Ongoing Research at the Rhine Research Center

Research designs have been completed and grant approval is pending on continuing research on the charge accumulation and electromagnetic emissions of bio-energy healers. They expect to continue some of the promising results they originally obtained in similar studies they conducted in 2002-Researchers working on this project are Steve Baumann, Ph.D. and Bill Joines, Ph.D.

John Palmer, Ph.D., the RRC Director of Research, is writing a book and conducting experiments on Implicit Psi - in which psi effects are noted with no intention to produce them (i.e., a person inexplicably avoids World Trade Center visit on 9/11).

Sally Rhine Feather, Ph.D. and Christine Simmonds-Moore, Ph.D. are conducting qualitative research on the phenomenological components of physical effects occurring at times of crisis, near-death and death.

Jim Carpenter, Ph.D. is studying the interaction of the subliminal and the extrasensory in the formation of preferences.

Christine Simmonds-Moore, Ph.D. is doing an intensive qualitative evaluation and analysis of existing data on the phenomenology of healers.

Rhine Research Center's Taking Flight Society

For years the Rhine Research Center has existed off of the generosity of only a few individuals and the independent grants that their researchers have recieved. But at this point, the funds are drying up, and the RRC has no choice but to ask its friends for help.

This month, they are launching a fund drive called the Taking Flight Society, in which the RRC asks members of the public to pledge funds over the next five years. For example, a pledge of $500 would work out to $8.33 per month. This amount would make all the difference in the world in how the Rhine plans for its future.

The Rhine Research Center (formerly the Duke Parapsychology Laboratory), has played a historic role in the development of parapsychology, and is one of the few research centers left in the United States. It would be a terrible loss if they had to close their doors.

Visit the Taking Flight Society main page for more information on how you can help.

The PEAR lab is closing

According to the Princeton Alumni Weekly, the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) lab is closing its doors sometime this spring. Scroll down about 3/4 of the page to find the full article.

Paranormal Site Investigators

Paranormal Site Investigators (PSI) is an organization attempting to bridge the gap between academic parapsychology and amateur ghost hunting. Based in the south west of England, and founded by two individuals with scientific backgrounds at the bachelor's level, the group's mission is to scientifically monitor and record alleged incidences of paranormal phenomena. PSI has a bank of consultants ranging from professional academics to photo experts, and they have at least one parapsychologist, Dr. Simon Sherwood, on board.

The group also publishs an electronic journal, The PSI Journal of Investigative Psychical Research, which aspires toward academic standards and is striving to be peer-reviewed. It is available free of charge to members. Membership is also free and requires only a name and email address.

Visit the site for more information:
www.p-s-i.org.uk

Perrot-Warrick Public Debate: Does Telepathy Happen?

Chaired by Prof Simon Blackburn, Dr Rupert Sheldrake (Perrott-Warrick Scholar) and Prof Chris French (Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, University of London) will debate 'Does telepathy happen?'. The event will take place in the Old Combination Room, Trinity College, Cambridge at 17:30 on Wednesday 29th November 2006. This is a free event and all are welcome - no pre-booking is required.

Visit the SPR's Lecture Programme page for more details.

New Book: The Spirit of Dr. Bindelof

Anomalist Books has recently released a new book by Dr. Rosemarie Pilkington titled The Spirit of Dr. Bindelof: The Enigma of Seance Phenomena. This book focuses on one little known episode of physical mediumship, Gilbert Roller's autobiographical account of a group of teenage boys who experimented with séance phenomena and contacted an alleged spirit named Dr. Bindelof in the 1930s. Author Rosemarie Pilkington follows up with the history of these extraordinary physical mediums and the remarkable feats they perform, placing the Bindelof case within this wider framework and bringing it up to date with a review of contemporary "secular" mediums. More information is available at the site, www.arespiritsreal.com.


Rosemarie Pilkington is a writer, musician, and educator. She has a Ph.D. in psychology (consciousness studies) from Saybrook Institute. In addition to writing many articles and book reviews on psychic phenomena, she compiled and edited Men and Women of Parapsychology : Personal Reflections, published in 1987 by McFarland, an anthology that earned praise in Europe and the Americas and spawned several similar books in the years that followed.

