A Laboratory-based Investigation into Apparitional Experiences: Psychomanteum
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SPI Psychomanteum Experiment

SPI Invites you to Join the scientific experiment

An imperative but unresolved question about apparitions is whether they are subjective fantasies or whether they reflect some form of objective reality. If apparitions are purely subjective, they may be best understood in normal psychological terms. If apparitions also involve some form of independent physical reality, the implications of this age-old phenomenon are more intriguing. The aim of this experiment is to find out the extent of subjectivity or objectivity or may be a mix of both in the apparition phenomenon.

A group of SPI members were volunteered in this experiment that would take various places with different characteristics, such as indoor/outdoor, rumored to be haunted or a place that had no reputation of haunting at all (See the photos below). The experiment would have to be carried out over a long period of time, probably across a few years for collecting a large amount of samples. In this experiment each participant used mirror-gazing in a dimly lit atmosphere to induce a mild altered state of consciousness (which is known as Psychomanteum). The participants somehow reported mild apparitional-type experiences, such as ¡§feelings of presence.¡¨ Assuming that apparitional experiences are related to shifts in consciousness, and that states of consciousness are reflected by physiological states, we monitored aspects of the local physical environment along with participants¡¦ physiology to see if subjective measures might be correlated with objective measures. Analytical methods such as statistics and data-mining for data correlations and data clustering are used to test if the physiological measures were significantly related to the local environmental measures, or not at all.

We speculate that under the right conditions, shifts in human consciousness may be correlated with both conventional and anomalous changes in the local physical environmental. If this hypothesis is true, this suggests two possibilities relevant to understanding apparitions: a) certain altered states of consciousness may cause unidentified, objective, physical effects in the environment; and b) certain fluctuations in the environment may cause dramatic shifts in consciousness. The former suggests that apparitions may be objectively caused by mind-matter interaction phenomena; the latter suggests that apparitions may be subjective effects caused by external energies. In either cases, the correlations and dependencies of consciousness and environment as well as subjectivity and objectivity would have to be investigated pertaining to apparitional phenomenon. Further studies are planned to help distinguish between these and other possibilities.


Introduction

Throughout the human history, civilized peoples of the world believed that apparitions - ghosts of the dead - were objective, disembodied entities. Scholars identified numerous reasons for this widespread belief, including the reasonable inference that if we have a spiritual, non-physical essence (i.e., a soul), then if the soul becomes disembodied it may decide to linger behind to enlighten or to pester the living. Beyond the religious code of belief, endorsing faith in disembodied souls, conviction in authentic apparitions were (and still are) reinforced by personal experiences with phantasms. Such experiences are sometimes intentionally induced by fasting, drugs, drumming, sleep deprivation, meditation, prolonged praying and other techniques used throughout the ages. Apparitions also frequently occur in hypnogogic states (Ludwig, 1966), and in times of life-crises (Gauld, 1977).

About a century ago, accompanying the rise of the scientific method and organized skepticism, many scholars began to reinterpret apparitions not as objective, disembodied spirits worthy of avoidance and fear, but as subjective fantasies and superstitious nonsense most often associated with the gullible and the low educated people (Spence, 1960; Radin, 1957). Besides the 20th century¡¦s general transition towards a materialistic worldview (Koestler & Smythies, 1969), one specific reason for the dissolution of the disembodied was undoubtedly the rise of modern psychology and psychotherapy, especially the growing appreciation of the power of the unconscious and recognition of non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Another reason was the observation that the behavior of apparitions was more suggestive of dreamlike events than objective, real-world events (Gauld, 1977). Apparitions tended to vanish suddenly, or pass through walls, or behave in stylistic or symbolic manners (Rhine, 1961). Sometimes apparitions would be seen to open a door and pass through it, whereas later the actual door would be found to be tightly locked, suggesting that at least part of the apparitional experience was purely hallucinatory (Bennett, 1949).

Horror of the mirrors were seen when we stared at them

Therefore Apparitions Are Mere Results of Hallucination?

