Running Head: PSYCHOMANTEUM RESEARCH
Psychomanteum Research: Experiences and Effects on Bereavement
Arthur Hastings, Michael Hutton, William Braud, Constance Bennett, Ida Berk, Tracy Boynton, Carolyn Dawn, Elizabeth Ferguson, Adina Goldman, Elyse Greene, Michael Hewett, Vera Lind, Kathie McLellan, and Sandra Steinbach-Humphrey.
William James Center for Consciousness Studies
Institute of Transpersonal Psychology
Palo Alto, California, 94303 USA
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Abstract
A Psychomanteum Process involving mirror-gazing was conducted in a research setting to explore apparent facilitated contact with deceased friends and relatives, and to collect data on the phenomena, experiences, and effects on bereavement. A pilot study with 5 participants resulted in strong experiences and 4 apparent contacts. The main study took 27 participants through a three stage process: remembering a deceased friend or relative, sitting in a darkened room gazing into a mirror while thinking of the person, and finally discussing and reflecting on the experience. Data were collected with pre- and post-questionnaires, a follow-up questionnaire at least 4 weeks after the session, interviews by the facilitators, and two personality measures, the Tellegen Absorption Scale and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Contacts with the sought person were reported by 13 participants. Participants reported that a variety of imagery appeared in the mirror, as well as experiences of dialogue, sounds, light, body sensations, and smell. Several specific messages were reported by participants who believed that they were from the sought persons. Twenty-one self report items relating to bereavement were analyzed for changes between pre- and follow-up questionnaires. Statistically significant reductions in bereavement responses occurred over the entire group using a Wilcoxon signed ranks analysis (p = .05 to .0008). These included unresolved feelings, loss, grief, guilt, sadness, and need to communicate. Participants also reported significant impact on their lives following the session.
For the past four years, a research team at ITP has studied the effects of a mirror gazing procedure on apparent communication with deceased individuals. This is a report on the experiential phenomena that occurred, and the effects on bereavement of participants in a three stage process to communicate with deceased relatives and friends. As will be clear in this report, this was not an attempt to establish that the experiences were genuine contacts with deceased individuals, nor is this claimed. Rather it was to obtain data on whether individuals going through our procedure would report relevant experiences and what the reported effects would be on their feelings of bereavement.
This form of the mirror gazing procedure was developed by Raymond Moody (Moody, 1992; Moody and Perry, 1993), which he called a Psychomanteum, a dimly lit room in which a sitter gazes with open eyes into a mirror, with the intention of contacting a deceased individual. Moody developed a process of remembrance and counseling combined with the mirror-gazing, and reported that about 50% of the participants believed they had a reunion with a loved one.
A study by Roll and Braun (1995) of 41 persons in workshop formats found that 22% reported strong reunion experiences. Radin and Rebman (1995), interested in the empirical nature of any experienced phenomena, used sophisticated electronic monitoring to detect any physical changes in the mirror room and in the physiology of the individuals. The seven participants variously reported fluctuations in illumination and temperature, feelings of presence, and mild apparitions. The instruments showed significant correlations between the physiological changes in the participants and physical environmental changes in the room, such as temperature, electrical and magnetic field strength, and ionizing radiation. Five of the seven participants reported that they felt the presence of a deceased individual, an animal, or angelic spirits. Two of these included perception of apparitions, though not full visionary experiences. The results suggested that the participants were experiencing altered states which corresponded to physiology and physical environmental shifts and that the effects might be stronger as these factors moved toward extreme changes.
As part of a counseling and mirror gazing procedure in a hospice, Archangel (1997) gave participants the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, an indicator of Jungian typology. Though the range of types in the group was limited, the results showed that the participants high in Feeling and Intuitive functions were more likely to report a contact with a deceased person.
None of the above studies collected data on how the
Psychomanteum experiences affected feelings of loss, grief, and other effects of bereavement. As we prepared our research we wished to
learn how many persons would report experiences of reunion or contact with the
intended person, what experiential phenomena in the Psychomanteum chamber would
be reported by the participants, and particularly how the experience would
affect unresolved feelings, e.g. bereavement,
of the participant in relation to the deceased person.
