UPCOMING RRC PROGRAMS FOR SUMMER 2009
The Rhine Research Center is pleased to present some upcoming Programs
The Rhine Research Center is happy to host these and other educational events, but it does not endorse presenters' claims, as not all of these claims have been subjected to rigorous scientific validation.
Ongoing: Every first Tuesday of the month
Next meeting July 7th
7:00 -9:00 PM
There is an open discussion group that meets at the Alex Tanous Library in the Rhine Center. As an informal group, participants share personal experiences involving psi (experiences outside our ordinary daily lives). At times, various topics may unfold, but the evening always begins with the sharing of experiences. We honor participants' privacy for their stories outside the meetings. Facilitators are Pamela St. John and Debi Pratt. For questions or information, please contact: Pamela St. John, or call (919) 929-1578
Rhine Members Free * Non-Members $10.00
Rhine Book Club
Wednesday July 8th
12-1pm
at the Alex Tanous Library in the Rhine Center
The book to be discussed is The Power of Premonitions by Larry Dossey
Bring lunch if you like!
The Scientific Study of Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)
What Can Science Reveal About Anomalous Voices?
A Panel with Mark Leary, John Palmer, Graham Watkins,
George Mathis and Jim Hall
July 12th
4-5:30pm on Sunday July 12th
at the Alex Tanous Research Library
Of all of the data that paranormal investigators collect, Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) -- audio recordings of voices that were not heard at the time that they were recorded -- provide perhaps the most provocative and controversial evidence of activity in supposedly haunted locations. Although some investigators claim that EVP are the voices of unseen entities, critics say that they result from mundane sources such as radio transmissions or the tendency of the brain to create patterns from random sounds. A panel of three research scientists (Mark Leary, John Palmer, and Graham Watkins) and two highly experienced paranormal investigators (George Mathis and Jim Hall) will discuss what we presently know about EVP and the degree to which scientific research can address questions regarding the source and nature of Electronic Voice Phenomena.
Participants:
Mark Leary, Ph.D., is a social and personality psychologist who has held faculty positions at Denison University, the University of Texas, Wake Forest University, and Duke University. He is the author of 11 books and nearly 200 scientific articles and chapters on topics related to social behavior and emotions. He also has interests in philosophy of science, research design, and quantitative analysis and is involved in efforts to promote critical and scientific thinking among the public.
Dr. John Palmer, Ph.D., was on the staff of the Rhine Research Center (formerly Foundation of Research on the Nature of Man) from 1984 to 2004, serving as both the Director of Education and Director of Research. He has been Editor of the Journal of Parapsychology since 1994 and was President of the Parapsychological Association in 1979 and 1992. His research has focused primarily on psychological factors associated with ESP performance in the laboratory. He has published numerous research articles and is co-author of the book Foundations of Parapsychology.
Graham Watkins attended the University of Kentucky and did graduate studies at Duke University, majoring in Zoology. In the early 1970s, he was a research associate at the Foundation for Research on the Nature of Man at the time that J. B. Rhine was the director. He is best known for the mouse-ether studies, which demonstrated the ability of "talented" subjects to cause mice to recover from ether anesthesia faster than they normally would. He has also worked in the fields of toxicology and electronics and is a published writer of both fiction and non-fiction.
George Matthis is president of the National Society for Paranormal Investigation and Research (NSPIR), a non-profit organization dedicated to paranormal investigation, research, and education. As part of its mission to educate the public about the paranormal and to promote ethical, science-based investigations, NSPIR sponsors the Carolina Hauntings, Apparitions, and Poltergeists Society (CHAPS) to educate the public regarding paranormal investigations. George is also president of the Paranormal Resource Alliance, which is dedicated to promoting adherence to a code of ethics and standards among paranormal investigators and providing resources for paranormal groups.
Jim Hall is a science teacher and director of Haunted North Carolina, which has investigated hundreds of cases of paranormal activity since it was founded (as Seven Paranormal Research) in 1992. Jim has over 20 years of experience in paranormal investigations, which he approaches with a critical mindset, insisting that rational explanations be thoroughly considered before turning to paranormal ones. Jim is vice-president of the Paranormal Research Alliance and is regularly sought by the media for his expertise regarding the paranormal.
Rhine Members $10:00 * Non-Members * $15.00
The Power of Premonitions
How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives
by Larry Dossey, MD
July 24th
7:30-9:00pm
at the Stedman Auditorium
Directions
THE POWER OF PREMONITIONS
How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives
by Larry Dossey, M.D.
Author of the New York Times Bestseller Healing Words
Some arrive as dramatic, vibrantly detailed dreams. Others sneak in as vague, gnawing gut feelings. They range from revealing the trivial, like where to find missing keys, to foreshadowing disasters, destruction, and death. Regardless of their form or focus, premonitions are universal, scientifically verifiable, and vital facts of life.
I believe that to be alive is to have premonitions,declares respected spiritual trailblazer and bestselling author Larry Dossey, M.D. Premonitions are not something we can avoid. They are our birthright. In his latest groundbreaking book, THE POWER OF PREMONITIONS: How Knowing the Future Can Shape Our Lives Dr. Dossey confirms the validity of these remarkably common, uncanny occurrences and makes sense of their paradoxical nature. Whats more, he opens minds to acknowledging, cultivating, and acting on premonitions to not only avert dangers, but strengthen bonds with loved ones, connect with strangers, and change the world.
Larry Dossey, M.D., is a respected leader in bringing scientific understanding to spirituality and an internationally influential advocate of the role of spirituality in healthcare and wellness. During his distinguished career as a practitioner of integrative medicine, he helped establish the Dallas Diagnostic Association and served as Chief of Staff of Medical City Dallas Hospital. The author of eleven books, including the New York Times bestseller Healing Words, he is executive editor of Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing. Dr. Dossey has lectured all over world and at major medical schools and hospitals in the United StatesHarvard, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, and the Mayo Clinic, among others. A native Texan, he lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Rhine Members $10:00 * Non-Members * $15.00
The Evidential Value of Near-Death Experiences
for Belief in Life after Death
by Michael Potts Ph.D.
Sunday August 16th
4-5:30 pm
This presentation will also be available by teleconference.
Since Raymond Moody's book, Life after Life was published in 1975, there has been an explosion of books, articles, and websites on the topic of "near-death experiences" (NDEs). Many people believe that these experiences, which may include feelings of peace, floating through a tunnel, talking with dead relatives, and meeting a "Being of Light" are evidence for their continued existence after death. But are NDEs truly evidence that some aspect of a person survives death? Or are they merely hallucinations caused by a brain starved of oxygen? This presentation will examine the issue of whether NDEs really are evidence of "what lies beyond."
Michael Potts is Professor of Philosophy at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He received his Ph.D. in Philosophy from The University of Georgia in 1992. He has been interested in near-death experiences since he found a copy of Raymond Moody's Life after Life at a Kroger store when he was in ninth grade. He has written two articles in scholarly journals on near-death experiences, and hopes to do more research and writing in this area in the future.
Rhine Members $10:00 * Non-Members * $15.00
Psychic Experiences Group Discussion: How we each experience psi in our own lives.... join others who understand
Facilitators: Pamela St. John and Debi Pratt
August 28th
7:30-9:00pm
at the Stedman Auditorium
Directions
Come join PEG (Psychic Experiences Group) participants Friday night to hear stories of various personal experiences with psi. You will also have the opportunity to join in the conversation with your own treasured tales. We find that the PEG group fulfills our sense of community connectedness in mind, body, and spirit . Beyond the circle of an individual horizon lies many individuals' experiences for support, encouragement and validation that they are not alone. There is a sense of deep meaningful phenomenon that our PEG group unfolds.
As you explore our PEG group, you may be inspired to start your own group sessions at your work place or in the area where you live. We will leave time for questions at the end. In keeping with our foundation of anonymity we ask that no taping or photographing be done at this discussion. Our group thanks you.
Rhine Members $10:00 * Non-Members * $15.00
The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion:
How Feelings Link the Brain, the Body, and the Sixth Sense with Michael Jawer
September 11th
7:30-9:00pm
at the Stedman Auditorium
Directions
Contemporary science holds that the brain rules the body and generates all our feelings and perceptions. Author and researcher Michael Jawer disagrees. He contends that it is our feelings that underlie our conscious selves.
The development of ones feelings lies at the core of our individual personalities. Throughout our lives, emotion plays a lead role in susceptibility to stress, immune function, and wellness or illness. And, most startlingly, emotion turns out to be critical to understanding anomalous perceptions.
Based on differences in how each of us literally feels our innate sensitivity the more physical disturbances we are likely to have: from ailments such as allergies, migraines, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, phantom pain, and post-traumatic stress to anomalous perceptions such as apparitions and involuntary out-of-body experience. Citing the latest research on immunity, sensation, stress, cognition, and emotional expression, Jawers new book demonstrates that the way we process our feelings provides a key to who is most likely to experience these phenomena and why. Emotion is the portal into a world of extraordinary perception and a slew of studies offer a scientific foundation for telepathic dreams, poltergeist disturbances, and more.
The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion challenges sciences prevailing belief that the brain must necessarily rule the body. Far from being a mere by-product of neurochemistry, emotion is the vehicle by which we can understand ourselves and our interactions with the world around us, as well as our most intriguing and perennially baffling experiences.
This book has been chosen for the Book-of-the-Month Club's One Spirit catalog and will soon be covered in Psychology Today.
Michael Jawer is an independent researcher who has been examining mind-body differences among individuals for the past 10 years. His original survey investigation, published by the Society for Psychical Research in the UK, uncovered linkages between environmental sensitivities, a variety of personality factors, and apparitional experience. His papers have also appeared in Explore: The Journal of Journal of Science and Healing, Seminars in Integrative Medicine, and Science & Consciousness Review.
Jawers interest in emotion and extraordinary sensitivities was kindled by his investigation of indoor air quality/sick building issues in the 1990s. His book, The Spiritual Anatomy of Emotion (written with Marc Micozzi, MD, PhD and with a Foreword by Larry Dossey, MD) is published by Park Street Press. The books website is www.emotiongateway.com.
Rhine Members $10:00 * Non-Members * $15.00
The Parapsychologists Dog
a presentation by Jerry Solfin
Friday, Sep. 25, 2009
7:30-9:00pm
at the Stedman Auditorium
Directions
This presentation will be a thoughtful, stimulating, and entertaining foray into the question, what can my dog teach me about parapsychology? The presentation will review research studies suggestive of animal consciousness, extraordinary (and possibly paranormal) canine abilities, as well as ethological and anecdotal evidence. This talk will also feature some never-before-told first hand animal stories at the borderline of folklore and reality. Be prepared for an evening of thought provoking fun.
