Prologue
Many scientists have conducted their own research into the afterlife and
found the phenomena are real. Several Nobel Prize winning scientists
have
investigated
the afterlife and psychic phenomena and believed that paranormal
phenomena cannot be explained by mainstream scientific explanations.
(see below: Eminent Researchers). These scientists were not fooled by
magic tricks. Highly skilled stage magicians have investigated many
mediums and have found them to be genuine (see the chapter on
Skeptical Fallacies
for more information and links). Studies have shown people
with more education are more likely to believe in the afterlife, and
most medical doctors believe in the afterlife (see the chapter on
Skeptical Fallacies
for more information and links). These highly
educated and intelligent people are right, there is no death. Departed
loved ones are not gone, they continue to live in a higher realm.
Not many people are aware of how much evidence for the afterlife there
is. If you read through this chapter, you will be one of the few people
who can fully appreciate how many different types of evidence there are.
This chapter outlines the different types of evidence for the afterlife
and has links to web based sources of information including links to
free e-book versions of important studies on the afterlife. If you look
into those linked sources of information, you will be able to see the
rigor and substantiveness of the evidence for the afterlife. Do you
want to learn more about this life affirming subject? If so, read on
...
Some of the best evidence for the afterlife is:
-
People on their death beds see spirits who come to help them make the
transition.
These experiences have been confirmed in various ways
and shown to be objective phenomena and not hallucinations.
Sometimes other people attending
the dying also see the same spirits
at the same time. In one case a spirit communicating through
a medium told of how she assisted a dying man. A relative of
the man was sought out and the information the
man related to the relative confirmed what came through the medium. (see below:
Death Bed Visions)
-
Near the time of their death the spirits of the dead have appeared to
friends or relatives at distant locations where more than one person
present at the location sees the spirit. (see below:
Crisis Apparitions)
-
Mediums sometimes receive communications from spirits who are
unrelated to and unknown by the sitters and the medium. These
spirits come through to communicate for purposes important
only to themselves. They give verifiable information about
their identity and cause of death. (see below:
Drop-in Communicators)
-
Mediums can receive communications from spirits even when the person
getting the reading is not present in the room with the medium. In
these cases, the medium may not know who the sitter is and cannot get
any type of feedback from the sitter yet the medium can bring through
specialized knowledge known by the spirit. (see below:
Proxy Sittings)
-
When people are unconscious and near death, they sometimes experience
leaving their body and when revived, bring back information that they
could not have obtained with their normal senses even if they had been conscious and that information is
later verified as correct. "Scientific" explanations cannot explain
this and other aspects of the phenomena. (see below:
Near Death Experiences)
-
Children have been studied who remember past lives. They can speak
languages they have never heard. They remember geography, faces, and
names of people in locations they have never been to. They have birthmarks
on their body where they had sustained injuries in the previous life.
An investigator interviews everyone involved, the children, the current
families, surviving members of the families from the previous life and
everything checks out. (see below:
Reincarnation)
-
Spirits have communicated parts of messages through different mediums.
When combined, these partial messages produce a complete message. The messages
contained very specialized knowledge known to the spirit and were
communicated spontaneously, not at the request of any living person.
These messages show that the spirit lives on after the death of the
body, retains knowledge from its earth life, and continues to have the
ability to initiate, organize, and carry out complex activities. (see
below:
Cross
Correspondences)
-
Experiments attended by scientists and a stage magician have been
conducted under controlled conditions where voices of spirits were
heard, objects were materialized, and images imprinted on photographic
film. (see below:
The Scole Experiments)
-
Other individual cases include:
-
The spirit of a grand master chess player plays through a medium at the
grand master level in a style characteristic of the time of his life on
earth.
(see below: Individual Cases)
-
A scholar of Asian languages speaks in an ancient Chinese dialect with a
spirit who successfully explains an ancient Chinese poem that modern
scholars did not understand.
(see below: Individual Cases)
-
Spirits of crew members of a crashed dirigible, R-101, "provided
technical details about its design and construction, recollections of
test flights, discussions of political pressures and unrealistic
deadlines that plagued the project, and a description of the crash
itself and its causes"
and "the personalities of the dead airmen also
came through in recognizable detail"
.
(see below: Individual Cases)
I can tell you the evidence for the afterlife is overwhelming and it is extraordinary.
This evidence supports the conclusion that the afterlife is real, it has withstood
the test of time and the collection of new data. However, I can't make
you read about it. You have to do that yourself....
Top
Introduction
About the Evidence
This chapter summarizes some of the scientific evidence for the
afterlife and, wherever possible, includes links to on-line references
and additional sources of information. In many cases, the links include
references to the actual reports and writings those who conducted the
investigations which you can look up to more fully understand this
evidence. The purpose of this chapter is to acquaint readers with the
wide variety and compelling nature of this evidence which is not well
known to the general public. The evidence goes beyond proving
paranormal phenomena are real, it proves the existence of spirits and
therefore the afterlife. The definition of scientific proof
that skeptics use to assert that evolution by natural selection is
proved is discussed and that same definition holds for the existence of spirits and the afterlife.
