Psi and Psychedelics - Paranthropology - Weebly

PARANTHROPOLOGY: JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE PARANORMAL VOL. 2 NO. 2
The book arrived promptly and I turned to a chapter entitled
ʻSoul in a Dunce Cap. The author enrolls in medium schoolʼ,
which described a weekend course on the ʻFundamentals of
Mediumshipʼ at the Arthur Findlay College at Stanstead in
Surrey. The exercises described by Roach seemed to
involve basic psychometry (trying to ʻreadʼ an objectʼs
energies or vibrations) and generally enhancing oneʼs ability
to sense of energetic fields. The` word
ʻpsychometryʼ (measuring the soul), was coined by Joseph
Rodes Buchanan in 1842), and explained in detail in
his Manual of Psychometry: the Dawn of a New
Civilization (1885).
" Roach spent a fairly fruitless weekend trying to
imagine or make up what she was supposed to see or feel,
based on cues from peopleʼs appearance, background, the
rather unsubtle hints from the course leader, and reactions of
other participants. She felt isolated, sure that she was the
only one who thought the whole thing was bunkum, delusion,
a mix of cold-reading, wishful thinking and auto-suggestion –
not deliberate but nonetheless clearly wrong. She concluded
that this is all there is to be said on the subject – not exactly
what I could call an open-minded investigation. The chapter
struck me as crass, poorly researched and superficial, aiming
at quick laughs, often at the expense of others. It depressed
me and left a bad taste in the mouth – I tried to work out why.
" First of all, my own readings and investigations do not
“Six Feet Over: Adventures in
the Afterlife”
Author: Mary Roach
Pub: Canongate
ISBN: 9781847670809
Price: £8.99
point to a world in which dopy New Agers believe everything they see and hear. Many of
those who spend a lot of their time around mediums and psychics are the most skeptical and
critical of such phenomena – they are well aware that there is ample room for self-deception,
fraud, poor practice and inflated claims. Gordon Smith describing his own development circles
gives many examples of supposed mediumship which he regarded as nothing of the sort, and
advocates a good sense of humour as essential. Raymond Brown similarly has tales of
mediums who did not seem to be communicating anything more than their own egos, and
others who were clearly exploitative. For a newcomer to the field this level of skepticism can
be unsettling as one is warned that genuine, high quality mediumship and clairvoyance are
rather rare, and that even the best have their off days.
" Secondly, the extent to which we want to please, pick up cues and ʻlearn the languageʼ
of the environment we are in should be a factor in assessing the experience, not a reason for
rejecting it. Thomas Csordas, using the work of Merleau Ponty, has written most interestingly
of his experience of fieldwork among Roman Catholic charismatics, describing the ways in
which they unconsciously learn the appropriate body language when responding to the
workings of the Holy Spirit. Accomplished mediums and their discarnate interlocutors stress
that they work with and through the thought processes of the medium. Where the line lies
between unconscious conformity to expectations and any exterior spirit presence may be hard
to determine, but evidential information can sometimes give us a hint, or may indeed be
overwhelming. Brian Weiss was convinced that his patient ʻCatherineʼ was channeling a
genuine source of external knowledge when, under hypnosis, she revealed details of his sonʼs
illness and his father that was specific, detailed and unknown to anyone outside the
immediate family.
" The third factor in my disappointment at Roachʼs quick and easy dismissal of psi/
mediumship was that her experience was contrary to my own encounter with the world of
55 PARANTHROPOLOGY: JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO THE PARANORMAL