PARAPSYCHOLOGY ABSTRACTS INTERNATIONAL, 02444. GONDRY, DIRK. 250 YEARS: FRANZ A, MESMER.

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• Document Creation Date: November 4, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 26, 2000
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question and seemed determined to ban "claims of the
paranormal:' The author states that blind faith in one's
own belief leads to underestimating the quality of the
proponent and the complexity. of the subject under discus-
sion. This explains the unfair treatment of the French
psychologistlstatistician, Michel Gauquelin. Hcebens and
other skeptics who supported the investigation of Gau-
quelin feared that the Committee was a lost cause: All
moderates would probably leave and turn their backs on
the crusaders. Fortunately, this year {1984) a "Reappraisal"
took place through internal and external pressure. It
seems to the author that they have learned their lesson
from this affair. He praises the new evolution which aims
at cooperation between skeptics and critical para-
psychologists as allies in the fight against irrationalism. -
D.D.
0244E Dumalin, Daniel. Spierlezen: '"1'he show must
go on ...:' Psi-Forum, 1984, I(1), 25-29. 1 ref
The human automatic reflexes are used in a number
of mentalistic tricks and can give the layman the impres-
sion of a paranormal feat. In a few recent TV programs
this method was used by people who claimed to be
psychics. In our home town (Ghent, Belgium), a man is
still performing this act under the guise of telepathy. This
article shows under what form and in what way human
reflexes can be used to give people the impression that
one is gifted with psychic abilities. - D.D.
02442. _ Martens, Ronny. Randi's Project Alpha. Psi-
Forum, 1984, 1(1), 30-35. 2 ref
The history of parapsychology is heavily marked by
fraud and poorly controlled experiments. This article re-
views an experiment by Randi (Project Alpha) to test cur-
rent parapsychological research standards. Unfortunately,
Randi's experiment shows that things have not improvtd
through the years. His two hypotheses: (i) that the
availability of money does not necessarily improve research
standards and (2) that scientists are in a very bad position
to uncover subject fraud, were confirmed. The author con-
cludes (a) that Randi's experiment urges the paranormal
investigator to rernnsider his position and research, and (b)
both the researcher and the skeptic should strive towards a
meaningful dialogue and cooperation. - DA
02443. Zorab, George. Poltergeist-syndrornc. Psi-
Forum, 1984, 1(2), 66-8L 7 refs
The author traces the origin of the term "poltergeist"
and the history of the phenomena. This is illustrated with
well-known cases between the years 1450-1968. The author
states that now, after 50 years, it has become clear that
there is no difference between local (haunting) and per-
sonal (poltergeist) hauntings. In both cases the same
phenomena can occur. He concludes that the paranormal
is dominated by the living and there is no need for super-
natural entities. - DA
02444. Gondry, Dirk. 250 years: Franz A. Mesmer.
Psi-Forum, 1984, 1(2), 86-82. 13 refs
The career of Mesmer is placed in its historical con-
text. The author shows that the ideas of Mesmer were not
original, but can be placed next to the works of other
authors as early as 450 B.C. His idea of animal magnetism
and his life seem to have been influenxd by several per-
sons such as M. Hell, Count de t:3ebelin, and Maria-
Theresia Paradis. After his downfall his ideas were taken
up by~ several persons such as DrWE. Perkins (U.S.) and do
Puys6gur (France). - DA
02445. Martens, Ronny. Observational theories: Part 1.
Psi-Forum, 1984, 1(2), 108-117. 7 refs
The author introduces the reader to the new observa-
tional theories within the field of parapsychology. These
theories are based on quantum physics, which shares some
elements with paranormal phenomena. The reader is
provided with an introduction to quantum physics upon
which two of the three most developed theories are
elaborated. - DA
TIJDSCNRIFT VOOR PARAPSYCIIOLOGIE
02446. Tenhaeff, W.Ii.C. Spontaneous clairvoyance.
Tfjdschrift voor Parapsychologie, 193211933, S, 62-79.
Tenhaeff notes that since 1929 many people have
written to him about clairvoyant experiences, which were
mostly of a precognitive nature. A drawback was that
none of the cases was told to other people so that they
could be corroborated. He presents 10 of the cases. - G.Z.
02447. Koster, EE.E. Aspects of the occult. Tijdschrift
voor Parapsychologie, 1934, 6, 24-26.
Serious investigators of the occult, i.e., the paranor-
mal, have observed several times that the manifesting en-
tities at seances aro not able to see what is happening in
the seance room. This fact applies especially to those
seances where table-tilting, planchette-writing, and other
such phenomena take place. The Dutch spiritualist, Mr. de
Fremery, during a seance asked the manifesting entity if it
knew what the persons attending the seance were doing.
The answer was, "You are busy washing the dishes." The
answer was given by the table knocking with one of its
legs on the floor. Mr. Koster writes that he himself once
put that same question to the entity that was present at
the seance he was attending. The answer was, "Y"ou are
doing the washing with a washingboard:'
For a long time Mr. Koster thought about this queer
kind of sight of the spirits but failed to find any explana-
tion. Some years later, when staying in Java, he believed
he had the explanation. In Java he had himself mag-
netized. When he foil into a kind of magnetic sleep, he
suddenly found that his sight has become quite different.
It is his opinion that a deceased person is in the same
situation as a living person in a magnetized trance. Al-
tered perceptions occur in both situations. - G.Z.
02448. Dietz, P.A. Experiments concerning the homing
of dogs. Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie, 1934, 6, 86-
92.
These experiments took place in the South of Ger-
many in the neighborhood of Munich. Three dogs were
tested. The transport of a dog was done in such a way
t}tat it could not see where it was going. They were
taken to a place about 6 miles from their home, in the
middle of woods and hills. According to the experimenters
the dogs found their way home not by using their senses,
but by a capacity of orientation which migrating birds also
possess. - G.Z.
02449. Tenhaeff, W.II.C. Dr. G. van Rijnberg and
parapsychology. Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie, 1934,
tS, 123-129.
Professor van Rijnberg, who for many years was the
editor of a prominent Dutch medical journal, was inter-
ested in spiritualism and all things mystical. He was one
of the very few Dutch people who attended seances with
the famous medium Eusapia Palladino. He published what
he observed at these seances in a Dutch periodical under
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