One challenge to the view that apparitions are mere hallucinations is the fact that ghosts sometimes appear to sane, healthy, sober and intelligent individuals although it is rare. For example, in an article published in a professional journal, a psychologist describes a startling personal experience (Goldstein, 1976):

While watching television I noticed human figures on the wall behind the television set. These images ... were transparent but in full color; they moved off the wall and wandered around the room, then disappeared. In every respect they resembled a Hollywood version of ghosts. This episode lasted about 1 hour. (pp. 423-424)

Another challenge to the subjective fantasy hypothesis is the observation that ghost stories and mediumistic phenomena occurred in the remotest corners of olden days, when primitive concepts reigned. And yet they continue to haunt us today, even as we are immersed in a sophisticated modern and material world. Therefore, it seems imprudent to discard any aspect of human experience that was inherited from the past. Whatever the eventual and logical explanation for these accounts, it is worth noting that the feelings evoked by ghost stories are often accompanied by a remarkable numinous quality. As William James once put it,

Although my judgment remains deliberately suspended, my feeling towards the way in which the phenomena of physical mediumship should be approached has received from ghost and disturbance-stories a distinctly charitable lurch. Science may keep saying: ¡§such things are simply impossible¡¨; yet, so long as the stories multiply in different lands, and so few are positively explained away, it is bad method to ignore them (James, 1978, p. 49).

A more serious challenge to the hypothesis of ¡§mere subjective fantasy¡¨ were reports of apparitional experiences being shared by two and even three people (Hart & Hart, 1933; Hart, 1956; Lukianowicz, 1959). There are also long-term, site-specific cases of haunting, where for centuries people claimed to have witnessed the same, distinct apparitions (Collins, 1948). And unlike hypnagogic imagery, which typically occurs with eyes closed as one drifts off to sleep, apparitions are commonly perceived with eyes open, and in states of consciousness that subjectively rival ordinary awareness. Thus, in some cases, hallucination does not appear to be an adequate explanation. Before we continue, let us be more precise in defining what we mean by apparition. An apparition, from the Latin apparers (to appear), is an appearance which does not refer to any obvious, natural objective cause (Spence, 1960). The term ¡§apparition¡¨ is broader than the more popular term, ghost, which implies a visual apparition of a deceased human being. Apparitions may also refer to deceased animals or other non-human spirits, and apparitions may be perceived in any sensory modality, such as auditory, tactile, or olfactory. Often, experiences of apparitions are also associated with reports of surges in bodily energy, electrostatic effects, and with rapid, localized cooling of the air (Roll, 1977).

Kaleidoscopic pictures that help inducing hallucination

Inducing Apparitions

One of the reasons that apparitions have remained a mystery, despite their relatively common occurrence, is the difficulty in systematically studying the apparitional experience. Modern techniques known to induce apparitional-type experiences, including hypnosis, sensory deprivation, flotation tanks, and psychoactive drugs, are often too difficult to employ because of federally-mandated controls on experiments involving human subjects. Another reason for the persistent mystery is the conventional psychological perspective, which assumes that apparitions are nothing but hallucinations and are therefore unworthy of serious study.

Fortunately, an innocuous but effective method exists for inducing apparitions, and it is free of any religious ritual as well. This method, suitable for use in laboratory settings, is simply gazing deeply into a reflective surface, such as a pool of water, a crystal ball, a polished metal surface, or a mirror. Systematic investigations of gazing deeply into reflective surfaces, also called crystal-gazing and scrying, began over a hundred years ago (e.g., Myers, 1892, 1903; Hyslop 1896-1897). In recent times, a mirror-gazing environment called the psychomanteum, based upon the ancient Greek oracles of the dead, has been studied by Roll (1975), Moody (1994), and others (e.g., Kelly & Locke, 1981). The psychomanteum is simply a dark, quiet room with a comfortable chair and a mirror. The participant is asked to relax and look into the mirror, which is placed slightly above the person¡¦s level gaze in such a way that the reflection shows the wall above and behind the person¡¦s head.

