TRADICIÓN
Investigación psíquica
El nombre es de dentro y sus dueños lo dieron por insatisfactorio. Kripal fecha la adopción del adjetivo y la reserva con que se tomó: «Research adopted the slightly longer adjective psychical as an unsatisfactory but workable descriptor for its own scientific pursuits.» «Kripal — Authors of the Impossible (2010) · p. 17». Hanegraaff pone el nombre inglés junto al francés que corría a la vez: «With this return was born the research program that the English named “psychical research” and the French, métapsychique: a problematic and controversial area of study, but one which aroused great theoretical hopes.» «Hanegraaff (ed.) — Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism, ed. inglés · p. 111», y sitúa el arranque británico antes de que hubiera sociedad: «Psychical research in Britain began around 1876 at Trinity College in Cambridge, thanks to the initiative of the philosopher Henry Sidgwick, an eminent professor of moral and political philosophy.» «Hanegraaff (ed.) — Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism, ed. inglés · p. 111». Las fechas de fundación no coinciden y aquí no se concilian. Myers, que estuvo dentro, dice: «The Society for Psychical Research was founded in 1882, Professor W. F. Barrett taking a leading part in its promotion.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 549»; Asprem describe esa misma fundación por su forma institucional: «The establishment of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) in 1882 brought together a group of scientists, philosophers and other scholars, organized on the model of the scientific society or club, striving towards serious recognition by other scientific communities and professional societies» «Asprem y Granholm (eds.) — Contemporary Esotericism (2013), ed. inglés 2013 · p. 353»; y el diccionario de Hanegraaff imprime otro año por otra firma: «The Society for Psychical Research was begun in 1883, with such eminences as W.S. Moses and E.W.H. Myers as members, and later included such noted historians of Spiritualism as Frank Podmore.» «Hanegraaff (ed.) — Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism · p. 504». De la rama americana, Kripal da año y nombre: «An American branch was founded three years later, in 1885, with William James of Harvard University as one of its key founding figures and certainly the most eloquent and sophisticated proponent of “psychical research” on this side of the Atlantic.» «Kripal — Authors of the Impossible (2010) · p. 17».
Qué es y para qué es lo dice el volumen de Myers, que habla desde dentro y por cuenta de la sociedad. Su objeto y el de ella los declara uno solo: «It is my object in the present work—as it has from the first been the object of the Society for Psychical Research, on whose behalf most of the evidence here set forth has been collected,—to do what can be done to break down that artificial wall of demarcation which has thus far excluded from scientific treatment precisely the problems which stand in most need of all the aids to discovery which such treatment can afford.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 16». Lo que llama método es el de la ciencia: «It is the method of modern Science—that process which consists in an interrogation of Nature entirely dispassionate, patient, systematic; such careful experiment and cumulative record as can often elicit from her slightest indications her deepest truths.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 15», y el reproche que funda la empresa es que ese método nunca se haya usado en lo que a él le importa: «I say, then, that this method has never yet been applied to the all-important problem of the existence, the powers, the destiny of the human soul.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 15». Acota en seguida el sentido de la palabra: «Yet let me first explain that by the word "scientific" I signify an authority to which I submit myself—not a standard which I claim to attain.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 16», y el tamaño de lo que ofrece: «Any science of which I can here speak as possible must be a nascent science—not such as one of those vast systems of connected knowledge which thousands of experts now steadily push forward in laboratories in every land» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 16». La condición que le pone a la indagación es de procedimiento: «It must be an inquiry resting primarily, as all scientific inquiries in the stricter sense now must rest, upon objective facts actually observable, upon experiments which we can repeat to-day, and which we may hope to carry further to-morrow.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 23». De la disposición mental dice: «Psychical research is of all subjects the one where it is most important to avoid this error, and to keep the mind open for new interpretations of the facts.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 270». Y el vocabulario propio queda declarado en su glosario como capa aparte de la médica: «Words or phrases used in psychical research with some special significance. (3) A few words, distinguished by an asterisk, for which the author is himself responsible.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 7».
El aparato de la cosa son papeles, actas y permisos, y las obras lo dicen. Myers sitúa la procedencia de sus hechos: «Many of these facts have already appeared in Phantasms of the Living; many more in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research; but they are far indeed from having yet entered into the scientific consciousness of the age.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 4», y agradece el permiso de usarlos: «To the original furnishers of the evidence my obligations are great and manifest, and to the Council of the S.P.R. I also owe thanks for permission to use that evidence freely.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 6». Lodge distingue por ahí su testimonio anterior del libro que escribe: «Hitherto I have testified to occurrences and messages of which the motive is intellectual rather than emotional: and though much, very much, even of this evidence remains inaccessible to the public, yet a good deal has appeared from time to time by many writers in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, and in my personal collection called The Survival of Man.» «Lodge — Raymond; or, Life and Death (1916; edición electrónica de Global Grey, 2019) · p. 78». Cummins dice haber trabajado en el asunto muchos años: «It is entirely thanks to E.B.G. as I shall call her that I was able among my various occupations to work seriously at psychic research over many ensuing years.» «Geraldine Cummins — Swan on a Black Sea (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965) · p. 219», y enmienda por su cuenta una palabra del oficio: «Incidentally, I dislike the word ‘control’, commonly used in psychic research for the guardian caretaker of a medium.» «Geraldine Cummins — Swan on a Black Sea (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965) · p. 217». Broad, que prologa ese volumen, declara su pertenencia con una acotación entre paréntesis: «I have been a member of the S.P.R. ‘establishment’ (if only on its outer fringes) for a great many years.» «Geraldine Cummins — Swan on a Black Sea (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1965) · p. 12». De Prince, el volumen que él firma lo dice por boca de quien lo reedita: «Dr. WALTER FRANKLIN PRINCE (1863-1934) devoted the last two decades of his life to full time work in psychical research.» «The Case of Patience Worth — Prince (University Books, 1964) · p. 11», y «He was the only American, other than William James, to occupy the position of president of the Society for Psychical Research (London).» «The Case of Patience Worth — Prince (University Books, 1964) · p. 11». Crookall, que no narra experiencias propias sino que compara casos ajenos, mide su material contra el de la sociedad: «The individual accounts of these experiences are naturally difficult, even when possible, to corroborate. They can seldom be accorded that degree of probability which we attach to those supernormal experiences that, after careful investigation, are published by the Society for Psychical Research.» «Crookall — The Study and Practice of Astral Projection (1960) · p. 165».
