Spiritualism

This article focuses on the relationship between the history of spiritualist séances in the nineteenth and early twentieth century and the introduction of film. It examines in particular two cases: the convergence of psychological studies on magic and spiritualism with early film theory, signalled in particular by Hugo Münsterberg's involvement in both fields; and the trajectory from spirit photography, a spiritualist practice that was based on the appearance of spectres on the photographic plate, to the trick movies of early cinema. The conclusion sets the relationship between beliefs in spirit and fictional representation of ghosts in film as a promising field of inquiry for contemporary film studies.

The Bible is full of references to magic and divination, but we rarely find attestations of witches and witchcraft, i.e. women performing acts of black magic. However, there is a mysterious passage in the Book of Ezekiel which seems to relate exactly that. In this compelling lecture Dr Alinda Damsma throws light on the identity and practices of these women, seeing them in the context of other known activities in the Ancient Near East. More info: https://www.treadwells-london.com/events-1/the-bibles-own-witches?mc_cid=27225007b0&mc_eid=50358b363f

In order to better cope with the pressures and stresses of the current day, modern psychology is anxiously seeking to find new therapies to address the increasing disorders within the human psyche. In the process new fields of research, such as humanistic and transpersonal psychology, curiously appear to borrow more and more from the wisdom of the ages. This volume, containing eighteen articles by noteworthy expositors of the perennial philosophy such as Huston Smith, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, and Frithjof Schuon, presents the spiritual psychology of the wisdom traditions as a much-needed antidote to the current impasse in modern psychology.

Some Endorsements for Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy:

“[Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy] is more than an anthology. It is a wisely crafted collection of classic and contemporary scholarship noting that what many are seeking is what has always been, a perennial philosophy, that remains foundational. As one of the authors, Tage Lindbom, properly notes, ‘Secularization is a fish in troubled waters.’ This book claims the waters and is essential reading for all those who may have forgotten or are simply ignorant of the rich foundation provided by the perennial philosophy.”
—Ralph W. Hood, Professor of Psychology at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, past president of the Psychology of Religion division of the American Psychological Association, co-founder of The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion and co-author of The Psychology of Religion

“A necessary and bracing critique of the assumptions and limitations of contemporary Western psychology, this generous volume is also a passionate call and learned guide towards a truer perspective that embraces man's spiritual nature.”
—Gabor Maté, M.D., and author of In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

“Knowing the nature of the mind is perhaps the most difficult undertaking, especially in today’s world. To comprehend the nature of mind one needs to turn to the domain of religion and spirituality. Yet the truth of the mind and its complexity cannot explicitly be defined in words. Inner or transcendent wisdom sees the mind’s own nature without the duality of the seer. Suchness (tathatā) of mind is only experiential and not expressible. The words used to describe thought are themselves a product of thought, which is conditioned and limited. Thus, differences and contradictions are unavoidable. Therefore, a comparative study of different viewpoints and commentaries is immensely important to awaken the inner intelligence to see the mind as it is. Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy: Studies in Comparative Religion edited by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is an outstanding effort in this direction.”
—Samdhong Rinpoche, former Prime Minister (Kalon Tripa) of the Tibetan Government-in-exile, author of Uncompromising Truth for a Compromised World: Tibetan Buddhism and Today’s World

“The rise of psychology has impacted the study and practice of spirituality, the experiences and attitudes relevant to ultimate human values that transcend ordinary behavior. Each chapter of this remarkable book demonstrates this interaction in a unique and provocative way. But rather than using psychology to reduce and ‘psychologize’ spiritual topics, its authors demonstrate how directives from the spiritual traditions can enhance and even illuminate the enduring importance of psychology in the 21st century.”
—Stanley Krippner, Saybrook University, co-author of Spiritual Dimensions of Healing

“The work at hand is a thinking and debating man’s delight. If you have any interest at all in attempting to include an educated and enlightened view of man’s higher functions in your purview of the world, you will learn from and enjoy this collection of essays. If you already have some knowledge in this area, brace yourself: you may see some of your favorites sharply criticized. A thought-provoking work.”
—Bruce W. Scotton, University of California, San Francisco, co-editor of Textbook of Transpersonal Psychiatry and Psychology

“This book, superbly edited by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos, is a masterful critique of the field of psychology and its loss of the sacred ground in which it once was rooted. It offers depth psychologists an opportunity to contemplate timeless truths echoed through the centuries by perennial philosophers who have always claimed psyche is subordinate to Spirit. Although ignored in depth psychology’s early years due to prejudice and lack of understanding, this is a message today’s psychotherapists must take seriously. Human beings need a deeper and wider transpersonal vision of who and what we are, which the saints and sages of the world’s spiritual traditions have always pointed to. In psychotherapy with a therapist committed to such a vision, patients penetrate into their unconscious depths and not infrequently awaken to the Ground of all Being. Their suffering itself occurred because they had turned away from Spirit. Above all, this volume passionately calls upon depth psychology to remember its origin in the perennial wisdom at the core of the great religions. There is something of a polemic in these pages. It deserves to be considered by depth psychologists of all persuasions.”
—Bryan Wittine, Transpersonal psychologist and Jungian psychoanalyst