More information on Psychomanteium can be found from these links:
http://www.synergycenter.com/psychomanteum.htm
http://www.psychomanteum.com/
http://www.jenseits-de.com/e/epsycho.htm
http://www.psychomanteum.org/

SPI Psychomanteum Experiment - Facing the mirror, Recording your pulses

The Psychomanteum Experience

After a few minutes to a half-hour in the psychomanteum, people typically report that the mirror gradually transforms into a window, swirling clouds appear in this window, and then intensely vivid visions are seen through the window. On occasion, visions from the ¡§other side¡¨ of the window extend into the psychomanteum itself. These latter, three-dimensional visions, sometimes taking the form of humanoid apparitions, are often described as ¡§hyper-real,¡¨ that is, as more intensely real than the reality experienced under ordinary consciousness. An especially interesting aspect of visions induced by mirror-gazing is the autonomy of the image (Kelly & Locke, 1981). That is, these visions appear to be so utterly separate from the viewer that Myers (1903, V1, Ch 6) reports that occasionally an image can be examined in more detail under a magnifying glass. Some people report that these apparitions are accompanied by electrostatic sensations (prickling skin, hair standing up), changes in ambient temperature (typically extreme cold), or illumination anomalies (sparkling lights, whole room diffused with bright light) (Moody & Perry, 1993). The experience of seeing an apparition can also be endowed with feelings of profound meaning, leading to significant transformations of personality. These dramatic effects are reminiscent of phenomena associated with peak experiences and mystical states (Ludwig, 1966). In Roll¡¦s and Moody¡¦s experiments with the psychomanteum, about 50% of participants reported some form of experience with apparitions of departed spirits (Moody, 1994; Moody & Perry, 1993). Other researchers report more modest results, with estimates ranging between 1 and 3 percent of the population (Kelly & Locke, 1981) up to about 25 percent (e.g., Newbold, 1895). Of those who do experience full-blown apparitions, many are deeply affected and become utterly convinced that the apparitions are genuine, independent spirits. These experiences are reportedly beneficial in helping to resolve cases of chronic grief, and of course, from the therapeutic perspective it does not matter whether the apparitions are real or imaginary.


The Scientific Perspective

From the scientific perspective, a major unresolved question is whether these experiences are purely subjective (caused perhaps by a strong motivation to be reunited with a departed loved one) or if the apparition is an objective, independent entity. The answer to this question has important implications, for if such experiences are purely subjective, apparitions may be best understood in normal psychological, psychodynamic, or psychopathological terms, with no need to refer to the paranormal. On the other hand, if there are objective physical effects associated with apparitional experiences, interpretations become more complicated, suggesting a wide range of possible explanations. In order of increasing controversy, these include:

a) The Neurological Hypothesis, whereby exposure to certain environmental energies (or energies of certain frequencies) in the environment affects brain functioning, which evokes subjective hallucinations of apparitions, perhaps due to stimulation of neurological events such as temporal lobe microseizures (Persinger, 1985, 1987, 1989a, 1989b).

b) The Perceptual Hypothesis, whereby exposure to certain environmental energies affect brain functioning, which in turn allows us to perceive unusual events or objects, such as genuine ghosts, that cannot be perceived in ordinary states of awareness.

c) The Telepathic Hypothesis, whereby intense telepathic rapport affects brain functioning, causing the telepathic communication to be perceived as projected outside the body, sometimes in the form of the ¡§sender¡¦s¡¨ image, as reported in cases of crisis telepathy (Gauld, 1977).

d) The Psychokinetic Hypothesis, whereby intense subjective experiences occasionally intrude upon the physical world, as postulated in poltergeist activity and by the concept of psychokinetic phenomena in general (Roll, 1977; Roney-Dougal, 1993).

e) The Ghost Hypothesis, whereby apparitions are genuine, independent entities that can be directly perceived or indirectly detected as anomalous energetic effects (Roll, 1994; Collins, 1948).

Location #1 of SPI Psychomanteum Experiments (Extremely Haunted)


One of the SPI Psychomanteum Experiments was carried out in the abandoned dairy farm house that is reputed to be VERY haunted
"Rumor has it that a worker foreman was brutally murdered by a gang of foreign laborers and they escaped back to Bangladesh.
The body of the victim was missing but said to be hidden somewhere in the jungle. His apparition was frequently seen by his cohorts."


Some rats were seen in the drain holes. Wouldn't the body be buried somewhere here at the crime scene?


