Abstracts from Australian Journal of Parapsychology
2025
Volume 25(1), pp. 9-34
The Concept of “Subtle Bodies” as a Connecting Element in Western Esoteric Healing and Care Tradition
CLAUDE BERGHMANS & AXEL HASENHOELLER
Abstract: Faced with disease, patients have a wide range of care options at their disposal. Among these, so-called complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) has gained a growing interest, the theoretical foundations of which partly borrow from esoteric care practices. Based on the taxonomies developed by the American epidemiologist Jeff Levin, this article aims to present a mapping of esoteric healing practices in order to highlight the concept of the ‘subtle body’ as a connecting element bringing these practices together. A discussion of the implications for care pathways will be undertaken in order to initiate a general reflection on the epistemological foundations of these practices.
2025
Volume 25(1), pp. 35-53
A Novel Investigation of Narrative Variations and Cognitive Factors Associated with Self-Reported Experience of the ‘Disappearing Object Phenomenon’
TONY JINKS
Abstract: The disappearing object phenomenon (DOP) is an anomalous experience whereby personal possessions are assumed to disappear, appear or reappear without rational explanation. The present study compared those who self-report experiencing a DOP event (Experients) with a simulation control group of those imagining the event (Imaginers) on psychological constructs potentially encouraging the phenomenon (namely, Mindfulness, Magical Ideation, and Paranormal Belief). Eighty participants took part in the study (Experients N = 42; Imaginers N = 38). Narratives regarding the features of an ‘authentic’ versus imagined DOP did not differ substantially between groups, and analysis revealed small but significantly higher mean scores on Spirituality and Magical Ideation for Experients. It is suggested that a generally heightened belief in spiritual topics encourage an anomalous interpretation of a missing object as a DOP, and this is the most likely variable distinguishing Experients from Imaginers. On inspection, an item in the Magical Ideation Scale that describes a DOP-like experience (Q6) is likely to generate the elevated scores provided by Experients. Future research using an alternative magical ideation measure, and consideration of additional psychological traits contributing to DOP reports, may further identify the psychological origin of the DOP experience.
2025
Volume 25(1), pp. 55-60
Charles Tart; A Noetic Pilgrim’s Progress
ETZEL CARDEÑA
Abstract: Charles Theodore Tart has been a central figure in the study of altered states of consciousness (ASC), transpersonal psychology, and parapsychology for more than half a century, shifting from mostly being a researcher and theoretician during the first decades to also becoming a pedagogic thinker later. His vast output includes books, articles, and this important series of interviews. In a previous homage, I compared him to an agile hummingbird who pollinated various fields of study that had mostly been left bereft since the towering contributions of William James, who mapped the development of a comprehensive study of the mind, a goal discarded by behaviorism. The breadth of interests and preoccupations of Tart include, among others, the impact of the characteristics of the experimenter and the experimental setting, the unquestioning allegiances to one or another position about consciousness and reality, the relation (mostly conflictual to him) of science and religion, the differential benefits of different states of consciousness, the relevance of some of the teachings of the esoteric guru Gurdjieff, and how to initiate a meditation practice.
2025
Volume 25(2), pp. 109-133
Technology-Mediated After-Death Communications: Selected New Cases and Psychological Implications
ALEX A. ÁLVAREZ
Abstract: After-death communications (ADCs) involving telecommunication technologies—such as phone calls, text messages, or emails—constitute a relatively understudied subset of spontaneous anomalous experiences. This article presents eight previously unanalyzed cases in which individuals reported receiving unexpected contacts from deceased persons through such means. These accounts are examined considering possible conventional and/or parapsychological explanations. Although none of them offers conclusive evidence for survival after bodily death, they illustrate the evolving forms that ADCs can take in response to shifts in communication technologies. More importantly, these types of technology-mediated ADCs often carry significant emotional value for those who report them, such as a sense of comfort, relief, or reaffirmed connection with the deceased, which can contribute to the grieving process in ways that appear therapeutic or transformative. In documenting and reflecting on these cases, I aim to expand the empirical and conceptual landscape of this type of ADC while highlighting the need for further study into the subjective meaning and psychological consequences of such phenomena.
