Blavatsky Study Center


Parapsychology and the Paranormal

A Core Library of Twenty Books

compiled by Daniel H. Caldwell

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See also:  Exploring the Great Beyond:   Our Inner Constitution, Psychism, Life After Death & Reincarnation:  The Theosophical Perspective


Best Evidence

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Best Evidence
by Michael L. Schmicker


This book is "an investigative reporter’s three-year quest to uncover the best scientific evidence for ESP, psychokinesis, mental healing, ghosts and poltergeists, dowsing, mediums, near death experiences, reincarnation and other "impossible" phenomena that refuse to disappear."

“Hard line skeptics won’t be pleased, but Schmicker has done his homework…an excellent survey of the strongest evidence” – Marcello Truzzi, Ph.D, Center for Scientific Anomalies Research

“My highest recommendation… not just one but a half-dozen astounding stories, any one of which can change the way we think about the nature of reality” – Dean Radin, Ph.D, author of The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena.

“For skeptics and cautious believers alike, a splendid introduction to ‘impossible phenomena that refuse to disappear’” – Stanley Krippner, Ph.D, Co-Editor, Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence. --- From The Publisher.


Parapsychology:  The Controversial Science

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Parapsychology: The Controversial Science
by Richard S. Broughton

In this impressively documented work, Dr. Richard S. Broughton, Director of Research at the world-renowned Institute of Parapsychology, illuminates the history and evolution of parapsychology and directly addresses the raging controversy over its very existence as a science. At the heart of the book he brings together a broad range of recent parapsychological research, from the U.S., China, and the former Soviet Union, complete with full descriptions of the actual techniques and explanations of how researchers apply scientific methods to study the baffling experiences that qualify as psi phenomena. --- From The Publisher.


The Conscious Universe

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The Conscious Universe: The Scientific Truth of Psychic Phenomena
by Dean I. Radin

This myth-shattering book explains the evidence for the veracity of psychic phenomena, uniting the teachings of mystics, the theories of quantum physics, and the latest in high-tech experiments. With painstaking research and deft, engaging prose, Radin dispels the misinformation and superstition that have clouded the understanding of scientists and laypeople alike concerning a host of fascinating oddities. Psychokinesis, remote viewing, prayer, jinxes, and more - all are real, all have been scientifically proven, and the proof is in these pages. Though the link defies the laws of classical physics, it may heel closely to the basic precepts of quantum mechanics. Finally, Radin takes a bold look ahead, to the inevitable social, economic, academic, and spiritual consequences of the mass realization that mind and matter can influence each other without having physical contact. --- From The Publisher.


An Introduction to Parapsychology

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An Introduction to Parapsychology
by H. J. Irwin

This is a new edition of this acclaimed university textbook on the science of parapsychology. Dr. Irwin outlines the origins of parapsychological research and critically reviews investigations of extrasensory perception, psychokinesis, poltergeist phenomena, near-death and out-of-body experiences, and "survival" of death. Also, criticisms by the skeptical are presented, and the status of parapsychology as a scientific enterprise is assessed. Reviews of earlier editions: "Comprehensive...well written...high quality.... Recommended for public, college and university libraries"- Choice; "clear...organization is excellent"- Journal of Parapsychology; "fills the gap because it is up to date, formally written, and wide in scope...a particularly useful resource for students and teachers alike.... As a textbook, Irwin's book is the best of its kind"- Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research--- From The Publisher.


Varieties of Anomalous Experience

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Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence
Edited by Etzel Cardena, Stanley Krippner and Steven J. Lynn

What are the long-term effects of near-death experiences? Why do some people see sounds and taste smells? What happens during an out-of-body experience? These extraordinary and unusual phenomena have often been ignored or ridiculed by mainstream psychology. In this fascinating volume, leading scholars explore these areas, as well as experiences of hallucinations, lucid dreams, alien abductions, mysticism, anomalous healings, psi-events and past-lives, in an effort to explain the totality of human experience.