A quick glance through this chapter will show that there are many
different independent forms of evidence and that the evidence is not
limited to mediumship. There is objective evidence obtained through
electronic instruments as well as evidence obtained through collecting
reports directly from people who have witnessed afterlife phenomena and
who otherwise have no involvement with the field of afterlife research
or mediumship. Some people feel that extraordinary claims require
extraordinary evidence. The evidence for the afterlife is so extensive
and varied that it is, in fact, extraordinary evidence.
The chapter
Skeptical Fallacies
examines objections to this evidence and shows those objections
are not valid.
The possibility that these phenomena are the result of psychic powers
of living people are disproved in the sections on
Super-Psi
and
Where Do Mediums Get Information From?
in the chapter on
Short Topics.
If you follow the links and look further into the evidence you will see
that besides a variety of types of evidence, there is also a large
cumulative amount of evidence. Theoretically, one solid case is
sufficient to prove the assertion that a thing exists. However, for the
afterlife, there are many, many solid cases from many types of evidence.
Top
A Definition of Scientific Proof
The following passages are taken from "29+ Evidences for Macroevolution:
Scientific "Proof", scientific evidence, and the scientific method" by
Douglas Theobald, Ph.D. This is part of the FAQ for one of the foremost
communities of skeptics on the internet. Interestingly, much of what is
written about the theory of scientific proof that is used to justify the
theory of evolution by natural selection also
applies to belief in the afterlife.
The primary function of science is to demonstrate the existence of
phenomena that cannot be observed directly.
...
In fact, the most important discoveries of science have only be inferred
via indirect observation. Familiar examples of unobservable scientific
discoveries are atoms, electrons, viruses, bacteria, germs, radio-waves,
X-rays, ultraviolet light, energy, entropy, enthalpy, solar fusion,
genes, protein enzymes, and the DNA double-helix.
...
The validity of a hypothesis does not stand or fall based on just a few
confirmations or contradictions, but on the totality of the evidence.
...
In scientific practice, a superior and well-supported hypothesis will be
regarded as a theory. A theory that has withstood the test of time and
the collection of new data is about as close as we can get to a
scientific fact.
http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/sciproof.html
Science is when you make hypotheses and and test them against empirical
evidence. Our hypothesis is that spirits and the afterlife exist and
when considered against the evidence the conclusion that they do exist
is inescapable.
Top
Detailed Overviews of the Evidence
After reading the cases below, you can find out much more
about the scientific evidence for spirits and the afterlife
by reading these detailed overviews.
Top
Individual Cases
The spirit of a grand master chess player plays through a medium
at the grand master level in a style characteristic of the time of his
life on earth.
Source: The Survival Files by Miles Edward Allen
http://www.survivaltop40.com/case24_soulmate.pdf
A scholar of Asian languages speaks in Chinese with a spirit who
successfully explains an ancient Chinese poem that modern scholars
did not understand.
Source: Psychic Adventures In New York by Neville Whymant
http://www.freewebs.com/psilib/PsychicAdventuresWhymant.txt
Spirits of crew members of a crashed dirigible, R-101, "provided technical
details about its design and construction, recollections of test
flights, discussions of political pressures and unrealistic deadlines
that plagued the project, and a description of the crash itself and its
causes" and "the personalities of the dead airmen also came through in
recognizable detail".
Source: "R-101" by Michael Prescott
http://michaelprescott.freeservers.com/R-101.htm
Also see:
The Survival Files by Miles Edward Allen
http://www.survivaltop40.com/case14_R101.pdf
Relatives of a deceased child receive convincing evidence of identity
from the spirit of the child.
Source:
"An Amazing Experiment" by Charles Drayton Thomas
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/thomas/contents.htm
"Police in Nelson, B.C., have found the body of a young woman who
disappeared last March, and they credit a local psychic for pointing
them in the right direction."
Source: CBC News Thursday, January 27, 2005
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/01/27/psychic-body050127.html#
Top
Reincarnation
Reincarnation researcher Ian Stevenson investigated children who had
verifiable memories of past lives. Stevenson interviewed everyone
involved, the children, the current families, and surviving members of
the families from the previous life. He found that these children
remembered geography, faces, and names of people in locations they had
never been to. Some children could converse in a foreign language they
spoke in a past life. Some had birthmarks on their body where they had
sustained injuries in the previous life.
http://www.ial.goldthread.com/kidspage/stevenson.html
Three New Cases of Reincarnation Types in Sri Lanka With Written Records
http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_02_2_stevenson.pdf
(1.3MB)
Birthmarks and Birth Defects Corresponding to Wounds on Deceased Persons
http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_07_4_stevenson.pdf
More links to on-line
research articles by Ian Stevenson can be found in
the chapter on
Recommended Reading.
Also see the following URL for a list of publications by Ian Stevenson
http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/internet/personalitystudies
/publications.cfm#Reincar-articles
The evidence for reincarnation cannot be explained by inadvertent mediumship or other forms of psychic perception.