“This anthology from Samuel Bendeck Sotillos is a must reference for anyone who is interested in psychology and its relationship to spirituality, and in developing an inclusive dialogue between disciplines that favor an integral outlook on the person and his or her potential. Selections in this anthology will inspire us to reexamine the metaphysical underpinnings of psychology, and remind us how important it is to rise above science’s attempt to reduce the human being to an epistemic object.”
—Sangeetha Menon, National Institute of Advanced Studies (Bangalore, India), Board Member of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), author of The Beyond Experience: Consciousness in Bhagavad Gita

“This anthology has some of the most discerning essays and reviews on spirituality and psychology, which provide much-needed care and caution to all those engaged in bringing them together or who wish to do so in future. Therefore, it is a must-read for all those who teach, research, consult, or study in such frontier areas as transpersonal psychology, states of consciousness, mind-body relation, holistic health, Indian psychology, and so on. It will be an invaluable textbook for courses in these and other related areas. I congratulate the editor of the book.”
—Kiran Kumar K. Salagame, University of Mysore (India), Board Member of the International Transpersonal Association (ITA), author of The Psychology of Meditation: A Contextual Approach

“One of the finest collections of essays on the Perennial Philosophy—a must-read for all psychologists who are engaged with spirituality and transpersonal psychology. The essays which critique modern psychology (including transpersonal psychology, and the framework of Carl Jung), in the light of the Perennial Philosophy are a revelation and make compelling reading. The book serves as a corrective to the excesses of modern psychology, and to this end Sotillos has done a commendable job. I for one will include the book in some of the graduate courses that I teach.”
—Suneet Varma, University of Delhi, co-editor of Foundations of Indian Psychology

“To its credit modern science by-and-large is becoming more cognizant of the essential connection between spirituality and psychological health and well-being and most of all its positive implications within the field of psychology. While there is ample data to document this in a plethora of academic journals and books, this new book Psychology and the Perennial Philosophy adds a novel contribution to the dialogue between psychology and spirituality, which captures many nuances that for the most part go unnoticed within these discussions, and last but not least, it provides a keen eye of discernment to understand this intricate relationship on a deeper level that is crucially needed. This work will be a valuable asset to students and long term mental health practitioners and professors alike who seek to better understand the relationship between psychology and spirituality.”
—Harold G. Koenig, Duke University, Director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health, co-author of The Handbook of Religion and Health

Monarchia della verità indaga una componente ideologica fondamentale della Controriforma: l’ossessione ecclesiastica per la 'veritas', concepita nella versione dogmatica di 'doctrina' e ortodossia in opposizione alla formulazione umanistica della 'veritas' come ricerca. Da Poggio Bracciolini a Montaigne, gli umanisti esprimono un concetto di 'religio' coincidente con la ricerca stessa della verità, rinunciando a definizioni esclusive o dogmatiche e astenendosi da difese di carattere polemico o controversistico. I teologi adottano invece il concetto dogmatico di 'doctrina', identificando la 'veritas' nell’ortodossia e favorendo il formarsi di un clima di oscurantismo clericale e di generale intolleranza nei confronti dell’autonomia umanistica, dell’individualismo religioso e del libero pensiero, con Valla, Erasmo e Machiavelli in testa.
In questo libro l’autore prende in esame il primato normativo della verità nella Chiesa del Cinquecento e del primo Seicento con lo scopo di illustrare modelli culturali e pedagogici della Controriforma e rilevarne i miti: cronotassi pontificia, agiografia e culto delle reliquie, concetto eroico del documento, didattica figurativa, giurisdizione curiale, temporalismo papale. Tuttavia, la sopravvivenza della tradizione umanistica e il suo confrontarsi dialetticamente con le culture dogmatiche di Riforma e Controriforma si evidenziano in momenti significativi della storia culturale e religiosa della prima età moderna: in particolare, nel dibattito europeo 'de puniendis haereticis' originato dal tragico rogo di Michele Serveto, nel ricorso all’elemento storico in sede di polemica confessionale, nei processi di Bruno e Galilei e nelle discussioni sulla 'libertas investigandi', nel nicodemismo di artisti, scienziati e anticlericali cristiani, infine nella ripresa – specialmente in Olanda e nelle aree della diaspora sociniana – del pacifismo erasmiano e dell’utopismo di Thomas More, associati alla critica del Valla e all’irenismo di Sebastiano Castellione. Un esempio insigne è la proposta irenica di Jakob Arminius, calvinista di cultura umanistica, formulata a Leida nel 1605 con l’intento di superare i contrasti tra cristiani e realizzare la pacificazione sociale e religiosa.

