The Ground
of Faith
*Exploring Science,
Mysticism and Experience Together
Note: Contributions to this journal need not reflect the views of the Editors or of the Panel
.From the Editor
Steve Jobs’ Final Words
Stafford Betty
Articles by Michael Tymn
1.Why Red Indians so often "Control" mediums
2. New Zealand Priest Tells of Mediumship Experiences in New Book
3. Do Famous “Dead” People Communicate?
4. Life after Death and Super-psi do not conflict says physics professor
5. Art Directed by Spirits?
6. Will Simon Cowell Regret His “Insurance Policy”?
7. Has the Near-Death Experience Been Debunked?
8. Was Etta Wriedt the Best Medium Ever?
Articles on Synchronicity
1. Possible Causal Mech- anisms in the Occurrence of Synchronicities:
by Gary E. Schwartz, PhD
2.Dale Graf, MS Physics
3. Synchronicity: Prof Victor Mansfield
4. Revisit our issue of October 2003 for a fuller account of writers on the theme of synchronicity,
Two futher addresses from the last ASPSI conference
A Jungian Psychological and Spiritual Passage
Rev Karen E Herrick,
In Light of Love: The Near-Death Experience and the Bible
by Scott D. Davidson
Five blogs published under the aegis of White Crow Books
1.Michael Cocks
2. Michael Tymn
3. Simon Parke
4. Stafford Betty
5. Subversive thinking
Other relevant e-journals, blogs and publications
Spend hours exploring these very important links
Other relevant e-journals
Pseudo Skeptics
Public Parapsychology
Spend hours exploring these very important links
December 2011 Experiences behind the Science
The Rev. Michael Cocks
Advisory
Editors:
The
Rev Victor MacGill
Asst.
Nate Cull
Continue reading previous issues
It was the need to explain personal experiences that drove me to form this journal eight years ago. I had been overwhelmed by so much complex synchronicity, that I was negotiating to pursue doctoral studies in the field; but this was sidelined by seven years of conversations with the spirit of Stephen the Martyr. Being an open-minded sceptic, I needed to fit these experiences into a scheme of things that made some kind of scientific sense.
In this journal you can read about some of the experiences that drove well-known scientists to pursue the same investigations. You can read about the extended synchronicity experienced by Gary Schwartz, Dale Graf, Victor Mansfield, David Peat and others. All this in the field of synchronicity.
In this issue there are numbers of articles relating to other aspects of psychic research. I am very conscious that more material is provided than any individual reader can absorb; but the material is so good, that I believe it should be available to a readership wider than that to which the articles were originally addressed.
Steve Jobs’ Final Words
Stafford BettyAccording to Steve Jobs’ sister Mona Simpson, who gave the eulogy at her brother’s memorial service on the campus of Stanford University October 16, Jobs’ final words were, “OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.” From his deathbed he was looking past members of his family into the distance when he spoke these awe-inspiring syllables. What did he see to inspire such a reaction? Read
Articles by Michael Tymn
Note from Editor: Michael Tymn has been publishing articles every fortnight, for his White Crow Blog. They are so well written and of such interest that I would like to publish them all.. but if I do this issue will become too big. So I republish some of them with an introduction, and provide links to the others. The articles to which I have provided links, are every bit as interesting as the ones that I introduce.
WhiteCrow 1.Why Red Indians so often "Control" mediums
Michael TymnOne of the real curiosities of trance mediumship, especially that of yesteryear, is the abundance of Red Indians serving as guides, or, as they are more often referred to, “controls.” Red Cloud, Silver Birch, Red Jacket, Sunflower, Silver Belle, Shenandoah, White Eagle, Silver Star, Chloe, Kokum, Hawk Chief, Chlorine, and Big Horn are some of the guides or controls who come to mind. There were many “controls” without Red Indian names, but the Indians seemed to have a disproportionately high representation.
Read this article
2. New Zealand Priest Tells of Mediumship Experiences in New
Book
White Crow Michael Tymn
Not all Christian clergymen believe that messages coming to us through modern
mediums are the work of the devil. The Rev. Michael Cocks, an Anglican priest
from Christchurch, New Zealand, is among the more open-minded clergyman.
During the 1970s, Cocks was one of…Read the Blog
Read the Stephen Website
3. Do Famous “Dead” People Communicate?
White Crow Michael Tymn
I believe in spirits and spirit communication through mediums. What I struggle with, however, is communication purportedly coming from famous people or more current celebrities of one kind or another. I am highly skeptical when the spirit communicator claims to be Jesus, St. Michael, Socrates, Plato, St. Augustine, or some other historical figure held in high regard by many.
