New Books and Media

From the publisher's website: During the Cold War, the U.S. government began testing paranormal claims under laboratory conditions in hopes of realizing intelligence applications for psychic phenomena. Thus began the project known as Star Gate––the largest in the history of parapsychological research, it received more than $20 million in funding and continued into the mid–1990s. This project archive includes all available documents generated by research contractor SRI International, and those provided by government officials.

From the publisher's website: Claims of Reincarnation is one of the foremost works to have been published in India during the latter part of the twentieth century. Dr. Satwant Pasricha has investigated hundreds of cases in her native land and is considered to be one of the leading authorities in the field of empirical investigations into past-life claims. First published in 1990, this book is as relevant today as it was when it made its debut and is a valuable addition for scholars and anyone interested in the subject.

Review by KM Wehrstein.

Can mediums communicate with the dead? Do people really believe they’ve been abducted by aliens? Why do some people make life decisions based on their horoscope?

The Psychology of the Paranormal explores some commonly held beliefs regarding experiences so strange they can defy an obvious scientific explanation. The book explains how psychologists have conducted experiments to provide insight into phenomena such as clairvoyance, astrology, and alien abduction, as well as teaching us fundamental truths about human belief systems.

From debunking myths about Extra Sensory Perception, to considering whether our lives can truly be fated by the stars, The Psychology of the Paranormal shows us that however unlikely, belief in the paranormal will continue to be widespread.

Review by Nemo C. Mörck.

From the publisher's website: When Paul Marshall began to pay attention to his dreams, he could not have anticipated the transformative experience that would follow. A tremendous expansion of consciousness exposed the insignificance of his everyday self but also revealed unsuspected depths of mind and hinted at a deeper self that holds the universe within. In The Shape of the Soul, Marshall—now a mysticism scholar—draws on personal experiences, along with a wealth of religious, philosophical, and scientific ideas, to explore this deeper self, sometimes experienced in mystical and near-death states as spherical in form. Drawing inspiration from the philosophers Plotinus and Leibniz, Marshall takes mind to be more fundamental than matter and views the basic units of nature as perceptual beings. We ourselves are such beings, striving for fulfilment in a long evolutionary journey of soul-making. Bringing together mysticism, philosophy, biology, and even some physics, The Shape of the Soul offers a deeply integrated vision of the self and the universe. Addressing the mind–body problem, the origin of the world, evolution, reincarnation, suffering, and the nature of God, Marshall delivers what will surely prove an intellectual classic.

From the publisher's website: In The Spectacle of Illusion, professional magician-turned experimental psychologist Dr. Matthew L. Tompkins investigates the arts of deception as practiced and popularized by mesmerists, magicians and psychics since the early 18th century. Organized thematically within a broadly chronological trajectory, this compelling book explores how illusions perpetuated by magicians and fraudulent mystics can not only deceive our senses but also teach us about the inner workings of our minds. Indeed, modern scientists are increasingly turning to magic tricks to develop new techniques to examine human perception, memory and belief.

Further information on the publisher's website: Thames & Hudson.

Review by Nemo C. Mörck

From the publisher's website: Star Gate is the largest funded program in the history of psi research receiving about $19.933 million in funding from 1972 to 1995. Researchers from SRI International, and later at Science Applications International Corporation, in association with various U.S. intelligence agencies participated in this program.

From the publisher's website: Are people seeing a different world, or are they seeing this world differently? Does existing evidence provide clues to perceived encounters with an unseen realm and its inhabitants that seem to permanently transform the personal and philosophical viewpoints of millions who experience them? But don’t waste your time waiting for science to find answers to explain many of life’s most perplexing experiences. This book, written by an unbiased futuristic thinker, may very well provide the answers and wake you up to the significance of them all.

Dr. Davis bridges the gap between science and spirituality through an objective, evidence-based analysis of experimental research and theories. He successfully accomplishes this objective by integrating scientific studies and theories with personal accounts of spiritual awakening and the peak experience. Such accounts, combined with concepts of the mind-brain connection, consciousness, psychology, neuroscience, quantum physics, extrasensory perception, and near-death and out-of-body experiences, among others, will help you develop a more informed perspective of the many controversial issues of our time – the meaning of life, reality, and YOU. The answers may be found in this book, and most importantly, within YOU.