Jerry Solfvin, PhD, is associate professor with the Center for Indic Studies at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in North Dartmouth, MA. His current research interests include Indian psychology, ways of knowing, and East-West approaches to science. He has long been interested in animal behavior studies, especially the human-dog relationship and hopes to someday complete a book on the topic.
Rhine Members $10:00 * Non-Members * $15.00
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Interested in Remote Viewing Practice?
The Rhine Research Center is considering sponsorship of a Remote Viewing Practice Group. This group would meet regularly at the Rhine Center to do outbounder and other types of Remote Viewing that involve interaction. It would not be necessary to be trained as a Remote Viewer or to follow a particular method to participate. If you are interested in practicing Remote Viewing as a part of a small group of viewers and / or have questions, please contact Benton Bogle by email at bbogle@triad.rr.com. Meetings for the group would be free of charge for RRC members, $10 for non-members.
Conference on Health, Mental Health
and Exceptional Human Experiences
website
hosted by Liverpool Hope University
September 7, 2009
Registration
Liverpool Hope University is an ecumenical university with a mission statement addressing the nurturing of mind, body and spirit. The psychology department also has an active parapsychology research group.
The objectives of the conference are as follows:
- To provide a forum for cross disciplinary discussion on the interaction between mind and body
- To provide a forum for cross disciplinary discussion on the overlap between exceptional human experiences and physical health/well being
- To provide a forum for cross disciplinary discussion on the overlap between exceptional human experiences and mental health/well being
- An opportunity for the development of greater insight and understanding of exceptional human experiences in an applied context.
Speakers at this event include the following: John Gruzelier, Isabel Clarke, Stefan Schmidt, Eberhard Bauer, Martina Belz, David Luke, Ian Tierney,
Christine Simmonds-Moore, Carl Williams, Diane Dutton, Nicola Holt and
Ginette Nachman.
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The Rhine Research Center's Website
www.Rhine.org
We're pleased to present our website, which offers a great variety of materials made available to the public including:
* Audio and Video material for Rhine Members
* Educational Articles
* Scientific Archives
* Historic information and photos of the Rhine
* Information on Upcoming Events and Programs
* Ongoing Research at the Rhine, including announcements of how you can participate
---Become a Member of the Rhine Research Center
and receive access to all of the media archives and discounts to events and items for sale.
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Thank You For Your Support of the Rhine Research Center!
More information online at www.Rhine.org
Rhine Research Center
2741 Campus Walk Avenue, Building #500
Durham, NC 27705
Check our website at www.rhine.org for more information and directions.
The Alex Tanous Foundation is very pleased to announce the recipient of its first Scholarship Award to Laura Lee Perkins.
The Board reviewed the applications for this years award and found that Mrs. Perkins outlined goals and missions toward her work to be aligned with the goals and missions of the Foundation. Therefore she was chosen to carry on this work and to provide her students with the gift of teaching.
Laura plans to use the Award to fund five weeks of classes for her Students in September and October. She teaches a Spiritual Development Class and the work is based on results, rather than on experimentation. Using their individual gifts, she presents unique situations for them to work on at home during the week, bringing their results back to the group the following week. There folks are experienced spiritual seeks who have each developed their own style of accessing Spirit.
Please check back for our Summer newsletter edition of "The Light"which will include more information on this and other upcoming events this year.
The International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies & Energy Medicine
19th ANNUAL CONFERENCE
Sacred Synthesis: Science with Heart
Community Sessions Feature:
Lynne McTaggart
Steve Levin
Rustum Roy
Claude Swanson
William Tiller
Mae Wan Ho
Richard Bartlett
Karl Maret
Puran & Susanna Bair
James Oschman
20 engaging elective choices a full day of pioneering scientific research. Passionate performances and professional panesl; New!! Member Choice Forum!
Plus
Powerful educational workshops:"Healing Touch Program level 1 training
Body Talk practitioner training
Plus
Explorations in Consciousness: A Morning with Deepak Chopra
June 26 - July 3, 2009: The Westin Westminster, CO
Register at: issseem.org student discounts, group rates and one day only rates
Bridging Science & Spirit: Indulge your sense of discovery * Enliven your spirit * Challenge your certainties * Reveal science as a sacred journey.....
Have You Had a Near-Death Experience?
As many of you know, our office mates in our building include IANDS, the International Association for Near-Death Studies, Inc. IANDS is embarking on a project which may lead to a television series about near death experiences and their impact on people's lives. They are looking for experiencers who would like to share their stories. We are passing this notice along to you as we believe that many of you may be interested!
IANDS is cooperating with a television production company on a possible TV series about near-death experiences and their impact on people's lives. We are inviting experiencers to consider participating.
The producers are interested in the following types of experience:
• NDE
• Near-death-like experiences
• Shared near-death experiences
• Distressing near-death experiences
• Out-of-body experiences (without other elements of an NDE)
• Tunnel experiences
• Angel experiences
• Light beings experiences
• Light experiences (without other elements of an NDE)
• Life review experiences
• Meetings with dead relatives
• After-death communication
• Apparitions
If you have had an experience like any of these--especially if your life has been strongly affected by it--and would like to have it considered as the basis for an episode, please let IANDS know (see below).
This is a preliminary request for experiences, as there is no guarantee that the series will be picked up for broadcasting. Your willingness to participate does not ensure that your experience will be included, as we cannot guarantee that it will be selected. The producers, not IANDS, will select the accounts they wish to use. If your experience is selected, there is no guarantee that you will appear on camera.
We will review all experience accounts that come to the office. Someone will notify you if the TV producer wants to talk with you. Please DO NOT call the IANDS office to check on your status. If the producer wants to talk with you, you will be notified; if you do not receive a message that the producer wants to talk with you, the producer has decided not to use your experience.
We will post an announcement on the IANDS website when we know whether the series has been picked up for broadcasting.
Here's how to send your experience for consideration:
Send us an email or letter, including these four things:
• your name, address, phone number, and email address if you have one
• a full description of your experience and its impact on your life
• a statement that you agree to having your experience considered for a TV show
• a statement that you agree not to submit your experience to any other TV show unless it is not selected by these producers
If you are using email, send to office@iands.org.
If you use regular mail, send the letter to:
IANDS
2741 Campus Walk Ave
Durham, NC 27705-8878
USA
Be sure to include the description of your experience.
The Alex Tanous Foundation for Scientific Research
Announces the 19th Annual Board of Director’s Meeting
The Board of Directors to the Alex Tanous Foundation for Scientific Research will meet on Saturday May 16, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. for the 19th Annual Board Meeting.
The meeting will be held in the conference room office at Maine Auto Radiator 14 Forrestal Street Lewiston, Maine.
If you have any questions, comments or would request a copy of the Agenda please contact the office at 207-773-8328 or alextanous@myfairpoint.net Also please update your mailing and e-mailing address with the Foundation so that you will receive our quarterly newsletters as well as other information. And please continue to check the Web Site’s Digital Library www.alextanous.org where material is being entered on a weekly basis. We wish you all a wonderful Spring and Summer.
Respectfully,
Alice R. Kelley, Research Assistant
Alex Tanous Foundation for Scientific Research
P.O. Box 3818
Portland, Maine 04104-3818
207-773-8328
www.alextanous.org
alextanous@myfairpoint.net
Windbridge Institute Study
The Windbridge Institute is in need of research volunteers for an online study. Participants in this study will be asked to visit a specific website and listen to a selection of different sounds (audio files). Participants will then be asked to complete an on-line survey with questions about what they heard. The study takes about an hour to complete.
More details are available at http://www.windbridge.org/study.html. Please use 'pubpara' as your participant code.
Parapsychological Association Convention 2009
52nd Annual Parapsychological Association Convention
Seattle, Washington
Thursday Aug 6, 2009 - Sunday Aug 9, 2009
CALL FOR PAPERS
TENTATIVE DETAILS
Program Chair: Dr John Palmer
Location: University of Washington
Arrangements Chair: Dr Leila Kozak
ABOUT SEATTLE WA.: http://www.visitseattle.org/visitors/
CAMPUS MAP: http://www.washington.edu/home/maps/
VIRTUAL CAMPUS TOUR: http://admit.washington.edu/Visit/Virtual
What's New?
We are continually looking at ways to improve our facilities and enhance the experience of our visitors—and we take your feedback seriously! One of many new initiatives is our commitment to making the Retreat Center as green and sustainable as possible, and for those values to inform our purchasing, upgrade, and other choices. Most recently, our two lovely chalets have received a fresh coat of paint—Wilderness Green. One now has a red door and one a black door, making it easier for you to distinguish between the different chalets. We've also improved the interiors of each dormitory by repainting each of the rooms and hallways and upgrading all sleeping rooms with new, organic, 100% cotton bedding, including natural-toned sheets, blanket, and duvet cover. Each bed now has two pillows plus an additional elegant accent pillow. We are also in the process of replacing mattresses, and so far have added 20 new ones from the Green Fusion Design Center. These are coil innerspring mattresses wrapped with organic cotton and pure wool.
What's Cooking?
The feedback we consistently receive is how much you enjoy and appreciate the Center's cuisine, and we often get requests for Chef Shannon's recipes (stay tuned!). Here are some of her favorite things to cook and the common ingredients she uses in her kitchen: Her staple ingredients are olive oil, garlic, leeks, olives, lemon, and salt (she believes that salt has healing properties). Her favorite breakfast consists of braised greens with poached eggs, lemon/saffron aioli, and roasted potatoes. A popular lunchtime choice is an eggplant sandwich with pickled beets, radishes, and a special marinara sauce. One of her favored dinner entrees is duck confit—a French dish made with the leg of the duck. These dishes epitomize the philosophy of "slow food," as Shannon has to begin preparing them the day before. This long but beautiful process results in a sumptuous and satisfying meal. Good quality ingredients have their own language; they can be so simple but can create the most delicious experiences!
Events
In March, the first of the Institute's new weekend workshops is launching with The Healer's Journey, presented by Lee Lipsenthal, M.D., and Cassandra Vieten, Ph.D. Lee is the founder of Finding Balance in a Medical Life. He has served as medical director of Lifestyle Advantage and HeartMath LLC as well as being vice president and medical director of The Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito California along with Dr. Dean Ornish. Cassandra is a licensed clinical psychologist, Associate Director of Research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, an associate scientist and co-director of the Mind-Body Medicine Research Group at California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute in San Francisco, and vice president of the Institute for Spirituality and Psychology. This program is designed to enhance the life and capacity of all people in the healing arts. This would include massage therapists, yoga teachers, psychologists, physicians, naturopaths, social workers, nutritionists, teachers, and nurses, as well as anyone interested in personal growth.