- Birthmarks are often located on the body at the same place injuries occurred in a previous life.
- Past life regression has been shown to have immense therapeutic value.
- During hypnotic regression, subjects recognize people they knew in past lives as incarnating again as people they recognize in their current life.
For more information on reincarnation see the
Reincarnation
section
in the
Short Topics
chapter.
Top
Death Bed Visions
Individuals near death can often see the spirit world
and they also see spirits who come to help them make the transition.
Many examples of this are described in Death Bed Visions by
William Barrett:
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/barrett/dbv/contents.htm
Visions have
included spirits of individuals who had died but who the patient
thought were still living.
This proves the visions are accurate and not imagined.
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/barrett/dbv/chapter2.htm
Those attending the dying sometimes see the same spirits the dying see.
This also
rules out hallucinations since multiple witnesses would not have
identical hallucinations.
"A short time before she expired I became aware that two spirit forms
were standing by the bedside, one on either side of it. I did not see
them enter the room; they were standing by the bedside when they first
became visible to me, but I could see them as distinctly as I could any
of the human occupants of the room....
Just before they appeared the dying girl exclaimed, 'It has grown
suddenly dark; I cannot see anything!' But she recognized them
immediately. A smile, beautiful to see, lit up her face. She stretched
forth her hands and in joyous tones exclaimed, 'Oh, you have come to
take me away! I am glad, for I am very tired.'
As she stretched forth her hands the two angels extended each a hand,
one grasping the dying girl's right hand, the other her left hand....
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/barrett/dbv/chapter6.htm
More examples of multiple witness death bed visions can be found on my
blog post:
Death-bed Visions Confirmed
http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2009/06/death-bed-visions-confirmed.html
There is also a case of a death-bed vision being confirmed through a
medium. It occurred while Richard Hodgson was investigating the medium
Mrs Piper. During one sitting, a spirit communicated through automatic
writing and explained that she had attended someone on his death bed and
had spoken to him using an unusual phrase. A relative of the deceased
who was with him at his death-bed was contacted and confirmed that the dying man claimed
to have seen the spirit. The relative spontaneously told what the dying man said
of the spirit including the use of the unusual phrase given through the
medium. An account of this is related in:
A FURTHER RECORD OF OBSERVATIONS OF CERTAIN PHENOMENA OF TRANCE
by Richard Hodgson L.L.D. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research Vol. XIII. 1898, p 284 - 582
http://books.google.com/books?lr=&output=html&id=5dTNAAAAMAAJ
&dq=editions%3ALCCN09022954&jtp=378
See the foot note on page 378:
The first writing of the sitting came from Madame Elisa, without my
expecting it. She wrote clearly and strongly, explaining that F. was
there with her, but unable to speak directly, that she wished to give me
an account of how she had helped F. to reach her. She said that she had
been present at his death-bed, and had spoken to him, and she repeated
what she had said, an unusual form of expression, and indicated that he
had heard and recognised her. This was confirmed in detail in the only
way possible at that time, by a very intimate friend of Madame Elisa and
myself, and also of the nearest surviving relative of F. I showed my
friend the account of the sitting, and to this friend, a day or two
later, the relative, who was present at the death-bed, stated
spontaneously that F. when dying said that he saw Madame Elisa who was
speaking to him, and he repeated what she was saying. The expression so
repeated, which the relative quoted to my friend, was that which I had
received from Madame Elisa through Mrs. Piper’s trance, when the
death-bed incident was of course entirely unknown to me.
Top
Near Death Experiences
People who have briefly died and been revived by doctors have reported
seeing deceased loved ones in the spirit world. Some have reported
verifiable information from remote locations they could not have
obtained from their physical senses even if they had not lost
consciousness. These veridical NDEs demonstrate the accuracy of NDE
perceptions and proves that perception is not limited to the physical
body.
Here is one example:
While Maria's body was being worked on by the medical staff she
experienced leaving her body. She floated upwards some 4 stories and
came out onto the roof of the hospital. There on the ledge of the roof
she saw an old sneaker with a worn little toe and one lace tucked under
the heel. When the resuscitation procedure had proved successful Maria
came to and was quite preoccupied with her vision of the sneaker. ...
She managed to persuade the social worker Kim Clark to go check and
directed her to a window from which the shoe could be seen when leaning
out. ... Clark easily found the correct window and there, indeed, lay
the sneaker on the ledge with the worn little toe and the lace tucked
under the heel just as Maria had described it.
http://www.deathisanillusion.com/page.pl?id=2&cid=2
An account of this NDE is also given in "Is There an Afterlife" by David Fontana.
Additional On-Line References:
Veridical NDE's
There have been several hypotheses advanced to explain NDE's by means of
ordinary biological phenomena. None of these hypotheses account for all
the observed phenomena that have been reported to occur during NDE's.
For more information see:
Top
Crisis Apparitions:
There are many reports of people observing spirits at the time of the
spirit's death. Often the observer had no reason to suspect the
observed person was near death. This rules out imagination as a source
of the vision and proves the accuracy of the observation. Often there are multiple witnesses to the apparition which rules out hallucination as an explanation.