In an accessible style, contributors review and discuss current research about unusual but important events, creating a mesmerizing account of activity at the boundaries of conventional psychology. The chapters examine current research and theories, methodological issues, related psychopathology, individual and cultural differences, aftereffects, and clinical implications of anomalous experiences. A volume in the APA Books series on Dissociation, Trauma, Memory, and Hypnosis, this book is essential reading for the scientist-practitioners who treat clients having experienced anomalous events, for researchers/theoreticians wanting an empirically grounded survey of these phenomena, and for non-psychologists interested in the study of these phenomena. --- From The Publisher.


Channeling

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Channeling:   Investigations on Receiving Information from Paranormal Sources
by Jon Klimo

Channeling is a process in which someone on Earth receives information, guidance, or energy from a source residing in a different reality. Encyclopedic in scope and filled with fascinating stories and vignettes, this book describes the phenomenon in all its permutations. Channeling is a completely revised version of the classic in the field. This edition includes a survey of the last ten years in the field of channeling, with new information on ufology/extraterrestriology. --- From The Publisher.


The Near Death Experience: A Reader

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The Near Death Experience: A Reader
Edited by Lee Worth Bailey and Jenny L. Yates

The Near Death Experience: A Reader is the most comprehensive collection of NDE cases and interpretations ever assembled. This book encompasses a broad range of disciplines: psychological researchers discuss cognitive models and Jungian theories of meaningful archetypal phenomena; the biological perspectivedescribes how brains near death may produce soothing endorphins, optical illusions, and convincing hallucinations. Philosophers present empirical analyses and images in archetypal theories, and the symbolic language of comparative phenomenological theories. Christian, Jewish and Mormon responses to NDEs outline the religious perspective, and the mystical and spiritual interpretations of NDEs are also explored. --- From The Publisher.


Death and Personal Survival

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Death and Personal Survival
by Robert F. Almeder


In a style that is both philosophically sophisticated and accessible to general readers, Robert Almeder introduces readers to the vigorous debate in the scientific community about the possibility of personal survival after death. He argues that belief in some form of personal survival is as empirically justifiable as our belief in the past existence of dinosaurs. Drawing on 21 of the best case studies in reincarnation, apparitions of the dead, ostensible possession, out-of-body experiences, and trance mediumships, "Death and Personal Survival" offers a comprehensive discussion of the best empirical evidence in each of these areas and refutes alternative explanations offered by sceptics.
--- From The Publisher.

The Limits of Influence

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The Limits of Influence
by Stephen E. Braude

The Limits of Influence is a detailed examination and defense of the evidence for largescale-psychokinesis (PK). It examines the reasons why experimental evidence has not, and perhaps cannot, convince most skeptics that PK is genuine, and it considers why traditional experimental procedures are important to reveal interesting facts about the phenomena. It then examines why PK does not pose a clear threat to the very fabric of science, and many have supposed. The major skeptical challenges to taking large-scale PK seriously and the reason why those challenges are all unsatisfactory are considered. The evidence examined most closely is the turn-of-the-century evidence for physical mediumship, with special attention given to the cases of D.D. Home and Eusapio Palladino. The author compares and evaluates the leading theories of apparitions and considers the extent to which the evidence for collective apparitions can be interpreted as a further type of psychokinetic phenomenon. Finally, the claim that PK (and psychic functioning generally) might occur in refined and extensive forms is considered. It argues that this claim is not as outlandish as many have maintained and that we might have to accept something like the "magical" world view associated with so-called "primitive" societies.  --- From The Publisher.


Is There Life After Death?

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Is There Life After Death?:   An Examination of the Empirical Evidence
by David Lester

People have believed in the existence of life after death throughout human history and in all regions of the world. Mere belief, however, does not make it true. What is the empirical evidence for life after death? Has any significant research been conducted, and if so, what conclusions does it suggest?

In fact there exists a large body of research on topics relevant to the question of life after death. This book objectively examines that research, drawing together the observations of social science regarding such phenomena as reincarnation, near-death experiences, deathbed visions, cases of possession by dead spirits, and apparitions of the deceased. It considers possibilities including survival of consciousness and survival of personality, and reflects on the logical problems inherent in any model of postmortem survival.

An extensive bibliography lists hundreds of studies of life-after-death phenomena.
--- From The Publisher.