From the publisher's website: O paulista Carmine Mirabelli, certamente ocupa um lugar de destaque na lista dos maiores médiuns de efeitos físicos da História Moderna (ou, segundo seus detratores, na lista dos maiores mistificadores). Também figura como um dos médiuns mais perseguidos pela imprensa, no Brasil. A coleção Mirabelli vol. 3, encerrando a restauração histórica da vida e obra desse médium ímpar, reedita as seguintes obras:

- O Médium Mirabelli – O Resultado de um Inquérito, de Rodolpho Mikulasch.
- O Espiritismo Científico e as extraordinárias mediunidades do Sr. Mirabelli, do Dr. Carlos de Castro.
- O Médium Mirabelli Mistifica?, de Miguel Karl.
- Martírio e Glória do Professor Mirabelli, de J. F. Schimidt e Olavo Leite.

No apêndice, apresentamos a Campanha Anti Mirabelli, a maior perseguição movida pela imprensa contra um médium brasileiro. A fase final da vida de Mirabelli é reconstituída através das publicações de Revistas e Jornais pelo país. Philippe Piet van Putten, pesquisador científico espiritualista, em entrevista exclusiva, relata suas pesquisas sobre o médium e abre seu acervo particular de fotos e documentos. E para encerrar, o neto de Mirabelli, Luiz Mirabelli Jr, relata diversas histórias inéditas sobre seu avô, incluindo depoimento importante sobre a famosa foto da levitação, sessão na qual seu pai esteve presente, e apresenta fotos de seu álbum particular de família e atas de fenômenos físicos que aconteceram dentro da prisão, quando o médium cumpria pena nos seus derradeiros anos. A História, agora está recontada!

The publisher's website: Casa do Caminho Santana.

Is There an Earth Mind?

This is the story of the Global Consciousness Project, a unique 20-year scientific collaboration of researchers recording the effects of mass consciousness in response to major global events.  Its findings are consistent with the wisdom traditions of many cultures and speak of humanity’s unity and deep connections through love, compassion, and the creative impulse.

Review by Robert A. Charman.

From the publisher's website: This is not Donald Trump's anti-science. Science itself is fine, and has rightfully earned the highest status in our culture. But the high status of science has created a problem: Scientists are believed and taken seriously, whatever they say, whether it was determined by the scientific method or not. In particular, they are trying to tell us that there is no reality beyond the physical. This has not been proved scientifically, so it is defended and forced upon the academic community with unscientific methods such as authoritarian pronouncements, ridicule, and power politics, and accepted universally as absolute truth at American colleges and universities. Academic people who express an interest in precognition, telepathy, clairvoyance, remote viewing, psychokinesis, energy medicine, spirit entities, the power of prayer, reincarnation, or intelligent design are treated as if they were mentally incompetent, shunned by their colleagues, and denied publication, funding, and employment. 

Review by Robert McLuhan.

From the publisher's website: Dr Alex Tanous (1926-1990) was a renewed international lecturer on the topics of well-being, creativity and parapsychology.  A self-professed psychic, he spent 20 years of his life while working as a university lecturer being tested for his claims of ‘light project’ and going ‘out-of-the-body’ at will. He was also well-known for placing his predictions of future events on record. This book – written in the 1980s by Tanous and colleagues – “gives an overview of an innovative approach in the combined fields of conventional and [non]-conventional psychotherapeutic healing”. This is one of several books released by the Alex Tanous Foundation in recent years for historical preservation. Fascinating accounts are relayed by Tanous et al., with additional writings from respected and renowned scientists and professionals to provide modern reflection on this historical piece.

Further information here: White Crow Books.

Review by Graham Kidd.

From the publisher's website: Mary Rose Barrington, a retired lawyer and former president of the Oxford University Society for Psychical Research has spent many years researching psychic phenomena and observing how it interacts with our daily lives. In Talking about Psychical Research, Mary Rose Barrington asks, “What is the point of psychical research?” She goes on to share her thoughts on subjects including telepathy, clairvoyance, ‘ jotts’, scepticism, psychic force and her ‘small theory of everything’, and in doing so provides us with an enlightening, erudite and entertaining read.

Further information here: White Crow Books

Review by Ted Dixon.