As I reached the top of the stairs a lady passed me who had some time
left us. She was in black silk with a muslin 'cloud' over her head and
shoulders, but her silk rustled. I could just have a glance only of her
face. She glided fast and noiselessly (but for the silk) past me, and
was lost down two steps at the end of a long passage that led only into
my private boudoir, and had no other exit. I had barely exclaimed 'Oh,
Caroline,' when I felt she was something unnatural, and rushed down to
the drawing-room again, and sinking on my knees by my husbands side,
fainted, and it was with difficulty I was restored to myself again. The
next morning, I saw they rather joked me at first; but it afterwards
came out that the little nursery girl, while cleaning her grate, had
been so frightened by the same appearance, 'a lady sitting near her in
black, with white all over her head and shoulders, and her hands crossed
on her bosom,' that nothing would induce her to go into the room again;
and they had been afraid to tell me over night of this confirmation of
the appearance, thinking it would shake my nerves still more than it had
done.
...
I wrote immediately to my uncle (the Rev. C. Crawley, of Hartpury near
Gloucester) and aunt, and recounted all that had happened. By return of
post, 'Caroline is very ill at Belmont' (their family place then), 'and
not expected to live; and die she did on the very day or evening she
paid me that visit.
From "Psychical Research and the Survival Controversy by D. Scott Rogo
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/articles/rogo/apparitions.htm
Also see:
"Phantasms of the Living" by Edmund Gurney
at
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28phantasms%20
of%20the%20living%29%20AND%20creator%3A%28edmund%20gurney%29
Top
Book and Newspaper Tests
In the books tests, a spirit would give the position of a book on a
shelf, the page number in the book, and the location on a page where an evidential
message could be found. In the newspaper tests, a spirit would tell the
contents of newspaper articles before they were printed. The purpose
of these test was to show that mediums received information from spirits
and not from the sitters by ESP or investigation since neither the
medium nor the sitter could know this information.
Here is one example where the spirit gives the
location and content of an item in a newspaper not yet published and the
person receiving the reading confirmed the prediction.
October 4th, 1922, at 2:36 p.m.: "In to-morrow's Times, page one, column one, and near the top, see the
name of a place which you much liked while away; you went to see it, but
not to stay there, and were very interested. It is not the name of a
county, but of a small locality."
...
on looking at The Times on October 5th to discover the solution of the
riddle, we were, I candidly admit it, astonished to see the words,
School House, Sherbourne, placed precisely where I had been instructed
to look, viz., "near the top of column one of the first page."
...
Only five days previously we had stayed for an hour at Sherbourne, where
we took tea in an upper room, the window of which overlooked a street
adjoining Sherbourne School.... Before leaving the town we inspected
the school buildings from the outside, and were sufficiently interested
to read, on arriving home, all we could find in my books relating to
Sherbourne and its school.
Source: "Life Beyond Death with Evidence" by Rev. Charles Drayton
Thomas.
Many book and newspaper tests are described in detail in
this book which may be downloaded free from:
http://www.freewebs.com/psilib/
An overview of the book and newspaper tests is given in this blog entry by Michael Tymn:
http://metgat.gaia.com/blog/2007/5/proof_positive_of_spirit_communication
Top
Cross Correspondences
In cross-correspondence experiments, spirits give a message through
multiple mediums. There may be a simple message, or the message may be
given indirectly, for example, through a literary allusion, or parts of
the message may be given to different mediums and only when the parts
are pieced together do they provide the complete message. These experiments show
that mediums are communicating with intelligent beings rather than using
their own psychic powers to provide information about the deceased.
A more detailed discussions of the cross-correspondences can be found at:
"CROSS CORRESPONDENCES: Spirit Communications and a Love that Survived Death!" by Troy Taylor
http://www.prairieghosts.com/cross_corr.html
"Cross-Correspondences" by Konstantin Oesterreich
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/articles/oesterreich/cross.htm
"The Eager Dead & Undying Love" by Michael Tymn
http://metgat.gaia.com/blog/2008/2/the_eager_dead_and_undying_love
A Lawyer Presents the Case for the Afterlife by Victor Zammit. Chapter 16. The Cross Correspondences.
http://www.victorzammit.com/book/4thedition/chapter16.html
Several examples of cross-correspondences are given in the book "Contact
with the Other World" by Professor James Hyslop in chapter XIII
"Experimental Incidents". This book can be downloaded free from:
http://www.spiritwritings.com/ContactOtherWorldHyslop.pdf
Top
Drop-in Communicators
Mediums sometimes receive communications from spirits who are
unrelated to, and unknown by, the sitters and the medium. These
spirits come through to communicate for purposes important
only to themselves. They give verifiable information about
their identity and cause of death.
For example, the spirit of Runolfur Runolfsson was buried with a
thigh bone missing.
He communicated through a medium and gave the correct location of his
thigh bone which was hidden
in a wall. He asked for it to be found and buried. When the wall
was opened up and searched, a thigh bone was found.