Then again, I wonder if I am being too hasty in dismissing such communicators. Why wouldn’t they communicate? Read the Blog
4. Life after Death and Super-psi do not conflict says physics
professor
When it comes to a belief in psychic phenomena (“psi”) and in life after death,
there are believers, non-believers, and what might be called
quasi-believers. The latter group accepts the existence of psychic
phenomena, but they, for the most part, remain skeptical on the life after death
issue and resist the idea that spirits of the dead can communicate through
humans. They believe in what is called Super-psi or Super ESP. Read the BlogFurther articles by Michael Tymn
5. Art Directed by Spirits?
6. Will Simon Cowell Regret His “Insurance Policy”?
7. Has the Near-Death Experience Been Debunked?
8. Was Etta Wriedt the Best Medium Ever?
=========================================================
Articles on Synchronicity
by 1.Gary Schwartz, 2. Dale Graf, 3. Victor Mansfield, 4. David PeatWe provide a link to a former issue of the journal where there is much further interesting stuff on synchronicity.
1.ASPSI Possible Causal Mechanisms in the Occurrence of Synchronicities: Testing the Spiritual Assistance Hypothesis
by Gary E. Schwartz, PhDABSTRACT: According to C. G. Jung, the phenomenon of synchronicity is presumed to be acausal in the sense that the appearance of highly improbable sequences of temporal events cannot be explained as one event directly causing the occurrence of another through physical connections. The implication is that some sort of hidden variable / mechanism is guiding the seeming coordination of nonrandom synchronous events over time. Contemporary research on mediumship, coupled with careful observations of real-life synchronicities, are consistent with the historic hypothesis that alleged spirits (i.e. hypothesized spiritual beings / processes) might play some role in contributing to the orchestration of events in the physical world, possibly by (1) influencing the intuitive cognitive and emotional processes of sensitive individuals and / or (2) affecting electromagnetic and quantum fields in the physical environment. Read the article
ASPSI 2. Rip Current: Dale E. Graff, MS Physics
EXPLORATIONS
IN THE FIELD OF PSI Frank C. Tribbe Memorial Lecture
I
experienced a traumatic incident that involved rescuing someone being carried
out to sea by a rip current at a Hawaiian beach. Unaware of the person’s presence in the ocean
I was somehow compelled to swim out through high surf without seeing anyone….
until my path and hers intersected at the last possible moment. The struggle back to shore was an incredible
ordeal that included cycles of hope and despair…. and something like an
out-of-body experience (OBE) when I gained an altitude perspective of our
precarious situation to slowly navigate in the best direction. The effects of this experience were profound
and I clearly realized that my scientific background was incredibly remiss at
what I now perceived to be the unjustifiable dismissal of intuition and some
other paranormal experiences. Read this study
3. Synchronicity,
Science and Soul Making [pp 125-6]
Prof.Victor
Mansfield Prompted by his experiences of synchronicity, physicist Prof Victor Mansfield recounts this experience from his book:
With permission
"THE SINGING STONE"
A woman relates the following experience:
[The synchronicity] began with a friend of mine telling me the name of Seneca Lake in Havdensvance, or Iroquois, Ganadasege ti karneo dei. He told me the spirits of the lake love to hear the old name as no one says it much anymore. . .My mother, accommodating one of her daughter’s cooky whims, chanted the old name of the lake for a while too as we walked the shore line. . .[The narrator relates how she felt compelled intuitively to go to a particular spot]. . I looked down at the ground and as my eyes scanned the small rocks below my feet, I saw a face looking at me. Read the rest of the story
4. Revisit our issue of October 2003 for a fuller account of writers on the theme of synchronicity, especially what is quoted from the book by physicist David Peat: Synchronicity, the bridge between matter and mind, 1987========================================================
Two futher addresses from the last ASPSI conference
A
SPSI A Jungian
Psychological and Spiritual Passage
Rev
Karen E Herrick, PhD, LCSW, LMSW, CADCAbstract: “ Between 1912 and 1917, Carl Jung underwent an intense period which involved a tremendous flooding of his consciousness. During this time, he wrote The Seven Sermons to the Dead which all except the sixth sermon, begin with
questions or appeals to Jung from the dead. During these years, his hand writing changed to one that was used in the 14th century. His paintings were painted with pigments which he made. Even though he associated with astrologers, men of religion, oracles and ghosts he also, like others at that time who were interested in the psychological field, attempted to delve into his own unconscious in various ways. He eventually taught about the science of psychology that added spirituality to the mystery
of the psyche.” Read this conference lecture
ASPSI In Light of Love: The Near-Death Experience and the Bible
by Scott D. DavidsonThis text will establish the parallels of love found in the Bible and in the NDE. It will begin with (1) a brief explanation of the relevance of the NDE and the concept of love found in NDEs and near-death research, as well as the experience of this phenomenon of love as reported by many of those who return from a NDE. Then this text will (2) consider the Bible and its definition and charge of love. Finally, this text will (3) use non-rigid abductive reasoning to focus on the symbiotic relationship between NDEs and the Bible and their homology of love and will form a hypothesis. Read the lecture
=========================================================
Five blogs published under the aegis of White Crow Books
1.Michael
CocksMichael Cocks is editor of the e-journal, The Ground of Faith. Every two months he republishes articles from the Academy of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies, Inc. including articles from Michael Tymn; also from The Christian Parapsychologist, Victor Zammit’s weekly newsletter, and from many other sources.