Children Who Remember Previous Lives

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Children Who Remember Previous Lives:  A Question of Reincarnation, rev. ed.
by Ian Stevenson

This is the revised edition of Dr. Stevenson’s 1987 book, summarizing for general readers almost forty years of experience in the study of children who claim to remember previous lives. For many Westerners the idea of reincarnation seems remote and bizarre; it is the author’s intent to correct some common misconceptions. New material relating to birthmarks and birth defects, independent replication studies with a critique of criticisms, and recent developments in genetic study are included. The work gives an overview of the history of the belief in and evidence for reincarnation. Representative cases of children, research methods used, analyses of the cases and of variations due to different cultures, and the explanatory value of the idea of reincarnation for some unsolved problems in psychology and medicine are reviewed. --- From The Publisher.


Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect

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Where Reincarnation and Biology Intersect
by Ian Stevenson


Children who claim to remember a previous life have been found in many parts of the world, particularly in the Buddhist and Hindu countries of South Asia, among the Shiite peoples of Lebanon and Turkey, the tribes of West Africa, and the American northwest. Stevenson has collected over 2,600 reported cases of past-life memories of which 65 detailed reports have been published. Specific information from the children's memories has been collected and matched with the data of their former identity, family, residence, and manner of death. Birthmarks or other physiological manifestations have been found to relate to experiences of the remembered past life, particularly violent death. Writing as a specialist in psychiatry and as a world-renowned scientific investigator of reported paranormal events, Stevenson asks us to suspend our Western tendencies to disbelieve in "reincarnation" and consider the reality of the burgeoning record of cases now available. --- From The Publisher.

Immortal Remains

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Immortal Remains: The Evidence for Life After Death
by Stephen E. Braude

Do you believe in ghosts? Chances are you're either too willing, or not willing enough, to believe that personal consciousness survives after bodily death. Some underestimate the evidence for life after death, not realizing how impressive the most convincing cases are. Others overestimate it, rejecting alternative explanations too readily. In fact, several non-survivalist explanations--hidden or latent linguistic or artistic talents, extreme memory, even psychic abilities--are as interesting as the hypothesis of survival, and may be more plausible than their critics realize.

Immortal Remains takes a fresh look at some of the most puzzling cases suggesting life after death, and considers how to tell evidence for an afterlife from evidence for exotic things (including psychic things) done by the living. Author Stephen E. Braude, who has done extensive research in parapsychology and dissociation, explores previously ignored issues about dissociation, creativity, linguistic skills, and the nature and limits of human abilities. He concludes that we have some reason, finally, for believing in life after death.  --- From The Publisher.


Parapsychology, Philosophy, and Spirituality

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Parapsychology, Philosophy, and Spirituality
by David Ray Griffin

In this book, David Ray Griffin, best known for his work on the problem of evil, turns his attention to the even more controversial topic of parapsychology. Griffin examines why scientists, philosophers, and theologians have held parapsychology in disdain and argues that neither a priori philosophical attacks nor wholesale rejection of the evidence can withstand scrutiny. After articulating a constructive postmodern philosophy that allows the parapsychological evidence to be taken seriously. Griffin examines this evidence extensively. He identifies four types of repeatable phenomena that suggest the reality of extrasensory perception and psychokinesis. Then, on the basis of a nondualistic distinction between mind and brain, which makes the idea of life after death conceivable, he examines five types of evidence for the reality of life after death: messages from mediums; apparitions; cases of the possession type; cases of the reincarnation type; and out-of-body experiences. His philosophical and empirical examinations of these phenomena suggest that they provide support for a postmodern spirituality that overcomes the thinness of modern religion without returning to supernaturalism. --- From The Publisher.


Mediumship and Survival

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Mediumship and Survival: A Century of Investigations
by Alan Gauld

Whether or not we survive physical death is one of humanity's most fundamental concerns. Here Dr. Gauld draws on a century of evidence from a wide variety of sources -- mediumship, reincarnation, obsession, possession, hauntings and apparitions all seem to indicate survival. This is a compulsively readable assessment of evidence for and against survival and an excellent introduction to the whole field of psychical research. --- From The Publisher.


The Trickster and the Paranormal

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The Trickster and the Paranormal
by George P. Hansen

Paranormal and supernatural events have been reported for millennia.  They have fostered history’s most important cultural transformations (e.g., via the miracles of Moses, Jesus, Mohammed).  Paranormal phenomena are frequently portrayed in the world’s greatest art and literature, as well as in popular TV shows and movies.  Most adults in the U.S. believe in them.  Yet they have a marginal place in modern culture.  No university departments are devoted to studying psychic phenomena.  In fact, a panoply of scientists now aggressively denounces them.