For more information see:
A brief description at survivaltop40.com:
http://www.survivaltop40.com/case42_Icelandic-leg-hunting.pdf
Haraldsson E. and Stevenson, I, 1975. 'A Communicator of the Drop-in
Type in Iceland: the case of Runolfur Runolfsson'. Journal of the
American Society for Psychical Research 69. 33-59.
http://www.hi.is/~erlendur/english/mediums/Runki.pdf
You can read more about drop-in communicators from these
on-line sources:
The Harry Stockbridge case:
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/articles/sargent/beyond.htm
http://www.survivaltop40.com/case47_young-soldier.pdf
The Biedermann drop-in case:
http://survivaltop40.com/case46_rationalist-spirit.pdf
Gudni Magnusson:
Haraldsson E. and Stevenson, I, 1975. 'A Communicator of the Drop-in
Type in Iceland: the case of Gudni Magnusson', Journal of the American
Society for Psychical Research 69, 245-261.
http://www.hi.is/~erlendur/english/mediums/gudni.pdf
Top
Proxy Sittings
Proxy sittings are when a person goes to a medium on behalf of someone
who is not present at the sitting. In such cases the medium and the
proxy sitter may not know who the reading is for or anything about that
person. In this case it is impossible for the medium to use cold
reading or any previous knowledge about the person in their reading.
When a medium can give verifiable information about the actual sitter
and deceased individuals known to them, it is very strong proof of
psychic functioning and when the medium can give specialized knowledge
known only to the deceased it is very strong evidence that they are
communicating with the spirit of the deceased.
More information on proxy sittings can be found in
"The Mediumship Of Mrs. Leonard" by Susy Smith:
http://www.enformy.com/LeonardTOC.htm
in chapter V "Proxy Sittings":
http://www.enformy.com/LeonardCh05.htm
The use of proxy sittings has also been described in
the scientific research report:
"Anomalous Information Reception by Research Mediums Demonstrated Using
a Novel Triple-Blind Protocol" Julie Beischel, Gary E. Schwartz Explore
(New York, N.Y.) 1 January 2007 (volume 3 issue 1 Pages 23-27 DOI:
10.1016/j.explore.2006.10.004)
http://www.explorejournal.com/article/PIIS155083070600454X/fulltext
Top
Instrumental Trans Communication (ITC)
Electronic devices have allowed interactive conversations with spirits
that anyone can hear. A demonstration was given live on Radio
Luxembourg.
Koenig installed his equipment under the watchful eyes of the Radio's
own engineers and the presenter of the program, Herr Rainer Holbe. One
of the Radio's staff asked if a voice could come through in direct
response to his requests. Almost immediately a voice replied:
'We hear your voice' and 'Otto Koenig makes wireless with the dead' (Fuller 1981:339).
Source: A Lawyer Presents the Case for the Afterlife by Victor J. Zammit
http://www.victorzammit.com/book/4thedition/chapter05.html
Also see:
The Survival Files by Miles Edward Allen
http://www.survivaltop40.com/case17_ghosts-machines.pdf
Top
The Scole Experiments
During the Scole experiments the voices of spirits were heard, objects
materialized, and "images were imprinted on unopened rolls of film". These
experiments were observed by a number of scientists and a professional
stage-magician with more than fifty years experience in psychic research
who wrote "I discovered no signs of trickery, and in my opinion such
conjuring tricks were not possible, for the type of phenomena witnessed,
under the conditions applied."
Source: A Lawyer Presents the Case for the Afterlife by Victor J. Zammit
http://www.victorzammit.com/book/4thedition/chapter08.html
Top
Twenty Cases Suggestive of Survival
The venerable psychical researcher Montague Keen collected a list of twenty cases suggestive of survival.
This list was based on a similar list originally published by Professor Archie Roy in The Paranormal
Review, a magazine published by The Society for Psychical Research. The original
references for a number of these cases are available on the internet.
Some of the cases can be found in on-line books written by the same
author as the referenced article. Descriptions of many of the remaining
cases can also be found on various websites on the internet.
- The Watseka Wonder, 1887. Stevens, E.W. 1887. The Watseka Wonder,
Chicago; Religio-philosophical Publishing House, and Hodgson R.,
Religio-Philosophical Journal Dec. 20th, 1890, investigated by Dr.
Hodgson.
A brief description of this case be found on line at answers.com.
http://www.answers.com/topic/the-watseka-wonder
A slightly longer description is available at survivaltop40.com.
http://www.survivaltop40.com/case45_Roff-return.pdf
- Uttara Huddar and Sharada. Stevenson I. and Pasricha S, 1980. 'A
preliminary report on an unusual case of the reincarnation type with
Xenoglossy'. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 74,
331-348; and Akolkar V.V. 'Search for Sharada: Report of a case and its
investigation'. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research
86, 209-247.
A description of this case is available from survivalafterdeath.org.uk.
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/articles/rogo/personal.htm
- Sumitra and Shiva-Tripathy. Stevenson I. and Pasricha S, and
McLean-Rice, N 1989. 'A Case of the Possession Type in India with
evidence of Paranormal Knowledge'. Journal of the Society for
Scientific Exploration 3, 81-101.