Con el espiritualismo el deslinde lo traza cada voz por su lado, y las voces no dicen lo mismo. Myers lo dice de frente: «And yet this work of mine is in large measure a critical attack upon the main Spiritist position, as held, say, by Mr. A. R. Wallace, its most eminent living supporter,—the belief, namely, that all or almost all supernormal phenomena are due to the action of spirits of the dead.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 22», y explica por dónde le parece que falla la otra parte: «It is, I believe, largely to this temper of uncritical acceptance, degenerating often into blind credulity, that we must refer the lack of progress in Spiritualistic literature, and the encouragement which has often been bestowed upon manifest fraud,—so often, indeed, as to create among scientific men a strong indisposition to the study of phenomena recorded or advocated in a tone so alien from Science.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 22». Owen, que estudia el movimiento desde fuera, llama a la investigación psíquica lo que llama: «Despite a recent upsurge of interest in Victorian spiritualism, comparatively little has been written on the subject and it has often been considered only in conjunction with its uneasy travelling companion, psychical research.» «Owen — The Darkened Room (1990) · p. 16», y recoge lo que los choques le enseñan: «The subsequent clashes between spiritualists and unsympathetic psychical researchers bear testimony to the fact that concepts of truth and reality are not absolutes.» «Owen — The Darkened Room (1990) · p. 21», junto con la conclusión de un espiritualista sobre los investigadores: «He concluded that psychical researchers were trying to disprove the spiritualist thesis rather than observe and record phenomena in an» «Owen — The Darkened Room (1990) · p. 129». Asprem describe el nacimiento como encuentro: «Psychical research was thus born from an encounter between the scientism of Victorian scientific naturalism, and the worldview, practices and rhetorical claims of spiritualists, occultists and some liberal Christian reformers» «Asprem y Granholm (eds.) — Contemporary Esotericism (2013), ed. inglés 2013 · p. 353», y el proceso por el que los fenómenos cambiaron de dueño: «paranormal” phenomena connected to extraordinary mental and perceptive abilities such as ESP, telepathy and clairvoyance, were lifted out of (“disembedded” from) occultism, spiritualism, and vernacular religiosity by a group of highly educated intellectuals, led by academics and scientists, in the name of “psychical research”» «Asprem y Granholm (eds.) — Contemporary Esotericism (2013), ed. inglés 2013 · p. 355». Hammer lo dice del otro extremo de la serie: «Parapsychologists distanced themselves from their spiritualist roots by attempting to define themselves as more scientific. They did so e.g. by attempting to professionalize and institutionalize their activities.» «Hammer — Claiming Knowledge (2004) · p. 239».
Con la psicología la relación tampoco se describe igual. Owen la dice incómoda y triple: «During the last years of nineteenth-century spiritualism, psychical research, and psychology remained locked in an uncomfortable embrace.» «Owen — The Darkened Room (1990) · p. 271», señala por dónde pasa el eslabón: «Certainly Myers’ theory of a ‘subliminal self, developed during the 1880s and 1890s, formed a direct link between psychical research and medical interest in the submerged and uncharted areas of the mind.» «Owen — The Darkened Room (1990) · p. 271», y trae el caso de Freud: «Freud, who became a corresponding member of the S.P.R. , was intrigued by psychical research and pronounced himself reluctant to dismiss ‘prophetic dreams, telepathic experiences, manifestations of supernatural forces and the like’.» «Owen — The Darkened Room (1990) · p. 271». Myers describe lo que a su juicio abandonaron los psicólogos experimentales: «The supporters of the view that "The Self is a co-ordination,"— and this, I need hardly say, is now the view prevalent among experimental psychologists,—have frankly given up any notion of an underlying unity,—of a life independent of the organism,—in a word, of a human soul.» «Myers — Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (abreviación, s. f.) · p. 28». Klimo fija la proporción en una línea: «Paraphysics is to physics what parapsychology is to psychology.» «Klimo — Channeling (1987) · p. 308».
La supervivencia es la disputa, y ninguna de estas voces la resuelve del mismo modo. Lodge dice dónde estaba él antes del caso de su hijo: «established survival. That may be, but this is a case which touches me closely and has necessarily received my careful attention. In so far as there are other strong cases—and I know of several—so much the better. I myself considered the case of survival practically proven before, and clinched by the efforts of Myers and others of the S.P.R. group on the other side; but evidence is cumulative, and the discussion of a fresh case in no way weakens those that have gone before. Each stick of the faggot must be tested, and, unless absolutely broken, it adds to the strength of the bundle.» «Lodge — Raymond; or, Life and Death (1916; edición electrónica de Global Grey, 2019) · p. 80». Hammer sitúa ahí la raíz de una posición entera: «The roots of the strong rationalist position are to be found in attempts made by Frederic Myers and others in the early days of psychic research, i.e. the late nineteenth century, to find evidence of life after death.» «Hammer — Claiming Knowledge (2004) · p. 512». La voz que Klimo consigna como Lazaris le pone tope a la disciplina: «One thing that the parapsychologist can never prove absolutely, conclusively, is that there’s life after death.» «Klimo — Channeling (1987) · p. 89». El volumen de Prince imprime entera la negativa de un testigo: «I am no Spiritist. I do not believe that the souls of the dead set free come back to the souls that stay. . . . The cases set forth by the Society for Psychical Research mean nothing to me. Crookes and Lodge and all the rest of the necromancers have talked twaddle, as I thought, and still think» «The Case of Patience Worth — Prince (University Books, 1964) · p. 64». Desde la teosofía, el diálogo de Blavatsky llama a la sociedad de otro modo: «this has been openly and officially admitted, even by our enemies, the Psychic Research Society.» «Blavatsky — Essential Works (siete obras reunidas, 1877–1892) · p. 3785», y trae el cargo de su informe con las palabras del impreso: «Enq. It is just what they say. But is it not very painful to her to be publicly denounced as “the most accomplished impostor of the age, whose name deserves to pass to posterity,” as is done in the Report of the “Society for Psychical Research”?» «Blavatsky — Essential Works (siete obras reunidas, 1877–1892) · p. 3797». Kripal, que se ocupa de estos autores como historiador de las religiones, declara su reparo de método: «I have deep reservations about the objectivist epistemologies that control much of psychical research» «Kripal — Authors of the Impossible (2010) · p. 16».
