For the Love of Theory: A Report on the Paris Workshop on Psi Theories With funding from the Society for Psychical Research and other organisations, a special meeting held before the 2019 Parapsychological Association Convention sought to bring together twenty-nine invited speakers and participants from a diverse range of the sciences to address the problem…
Angels in the Trenches Reviewed by Jayne Harris
The subject matter instantly grabbed my attention, as someone who has long held a fascination with spiritualism and the supernatural, especially from an anthropological point of view. I’ve always been in two minds about the rise of spiritualism during both world wars, questioning the motives of many mediums of that time. Brilliantly captured the wave…
Victorian Ghost Hunters in the 21st Century
Conflict, Continuity and the End of Psychical Research Since its founding in 1882, the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) has been the leader and model for the investigation of what we now call the ‘paranormal’, as both a profession and the expression of a subculture. Despite that considerable history and reputation, the SPR has now…
Psi on the Tyne
The 42nd Annual International Conference of the Society for Psychical Research, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2018 Newcastle made a singular impression on me as I stepped off the train. The familiar Victorian station led out into a strange landscape. The Lady Boys of Bangkok had encamped before the rearing block of Jury’s Inn, the venue for…
Paranormal Review 89
The Paranormal Preservers PR89 is another ‘document or disappear’ issue, this time focusing on the Preserving the Historical Collections of the Paranormal (PHCP) conference that was held in Winnipeg, Canada, in May 2018. Following on from the first PHCP conference in Utrecht in 2014, this conference gave North American collectors, curators and experts the opportunity…
Paranormal Review 88
The SPR at War Following up on my new rallying cry of ‘document or disappear’, discussed in the last issue, I am publishing the results of my research into the Society for Psychical Research’s activities during the First World War. Having recently commemorated the Centenary of the Armistice, it is a fitting time to reflect…
The SPR at War
The Society for Psychical Research and the First World War On the evening of 6 August 1914, two days after Britain had declared war on Germany, Miss Ann Jones (a pseudonym)1 was sitting in her room, waiting for some friends to call, when she was overcome by what she described as ‘a feeling of great…
Angels in the Trenches Out Now!
New Book Explores Spiritualism, Superstition and the Supernatural During the First World War The mechanised slaughter of the First World War brought a sudden and concentrated interest in life after death, living in spite of death and trying to predict, or even influence, when the merciless killing would end. People asked, can one communicate with…
Society for the Academic Study of the Supernatural
Aberdeen Conference Inspires Launch of New Society Was the Supernatural in Contemporary Society Conference the best conference ever? Quite possibly. Beyond the excellent papers delivered by a broad range of experts in the field, there was a tremendous sense of energy and enthusiasm, and also community of purpose. The media reports ghostly encounters, supernatural TV…
Angels in the Trenches
Spiritualism, Superstition and the Supernatural during the First World War
Paranormal Review 87
Guy Lyon Playfair: His Life and Work It is always satisfying to do a retrospective of a great psychical researcher’s life and work, and Guy Lyon Playfair’s contributions to the field were many and of lasting importance, but it is a satisfaction tempered by sadness and an awareness of loss. Although I corresponded with Playfair,…
Paranormal Review 86
From C.D. Broad to the Palace of Versailles We were all saddened recently by the news of Guy Lyon Playfair’s death. The world of psychical research has surely lost one of its brighter lights. The Psi Society column this issue carries a brief obituary and it is hoped that a future issue of the magazine…
The Society for Psychical Research at Horsley Towers
The Society for Psychical Research’s 41st International Annual Conference Of course Horsley Towers is haunted. Dating from 1558, but rebuilt in a neo-Gothic style in the nineteenth century, the building has connections with Augusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace, mathematician and only daughter of Romantic poet Lord Byron, Sir T.O.M. Sopwith, the man responsible for…
Paranormal Review 85
Back to the ‘Lilly’ Pond: Flotation Tank Experiments From historical re-evaluations and current experiments, this issue of the Paranormal Review brings a wide range of psychical research topics to your attention. The Society’s President, Prof. John Poynton, continues his philosopher-president series with a re-examination of Hans Driesch. Dr Peter Hewitt of the Museum of Witchcraft…
Paranormal Review 84
Photography, Art and the Representation of the Paranormal The lights dimmed, the audience were on the edges of their seats (or, at least, in their seats), except for the absence of a drum roll, everything was set for the announcement of the winner and runners-up of the Paranormal Review’s Photography Competition. The announcement was made…
The Winner
‘Ghost’ Takes 1st place I announced the winner and runners-up at the Society for Psychical Research’s 41st Annual Conference on Friday, 1st September. For those of you who were unable to attend, here are the results: 1st Place: ‘Ghost’ by Alan O’Regan 2nd Place: Untitled by Laverne Craven 3rd Place was tied between ‘Sotiria’ by…
The Finalists
The Final Selection for the Paranormal Review Photography Competition The hunt to find the photograph that best captures the ‘spirit’ of the paranormal continues. The competition received a high number of exceptional photographs and final judging was immensely difficult. A total of 16 were shortlisted out of 60 entrants and from these my expert panel…
Fabulous Beasts Reach Estonia
The Impossible Zoo in Estonian Yesterday, a box arrived full of books, strange yet familiar. The title read Voimatu Loomaaed: Fantastiliste Loomade ja Mütoloogiliste Olendite Entsüklopeedia. And there was my name as the author. It was, of course, The Impossible Zoo translated into Estonian and published this year by Tänapäev. It’s a lovely hardback edition,…