An initial study was conducted with five individuals from the research team who were learning to be facilitators for the Psychomanteum process. After facilitation and mirror-gazing sessions, four felt they had experienced contact with a deceased individual, including fathers, a deceased twin sister, and a favorite dog from childhood, and some of these contacts had beneficial effects for their feelings and concerns. The modes of contact were visual, both in and out of the mirror, tactile, dreamlike imagery, and mental dialog. The results of this pilot (Hastings, Hutton, Bennett, et al., 1998) encouraged us to develop a study with more participants, and with specific measures of the experiences and their effects.
Design
This present study was designed to explore the occurrence
of perceptual, mental, and emotional
phenomena, and to measure several effects on bereavement of a process combining
facilitationcounseling
and mirror gazing. Pre- and
post-questionnaires were constructed to gather self reports of the experiences that occurred in
mirror-gazing and to indicate changes in feelings of bereavement
responses felt
by the participant. Two standard personality inventories were included, the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Tellegen Absorption Scale (TAS), to
explore personality qualities that might influence the response to the
process. The MBTI (Myers &
McCaulley, 1985) was chosen because of research indicating that the intuitive
and feeling functions appear associated with contact experiences (Archangel, 1994).
The TAS was selected because it reports the individual’s experiences in which
the boundaries of attention, identity, sensations, and perceptions are changed
significantly, e.g. being absorbed in music or a sunset, seeing colors to go
with sounds (synesthesia), remembering childhood experiences (Tellegen and Atkinson, 1974). This scale
has been modestly correlated with hypnotic ability, and we were curious to
learn if it would correlate with the experiences that occurred in the
mirror-gazing.
Participants
The participants were volunteers from
students, administration, and staff of this institution. They were recruited with a one page flier
distributed within the school population. The flier stated that we did not take a position on
the nature of the experience; that is, there was no claim that there would be a
contact or that these were actual spirits of the deceased. Applicants
were given a screening interview to check for medications that might interfere
with the process, disabilities that would need attention, and
psychopathology. In the interview they
were asked to indicate the person whom they wished to contact, the
relationship, and the length of time since the loss. The flier stated
that we did not take a position on the nature of the experience; that is, there
was no claim that there would be a contact or that these were actual spirits of
the deceased. Questions
were answered and some information given on the procedure. A continuous selection process
was conducted until the time slots available were filled by 27
participants. Table #1 shows the
demographics of the participants.
Table 1
Demographics
________________________
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Female |
19 |
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Male |
8 |
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Total Number |
27 |
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Mean age |
44 |
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Mean years since death of sought person |
16 |
________________________
The persons sought included uncle, mother, father, great
grandmother, grandmother, grandfather, sister, cousin, friend, spiritual
teacher, historical figures (from 100 years ago) , a
favorite cat, and the past lives of one individual, and historical
figures (These
were from several decades
ago, and so skewed the mean in Table 1.
They were not personally known to the participant.). Some participants had more than one person
whom they initially desired to contact, and then focused on one person in the
session.
The Psychomanteum Facility
The study was conducted in comfortably furnished rooms at the Institute’s Transpersonal Counseling Center. Individual counseling rooms were used for pre and post interviews, and a larger group room held the Psychomanteum. This free-standing chamber had a frame 8 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 7 feet tall, covered with black opaque theater curtain cloth, with a flap for entering. A mirror at one end and a chair at the other allowed for mirror gazing. A 7 watt night light provided dim illumination, and the mirror was tilted up to reflect the darkness rather than the person gazing. The room door was closed during the gazing period to reduce noise, though occasional traffic sounds could be heard.
Procedure
Based on Moody’s approach (Moody, 1992; Moody with Perry, 1993), a structured
protocol was developed which could be conducted with an individual in about
three hours. While Moody himself
sometimes took an entire day, we wished to develop a protocol that could be
used in a more traditional counseling schedule, though not limited to the 50
minute hour. In Part I a guide /
facilitator invited the participant to talk about memories of the deceased, which might include
bringing mementos
and artifacts, photos, discussing
feelings, and telling
how the loss had affected him or her. The participant was asked what she
or he would like to communicate to the deceased The pre-questionnaire was completed ahead of time along with the
MBTI and the TAS and brought in at the time of the session. It asked for many
of these same responses, and also included a check list of personal
manifestationsymptoms of bereavement. Although this was a research measureaspect,
the questions were also evocative of memories and reflective of current
feelings and symptoms,
thus facilitatingfeeding
into the discussion of the effects of the death on the
participant.