This and upcoming weekend workshops focusing on consciousness & transformation, integral health & healing, and wisdom teachings will also offer continuing education credits.
Please join us on Thursday, March 12, from 6-8 pm on campus here in Petaluma for the Retreat Center's Dinner Series, featuring dinner and guest speaker Dr. Lee Lipsenthal, who will talk about "The Healer's Journey." Dinner is $25, or $35 with wine. If you would like to attend, email lisavanderboom@noetic.org with "Lipsenthal IONS dinner reservation request" in the subject line. (You will then receive a reservation link.) Please make your reservation early if possible, and no later than Monday, March 9. We look forward to seeing you!
Art, Culture & Consciousness
The Lucid Arts Foundation, in collaboration with IONS and the Retreat Center, will be co-sponsoring art programs and showings at the Center and will curate several gallery showings each year. The first co-sponsorship is the current show, Realms of Being, featuring artist Jeremy Morgan, which can be seen in our gallery in the community building through March 31st. Our next show, featuring painter Fritz Rauh, will be up April 1 - May 31.
Community News
Here at the Retreat Center we feel fortunate to be the stewards of 200 beautiful acres of rolling hills in Marin County. As such, our sense of community extends beyond the staff, volunteers, interns, and thousands of visitors we host each year to the indigenous flora and fauna that grace us with their beauty. This winter we welcome a new addition to our community of friends and visitors—a residential staff of approximately 300 hungry sheep and goats, including some babies and pregnant moms, along with their Peruvian shepherd and sheep dogs! These environmentally-friendly grazers munch on weeds and brush surrounding our facilities, specifically the areas near buildings and roads. Such managed grazing provides much-needed natural firebreaks and sustainable fire protection. The hungry herd will also reduce invasive plants by eating their way through thick star thistle growth. This increasingly popular green approach eliminates the need for CO2-producing machines, expensive manual labor, planned burning, and pesticides—all the while supporting the Institute of Noetic Sciences' ecological sustainability goals. Initially funded by Board member Betsy Gordon, the service is provided by San Francisco-based Living Systems Land Management.
What You Say
"We have been bringing groups from 10 to 40 people to the IONS Retreat Center in Petaluma, every few months for the past two years and have found it to be a beautiful, inspiring experience. The staff are very competent and helpful, the food is always delicious and healthy, and the facilities clean and well-kept. Our members always have nice things to say about the retreats there, and we are looking forward to having them even more frequently in the future."
Jeff Rice, Director
Center for Wellness & Achievement in Education
Contact Us
Lisa VanderBoom 707.779.8224
lvanderboom@noetic.org
The Retreat Center at the Institute of Noetic Sciences
Located on 200 acres of beautiful rolling hills just 25 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, we offer meeting facilities, cuisine, and accommodations for 5-120. Our clients offer educational programs, workshops, and retreats, with a broad focus on health, personal growth, and transformation. We also welcome weekend workshops and retreats for small groups (fewer than 25). Many programs are open to the public.
The Institute of Noetic Sciences is a nonprofit membership organization located in Northern California that conducts and sponsors leading-edge research into the potentials and powers of consciousness—including perceptions, beliefs, attention, intention, and intuition. The Institute explores phenomena that do not necessarily fit conventional scientific models, while maintaining a commitment to scientific rigor.
www.noetic.org/retreat.cfm
101 San Antonio Road, Petaluma, CA 94952
Are Parapsychologists Living or Are they Dead? A Review of the Utrecht II Conference
by Renaud Evrard
The first International Congress of Parapsychology in Utrecht, Netherlands, was in 1953. That conference helped to advance the field and to professionalize researchers. In October 2008, the Parapsychology Foundation organized a second Utrecht conference as a tribute to that conference and an assessment of the field. It was titled Utrecht II: Charting the Future of Parapsychology. As shown in the program, the topics approached covered many aspects of the field.
The Parapsychology Foundation has published an extensive review of Utrecht II. We can thank all the team for the great organization during the four day conference. Attending the conference was a great opportunity, especially for students like me who are quite newcomers in the field, to be able to allowed so much time for informal discussions with researchers who, for the most part, were just virtual names or inaccessible celebrities like the Nobel Prize winner Brian Josephson.
However, this conference was not perfect. Here are my impressions:
- There wasn’t enough time for peer-debates. There were five minute discussion periods at the end of each presentation, and after three presentations, a 30 minute discussion period with the three lecturers on the scene. By contrast, the Euro-PA Congress of October 2007 in Paris privileged discussion (2/3) over presentation (1/3). This format allowed everyone to develop their ideas, criticisms and responses (especially for non-native English speakers who need time to exceed their shyness!).
- There was a high heterogeneity between lecturers, maybe because of cultural differences. Methodological requirements, theories, stances in regard to the authenticity of psi phenomena, and personal involvements were not the same from one researcher to the other. Does parapsychology really have a community? It seems that the backgrounds of the presenters were very different. The gap was particularly noticeable between native and non-native English speakers. PF did, however, a marvellous work when putting all these researchers together, since 1953!
- Another problem is that some of the lectures were too introductory. A few of the lectures could have been made at least by ten people present at the conference.
- Most of the presentations were retrospective assessments, rarely asking ardent questions assessing the future of the discipline. This palette of assessments drew a fragmented field, each wanting to pull the cover in his or her direction. Is it because parapsychology seems to attract so creative personalities as even this small group of researchers can’t conform itself to a common orientation?
- Maybe as a consequence of previous points, I left the congress without any impression that pragmatic decisions were taken. That’s a big difference with Utrecht I, where researchers formed committees to bring more organization to the field making that earlier conference, as Carlos Alvarado remarked in his review, “a milestone in the 20th-century history of the field, helping to shape the 50 years that followed.”
Are parapsychologists living or are they dead? That’s the question I asked myself after the conference, even though I just have seen in real life some well-known personalities in the field. But this question rose from a specific definition of the parapsychologist as the scientist who challenges the issue of the authenticity of psi phenomena. This was not the case of all the researchers present at the conference. Some of the current major contributors in experimental parapsychology (Radin, Sheldrake, Bierman, Bem, and Parker) were not there, and their absence induced a strange atmosphere.
The challenge of proof-oriented research is difficult, because of the pressures that researchers face both inside and outside the field. Only a small group of scientists produce the majority of empirical data. They are psi-conducive experimenters with the time and money to ask the question, “Does psi exist?” The undecidability of the question maintains the interest of both the public and researchers. But for most parapsychologists, this question is not asserted directly. These researchers cautiously work on surroundings topics such as psychological variables.. Some scientists have no doubt about reality of psi, but at the conference their assertions made me feel some embarrassment, as if they had crossed the line of the current consensus. Is the parapsychologist dead when he or she stops asking if psi exists?
This problem increases in complexity when we take a sociological perspective. There is the issue of personal experiences and beliefs. Can a parapsychologist bracket aside his or her own life experiences while doing research? The necessity of personal distance is a strong requirement in the sciences, but it seemed to me stronger in Europe than in America. During the conference, it was my impression that many of the non-European researchers had a more “psi is proven” attitude, with more self-disclosure on their personal beliefs and experiences. While more academic opportunities in parapsychology emerge in Europe as American institutions close down, the original stance of a pragmatic pro-psi attitude appears to be breaking up. The living parapsychologist must enter in a dissociative state. Two types of research have emerged, as if two trends living side by side.
As Deborah Delanoy pointed it in her invited address, there are pros and cons of doing research in private institutes versus the university setting. Financing, broadcasting, recognition, constraints, and perpetuity vary completely from one institution to another. For somebody who wants to make a living while doing research in parapsychology, it is better to be known for something else than successful proof-oriented psi research. Robert Morris’s legacy at Koestler Parapsychology Unit is an academic success with 27 PhD students, with 18 working currently in universities, but at what price? Psi phenomena are still far from proved. Only surrounding approaches, like studies of altered states of consciousness, paranormal beliefs, anomalous experiences and historical studies assure these academic positions. I wonder if certain properties of the paranormal entail inevitably the dissolution of its subversive reach when it penetrates into strongly structured and conformist circles (such as universities) as suggested in George Hansen’s Trickster theory (Hansen, 2001).
But the differences between private and academic institutions do not completely describe the reality. The private Institute of Border Areas of Psychology and Mental Hygiene in Germany is probably the most active in private parapsychological research. Its stance is, however, both careful and brave. It asks differently the question of the authenticity of psi phenomena by basing itself on theoretical models (such as Generalized Quantum Theory), which goes at the same moment farther and less far than the common representations. This model, where the psi is not a physical signal, allows the construction of a new field where psi receives a positive operational definition.
An exchange at the Utrecht II was very revealing of this aspect: in his lecture, Professor Harald Walach of the University of Northampton went so far as to say that parapsychology was dead, but Mario Varvoglis, president of the private Institut Métapsychique International in France, stated that if this model (GQT) of psi showed itself exact, it would be the death of one parapsychology, one view of psi accompanying one specific discourse. And it would be for that reason that parapsychologists still have a spark of life in the middle of a hostile world.
Hansen, G. (2001). The Trickster and the Paranormal. Philadelphia: Xlibris.
Renaud Evrard
Renaud Evrard is a French psychologist, preparing a Ph.D in clinical and differential aspects of exceptional experiences at the University of Rouen. He is an active member of the Student Group of Institut Métapsychique International since 2004, and a student affiliate of the Parapsychological Association since 2007. He co-founded in 2007 the Service for Orientation and Help of People with Exceptional Experiences (SOS-PSEE) in Paris.
Public Parapsychology welcomes guest reviewer, Rosemarie Pilkington in her first contribution to the site. Below is her review of Soul Shift: Finding Where the Dead Go, by Mark Ireland.
Mark Ireland is the son of the gifted psychic/medium Dr. Richard Ireland, who amazed and entertained thousands in churches, halls and on television with his prodigious gifts in the 1960’s through the 80’s. Although he was an entertainer, Dr. Ireland was also a minister who tried through his psychic demonstrations to spread the message, "there is no death and there are no dead."
