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Some links which may be of interest here:
Info on the "Humphrey Experiment" ('follow-up' to original "philip" expt) here
Also:
Psychokinesis and Contact with an Artificial Spirit: A Replication of the Philip Phenomena
and discussion of "philip" experiments also in:
Psychiatric Interpretations of Subjective Paranormal Perception
Another source worth chasing up for those interested is Alan Richardson's biography of Dion Fortune - Priestess. In one of the latter chapters, Richardson discusses the "Inner Planes Contacts" which Fortune and her colleagues claimed to be in communication with. In particular, he discusses one of the "contacts" - David Carsons, an infantry officer killed in the first World War. Based on the biographical details of Carsons found in Fortune's papers, Richardson attempted to trace this person and came to the conclusion that 'he' did not exist.
There's also some intriguing cross-overs between UFO flaps, psychic questing, and spiritualst medium experiences, at least in terms of how those involved in 'paranormal events' interpret occurrences, draw meaning from events, and perhaps through so doing, contribute to the event itself. Back when I worked for Psychic News I had an interesting discussion one time with one of the journalists who'd been present at a mediumship circle where various personalities who had 'crossed over to the other side' were being paraded before the sitters (materialisation mediums are quite rare nowadays, apparently). The journalist was quite impressed with the whole event, but later realised that one of the "spirits" - an actor, wasn't actually dead at the time of the sitting, which led him to question the veracity of the whole experience. My observation at the time, was that whilst individuals' expectations around an event may well contribute to its unfolding, they are not necessarily the most accurate 'explanations' of what's actually going on.
In the 1990s I was involved with a small group of magicians who 'created' an egregore and then tried to make contact with it using a variety of methods, such as a planchette, the time-honoured seance method, etc. The results, as I recall, were inconclusive.
I'd certainly be up for an experiment along these lines, but why do it over the internet? A small group setting (as in the original experiments) would be ideal.
Any London-based 'Lithers up for this? |
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