During Part II, the participant was conducted to the mirror room. Sitting in semi-darkness, he or she was instructed to relax, and look into the mirror. We suggested to the participants that they not have specific expectations or hopes, but rather be open to whatever happened. They could mentally speak to the person or recall memories of their times with them. They remained in the mirror chamber for 45 minutes, were then notified by the facilitator, and could stay another 15 minutes if they chose to do so. The facilitator sat outside the room, remaining quiet or meditating with the thought of supporting the experience of the sitter.
After leaving the mirror room, Part III consisted of talking
with the facilitator and reflecting on
the experience with the mirror. The
facilitator assisted in exploring what occurred either externally or
internally, whether there was a sense of contact or not, and what the meaning
was for the individual. The
post-questionnaire was completed by the participant after the discussion, with
self reports on their bereavement responsessymptoms
at that point and a description of the experiential state that occurred in the
mirror gazing. The questionnaire also was intended to assist in integration of
the experience. The pre- and
post-discussions were tape recorded. At
least two weeks after the session, the participant was sent a delayed follow-up
questionnaire, which asked about subsequent contacts, reflections on the
experience, and reports on the current level of the various itemseffects and
symptoms. Reminders were
given for the follow-up questionnaires that were not returned, and the time of receiptreturn
varied from 4 weeks to 22 weeks. A total of 22 questionnaires were returned
with a mean time of about 8 weeks. In
collecting and analyzing the data, participants were randomly assigned a two
digit code number
from 11 to 37.
The training given the facilitators included reading the reports by Moody, Roll and others, viewing a video documentary about Moody and his use of the Psychomanteum, reading a manual by Archangel (1994), going through the process as a participant, and being coached and supervised by one of the authors (M.H.) who had completed a certification training led by Moody. As noted, several of the facilitators had apparent contact experiences in their sessions in the training. None of the facilitators were licensed therapists, though some were studying toward clinical psychology as a career. The instructions were that the facilitation was not intended to be a therapy or counseling session, though the guide should be warm, supportive, and genuinely interested in the person’s feelings and responses.
Participants wrote a description of their experience in the Psychomanteum chamber at the end of the second interview. The questionnaire asked for an overall description and also responses to semi-structured questions. The facilitator also was asked to report on the success of the contact. These written reports were evaluated by three of the researchers (one singly, and two as a team) to determine if there was an experience of contact with the intended person. Of the 27 participants, 13 reported a contact with the person they had desired to contact. There were 14 who did not have a contact with the intended person, though 6 of these reported an experience with other persons or beings, such as relatives and angels. Five of the persons who experienced a contact with the intended person also had experiences of other individuals or images.
The intensity and complexity of the reunion experience were
evaluated by one researcher (A.H.) based on the strength of the effects (from
nothing to a full apparition), the number of senses involved, and the
extensiveness in time and quantity.
These were represented as a composite number on a 1 - 7 scale. Ratings of 1 indicated no apparent contact,
and a 2 rating was given for memories, thoughts and feelings about the person
without a feeling of presence. Ratings
of 3 to 7 were given to experiences with contact (as determined by the
participant) with 7 as the strongest experience. There were no reports of full
apparitions or strong external imagery or voices. Based on this preliminary evaluation, Table 2 shows the
distribution of the these ratings. It
should be remembered that some of the experiences without reported contact
were nevertheless very rich in visual, tactile, or other responses, and rating the
experiences comparatively on a scale is
definitely open to subjective interpretation as to what
criteria should be considered.. The apparent contacts were experienced
principally through inner imagery, tactile experiences, voices, mental dialog,
and a “sense” of presence. While the
ratings presume a spectrum of increasing strength of experiences, we do not
know if this is a valid way to rate strength of “contact” or whether the
perceptual richness of the experience is related to the meaning and reassurance
received by the participant. For
example, a very limited perceptual experience of one relevant sentence
could be more meaningfulreassuring
than a complex vision.