Del paso a la parapsicología hablan sobre todo las voces de fuera. Kripal lo llama por su nombre: «J. B. Rhine took this domesticating and unifying process further and adopted parapsychology as the preferred term for the field.» «Kripal — Authors of the Impossible (2010) · p. 17». Hammer enumera los pasos institucionales: «This process can be illustrated by a few successive moves. A first such step was the establishment in London of the Society for Psychical Research in 1882. A second was the affiliation with academia when William MacDougall and J.B. Rhine in 1927 founded the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Further moves towards academic respectability came in 1969 with the partial affiliation of the American Parapsychological Association with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1973 with the establishment of a department of parapsychology at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.» «Hammer — Claiming Knowledge (2004) · p. 239». Asprem describe qué les pasó a los fenómenos en ese tránsito: «Through the transition to parapsychology, the phenomena in question were repackaged and reformed, given technical designations, and supported with reference to experiment, evidence and philosophical arguments» «Asprem y Granholm (eds.) — Contemporary Esotericism (2013), ed. inglés 2013 · p. 355», y antes cuenta cómo se deshizo la legitimidad anterior: «Finally, it is interesting to note that the kind of cultural legitimacy which psychical research had managed to establish largely disintegrated with the death of the leading members who had tied it all together, especially Henry Sidgwick, Frederic Myers and William James. This may be read as a collapse of the “actor-network” that the SPR had assembled; the ensuing generational shift also led to a reorientation of the society towards spiritualism, which may be read as a collapse of their boundary-work» «Asprem y Granholm (eds.) — Contemporary Esotericism (2013), ed. inglés 2013 · p. 354». Su conclusión la enuncia como tesis suya: «I argue that psychical research and its professionalized daughter, parapsychology, have offered a uniquely naturalistic mode of enchantment» «Asprem y Granholm (eds.) — Contemporary Esotericism (2013), ed. inglés 2013 · p. 359».
en la biblioteca: 4 obras adscritas · 2 autores vinculados
Obras adscritas
cada adscripción se consigna en la ficha de su obraQué dicen de ella las obras
cómo la define cada obra, con su pasajeAsprem y Granholm (eds.) — Contemporary Esotericism (2013)
Blavatsky — Essential Works (siete obras reunidas, 1877–1892)
Brown — The Channeling Zone (1997)
The Edgar Cayce Reader (Paperback Library, 1969)
Crookall — The Study and Practice of Astral Projection (1960)
Eliade — Myths, Dreams and Mysteries (1967)
Eliade — Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy (1989)
Faivre — Access to Western Esotericism (1994)
Fox — Astral Projection (1939)
Gardner — The Meaning of Witchcraft (1959)
Hammer — Claiming Knowledge (2004)
Hanegraaff (ed.) — Dictionary of Gnosis & Western Esotericism
Hanegraaff — New Age Religion and Western Culture (1996)
Hufford — The Terror That Comes in the Night (1982)
Hutton — The Triumph of the Moon (2.ª ed., 2019)
Jorjani — Closer Encounters (2021)
Jung — Flying Saucers (1958/1959)
Kripal — Authors of the Impossible (2010)
Kripal — How to Think Impossibly (2024)
Strieber y Kripal — The Super Natural (2016)
Letcher — Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom (2006)
Mack — Passport to the Cosmos (1999; conmemorativa de 2011)
Mahatma Letters — a A. P. Sinnett (facsímil de la 2.ª ed. de 1926)
Monroe — Journeys Out of the Body (1971)
Muldoon y Carrington — The Projection of the Astral Body (1929)
Owen — The Darkened Room (1990)
Roberts — The Seth Material (1970)
El Umbral de la Consciencia (2026, en curso)
Vallée y Harris — Trinity: The Best-Kept Secret (2021)
Vallée — UFO Chronicles of the Soviet Union (1992)
W. B. Yeats — A Vision (1925), ed. Paul y Harper (2008)
Autores vinculados
Afirmaciones
112 entradas«Many of these facts have already appeared in Phantasms of the Living; many more in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research; but they are far indeed from having yet entered into the scientific consciousness of the age.» — sitúa la procedencia de esos hechos —*Phantasms of the Living* y las *Proceedings* de la Society for Psychical Research— y niega que hayan entrado aún en la consciencia científica de la época
«To the original furnishers of the evidence my obligations are great and manifest, and to the Council of the S.P.R. I also owe thanks for permission to use that evidence freely.» — declara su deuda con quienes aportaron la evidencia original y con el Consejo de la S.P.R., que le dio permiso para usarla libremente
«I cannot summarise within my modest limits the mass of evidence already gathered together in the sixteen volumes of Proceedings and the nine volumes of the Journal of the S.P.R., inPhantasms of the Living and other books hereafter referred to, and in MS. collections.» — y su razón: no cabe en sus límites resumir los dieciséis volúmenes de *Proceedings*, los nueve del *Journal* de la S.P.R., *Phantasms of the Living* y las colecciones manuscritas; el troceo imprime *inPhantasms* sin espacio
«Words or phrases used in psychical research with some special significance. (3) A few words, distinguished by an asterisk, for which the author is himself responsible.» — y las otras dos: los términos que la investigación psíquica usa con sentido especial, y unas pocas palabras marcadas con asterisco de las que el autor se declara responsable
«It is the method of modern Science—that process which consists in an interrogation of Nature entirely dispassionate, patient, systematic; such careful experiment and cumulative record as can often elicit from her slightest indications her deepest truths.» — define el método de la ciencia moderna como interrogación de la naturaleza enteramente desapasionada, paciente y sistemática, con experimento cuidadoso y registro acumulativo
«I say, then, that this method has never yet been applied to the all-important problem of the existence, the powers, the destiny of the human soul.» — sostiene que ese método nunca se ha aplicado todavía al problema de la existencia, los poderes y el destino del alma humana
«That resolutely agnostic view—I may almost say that scientific superstition—"ignoramus et ignorabimus"—is no doubt held at the present date by many learned minds.» — llama superstición científica a la posición agnóstica resuelta —el *ignoramus et ignorabimus*— que dice sostenida hoy por muchas mentes doctas
«It is my object in the present work—as it has from the first been the object of the Society for Psychical Research, on whose behalf most of the evidence here set forth has been collected,—to do what can be done to break down that artificial wall of demarcation which has thus far excluded from scientific treatment precisely the problems which stand in most need of all the aids to discovery which such treatment can afford.» — declara el objeto del libro, y lo hace coincidir con el de la Society for Psychical Research, por cuya cuenta dice reunida la mayor parte de la evidencia: derribar el muro artificial de demarcación que ha excluido del tratamiento científico justo los problemas más necesitados de él
«Yet let me first explain that by the word "scientific" I signify an authority to which I submit myself—not a standard which I claim to attain.» — acota de inmediato el sentido en que usa la palabra *scientific*: una autoridad a la que se somete, no un estándar que pretenda alcanzar