Mark, although he learned much from his father, and absorbed I’m sure even more than he knew of his belief, didn’t discover his own inherited abilities until he had a premonition about the death of his son, Brandon. This tragic event led him to try to make contact with his son’s spirit, and in so doing, Mark became immersed in the world of mental mediumship. Soul Shift: Finding Where the Dead Go documents this journey
As with many others who have lost loved ones, Ireland embarked on a quest for the meaning of life and death. The unexpected demise of his son, and perhaps even more his precognitive sensing of the impending tragedy, changed his world view. He became more spiritual and desirous of contributing to the universe by developing his own latent powers.
Those who believe in survival after death will find much in Ireland’s interpretation of the phenomena he has experienced to support their belief. Although he says at one point that he still has doubts and expects readers to form their own conclusions (p. 173), his narrative is designed to convince us that human personality continues after death. In Soul Shift’s 200 pages, he spends merely half of one paragraph in a cursory nod to any other view (p. 147).
Ireland gives short shrift to those who contend that the information provided by psychics/mediums may be attributed to their own psychic abilities rather than communications from the dead. He dismisses this theory by stating, “super psi is a very elaborate concept, which appears nearly impossible to test” (p. 147). One might say the same, and many have, about the spirit hypothesis of course. Neither theory has ever been proven. Serious scholars and experimenters in psychical research have argued both the spirit and psi hypotheses for more than a century and are still no closer to agreement than they were when Charles Richet and Oliver Lodge argued each side in the 1920s.
By the way, I dislike the term “super-psi.” Psi is super. No one knows the range or limits of psychic ability or indeed if there are any limits.
Ireland’s father could read notes while completely blindfolded. He telepathically picked up names and gave accurate clairvoyant and precognitive information to strangers. (Films from some of his TV appearances may be found on You Tube). If he could pick up names of living friends and relatives, tell when babies would be born and what their sex was, or what moves or business ventures would profit the person he was ‘reading’, Ireland’s father could just as easily pick up information about their dead loved ones by using his psychic powers. As Richet would say, “there is no reason to suppose the intervention of the soul of a deceased person.” Because we don’t yet understand the mechanism of psi, how it works, and to what extent, we cannot assume that the information given by psychics/mediums is obtained from beyond.
I can understand Mr. Ireland’s need to believe his son is still with him and it’s also much simpler to accept at face value that the messages we receive are indeed from our loved ones and that we will meet them again some day. I would like to think he is right. I too have lost a child and it is a comforting thought.
Having said that, whether or not one subscribes to the survival theory there is much to ponder in this very readable work. Dr. Ireland’s brother was also psychically gifted, as are the author and his surviving son, which demonstrates that psychic talent may be inherited. There is also evidence that Brandon, whose untimely death prompted his father’s quest, was a spiritual and probably psychically talented person as well. But I found especially interesting the prodigious talent of Dr. Richard Ireland. His story is alone worth the price of the book and should be of interest to anyone learning about psychic ability.
Rosemarie Pilkington, Ph.D.
www.AreSpritisReal.com
Rosemarie is a writer, musician, and educator who holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Saybrook Graduate Institute in San Francisco. She is an associate member of the Parapsychology Association. In addition to writing many articles and book reviews on psychic phenomena, her latest book is The Spirit of Dr. Bindelof: The Enigma of Seance Phenomena, which focuses on one little known episode of physical mediumship. Gilbert Roller's utterly charming and disarming autobiographical account of a group of teenagers who experimented with seance phenomena and contacted an alleged spirit named Dr. Bindelof.
Research Participants Needed for Study on Eye Movements and the Precognition of Emotional Faces
Researchers at Liverpool Hope University in the UK are studying conscious and unconscious measures associated with the precognition of emotional faces. Prior to coming to the scheduled experimental session, you would be asked to complete a short personality questionnaire. At the experimental session, you would be seated in front of a computer screen and asked to take part in one or two calibration tests such that the Eyetracker equipment can accurately measure your eye movements during the experiment itself (this is non invasive and undertaken by simply watching some images appear on the screen in front of you).
When the experiment begins, you would take part in some practice trials prior to the start of the experimental session. During each trial, you would be asked to watch the screen as a series of seven randomly ordered emotional faces are presented to you. You do not have to do anything other than watch the screen (the eye tracker will be monitoring the way your eyes are processing each face).
The emotions that you will see reflect happy, neutral, sad, fear, anger, disgust and surprise the emotions. After you have seen all seven faces, you would be asked to make a choice as to which of the seven faces will be selected by the computer and appear in the future. You will do this by making a button press on the computer key pad.
Following your choice, you will receive feedback on whether you were correct or not (and see the face that was selected by the computer). You will take part in 35 “trials” after which time, the computer will give you feedback on your overall ESP performance.
This study takes around 30 minutes to complete!
Please contact Christine Simmonds-Moore on simmonc@hope.ac.uk or (0151) 291 2158 if you would like to take part in this study.
iShift: A monthly e-zine for concieous culture from the Institute of Noetic Science.
Stephen Dinan / The winds of change are blowing in the collective and at IONS! This month we made the exciting announcement that Marilyn Mandala Schlitz will be our new President and CEO, and that Cathy Coleman is the new Executive Director of the Retreat and Conference Center. We have also begun a strategic planning process that will focus IONS for the critical years ahead.
As part of this refocusing, iShift will itself undergo a shift this month, with a new identity as of February 1st and a new editor, since I will be transitioning from IONS staff and moving into a range of creative consulting opportunities while still playing an advisory role for IONS and hosting the new Shift in Action radio show (www.voiceamerica.com, 9 am Pacific every Tuesday starting Jan. 13th). It's been a wonderful adventure these last four years and I look forward to continuing to work with IONS in a new form. If you'd like to keep up with my latest writings and activities, send an email to stephendinan-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
These smaller shifts are part of all of us aligning with the global shift in culture and consciousness that we see on the horizon. Fostering this global shift will be the core theme of our International Conference next June 17-21 in Tucson, AZ, which is entitled Toward a Global Shift: Seeding the Field of Collective Change. The conference will feature a stellar roster of speakers such as Van Jones, Bruce Lipton, Chip Conley, Luisah Teish, Larry and Barbara Dossey, and Seane Corn, as well as innovative collaborative processes for groups. Registration is now live and the first 100 people to sign up receive a bonus CD from our new President! (more information)
Also, we're now announcing our exciting lineup of Transformational Learning Workshops in 2009, including luminaries such as Howard Martin, Fariba Bogzaran, Lee Lipsenthal, Ralph Metzner, Gay Luce and more. Our signature programs marry the best of IONS scientific inquiry with powerful practices for transformation. More details are below.
Finally, you can still sign up for the $1 trial membership of the Shift in Action program and receive our latest issue of Shift magazine as well as the book Living Deeply, written by IONS researchers; a practice CD from 11 transformational leaders; the acclaimed 2008 Shift Report; and all the offerings SIA members enjoy, including weekly live teleseminars and the largest web archives of consciousness content. Join now.
The Edge
In the spirit of the season, I wanted to share a remarkable story of generosity from IONS member Shana Chrystie, a Vice President of Operations at the travel company Geographic Expeditions. In December of 2007, Shana listened three times to a Shift in Action teleseminar with Jessica Flannery, the co-founder of Kiva.org.
Kiva.org builds a personal bridge of connection to entrepreneurs in countries such as Thailand or Uzbekistan, with lenders offering them a few hundred dollars to start small businesses. From this simple concept, Kiva has grown into an organization that has brokered $52M in loans from 383,000 lenders to 75,000 entrepreneurs in 42 developing countries.
This year at Christmas, Shana convinced her company to skip the usual designer chocolates holiday package to their top clients and instead to offer the "gift of giving" with $100 gifts to Kiva in each of their clients' names. Clients then could make a microloan to an entrepreneur of their choice in the developing world: a goat herder in Tajikistan, a seamstress in Uganda, a weaver in Bolivia - whoever inspires them the most. The effect was truly remarkable. (read the full story)
Newsworthy:
IONS will co-sponsor the Green Ball, which brings together sustainability and social change work on Martin Luther King Day (Jan. 19th) on the eve of Obama's Inauguration in DC.
Shift magazine featured in Folio: www.foliomag.com/2008/face-shift.
Media
Books
Global Shift: How a New Worldview is Transforming Humanity, by Edmund Bourne - We are very excited about the latest release from Noetic Books, which will be available in January! We like to think of this like an updated version of Willis Harman's seminal Global Mind Change, or an extended Shift Report. Global Shift offers a comprehensive look at how our consciousness and culture are evolving, as well as offering practical actions that we can all take. You can pre-order at Amazon.
WebWatch
I Take the Vow - a wonderful new site that emerged from the Alliance for a New Humanity conference in Barcelona in November. Make a personal vow of non-violence and enroll others in the pledge as well.
Second Life
Longtime IONS member, Niela Miller, has been in a virtual world called Second Life for a year now and would like to connect with other IONS members in SL who might be interested in a virtual IONS study group. She would like to facilitate discussions about creativity and consciousness using iShift videos that could be shown in her virtual AV studio. These sessions could also be open to SL denizens and provide a way for IONS to become better know. Please email her at nielam@comcast.net or IM her in SL under the name Marly Milena.
Shift in Action / Live Teleseminars
Teleseminar Spotlight
Wednesday, January 7th at 5pm Pacific - Matthew Gilbert with Hazel Henderson on "An Economic Vision for the New Administration"
Wednesday, January 14th at 5pm Pacific - Cassandra Vieten with Daniel Siegel on "The Neurobiology of Interconnection"
Wednesday, January 21st at 5pm Pacific - Marilyn Schlitz with Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey
Wednesday, January 28th at 5pm Pacific - Dean Radin with Diane Powell on "The ESP Enigma"
Join Shift in Action today to participate in these calls!
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Shift in Action Radio
Every Tuesday at 9 am Pacific live, rebroadcast at 9 pm Pacific on VoiceAmerica
Our new Shift in Action radio show is a free Internet broadcast that showcases the voices of an emerging conscious culture. Our weekly show gives you access to some of the most inspiring leaders, brightest minds, and top innovators who are committed to building a better world. It's a great way to introduce your friends to the work of IONS! Our schedule for the next three months includes:
Jan. 13th - Van Jones - Green for All
Jan. 20th - TBA
Jan. 27th - Aqeela Sherrills - Reverence Movement
Feb. 3rd - Barbara Marx Hubbard - Synergistic Democracy
Feb. 10th - Andrew Harvey - Evolutionary Mysticism and the Birth of the Divine Human
Feb. 17th - Shiva Rea - The Evolutionary Edge of Yoga
Feb. 24th - Sadhguru - Spirituality, a Living Process
Mar. 3rd - Dean Radin - Entangled Minds
Mar. 10th - Edgar Mitchell - Consciousness Science
Mar. 17th - TBA
Mar. 24th - Stanislav Grof - The Future of Psychology
Mar. 31st - Deepak Chopra - Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul
Shift in Action / Recent Releases
Free samples from the Shift in Action program
Shift in Action audio highlights
Great Shift audio highlights
Transcripts
Join Shift in Action today!
