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July 2002 DPE Report

DPE Services.  Since the NSAC Department of Phenomenal Evidence (DPE) will be new to many of you who read The National Spiritualist Summit, we think it would be appropriate to point out two of its features.  The goals of the DPE are to publicize examples of paranormal phenomena that occur in Spiritualist churches, keep Spiritualists updated on news and research concerning paranormal phenomena and to educate the public about phenomena in the Spiritualist church.  There is a DPE web site for Spiritualists and the public to find information about phenomena.  You can find a Phenomenal Evidence form on the site.  Also, an email distribution service that is restricted to NSAC Spiritualists has been set up at [no longer in use].  Members can send emails to everyone in the service with a single address.  We would like to have at least one person from every NSAC church in the group so that information about phenomena can be shared amongst the churches.  Let us know if you are interested in participating.

Hypnotism.  Hypnotism is for real, scientists say after brain-scan study of volunteers—an article by Steve Connor for the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  Research by scientists from the Universities of Harvard and Stanford showed that hypnotized subjects used their brain subconsciously in a way not previously thought possible.  David Spiegel, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford's School of Medicine, said that hypnosis is, "Thought to be something that takes away control from a patient, but it's actually something that enhances their own self-control.  So you can teach people how to manage their anxiety, how to manage their pain and they are grateful for it."  The Scientists who hypnotized a group of volunteers have shown that hypnotism induces a change in blood flow to the brain that cannot be explained by the power of suggestion.  Hypnotism, they concluded is for real.

Templeton Prize.  John Polkinghorne, an Anglican priest and former professor at Cambridge University, UK, has won the 2002 Templeton Prize for progress in religion.  Polkinghorne specialized in work on sub-atomic particles before entering the priesthood.  He said that he wanted to take science and religion with great and equal seriousness, seeing them as complementary to each other and not as rivals.  The prize is the world's most lucrative annual prize for an individual, earning the winner £700,000 ($lm).  "Science studies, the processes of the world, while religion is concerned with the deeper issue of whether there is a divine meaning and purpose behind what is going on.  Both pursuits are valid," Dr Polkinghorne said, adding he never found a "head-on collision" between science and religion.  From the BBC News.

Angels.  In the online publication, The X-Project Paranormal Magazine article titled Angels, an Objective View.  David Russel states that a poll published in TIME magazine showed that 69 percent of the respondents believed in angels.  Of those who did, 46 percent said they had a personal guardian angel.  "Angelic encounters are sometimes life-changing, but always leave the person spiritually, physically, and emotionally revived, comforted, and less negative.  ...Angel contactees usually describe an instance when things are so bad that they go to a solitary place to be alone.  An angel then appears.  Heavenly music and/or joyful music are heard and a warm, tingly light is felt.  Sometimes, invisible arms are felt embracing the person in distress.  Communication is usually telepathic, not always in words but emotion (like a transfer of positive energy).  ...There are numerous other angel stories which involve deceased loved ones visiting those they left behind to reassure the grieving of their well being after death."

An EVP Book. Friedrich Juergenson's out of print book Sprechfunk mit Verstorbenen (or in English, Voice Transmissions With The Deceased) has been translated from German to English.  The English version can be downloaded for free at the Fredrich Juergenson Foundation web site www.fargfabriken.se./fjf/. Juergenson was a pioneer in EVP.  He wrote regarding his first EVP contact, "1 was outside with a tape recorder, recording bird songs.  When I listened through the tape, a voice was heard to say, 'Friedel, can you hear me.  It's mammy ....'  It was my dead mother's voice.  'Friedel' was her special nickname for me."