«Any science of which I can here speak as possible must be a nascent science—not such as one of those vast systems of connected knowledge which thousands of experts now steadily push forward in laboratories in every land» — y acota también la clase de ciencia posible aquí: naciente, no uno de esos vastos sistemas que miles de expertos empujan en laboratorios; el tramo se corta en el salto de plana
«My one contention is that in the discussion of the deeper problems of man's nature and destiny there ought to be exactly the same openness of mind, exactly the same diligence in the search for objective evidence of any kind, exactly the same critical analysis of results, as is habitually shown, for instance, in the discussion of the nature and destiny of the planet upon which man now moves.» — reduce su exigencia a una sola: en los problemas más hondos de la naturaleza y el destino del hombre debe haber la misma apertura, la misma diligencia en buscar evidencia objetiva y el mismo análisis crítico que en la discusión sobre el planeta
«It must be an inquiry resting primarily, as all scientific inquiries in the stricter sense now must rest, upon objective facts actually observable, upon experiments which we can repeat to-day, and which we may hope to carry further to-morrow.» — fija la condición de la indagación que propone: descansar en hechos objetivos efectivamente observables y en experimentos repetibles hoy, como toda indagación científica en sentido estricto
«It was from this side, and from these general considerations, that the group with which I have worked approached the subject.» — sitúa desde qué lado abordó el asunto el grupo con el que trabajó
«We were led to believe that there was truth in a thesis which at least since Swedenborg and the early mesmerists had been repeatedly, but cursorily and ineffectually, presented to mankind—the thesis that a communication can take place from mind to mind without the agency of the recognised organs of sense.» — enuncia la tesis a la que fueron llevados, y que dice presentada repetida pero cursoriamente a la humanidad desde Swedenborg y los primeros mesmeristas: que puede haber comunicación de mente a mente sin la agencia de los órganos reconocidos del sentido
«Edmund Gurney—the invaluable collaborator and friend whose loss in 1888 was our heaviest discouragement—set forth this evidence in a large work, Phantasms of the Living, in whose preparation Mr. Podmore and I took a minor part.» — adjudica a Edmund Gurney, cuya pérdida en 1888 llama el mayor desaliento del grupo, la exposición de esa evidencia en *Phantasms of the Living*, obra en cuya preparación dice que Podmore y él tomaron parte menor
«Of fundamental importance, indeed, is this doctrine of telepathy—the first law, may one not say?—laid open to man's discovery, which, in my view at least, while operating in the material, is itself a law of the spiritual or metetherial world.» — llama a la telepatía la primera ley abierta al descubrimiento del hombre y, a su ver al menos, ley del mundo espiritual o metetérico aunque opere en el material
«Among those implications none can be more momentous than the light thrown by this discovery upon man's intimate nature and possible survival of death.» — señala cuál de las implicaciones tiene por más trascendental: la luz que ese hallazgo arroja sobre la naturaleza íntima del hombre y su posible supervivencia de la muerte
«And yet this work of mine is in large measure a critical attack upon the main Spiritist position, as held, say, by Mr. A. R. Wallace, its most eminent living supporter,—the belief, namely, that all or almost all supernormal phenomena are due to the action of spirits of the dead.» — declara que su obra es en buena medida un ataque crítico a la posición espiritista principal, la de Mr. A. R. Wallace —a quien nombra su sostenedor vivo más eminente—: que todos o casi todos los fenómenos supernormales se deben a la acción de espíritus de los muertos
«It is, I believe, largely to this temper of uncritical acceptance, degenerating often into blind credulity, that we must refer the lack of progress in Spiritualistic literature, and the encouragement which has often been bestowed upon manifest fraud,—so often, indeed, as to create among scientific men a strong indisposition to the study of phenomena recorded or advocated in a tone so alien from Science.» — refiere a ese temple de aceptación acrítica, degenerado a menudo en credulidad ciega, la falta de progreso de la literatura espiritualista y el aliento que allí ha recibido el fraude manifiesto
«For my own part I regard Swedenborg,—not, assuredly, as an inspired teacher, nor even as a trustworthy interpreter of his own experiences,—but yet as a true and early precursor of that great inquiry which it is our present object to advance.» — fija su propia posición con dos negativas antes de la afirmación: ni maestro inspirado ni intérprete confiable de sus propias experiencias, pero sí precursor verdadero y temprano de la indagación que el libro quiere adelantar
«avoid metaphysics as carefully as it will avoid theology. I avoid theology, as already explained, because I consider that in arguments founded upon experiment and observation I have no right to appeal for support to traditional or subjective considerations, however important.» — da su razón para evitar la teología: en argumentos fundados en experimento y observación dice no tener derecho a apelar a consideraciones tradicionales o subjetivas, por importantes que sean; el tramo abre en la plana anterior, donde la frase se corta
«The supporters of the view that "The Self is a co-ordination,"— and this, I need hardly say, is now the view prevalent among experimental psychologists,—have frankly given up any notion of an underlying unity,—of a life independent of the organism,—in a word, of a human soul.» — adjudica a los psicólogos experimentales, entre quienes dice prevaleciente la vista de que el yo es coordinación, el haber renunciado francamente a toda noción de unidad subyacente, de vida independiente del organismo, de alma humana
«There exists a more comprehensive consciousness, a profounder faculty, which for the most part remains potential only so far as regards the life of earth, but from which the consciousness and the faculty of earth-life are mere selections, and which reasserts itself in its plenitude after the liberating change of death.» — enuncia la tesis central del libro: existe una consciencia más comprehensiva, de la que la consciencia y la facultad de la vida terrestre son meras selecciones, y que se reafirma en su plenitud tras el cambio liberador de la muerte
«The truest success of this book will lie in its rapid supersession by a better.» — cifra el éxito más verdadero del libro en que otro mejor lo supere pronto
«Psychical research is of all subjects the one where it is most important to avoid this error, and to keep the mind open for new interpretations of the facts.» — declara la investigación psíquica el asunto donde más importa evitar ese error y tener la mente abierta a interpretaciones nuevas
«The Society for Psychical Research was founded in 1882, Professor W. F. Barrett taking a leading part in its promotion.» — data la fundación de la Society for Psychical Research en 1882, con el profesor W. F. Barrett en papel principal de su promoción
«The longest and most important series of experiments in thought-transference with hypnotised subjects, carried out by members of the S.P.R., are those of Professor and Mrs. Sidgwick.» — adjudica al profesor y a Mrs. Sidgwick la serie más larga e importante de experimentos de transferencia de pensamiento con sujetos hipnotizados hechos por miembros de la S.P.R.
