The Definitive Account of Early Mediumship

A Review of The Heyday of Mental Mediumship: 1880s-1930s: Investigators, Mediums and Communicators

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31156/jaex.24984

Keywords:

mediumship, channeling, psychical research, history of psychical research, parapsychology, survival, society for psychical research, anomalous cognition, Society for Psychical Research

Abstract

Following his acclaimed earlier study on mediumship and survival, Alan Gauld provides a more complete account of about 50 years of early studies on mediumship with a select group of mediums (e.g., Mrs. Piper, Mrs. Leonard, Mrs. Dowden). He describes in detail why many if not most of the criticisms against extraordinarily accurate accounts by these mediums do not hold water when analyzed in detail. Gauld does not provide easy answers, but in his masterwork does something much more important by offering a justification to those who may want to base their belief of potential survival on empirically defensible grounds.

Author Biography

Etzel Cardeña, Lund University

Etzel Cardeña was born and raised in México. He has been elected Fellow of APS and APA, among other organizations, and holds the endowed Thorsen Chair in psychology at Lund University, Sweden, where he leads the Center for Research on Consciousness and Anomalous Psychology (CERCAP). His areas of research include alterations of consciousness and anomalous experiences (including psi), dissociative processes and posttraumatic reactions, the neurophenomenology of hypnosis and transcendent experiences, and the stream of consciousness during waking and altered states. His Ph. D. is from the University of California, Davis (under Charles Tart) and he was a postdoctoral fellow and scholar resident at Stanford University. He has more than 400 publications, some in top journals in psychology and related disciplines such as American Journal of Psychiatry,  American Psychologist, Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, Journal of Abnormal Psychology, Journal of Experimental Psychology, Psychological Bulletin, and others. Various professional organizations have given him awards for his research, theoretical, historical, and pedagogical work. He was the Founding Editor of Mindfield, Past Editor of Journal of Parapsychology, and Senior Editor of the books Varieties of Anomalous Experiences, Altering Consciousness, and Parapsychology: A Handbook for the 21st Century. He has also worked professionally as a theatre director, actor, and playwright.

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Published

2023-04-03

How to Cite

Cardeña, E. (2023). The Definitive Account of Early Mediumship: A Review of The Heyday of Mental Mediumship: 1880s-1930s: Investigators, Mediums and Communicators. Journal of Anomalous Experience and Cognition, 3(1), 204–214. https://doi.org/10.31156/jaex.24984

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Section

Book reviews