New Books and Media

From the publisher's website: The paranormal has long been a hotly contested topic, especially in academia. Most people are entertained by the paranormal or casually read a few books they come across on the topic, perhaps assuming that these topics are nothing more than campfire fodder. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with being entertained by the paranormal, but how many people know that there is a long history of academic, scientific, and credible research into topics such as extrasensory perception, hauntings, poltergeists, cryptozoological sightings, near-death experiences, and more?

Further information at the publisher's website: Rowman & Littlefield.

Review by Christopher Josiffe.

From the publisher's website: Across thousands of years, people have described one of the most astonishing of all human phenomena: the near-death experience (NDE), the subjective experience of an Afterlife, a place where we apparently survive death.The more powerful the NDE, the more profound the after effects. The ambitious reset their priorities. Atheists change their values. Doctors rethink their beliefs.But what if the after effects of an NDE were undeniable? What if someone suddenly developed the ability to produce high quality paintings of their NDE, a new-found skill that went far beyond the artistic ability they had before? And what if that same person then suddenly acquired the ability to compose classical symphonies after their NDE? And their symphonies were then premiered at sell out orchestral concerts, even though, to this day, they are unable to read or write a single note of musical notation. Wouldn't this be proof that even a cynic would have a hard time explaining?After his NDE, this is exactly what happened to David. And this is his story.

Further information at the publisher's website: O-Books.

Review by Ciaran Farrell.

From the publisher's website: The word miracle is rooted in a Sanskrit syllable smi, from which we get the English word smile. So a miracle refers to a smile induced by certain sensations of awe, beauty, and wonder. Humans have always had extraordinary experiences, often called miracles.  An account of reported miraculous phenomena, Smile of the Universe takes us beyond conventional religion and science to explore the outer reaches of human potential. Grounded in true stories and matters of fact, Michael Grosso argues for the reality of a great Mind and for the human ability to communicate with that Mind. In an age of disbelief, it presents a fact-based template for experimental spirituality and makes the case that every one of us, rightly understood, is a smile of the universe.  

Further information at the publisher's website: Anomalist Books.

Review by Graham Kidd.

From the back cover: This is undoubtedly the biggest poltergeist case of its kind in Scotland, (if not the United Kingdom) Not only were the poltergeist events witnessed in the family household, but they also followed the unfortunate little girl to her local school, where the poltergeist was equally disruptive in full view of Virginia’s classmates and teacher.The credibility of the witnesses to these bizarre events consisted of two local doctors, a local minister, and a number of other Church of Scotland Ministers, each of whom were stunned to view the astonishing events in the Campbell household.Researcher Malcolm Robinson takes a look back at this impressive 1960 case, and his re-investigation of it. Malcolm managed to track down some of the witnesses, and their impressive testimony is included in this block buster of a book.

Review by Ted Dixon.

From the publisher's website: Sir Oliver Lodge was a polymathic scientific figure who linked the Victorian Age with the Second World War, a reassuring figure of continuity across his long life and career. A physicist and spiritualist, inventor and educator, author and authority, he was one of the most famous public figures of British science in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A pioneer in the invention of wireless communication and later of radio broadcasting, he was foundational for twentieth-century media technology and a tireless communicator who wrote upon and debated many of the pressing interests of the day in the sciences and far beyond. Yet since his death, Lodge has been marginalized. By uncovering the many aspects of his life and career, and the changing dynamics of scientific authority in an era of specialization, contributors to this volume reveal how figures like Lodge fell out of view as technical experts came to dominate the public understanding of science in the second half of the twentieth century. They account for why he was so greatly cherished by many of his contemporaries, examine the reasons for his eclipse, and consider what Lodge, a century on, might teach us about taking a more integrated approach to key scientific controversies of the day.

Table of contents. 

From the publisher's website: In ten chapters, contributed by leading parapsychologists and philosophers, These essays explore experiences that present significant challenges to the modern scientific worldview, in particular, to its insistent refusal to reconsider its underlying commitment to a materialistic, mechanistic, atheistic metaphysics. Philosophically, Alfred North Whitehead’s process view of experience is described as being more congenial not only to extraordinary experience, but to the current state of scientific research, which has revealed that activity, selection, and response are facets of every level of reality from the quantum event to the neural cell. Ironically, the only part of our world whose synthetic responsiveness—whose “subjectivity”—is regularly called into question by the academy is the human subject. And the primary reason for this most peculiar situation is modern science and philosophy’s largely unconscious metaphysical allegiance to one-half of an abandoned Cartesian dualism, which in practice is no longer accepted by any scientific discipline. Nonetheless, try to assert some idea that does not cohere with this assumed notion of reality and prepare to be informed it is “impossible,” while at the same time being told that this response is not related to any preexisting metaphysical sentiments.

Further information at the publisher's website: Process Century Press.