«The "Census of Hallucinations" was undertaken in 1889, by a Committee of the S.P.R., under the direction of Professor Sidgwick, and consisting of himself and Mrs. Sidgwick, Dr. A. T. Myers, Mr. F. Podmore, Miss A. Johnson, and the present writer.» — data el Censo de Alucinaciones en 1889 y nombra al comité de la S.P.R. que lo llevó bajo dirección del profesor Sidgwick
«Let us now see how far this view, which I suggested in the S.P.R. Proceedings as far back as 1892,[10] fits in with those modern observations of hysteria, in Paris and» — data su propia propuesta en los *Proceedings* de la S.P.R. de 1892 y la va a cotejar con las observaciones modernas de la histeria; el tramo se corta en el salto de plana
«Hitherto I have testified to occurrences and messages of which the motive is intellectual rather than emotional: and though much, very much, even of this evidence remains inaccessible to the public, yet a good deal has appeared from time to time by many writers in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, and in my personal collection called The Survival of Man.» — Lodge sitúa su testimonio anterior y lo distingue del presente: hasta entonces había testificado sobre sucesos y mensajes de motivo intelectual más que emocional, publicados en buena parte en las Proceedings de la Society for Psychical Research y en su propio libro The Survival of Man
«established survival. That may be, but this is a case which touches me closely and has necessarily received my careful attention. In so far as there are other strong cases—and I know of several—so much the better. I myself considered the case of survival practically proven before, and clinched by the efforts of Myers and others of the S.P.R. group on the other side; but evidence is cumulative, and the discussion of a fresh case in no way weakens those that have gone before. Each stick of the faggot must be tested, and, unless absolutely broken, it adds to the strength of the bundle.» — y la continuación con su regla de acumulación: concede que puede haberlos y dice conocer varios, tanto mejor; él daba la supervivencia por prácticamente probada y rematada por los esfuerzos de Myers y del grupo de la S.P.R. del otro lado, pero sostiene que la evidencia se acumula y que cada palo del haz debe probarse y, si no está roto del todo, suma
«I must assume it known that messages purporting to come from various deceased people have been received through various mediums, and that the Society for Psychical Research has especially studied those coming through Mrs. Piper—a resident in the neighbourhood of Boston, U.S.A.—during the past thirty years. We were introduced to her by Professor William James.» — Lodge da por sabido el antecedente sobre el que se apoya y lo fecha: que llegan mensajes que se presentan como de personas fallecidas por diversos médiums, y que la Society for Psychical Research ha estudiado en especial los de Mrs. Piper durante treinta años, a quien les presentó William James
«My own experience with this lady began during her visit to this country in 1889, and was renewed in 1906. The account has been fully published in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, vols. vi. and xxiii., and an abbreviated version of some of the incidents there recorded can be referred to in my book The Survival of Man.» — y la procedencia de su propia experiencia, con los volúmenes citados: empezó en la visita de esa señora a Inglaterra en 1889 y se renovó en 1906, publicada en las Proceedings de la S.P.R. y abreviada en su libro anterior
«Cross-correspondences are of various grades. The simplest kind is when two mediums both use the same exceptional word, or both refer to the same non-public event, without any normal reason that can be assigned. Another variety is when, say, three mediums refer to one and the same idea in different terms,—employing, for instance, different languages, like 'mors,' 'death,' and 'thanatos.' (See Proc., S.P.R., xxii, 295-304.)» — Lodge gradúa las correspondencias cruzadas por sus dos formas más simples: dos médiums que usan la misma palabra excepcional o refieren el mismo suceso no público sin razón normal asignable, y tres que aluden a una misma idea en lenguas distintas
«The more recent development of an elaborate scheme of 'cross-correspondence,' entered upon since the death of specially experienced and critical investigators of the S.P.R., who were familiar with all these difficulties, and who have taken strong and most ingenious means to overcome them, has made the proof, already very strong, now almost crucial. The only alternative, in the best cases, is to imagine a sort of supernormal mischievousness, so elaborately misleading that it would have to be stigmatised as vicious or even diabolical.» — y la única alternativa que Lodge deja a su propia tesis en los mejores casos, nombrada sin atenuarla: una suerte de malicia supernormal tan elaboradamente engañosa que habría que calificarla de viciosa o aun diabólica
«Dr. WALTER FRANKLIN PRINCE (1863-1934) devoted the last two decades of his life to full time work in psychical research.» — John C. Wilson abre su introducción de 1963 datando a Prince y situando sus dos últimas décadas en la investigación psíquica.
«He was the only American, other than William James, to occupy the position of president of the Society for Psychical Research (London).» — Wilson sitúa a Prince en la presidencia de la Society for Psychical Research de Londres y lo empareja con William James como los dos únicos estadounidenses en ocuparla.
«I am no Spiritist. I do not believe that the souls of the dead set free come back to the souls that stay. . . . The cases set forth by the Society for Psychical Research mean nothing to me. Crookes and Lodge and all the rest of the necromancers have talked twaddle, as I thought, and still think» — Reedy declara su posición previa en los términos más ásperos, y el volumen la imprime entera: sitúa a Crookes y a Lodge entre quienes hablan sin fundamento.
«I had read, before 1913, no books on psychical research or Spiritualism whatever. My first was “‘ Cosmic Relations,” which Mr. Holt sent me after he printed the first Patience Worth book.» — Mrs. Curran declara que su primera lectura sobre investigación psíquica llegó DESPUÉS del primer libro, enviada por el editor.
«I quite agree that the preface fell very short of what the psychical researcher wants to know. But I think that he could well have been tolerant of Mr. Yost, who was not a scientific man, and who, while he expressed the opinion that in some sense the case was a “ psychic mystery,” was more interested in setting forth the literature than in proving its supernormal source.» — Prince concede la crítica de Hyslop al prefacio de Yost y a la vez pide indulgencia por lo que Yost se proponía.
«Dr. Hyslop was so exclusively scientific in his make-up that he could hardly pardon any other point of view, or any defect in scientific method. In the same paragraph he says that “Mr. Yost is not to blame. . . . He has done the best he knew how in the situation,” and complains that “the highest duty rested upon him and the publisher to exhaust the possibilities of early reading in seventeenth century literature which has been forgotten.” There can be no doubt that such would be the duty of a psychical researcher, but it might be questioned if a literary man of no training in science is to be blamed when “he has done the best that he knew how.» — Prince describe el temperamento de Hyslop y señala la inconsistencia interna de su propia crítica, citándola dos veces.
«Thus I have seen cartoons representing scientific men during the process of an experiment in psychical research, with eyes rolled heavenward, and features expressive of ecstatic faith, The major physical facts were correctly given—some scientific men do sit with persons supposed to have peculiar powers, and they do certain things with certain apparatus as represented. The silly and unfounded insinuation, the misleading innuendo, not necessarily from malicious intent, was in the posture and expression intimating that all investigators are infatuated fools.» — Prince ilustra el procedimiento con las caricaturas de la prensa: hechos correctos y sugerencia falsa.
«Finally, the library is a mute witness to the family’s lack of interest in psychical research and Spiritualism before the appearance of Patience Worth, for all the nine books on these subjects were printed subsequently, and most of them, if not all, as the inscriptions testify, were gifts by friends.» — Prince cierra el capítulo de la biblioteca con la negativa que más le importa: nada sobre investigación psíquica anterior al caso.
«Perhaps it is pardonable in a psychologist or philosopher to discard at the outset the theory that Patience Worth is actually what she claims to be, as it was pardonable a hundred years ago to sweep away all claims of what was then called Mesmerism without the necessity of debating them, and as after the theory of the subliminal mind was announced many psychologists swept it away without ceremony—both hypnosis and the subliminal mind standing now high in the Professor’s esteem. But as a psychic researcher I am bound, however silly it may seem to some, to consider that claim.» — Prince concede a los psicólogos el derecho a descartar la pretensión y reclama para su oficio el deber contrario, con dos precedentes históricos.
