Dr Leo Ruickbie’s research project on the First World War and the paranormal resulted in 9 articles, 4 conference presentations, a website and a book, Angels in the Trenches.
Tag: Paranormal Review
Paranormal Review 96
Parapsychology in the Far East The Paranormal Review has been more than a magazine for me, it has been a journey through all that is going on in the world of psychical research. And so, the magazine itself has been something like a documentary project. It can never be a pure documentation because I am…
Paranormal Review 95
Star Gate (2): The US Government Programme on Psi Research, Part 2: Operational Psi With a letter from Tom Butler on the future of the SPR, I am delighted to see that the questions raised in my editorial for PR92 are still stimulating discussion. But as the debate continues, I see that the SPR suffers…
Paranormal Review 94
Star Gate (Part 1) In this issue, I am privileged to be able to bring you part one of a comprehensive overview of the US Government’s research programme on psi. From 1972 to 1995, various US militaries, agencies and departments contributed funding to a series of exotically codenamed projects, from Gondola Wish to Star Gate,…
Paranormal Review 92
The Other Side I walk over the bridge pictured on the front of this issue almost every day and when, early in the morning, the ground mist rises on the other side, it obliterates the real world beyond and turns this simple wooden footbridge into something magical, like Bifröst bridging the worlds to Asgard. The…
Leicester Through the Looking Glass
The 43rd Annual International Conference of the Society for Psychical Research, Leicester, 2019 Eyes closed, I held the folded piece of paper to my forehead. Nothing. A dried sheet of bleached wood pulp at room temperature. Then close to my ear, as if it might speak to me. Now, I began to get something: it…
The Catacombs of Paris
In the Empire of the Dead: A Journey Through the Catacombs of Paris There is a queue, there is always a queue. It curls round an unexpectedly uninteresting eighteenth-century building surrounded by busy roads in the Montparnasse district of Paris. And as we stand there in the summer sunshine, high spirits fade into boredom, tempered…
Psi Theories
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…
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…
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…