This paper investigates the relationship between psychoactive substances and so-called paranormal phenomena falling within the study of parapsychology. It is primarily concerned with extrasensory perception (ESP)—telepathy, precognition, and clairvoyance—as well as out-of-body experiences (OBEs) and near-death experiences (NDEs). Psychokinesis (PK), aura vision, encounter experiences, and sleep paralysis only make a very limited contribution to this review as they are seldom related to psychoactive drugs within the parapsychological literature. The paper borrows widely, but by no means exhaustively, from parapsychology as well as transpersonal studies, anthropology, ethnobotany, phytochemistry, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and neurobiology, particularly neurochemistry. It is organized into neurochemical models of paranormal experience (section 1), field reports of intentional and spontaneous phenomena incorporating anthropological, historical and clinical cases, and personal accounts (section 2), surveys of paranormal belief and experience (section 3), experimental research (section 4), and a methodological critique of the experimental research with recommendations for further work (section 5).

The Seven Seals of medieval Islamic magic, which are believed to constitute the Greatest Name of God, also feature in Jewish Kabbalah from the same period. While many Seal symbols make sporadic appearances in early Islamic amulets bearing Kufic script, the source of the symbols and their eventual ordering remains a matter of legend. As this topic was first – and last – examined systematically by Dr. Hans Winkler in 1930, a wider-ranging and more modern review is long overdue. The present survey focuses on potential sources for the symbols rather than on their exegesis. It first examines the possibility that a precedent for the Seal series exists in an undecipherable “seven signs repeated seven times” inscribed on a Late Babylonian amulet. It then considers the possibility that the Seals’ origins lie in other cuneiform symbols from ancient Mesopotamia; in Egyptian hieroglyphs or scripts; in paleo-Hebrew characters or the letters of ancient South Arabian scripts; in Libyco-Berber or Tifinagh letters from North Africa; or in the symbol repertoire of Late Antique magic, including the highly potent seven Greek vowels. The review also explores the possibility that at least some of the symbols originated in numerological ciphers or religious emblems, canvassing sources as diverse as Indian Hinduism and Byzantine Christendom. The article concludes by considering the recent suggestion that the Seal series may have acquired its privileged status because its symbols reflect “shape archetypes” that are hard-wired into the human nervous system.

Though Gurus have been an integral part of ancient Hinduism, the celebration of a specific purnima in their honour in the month of Ashadha is a contribution of Buddhism and Jainism. Gurus and their ashramas or pathshalas have served as boarding schools or even for day-time education of students for the entire period of their childhood and early youth that covered the Brahmacharyya phase of their life, but there is no unanimity  on the exact date of entry. Those Gurus who taught specific skills, like Dronacharya did to the young Kauravas and Pandavas, did not mention any specific entry date for their academic year or semesters, while other adult- life spiritual Gurus were and are rather open ended on their admission policies. Buddhists, however, were quite clear  that Guru Punima marked the beginning of the season of Varsha or Vassa as it is called in  Pali, when both young and old monks had to leave human habitations and huddle together in distant caves and monasteries. Some courses were  open to other devotees who were interested in pursuing courses in theology, scholastic disciplines or even in pure meditative discipline for the benefits of naturopathPopularly known as the 'Rains Retreat', this full moon was the definitive day for the monsoons to have reached all parts of India, even though the coastal areas receive their rains earlier than others. It was the day for the flock of teachers and students to get together and begin the mandatory thirty-six week Trimester courses. Contemporary Jainism also began their Chaturmaas or four month period of piety and both religions continue to do so even today rather strictly. They believe that it was on this very purnima that Tirthankara Mahavira ordained his first disciple, Gautama Swami of Gandhara as his first disciple and this reminds us of the strong Buddhist tradition that a month after receiving his 'enlightenment', the Buddha delivered his first sermon to his five former companions, which is called the Dhamma-Cakkappavattana Sutta on the full moon day of Ashadah at Sarnath and that he spent the first four-month Vassa at Mula- gandha-kuti. It was the period for all followers of Buddhism and Jainism to give up meat, fish and certain other food items.....

The relations between metaphysics and physics in Cartesianism is a question of crucial importance for 19th century French histories of philosophy. Hence, in its institutionally dominant version, incarnated by Victor Cousin, this philosophy was understood as a spiritualism concerned with the founding of a psychology relying on a rationalist interpretation of the cogito. In order to achieve this, such a psychology must distinguish itself from the empirical method of psychology inherited from the so-called ideologues. And this required, in turn, that metaphysics must return to its place at the roots of the tree of knowledge, in opposition to a Baconian interpretation considering the history of the mind in prolongation of the natural sciences, and according to the same model. If this ambition proved to be both theoretically and objectively constraining for the « Cousinians », it was, however, not a unique enterprise in the 19th century. Other, alternative trees of knowledge were envisaged, defining other possible readings of the Cartesian philosophy, notably by opening up alleys toward empiricist interpretations. In this paper, I propose a typology of these alternative trees. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the complexity and the tensions between physics and metaphysics in Descartes on the one hand, and, on the other, to stress the decisive importance of 19th century French historiography for our current understanding of these relations.