«I have been a member of the S.P.R. ‘establishment’ (if only on its outer fringes) for a great many years.» — el primero de esos dos títulos: pertenencia de muchos años al establishment de la S.P.R., con la acotación entre paréntesis de que solo en sus márgenes.
«It is entirely thanks to E.B.G. as I shall call her that I was able among my various occupations to work seriously at psychic research over many ensuing years.» — Cummins atribuye a su colaboradora haber podido trabajar en serio en investigación psíquica, que es la figura que los scripts llaman por sus iniciales.
«Incidentally, I dislike the word ‘control’, commonly used in psychic research for the guardian caretaker of a medium.» — la enmienda de vocabulario que Cummins hace por su cuenta, que le disgusta la palabra control con que la investigación psíquica nombra al guardián de un médium.
«Until 1952 I avoided reading any books or articles about psychic research as I feared that its technical jargon would interfere with my composi¬ tion in regard to my consciously composed literary work.» — y la razón que Cummins da de no haber leído sobre el asunto hasta 1952, que es el dato en que descansa su negativa sobre las fuentes.
«Among those who attended our sittings was a young man back from the Serbian front, Mr. E. R. Dodds, later Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford University and finally in 1961-2 President of the Society for Psychical Research (the S.P.R.).» — Cummins nombra a un asistente de aquellas sesiones y lo sigue hasta su cátedra y su presidencia de la sociedad.
«The typescript was submitted to me, to some other senior members of the Society for Psychical Research, and to some other persons. Since then I have read the proofs.» — Broad dice por qué vías llegó el texto a sus manos: el mecanoescrito se pasó a él, a otros miembros veteranos de la Society for Psychical Research y a otras personas, y después leyó las pruebas.
«purporting to come from the sur¬ viving spirits of F. W. H. Myers, Edmund Gurney, and others of that distinguished group of friends who were among the founders and the most active early members of the Society for Psychical Research.» — y de quiénes se decía que venían esas comunicaciones: los espíritus sobrevivientes de Myers, Gurney y otros del grupo de amigos que fundaron y animaron la Society for Psychical Research.
«Of her husband’s sisters one, Eveleen, married in 1880 F. W. H. Myers (1843-1901), the author of that posthumously published classic of psychical research Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death, and one of the founders and the most active early members of the S.P.R.» — Broad da el parentesco que enlaza a la comunicadora con la investigación psíquica: una cuñada suya casó con Myers, autor de Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death y fundador de la S.P.R.
«But what was always sure, true and wonderful to me were my other world visions, and these were not my imagination. I have since my passing rediscovered them, found they are what the S.P.R. call veridical!» — y lo que la voz opone a esa duda, con el término técnico de la investigación psíquica dicho por ella: sus visiones del otro mundo, que dice haber reencontrado tras su paso y hallado verídicas.
«The individual accounts of these experiences are naturally difficult, even when possible, to corroborate. They can seldom be accorded that degree of probability which we attach to those supernormal experiences that, after careful investigation, are published by the Society for Psychical Research.» — el compilador declara la debilidad de su propio material frente al de la S.P.R.
«John Oxenham, the well-known Methodist writer, who disclaimed ‘any connexion with supernaturalism, spiritualism or psychical research’, had a ‘dream’ four months before he died.» — del caso número 11, el de John Oxenham: Crookall subraya que el testigo se declara ajeno al espiritismo y a la investigación psíquica.
«Experiences similar to those described in this book are not only said, by the Roman Catholic Church, to have occurred to many Catholic ‘Saints’, but are claimed to be better attested than those of modern psychical research.» — y la pretensión que atribuye a la Iglesia católica sobre sus santos: mejor atestiguadas que las de la investigación psíquica.
«In 1939, after 39 years of psychical research, Carrington recorded his considered opinion that the doctrine of the ‘astral body’ is ‘so nearly established as to constitute virtual proof’.» — y la fórmula exacta con que Carrington graduó su convicción tras treinta y nueve años.
«Despite a recent upsurge of interest in Victorian spiritualism, comparatively little has been written on the subject and it has often been considered only in conjunction with its uneasy travelling companion, psychical research.» — el estado de la cuestión que declara: pese al interés reciente, se ha escrito poco, y casi siempre junto a la investigación psíquica, a la que llama compañera de viaje incómoda.
«The subsequent clashes between spiritualists and unsympathetic psychical researchers bear testimony to the fact that concepts of truth and reality are not absolutes.» — lo que Owen saca de esos choques: que las nociones de verdad y de realidad no son absolutas.
«He concluded that psychical researchers were trying to disprove the spiritualist thesis rather than observe and record phenomena in an» — la conclusión de Morell Theobald sobre la investigación psíquica; el verbatim se corta donde el troceo cambia de plana.
«During the last years of nineteenth-century spiritualism, psychical research, and psychology remained locked in an uncomfortable embrace.» — la relación entre los tres campos al final del siglo.
«Certainly Myers’ theory of a ‘subliminal self, developed during the 1880s and 1890s, formed a direct link between psychical research and medical interest in the submerged and uncharted areas of the mind.» — el yo subliminal de Myers como eslabón entre los dos campos.
«Freud, who became a corresponding member of the S.P.R. , was intrigued by psychical research and pronounced himself reluctant to dismiss ‘prophetic dreams, telepathic experiences, manifestations of supernatural forces and the like’.» — la posición de Freud ante la investigación psíquica; el espacio antes de la coma es del troceo.
«Increasingly psychologists, psychical researchers, and spiritualists themselves were seeking the key to the mysteries in the mind alone.» — el desplazamiento hacia la mente que Owen documenta.
«Psychical researchers turned in the same direction in the name of an antireductionist psychology, which resisted purely physiological explanations of what we now term mental states.» — y el giro paralelo de los investigadores psíquicos.
«psychical researchers heaved a sigh of relief as they abandoned ‘phenomena of the dark-sitting and rat-hole type’ in favour of the “‘calm air of delightful studies» — el alivio con que los investigadores dejaban los fenómenos físicos, en sus propias palabras; las comillas encadenadas son del troceo.
«Meanwhile, the work of the early psychical researchers, as was borne out by the impressive list of international medical psychologists who became corresponding members of the S.P.R., was closely related to ongoing attempts to understand and define non-orgamc illness.» — el vínculo entre la investigación psíquica y el estudio de la enfermedad no orgánica; *non-orgamc* es errata del troceo.
«Like many educated and sincere believers, he had indicated his support for objective research by joining the SPR when it formed in 1882.» — según Owen, Morell Theobald se afilió a la Society for Psychical Research al fundarse, en 1882.