Shift Magazine
Our Fall Issue. Join now to receive!
Table of Contents
Consciousness and Healing
The Everyday Miracle of Healing: A Profile of Mother Maya
by Catherine Elliott Escobedo
Sri Swamini Mayatitananda survived cancer (and the fashion industry) to become an expert in Ayurveda. At the heart of her health model is the recognition that "each of us has an immutable spirit that can transcend every challenge." The path to connecting with that spirit lies in cultivating our inner awareness.
Extended Human Capacities
Exploring Consciousness with David Hawkins
Interview by Pamela Becker
Psychiatrist David Hawkins, author of Power vs. Force, uses behavioral kinesiology to test the "objective truth" of any statement and ultimately to map human consciousness. He has attracted a large audience of people intrigued by his work and has sparked debate among scientists who challenge both the technique and his application of it.
Emerging Worldviews
The Enduring Enigma of the UFO
by Dean Radin
Despite significant evidence that something unusual has been going on in the skies above planet Earth, serious investigation remains taboo. The result: Far more questions than answers. Like psi phenomenon, the topic of UFOs provides a litmus test for what we think we know-or want to.
Transformation
A World in Transition
by Edmund J. Bourne
With global civilization in the throes of transition, our guiding values and assumptions about reality are in flux. In this excerpt from Global Shift, the latest title from Noetic Books, Bourne describes both the conceptual and the practical themes that characterize these fundamental changes. Also featured is an excerpt about inclusive politics, "The Noah Principles," from Van Jones's best-selling book, The Green Collar Economy.
Transformative Learning Workshops
Expand your mind, open your heart, and activate your full potential with
IONS 2009 Transformative Learning Workshops
March 27-29, 2009
The healer's journey: Enhance your healing practice, increase joy, and reconnect with your life purpose
Lee Lipsenthal, MD, ABIHM and Cassandra Vieten, PhD
April 17-19, 2009
Extraordinary dreams: Work creatively with dreams in your life and practice
Fariba Bogzaran, PhD and guest speaker Stanley Krippner, PhD
April 24-26, 2009
Creating personal and global coherence: Skills and practices to assist your journey toward wholeness and global transformation
Howard Martin, HeartMath
May 22-24, 2009
Alchemical divination: Remembering the past, envisioning possible futures
Ralph Metzner, PhD
August 14-17, 2009
Nine Gates Mystery School weekend: Explore the teachings of ancient wisdom
Gay Luce, PhD and Deborah Jones, MA
We invite you to join us for:
Inspired learning
Meaningful connections
Sacred sanctuary
Eye-opening discernment
Full body nourishment
Visit www.noetic.org to register online or for more information email workshops@noetic.org or call 707-775-3500.
Donor Spotlight
When you invest as an IONS Circle member you help support a powerful shift in consciousness Circle members enjoy many special benefits, such as these excursions. Please note that some details have recently changed.
See the launch of Shuttle Discovery with Edgar Mitchell at Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida - February 11 to 14, 2009
Enjoy backstage tours, VIP launch viewing, and inspired dialogues. The invitation to join this trip is a benefit for Founder’s Circle members ($10,000 annual membership level and above).
Journey to South India with Shantum Seth - January 28 to February 15, 2009
Savor new cultures, explore sacred historical sites, and visit hands-on service initiatives with other Circle members. The invitation to join this trip is a benefit for Circle members ($1,000 annual membership level and above). Enrollment limited to 15.
For more information about the trips and if you would like to learn more about the benefits of Circle membership, contact Deborah Breitbach at 707-779-8216.
Monthly Intention
January Intention:
At the beginning of each month, we encourage you to take a quiet moment to link your intention with people around the world.
This month our shared intention is for clarity about how each of us can best serve collective evolution.
January Action:
This month, we encourage you to think about what your unique contribution is to the collective shift ahead, and then to take specific actions that reflect your commitment to that contribution.
IONS 13th International Conference
Toward a Global Shift: Seeding the Field of Collective Change
June 17-21, 2009
With Pre- and Post-Conference Institutes on June 16 and 22.
JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort
Tucson, Arizona
Registration now open at www.noetic.org! Watch our conference highlight video as well.
Toward a Global Shift is calling forth wisdom from the four corners of the Earth and from diverse sectors of society to build a powerful field for positive collective change. Together, we will create a living experiment in personal, social and global transformation.
Featuring: Group research experiments, eye-opening presentations, passionate performances, powerful personal experiences, deep inquiry, music, laughter, and more.
This month's featured presenter:
Bruce Lipton: pioneer in epigenetics; author, Biology of Belief (full bio)
"I'm in a steady state of buzz from the conference. It broke my heart wide open. It was the best experience of my life." - Harold Aldrich, previous participant
Retreat Center Spotlight
Host Your Event At the IONS Retreat Center In Northern California
Offering meeting facilities and accommodations for day-use and overnight retreats from 5 - 120 people. Located just 25 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge, on 200 acres of beautiful rolling hills.
Clients are educational providers and professional practitioners offering their own retreats or conferences at the Center with a focus on health, personal growth, and transformation. We also welcome weekend retreats for small groups.
Get involved in the emerging movement of globally conscious citizens and explore hosting your events with us or attending a retreat. View complete schedule of events or call us at 707-779-3500.
Partner Spotlight
What is Enlightenment? magazine has become EnlightenNext!
When you read EnlightenNext magazine, you'll discover new ways of thinking about your place in the cosmos and humanity's collective future. Each page contains penetrating insight that can transform your perspective on everything from business and politics to spirituality and cultural change. And for a very limited time, they're giving away a free digital issue. Click here to get your free issue now.
Sign up here to receive iShift!
All IONS Partners
Check out these great organizations that support IONS through our Partnership Program.
Silver Partners:
Nine Gates Mystery School
Prayers for a peaceful world
The Monroe Institute
Bronze Partners:
The International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine
NativeEnergy
Institute of Transpersonal Psychology
Big Mind
IONS Retreat Center Events
Petaluma, California
Metzner Alchemical Divination Training
February 1-6, 2009
Ralph Metzner's Alchemical Divination® training is offered in three 5-day modular workshops that can be taken in any sequence. In these workshops, participants will experience the divinations for themselves as well as light-fire purifying energy meditations (Agni Yoga). Participants will practice guiding others with them in dyads and small groups.
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Gathering in Gratefulness
February 20-22, 2009
This weekend--led by Br. David Steindl-Rast, Roshi Joan Halifax, and Tessa Bielecki--will allow you to explore the practice of grateful living--the ethics behind a sustainable global community--and will give you an opportunity to learn about A Network for Grateful Living (ANG*L). ANG*L's labor of love touches lives in more than 240 countries.
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Regression Therapy Intensive Training
March 16-20, 2009
Regression therapy is based upon the premise that understanding the past can help clarify the present and build the future. The wisdom of the ancient healing tool of hypnosis can be utilized to help people learn the origins of current life situations or difficulties. It can be used to alleviate or eliminate many kinds of emotional and physical problems as well as undesired behaviors. Most importantly, this therapy can improve the quality of everyday life.
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Creative Memories Scrapbooking Weekend
March 20-22, 2009
Celebrate and preserve your memories into treasured keepsakes--your life, your story, your way. Felicia will show you how with top quality photo albums and organizing products.
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Two Week Intensive in Advanced Shamanic Healing with Michael Harner
March 23-April 3, 2009
A variety of advanced methods are practiced in this residential program, including extraction healing, soul retrieval, psychopomp work, divination, and work with the spirits of nature. There will also be work that is not included in FSS weekend workshops, such as selected advanced healing methods, the dream dance, explorations, and initiatory experiences.
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International Post-Graduate Medical Training in Anthroposophic Medicine
May 8-15, 2009
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Skan-Reichian Therapy - 'Exploring the Body of Emotions' Weekend Workshop
May 15-17, 2009
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Special Events
Living Deeply Talk/Q&A
January 27, 2008
Sebastopol, California
We're sorry; this event has been cancelled.
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Journey to South India with IONS
January 28-February 15, 2009
South India
Join IONS and guide Shantum Seth on a journey to the ancient land of India at this time of global shift and transformation. This is a special opportunity for Circle members ($1,000 and above annual membership level).
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Space Shuttle Launch Trip with Edgar Mitchell
February 11-14, 2009
Cape Canaveral, Florida
Visit the Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, Florida, to witness the launch of Shuttle Discovery with IONS Founder and Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell. The invitation to join this trip is a benefit for IONS Founder's Circle members ($10,000 and above annual membership level).
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Living Deeply Signature Education Workshop
May 1-2, 2009
Cleveland, Ohio
with Marilyn Schlitz & Cassandra Vieten
Opportunities to actively engage in your own transformation and that of our world are woven into the fabric of your everyday life. Learning more about the terrain of consciousness transformation can not only give you a map, but can help you become the cartographer of your own transformative journey.
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Other Event Listings
CIIS
Conference Alerts
Friendly Favors
Naropa University
Omega Institute
Products Spotlight
VISIT THE BLEEPSTORE Information • Community • Networking
At Bleepstore.com you can find inspiring, enlightening, and intriguing books, music, videos and more. PLUS there are monthly articles online about the latest in
Consciousness studies • Science • Green living • Alternative health • Conscious parenting
There are also articles and book and movie reviews from The Bleeping Herald as well as The Global Intelligence.
January Question for Reflection:
If you only had one year to live, what contribution would you most want to make to collective change work? What would it take for you to act on that contribution now?
If you would like to offer an intention for next month, please send it here.
Katherine Fair Donnelly
Katherine, one of Dr. Tanous' very close friend and colleuge has written nine books as well as articles for various magazines and periodicals. She co-authored the column entitled RECOVERING FROM GRIEF, which appeared regularly for seven years in The Dallas Morning News and other newspapers throughout the country.
In recognition of their work in this field, Donnelly and her co-author of the Recovering From Grief column, Judith Haimes, were featured in PEOPLE Magazine and on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. They have also appeared on innumerable national and local television programs.