Table 2
Ratings of Experiences of Contact
________________________________________________________________
Experience Number of Participants
________________________________________________________________
1 - No experience of contact with the person sought 10
2 - No contact, but memories or thoughts of the sought person 4
3 - Contact reported. Short message, dialog or presence 6
4 - Messages, physical effects, sensory events 5
5 - Longer messages, touch, voices, presence, love 1
6 - Strong presence, verbal dialog, personality felt 1
7 - Visual apparition, dialog 0
_________________________________________________________
The participants reported a rich collection of inner
experiences, images in the mirror, and occasional external phenomena in the
room. The predominant sensory modes were visual and auditory. There were three reports of being
touched or physical sensations (e.g. warmth, body energy, being touched). Nine of the participants reported seeing
images in the mirror, ranging from shapes and faces to robed figures. In
analyzing the data, the participants were randomly assigned
numbers from 11 to 37. Following are direct quotes from five
participants.
The participants are identified by their randomly assigned code numbers from 11
to 37.
Participant 24 sought to contact her grandmother, who had died 13 years previously. She did not report a contact with the grandmother, but had the following experience (rated at 1 for no contact).
Feeling deep grief at the beginning; black robed figures coming toward me; black spinning ball with trailing energy tail moving clockwise in mirror; unidentified faces in the mirror; energy streaming out of mirror into space in front of me. A foot (light skin then changed to dark skin). Hand and faint formulations of a human (?) shape.
Participant 26 wanted to contact a close friend who had died of a painful disease four months previously. Experience rated 3.
I experienced a flash of light not in the mirror but above me to the right. I experienced some mental “knowings” and my friend chided me for resorting to such trappings in order to contact her. She “said” (internally) that she did not want her energy used for my amusement. If I really wanted to connect with her I could be more connected with the part of her that lives on in her sister who is alive.
Participant 28 sought a contact with his sister who had died about 30 years ago. His experience was rated 4.
1. At first, I experienced grief around my sister’s passing. I sensed her presence and her holding me while I experienced my sadness. 2. I fell asleep and had a dream... 3. I decided to meditate and fell into an altered state where I was embodying her pain. I lost sense of having an observer [i.e. self observation] in this state. 4. I came back to having an observer and slowly worked my way back into both being in my body and acknowledging the intensity of the prior state.
Yes, I did sense her presence -- a body state more than anything, though a couple of times it seems like I heard her voice. I got the message that I have been holding this experience of her pain, my resentment that she had to suffer so much, and my sadness that she is gone for 27 years. Though I have worked in therapy around the grief issue, I didn’t know that the resentment was so strong.
Participant 30 wished to contact his father, who had died about 15 years previously. His experience was rated 5.
Conversation with my father. Feelings of wanting to connect, love, gratitude, release. Throughout peace. Expressing sorrow that he died. Thanks for his life. Big shift was releasing him after I experienced angel behind and over me. Image of marble lamb face. I felt a connection with my father. Most of it hard to say at time if talking to inner sense of father or to father “out there.” I heard him.
Participant 34 wished to contact an uncle who had died seven years previously. His experience was rated 4.
I believe a group of “guardians” were there in the beginning (aunts, grandmothers, friends--folks I randomly sense from time to time) -- knowing my uncle, he probably invited them all. There was an intense warmth (physically /spatially) around me. My uncle’s presence was felt but it was slight and somewhat guarded. He repeated “Don’t worry” and “Do what’s best for you,” which I somehow can’t hear enough of.
Participant 37 sought a contact with her
spiritual teacher, a martial arts master, who died more than 10 years ago. The
experience was rated 6:
Alternating waves of light and dark, silence and sound, and internal energy waves. Feelings of connection with my teacher. Series of intense memories of past experiences with him. Clear instructions about contacting his son and family in Indonesia today. Clear message about my future work as a teacher and mentor, especially to young people. Contact was a sense of connection, strong memories, and receiving information via thoughts.
Questions were asked on the post-questionnaire regarding the qualities of the experience in the Psychomanteum chamber itself, in regard to altered states, the location of the phenomena, interaction, and absorption in the experience.
The mean for the group on the gazing as an altered state was
4.63,
and 17 of the participants gave a rating of 4 or higher on the item. Thus for more than half, this had distinct
features of an altered state. This accords with the physiological shifts
reported by Radin and Rebman. Interactingion
with the experience correlated positively (Spearman correlation 0.52, p = .007)
with the ratingranking
of experiences (from
Table 2), that is, more interaction with dialogue, questions, etc.,
correlated with richer contact experiences.
The following sections present results on
the phenomena reported in the mirror room.