KEYWORDS
Physics, Metaphysics, Psychology, Spiritualism, Empiricism, Materialism.

In Physics and Metaphysics in Descartes and in his Reception. Delphine Antoine-Mahut and Sophie Roux (eds), Routledge, submitted.

GERMAN culture is unique, not universal. Certain characteristics explain why Germany became what it became, and did onto others what it had to. Ever since their discovery of China, German missionaries and philosophers had feverishly tried to convert the Chinese to Christianity and the Greco-Hellenic ways. That included a form of brutal ‘language imperialism' by which all important Chinese key terminologies were translated into biblical and philosophical words and categories. The result, to this day, is a German ‘Chinabild’ [China image] that is virtually Chinese-free.

s new monograph, The Sympathetic Medium: Feminine Channeling, the Occult, and Communication Technologies, is a well-paced and fascinating read that details the cultural milieu out of which women could come to be prominent or even exclusive professionals in media communications. Galvan, an English professor, mines several Victorian short stories and novels for the associations between women, Mesmerism and Spiritualism, and communications. Reading literature against the phenomenon of mediumship and the rise of white-collar communications jobs brings labor history, the occult, and fiction into new and fruitful conversations.

This essay examines a particular class of ghost movies: those where the ghost is ultimately refused and relegated to the realm of human imagination and trickery. It focuses on the case of Paul Leni’s 1927 The Cat and the Canary, to show how this film remediates a long tradition of spectacular entertainments based on the rejection of supernaturalism, and how such rejection has important consequences in the narrative frame and in the nature of the gratification invited in their audience. The chapter applies the concept the “spectralization of the mind,” proposed by literature scholar Terry Castle, in order to explain the narrative and conceptual role played by ghosts in this film. Particular attention is also given to the use of superimposition techniques and to the interpretation of noise as a sign of ghostly presence.

The importance of fire in human evolutionary history is widely acknowledged but not fully explored.  Fires involve flickering light, crackling sounds, warmth, and a distinctive smell.  For early humans, fire may have extended the day, provided heat, helped with hunting, warded off predators and insects, illuminated dark places, and facilitated cooking.  Recently scholars have proposed that campfires also provided a social nexus and relaxation effect that could have enhanced prosocial behavior (e.g., McClenon 2006; Wilson 2012; Wrangham 2009).  According to this hypothesis, calmer, more socially tolerant people would have been advantaged via the necessity of fireside interactions relative to individuals less susceptible to fireside relaxation.  In this study, I test the presupposition that the properties of a campfire are universally relaxing.  Using a randomized crossover design, blood pressure, skin conductance, and EEG data were collected from 134 adults from Tuscaloosa, AL with respect to viewing a muted digital fire, a digital fire with sound, and a blank computer screen for 5 minutes each.  Student’s t statistic was used for within-subject comparisons of the degree of change in blood pressure from pre- to post-test among conditions.  ANOVA was used to test between-subject influences on skin conductance and alpha/theta brain wave ratios.  Preliminary results indicate that simultaneously watching and listening to a fire influences the greatest relaxation response while the control condition influences the least.  These findings have significant contemporary applications, as understanding the psychophysiological influences of fire may “shed light” on our species’ captivation with television and other similarly multi-sensory phenomena.

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) è stato un mistico. Ha avuto diverse visioni, e nei suoi libri ha trattato con dovizia di particolari Dio, angeli, demoni, "Cielo", "Inferno", anima umana. Sintetizzando, per Swedenborg "Paradiso" e "Inferno" non sono che la persistenza eterna e perenne del proprio Ego, al modo che si è stati in vita, con le proprie tendenze. Non esiste alcun giudizio o condanna, ciascuno dopo la morte è ciò che fu in vita. Ego allo stato puro, sia nel bene che nel male.

