Channeling a psychic-communication

by Marinus Jan Marijs

Spiritistic communication / channelling

“Channelling is a term used in reference to the esoteric process of receiving messages or inspiration from extra-dimensional beings or spirits, whereby one is a medium or channel for such an entity.” (Wikipedia)

Spiritism is the belief in the existence of spirits and the possibility of communicating with them. This concept is already thousands of years old; in the old testament one can find the story of King Saul (1 Samuel 28:3-19) from ±3000 years ago which described a form of spiritism.
Spiritism attracted many followers in the late nineteenth century, but its influence diminished in the late twentieth century.
More recently it has returned under the name channelling.
Spiritistic mediumship has been studied extensively by parapsychologists throughout the world.
Much of the data that came forward was difficult to place. The central question was whether the data could be explained as
1. A product of the subconscious of the medium.
2.Telepathic reading by the medium of the mind of the people who are present.
3. Communication with a spirit (the spiritistic hypothesis).
Research did produce several data Some of them supported the spiritistic hypothesis.
Research of the best quality in this direction has been done by the American and the English Society for Psychical Research. Among them a number of renowned scientists and philosophers among whom William James (the father of American psychology, and by Bertrand Russell described as the most influential philosopher of the century).
Nowadays most parapsychologist who research the evidence for the existence of life after death, prefer the research relating to the out of the body experiences.

“Spiritualism developed in the United States and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, especially in English-language countries, By 1897, it was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe, mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes, while the corresponding movement in continental Europe and Latin America is known as Spiritism.” (Wikipedia)

                                  19th-century-painting- Atkinson Grimshaw  (1836 – 1893)

Eminent thinkers who took the possibility of Spiritistic communication seriously

Nobel Prize-winners
Marie Curie (1867-1934), 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics, 1911 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, participated in séances with Eusapia Palladino and wrote of the importance of research in parapsychology.

Pierre Curie (1859-1906), 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics, participated in séances with Eusapia Palladino and wrote of the importance of research in parapsychology.
Evrard, R. (2011). Pierre Curie, a Foot in Parapsychology? Mindfield, 3(3), 14-18.

Thomas Mann (1875-1955), 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature, attended and reported on séances.
Mann, T. (2005). An Experience in the Occult. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger.

Other Eminent Figures: Exact Sciences, Engineering, Invention

John Logie Baird (1888-1946), engineer and inventor of television, attended spiritist séances and was persuaded by them.
Goff, H. (2005). Science and the seance. BBC News. 

Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), inventor of the telephone, thought that the device might allow communication with the dead.
Goff, H. (2005). Science and the seance. BBC News. 

Sir William Crookes (1832-1919), chemist, physicist, and inventor, carried research on DD Home and spiritualism, president of the Society for Psychical Research.
Oppenheim, J. (1988). The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850-1914. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), inventor of electric light and sound recording, among other things, was convinced by some psi demonstrations and proposed that instruments could be developed to communicate with the deceased.
Goff, H. (2005). Science and the Seance. BBC News. 

Camille Flammarion (1842-1925), astronomer and writer, founder and first president of the Société Astronomique de France, wrote on psi and mediumship.
Flammarion, C. (1907). Mysterious Psychic Forces. Boston, MA: Small, Maynard and Company (https://archive.org/details/littlebookoflife00fech).

Sir Oliver Lodge (1851-1940), physicist and mathematician, developer of wireless telegraphy, principal of Birmingham University, president of the Society for Psychical Research, wrote on mediumship and survival.
Lodge, O. (1916). Raymond or Life and Death. New York, NY: George H. Doran.
https://archive.org/stream/raymondorlifedea00lodg#page/n7/mode/2up

Giovanni Schiaparelli (1835-1910), astronomer, historian of science and senator, researched Eusapia Palladino.
Gauld, A., The Founders of Psychical Research. 

Psychologists and Social Scientists, Neuroscientists, Biologists, Physicians

Filippo Bottazzi (1867-1941), physiologist, biochemist, wrote a book on mediumistic phenomena.
Bottazzi, F. (2011). Mediumistic phenomena observed in a series of sessions with Eusapia Palladino. Princeton, NJ: ICRL. (Originally published 1909).

Gustav Fechner (1801-1887), physicist, one of the founders of experimental psychology, participated in séances and wrote about the possibility of survival after death. Fechner, G. T. (1904). The little book of life after death. Kessinger. Boston, MA: Little, Brown, & Company (https://archive.org/details/littlebookoflife00fech). (Originally published 1836).

Guðmundur Hannesson (1866-1946), physician, founder of the Icelandic Scientific Society and rector of the University of Iceland, investigated  the medium Indriði Indriðason. Gissurarson, L. R., & Haraldsson, E.  (1998). The Icelandic physical medium Indridi Indridason. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 57, 52-148.

William James (1842-1910), psychologist and philosopher, president of both the British and the American Societies for Psychical Research.
James, W. (1960). The final impressions of a psychical researcher. In G. Murphy & R. O. Ballou (Eds.), William James on psychical research (pp. 309-325). New York, NY: Viking. (Originally published 1909).

Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909), criminologist and physician, wrote a book on spiritualism and psi. Lombroso, M. (1909). After death – what? Boston, MA: Small, Maynard.

Traugott Konstantin Oesterreich (1880-1949), psychologist and philosopher, professor in Tübingen, wrote on spirit possession and psi.
Oesterreich, T. K. (1921). Grundbegriffe der Parapsychologie. Pfullingen, Germany: J. Baum.

Rocco Santoliquido (1854-1930), physician and Director General of Public Health, investigated a medium, and was founder and president of the Institut Métapsychique International.

Alfred Russel Wallace (1826-1923), co-creator of the theory of evolution, investigated and was a supporter of spiritualism.
Gauld, A.  The Founders of Psychical Research.

Humanities, Philosophers

Émile Boirac (1851-1917), philosopher, president of the Grenoble and Dijon universities, researched Eusapia Palladino and wrote a book on psychical research.
Boirac, E. (1917). Our hidden forces: An experimental study of the psychic sciences. New York, NY: Frederick A. Stokes.

Haraldur Níelsson (1868-1928), theologian and spiritualist, first rector  of the University of Iceland, investigated the medium Indriði Indriðason. 
Boirac, E. (1917). Our hidden forces: An experimental study of the psychic sciences. New York, NY: Frederick A. Stokes.

Writers, Artists

Jelly d’Arányi (1893-1966), violinist, participated in  séances and chanelled various messages. Sister of Adila Fachiri.
Duchen, J. (2016, December). Romantic spirit. BBC Music, 54-57.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870), writer, member of The Ghost Club an organization devoted to psychical research.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), creator of Sherlock Homes, unflinching defender of ostensible psi phenomena and spiritualism.
Doyle, A. C. (1926). The History of Spiritualism.

Adila Fachiri (1886-1962), violinist, participated in séances and channelled various messages. Sister of Jelly d’Arányi.
Duchen, J. (2016, December). Romantic spirit. BBC Music, 54-57.

Victor Hugo (1802-1885), writer, creator of Les Misérables, experimented with automatic writing and drawing, participated in séances.
Dichter, C., Golinski, H. G., Krajewski, M., & Zander. S. (2007). The message: Kunst und Okkultismus. Art and occultism. Köln, Germany: Walther König.

James Joyce (1882-1941), writer, his sister claimed that she and he had seen the ghost of their mother. He read and was influenced by Myers’s Human Personality, and its Survival of Bodily Death.
Schneider, E. H. (2015). “Welcomers”: James Joyce and Frederic W. H. Myers. Journal of Modern Literature, 38, 59-70.

James Merrill (1926-1995), poet, winner of the Pulitzer Price among other prices.
Some of his works derives from séances with a ouija board during more than two decades.
Merrill, J. (1982). The Changing Light at Sandover. New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Florizel von Reuter (1890-1985), violinist and composer, professor at the Vienna Musical Academy, wrote on his experience as a medium.
Reuter, F. von (1928). Psychical Experiences of a Musician. London, UK: Simpkin, Marshall and the psychic press.

Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926), one of the foremost poets in German language, attended séances and experimented with automatic writing.
Barz, C. (2010). Scientific spirit, spirituality, and spirited writing: Spiritualism between science, religion and literature. Tijdschrift voor Skandinavistiek, 31 (1).

Politicians, Explorers, Others

Air Chief Marshal Hugh Dowding (1882-1970), commander of the RAF during the Battle of Britain, author of various books on survival and member of the Ghost Club.

Winifred Coombe Tennant (1874-1956), suffragette, politician, representative at the League of Nations, practised as a medium.

William Lyon Mackenzie King (1874-1950), longest serving prime minister of Canada, spiritualist.
Ebon, M. (1971). They Knew the Unknown. New York, NY: Signet.

Francisco I Madero (1873-1913), provided the intellectual basis to the Mexican revolution and became its first democratically elected president, practised automatic writing and mediumship.
Krauze, E. (1997). Biografía del poder : Caudillos de la Revolución mexicana (1910-1940). Barcelona, Spain: Tusquets.

Erik Kule Palmstierna (1877-1959), Swedish politician and diplomat, wrote books based on chanelled material.
Duchen, J. (2016, December). Romantic spirit. BBC Music, 54-57.

Several times ghosts do appear in Shakespeare’s plays:
1. Hamlet (ghost of his father)
2. Macbeth (ghost of Banquo)
3. Julius Caesar (ghost of Caesar)
4. Richard III (Ghosts of Henry VI and Edward IV)
5. Cymbeline (ghosts of Pothumus’s father, mother and brothers)

                                     Salvador Sánchez Barbudo  (1857–1917)  Hamlet

 

19^th century painting

Witch of Endor by Nikolai Ge, 1857

The Witch at Endor The Shade of Samuel Invoked.  By D. Martynov-1857