Mirror Gazing Perceptions
Several visual images were seen in the mirror. These included black robed figures, animal
faces, flowers, a starry night, a landscape, and faces. These may be similar to imagery seen in
crystal gazing and the uses of mirrors by shamans and priests, where images are
seen to form in the reflective surface
(Lang, 1910; Myers, 1903). Our participants also reported colors and
flashes of light, but most were not formed into images, and we presume that
they could have been due to physical responses in the visual system. It may be
that these images seen by our
participants could be developed into more complete and long lasting images,
perhaps with symbolic meaning, by those participants. So far as our reports go,
there were no definite free-standing figures or external voices, though 11 of the
participants rated the external nature of the experience at 4 or more..
Other perceptual modalities that were involved were sound
(hearing voices, and unusual sounds, waves of sound and silence),
proprioception (warmth, being touched, body movements) and smell (incense).
Voices, smells and touch have been reported with appearances of deceased
persons to spouses and other survivors, but the body sensations are less commonhave
not been and may be worth further study.
Nine of our participants said that they felt the “presence” of
the sought person through energy, presence, a connection, or a sense of
contact. These wordings may represent
different inner experiences, but the sense is a feeling the person is there,
perhaps as one might be aware of another person through any of the subtle
non-verbal senses that are in play in everyday life. For several
participantsSometimes there was a
dialogue or a message that came with the presence.
It appears that most of the reported communication from the
deceased and resulting dialogue took place subjectively, that is in the mind of
the participant. Telepathy was
mentioned by
one of the participantsonce as the mode of
communication.
Sometimes this was one sided, with the deceased person giving a message,
and for other participants, this was a mutual dialogue. From the reports, most of the communication
was brief (except for participants 30 and 37).
Because of their educational training at this institute, many of our
participants were used to conducting inner dialogue with sub-personalities (as
in Psychosynthesis) and imagined persons and images (as in Jungian active
imagination, Gestalt dreamwork, and guided imagery), so this is not a foreign
experience for them. Almost half of the participants said they believed they
had contacted the person they had sought, or that the person had contacted
them. Two of the participants commented
that they were not sure whether it was the deceased individual or their own
minds producing the apparent contact. Whether the communication comes from an
independent source outside the individual or from the depths of the mind are
questions that raise larger issues, and the reportsmeetings
here do not have enough specificity to lead to any answers.
The questionnaires presented 21 items listing possible
responses to the death of an individual.
Participants indicated their experience of these by rating them on a
Likert type scale from 1 to 7, with 1 meaning No, Never, or None, and 7 meaning
Yes, Always, or Strong. Table 3 analyzes the changes in ratings fromshows
the group means on these items for the pre-questionnaire toand
the follow-up questionnaire for these itemsall participants. The post-questionnaire asked for responses
to some of these items, but the analysis was done for the follow-up
questionnaire to obtain longer term changes. The changes in the non -contact
group and the contact group means were statistically analyzed with a Wilcoxon
signed ranks test. With persons who
felt they had a contact with the deceased person, four items changed
significantly. For non-contact
participants, three items changed significantly. (See Table 3.)
Table 3
Comparison of Changes in
Bereavement Ratings for Non-contact (n=14) and Contact (n=-13) Participants
from Pre-Questionnaire to Follow-Up Questionnaire
_____________________________________________________________________
Non-contact Contact
_________________ _________________
Item (paraphrase) Wilcoxon z p value Wilcoxon z p value
(2-t) (2-t)
_______________________________________________________________________
I think of this person every 1.05 0.29 0.42 0.67
day
I have unresolved feelings 1.82 0.07 1.32 0.18
Unresolved issues affect
my ability to carry out
daily activities 0.80 0.42 0.53 0.59
Unresolved issues affect
general quality of life 1.82 0.07 1.11 0.65
I miss this person 0.91 0.36 1.71 0.08
I need to improve my
relationship with this
person 1.48 0.14 2.20 0.02*
(table continues)
Non-contact Contact
_________________ _________________
Item (paraphrase) Wilcoxon z p value Wilcoxon z p value
(2-t) (2-t)
________________________________________________________________________
I feel good about the status
of my relationship with this
person 1.78 0.08 1.78 .07
________________________________________________________
Indicate the strength of
your feelings on the
following items:
_________________________________________________________
Grief 2.52 0.01** 2.11 0.03*
Missing the person 1.83 0.07 1.27 0.20
Anger 1.83 0.07 0.80 0.42
Worry 1.60 0.11 0.37 .071
Guilt 1.83 0.07 1.48 0.13
Sadness 2.38 0.02* 1.52 0.13
Resentment 1.34 0.18 0.81 0.42
(table continues)
Non-contact Contact
_________________ __________________
Item (paraphrase) Wilcoxon z p value Wilcoxon z p value
(2-t) (2-t)
_____________________________________________________________
Loss 1.63 0.10 2.45 0.01**
Peace 0.71 0.48 1.47 0.14
Need to communicate 2.67 0.007** 2.09 0.04*
Love 0.18 0.86 0.36 0.72
Fear 1.60 0.11 1.34 0.18
Longing 1.60 0.11 0.42 0.67
Anxiety 1.83 0.07 0.00 1.00
__________________________________________________________
* p£.05 **p£.01
When all the participants (contact and non-contact) were
analyzed as a group there were significant changes in 12 of the 21 items. Other responses moved in a direction of
resolution or comfort but did not achieve significance. (See Table 4.)