2. Michael
TymnA 1958 graduate of the School of Journalism at San Jose State University, Mike Tymn has contributed more than 1,500 articles to some 40 newspapers, magazines, journals, and books over the past 50 years. He won the 1999 Robert H. Ashby Memorial Award given by The Academy of Religion and Psychical Research for his essay on "Dying, Death, and After Death." Mike's book, The Articulate Dead, was published in 2008, and his latest book, Running on Third Wind, was released in 2009.
3. Simon
ParkeSimon Parke was a priest in the Church of England for 20 years and is now a freelance writer. His most recent books include The One-Minute Mystic, Shelf Life, and The Enneagram: A Private Session with the World’s Greatest Psychologist.
4. Stafford
BettyProfessor Stafford Betty has taught courses for over three decades at California State University on the religions of the world (especially India), death and afterlife, philosophy of religion, and religion in literature. His most recent book is The Afterlife Revealed, and his new novel, The Imprisoned Splendor, will be published by White Crow Books in autumn 2011.
5. Subversive
thinkingWe're posting entries from the Subversive thinking blog. By subversive thinking, says Jime, the blog's author, I'm referring to a critical approach to many controversial topics, including (but not limited to) paranormal phenomena, afterlife research, pseudo-skepticism (debunking), reductionist materialism, dogmatic atheism, philosophy of consciousness and religion/spirituality.
Other relevant e-journals, blogs and publications
Don't forget to visit these websites: Victor Zammit's site for instance, is updated every week with new material of great interest.
Victor Zammit's Weekly Treasure Trove
Visit the archives of Victor
Zammit's weekly newsletter at http://www.victorzammit.com/archives/index.html
for hours
of fascinating reading. When you open this website
you have the opportunity to request that these emails be sent to
you every week, something that we
strongly recommend.
Spend hours exploring these very important links
Debunking Common Skeptical Arguments
Against
Paranormal and Psychic Phenomena; Winston Wu
Scientific Committee to Evaluate Pseudo Skeptical Criticism of the Paranormal: SKEPCOP
International Survivalist Society
We strongly recommend this archived site, as a source of much interesting material. See International Survivalist Society
Editors' notes: Public Parapsychology is one of an increasing number of web sites that we should be aware of.. and subscribe to. Try this url: http://publicparapsychology.blogspot.com
http://www.afterlifedata.com/
The Largest Database of Afterlife Description & Analysis on the Internet
“This web site is a compilation of information on the afterlife and other related critical concepts, such as the purpose of life and reincarnation, as they relate to souls here on earth. We have not created this site to convince anyone of the validity of this information, we simply invite you to read through the data, explore the sources we have used and visit other sources to learn more. Using spirit sources from Afterlife101.com and respected authors like Michael Newton, Allan Kardec, Jane Roberts and others, the results of our first investigations reveal 94.8% agreement on a variety of very specific topics. We believe this web site contains the largest correlation of spirit communications about the afterlife, all from respected sources, available anywhere. We will continue to expand this data as information is made available to us and our research expands.”
Click http://www.near-death.com/ for hours of fascinating reading
Read also http://www.near-death.com/experiences/reincarnation08.html A long list of extraordinary coincidences between the lives of Abraham Lincoln and John Kennedy.
Electronic Voice and Instrumental Communication: