New Books and Media

A Brief Guide to Ghost Hunting leads the reader through the full process of ghost hunting as well as providing a full history of those that have carried out this activity. There has been an upsurge in books, television programmes, films and websites exploring the reality or otherwise of the spirit world. Not since the founding of The Ghost Club in 1862 and the Society for Psychical Research in 1882 has ghost hunting been so popular. Television and the internet, in particular, have fueled this new level of interest, creating a modern media phenomenon that spans the globe. But while the demand for information is high, good information remains scarce. A Brief Guide to Ghost Hunting leads us through the process of ghost hunting, from initially weighing the first report, to choosing equipment, and investigating and identifying the phenomena, with an analysis of the best places to go looking, methods of contacting the spirit world, how to explain paranormal activity and, crucially, how to survive the encounter. However, it is also a book about ghost hunting itself, drawing on 130 years of research in the cavernous archives of the Society for Psychical Research and even older history to find the earliest ghost stories. A Ghost Hunting Survey makes use of interviews with those billing themselves as ghost hunters to find out their views, motivations and experiences. New and original research makes use of statistics to map the nebulous world of apparitions while a Preliminary Survey of Hauntings offers an analysis of 923 reported phenomena from 263 locations across the UK. This is, as far as possible, an objective presentation of ghosts and ghost hunting. It is no wonder that mainstream science largely refuses to deal with the subject: it is too complicated. Without trying to convince you of any viewpoint, this book is intended to help you understand more.

From the publisher’s website: Sathya Sai Baba, one of India’s most famous Swamis, was one of the most enigmatic and remarkable religious figures in recent times. Millions followed him and accepted his claim of being a modern day Avatar – a God Man. Modern Miracles is the result of four decades of investigation into the apparently miraculous phenomena associated with Sai Baba. It expands upon earlier editions which were published in the 1980s under the titles Miracles are My Visiting Cards and Modern Miracles. There followed translations in 11 languages that resulted in 17 editions. The earlier editions were based on observations and investigations up to the early 1980s. Now, after 30 years and almost two years after the death of Sai Baba, it is time to sum up what has been learnt about this religious and spiritual figure who has had great influence on millions of people, and for whom no match can be found in modern times. The author, Prof. Erlendur Haraldsson, on whose painstaking investigations this book is based, has been a professor of psychology at the University of Iceland and is the author of numerous scientific publications. Unlike many academics he has never hesitated to study interesting phenomena first-hand, and his investigation into the psychic phenomena attributed to Sai Baba is no exception. Haraldsson made many first-hand observations of materializations and had nine face-to-face interviews with Sai Baba during 19 trips to India.

From the publisher: Can yoga and meditation unleash our inherent supernormal mental powers, such as telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition? Is it really possible to perceive another person's thoughts and intentions? Influence objects with our minds? Envision future events? And is it possible that some of the superpowers described in ancient legends, science fiction, and comic books are actually real, and patiently waiting for us behind the scenes? Are we now poised for an evolutionary trigger to pull the switch and release our full potentials? Dean Radin, Director of Research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and bestselling author of The Conscious Universe, presents persuasive new experimental evidence for the existence of such phenomena. He takes us on a thrilling scientific journey and challenges outdated assumptions that these abilities are mere superstition. Focusing on Patanjali's mysterious Yoga Sutras -- 2,000 year-old meditation practices believed to release our extraordinary powers -- Radin offers powerful evidence confirming that sometimes fact is much stranger, spookier, and more wonderful than the wildest fiction.

From the publisher’s website: At once controversial and intriguing, Spiritualism has spread from the United States to become a global movement. Bringing together perspectives from within the movement and without, this unique collection treats readers to insights about Spiritualism's history, belief, and practice. Based on the belief that the dead can communicate with the living through mediums, Spiritualism touches concepts as timelessly fascinating as human mortality and the continuing existence of the soul beyond bodily death. This comprehensive work will help readers parse the mysteries of this uniquely American religion through three thematically organized volumes: Spiritualism in the U.S. and Globally, Evidence and Beliefs, and Cultural and Social Issues. Drawing on fields as diverse as psychology, sociology, religious studies, anthropology, history, ethnic and gender studies, literature, and art, this broad-based collection frames Spiritualism through the views of a team of international scholars. Among the many things that separate Spiritualism from mainstream religions is the involvement of women in central leadership roles. Such cultural and political elements of the movement are one aspect of this study. Of equal interest to believers and sceptics alike will be the work of scholars who have devoted themselves to examining the claim that communication through mediums proves the existence of life after death. Features: Documents Spiritualism's history as it grew from a small 19th-century movement in upstate New York to a global presence Takes an interdisciplinary approach that includes psychical research, as well as more traditional fields Discusses human experiences that have been documented across cultures and throughout history Explores the Spiritualist movement in nations as diverse as Italy, France, Australia, Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.

From the publisher’s website: For much of the twentieth century, unusual perceptions and sensations, radical alterations of consciousness, and other extraordinary subjective experiences were ignored as legitimate topics of study in mainstream psychology. Recent years, however, have witnessed a burgeoning interest in the scientific study of anomalous experiences, thanks in no small part to the impact of the first edition of this book, which was published in 2000. In this revised and thoroughly updated edition of their classic text, the editors have invited experts to provide definitive reviews and analyses of a wide range of anomalous experiences, from commonly documented sensations and perceptions like synesthesia, lucid dreaming, out-of-body experiences, and auditory and visual hallucinations, to rarer and more seemingly inexplicable experiences such as anomalous healing, past-lives, near-death, mystical experiences, and even alien abductions. While acknowledging the difficulty inherent in studying any subjective experience, the authors nonetheless provide, along with new research in neuroscience, comprehensive scientific coverage of each of these experiences, through its prevalence and etiology, phenomenology, aftereffects, any related psychopathology, theoretical explanations, and related clinical issues. An integrative summary chapter is a new feature of this edition. The book makes a compelling case for the inclusion of these marginalized and under-recognized experiences as not merely incidental, but essential to our understanding of human psychology.

From the publisher’s website: These essays are a glimpse of Breaking Convention: A Multidisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Consciousness, which in 2011 brought together over 80 speakers and 600 delegates from 30 countries to Canterbury, UK to discuss these substances and their effects. Psychedelic consciousness is a personally meaningful experience that can bring us into contact with the unknowable, help repair fragmented minds and increase our wellbeing. However, psychedelic plants and other substances have been globally prohibited for over half a century with little regard for their spiritual, therapeutic and recreational use throughout human history. The prohibition of psychedelic ‘drugs’ has limited the exploration of consciousness and the healing potential of psychedelics. Yet, in the last two decades, a door has opened allowing legal medical and therapeutic research on psychedelics to resume. This opening has allowed other scholars to become increasingly bold in stating their interest in psychedelic substances. The authors of this book represent the vanguard of the second golden age of psychedelic research. It is our hope that this volume will motivate a new generation of thinkers to stand up to the taboo that has been placed on psychedelics and bring these plants and chemicals into the light of reasoned discussion. This edition is unavailable in the USA. For further information visit: http://strangeattractor.co.uk/books/breaking-convention/

From the publisher’s website: Why understanding what we term ‘paranormal’ is of fundamental importance to comprehending the world we live in. Footsteps echoing from the past, objects moving of their own volition, near death experiences, displacements in time, memories from the future, UFO sightings, synchronicities ... this book is a collection of remarkable experiences from the Isle of Purbeck. It visits nearly 70 sites and has contributions from over a hundred local people. Most of the first-hand accounts have never been published before, suggesting that the ‘paranormal’ is more commonplace than we generally suppose and is perceived intuitively, depending on the right combination of circumstances. The author challenges fixed opinions and beliefs, offering detailed personal experiences from a small geographical area and arguing that we need a fundamental reappraisal of how we view the world. Anyone with a thirst for mysteries and a desire to extend the frontiers of human knowledge will be gripped. David Leadbetter has lived in Swanage most of his life, where he worked at a local school teaching English to foreign students and administering examinations. David’s fascination for the paranormal started as a boy when he learned about some of his family’s experiences and began to read books on the subject. He has been studying the paranormal for a number of years and is particularly interested in how it connects with certain aspects of science and the metaphysical core at the heart of some religious experience. David believes that by understanding the paranormal, our insights into this world and what may lie beyond will grow. Go here for more information on Paranormal Purbeck and Roving Press. 

