PSYCHOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION II
Regular readers of this column will recall that last year I wrote an article concerning an academic psychological investigation into the nature of paranormal/psychic experiences being carried out by Kings College London. I have again been approached by the researcher and Ph.D student Raphael Underwood who is taking his investigation further and he needs volunteers who have personal experience of a psychic nature. This is what Raphael is asking:
We are interested in talking to people, especially in the London area, who have had mystical, psychic, spiritual or paranormal experiences on at least an occasional basis, in the last five years, and who are willing to take part in an MRI scan. Participation in the study is entirely voluntary- we offer £30 for taking part in an MRI scan, and an additional £10 for time completing questionnaires face to face, plus travel costs.
What is the study about?
Many people describe experiences which are ‘unusual’ or different to ordinary day-to-day experiences (e.g. extra-sensory perception, psychic episodes or spiritual-type experiences). These experiences can be positive and enriching for some but distressing for others, who may need further support in understanding and coping with them. This research study will attempt to identify what distinguishes people whose experiences may become distressing from those who experience them as positive, both at a psychological level, and at the level of brain activity. We are especially interested in understanding how people interpret or make sense of their ‘unusual’ experiences and which different factors may influence this.
If I take part, what will it involve?
Firstly, we will chat briefly on the phone so we both have a chance to ask questions and decide together if this study is appropriate for you. If we both agree you are able to take part we will arrange to meet. This meeting should last about 2 hours (1 hour in the MRI scanner, and 1 hour face to face, with as many breaks as you need). We will ask you to complete some tasks involving simple tests of reasoning and attention, while lying in an MRI scanner, in order for us to look at how your brain functions when you are completing these tasks. MRI scans are a fascinating experience and an opportunity to learn a bit about how our brains operate. We will also ask you to complete a set of questionnaires including questions about your specific experiences. All of our questions will be asked in a sensitive, non-judgemental and empathic way.
If you would like to take part in the study or if you have any questions
please do contact me direct. My Name: Raphael Underwood Email: raphael.underwood@kcl.ac.uk Tel: 07425156301
All information given in this study is strictly confidential and stored following strict data protection guidelines and only the researchers will be able to identify your details.
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It is my personal belief that the research being undertaken by Raphael and his team at KingsCollege could potentially prove that there is a verifiable and identifiable pathway that allows access to psychic information such as precognitive visions. Throughout the last three decades I have worked alongside many professional clairvoyants and psychic-mediums. One factor that seemed to be present in the psychological make up of these individuals was the fact that each had at some time suffered extreme trauma. In one notable case study the psychic had been physically abused by his violent father who would assault and terrorise him as a child. It was during the quiescent period immediately following an attack and beating by his father that the individual began to experience psychic phenomena seeing visions and hearing voices. In my own case my parents were very strict and would lock me into my bedroom each night at 6pm where I was required to stay quietly until 7am the next day. I was but a child of six years and the room was virtually empty save for a bed and four walls covered in flowered wallpaper. I used to lie awake and count those flowers until suddenly I was no longer in that locked bedroom I was in another dimension in a land far, far away through the invisible barriers of time and space.
Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) known as The Sleeping Prophet suffered a serious traumatic illness in his early twenties when he totally lost his ability to speak. It was whilst attending a theatrical performance of hypnotism during which he was placed in a trance that Cayce began to talk again. However on wakening he was once more struck dumb. Over time Cayce was helped by other hypnotists until he became able to speak once more whilst fully awake. However another discovery was made during his periods in trance Edgar Cayce was able to make the most remarkable predictions which were accessed, his sleeping self stated, through visitation to The Akashic Records (a library containing the book of each life, past, present and future).
Andrew Jackson Davis (1826-1910) known at The Poughkeepsie Seer was a mystic and healer who accessed his psychic powers whilst in trance. He was considered to be incredibly accurate in his ability to predict and is credited as advising President Lincoln during the American Civil War. Also Andrew Jackson Davis wrote extensively: He predicted the existence of the planets Neptune and Pluto before their actual discovery. He wrote about The Theory of Evolution a decade before Darwin published “On the Origin of Species” and discovered many other scientific laws before their discovery. In 1850, in his book the Great Harmonia, Davis talks about how man evolved from animals and that evolution also took place in plants and animals up to man. He says that this is not a popular idea since many at that time believed in creationism. This is 9 years before Charles Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species. It must be noted that in 1842 and 1844, Darwin wrote relatively short summaries of his theory, but they were not widely read outside of British scientific circles. The point here is that Davis was receiving his information not by systematic scientific study, elimination and analysis but by accessing another higher dimension. During one trance Andrew Jackson Davis reported that he travelled through time and space to meet with the long deceased Swedish Seer Emanuel Swedenborg from whom he received extensive mental illumination.
As a professional psychic I know that the information I receive is from an external source and is accessed by me through an as yet to be discovered natural pathway that exists within my physiological being. In the aforementioned cases it can be seen that Davis and Cayce accessed this pathway whilst in trance. My access began with trauma and has remained with me ever since, developing power with use especially over the past thirty years.
Do contact Raphael Underwood Email: raphael.underwood@kcl.ac.uk Tel: 07425156301 His research may prove the physiological source of psychic communication and that the scientific materialists, such as that bounder James Randi, are nothing more than deluded, self-opinionated tricksters. I am John G. Sutton do see my website WWW Psychicworld.net