«The Society for Psychical Research also permitted me to browse unhampered through much of its valuable archive material.» — y el acceso libre a ese archivo que la sociedad le dio.
«With this return was born the research program that the English named “psychical research” and the French, métapsychique: a problematic and controversial area of study, but one which aroused great theoretical hopes.» — de ese retorno nace el programa de investigación psíquica, área problemática y controvertida que despertó grandes esperanzas teóricas
«Psychical research in Britain began around 1876 at Trinity College in Cambridge, thanks to the initiative of the philosopher Henry Sidgwick, an eminent professor of moral and political philosophy.» — en Gran Bretaña arranca hacia 1876 en Cambridge por iniciativa del filósofo Henry Sidgwick
«The Society for Psychical Research was begun in 1883, with such eminences as W.S. Moses and E.W.H. Myers as members, and later included such noted historians of Spiritualism as Frank Podmore.» — la Society for Psychical Research con sus miembros nombrados, firmada por John Patrick Deveney
«This difference of opinion regarding the Ancient Wisdom among the leaders of the TS was nothing compared to the uproar created by the conclusions of the Society for Psychical Research after its investigation of the phenomena associated with the TS.» — el contraste de escala: la disputa interna no fue nada frente al escándalo de la Society for Psychical Research, firmada por James A. Santucci
«Psychische Studien combined accounts of spiritualist phenomena (many of them from British and American journals) with theoretical discussions of Spiritualism and its phenomena contributed by leading scholars, all tending over time in the direction of parapsychology and away from the original simple notions of American Spiritualism.» — la fórmula de Psychische Studien, mezcla de relatos y discusión teórica, firmada por John Patrick Deveney
«This process can be illustrated by a few successive moves. A first such step was the establishment in London of the Society for Psychical Research in 1882. A second was the affiliation with academia when William MacDougall and J.B. Rhine in 1927 founded the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Further moves towards academic respectability came in 1969 with the partial affiliation of the American Parapsychological Association with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and in 1973 with the establishment of a department of parapsychology at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.» — los pasos institucionales que da en nota para la profesionalización de la parapsicología: la Society for Psychical Research de Londres en 1882, el laboratorio de William MacDougall y J.B. Rhine en la Universidad Duke en 1927, la afiliación parcial de la asociación estadounidense con la American Association for the Advancement of Science en 1969 y el departamento de la Universidad de Utrecht en 1973.
«Parapsychologists distanced themselves from their spiritualist roots by attempting to define themselves as more scientific. They did so e.g. by attempting to professionalize and institutionalize their activities.» — cómo se distanciaron los parapsicólogos de esa raíz: definiéndose como más científicos, con profesionalización e institucionalización de sus actividades.
«The first generations of parapsychologists emulated the practices of mainstream science, created journals for the peer-reviewed dissemination of their ideas and affirmed their ties to mainstream values of their times.» — qué imitaron las primeras generaciones de parapsicólogos: las prácticas de la ciencia establecida, con revistas de arbitraje para difundir sus ideas y afirmación de sus lazos con los valores dominantes de su tiempo.
«Furthermore, the incidence of fraud among even the most prominent of the early parapsychologists suggests that experimentation was, to a disturbing extent, carried out to support vested interests.» — el segundo límite que consigna: la incidencia de fraude entre los parapsicólogos tempranos más prominentes sugiere que se experimentaba, en medida inquietante, para sostener intereses creados.
«This schism would eventually be followed by many others in the creation of various positions regarding the existence and nature of controversial phenomena—esoteric, parapsychological or skeptical.» — lo que ese cisma inaugura: muchos otros, en la creación de posiciones sobre la existencia y la naturaleza de fenómenos controvertidos, esotéricas, parapsicológicas o escépticas.
«There is a certain continuity of interest with much earlier parapsychological societies such as the Society for Psychical Research, but the SPR and similar organizations were composed of skeptical members as well as staunch believers in the paranormal. To generalize somewhat, the SPR carried out much of its research in the hope of finding true paranormal events among the many claims, whereas CSI-COP conducts its investigations to debunk any such claims.» — la continuidad y la ruptura que señala en nota: hay continuidad de intereses con sociedades parapsicológicas anteriores como la Society for Psychical Research, y esta reunía a escépticos y a creyentes firmes y hacía su investigación con la esperanza de hallar sucesos paranormales verdaderos, mientras el CSICOP investiga para desacreditar esas afirmaciones.
«The roots of the strong rationalist position are to be found in attempts made by Frederic Myers and others in the early days of psychic research, i.e. the late nineteenth century, to find evidence of life after death.» — la raíz de esa posición: los intentos de Frederic Myers y otros en los primeros días de la investigación psíquica, a fines del siglo XIX, de hallar evidencia de vida después de la muerte.
«Although for reasons of scope as well as space they fall outside the present study, it should be noted that there is a third group which attempts to formulate the borders of the “miraculous”: the community of parapsychologists. In contrast with the generally materialistic skeptics, their concept of what is natural is larger and may encompass ESP, psychokinesis and other controversial phenomena. In contrast with spokespersons of the Esoteric Tradition, they attempt to verify such claims with more or less orthodox scientific methods, rather than use science as a source of legend elements and as a rhetorical tool to support their claims. For a brief history of parapsychology and a description of these positions, see Fuller 1973, Moore 1977, Hess 1983 and Mauskopf 1996. Esotericists, skeptics and parapsychologists should be seen as ideal types in a field where many nuanced positions can be found.» — el tercer grupo que la nota deja fuera y su deslinde: los parapsicólogos, cuyo concepto de lo natural es mayor que el de los escépticos materialistas y que, a diferencia de los portavoces esotéricos, intentan verificar esas afirmaciones con métodos científicos más o menos ortodoxos en vez de usar la ciencia como fuente de elementos de leyenda y como herramienta retórica.
«The establishment of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) in 1882 brought together a group of scientists, philosophers and other scholars, organized on the model of the scientific society or club, striving towards serious recognition by other scientific communities and professional societies» — la fundación de la Society for Psychical Research, según Asprem.
«Psychical research was thus born from an encounter between the scientism of Victorian scientific naturalism, and the worldview, practices and rhetorical claims of spiritualists, occultists and some liberal Christian reformers» — de qué encuentro nace la investigación psíquica, según Asprem.
«paranormal” phenomena connected to extraordinary mental and perceptive abilities such as ESP, telepathy and clairvoyance, were lifted out of (“disembedded” from) occultism, spiritualism, and vernacular religiosity by a group of highly educated intellectuals, led by academics and scientists, in the name of “psychical research”» — el resumen que Asprem hace del proceso de desincrustación.
«Through the transition to parapsychology, the phenomena in question were repackaged and reformed, given technical designations, and supported with reference to experiment, evidence and philosophical arguments» — y el reempaquetado que siguió.