2025
Volume 25(2), pp. 135-152
Parapsychology’s Future in Academia: A Survey of Views from within the Field
RANDOLPH LIEBECK
Abstract: This paper surveyed a group of 34 academics with a background in parapsychology in order to collect and analyze their opinions and projections mainly concerning whether parapsychology will survive as a discipline in the world of academia. The results suggest that while the majority of those surveyed believe that parapsychology does qualify as its own scientific and academic discipline, and believe that it should continue to have a presence in academia, most feel that due to socio-political prejudices against the subject (which lead to limited interdisciplinary collaborative opportunities, limited funding, limited staff positions, limited career paths, the potential for career damage to graduate students and faculty who even express an interest in the subject, as well as constraints on interdisciplinary collaboration) institutional parapsychology is unlikely to continue to play a primary role in the exploration of seemingly anomalous aspects of human mental capabilities. These mysteries may be more effectively examined by other, more mainstream, sciences. It is likely that parapsychology will merge with or be enveloped by other disciplines or, if it is to remain a separate discipline, will redefine itself with a new philosophical paradigm and a new label that does not carry the stigma associated with the word ‘parapsychology’. The study of mind and consciousness anomalies will continue to have a place in academia, but the institution of parapsychology—as it has been defined since the J. B. Rhine era of the 1930s—may well be nearing its end.
2025
Volume 25(2), pp. 153-170
Increasing the Spiritual Dimension following a Near-Death Experience: An Exploratory Study of Witness Self-Perception
CLAUDE BERGHMANS, NATHAN EULRY, & RENAUD ÉVRARD
Abstract: Near-death experiences (NDE) have aroused the interest of scientists for several decades and have raised questions about their nature and the relationship with different dimensions of existence, such as spirituality and religion. It is precisely on these areas that this study will focus, by analyzing, through two questionnaires, the perception of NDE experiencers, before and after the NDE, on different dimensions of spirituality and religion. The results show strong statistical significance of increases in these dimensions after the NDE, which is in line with previous research on this subject. The NDE would lead to a process of transformation at the level of these dimensions, which would become preponderant in the lives of the experiencers and would lead to a change in their lives. Is it the NDE or the traumatic experience of the relationship with death which is a triggering factor in this process of change? Additional studies, including comparisons with other non-ordinary states of consciousness and their relationships with spirituality, would be necessary to answer this question.
2025
Volume 25(2), pp. 171-177
Mediumship Information: Retrieved from a Repository or by an Interaction with the Deceased?
PATRIZIO TRESSOLDI, LAURA LIBERALE, & FERNANDO SINESIO
Abstract: The correct information identified in 100 readings obtained by 28 self-claimant mediums, applying a triple level blind protocol, were classified into two categories: (1) information that the medium declared to be received interacting with the deceased and (2) information without such interaction. Among the 1295 pieces of correct information identified in the 100 readings, 164 (12.6%) statements were related to a purported interaction with the deceased. Even if only a small percentage of information is correct, such information suggests that mediums seem to retrieve their information by interacting with the deceased and not only retrieving them by searching a sort of universal memory of the deceased persons’ experiences.
2025
Volume 25(2), pp. 179-185
The Non-Transmission Axiom in the Model of Pragmatic Information
LANCE STORM AND WALTER VON LUCADOU
Abstract: The Model of Pragmatic Information (MPI), developed by Walter von Lucadou (1995), provides a theoretical framework for understanding psi phenomena as non-causal, non-signal correlations that arise in complex, informationally closed systems. A central claim of MPI is the Non-Transmission (NT) Axiom: any attempt to use psi for information transfer causes the effect to disappear or become unpredictable due to decline or displacement. While this axiom preserves consistency with conventional physics, it also implies that psi phenomena are inherently non-utilizable. This paper considers this claim in detail by drawing on empirical findings from ESP (Ganzfeld and Remote Viewing) and PK experiments, as well as a synchronicity case, and concludes that loss of ‘novelty’ and ‘autonomy’—key concepts in MPI—do not prohibit anticipation or pattern recognition as these do not violate the NT-Axiom.