These facts present a deeply puzzling situation.  But they become coherent after pondering the trickster figure, an archaic being found worldwide in mythology and folklore.  The trickster governs paradox and the irrational, but his messages are concealed.  This book draws upon theories of the trickster from anthropology, folklore, sociology, semiotics, and literary criticism.  It examines psychic phenomena and UFOs and explains why they are so problematical for science.  --- From The Publisher.


Alternative Science

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Alternative Science: Challenging the Myths of the Scientific Establishment
by Richard Milton

Cold fusion. Telepathy. Psychokinesis. Bioenergy. Alternative medicine. Science banishes these fields of research to the world of superstition, and everywhere scientists lose their jobs, funding, and respect for merely conducting research in these fields. Yet in this compelling tour of the scientific frontier, Richard Milton makes clear what the scientific establishment takes such pain to deny: a growing body of hard experimental evidence already exists to support these and other areas of alternative science. --- From The Publisher.


The Transcendental Temptation

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The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal
by Paul Kurtz

In this widely acclaimed and highly controversial book, Paul Kurtz examines the reasons why people accept supernatural and paranormal belief systems in spite of substantial evidence to the contrary. According to Kurtz, it is because there is within the human species a deeply rooted tendency toward magical thinking - the "transcendental temptation" - which undermines critical judgement and paves the way for willful beliefs.

Kurtz explores in detail the three major monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam - finding striking psychological and sociological parallels between these religions, the spiritualism of the 19th century, and the paranormal belief systems of today. There are sections on mysticism, belief in the afterlife, the existence of God, reincarnation, astrology, and ufology. Kurtz also expresses the nature of skepticism as an antidote to belief in the transcendental.
--- From The Publisher.

A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology

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A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology
Edited by Paul Kurtz

A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology is the first comprehensive collection of essays by many of the world's leading skeptics and parapsychologists. It combines a detailed history of parapsychology and psychic research with a broad view of the current status of the field.

Where does parapsychology stand today? Is parapsychology a science? Has ESP been demonstrated? Does psychic power exist? What do the skeptics have to say about the work of J.B. Rhine, S.G. Soal, the British Society for Psychical Research, and other research in parapsychology? How do they view such well-known "psychic" personalities as Eusapia Palladino, the Fox sisters, and Uri Geller? What are the skeptical evaluations of extrasensory perception, psychokinesis, ghosts, near-death experiences, life after death, poltergeists, "psychic detectives," and other paranormal claims?

The contributors are predominantly skeptical of psychic claims, but some parapsychologists have been included to defend the parapsychological point of view. Among the twenty-nine contributors are Ray Hyman, C.E.M. Hansel, Martin Gardner, James Randi, James Alcock, John Beloff, Susan Blackmore, E.J. Dingwall, Trevor H. Hall, and Antony Flew.
--- From The Publisher.


The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal

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The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal
Edited by Gordon Stein.

The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal contains over 90 articles by more than 50 experts on topics including the strictly paranormal (psychokinesis, channeling, levitation, astrology, phrenology, palmistry); the historical (mediums, psychic research, alchemy, Houdini); the philosophical (miracles, survival of death, reincarnation); and work on investigatory photography, statistics, the media and the Bermuda Triangle.

In his forward, Carl Sagan says, "I wish [this book] were on the shelves of every newspaper editorial desk and every television newsroom, to encourage more skeptical backbone in reporting . . . . [I]n school libraries so that children would have some counterbalance to the many paranormal and mystical claims in our society."

". . .will provide new perspectives in reference collections that contain only middle-of-the-road treatments. Recommended for academic, public, and high-school libraries." Booklist Reference Books Bulletin

"There have been encyclopedias on paranormal, pseudoscience, the supernatural, and the occult before, but this volume supersedes all that came before." Skeptic

--- From The Publisher.


See also:  Exploring the Great Beyond:  Our Inner Constitution, Psychism, Life After Death & Reincarnation:  The Theosophical Perspective