4. President’s Letter
New SPR President, Prof. John Poynton, asks whether the tide has turned for psychical research.
  6. The Medium
Dr Leo Ruickbie talks to Kai Mügge about his life and work as a physical medium, including the question of investigation.
12. The Séance
After the table levitated, what happened next? Dr Leo Ruickbie details his recent experience of a séance with Kai Mügge and the Felix Circle.
16. Listening to Tea Leaves
Ann R. Winsper asks whether electronic voice phenomena are genuine spirit communications or ‘audible tea leaves’.
19. Voices from Pennsylvania
Dr Peter McCue details his analysis of audio files purporting to be communications from the spirits of the deceased.
|22. Auditory Hallucinations
Dr James Paul Pandarakalam poses the question whether the source of auditory hallucinations lies beyond the material brain.
26. The Enfield Saga
Guy Lyon Playfair chronicles the history of the Enfield poltergeist from This House is Haunted to the TV drama The Enfield Haunting.
28. Macfadyen on Enfield
Actor Matthew Macfadyen reveals what it was like to play Guy Lyon Playfair in the recent Sky Living mini-series The Enfield Haunting.
30. The Enfield Effect
SPR Council Member John Fraser considers the increased interest in the SPR and asks what should be done about it.
31. No Coincidence
What happened when the Centre for the Study of Anomalous Psychological Processes went to Crete? Callum Cooper tells all.
33. Ex Libris
SPR Librarian Karen Patel reveals what is new on the library shelves.
34. Ghosts in the Machines
Brandon Hodge searches for the remains of the famous spirit room of Jonathan Koons.
36. Letters
Prof. Peter Mulacz responds to criticisms of his article in PR74.
39. Contributors
40. Events

To analyze the meanings attributed by nursing professionals in psychiatry to spirituality and its relationship with care. Clinical-qualitative, with appreciation of symbolic meanings. We interviewed 18 individuals for a semi-structured script of open questions and the data were analyzed in the light of psychoanalytic hermeneutics. The discussion was undertaken with the overlap of understanding of the sacred symbol, psychological and the meaning of life. Different spiritualities are interposed by personal restlessness and the experience of transience. Spirituality aids in social functions, personal balance and commitment to endure the anguish of transience. Among professionals, it has been shown as an ethical-combative attitude to evil forms, but there is a restriction in dealing with patients' spirituality. The meanings pointed to the limits of human reason, resembling caregivers and patients in subjective conditions by which they avoid spirituality in psychiatry. It is suggeste...

A 'Dakshinavarti Shankh' is considered to be very auspicious and powerful as per Hindu religion. It is believed that a Dakshinavarti Shankh has the power to energize the surrounding with power, wealth and a positive aura. Thus it is often suggested to establish a Dakshinavarti Shankh in your home temple and offer puja/worship regularly. This conch shell can be large or small in size and is found in the Indian ocean. A Dakshinavarti Shankh is also known as Valampuri Shankh/Sanggu. Most species of sea snails are dextral and some are naturally sinistral. But, also to mention that within a normal dextral species some rare individuals may develop sinistral coiling. Let's first understand what a Dakshinavarti Shankh is and learn about its physical appearance and its spiritual importance.

This special issue of the Journal of Hindu Studies explores Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava engagement with key facets of colonial modernity and its role in shaping modern Hindu discourse. The issue's publication, it is hoped, will serve to both nurture the growing sub-field of Modern Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Studies and, more broadly, encourage greater attention to the important contributions of other such sampradāyic Hindu currents to the texture and dynamics of modern Hinduism.

Published first in Radikalität und Dissent im 16. Jahrhundert / Radicalism and Dissent in the Sixteenth Century, special edition of the Zeitschrift für historische Forschung, eds. Hans-Jürgen Goertz and James M. Stayer (Berlin, Duncker & Humblot, 2002), 167-85, this paper explores some intriguing personal and intellectual contacts between spiritualism and the medical world of the 16th century. It examines the relationship between the idiosyncratic Anabaptist and spiritualist prophet David Joris (d.1556) and several medical professionals associated with him. I argue that Joris communicated with the famed medical practitioner Johann Weyer (Wier) who in 1563 composed a treatise opposing witch hunting, De praestigiis daimonum. The paper raises the question of the influence of spiritualism's strong spirit/flesh dichotomy on the debate over diabolical causation of disease and its depreciation of written scriptures in favour of direct inspiration from the Spirit in helping promote innovation in the medical field. For more detailed analysis of the Joris-Weyer relationship, see now  Hans de Waardt, ‘Witchcraft, Spiritualism and Medicine: The Religious Convictions of Johan Wier’, Sixteenth Century Journal, 42 (2011), 369–91.

Communication with the dead is not characteristically associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. However, lodged in the Rare Books Collection of the University of British Columbia is a remarkable diary kept by William Michael Rossetti. It consists of a small series of 27 handwritten folios entitled simply "Memoranda by himself." This diary is a meticulous record of twenty spirit-ualist séances that took place between 1865 and 1868, séances that attracted a number of Pre-Raphaelite artists, their friends, and family members. By 1865 spiritualism was practised widely throughout Britain. Though summoning the dead was by no means a recent preoccupation, it appeared in its modern form in America in the late 1840s, was brought simultaneously to England and the Continent in the early 1850s, and was widely disseminated by the 1860s. It was a highly controversial practice and drew in many famous names, for and against. Elizabeth Barrett Browning was an early convert, Charles Dickens a vigorous opponent, but its adherents ranged from Queen Victoria at one end of the social spectrum to Mary Marshall-poor, vulgar, but hugely eminent as the "washerwoman medium"-at the other. Séances, both public and private, took place throughout the country. Some were spectacular displays of showmanship involving large audiences; some were intimate, devout gatherings, while others took the form of after-dinner entertainment. The social, anthropological, and religious status of spiritualism has been much debated, but one important factor drove people to the darkened room of the medium: the desire to contact a dead loved-one. It was this motive that lay behind the séances in William Michael Rossetti's diary, since many of them were driven by Dante Gabriel Rossetti's desire to reach out to the dead Elizabeth Siddal. Though William was of course present at all the séances, not all were attended by his brother, and the "spirit" of Elizabeth Sid-The Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies, ns 29 (Fall 2020)