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Anomalist Books is a publishing company to watch. They publish books devoted exclusively to unexplained mysteries, unorthodox mysteries, unorthodox theories, and unexpected discoveries. Using on demand print technology, they are able to publish trade paperbacks at a reasonable price. Their catalogue is likely to be of interest to readers of this blog, and I encourage you to check them out.

Forever Family Foundation Radio Shows

This December 7th, Charles Tart will be interviewed live on a radio/web show that specializes in dealing with evidence for possible post mortem survival.

"Signs of Life" radio broadcasts live on a local New York station and streams live via the internet. The show can be accessed via a link on our website (www.foreverfamilyfoundation.org) or via the station directly at www.am1240wgbb.com. The show airs Thursday evenings from 9 to 10PM Eastern Time (6 to 7PM Pacific Time). Each show features a guest interview, and listeners can call in with their questions or send instant messages. Each show is also archived on the foundation website for future listening.

Our weekly guests include scientists, researchers, authors, educators & mediums. Topics discussed include, but are not limited to the nature of consciousness, separation of mind and brain, psi phenomena including remote viewing, telepathy, ESP, survival hypothesis, NDEs, death bed visions, EVP, psychomanteum research, healing, mediumship, etc. Some past shows have featured, Dr. Gary Schwartz, Dianne Arcangel, Jim Tucker M.D., Bruce Greyson M.D., Dr. PM Atwater, Dr. Dean Radin, Dr. Arthur Hastings, John Lerma, M.D., Dr. Sally Rhine Feather, Loyd Auerbach, Dr. Julie Beischel, Dr. Pamela Rae Heath M.D, mediums Robert Brown, Hollister Rand & Robert Hansen.

You can find their show archives here. I certainly look forward to listening to a few of these archived shows myself.

Research Summary: The Effects of Traditional Zulu Healing upon a Random Event Generator

Researchers from Three Circles Research (UK) and the University of Zululand (South Africa) presented the results of a field study in a recent issue of the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research. The study investigated how directed mental healing by indigenous healers in South Africa impacted upon the functioning of an Orion random event generator (REG), as the healers attempted to influence the REG's in customary healing environments.

Twenty izangoma (South African indigenous healers who use divination, mediumship, and psychic healing to assist their clients) in good local standing were recruited by an intermediary of the University of Zululand and paid for their participation. In the healing/intention condition, the izangoma were instructed to hold the REG in their hand, focus their intention directly onto the device, and to concentrate on the transference of "intentional healing" onto the REG as they would do with actual clients for five minutes. In the non-intention condition, each participant simply held the device, but did not consciously attend to it for the same amount of time. Each isangoma completed four trials of each condition, which were presented in a randomized order.

A variety of control measures were incorporated. The REG system was sampled in a secluded environment for a number of trials equal to those that the izangoma had completed. Also, to determine potential experimenter effects, those researchers who were involved in hands-on data collection completed a sample of REG trials under the same protocol as the izangoma.

The only condition in which the REG produced a significant anomaly was the izangomas’ healing/intention condition, thus confirming the experimental hypothesis. These results suggest that traditional Zulu healing may incorporate some level of psi functioning. The authors recommend that similar research be carried out with other indigenous groups from altogether different cultures.

Lumsden-Cook, J.J., Thwala, J. & Edwards, S.D. (2006) The effects of traditional Zulu healing upon a Random Event Generator. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 70(3), 129-137

Brain Scan Study on Glossalia in the News

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania say they have captured glossalia (speaking in tongues) on brain scans, which link decreased frontal lobe activity to a loss of self control.

read the article here

Joseph McMoneagle on Coast to Coast

Tonight on Coast to Coast, Remote Viewer 001 in the Army's Stargate Project and psychic, Joseph McMoneagle will discuss his history with remote viewing, as well as the possibility of its use by the U.S. Govt. for dealing with the war on terror.

It looks like Mr. McMoneagle also has a blog!