The referenced article is available in PDF format on-line at:
http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_03_1_stevenson.pdf
The article is available in HTML format from the google archive at:
http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:O5IdlJznibsJ:
www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_03_1_stevenson.pdf+
Sumitra+and+Shiva-Tripathy&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
- Jasbir Lal Jat. Stevenson, I, 1974. Twenty Cases Suggestive of
Reincarnation (2nd edition) Charlottesville: University Press of
Virginia.
A brief description of this case is available from trivia-library.com:
http://www.trivia-library.com/b/history-and-cases-of-reincarnation
-case-of-indian-boy-jasbir-part-2.htm
- The Thompson/Gifford case. Hyslop, J.H. 1909. A Case of Veridical
Hallucinations, Proceedings American Society for Psychical Research 3,
1-469.
http://books.google.com/books?id=M6TNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1&lr=
This case is also discussed in
chapter 14 of "Contact With the Other World" by Professor James Hyslop.
The book is available on-line in PDF format from spiritwritings.com.
http://www.spiritwritings.com/ContactOtherWorldHyslop.pdf
Chapter 14 is also available in HTML format from magick-spell.net.
http://www.magick-spells.net/books/01/23/14.htm
The case is also discussed in the article Some Personal Thoughts on Survival by D. Scott Rogo at survivalafterdeath.org.uk.
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/articles/rogo/personal.htm
- Past-life regression. Tarazi, L. 1990. 'An Unusual Case of
Hypnotic Regression with some Unexplained Contents'. Journal of the
American Society for Psychical Research, 84, 309-344.
- Cross-correspondence communications. Balfour J. (Countess of)
1958-60. 'The Palm Sunday Case: New Light On an Old Love Story'.
Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 52, 79-267.
This case is described at prairieghosts.com.
http://www.prairieghosts.com/cross_corr.html
- Book and Newspaper Tests. Thomas, C.D. 1935. 'A Proxy Case
extending over Eleven Sittings with Mrs Osborne Leonard'. Proceedings
of the Society for Psychical Research 43, 439-519.
Many of the book and newspaper tests are also described by
Rev. Charles Drayton Thomas.
in his book
"Life Beyond Death with Evidence"
http://www.freewebs.com/psilib
- "Bim's" book-test. Lady Glenconnor. 1921. The Earthen Vessel,
London, John Lane.
The book "The Earthen Vessel" where this case is described is available on-line from archive.org.
http://www.archive.org/details/earthenvesselvol00glenuoft
- The Harry Stockbridge communicator. Gauld, A. 1966-72. 'A Series
of Drop-in Communicators'. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical
Research 55, 273-340.
This case is discussed very briefly in an article at survivalafterdeath.org and in more detail at survivaltop40.com:
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/articles/sargent/beyond.htm
http://www.survivaltop40.com/case47_young-soldier.pdf
- The Bobby Newlove case. Thomas, C. D. 1935. 'A proxy case
extending over Eleven Sittings with Mrs. Osborne Leonard'. Proceedings
of the Society for Psychical Research 43, 439-519.
This case is the subject of the book
"An Amazing Experiment" also
by Charles Drayton Thomas and is available on line at survivalafterdeath.org:
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/thomas/contents.htm
- The Runki missing leg case. Haraldsson E. and Stevenson, I, 1975.
'A Communicator of the Drop-in Type in Iceland: the case of Runolfur
Runolfsson'. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 69.
33-59.
This article can be found on Dr. Haraldsson's web site:
http://www.hi.is/~erlendur/english/mediums/Runki.pdf
A brief description of this case can be found at survivaltop40.com:
http://www.survivaltop40.com/case42_Icelandic-leg-hunting.pdf
- The Biedermann drop-in case. Gauld, A. 1966-72. 'A Series of
Drop-in Communicators'. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical
Research 55, 273-340.
A brief description of this case can be found at survivaltop40.com:
http://survivaltop40.com/case46_rationalist-spirit.pdf
- Haraldsson E. and Stevenson, I, 1975. 'A Communicator of the
Drop-in Type in Iceland: the case of Gudni Magnusson', Journal of the
American Society for Psychical Research 69, 245-261.
This article can be found on Dr. Haraldsson's web site:
http://www.hi.is/~erlendur/english/mediums/gudni.pdf
- Identification of deceased officer. Lodge, O. 1916. Raymond, or
Life and Death. London. Methuen & Co. Ltd.
"Raymond or Life and Death" by Sir Oliver Lodge FRS is available
on-line at survivalafterdath.org.uk:
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/lodge/raymond/contents.htm
- Mediumistic evidence of the Vandy death. Gay, K. 1957. 'The Case
of Edgar Vandy', Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 39, 1-64;
Mackenzie, A. 1971. 'An Edgar Vandy Proxy Sitting'. Journal of the
Society for Psychical Research 46, 166-173; Keen, M. 2002. 'The case of
Edgar Vandy: Defending the Evidence', Journal of the Society for
Psychical Research 64.3 247-259; 'Letters', 2003, Journal of the Society
for Psychical Research 67.3. 221-224.
