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PARANTHROPOLOGY: JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE PARANORMAL VOL. 2 NO. 2 supernatural phenomena, and he found no strong evidence for an afterlife. Rather, for Gooch, although paranormal phenomena are absolutely real and genuine, they are aspects of the human mind. The medium, for instance, does not channel deceased souls or non-corporal spirits, but telepathically taps into the minds of those attending a séance. A succubus, to give another example, can be a genuine psychic entity, but an entity emanating from the recipient’s own mind (Gooch admitted to being visited by a succubus with whom he had quite satisfying sex). Poltergeist hauntings are not actually caused by ghosts or spirits, but are the psychokinetic emanations of the person at the center of such a haunting. Paranormal phenomena for Gooch were incredibly powerful, an essential part of our being and our universe—or as he thought of it, the paranormal defines an “alternative universe” which exists alongside of our “objective universe”. As Gooch (1978, p. v, italics in the original) described it, his primary interests lay in “ . . . the astonishments of the ‘alternative universe’ – that breathtaking world which somehow exists in complete contradiction to the universe our normal senses discern around us. The alternative universe is in fact not part of this objective universe. It is somewhere else. “The notion of ‘somewhere else’ is very hard for us to grasp, let alone to define. Still more difficult is the fact that while we are very definitely in and part of this present objective universe, we are also, fitfully, in touch with that other universe. So in some sense, apart from being here, we are also simultaneously there as well. “Nevertheless, it is not the case that the alternative universe is mysterious in itself. It is mysterious only to us. For our nervous system is poorly equipped to understand the paranormal. As I sometimes remark, it is not that god is inexpressible, it is only that we are incapable of expressing him. “The alternative universe – I should really say universes – of the paranormal do have their own laws and their own coherent existence. It is the case, however, that these in no way resemble those of the objective universe. They simply bear no relation to the rules of every day. This, in brief, is why the application of science and the scientific method to the paranormal not only produces no results, but rather literally causes the phenomena to disappear.” Gooch searched for the location of the “alternative universe”, the seat of the unconscious, the anatomical origin of paranormal phenomena, the physiological basis or mechanism that enables such manifestations. Gooch (1978, p. 198, italics in the original) wrote, “I myself saw the search for the physical location of the unconscious mind as the absolutely central issue in all the psychological and parapsychological questions with which I was preoccupied. I realized, too, that for me it was but another form of the search for the magical lands, Aladdin’s cave, fairyland, the Lost World, the lands under the sea, which dominated my childhood even as late as the age of thirteen.” He found his answer in a poorly understood portion of the brain, stating (Gooch, 1978, p. 199, italics in the original), "The headquarters of the unconscious mind, its seat of government, must be the cerebellum.” The cerebellum, the “little brain” or “second brain”, is housed in our skulls under and behind the cerebrum. Gooch developed a theory of personality involving a duality, a divided self, or two selves in every person. The two aspects of this inherent duality can be given different labels, such as consciousness versus unconsciousness (although these may reverse roles during sleep, 50 PARANTHROPOLOGY: JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE PARANORMAL
PARANTHROPOLOGY: JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE PARANORMAL VOL. 2 NO. 2 dreaming, trances, and various other “altered” states), the logical and rational versus the dream world and magical, or simply Consciousness A and Consciousness B. Effectively the cerebrum dominates waking consciousness and the cerebellum dominates unconsciousness and dreaming. But there is much more to it than this. The cerebellum is primarily responsible for the phenomena that we refer to as paranormal, and these may burst forth, manifesting themselves even as our waking consciousness may try to suppress them. So the waking consciousness of a “normal and sane person”, stressing rationality and logic, may deny or suppress paranormal manifestations, while a “psychologically or psychiatrically disturbed” person may break ties to a greater or lesser extent with “reality” (as defined by conventional waking consciousness) and thus be open to, and even create, paranormal phenomena. In some cases (either through training or perhaps through simple innate ability), however, an individual may be able to juggle both the rational and the paranormal phenomena simultaneously in a productive matter (opening one’s self up to telepathic exchanges, for instance), or quickly (perhaps seamlessly) switch back and forth between one and the other. Certain contexts, such as during a séance, in a ritual setting, or the active pursuit of ceremonial, sexual, or natural magic, may enhance the development of paranormal manifestations. All of us have both a cerebrum and a cerebellum (according to Gooch, women have on average larger cerebellums than men). The cerebrum in modern humans, Cro-Magnons (generally viewed as our direct ancestors), and ancient Neanderthals is the larger of the two brains, and dominates our waking consciousness. However, compared to modern humans and Cro- Magnons, the ancient Neanderthals had much larger cerebellums. By Gooch’s theory, the larger cerebellums of Neanderthals meant that they had enhanced intuitive and psychic abilities relative to Cro-Magnons and us. Furthermore, according to Gooch, modern humans are the result of both biological and cultural hybridization between Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons. Thus the duality between consciousness and unconsciousness, waking and dreaming, the rational and the paranormal, in modern humans is also an inheritance from the two lineages that gave rise to us—Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals. Gooch generalized his theory of duality even further, writing (Gooch, 1978, p. 209), “Cerebellum and cerebrum, Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon, female and male are all aspects of a still larger process. This is the interaction of ‘libido’ and ‘aggression’. Libido is Freud’s name for the energy of the unconscious. Aggression requires no special definition. These two forms of energy seem to run side by side through all life, even in a rudimentary sense in single-celled organisms. Libido is always concerned with inward affairs (rather like the autonomic nervous system) and aggression with external affairs (like the central nervous system).” This brief description of Gooch’s theories and lifework certainly does not do it justice; we encourage the interested reader to pursue Gooch’s published works. Furthermore, like any good scientific theory, Gooch’s ideas are subject to testing and further elaboration, something that we are actively pursuing, including through firsthand study of paranormal phenomena (see for instance, Schoch and Ghiocel, 2009) and through the reconstruction, based on the surviving physical remains, of the ancient ways of Neanderthal life, ritual, and thought (Ghiocel and Schoch, 2011). A final comment: Stan Gooch may never have heard the term “paranthropologist”, but when it came right down to it, that is exactly what he was—and a first-rate paranthropologist at that. We conclude with a short quotation from Gooch (1978, p. vi) summarizing his outlook in a dozen words: References “The paranormal is the most glorious gift that life has to offer.” 51 PARANTHROPOLOGY: JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE PARANORMAL
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