«Finally, it is interesting to note that the kind of cultural legitimacy which psychical research had managed to establish largely disintegrated with the death of the leading members who had tied it all together, especially Henry Sidgwick, Frederic Myers and William James. This may be read as a collapse of the “actor-network” that the SPR had assembled; the ensuing generational shift also led to a reorientation of the society towards spiritualism, which may be read as a collapse of their boundary-work» — cómo se deshizo esa legitimidad, según Asprem.
«I argue that psychical research and its professionalized daughter, parapsychology, have offered a uniquely naturalistic mode of enchantment» — la tesis con que Asprem abre su conclusión.
«Psychical researchers were also part of this naturalizing tendency, but instead of reducing away the phenomena, they focused on finding room for them within a naturalistic worldview» — en qué se apartaban los investigadores psíquicos de esa vía.
«The hope that psychical research would help create a future scientific religion was indeed explicitly stated by one of the SPR’s founders, Frederick Myers, and one finds similar traits in the popular and public writings of the pioneers of experimental parapsychology as well, including McDougall and Rhine» — la esperanza de una religión científica que Asprem documenta en los fundadores.
«Seven years later, Rhine’s book made headlines in the United States and beyond: not only had the research team at Duke transformed psychical research to an experimental, laboratory-oriented discipline of research, but they also claimed to have found evidence for a number of technically named “psychic” abilities, going under the general heading of “ESP”» — lo que el equipo de Duke logró en 1934, según Asprem.
«Research adopted the slightly longer adjective psychical as an unsatisfactory but workable descriptor for its own scientific pursuits.» — así fecha la adopción del término por la Society for Psychical Research, con la insatisfacción declarada por sus propios fundadores.
«An American branch was founded three years later, in 1885, with William James of Harvard University as one of its key founding figures and certainly the most eloquent and sophisticated proponent of “psychical research” on this side of the Atlantic.» — la rama americana de la S.P.R., tres años después de la fundación de Cambridge en el invierno de 1882.
«J. B. Rhine took this domesticating and unifying process further and adopted parapsychology as the preferred term for the field.» — llama domesticación al paso de lo psíquico a la parapsicología de Duke.
«I have deep reservations about the objectivist epistemologies that control much of psychical research» — Añade que algunas ideas de Fort son sencillamente locas, «but, to his humorous credit, so did he».
«The British classicist and psychical researcher Frederic Myers was the exception to this rule, but even he was not much of an exception.» — sobre la ausencia de estos autores en el canon del estudio de la religión.
«I have much admiration for the intellectual courage and pioneering spirit of parapsychologists and the numerous thinkers who have critically analyzed this data and drawn out its philosophical implications without regard for the very real professional costs and taboos that still surround the subject.» — la reserva positiva con que acompaña su objeción de método a la parapsicología.
«Gauld points out that nearly every serious psychical researcher who came into contact with Mrs. Piper eventually became convinced that her powers were real, and many came to the impossible conclusion that spirits were indeed communicating to the living through her trances and automatic writing.» — el efecto de Piper sobre los investigadores, reportado con Gauld y sin suscribir la conclusión.
«On the other side of the equation, many of the earliest inventors of the new radio technology—Nikola Tesla, Sir William Crookes, Sir Oliver Lodge, and Lord Raleigh—were all intimately involved in psychical research and sometimes imagined their science along similar occult lines.» — el préstamo va en los dos sentidos: los inventores de la radio también investigaban lo psíquico.
«The parapsychological use of the metaphor of the white crow originates with William James, who used it to point out that only one genuine psychical case, only one white crow, is sufficient to conclude that the easy assumptions of scientific materialism are false, that not all crows are black.» — el origen del cuervo blanco, fijado en nota.
«Paraphysics is to physics what parapsychology is to psychology.» — cómo define Klimo la parafísica: lo que la parapsicología es a la psicología.
«One thing that the parapsychologist can never prove absolutely, conclusively, is that there’s life after death.» — el límite que *Lazaris* pone a la parapsicología: nunca podrá probar de manera absoluta y concluyente que hay vida después de la muerte.
«While we may eventually conclude that aspects of channeling are some kind of interdimensional telepathy or ESP, I nevertheless leave these phenomena to the parapsychologists for now.» — y el límite con que la acota: puede acabar concluyéndose que parte del channeling es telepatía interdimensional, pero por ahora eso queda para los parapsicólogos.
«The leading parapsychological explanation to account for the accuracy of channeled messages is that the channel picks up the relevant information via unconscious telepathy or GESP from the unconscious minds of other living humans,» — la explicación parapsicológica principal que Klimo consigna: el canal recoge la información pertinente por telepatía inconsciente o percepción extrasensorial general desde las mentes inconscientes de otros humanos vivos.
«The adherence of parapsychologists to such a grand ESP explanation for channeling seems to display an inability to make the conceptual leap to the possibility of nonphysical intelligent beings.» — la crítica que Klimo hace a esa preferencia: adherirse a una explicación de percepción extrasensorial grandiosa parece mostrar incapacidad de dar el salto conceptual a la posibilidad de seres inteligentes no físicos.
«A steady flow of research involving Leonard and “Feda” was published in the proceedings of both the British and American Societies for Psychical Research.» — dónde se publicó esa investigación: en las actas de las sociedades británica y estadounidense de investigación psíquica.
«The late James W. Hyslop, when he was president of the American Society for Psychical Research, reported studying a man named Frederick Thompson, who, at the turn of the century, was suddenly seized with the desire to do a great deal of drawing and painting with no prior art background.» — el caso que James W. Hyslop estudió siendo presidente de la American Society for Psychical Research según Klimo: Frederick Thompson, a quien a comienzos de siglo lo asaltó de golpe el deseo de dibujar y pintar mucho, sin formación artística previa.
«this has been openly and officially admitted, even by our enemies, the Psychic Research Society.» — Quién lo admitió, según el Teósofo: hasta la Psychic Research Society.
«Enq. It is just what they say. But is it not very painful to her to be publicly denounced as “the most accomplished impostor of the age, whose name deserves to pass to posterity,” as is done in the Report of the “Society for Psychical Research”?» — El cargo que el Inquiridor trae del informe de la Society for Psychical Research, con sus propias palabras.
«Enq. And what led the S.P.R. to take the field against you?» — El Inquiridor pregunta por la Society for Psychical Research.
«You were both pursuing the same line of study, in some respects, and several of the Psychic Researchers belonged to your society.» — Y hace notar la línea de estudio común y los investigadores psíquicos que eran miembros.
«Psychic Researchers knew well, and they took a base and mean advantage of their position to raise themselves above our heads» — Lo que el Teósofo atribuye a los investigadores psíquicos; la cola quedó del otro lado del corte de plana.