Table 4.
Changes in Bereavement Ratings
for All Participants (N=27) from Pre-Questionnaire to Follow-Up Questionnaire
______________________________________________________
Item Pre-Q Follow- Wilcoxon z p value
mean up mean (2-t)
______________________________________________________________________
I think of this person every
day 3.50 2.95 1.06 0.29
I have unresolved feelings 3.00 2.52 2.68 0.007**
Unresolved issues affect
my ability to carry out
daily activities 1.32 1.09 0.94 0.35
Unresolved issues affect
general quality of life 2.06 1.14 1.96 0.05*
I miss this person 4.24 3.14 1.96 0.05*
I need to improve my
relationship with this
person 2.80 1.36 2.84 0.004**
I feel good about the status
of my relationship with this
person 4.96 6.09 2.17 0.03*
(table continues)
Item Pre-Q Follow- Wilcoxon z p value
mean up mean (2-t)
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________
Indicate the strength of
your feelings on the
following items:
________________________________________________________________
Grief 2.88 1.59 2.63 0.009**
Missing the person 4.04 2.59 2.30 0.02*
Anger 1.80 1.18 1.10 0.27
Worry 1.32 1.09 1.10 0.27
Guilt 2.06 1.23 2.08 0.04*
Sadness 3.60 2.00 1.83 0.005**
Resentment 1.48 1.14 1.08 0.28
Loss 4.33 2.70 2.35 0.01**
Peaceful 4.96 5.14 0.30 0.76
Need to communicate 4.40 2.14 3.36 0.0008**
Love 6.16 6.31 0.35 0.72
Fear 1.56 1.00 2.02 0.04*
Longing 3.08 2.05 1.68 0.09
(table continues)
Anxiety 1.56 1.09 1.54 0.12
________________________________________________________________
* p£.05 **p£.01
We recognize that we have made
multiple analyses, and statistically a
number of changes might be expected to be significant by chance alone. In this case of 21 statistical tests, using
p = .05, one significant outcome would be expected on the basis of chance. In fact, the 21 Wilcoxon tests set yielded
12 significant outcomes. In many cases,
the p values associated with these tests were much less than .05.
Four items on the follow-up questionnaire inquired as to the effect on the participant’s life. Table 5 shows the numerical responses, with 1 meaning “has not impacted my life at all” and 7 meaning “strongly impacted my life.” A Spearman test showed correlations between the rating of the contact experience (Table 2) and the means of the impact on spiritual life and general well being.
Table 5
Correlation of Life Impact with
Experience Ratings for All Participants on Follow-Up Questionnaire (n=22)
___________________________________________________
Item Group mean Spearman r p value
___________________________________________________
Relationships 3.09 0.38 0.09
Work 2.32 0.22 0.35
Spiritual life 4.14 0.50 0.02*
Sense of general well being 3.45 0.50 0.02*
____________________________________________________
* p£.05
When the participants are divided into non-contact and contact groups, it is evident that the experience of contact had a significantly stronger impact on the participants’ lives. See Table 6.
Table 6
Comparison of Non-contact and
Contact Participants’ Ratings of Life Impact of Experience
_____________________________________________________________________
Non-Contact Contact Mann-Whitney p value
Mean Mean U z-score
_____________________________________________________________________
Relationships 1.71 4.18 2.46 0.01**
Work 1.73 2.91 1.87 0.06
Spiritual Life 3.00 5.27 2.79 0.005**
Sense of general well being 2.72 4.60 2.22 0.03*
_____________________________________________________________________
The TellegenTellagen
Absorption Scale mean score for the group was 25.42 (out of 34 possible), with the normmean
for adult mothers at 17.2 and adult fathers at 13.7 (Tellegen, 1982), so this
group is well above the norm. There was no significant correlation of the TAS
with the rating of experiences (Table 2). The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
showed that 20 of the 27 participants scored as having Intuitive and Feeling
preference styles. These functions are also predominant in the population
from which we recruited the participants and in counselors and therapists.- This
is not a wide enough distribution of the participants to draw any
conclusions about the effects of the personalitygross
types on the
mirror-gazing process. The research by Archangel (1997) had a similar
predominance of NF participants.
We did not do an analysis of gender effects because of the small size of the group and the predominant distribution of 70% female, but both men and women reported strong contact experiences.
Facilitator’s
Role
Facilitators
were instructed not to take a position on whether the participant had
experienced a contact; we allowed him or her to decide. In the announcements of the research this
information was also stated. In one case a facilitator told a participant that
the contact could come verbally as well as visually, when the participant said
she did not contact the person but only heard his voice. However, we learned much
later that another facilitator apparently told a participant who did
not experience a contact that her opinion was that the person was not ready to
come. There were no other reports of a facilitator
intervening in this manner.
Thirteen participants believed they had a reunion experience,
based on their subjective judgment. The
most extensive communication was apparently with participants 30 and 37. The
latter included instructions from her spiritual teacher, which was very
persuasive to the participant because of the fullness of the experience and her
familiarity with the person. The
apparent reunions usually provided informative messages and emotionally
charged communication for the
participants, and the reports after the session and in the follow up indicated
that these were helpful, comforting, and therapeutic for the
participants. Many of the participants
(including some who did not reporthave a
reunion) statedreported
that their intention for the session had been accomplished. From the statistical analysis of bereavement responses, it is evident that
even persons who did not believe they experienced a contact were nevertheless
often significantly helped by the experience.
Regarding the messages, many of the participants found them meaningful and related to their need to contact the deceased. The messages included personal advice, family matters, and instructions on practical affairs. Some statements which might have seemed trivial to an outsider, e.g., “Don’t try to make things happen...they are happening to you”, and “Look for love inside yourself [not from me]”, could have been significant to the recipient because of timing, circumstances, and salient concerns.
Facilitators were instructed not to take
a position on whether the participant had experienced a contact; we allowed him
or her to decide. In the announcements
of the research this information was also stated. However, one facilitator
apparently told a participant who did not experience a contact that her opinion
was that the person was not ready to come, and
in another case a facilitator told a participant
that the contact could come verbally as well as visually, when the participant
said she did not contact the person but only heard his voice.
The statistical analyses indicate that there were strong
shifts in unresolved feelings, according to the self-reports. A study of Tables
4 and 5 shows that the changes in the means were in a direction of resolution, healing, and
comfort. There is limited research on effects onon
interventions and outcomes of counseling in the
literature on bereavement, but the general tenor is that bereavement reactions
are long lasting and tenacious (Stroebe, Stroebe, & Hansson, 1993). The
impact of this process on persons’ feelingssymptoms
and lives is an strongexceptional
effect for a one time experience, and suggests that a Psychomanteum setting can
have some use in encouraging grief reduction. Regardless of whether people really did contact a
deceased person, the Psychomanteum experience was clearly
perceived as beneficial by those who took part.
The experiences of our participants are quite
consistent with the reports of spontaneous contacts from deceased friends and
relatives which occur in many cultures.
Studies of these have found that they Spontaneous reunion
contacts are frequently reported in many cultures, and often
provide comfort for spouses and others who survive (Grimby, 1993; Rees, 1971;
Rosenblatt, 1993; Rosenblatt & Elde, 1990; Yamamoto, Okonogi, Iwasaki,
& Yoshimura, 1969) . In a
qualitative study, Whitney (1992) interviewed 25 individuals who had
experienced spontaneous reunion events and found that 12 of them reported that
the event helped them resolve their grief more quickly or lowered the intensity
of the feelings. She also found that
the experience strengthened the interviewees’ spiritual practices, which is consistent with
the reportsalso was reported from our facilitated
reunion sessions.
