Family Reunions: Visionary Encounters with the Departed in a Modern-Day Psychomanteum

" A poignant feature of many near-death experiences is a visionary encounter with deceased loved ones. Over the centuries, researchers have sought safe ways to replicate near-death and related experiences, hoping to induce the powerful aftereffects of these events. The ancient Greeks contructed psychomanteums, or oracles of the dead, where seekers could consult spirits of the deceased. I describe a modern attempt to recreate the psychomanteum. Like near-death experiences, visionary encounters in this modern psychomanteum are experienced as real and not as hallucinatory, and have profound personal aftereffects. This novel experimental technique may permit the scientific study of phenomena that previously occurred only spontaneously and under uncontrolled circumstances. The wish once again to see and to be in the presence of a loved one who has died is among the most poignant and deep-seated of human desires. This wish is sometimes fulfilled in the form of visions or apparitions of the deceased. Many persons who have near-death experL ences tell us tha t as they enter into a realm of light they are met by the sp i r i t s of r e l a t i ve s and f r iends who h a v e p rev ious ly died. F u r t h e r m o r e , s eve ra l i ndependen t s tudies h a v e es t ab l i shed t h a t an apprec iab le propor t ion of b e r e a v e d persons exper ience appa r i t i ons of the depa r t ed or v iv id episodes du r i ng which they are overcome wi th a p e r v a s i v e sense of the p resence of the lost loved ones (Rees, 1975). All these k inds of Raymond A. Moody, Jr., Ph.D., M.D, is a psychiatrist in private practice. Reprint requests should be addressed to Dr. Moody at 1215 Old Downing Mill Road, Anniston, AL 36201. Journal of Near-Death &udies, J1(2) Winger 1992 I992 Human Sciences Press, Inc, 8 3 84 JOURNAL OF NEAR-DEATH STUDIES encounters typically are convincing, even self-certifying; these persons usually are left with no doubt that their experiences were real. Alas, although apparitions of the deceased are remarkably common, they do not lend themselves very readily to systematic study on other than a purely demographic and after-the-fact basis. For one can hardly count on being there just at the right moment to watch an apparitionwatcher watching an apparition, and to talk with him or her about it soon thereafter. And it is, we assume, impossible to precipitate them at will at a predetermined time and place. Yet, in the spring of 1990 several independent lines of research, thought, and experimentation converged in such a way as to suggest to me otherwise, and I conceived of a method by which, I believed, this could be done. The very fact that apparitions of the deceased occur so frequently alerted me to the possibility of finding a way of encouraging them to take place under controlled circumstances of observation. It stands to reason that if we human beings are highly predisposed to such encounters anyway, a method might be devised to trigger them. Among other advantages, this would make it possible to monitor persons experiencing apparitions of the departed while the episodes are in progress, and to interview them about the events immediately afterwards. I had long been intrigued with the prospect of replicating near-death experiences. The popular fascination with this idea is reflected in the success of the recent Hollywood film Flatliners (Schumacher, 1990). However, no sane person would at tempt to do this by the method sometimes imagined, viz., the induction of cardiac arrest in the hope that survivors of the procedure could bring back the latest dispatches from the other side. One accepted way of proceeding when investigating a complex phenomenon is to analyze it into its component parts and to study some or each of these separately. Since meeting with departed loved ones is a feature common to many near-death experiences, demonstrating a way of calling forth the former phenomenon may well shed light on the latter. For almost four years I had been experimenting with one form of facilitated visionary experience, specifically crystal or mirror visions. This research opened up a promising approach to the problem of enabling volunteer subjects to experience visionary reunions with lost loved ones. Finally, while I was looking into some of the ways in which human beings have within institutional settings used altered states of consciousness for personal or social ends, I came across several accounts that raised the possibility that on a number of historical occasions RAYMOND A. MOODY, JR. 85 methods were in use by which apparitions of the dead were made to appear to living persons. Incredible as it may seem, for many centuries in ancient Greece there were institutions known as psychomanteums, or oracles of the dead, where people journeyed to consult with the spirits of the deceased. Accounts from those times make it quite clear that persons actually seemed to see and to be in direct communication with the departed during these visits. Scholars have long tended to dismiss these reports by assuming that they resulted from fraud systematically perpetrated by the staff and attendants. However, in the course of my own research I arrived at