Places that had wronged death are usually more haunted even than cemeteries as the vengeful souls are having unfinished business
A sinister feeling will creep through every fiber of your nerve while being there even during day time

Motivations

SPI has been planning to explore whether apparitions are ¡§merely subjective¡¨ or associated with some form of measurable, objective reality. Specifically, we explored whether the mental state of a psychomanteum participant, as reflected by aspects of their physiology, might be related to objective changes in the local physical environment. We wanted to investigate physiological vs. physical correlations for three reasons: (a) anecdotal evidence from haunting investigations and studies of the electromagnetic properties of sacred sites suggest that exceptional physical and physiological states may be closely linked to reports of paranormal phenomena (Devereux, 1990; Radin, 1994), (b) reports of experiences in the psychomanteum suggest that physiological changes may be correlated with apparitional states (Roll, 1977; Moody, 1994), and (c) energetic anomalies are associated with certain altered states of consciousness (Green et al, 1991, Green et al, 1992). In realms (a) and (b), people report similar physical effects such as localized changes in room temperature, unusual lights, and anomalous electrical phenomena associated with sightings of apparitions. In realm (c), exceptional mental states have been associated with large-scale changes in local electrostatic fields.


Method

Beyond hints from the anecdotal lore, little is known about what specific physical effects may be expected to accompany apparitional experiences. As a result, this study was exploratory, and the general approach was to cast a wide net and see what, if anything, might be captured. SPI has planned a long run, rigorous, formal and follow-up experiments after this preliminary study. The set of photos lists the equipment used in this experiment. The basic idea was to record as much of the local electromagnetic environment as feasible for a pilot study, and as much of the psychomanteum participant¡¦s physiology as possible without being psychologically or physically disruptive.

The low frequency end of the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum was monitored inside the psychomanteum by a Hewlett Packard spectrum analyzer and by magnetometers and gradiometers. The visual and near-visual spectrum was monitored by an Electroscope light-amplified night vision camera, by longwave and shortwave infrared video cameras, and by a computer-monitored Geiger monitor made by Gamma Scout (sensitive to a, b, g, and x-rays). The output of the video monitors was continuously recorded on video cassette tape.

Ambient temperature inside the psychomanteum was monitored by both a conventional and a remote infrared thermometer with millidegree sensitivity. The slight sound in the controlled environment under test were recorded for later analysis. Electric and magnetic fields inside the psychomanteum were monitored by an EMF meter; the recorded data were uploaded to a computer at regular interval during each psychomanteum session.

The multiple computer-based data streams collected per session (electric, magnetic, geomagnetic fields, ionizing radiation, sound levels, temperature, and psychophysiology) were manually fused into a combined database after all data for all sessions had been collected. Each sample in the various data streams was accompanied by a timestamp with a split second accuracy to ensure that the fused dataset was correctly time-synchronized. An on-screen timestamp helped synchronize the video record to the computer database.


Participants

Currently SPI has a handful of participants and we are recruiting more volunteers to participate in this study. Preferably the participants should have a wide range of professions and ages and they do not necessarily have a sound understanding on the experiences with apparitional / visionary states of consciousness. Individuals were recruited for this study based upon their interest and willingness to participate as well as their creditable professional background. In general those who live in a fantasy prone life, too young or with low education background would less likely be enlisted. Each person participated for one session which lasted a total of 2 to 3 hours.

Location #2 of SPI Psychomanteum Experiments (Absolutely Peaceful)


The other SPI Psychomanteum Experiment took place at a condominium that is absolutely peaceful and comfortable;.
Such is a lovely dream home to everybody. The condo was brand new, no history of haunting ever associated with this  beautiful home.