A brief description of this case can be found at survivaltop40.com:
http://www.survivaltop40.com/case39_vandy-death.pdf
- Mrs Leonore Piper and the George "Pelham" communicator. Hodgson,
R. 1897-8. 'A Further Record of Observations of Certain Phenomena of
Trance'. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 13,
284-582.
This article is available on-line from books.google.com:
at
books.google.com.
I also give an overview of this case on my blog:
http://ncu9nc.blogspot.com/2009/05/further-record-of-observations-of.html
- Messages from "Mrs. Willett" to her sons. Cummins, G. 1965. Swan
on a Black Sea. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
This case is described in two articles at survivalafterdeath.org.uk:
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/articles/tyrrell/willett.htm
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/articles/heywood/willet.htm
- Ghostly aeroplane phenomena. Fuller, J.G. 1981 The Airmen Who
Would Not Die, Souvenir Press, London.
-
Intelligent responses via two mediums: the Lethe case. Piddington,
J. G. 1910. 'Three incidents from the Sittings'. Proceedings of the
Society for Psychical Research 24, 86-143; Lodge, O. 1911. 'Evidence of
Classical Scholarship and of Cross-Correspondence in some New Automatic
Writing'. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 25,
129-142.
These two articles are available on-line from books.google.com.
Three incidents from the Sittings':
http://books.google.com>/books?id=rUzOAAAAMAAJ
&pg=PA86&dq=editions:LCCN09022954&lr=&output=html
Evidence of Classical Scholarship and of Cross-Correspondence in Some New Automatic Writing:
http://books.google.com/books?id=O03OAAAAMAAJ
&pg=PA113&dq=editions:LCCN09022954&lr=&output=html
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Early Research
Afterlife research should have been accepted by mainstream science long
ago. There was sufficient evidence reported by highly reputable
scientists for this to have occurred as early as 1922.
-
Charles Richet
was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in
1913. He wrote "Thirty Years of Psychical Research". An English
translation was made 1922 and can be found on-line at:
http://survivalebooks.org/#Thirty Years of Psychical Research
-
Sir William Crookes was a highly regarded scientist who invented the
cathode ray tube. He wrote "Researches Into the Phenomena
of Modern Spiritualism" the fourth edition was published in 1922 and can
be found on-line at:
http://books.google.com/books?id=PMg0AAAAMAAJ&printsec
=titlepage&output=text
-
John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Physics in 1904. He was president of the Society for Psychical Research
and said:
I have seen enough to convince me that those are wrong who wish to
prevent investigation by casting ridicule on those who may feel inclined
to engage in it.
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/researchers/rayleigh.htm
-
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Eminent Researchers
Brian David Josephson recipient of the the 1973 Nobel Prize for Physics wrote:
"What are the implications for science of the fact that psychic
functioning appears to be a real effect? These phenomena seem
mysterious, but no more mysterious perhaps than strange phenomena of the
past which science has now happily incorporated within its scope."
http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~bdj10/psi/tucson.html
Charles Robert Richet winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in
Physiology and Medicine conducted his own investigations into the
afterlife and wrote:
The "guide" of the medium (i.e., the new personality that appears) then
seems to be a genuinely extraneous intelligence. These phenomena can
rightly be called metapsychic because, taking them all in all, the
normal intelligence of the sensitive is quite insufficient to explain
the strange and potent cryptesthesia.
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/articles/richet/mediums.htm
Sir William Crookes, discoverer of the element thallium and
inventor the cathode-ray tube started out as a skeptic but after
examining the medium D.D. Home for himself came to believe:
"Of all persons endowed with a powerful development of this Psychic
Force, Mr. Daniel Dunglas Home is the most remarkable and it is mainly
owing to the many opportunities I have had of carrying on my
investigation in his presence that I am enabled to affirm so
conclusively the existence of this force."
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/crookes/researches/contents.htm
Gary Schwartz has published numerous research articles
demonstrating the accuracy of mediums in scientific experiments
including a triple-blind experiment in which the medium has no contact
with the person getting the reading. This eliminates cold reading or
the use of previous knowledge as an explanation for mental mediumship.
Anomalous Information Reception By Research Mediums Demonstrated Using A Novel Triple
-Blind Protocol
http://veritas.arizona.edu/papers/Beischel%20EXPLORE%202007%20vol%203.pdf
These scientists were not fooled by magic tricks.
Highly skilled stage magicians have investigated many
mediums and have found them to be genuine (see the chapter on
Skeptical Fallacies
for more information and links).
Studies have shown people
with more education are more likely to believe in the afterlife, and
most medical doctors believe in the afterlife (see the chapter on
Skeptical Fallacies
for more information and links).
See the chapter on
Eminent Researchers
for more emminent researchers.
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On Line Classics in Psychical Research
If you want to read more about the evidence for the afterlife,
there are several recommendations in the section above on
Detailed Overviews. If
you would like to read a more in depth discussion
by the researchers
who collected the evidence, the following books may
be of interest to you.