Ms. Donnelly has lectured extensively throughout the United States and Canada to colleges and universities in an educational outreach program.
She has worked closely with mutual support groups for bereaved families, social workers, psychologists, teachers, and all those in the care- giving profession.
Her late husband, John H. Donnelly, was also a writer and co-author with Katherine Donnelly of the mystery entitled, The Secret of the Crystal Skull, [Published by iUniverse.com. ISBN # 0595-17021-8]. Donnelly resides in Texas.
Contact Information
General Information: kfdonnelly@juno.com
Grief Column: recovering-grief@juno.com
Participants Needed for Online Study at APRU
The Anomalistic Psychology Research Until at Goldmiths College is currently collecting date online for a study investigating the possible relationships between handedness, cerain personlaity factors, anomalous experiences and paranormal belief. If you could spare around 20 minutes to complete four questionnaires relating to the above (plus a few demographic questions), the APRU will be eternally grateful. More deatils and a link to the actual questionnaires can be found at:
http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/apru/handedness.php.
IN NEW YORK CITY FROM THE PARAPSYCHOLOGY FOUNDATION!
THE 2008 EILEEN J. GARRETT LIBRARY FELLOW WIM KRAMER from Holland recently returned to the Netherlands after a week with the Foundation staff at the Foundation's library in Greenport, New York at the end of February. Mr.
Kramer spent his week-long residency continuing his research into the
history of parapsychology in Holland. His current focus is on the life and
work of the late Professor W. H. C. Tenhaeff who was active in
parapsychology for sixty years. Upon his death, Tenhaeff's staff destroyed
his files, making the job of a biographer extremely difficult. Kramer has
shown great ingenuity in reconstructing Tenhaeff's life history. For more
information on the Library Fellowship and Mr. Kramer and his work go to:
http://www.parapsychology.org/dynamic/030000.html
A NEW SURVEY is being conducted by Parapsychology Foundation Staff Members, Drs. Carlos S. Alvarado and Nancy L. Zingrone. They would like to invite everyone to take part. The study focuses on a variety of experiences folks may have had in their daily lives. Your answers, whether they are positive or negative, will contribute to understanding these experiences. To take the survey go to the following website:
http://www.studyofhumanexperiences.org.
DO YOU HAVE PREMONITIONS? The Psychic Explorers Club Website is hosting a premonitions registry. To learn more about submitting your premonitions go to the following page: http://www.psychicexplorers.org/premonition.html
WOULD YOU LIKE TO DONATE TO THE FOUNDATION'S PROGRAMS? Don't forget the Foundation's on-line store, http://www.psi-mart.com. Proceeds from the sales of our publications, videos and CDs help support the Foundation's grants and library. And you can also donate to the PF by shopping on www.igive.com by logging on, filling out the membership form, choosing the Parapsychology Foundation as your charity, and then shopping at any one of the more than 300 well-known stores in the Igive.com Internet Mall. For every purchase you make, a percentage of your payment will be donated to the Parapsychology Foundation, thus supporting our grants, scholarships, awards, events, the Eileen J. Garrett Library and all our other programs!
All your favorite stores are included, among them: The Gap, Barnes & Noble,
Amazon (US and UK), Borders, ProFlowers, J. C. Penneys, The Sharper Image, Walmart, Payless, Domestications, Spiegel's, K-Mart, Dell, Office Max, Staples (US and UK) eBay, BestBuy, Circuit City, Coldwater Creek and lots and lots and lots more! What better way to help support the Foundation's many programs and grants when you can shop at
the same time!
MORE NEWS IS ALWAYS AVAILABLE ON "BREAKING NEWS" on the Foundation's main website. Click on the website address:
http://www.parapsychology.org/dynamic/050100.html
The Spiritual Envoy
A weekly program whose focus is crossing and bridging the "spiritual divide" to find common ground, inclusivity and civility among varying schools of spiritual thought and practice.
The host of the show, Eva Ravenwood invited Alice Kelley of the Alex Tanous Foundation for Scientific Research to her show on January 29, 2008.
Alice is the Administrative Director of the Foundation for the past 15 years. She talked about the work of the Alex Tanous Foundation, the famed scholar and psychic who left a collection of work to further research the fields of psychic and creative development. Click here to listen to the show
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thespiritualenvoy/2008/01/29/The-Spiritual-Envoy-Alice-Kelley-of-the-Alex-Tanous-Foundation and to learn more about the host, Eva Ravenwood and her work go to www.evaravenwood.com
Hello! I have recently joined ASD although I have been dreaming for
lifetimes and learning how to interpret dreams for 30 years this lifetime!
I am a student and teacher with the School of Metaphysics, a not-for-profit
educational and service organization in the United States.
We are conducting a research project to study the effect the moon has on our
dreams. We want as broad a spectrum of people as possible, to explore how
the full moon and the new moon influence dreams. This year there is a
unique sequence of events: a full moon, a new moon on a solar eclipse day,
and eclipsed full moon and a new moon occurring one after another within 48
days. We are asking people to remember and record their dreams on those
days so we can study the influences.
Would you like to participate? The study begins on January 21st and we need
participants to register in advance, to receive instructions and to send
demographic data. You can register at experiment@dreamschool.org and can
learn more at www.dreamschool.org. I am also pasting at the end of this
email a press release with more information about the study.
I've submitted a proposal to present the results of this research at the ASD
Conference in Montreal.
People throughout history have noted the effect of the moon as it relates to
imbalance, such as "lunacy" and increase in crime during times of full and
new moon.
Perhaps we can add more wholistic knowledge about how the moon influences
intuition, lucid dreaming, and other dreamstates...
Hope to meet you in Montreal in July!
Happy dreaming,
Dr. Laurel Clark
School of Metaphysics
www.som.org
www.dreamschool.org
417-345-8411
What effect does the moon have on our dreams?
This is the question a team of researchers at the College of Metaphysics
will be seeking to answer in the next two months as the positioning of the
earth, moon, and the sun move through a sequence rarely seen in human
history. Within 48 days, we will experience a full moon, a new moon on a
solar eclipse day, an
eclipsed full moon, and a new moon.
"Our task is to receive, tabulate and analyze records of dream activity on
each of these days," says project creator Barbara Condron. "Physical
science is exploring what females have known for millennia -- that the pull
of the earth's moon affects our biological cycles. The data we collect in
the next three months will open dialogue on the moon's effect
on the consciousness we call dreaming."
Condron and others have been researching the field of dreams for 40 years
through classes and seminars sponsored by the School of Metaphysics, a
not-for-profit 501(c)(3) educational institute devoted to the exploration
and development of mental technology. Ten years ago www.dreamschool.org
opened the research to a worldwide audience with a steady stream of dreamers
reporting their personal night time
movies.
"Every day we receive dreams for analysis and interpretation," Condron says.
"They come from across the U.S., of course, and they can come from Germany,
Australia, Nigeria, even Vietnam. The internet enables us to verify a
longstanding hypothesis: Homo Sapiens dream, in every country, in every
culture.
Collecting these dreams gives us a unique window into the nature of
humankind's consciousness that some call soul.
"Through our Global Lucid Dreaming Experiments we hope to advance scientific
knowledge and awareness of consciousness,"? Condron says. Her documentary
TEN POWERS OF DREAMING details how individuals' dreams -- from scientists
and artists to inventors and warriors
-- often find a place in our everyday lives. "From the Periodic Table of
Elements to Gandhi's nonviolent resistance to British colonization to Mary
Shelley's Frankenstein, dreams have helped shape the course of human history
and it's time we understand how and why."
School of Metaphysics
2606 Oakview Terrace
Maplewood, MO 63143
314-645-0036
sommaplewood@yahoo.com
World Headquarters website: http://www.som.org
Although dreams of the future have been reported for thousands of years, the first in-depth research project on this topic was designed by Montague Ullman, MD, in the 1960s and directed by Stanley Krippner, PhD. The program, located at the Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, lasted for a decade and stimulated attempted replications, which continue today. The results of this research endeavor yielded over one hundred articles, published in psychological, psychiatric, and parapsychological journals, and a book, Dream Telepathy, now in its third edition. Dr. Krippner will describe the history of this research program, the results of the investigation, and its implications for clinical psychology and for psychotherapy, as well as practical advice for people claiming to have precognitive, telepathic, and clairvoyant dreams. His lecture will include several anecdotes about participants in the program including Eileen Garrett, Malcolm Bessent, and Robert Van de Castle.
Since1973 Dr. Krippner has been on the faculty of Saybrook Graduate School, holds faculty positions in Brazil and Mexico, and has lectured and published extensively on personal mythology, dreams, hypnosis, and/or anomalous phenomena in many countries around the world. He is the recipient of many awards, probably the most prestigious being the APA Award for Outstanding Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology, 2002. Read more about Dr, Krippner's research at www.stanleykrippner.com.
Seeking Research Participants: Spiritual Emergence and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. If you have had experiences of a spiritual or mystical nature, while also suffering from a past trauma, you may meet the criteria to be interviewed for a dissertation research project . This project is being conducted by Audrey Lehmann, MA, at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Please contact Audrey Lehmann, Licensed Marriage Family Therapist at the following email. For more information:
Contact Audrey: AudreyLehmannMFT@gmail.com
Overview of dissertation: http://spiritual-emergence-ptsd.blogspot.com/
Telepathy EEG Correlations in Distantly Located Participants
Have you ever picked up the phone and knew it was your sister?
Or you dreamed something and it really happened like that afterwards?
In a recent survey, 45% of those who responded said that they had personal experience of telepathic communication. However, research over the last 70 years has provided enough evidence to convince some scientists that phenomena such as telepathy and clairvoyance do exist and may be occurring some of the time throughout the general population.
Within their study about the measurement of EEG correlations in distantly located participants, researchers in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Northampton are looking for emotionally strongly-connected pairs of subjects (e.g. best friends, couples, twins, mother & daugher, father & grandfather) 18 years and older to participate.
This study will be conducted by Ursula Mochty, Dr. Thilo Hinterberger and Professor Harald Walach at the University of Northampton/UK in cooperation with Devi Erath and Dr. Stefan Schmidt at University clinic Freiburg/Germany.
This experiment will use EEG and skin conductance recordings to test for possible evidence of unconscious telepathy between a visually stimulated and non-stimulated person. The EEG recordings will take place in the laboratory in Northampton, England and in Freiburg, Germany at the same time. The stimulated participant will be trying to send information to their partner about their reaction to images that s/he is seeing, while both are in separate locations. The experiment will take place on one day and will last for about 4 hours. You will be fully reimbursed for your time and we will pay for all travel expenses.