quite a different conclusion. In trying to piece together the story of the oracles of the dead, and also in experimenting with various forms of visionary experience, I came to realize, I believe, how the spirits of the dead could well have been made to appear in at least one of the ancient psychomanteums. This paper is a preliminary report on a highly successful at tempt to recreate and to operate one of those fabled institutions of antiquity. I devised a procedure, based upon my research, that presupposed the creation of a special environment modeled on the oracle centers of the ancient world and also incorporating other ideas and principles upon which I shall elaborate later. Carried out within that environment, the procedure has proven effective and reliable. A number of persons participating have experienced full-sized, appropriately moving, three-dimensional, aptly colored apparitions of departed persons. All subjects were psychologically normal adults who were in a waking state of awareness during the process. Some of the subjects reported complex communication with the apparition and most described having a convincing sense of the presence of the departed person during the interlude. All subjects so far have voiced their unequivocal personal convictions that the visitations were real. Before I can adequately report these findings, however, I must first discuss certain ideas and principles woven into the design of this modern-day psychomanteum. I will begin in a way that may seem out of the way, by tracing some connections between the realm of paranorreal phenomena and the world of play, humor and entertainment. Play and the Paranormal What is the nature of the human concern with the paranormal? That is, to what broad area of human endeavor is parapsychology, here defined broadly as organized human concern with the paranormal, 86 JOURNAL OF NEAR-DEATH STUDIES most natural ly related? I am asking here not what the conventionally established affiliations of the discipline are, nor what the conscious mind believes from habit or practice, but rather what the subconscious stirrings suggest. Contemporary parapsychologists apparently think of themselves as scientists. Indeed, there is a widespread conventional notion to the effect that the activity or field of study known as parapsychology, a field that investigates purportedly paranormal phenomena, events, or abilities, either is or aspires to be subdiscipline of science. However, the controversy that in various forms has raged for centuries between proponents of scientific parapsychology and its scientific debunkers has thus far remained unproductive. Furthermore, as it is now, although many people who become interested in the field do so as a response to personal grief, in some ways parapsychology has become abstract and intellectualized and seems almost to have surrendered its connection with the soul. So it may fail to console those who look to it at a time of personal loss and sorrow. I would like to propose an alternate way of conceptualizing parapsychology, one that ul t imately may prove more congruent with the human dimension and the human significance of phenomena deemed paranormal. Simply stated, this proposal is as follows: Parapsychology and the paranormal are related at least as strongly to play, humor, and enter tainment as they are to scientific inquiry. In making this claim I do not intend in any way to denigrate or to ridicule parapsychology. Despite our tendency to downplay their importance, humor, play, and enter tainment are among the most significant human enterprises. The consolation they offer us is often indispensable in facing life. In addition, creative play is one important wellspring of discovery. In my opinion, to proclaim parapsychology's interconnections with enter tainment liberates the field in a new way, potentially enabling it more elegantly to fulfill a valuable role in human affairs. Various forms of entertainment, whether poetry, music, painting, sculpture, or drama, have long served to formulate, to clarify, or to advance the spiritual life of humankind. Some of the great classics of l i terature have spiritual themes or voice spiritual concerns: In effect, parapsychology orchestrates what resemble or pass for certain methods or techniques of systematic inquiry in order to serve a spiritual end. Like forms of entertainment, parapsychology at its best can have a powerful uplifting effect, stirring profound emotions of awe, amazement, hope, and wonder, and helping us regain an appreciation of the basically uncanny nature of the universe in which we live. RAYMOND A. MOODY, JR. 87 Parapsychology and enter ta inment share the distinguishing feature that they are defined in terms of their contrast with what is deemed ordinary reality, albeit in differing ways. In addition, many observations suggest that intuitive links exist between the realm of the paranormal and the worlds of entertainment, of humor, and of play. In fact, parapsychologists are probably most often seen or heard by the public on talk shows. The producers and hosts of these shows seek out parapsychologists with such frequency that the paranormal is one of the more common topics discussed in that type of forum. Furthermore, for the overwhelming majority of people involved in studying the paranormal, it is a leisure-time activity. Legions of enthusiasts from every walk of life belong to clubs and other organizations devoted to the paranormal. Fortune tellers' parlors can be found at amusement parks and beachside boardwalks. In some jurisdictions, fortune tellers, astrologers, and psychics are classified for purposes of licensure as recreation workers. In their natural setting, various forms of divination that depend upon phenomena of interest to parapsychologists occur primarily as parlor games, such as ouija boards, table tapping, Tarot cards, and runes. Tarot even employs playing cards, like Old Maid or poker, while runes uses little game pieces, like Monopoly or Scrabble. Ouija boards are sold in toy stores. Dowsing with divining rods has game-like aspects, unless one is lost in the desert. The principle I am trying to establish is preconsciously acknowledged in the naming of the ~psychic fairs" taking place all around the country. Unconscious recognition of it may help explain why fundamentalists so abhor the paranormal; things that smack of play or humor are not their forte. Some of the central concerns of parapsychology reside in puzzles deriving from the concept of personal identity. This concept is of overriding importance in evaluating claims about personal survival of bodily death, for example, or about reincarnation. Comedy, too, trades on this concept. Many comedies involve complications brought about by confounded identity, or by at tempts by a character to hide or to disguise his or her true identity. The basic subject mat ter of parapsychology is very often a standard form of story, anecdote, or narrative, such as a ghost story, an account of an apparently telepathic communication between friends, or a tale about an apparent premonition of an event that later took place. In this way, parapsychology can be seen to overlap with folklore, an aspect of human culture that plainly often serves to entertain. The events and phenomena with which parapsychology is concerned 88 JOURNAL OF NEAR-DEATH STUDIES lend themselves very natural ly to presentation in dramatic form. It is often observed tha t the hysterical traits tha t make for good actresses also make for good psychics (Rogo, 1975). The history of the study of the paranormal is replete with hoaxes. In their structure, hoaxes closely resemble and indeed sometimes are indistinguishable from practical jokes or pranks, which are unquestionably forms of humor. It is widely recognized tha t certain claims as to the occurrence of paranormal phenomena require testing not by scientists but rather by stage magicians. Magicians are clearly entertainers. All of the above indicate that parapsychology can function as entertainment. What I want to propose is that parapsychology is a form of comedy, in tha t it at tempts to assure or to reassure us tha t life has a happy ending. Further, since tragedy often is contrasted to comedy in that tragedy ends in death, parapsychology is the ult imate form of comedy in its attempts to establish tha t even death, the culmination of tragedy, has a happy ending, tha t death itself is no more than a doorway into another life. Hence, the role of the skeptic or debunker with respect to parapsychology is not the same as the role of the rival in science. The scientist who attempts to refute or to call into question the claims of another scientist or to defend an alternate hypothesis is typically a person trained in the same or a closely allied field. The role of a debunker of claims to the paranormal is more like that of a heckler at the performance of a comedian, one who spoils the fun. Or, the debunker assumes a role analogous to tha t of the moral critic of the theater. As Plato assured us that watching evil deeds portrayed on stage will predispose us to commit them, so the skeptics have warned that our society's flirtation with the transcendent will bring back the witchcraft trials and burnings. One of the chronic grievances of the skeptics is tha t the media refuse to afford them equal time with the parapsychologists. I submit that an important reason for this is that the pronouncements of the skeptics have little or no enter ta inment value. For the role of the true counterpart of the parapsychologist, I nominate the wonderful Lucian of Samosota. This Hellenistic writer was a creative genius. He saw artistic possibilities rather than subjects for dry academic exercises in the foibles of us, the devotees of the paranormal. All of the above reminds us that stories about the occurrence of paranormal phenomena are often met, as if by custom or convention, with derisive laughter. It is as though there exists an implicit social norm that permits one to express one's impression of claims about the paranormal by a form of contemptuous and dismissing laughter. RAYMOND A. MOODY, JR. 89 For few if any other supposedly paranormal phenomena does convention condone derisive laughter quite as overtly as it does in the case of crystal gazing. Hence the stock theme of magazine cartoon caricature is the gypsy woman peering into her crystal ball. However, all this ridicule obscures the fact that an important and fascinating psychological phenomenon lies at the core of this venerable form of facilitated visionary experience.