Review by Tom Ruffles

From the project website: A mesmerizing CSI-calibre quest for proof of life after death. Four New York Times best-selling authors, three top science professors and three well-respected mediums make a leap into the unknown, investigating astonishing evidence in the case of apparent “After Death Communication” (ADC) from Sci-Fi luminary Forrest J Ackerman. We journey from spiritualists to skeptics, and from chem labs to ground-breaking computer software that may enable communication between the living and the deceased. Author Richard Matheson says Forry Ackerman was an atheist who did not believe in life after death, but Forry told close friends if it turned out he was wrong, he would drop them a line. He passed away on December 4, 2008. Here's "the line" we think he dropped to the director of this film, his long time friend Paul Davids: The ink has been scientifically tested by top chemists at Indiana University and the College of New Jersey. After 3 years of study, the chemists are convinced it's very strange and science has yet to explain it. The Life After Death Project 2 - Personal Encounters: Spellbinding accounts of personal encounters with life after death from archaeologists, physicists, a retired colonel, a librarian, clinical psychologist, sales executive, publisher and doctors and nurses who have worked with hundreds of dying patients. They have seen souls leaving the body at death, angelic beings, spirit entities, golden orbs, physical manifestations and more. Updates the continuing saga of the Forrest J Ackerman case. The DVDs are NTSC, Region 0. Go here for further details.

Review by Tom Ruffles

From the publisher’s website: Anthropologists, exorcists and psychiatrists all approach the enigmas of spirit possession from differing perspectives and unsurprisingly fail to arrive at a consensual explanation for the phenomena. This creates problems for therapeutic interventions for perceived spirit possession cases. However, the 19th century researcher F.W.H. Myers developed a conceptual framework using rigorous scientific methods that provides a unified theory to explain all forms of spirit possession across all cultures, religions and societies. Myers declared that all so-called paranormal and supernatural phenomena are natural and normal, and all such experiences exist on a continuum of human experience. Discarded, forgotten and denied by mainstream science until now, Myers is being re-discovered by 21st century psychology. Using Myers’ scientific framework, this book fills the gaps in knowledge left by the inadequate theories of anthropology and psychiatry, and gives religious exorcism and clinical practice an alternative approach to research and intervention that is grounded in pragmatic and proven clinical experience.

From the publisher: The idea that we live more than one life on Earth has been taught since philosophy and theology were invented. But not everyone accepts it. There are secular critics who find the idea unscientific, religious critics who feel it violates their unassailable doctrines, and just plain critics who attack it on pragmatic grounds. Not only does the author of this book demonstrate the faults in such criticisms, he presents conclusive evidence that reincarnation is a reality, at least for some of us, some of the time.

From the publisher’s website: Extra Sensory is a pop-science look at the untapped abilities of human beings, from ESP to Telekenesis and other real life sciences that are currently being studied today, from physicist Brian Clegg. We'd all love to have 'psi' abilities like telepathy, telekinesis, and remote viewing. But is there any solid evidence to back up these talents, or are they nothing more than fantasy? We still only understand a small percentage of the capabilities of the human brain—and we shouldn’t dismiss such potential powers out of hand. Although there is no doubt that many who claim these abilities are frauds, and no one has yet won James Randi’s $1M prize for demonstrating ESP under lab conditions, we still have a Nobel prize winner suggesting a mechanism for telepathy, serious scientists researching the field and university projects that produced potentially explosive results. What’s the verdict? By looking at possible physical mechanisms for ESP and taking in the best scientific evidence, the reader can discover if this is all wishful thinking and deception, or a fascinating reality. The truth is out there.

Review by Nemo C. Mörck

 

From the publisher’s website: This book contains 12 accounts of personal experiences from the world beyond. They come from deceased human beings who transmitted their individual story through the deep trance medium Beatrice Brunner during the years 1961 to 1969. In a vivid manner they describe their initial experiences and encounters in the next world. These reports are impressive testimonies of the continuation of life after death.

Review by Tom Ruffles