If interested please contact:
Ursula Mochty, Dipl.Psych., MA
Psychology Division
University of Northampton
Park Campus
Boughton Green Road
NN2 7AL
Northampton
Tel: 0044 – 1604 – 89 - 2377 oder 2486
e-Mail: telepathy.NH@googlemail.com
CERTIFICATE IN PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES
HCH Institute, Lafayette, CA
Parapsychologist Loyd Auerbach has teamed up with HCH Institute in Lafayette, CA to present a Certificate Course in Parapsychological Studies!!! This course is registered with the California Bureau of Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education is approved for CE Units for MFTs, LCSWs and RNs.
Parapsychological Studies: The Study of Psychic Phenomena ( the Basics)
Contrary to what so many believe, the field of Parapsychology studies much more than ghosts and hauntings. Parapsychologists are generally not very psychic (and psychics are rarely parapsychologists). Parapsychology is not "paranormal psychology." So, what’s the field all about? Just who are the parapsychologists and what do they do?
This 60 hour course series is an overview to the field of Parapsychology, and the main areas of research and investigation: ESP, PsychoKinesis (mind over matter), and Survival of Bodily Death. Included will be a general discussion of where the field came from, where the major centers of research are today, and where the field might be headed. Students will have an opportunity to review some of the basic research in the field and to apply the theories and applications to their current helping profession or to pursue parapsychological field investigations on their own.
All courses may be taken individually for Continuing Education Credit or just for fun!
The program and course descriptions, schedule of classes, and costs can be found at: http://www.hypnotherapytraining.com/parapsych.cfm
Course titles are:
Introduction to Parapsychology
PK & Precognition: Mind, Matter & Time
Being Psychic
The Search for Life After Death
Theories and Models of Psychic Experience: How It Might Work
Parapsychology: The Cross-Over Science
Ghost Hunting: How to Investigate the Paranormal
This is a basic certificate program -- in the foundations of Parapsychology. If this is successful, we plan to expand the program to a more extensive group of classes (and higher level of state certification).
Finally, we have audio-recorded the classes, so the courses -- and certification -- can be offered to Distance Learners and for those wanting to finish up sooner! Classes are also available Live via Telephone. See BELOW.
Classes are held at HCH Institute, 3702 Mt Diablo Blvd Lafayette, California 94549 For more info on course content, contact Loyd Auerbach at esper@california.com or 925-518-4071.
For more info from HCH or to register: 925-283-3941 (Tues - Fri, 10 AM - 4 PM) or email: Info@hypnotherapytraining.com
------------------------------------------------------
Distance Learning
CERTIFICATE IN PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL STUDIES
HCH Institute, Lafayette, CA
Parapsychological Studies: The Study of Psychic Phenomena ( the Basics)
The Certificate program or individual classes may be taken via a distance learning option. All courses have been audio-taped, live. This includes lectures, discussion and questions/answers between students and the instructor.
To participate in the distance learning option for the certification program, students pay full tuition and fees. Students receive all course CDs (mp3 format of class recordings), handouts, required books, and additional materials. Individual courses are available without entering the program.
In addition, distance learning students will be scheduled for a one to two hour tele-class (via telephone) with the instructor per course. Longer courses get two hours, shorter classes get one hour. In this way, students will still be able to interact and ask questions of the instructor without having to be in the classroom. Naturally, students may interact via email as well.
Distance learning students are invited to participate by conference call (via an in-classroom speakerphone) in the class sessions as they are held at HCH (generally Thursday evenings from 6:30 - 9:30 PM Pacific time). This is not a requirement for certification however.
For each certificate-related course, attending the additional tele-classes and interacting with the instructor will ensure the material has been understood by the students.
Distance-learning students completing the entire program will be entitled to the same Certificate received by local students attending in-person.
COURSE CDs ONLY
CDs of each of the classes will also be made available at a reduced price for those people who simply want the information, and do not want to participate in the Certificate program, tele-classes or “attend” classes by conference call.
See the HCH website at www.hypnotherapytraining.com/parapsych.cfm for information on pricing for individual classes, with (full price) or without (generally half price) participation.
Besides the above listed curriculum, additional classes as they occur will also be available in mp3 format on CD.
The International Association for the Study of Dreams
Business Office: MON-THUR
Richard Wilkerson
1672 University Avenue Berkeley, CA 94703
phone/fax: 1-209-724-0889
Web: www.asdreams.org
e-mail: office@asdreams.org
The International Association for the Study of Dreams is a non-profit, international, multidisciplinary organization dedicated to the pure and applied investigation of dreams and dreaming. Our purposes are to promote an awareness and appreciation of dreams in both professional and public arenas; to encourage research into the nature, function, and significance of dreaming; to advance the application of the study of dreams; and to provide a forum for the eclectic and interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and information.
Eileen J. Garrett's AWARENESS in print again! PF goes to Book Expo!
Literally hot off the presses! The Parapsychology Foundation has published
a new edition of Eileen J. Garrett's classic AWARENESS with contributions
before and after the book by the late Exceptional Human Experiences
theorist Rhea A. White and by the Foundation's Executive Director, Mrs.
Garrett's grand-daughter, Lisette Coly. In AWARENESS, Mrs. Garrett
thoughtfully considered her psychic abilities, what they were, how they
worked and what they implied about consciousness. A must read for psychics
and mediums, and for students, teachers and researchers of psychic
functioning. A DVD Audio book version is in production with its
availability to be announced. The new paperback version is available on
Psi-Mart by clicking on this page:
http://www.psi-mart.com/details.php?IdArt=391
The Parapsychology Foundation is now making a selected list of its titles
available to bookstores and book wholesalers through the AtlasBooks program
of our distributor, Bookmasters, Inc. Now you'll be able to get Helix Press
books, ADVENTURES IN THE SUPERNORMAL and AWARENESS by Eileen J. Garrett and
INVESTIGATING THE PARANORMAL by Tony Cornell; all the titles in our
"Primers in Parapsychology" pamphlet series among them GETTING STARTED IN
PARAPSYCHOLOGY by Carlos S. Alvarado; and a selection of our best-selling
proceedings in your local bookstore! To kick off the new program,
Bookmasters has taken our books and brochures to the annual international
convention for the book industry, BOOKEXPO, which opens to the public
tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City
and continues on through Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. For more information
on BookExpo go to the following page:
http://bookexpoamerica.com/App/homepage.cfm?moduleid=42&appname=288
Today was the deadline for the Eileen J. Garrett Summer Library Fellowship.
The Committee met just after 5:00 p.m. and chose PF International
Affiliate, Greek physicist Dr. Fotini Pallikari as this summer's Library
Fellow. Dr. Pallikari has been working on the papers of Greek naval hero,
physician and psychical researcher Admiral Angelos Tanagras and will be
using her week in Greenport to make copies of materials available by and
about Tanagras in our archives. Congratulations to Dr. Pallikari!
For those interested in Tanagras' work, the Foundation published his
monograph entitled "Psychophysical Elements in Parapsychological
Traditions" in 1967. It is available for sale by going to the following Web Site:
page: http://www.psi-mart.com/details.php?Id=&IdArt=47
******************************************************
THE PARAPSYCHOLOGY FOUNDATION is a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to
the scientific study of psychic phenomena.
www.parapsychology.org
www.pflyceum.org
www.psychicexplorers.org
www.psi-mart.com
Sweet Dreams -
The International Association for the Study of Dreams Launched a New Weekly Radio Program on Dreams in February 2007.
San Francisco, CA - The International Association for the Study of Dreams in conjunction with the DreamScience foundation, is launching a weekly live Internet Radio program on Dreams and Dreaming called DREAMTIME. This new show will focus on IASD’s support of dream studies and dreamwork. Bob Hoss, IASD Past President and Executive Officer will host this hour-long show. DreamTime will air live on the VoiceAmerica™ Health & Wellness Channel every Wednesday at 9AM PST with an encore broadcast at 9PM PST.
According to Bob Hoss, “The show is designed to be educational as well as entertaining. It is theme based, and includes dream experts from the IASD organization. The weekly radio show format will include guest interviews along with the opportunity for listener’s to call-in or e-mail questions.”
Beginning February 14, 2007 and broadcasting each Wednesday at 9AM PST / 12PM EST, “Dream Time” with Bob Hoss on the VoiceAmerica Health & Wellness Channel will air live, with a rebroadcast 12 hours later. All past shows will be available on demand and podcast ready. The internet radio program is available to Internet users worldwide from the IASD, (www.asdreams.org), Dream Science Foundation (www.dreamscience.org/idx_radio.htm) or the VoiceAmerica Health & Wellness Channel (www.health.voiceamerica.com ) - periodically check the IASD site for updates to the weekly programs.
PROGRAM SCHEDULE:
2-May Working in Dream Groups - Jeremy Taylor, Bob Haden
9-May Closing Show
ABOUT IASD:
IASD is a nonprofit, international, multidisciplinary organization dedicated to the pure and applied investigation of dreams and dreaming. Its purpose is to promote an awareness and appreciation of dreams in both professional and public arenas; to encourage research into the nature, function, and significance of dreaming; to advance the application of the study of dreams; and to provide a forum for the eclectic and interdisciplinary exchange of ideas and information. IASD is open to anyone who studies, explores, or works with dreams. Membership represents about 30 countries and people from all disciplines. For more information visit: http://www.asdreams.org.
ABOUT Modavox:
Modavox, Inc. (www.modavox.com) is a pioneer in internet broadcasting, producing and syndicating online audio and video, and offering innovative, effective and comprehensive online tools for reaching targeted niche communities worldwide. Modavox is the leading producer and distributor of online, talk radio content, streaming approximately 250 hours of live programs and scheduled replays weekly on its Modavox VoiceAmerica™ Network (www.voiceamerica.com) and the 7th Wave Network (www.7thwavenetwork.com). Through its patented Modavox Central™ technology, Modavox "takes the search out of search," delivering content straight to desktops and internet-enabled devices. Through its proprietary StreamSafe™, WebcastWizard™ and Stream Syndicate™ tools, Modavox provides managed access for live and on-demand internet broadcasting and syndication; content management; and online meeting, event management, enterprise communications and distance learning.
Online Survey of Paranormal Experiences
Rosemary Breen, a Master of Education (Research) candidate in the Department of Education at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, is conducting an online survey of the paranormal. "Paranormal" is defined as experiences that cannot be explained using the current laws of science. These events include premonitions, out-of-body and near-death episodes, telepathy and apparitions.