This article analyses the place and value of occult arts in the healthcare market of Republican China (1912-1949). Medical historiography has long neglected the resilience of such occult arts as talismans, astrology and divination in the context of China's search for modernity. Focusing on the production, trade, and consumption of goods and services related to talismanic healing, I give voice to Chinese occultists by investigating the formation of a 'market of the occult' in the Republican era. I adopt a global perspective to clarify the changes that occult healing underwent following the popularisation of new printing technologies, mass media and transnational spiritualism in early twentieth-century China. Erstwhile embraced in secrecy, the occult was now being made public. Cheap manuals, wide-circulation newspapers and book catalogues reveal that in contrast to past studies that herald the disenchantment of the world as the hallmark of Chinese modernity, occult healing did not simply survive but thrived in the face of modern science and technology.

Though it focuses partly on dreams and the occult, the ulterior subject of Emerson’s “Demonology”—published in the North American Review in 1877, almost forty years after it was first delivered in lecture form—is not just contradiction, but the arcane inversions, doublings, and self-dismantlings of transcendentalism itself. Between many of Emerson’s pronouncements falls this shadow of Demonology, which I treat as a key aspect of his theories and essays of experience—that is, those in which his contradictions are preeminent, unsettling, and thematic. If Emerson’s transcendental pantheism is suffused with, or structured by, contradiction and doubling, “Demonology” is the essay that most fitfully “performs” those inversions; in which the double emerges as twin and negative; and in which polar opposites become both coterminous and sequential in any direction (and therefore almost never linear in exposition).
Both as the essay and concept I focus on in this article, Demonology is not a tangent or coda to Emerson’s work, but the cumulative residue of an attempt to codify that which resists his overarching theory that all forces, processes and attributes of nature are consistent, explicable, rational, and ultimately commensurate. Both its problematic provenance as an essay revised while Emerson suffered from failing mental acuity, and the way its tenets resist formalization, have led most scholars to treat “Demonology,” as an essay and concept, either as a digression or embarrassment. Critics of the day, however, seemed to realize that a protean Demonology was one of the definitive components of Emerson’s pantheism. I reassess “Demonology”—not just in spite of its inchoate status and troubled provenance, but in part because of it—as an overlooked encapsulation of many of Emerson’s ulterior tenets and a capstone of his metaphysics. In Lacanian terms, the contradictory or seemingly anomalous elements of “Demonology” represent the necessary remainders or gaps in his work that allow Emerson to address nature, a scenario complicated by the fact that the subject of these remainders is remainders. In other words, the subject of the essay is, implicitly, the cause of its own fragmentary nature. In never entirely stable ways, the demonological for Emerson represents specific forces within nature, but is also immanent to the system of nature.
I also attempt to counter the lingering perception of Emerson as both a rationalist and idealist. No consistent transcendentalism generates or allows for Emerson’s inconsistent pronouncements, because the inconsistency precedes the pronouncements at the level of ontology. A negation of the negation, Emerson’s Demonology does not emerge in the register of symbolic spiritual transcendence, nor as part of an uplifting imaginary vision, but as a dark, racialized, feminized, and materialized “real” limit on established conventions.  Emerson’s exposition of nature’s Demonology, both in the eponymous essay and throughout his writings, thereby corroborates some poststructuralist as well as transcendental postulates.  Emerson’s repeated emphasis on limitation, especially the limits of reason, bear some surprising affinities with Slavoj Žižek’s formulation of the Lacanian Real, which is why Žižek offers a useful interpretative language for approaching “Demonology” in particular.

Two hundred male subjects (81 college students and 119 subjects from an addiction treatment unit) were administered the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) and genotyped at the 48 bp repeat polymorphism of the DRD4 gene. Subjects were divided by genotype into those carrying any <4 repeat allele, those homozygous for the 4 repeat allele, and those with any >4 repeat allele. The total MANCOVA of seven TCI summary scores, with age and diagnostic group as covariates, was significant (p ≤ .001).

In the 40 years since the Maimonides studies (1,2) it has become clear, through both scientific research and first hand reports, that individuals can become telepathically linked in dreams, and can even experience one another in a consensual way in a shared intersubjective dreamspace. However, considering the fact that many animals dream physiologically just as humans do, it should not surprise us that, given the strong bonds between humans and their animal companions, that psi-dreaming might connect humans with other species as well. This presentation will explore human-animal psi-dreaming, and invites participants to share their own interspecies dreams.