William Barrett:
"Death Bed Visions"
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/barrett/dbv/contents.htm
A compilation of first hand accounts of death-bed visions of spirits.
Reports including multiple witness accounts and visions of spirits of
individuals who had died but who's death was not yet known.
Julie Beischel, Gary E. Schwartz:
"Anomalous Information Reception by Research Mediums Demonstrated Using
a Novel Triple-Blind Protocol"
Explore
(New York, N.Y.) 1 January 2007 (volume 3 issue 1 Pages 23-27 )
http://www.explorejournal.com/article/PIIS155083070600454X/fulltext
This paper describes a modern triple-blind experiment in which the
medium had no contact with the person getting the reading. It
eliminates cold reading or the use of previous knowledge as an
explanation for mental mediumship.
Sir William Crookes:
"Researches Into the Phenomena of Modern Spiritualism"
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/crookes/researches/contents.htm
Describes the author's observations of the mediumship of D.D. Home and
Florence Cook. Crookes was the discoverer the element thallium and
inventor the cathode-ray tube. He started out as a skeptic but after
conducting his own research became a believer.
Edmund Gurney: "Phantasms of the Living"
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28phantasms%20
of%20the%20living%29%20AND%20creator%3A%28edmund%20gurney%29
Erlendur Haraldsson & Ian Stevenson (1975).
A communicator of the "drop
in" type in Iceland: The case of Runolfur Runolfsson.
Journal of the
American Society for Psychical Research, 69, 33-59.
http://www.hi.is/~erlendur/english/mediums/Runki.pdf
This case is frequently cited to refute the super-psi hypothesis because
the spirit was not related to the medium or sitters, gave verifiable
information, and communicated for reasons that were meaningful only to
himself. He gave the location of a thigh bone hidden in a wall and
asked that it be buried because it was from his own corpse.
Loftur R. Gissurarson & Erlendur Haraldsson (1989).
The Icelandic
Physical Medium Indridi Indridason.
Proceedings of the Society for
Psychical Research, 57, 53-148.
http://www3.hi.is/~erlendur/english/IndridiPSPR_v53p214_1989.pdf
Erlendur Haraldsson & Ian Stevenson (1975).
A communicator of the "drop
in" type in Iceland: The case of Gudni Magnusson.
Journal of the
American Society for Psychical Research, 69, 245-261.
http://www.hi.is/~erlendur/english/mediums/gudni.pdf
Anna Hude:
"The Evidence for Communication with the Dead"
http://www.archive.org/details/evidenceforcommu00hude
Professor James Hyslop:
"Contact with the Other World"
http://www.spiritwritings.com/ContactOtherWorldHyslop.pdf
Describes examples of the cross correspondence experiments.
William James:
"Human Immortality: Two Supposed Objections to the Doctrine"
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28human%20
immortality%29%20AND%20creator%3A%28james%29
Sir Oliver Lodge:
"The Survival of Man"
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/lodge/survival/contents.htm
Frederic William Henry Myers:
"Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death"
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=title%3A%28human%20
personality%29%20AND%20creator%3A%28myers%29
Charles Richet:
"Thirty Years of Psychical Research"
http://survivalebooks.org/#Thirty Years of Psychical Research
Charles Robert Richet was the winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. This book is an account of his own investigations of mediums.
Michael Sage:
"Mrs. Piper & the Society for Psychical Research"
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/19376
Ian Stevenson:
Birthmarks and Birth Defects Corresponding to Wounds on Deceased Persons,
Journal of Scientific Exploration, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 403-410, 1993
http://www.scientificexploration.org/journal/jse_07_4_stevenson.pdf
Charles Drayton Thomas:
"An Amazing Experiment"
http://www.survivalafterdeath.org.uk/books/thomas/contents.htm
The spirit of Bobby Newlove provides evidence of his identity through
the mediumship of Mrs Leonard.
Rev. Charles Drayton Thomas:
"Life Beyond Death with Evidence"
http://www.freewebs.com/psilib/
Describes many of the book and newspaper tests.
Neville Whymant:
"Psychic Adventures In New York"
http://www.freewebs.com/psilib/PsychicAdventuresWhymant.txt
A scholar of Asian languages describes his experience at a sitting with
a direct voice medium who brings through a spirit speaking an ancient
Chinese dialect who is able to clarify points about a poem that had
baffled modern scholars.
"Journal of the Society for Psychical Research" and "Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research
http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=publisher%3A%22Society
%20for%20Psychical%20Research%22
Journal of the Society for Psychical Research
http://books.google.com/books?q=editions:0HoKx8DYFXcTcQ7S6m1
&id=OGcAAAAAMAAJ
Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research
http://books.google.com/books?q=editions:LCCN09022954&lr
=&id=rUDOAAAAMAAJ&sa=N&start=0
Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical Research
http://books.google.com/books?q=editions:0YtIlDFzRgAlrBaY9b
&id=SqPNAAAAMAAJ
Mrs. Piper in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research
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