Its interior design is by Melandas who has famous designers from Europe's leading design house, like Geoffrey Goodrich


The condo has been surveyed by Feng Shui Master and blessed by Taoist priest; it has ample sunlight and soothing wind from windows
Therefore this place has totally no haunting connected to it

Experimental Procedure

Each participant was asked prior to their session to think about a departed loved one that they wished to have an apparitional ¡§reunion¡¨ with. When they arrived for the session, they met our elite members in charge for a briefing as a psychomanteum facilitator. Usually between 30 minutes and 2 hours with the participant would be spent, talking about their feelings and their memories of the deceased person, and explaining the psychomanteum purpose and procedures. Moody and Perry (1993) explain the typical preparatory session as follows:

We discussed in detail the person who had died and the relationship that had existed between the two of them. We explored such cases as the type of person the deceased had been, his or her appearance, habits - virtually every aspect of personality.... [After the preparatory session] the subject was then told to gaze deeply into the mirror and to relax, clearing his or her mind of everything but thoughts of the deceased person. The subject could stay in the chamber as long as he wanted, but was asked not to wear a watch so that he would not be tempted to glance at the time. (p. 85-86)

When we felt that the participant was ready, she escorted him or her into the laboratory. We attached the electroencephalograph (EEG), electrodermal activity (EDA) and photoplethysmograph (PPG) electrodes, then ushered the participant into the psychomanteum. Once inside, we checked the physiology monitor to make sure the electrodes were attached properly, before the session began. The participants will have to gaze into the mirror, relax, and have fun. Soon when psychomanteum manifested, we began recording all videos and computer-based monitors. Because of time restrictions and limited availability of some of the equipment, each participant ran one session in the psychomanteum. Each session lasted at least 45 minutes; some sessions may have lasted more than an hour.


Preliminary Tests

In a controlled mirror-gazing environment, participants attempted to evoke apparitions while various monitors recorded physical and physiological variables. Those who tried reported experiences that we classified as mild apparitional states, but the monitoring equipment did not detect the presence of anything sufficiently anomalous that might be interpreted as unequivocal evidence for objective apparitions. Correlational analyses of the physical and physiological data indicated the presence of statistically significant relationships between individuals¡¦ physiology and local physical measures, and a mathematical clustering test again indicated the presence of significant relationships between the physiological and physical measures.

If mild apparitional states are associated with genuine physical/physiological correlations, it raises the plausibility that more intense mental experiences may cause the sort of large-scale physical effects which are associated with traditional apparitional experiences. Ignoring the fact that correlation does not imply causation, this may mean that the ¡§arrow of causation¡¨ associated with apparitional experiences goes from the mental (as we measured in the present study by physiological parameters) to the physical. This in turn implies that apparitions may be ¡§caused¡¨ by human psychokinetic abilities (Roll, 1994). This speculation has some support, especially in the experimental and anecdotal psi literature (e.g., Roll, 1977; Radin & Nelson, 1989).


Speculation #1: What are spirits made of?

When the psychiatrist, Carl Jung, spoke to the Society for Psychical Research in 1919 on ¡§The psychological foundations of belief in spirits,¡¨ he regarded ghosts as exteriorized (i.e., psychologically projected) unconscious complexes. He wrote:

I am convinced that we are dealing with exteriorizations. I have, for instance, observed several instances of unconscious complexes; I have also observed a series of parapsychic phenomena. However, in all this I cannot see any proof for the actual existence of spirits, but must regard this area of phenomena for the time being as another segment of psychology (Jaffé, 1978, p. 91).

Given the suggestive results of the preliminary test, we suppose that apparitions may be more complicated than (comparatively) simple psychological phenomena. Jung, later in life, arrived at the same conclusion. When his above paper on ¡§belief in spirits¡¨ was re-published in an anthology almost 40 years later (1947), he added the following footnote:

After collecting psychological experiences from many people and many countries for fifty years, I no longer feel as certain as I did in 1919 .... To put it bluntly, I doubt whether an exclusively psychological approach can do justice to the phenomena in question. Not only the findings of parapsychology, but my own theoretical reflections ... have led me to certain postulates which touch on the realm of nuclear physics and the conception of the space-time continuum. This opens up the whole question of the trans-psychic reality immediately underlying the psyche (Jaffé, 1978, p. 92).

Speculation #2: A feedback system and a metaphor

Imagine the mind/body system as a cork, bobbing about in an ocean of environmental influences. Research on environmental effects on behavior indicates that as temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure change, our body and behavior change along with it (Persinger & Levesque, 1983; Playfair & Hill, 1978). Evidence from psychoneuroimmunology and placebo research suggests that to a surprisingly strong degree, where our mind goes, so goes our body (Gravitz, 1981; Gazzaniga, 1988; Cohen, 1985, Cousins, 1989). And evidence from psi research suggests that sometimes when our mind ¡§moves,¡¨ the physical environment around us responds accordingly (Radin, 1992, 1993a). What emerges from this research is a complex feedback cycle: The environment affects the body and mind, the mind affects the body and the environment, and the body affects the mind and the environment. Such complex feedback cycles are not commonly observed in experiments because they are not generally looked for; in the present experiment we seem to have detected it because we were specifically interested in such interactions.