URL : http://revueties.org/document/index.php?/ties/la-voix-dans-tous-ses-etats/660-polyphonie-litteraire-et-imaginaires-de-la-voix-spectrale-chez-fedor-dostoievski

Cet article a pour but de replacer la poétique de la polyphonie, propre à l'oeuvre de Fédor Dostoïevski, dans une histoire culturelle du XIX e siècle. Il s'agit donc de considérer dans cette oeuvre la superposition de plusieurs imaginaires de la voix. Chez l'écrivain russe contemporain de l'invention du phonographe, les voix présentent souvent un aspect fantomatique et spectral que met particulièrement en évidence l'étude du récit Bobok (1873). Publié en amont des théories de Mikhaïl Bakhtine sur la pluralité des voix, ce texte permet de souligner la transversalité du motif des hallucinations auditives chez Dostoïevski. La reprise des théories spirites dans le récit peut nous apparaître enfin comme une réponse ironique aux accusations de folie dont Dostoïevski lui-même commence à faire les frais dès les années 1870. Cette réponse fictionnelle aux attaques du journal La Voix se double d'une critique des nouvelles conditions médiatiques dans lesquelles Dostoïevski produit son oeuvre en général. Avant même l'invention du phonographe, la voix spectrale devient une allégorie du mot imprimé et le signe d'une entrée définitive de la littérature russe dans l'ère médiatique. ABSTRACT. This article aims to situate Fyodor Dostoevsky's poetics of polyphony in the historical perspective of cultural evolutions during the nineteenth century. It is therefore necessary to consider the coexistence of different "imaginations of voice" in Dostoevsky's work. Like his contemporary Thomas Edison, the inventor of the phonograph, Dostoevsky creates voices that are endowed with a ghostly and spectral aspect, which is particularly highlighted in the study of his short story entitled Bobok (1873). Published before Mikhail Bakhtin had considered the plurality of voices in Dostoyevsky's work, this text emphasizes the transversality of auditory hallucinations in his novels. The fictionalization of spiritualist theories in the narrative can therefore appear as an ironic answer to the accusations of madness that the author was the victim of in the early 1870s. His fictional response to the attacks of the liberal newspaper "The Voice" came along with a critique of the new conditions in which Dostoevsky had to produce his work at the age of media. Even before the invention of the phonograph, the spectral voice thus had become an allegory of the printed word and the sign of the definitive entry of Russian literature into the era of the media.. MOTS-CLÉS : Dostoïevski, polyphonie, hallucination auditive, voix spectrale, spiritisme, média

Background: Although mindfulness meditation interventions have recently shown benefits for reducing stress in various populations, little is known about their relative efficacy compared with relaxation interventions.Purpose: This randomized controlled trial examines the effects of a 1-month mindfulness meditation versus somatic relaxation training as compared to a control group in 83 students (M age=25; 16 men and 67 women) reporting distress.Method: Psychological distress, positive states of mind, distractive and ruminative thoughts and behaviors, and spiritual experience were measured, while controlling for social desirability.Results: Hierarchical linear modeling reveals that both meditation and relaxation groups experienced significant decreases in distress as well as increases in positive mood states over time, compared with the control group (p<.05 in all cases). There were no significant differences between meditation and relaxation on distress and positive mood states over time. Effect sizes for distress were large for both meditation and relaxation (Cohen’s d=1.36 and .91, respectively), whereas the meditation group showed a larger effect size for positive states of mind than relaxation (Cohen’s d=.71 and .25, respectively). The meditation group also demonstrated significant pre-post decreases in both distractive and ruminative thoughts/behaviors compared with the control group (p<.04 in all cases; Cohen’s d=.57 for rumination and .25 for distraction for the meditation group), with mediation models suggesting that mindfulness meditation’s effects on reducing distress were partially mediated by reducing rumination. No significant effects were found for spiritual experience.Conclusions: The data suggest that compared with a no-treatment control, brief training in mindfulness meditation or somatic relaxation reduces distress and improves positive mood states. However, mindfulness meditation may be specific in its ability to reduce distractive and ruminative thoughts and behaviors, and this ability may provide a unique mechanism by which mindfulness meditation reduces distress.

This article looks at how the changing relationship between science and religion from the fin de siècle to the present period continues to influence healing practices in Mongolia. It explores how science and religion, rather than being congenitally antithetical to one another, are frequently co-constitutive. By following a few key historical lineages of spiritualism in their dialogue with the Mongolian cultural region, the article illustrates how ongoing exchanges between science and religion have contributed to changes in contemporary Mongolian urban religious practices. As the article illustrates, science, and/or the idea of science, has resulted in changes to lay religious epistemologies and methodologies. At the same time the prestige of science can be utilised as a means of underlining the strength of ritual efficacy, particularly within Buddhism. Yet when science or allopathic medicine fails to explain or to heal, science is utilised as a yardstick against which the transcendent power of ritual becomes evident.

