The analysis and study of spontaneous psychic experiences
was one of the first activities undertaken by psi research organizations. The prototype
spontaneous case collection was accomplished by the first scientific establishment for
psychic investigations, the British Society for Psychical Research (SPR). In the late 19th
century, SPR cofounders Gurney, Myers and Podmore undertook a meticulous analysis of
thousands of cases, mailed in by British correspondents. Using quite strict criteria of
authentication and independent corroboration, they separated out the evidentially weaker
cases and focused on the ones which seemed to strongly suggest a psychic factor. In their
monumental Phantasms of the Living, the authors included over 700 cases which illustrated
the range of telepathic phenomena - from vague intuitions and sensations to full- blown
communications from apparitional entities. Their work showed that apparitions are not
necessarily related to disembodied spirits, but are probably hallucinations contrived by
the percipient's unconscious mind in association with a dramatic telepathic message.
In France, a case collection was undertaken by Nobel laureate physiologist Charles Richet,
who was director of the Institut Metapsychique International. He published a number of
these in his "Traite de la Metapsychique." Another famous French scientist, the
astronomer Camille Flammarion, also compiled an impressive collection of spontaneous
cases, published in several books. |
