring the work of Dr. William G. Roll (pictured below, in a photo by Susan McWillams).

I also wanted to link to this blog post on the Scientific American’s website, titled: Brilliant Scientists Are Open-Minded about Paranormal Stuff, So Why Not You?

In the comment section there was a reference to another blog post titled: An alternative take on ESP which seemed thorough and fair to me, but I would love to get a take on it from someone who is more knowledgable about these things.

There was also a reference to this piece in frontiers in quantitative psychology and measurement, but I didn’t read this one yet. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence: the case of non-local perception, a classical and Bayesian review of evidences.

From beyond the grave: the legal regulation of mediumship

Thank you, Carlos S. Alvarado, Ph.D., for drawing attention to this International Journal of Law in Context article by Steve Greenfield, Guy Osborn, and Stephanie Roberts.

From the abstract:

“In recent years there has been an increased interest in mediumship. This has been part of a broader fascination with paranormal issues that has been fostered by new modes of dissemination and communication. This article focuses upon attempts made by the criminal law to regulate mediums, and, in particular, the disjunction between the ‘genuine medium’ and the ‘vulnerable consumer’. It charts historical approaches of the law and provides a critique of the current legal landscape, including the new regulatory framework under the Unfair Commercial Practice Regulations 2008, and the possibility of an action under the Fraud Act 2006. It concludes that the law has continually struggled to adequately deal with this phenomenon, and that the current regime is likely to prove similarly ineffective given the fundamental conceptual legal problem of proving what may be un-provable.”

The pictures below are from The Perfect Medium: Photography and the Occult. The first one was taken by Albert von Schrenck-Notzing, “The medium Stanislawa P. in her tightly stitched and sealed costume, June 13, 1913.” This was to prevent possible fraud.

This one was taken by Henri Mathouillot, “The medium Mme Receveur levitating a table, October 24, 1935.” Mathouillot was an engineer, and he’s measuring how high the table was raised.