Given this postulated feedback cycle, we would expect that under intense environmental conditions, or intense mental states, or intense bodily conditions, we would observe fairly large-scale anomalies in the mind/body/environment system. For example, during violent weather conditions, such as during a ferocious lightning storm, we might predict the appearance of unusual mental or bodily effects. These may manifest as increases in indices of violence, abnormal behavior, illness, or even in mass sightings of the Virgin Mary or UFOs. Likewise, intense mental states, such as epilepsy, might be associated with unusual bodily phenomena or strange physical effects in the local environment, such as poltergeist activity, the appearance of stigmata, or spontaneous remission of illness. And intense bodily changes, such as those that sometimes occur during yogic breathing techniques or deep-tissue bodywork, we might predict the appearance of strange mental or physical phenomena. This includes the appearance of apparitions, anomalous lights, or failure of electrical equipment (Gauld, 1977).

Assuming the existence of complex interactions among mind, body and environment, we therefore suspect that some forms of apparitions may be not purely subjective (as in hallucinations) nor purely objective (as in disembodied entities). Instead, we postulate that some apparitions are - metaphorically speaking - short-term vortexes caused by disturbances in a three-way equilibrium. When the disturbed state is allowed to rebalance, the apparition dissolves back from whence it came.

The metaphor of a vortex seems appropriate, because a vortex is a powerful, ¡§living¡¨ entity created by a disturbance in the ground medium itself - whirlpools, tornadoes, and black holes being common examples. The vortex is sustained until the energy that formed it dissipates; such entities have no existence by themselves. In a similar manner, we postulate that an apparition may have no completely independent existence, but it is ¡§alive¡¨ in the sense that once it is created by a human being¡¦s energy, it may enjoy a certain, short-lived independence until the energy that sustains it dissipates. At that point, the apparition once again fades into the background from whence it came. This poignant, ghostly existence is reminiscent of our own lives. We arise from a ground-state, we live for a short time, and then we return to the ground-state.

Therefore, is this study merely a rediscovery what psychophysics has taught for years? i.e. The human body is an electrochemical dynamo, constantly broadcasting electromagnetic and magnetic signals. While most of these signals are exceptionally weak outside the body, we know they can be detected given a well shielded environment and sufficiently sensitive instruments. We also know that the human body responds to changes in environmental energies. Thus, by confirming what is known by psychophysics, we reinforce the implications of the tri-part model mentioned above, namely: If the mind, body and environment are in fact linked, and weak effects in one system are reflected in the others, then it is reasonable to expect that strong effects will also be reflected.

The monitoring gadgets used in Pscyhomanteum experiments

Methodology

Because this study was exploratory, detailed analyses and methodological procedures were not specified in advance. As a result, in the course of the experiment a number of important methodological issues became apparent. For example,

a) The preliminary study did not explicitly include control periods. That is, we did not include a period of time during each session in which participants were asked to relax in the psychomanteum without doing anything. Control data would be useful in determining whether the psychomanteum experience is different from simply relaxing with eyes open. One reason we did not employ a control session is because the instructions for a psychomanteum session closely resemble instructions assigned to typical control periods: Just relax and gaze into the mirror. There are no instructions to attempt to see an apparition, nor are any explicit induction procedures used. Thus, given the simple procedure used in the psychomanteum, we were not sure how to add a control period without creating a control that was more ¡§manipulated¡¨ than the experimental session itself.

b) The psychomanteum was intentionally isolated to create a quiet and comfortable laboratory environment. We aimed for an unobtrusive experiment by hiding the monitoring equipment as much as possible. We were successful in achieving an isolated laboratory space, but unfortunately the psychomanteum was much noisier than we would have liked especially during outdoor due to the power generator and the nature sounds of the environment. Furthermore, because of the limited capacity of battery used during outdoor, sometimes pscyhomanteum would have to be interrupted and hence cancelled.