From the publisher's website: Across the globe and through time, diverse cultures have developed elaborate systems for understanding and interacting with strange forces and invisible beings. Since the nineteenth century anthropologists have theorised about the nature of the extraordinary experiences and beliefs recounted to them by their fieldwork informants, at home and abroad.

Spirits, Gods and Magic is an introduction to the anthropology of the supernatural. The book features introductory chapters outlining key anthropological perspectives on Shamanism and Spirit Possession, Witchcraft and Magic, and Ghosts, Spirits and Gods. It also includes chapters exploring the relationship between Ethnography and the Paranormal and what the fields of Anthropology and Parapsychology can learn from each other.

With a Foreword by anthropologist Dr. Fiona Bowie and an Afterword by parapsychologist Dr. David Luke, the book makes an important contribution to inter-disciplinary paranormal studies.

Review by Sarah Porch-Lee.

The Mysteries of Healing: Dialogues with Doctors and Scientists reports on the current research and personal characteristics of 19 visionaries from the US, Canada, and the UK. They discuss healing with hands, with frequencies, with altered states of consciousness, and with helpful beings. Vanguard scientists believe there is more than we see and formulate a non-materialist paradigm that expands human potential, including mind and matter interaction. Going against the dominant worldview evokes criticism so the book explores the personal backgrounds of the scientists to find out why they are so courageous. We learn that there is another dimension that allows for enhanced abilities, based on extensive interviews by Gayle Kimball, the author of 20 books. 

Review by Robert A. Charman.

From the back cover: As a high achiever in the financial sector Ann Treherne seems amongst the least likely to believe in paranormal phenomena. But then as she describes frankly in this book, she was confronted by a profound personal experience - a traumatic premonition of a national tragedy.Her struggle to make sense of that experience and her sense of guilt for not having attempted to act on the information received, leads her on a journey of investigation and exploration into the strange world of the paranormal. Ann had the good fortune to meet an academic with a sympathetic interest in parapsychology and this gave her space to take her experiences seriously and to acquire skills in research and investigation methods. Part of her education involved participating in vigils in haunted locations, evaluating mental mediumship and sitting for physical phenomena. Even under these controlled conditions, she had some remarkable experiences ...

Further information at: The Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Centre.

The Trickster-god is a strange and rather wonderful mythological figure who is found in folklore and legend right across the world, from the Norse Loki to the Greek Hermes to the Raven and Coyote of the Native American peoples. The ultimate ‘cunning fool’, he and the many subversive tales told about him have been studied down the years by anthropologists, historians, literary theorists and psychologists from Ted Hughes to C. G. Jung. But in the twenty-first century, should the Trickster also be studied by parapsychologists and ghost hunters? Nobody believes in gods like Hermes or Loki anymore, but that does not mean that people do not still tell one another tales about such Tricksters and their mischievous ways. They do, but in disguised form - the disguised form of the poltergeist.

Further information on the publisher's website: Amberley Publishing.

Review by Ted Dixon.

From the publisher's website: Wales is said to be the most haunted country in the world. Restless spirits roam the ancient land, from the lofty peaks of Snowdonia to the dark depths of the abandoned mines. In Paranormal Wales author Mark Rees takes the reader on a spine-chilling journey to dozens of these locations, which include well-known tourist landmarks and more secluded spots well off the beaten track. These accounts of disembodied voices, supernatural mists and pesky poltergeists range from centuries-old legends to modern-day sightings. Visit the ‘oldest pub’ in Wales, where more than 180 people are claimed to have been sentenced to death by hanging. Explore the majestic opera house built by a world-famous soprano, who some say continues to perform on her beloved stage from beyond the grave. Spend the night in a seemingly idyllic manor house, where the presence of a Victorian housekeeper is said to reduce unsuspecting guests to tears. Or step back in time at one of the many ivy-strewn castles, where ladies in white patrol the Gothic battlements as tortured screams ring out from the dungeons below. Some of these stories might be familiar, others less so, but they all have one thing in common – they will make you think twice about turning off the light at night. Illustrated throughout, Paranormal Wales will be of spine-tingling interest to those wanting to discover more about the country’s haunted and hidden heritage.

Review by Tim Prasil,

Readers interested in out of body experiences, lucid dreaming, remote viewing, psychokinesis, energy healing, mediumship and contact with UFOs will gain tremendous insights and practice tips by reading this book. Paranormal researchers and parapsychologists will find ample anecdotes to enrich their fields of inquiry. The intersection of modern physics and ancient mysticism becomes apparent inside these pages.This is the spiritual memoir of Sean McNamara, meditation teacher and consciousness explorer. In this groundbreaking work, he reveals his core psychological drives and the events of his life which caused him to question everything and look into the deeper nature of reality. Follow him on his travels around the world, and learn about his experiences, good and bad, while under the tutelage of various teachers.By the end, he shares experiences he’s never revealed publicly ...