Past Events
July 11, 2013
In this talk Graham Nicholls will outline the journey he has been on over the last 25 years to rationally understand the nature of his out-of-body experiences. After drawing upon both proponent and sceptical interpretations of the OBE he will discuss why he feels that the veridical elements of some experiences suggest that OBEs are not hallucinations or bodily illusions.
June 6, 2013
The science delusion is the belief that science already understands the nature of reality, in principle. The fundamental questions are answered, leaving only the details to be filled in. The impressive achievements of science seemed to support this confident attitude. But recent research has revealed unexpected problems at the heart of physics, cosmology, biology, medicine and psychology. In his new book, Dr Rupert Sheldrake shows how the sciences are being constricted by assumptions that have…
May 16, 2013
In his lecture Feargus O’Connor will identify some of the main sources of evidence, empirical, philosophical and religious, that may inform and guide us in our long quest to make sense of that most perplexing and intriguing of questions, survival of bodily death. He will consider philosophical and religious arguments for and against life after death and evidence drawn from psychical research and the study of near-death experiences (NDEs) and its bearing on the hypothesis of post-mortem…
April 27, 2013
Last year was the 130th anniversary of the founding of the SPR, so it is timely to consider some historical and sociological aspects of psychical research. In particular, it is interesting to focus on its links with more established sciences, such as physics, psychology and medicine, and the role played by some key figures in these fields. In this Study Day leading historians of psychical research will come together to address these issues from a variety of perspectives and discuss what lessons…
March 28, 2013
Please note that this is an alteration to our previously-advertised programme. We thank Leslie Price for agreeing, at short notice, to give this talk on a similar theme. He will draw upon some of his own investigations and reveal details of some hitherto unpublished fraud cases in which he was involved.
December 6, 2012
Is there a special bond between twins, especially identical ones? Hitherto there has
been no clear answer. Some twins insist that there is, others insist that there isn’t.
So who is right? Guy Lyon Playfair has been exploring this long neglected area of
research since 1997, when he helped set up the first televised experiment in twin
telepathy using a polygraph, the successful result of which will be shown. He then
went on to write the first book devoted…
been no clear answer. Some twins insist that there is, others insist that there isn’t.
So who is right? Guy Lyon Playfair has been exploring this long neglected area of
research since 1997, when he helped set up the first televised experiment in twin
telepathy using a polygraph, the successful result of which will be shown. He then
went on to write the first book devoted…
October 20, 2012
In April 2011 we had a Study Day on automatic art production, and the question was whether the words, music and painting emanated from the automatist’s subconscious or from the mind of the dead ‘claimant’. There are other claimants to autonomy — personal communicators demonstrating through mediumship appropriate knowledge and skills ranging from classical scholarship to grandmaster chess. Real identifiable people from past times manifest as apparitions and as reincarnated personalities…
October 4, 2012
Dr. Mark Fox has carried out extensive research into the related subjects of
spirituality and religious experience. His books include studies of Near-Death
Experiences and of overwhelming ‘encounters’ with love and light. Tonight Mark
will discuss the findings from his analysis of over 700 accounts of such unusual
light encounters reported to the Religious Experience Research Centre at the
University of Wales. Such lights are typically encountered at…
spirituality and religious experience. His books include studies of Near-Death
Experiences and of overwhelming ‘encounters’ with love and light. Tonight Mark
will discuss the findings from his analysis of over 700 accounts of such unusual
light encounters reported to the Religious Experience Research Centre at the
University of Wales. Such lights are typically encountered at…
September 7, 2012
The SPR’s 36th International Annual conference will be held at the Sunley Conference Centre, Park Campus, University of Northampton, Boughton Green Road, Northampton, NN2 7AL between Friday 7 and Sunday 9 September 2012.
We are very pleased to be in Northampton, home to one of the UK’s most energetic and productive parapsychology departments. As always, our very full conference programme will address a broad range of topics, covering both spontaneous cases and laboratory…
We are very pleased to be in Northampton, home to one of the UK’s most energetic and productive parapsychology departments. As always, our very full conference programme will address a broad range of topics, covering both spontaneous cases and laboratory…
July 5, 2012
Callum Cooper will present the findings of his recent study, as described at the 2011 Annual SPR Conference in Edinburgh, which have formed the basis of a new book on the subject of anomalous telephone calls "from the dead". In the past, the topic received considerable attention from D. Scott Rogo and Raymond Bayless as well Gertrude Schmeidler.
June 14, 2012
Stainton Moses was a famous mental and physical medium who helped found the SPR in 1882 and became an SPR Vice President. He has featured in many books about the history of psychical research, and was given the unusual distinction of a long two-part article in the SPR's Proceedings about his mediumship. Leslie Price will focus on a number of mysteries in the life of Moses, and attempt to explain them.