Cautions and
Limitations
There are several
cautions to consider. The first is that
this report is not asserting that mirror gazing does, in fact, produce a
contact with the dead. This may
seem somewhat paradoxical, since the most likely reason that most participants
entered the study was to contact a deceased friend or relative. Nevertheless, what the individuals reported from the mirror
gazing session does not establish the claim of communication from a
deceased person. We do not claim
that these findings either prove or disprove theories about survival of death. Many other theoretical
explanations are available, from need driven misinterpretation of sensations,
to self created
inner
imagery, to perceptual
hallucinations. The same
questions of interpretation in spontaneous cases also apply to this facilitated
study. Further, Ssince there
were no contrast or control conditions used in this study, it is not possible
to know with certainty how non-specific factors such as demand characteristics
and the passage of time may have contributed to the changes that were reported.
Strong
expectations, like a self fulfilling prophecy, could also contribute to feeling
better after a striking experience such as the Psychomanteum. The use of the delayed follow-up measures
was an attempt to go beyond such immediate responses. We hope to conduct
further studies with control conditions. Another caution is that all the
participants were from this institution. There could have been peer pressure to
provide the desired responses or to conform to the ways other persons
responded. To address this we askeddid
ask participants not to discuss their experience until the project
was completed. Our participants were a homogenous group (viz. the MBTI scores)
who had experience in inner self reflection, and whose belief systems were
often compatible with the assumptions that the deceased might be present for
the mirror gazing, and the effects may not apply to more varied participants.
Also, the relative contributions of the facilitation and the mirror gazing are
not addressed by this research and we do not know what the effects would be of
just one or the other, though our impression is that both contribute to the
healing experiences and either by itself would be less effective. Is the mirror gazing itself an essential part of the
experience? Could similar experiences
and effects could be obtained by guided imagery,
suggestion, or a reflective mindset? The limitations
mean that extending these findings to other kinds of individuals and groups,
and other facilitation protocolsmethods would not be
justified.
There were some participants who expressed disappointment that they did not have a contact. Several wanted a repeat and more time to be in the chamber. At least one person said she was more aware of feelings of loss and sadness after the experiences (and felt that this was appropriate), and for a few participants some bereavement reactions were rated as being stronger after the experience (though this was lost in the group mean). At least one person was concerned that this might be a devilish process, but this did not stop her engaging in it.
These results should not be interpreted as meaning that this
is an automatic technique for effective bereavement counseling. It is not a mechanical method, but requires
in our view, careful facilitation and respect for the persons participating. Further, in a counseling
setting, there are personal beliefs and cultural attitudes about these matters
held by
counselors and clients alike. These can create uncritical resistance on the one hand
and uncritical acceptance on the other, neither being an optimum approach to resolution of bereavement. There can also be valid concerns about the
helpfulness (and ethicality) of implying that a person lives on after death and
can appear to friends and relatives in a mirror or some
other way.
These are
legitimate considerations, butGiven ,
for at least some persons, it appears that facilitated
Psychomanteum sessions can provide a supportive and productive setting for therapeutic changes in
bereavement.
Arthur Hastings was the research director for the project and the primary author of this report. Michael Hutton was the supervisor of facilitation for these studies. William Braud provided statistical consultation. Morey Bernstein and the Bernstein Brothers Parapsychology and Health Foundation provided financial support. The research was conducted under the auspices of the William James Center for Consciousness Studies. The Transpersonal Counseling Center provided space for the research sessions and ITP provided support for supervisor certification, facilities, and curriculum arrangements. A preliminary report on this research was presented at the 42nd Annual Convention of the Parapsychological Association, Stanford University, August 4-8, 1999 (Hastings, Hutton, Braud, et al., 1999).
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# # #
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to: Arthur Hastings, Institute of
Transpersonal Psychology, 1069 East Meadow Circle, Palo Alto, CA 94303. Contact
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The contents of this
document are Copyright © 2002 by Baywood Publishing Company,
Inc. This paper originally appeared as an article published in the Omega: Journal of Death and
Dying, Volume 43, Number
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