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This is an ancient secret possessed by a few and helpful to fewer individuals who have the heart to take the first step and the courage to attain prosperity in a world that, independent of your will, forces out there and people you know are bent on making you fail and fail again. It is a privilege to be associated with this Fraternity, as since it was secretly formed in Edo in 1996, its members have dominated the economic, political, entertainment, health, legal and academic sectors of the sub-Saharan Africa, especially Nigeria. You must know this: every king needs a prophet. A reality that is reminiscent of this in our time is that every success is backed by an altar. Every great achievement you can see around you was first set in motion by means of spirituality. Therefore, if wealth is what you earnestly desire in life, you are at the right place. But beware: there are many fake fraternities on the internet, who capitalize on the desperation of people to defraud them. They ask you to send them money for this and that, and even require registration and consultation fees from you. They are fake, unreal; they are groups and individuals who have nothing doing to earn a living. So, beware. Good fortune is what we offer you and silver and gold come from us. Material riches and earthly greatness are an identification mark of our members, and everlasting prosperity is a blessing we generously give. And as an initiate member of this Secret Occult, in abundance shall we bestow them upon you. However, anybody that imitates this Fraternity or defrauds unsuspecting aspiring members with our name, the Egregore of this Occult shall torment and terrorize him, leaving him in a condition of better dead than alive. Azazel shall come after him and Behemoth shall stand on his way; Balaam shall twist his paths and Yama shall possess his soul.

Psychopompic Dreaming: Visits With Those Who Have Passed On? by Ed Kellogg, Ph.D. ©2004. Presented at IASD's Third PsiberDreaming Conference, September 19 - October 3, 2004.

What does it mean to have a psychopompic dream, a dream in which we encounter someone who has died? Two possibilities immediately spring to mind: one can dream OF someone who has died, and one can dream WITH someone who has died.

How can dreamers tell the difference?

This presentation will explore this question.

Abstract

The article discusses the cult of spiritual dolls which is an integral part of Cuban spiritism. It describes ceremonies of making a Mama Francisca doll, explains its place in the spiritual pantheon, and its connection to religious and magical traditions of Palo and Ocha. Drawing on my own field research and an array of ethnographic data, I argue that spiritual dolls play an important part in preserving the ethnic-cultural memory in the context of ethnic and religious diversity in Cuba. I further examine
connections between spiritual and magical practices of peoples from Central Africa and Afro-Сubans. The tradition of espiritismo cruzado itself may be seen as the bridge between different religious traditions existing in the island.

Аннотация.

Статья посвящена такому важному элементу кубинского спиритизма, как культ
спиритических кукол. В ней приводится церемония, в ходе которой создается кукла Мама Франсиска, объясняется ее место в спиритическом пантеоне, ее связь с религиозно-магическими традициями оча и пало. На основании полевых исследований и этнографических данных делается вывод о значении спиритических кукол для сохранения этнокультурной памяти в условиях этнического и религиозного разнообразия Кубы. Также прослеживаются связи в духовно-магических практиках народов Центральной Африки и афро-кубинцев. Сама же рассматриваемая традиция спиритизм крусадо предстает мостом между бытующими на острове религиозными направлениями.

Nel campo della ricerca parapsicologica la fotografia all'infrarosso riveste un ruolo molto importante, anche se secondario rispetto a quella all'ultravioletto, che avremo modo di approfondire in futuro. Ma cominciamo a definire questo tipo di mondo a noi "invisibile". Le radiazioni elettromagnetiche (onde elettromagnetiche) vengono classificate in base alla frequenza o all'energia dei fotoni. All'aumentare della frequenza queste onde prendono il nome di: radioonde -microonde -infrarosso -luce visibile -ultravioletto -raggi x e raggi gamma. A seconda della loro energia, queste radiazioni provocano fenomeni di ionizzazione della materia che attraversano, ionizzazione variabile a seconda del tipo di materia attraversata, dal tipo di radiazione, ovviamente e dell'energia, come gia' detto. Le radiazioni ionizzanti si estendono al di sotto della banda dell'ultravioletto.

Sarah Waters’ Affinity (1999), set during the height of Victorian Spiritualism, consciously plays with Victorian truisms to subvert our expectations of class and gender roles, and retrospectively explore Victorian taboos of female power and sexuality. Lower class Selina Dawes and Ruth Vigers take advantage of the relatively liberal space of the seance to make 'unnatural' border crossings, using the archetype of the Victorian 'Angel' to hide their 'Monstrosity.' This paper argues that the  Mermaid is a useful image for re-examining placed on women by men in that era. As a contemporary female writer, Waters subverts these normative models, and in doing so reveals the complexity and hidden talents of women who, in their own time, were unable to outwardly voice their desires, or actively seek power.