c) We had no way of knowing when apparitional states would begin, other than listening in on the audio tape monitor and watching the participant on the infrared cameras. We thought it might disrupt the desired state of consciousness (which we have referred to as an apparitional state) to ask participants to report their experiences aloud. In addition, by asking participants to speak aloud, movement artifacts would be introduced into the physiological recordings. One approach to solving the problem of how to mark when something interesting happens is to give the participant a switch to press. However, participants may not remember why they marked a given period as important, and even if we asked them to speak aloud, there is no guarantee that during full-blown apparitional states they could speak, or that they would remember to speak.

d) Multiple equipment monitors were used to independently collect data. We reasoned that if one monitor failed for either normal (e.g., a power spike or hardware error) or anomalous reasons, we would still be able to collect some data. However, using multiple monitors also meant that data streams had to be fused after each session to reconstruct the common time-sequence. In addition, video and audio data were not synchronized with the computer-monitored data other than by putting a time-stamp on the video record. We plan to overcome this problem in our next series of experiment by using a network to link the various computer-based monitors together, and by adding time-codes to the video records.

e) We had no way of knowing how long an apparitional state would last. Would a ghost appear in a tenth of a second flash, or would anomalous energetic effects persist for 20 minutes? We simply guessed that the 10-second averages we settled upon would offer sufficiently fine resolution to capture interesting energetic events.

Artist impression of weird creatures as results of hallucination from Pscyhomanteum experiments

Plan For Further Experiments

We plan to enhance the psychomanteum laboratory for future tests in the following ways:

a) Use questionnaires to look for personality, experience, and interest commonalities among successful participants.

b) Investigate the possibility of using non-contact sensors and electrodes to create a less intrusive lab environment.

c) Run longer sessions, a minimum of 90 minutes in the psychomanteum and at least a 30 minute post-session debriefing.

d) Develop a way for the experimenter and the participant to mark interesting events that occur during the psychomanteum session.

e) Use automated digital audio/video analysis methods to scan the video records frame-by-frame for anomalies. A blink of the eye or a momentary lapse of attention can easily cause a human analyzer to miss a single anomalous event if he or she is attempting to manually analyze a lengthy video records.

f) Experiment with gold anodized, front-surface mirrors rather than common float-glass mirrors. This recommendation originated from studying the type of surface required to see reflected infrared images. We discovered that a back-surface glass mirror, i.e., the sort of mirror commonly available in retail stores does not reflect infrared images because the glass absorbs infrared radiation.

g) Use a natural, relaxed setting for the laboratory. As Moody recommends (1993, p. 166 -172), the setting accompanying the psychomanteum experience is important. Ideally, participants should be able to walk in comfort in the woods or along a beach. The air should be refreshing, the scenery should be inspiring, and the participant should feel safe enough to allow an altered state of consciousness to emerge even before entering the psychomanteum. Beautiful and provocative art should be close at hand to stimulate the emotions; the intellect should also be stimulated with interesting books and curious objects and instruments.

h) Repeat the same experiments in different atmospheric conditions such as weather, climate, day and night, phases of the moon, as well as different alleged sacred places where communicating to the spirit are said to be effective.


Final Remarks

The described experiment is for investigating the nature of facilitated apparitions. Aspects of the local physical environment and physiological parameters were monitored as volunteers gazed into a mirror in a dimly lit environment. Those who tried did not result in experiences of sustained, lifelike apparitions, but they all reported mild apparitional experiences, including feeling the presence of deceased persons and animals, and changes in energy and illumination levels.

Analysis of the physical and physiological data revealed statistically relationships between the physical and physiological measures. This was interpreted as suggesting that the mind, body and environment are closely coupled and probably interact and influence each other more than commonly supposed. We speculate that because of this coupling, intense mental states may be associated with dramatic physical changes in the local environment. These could possibly give rise to the reported energetic phenomena associated with classic apparitional phenomena, including changes in temperature, anomalous lights, and appearance of humanoid and animal shapes. Whether future studies can detect such large-scale effects during vivid apparitional experiences remains to be seen.


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