This survey is not about beliefs. It is about what people ARE and are NOT experiencing. The survey is open to anyone 18 years of age or older, regardless of whether they have or have not experienced the paranormal. The survey is anonymous and will take only five to ten minutes to complete.
Please go to www.rhine.org to participate!
From the Editor: Stephen Dinan
The unifying theme for this month's iShift is peace. Given our long history of warfare, humankind faces a real challenge to move beyond using violence to resolve conflicts. To create a truly sustainable civilization, we will need to meet this challenge and establish a new baseline for behavior that is grounded in principles of peace. The challenge is at once psychological, political, spiritual, economic, and scientific. To endure, the shift to peace will require a transformation of human consciousness.
Recently, members of IONS have become increasingly motivated to apply consciousness principles and practices to the creation of peace. The burgeoning interest is reflected in a new documentary that is beginning production called The Science of Peace, for which IONS will serve a scientific advisory role. Many members have become involved in the Peace Alliance's campaign for a US Department of Peace. And still others are working on specialized and innovative projects such as Pathways to Peace.
The good news is that, despite dire headlines and an uptick in global terror, the number of armed conflicts globally has been in steady decline - peace is gradually winning (see report). If we project these trends forward, we may well reach a historically unprecedented moment in which we have a global baseline of peace, especially if enough of us align our intentions and actions with that vision and back it up with sound science and savvy politics.
At the Frontiers / The Edge
Circle News - Get the insider's scoop on IONS, including an inspiring message from IONS' President, James O'Dea
This month, we feature an article from the latest Shift that chronicles how consciousness insights are permeating a new generation of movies:
"Movies on a Mission,"
by Matthew Gilbert
"A group of idealists risk their lives to protect an ancient scroll with clues to our evolutionary destiny. An old wizard guides his young student toward deep personal transformation. A young man loses all of his associative memory and must start from scratch to figure out who he is - or was. What do these storylines have in common? And what makes them different from generations of cinematic efforts to educate, inspire, and move us in some way? In the last several years, an unprecedented number of new movies have aspired to be more than just entertainment." (Full article as PDF) (Discuss on Shift in Action)
At the Frontiers
Media Noteworthy Releases
1. Darshan - The Embrace - Chronicles an Indian saint, known affectionately as Ammachi, who has hugged some 35 million seekers (45,000 in 24 hours!) and built vast philanthropies. (website)
2. Peaceful Warrior - Dan Millman's adventure of embodied awakening on the big screen. (website)
3. Conversations with God, The Movie - Coming in October, perhaps the biggest consciousness movie of the fall (website)
1. Visionary State, Erik Davis- A deep dive into the spiritually adventurous side of California, including some of the state's most unusual sacred architecture. (buy)
2. In Sweet Company - by Margaret Wolff, conversations with extraordinary women about living a spiritual life, including Sister Helen Prejean, Olympia Dukakis, and Rev. Lauren Artress. (buy)
3. The Flip - Turn Your World Around! - by Jared Rosen and David Rippe, likened to The Tipping Point but more accessible and focused on consciousness (buy)
New Edgar Mitchell DVD
In the 35th Anniversary year of his Apollo 14 walk on the moon, IONS founder Dr. Edgar Mitchell releases an award-winning DVD on which he is the narrator. Timely and timeless messages poignantly detailed in The View From Space - A Message of Peace are enhanced by an expanded menu with personal interviews, awe-inspiring visuals from NASA, The Hubble Telescope, and Artist-Astronaut Alan Bean.
TO PLACE ORDERS and read more about this, visit the Autographed Photos Page on www.Edmitchellapollo14.com
At the Frontiers / WebWatch
1. InternationalDayOfPeace.org - Already has more than 600 events listed for Sept. 21st, a great opportunity to come together in the service of peace.
2. SpiralDynamics.net - Useful mapping of value systems that illuminates cultural conflicts and possible solutions.
At the Frontiers / Top Ten
Websites or organizations doing innovative peace work, selected by IONS staff:
1. PeaceAlliance.org - the campaign site for a US Department of Peace
2. ScienceOfPeace.com - a new documentary in production, hosted by LeVar Burton, for which IONS is playing a collaborative role.
3. CNVC.org - a global organization helping people compassionately connect with themselves and one another through Nonviolent Communication
4. CultureOfPeace.org - Wide range of content, activities, and products
5. PathwaysToPeace.org - Peacebuilding, consulting organization with connections to IONS
6. ImagineACultureOfPeace.org - invites young people ages 5 to 25 from around the world to use their artistic talents to envision a culture of peace
7. Peace-Action.org - a veteran activist organization focused on practical, positive alternatives to violent conflict
8. Tikkun.org - Takes bold, spiritually principled stances on peace in the Middle East (see recent NY Times ad).
9. Global Youth Action Network - dynamic youth activities including Chat the Planet, a fusion of online chat and offline action.
10. Buddhist Peace Fellowship - unites Buddhist practices with social action.
Shift in Action / Live Teleseminars
See all upcoming teleseminars on the Shift in Action website
Sign up as a Shift in Action Partner to participate!
Find out the benefits of joining!
Shift in Action / Recent Releases
This month we are excited to offer a free highlight to give you a sample of the Shift in Action program.
Free Audio Download
Russell Targ, "Limitless Mind and the End of Suffering" 5:31
Other releases available to Partners include:
1. Deepak Chopra at IONS 2005 Conference
2. Ervin Laszlo at IONS 2005 Conference
3. Duane Elgin et al. on "Media for a New Story"
4. Marilyn Schlitz and Candance Pert et al. on "Consciousness and Healing"
Shift in Action / Shift Magazine
Shift: At the Frontiers of Consciousness
Issue 12
Sept.-Nov. 2006
Consciousness, Passion, & Purpose
Table of Contents:
Page 8
Edgar Mitchell - Cosmic Activist
by Barbara McNeill
Thirty-five years ago Edgar Mitchell walked on the moon. Two years later he founded a research institute, IONS. This profile pays homage to the legacy of a man who is still exploring.
Page 10
Navigating the Future: A Guide for Conscious Activism
by Andrew Beath
From nonviolence and introspection to Eros and joy, environmentalist Beath weaves inner work with outer engagement for personal and social transformation.
Page 16
Conscious Leadership at the Crossroads of Change
by Monica Sharma
In the global battle against AIDS, inequality, and economic injustice, United Nations' program specialist Sharma is empowering people at all levels with an innovative synthesis of psychological, emotional, and organizational tools.
Page 22
Generation Awakening
by Tarra Christoff
A new generation of social activists is emerging, seeking to embody "the change they wish to see" at a time when everything is at stake.
Page 28
Movies on a Mission
by Matthew Gilbert
From full-length features to social consciousness documentaries, the landscape of film is being transformed by mission-driven artists who hope to change you and the world you live in.
>>Download PDF of this article
Parapsychology is the scientific and scholarly study of certain unusual events associated with human experience. These experiences have been called "psychic" for want of a better term.
Please note: A common misconception is that a parapsychologist is a psychic. Not so. Likewise, a child psychiatrist is not a child! Instead, a parapsychologist is a scientist or scholar who is seriously interested in the "paranormal." Unfortunately, many telephone books and on-line sites use "parapsychologist" as a synonym for psychic entertainer, mentalist, conjurer, astrologer, or psychic reader. This is an inappropriate use of the term "parapsychologist."
What does it mean to study psychic phenomena?
A long-held, common-sense assumption is that the worlds of the subjective and objective are completely distinct, with no overlap. Subjective is "here, in the head," and objective is "there, out in the world." Parapsychology then is the study of phenomena suggesting that the assumption of a strict separation between subjective and objective may be wrong. Human experience suggests that some phenomena occasionally fall between the cracks, and are not purely subjective nor purely objective. From a scientific perspective, such phenomena are called "anomalous" because they are difficult to explain within current scientific models.
These anomalies fall into three general categories: ESP (terms are defined below),
PK, and phenomena suggestive of survival after bodily death, including near-death experiences, apparitions, and reincarnation. Most parapsychologists today expect that further research will eventually explain these anomalies in scientific terms, although it is not clear whether they can be adequately understood without significant (indeed, probably revolutionary) expansions of the current state of scientific knowledge. Other researchers take the stance that existing scientific models of perception and memory are adequate to explain some or all parapsychological phenomena.
What is not parapsychology?
In spite of what the media often imply, parapsychology is not the study of anything considered weird or bizarre. Nor is parapsychology concerned with astrology, searching for Bigfoot, paganism, vampires, alchemy, or witchcraft.
Many scientists have viewed parapsychology with great suspicion because the term has come to be associated with a huge variety of mysterious phenomena, fringe topics, and pseudoscience. Parapsychology is also often linked, again inappropriately, with a broad range of "psychic" entertainers, magicians, and so-called "paranormal investigators."
What do parapsychologists study?
Many feel that the strangest, and most interesting, aspect of parapsychological phenomena is that they do not appear to be limited by the known boundaries of space or time. In addition, they blur the sharp distinction usually made between mind and matter. In popular usage, the basic parapsychological phenomena are categorized as follows:
Psi : A neutral term for parapsychological phenomena. Psi, psychic, and psychical are synonyms.
Telepathy : Direct mind-to-mind communication.
Precognition: Also called premonition. Obtaining information about future events, where the information could not be inferred through normal means. Many people report dreams that appear to be precognitive.
Clairvoyance : Sometimes called remote viewing; obtaining information about events at remote locations, beyond the reach of the normal senses.
ESP: Extra-sensory perception; a general term for obtaining information about events beyond the reach of the normal senses. This term subsumes telepathy, clairvoyance, and precognition.
Psychokinesis : Also called PK; direct mental interaction with physical objects, animate or inanimate.
Bio-PK : Direct mental interactions with living systems.
NDE : Near death experience; an experience reported by those who were revived from nearly dying. Often refers to a core experience that includes feelings of peace, OBE, seeing lights and other phenomena.
OBE : Out-of-body experience; the experience of feeling separated from the body, often accompanied by visual perceptions as though from above the body.
Reincarnation: The belief that we live successive lives, with primarily evidence coming from the apparent recollections of previous lives by very small children.
Haunting : Recurrent phenomena reported to occur in particular locations that include apparitions, sounds, movement of objects, and other effects.
Poltergeist: Large-scale PK phenomena often attributed to spirits, but which are now thought to be due to a living person, frequently an adolescent.