Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
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Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by mac Sat Jun 02, 2018 5:26 pm
see here Psychic News archive
The University of Manitoba has begun 'digitising' editions of Psychic News. Taken from the Home page:
"PN regularly featured articles about evidence of life after death obtained through mediumship and various forms of spirit communication, as well as spiritual healing, the psychic gifts of clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience, automatic writing and drawing, psychic and spirit art, psychokinesis, ectoplasm, materialization, reincarnation and other paranormal topics. The newspaper’s pages celebrate the successes of the Spiritualist movement; they also document the controversy and disappointment when séance-room fraud was uncovered.
From the early 1940s through 1970, the PN tagline boasted that it was the Spiritualist newspaper with the world’s largest net sales or circulation. In the decade that followed, the tagline claimed over 100,000 readers. From August 1981, PN was “Britain’s only independent Spiritualist weekly.”
The PN archives (1932-2010) are owned by the JV Trust, which has generously funded the digitization costs relating to this initiative. The University of Manitoba Libraries hosts and maintains the digital collection through UM Digital Collections.
Thanks are due to Senate House Library, University of London, which loaned its unbound newspaper copies to the project to facilitate a significant portion of the scanning. The Survival Research Institute of Canada and File IT Solutions, both of Victoria, BC, compiled and crunched the data to ensure that every issue was located and scanned."
see here Psychic News archive
The University of Manitoba has begun 'digitising' editions of Psychic News. Taken from the Home page:
"PN regularly featured articles about evidence of life after death obtained through mediumship and various forms of spirit communication, as well as spiritual healing, the psychic gifts of clairvoyance, clairaudience, and clairsentience, automatic writing and drawing, psychic and spirit art, psychokinesis, ectoplasm, materialization, reincarnation and other paranormal topics. The newspaper’s pages celebrate the successes of the Spiritualist movement; they also document the controversy and disappointment when séance-room fraud was uncovered.
From the early 1940s through 1970, the PN tagline boasted that it was the Spiritualist newspaper with the world’s largest net sales or circulation. In the decade that followed, the tagline claimed over 100,000 readers. From August 1981, PN was “Britain’s only independent Spiritualist weekly.”
The PN archives (1932-2010) are owned by the JV Trust, which has generously funded the digitization costs relating to this initiative. The University of Manitoba Libraries hosts and maintains the digital collection through UM Digital Collections.
Thanks are due to Senate House Library, University of London, which loaned its unbound newspaper copies to the project to facilitate a significant portion of the scanning. The Survival Research Institute of Canada and File IT Solutions, both of Victoria, BC, compiled and crunched the data to ensure that every issue was located and scanned."
see here Psychic News archive
Last edited by mac on Sun Jun 03, 2018 7:24 am; edited 3 times in total
mac
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by Admin Sun Jun 03, 2018 12:59 am
For Lis and I this is a welcome resource Mac as it should be to all Spiritualists. I look forward to it growing on from 1946 to 2010. We have been aware of its impending launch for some months but the secret was precious.
Even 2 days after my cataract op, when I should have been resting, I have been digging in. One particu;ar issue has always grabbed my attention concerning trance and the fundamental problem of when is it the guide and when is it subconscious. On a prallel issue I can continue my study on Meurig Morris.
Bookmark it everyone http://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/psychicnews
Even 2 days after my cataract op, when I should have been resting, I have been digging in. One particu;ar issue has always grabbed my attention concerning trance and the fundamental problem of when is it the guide and when is it subconscious. On a prallel issue I can continue my study on Meurig Morris.
Bookmark it everyone http://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/psychicnews
Admin- Admin
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by mac Sun Jun 03, 2018 7:21 am
Good luck with recovery after your surgery, Jim - the rest and recuperation should do you a power of good!
Interesting even for me to look back at the first issues but I'll be equally interested in the ones I used to read in my early days 'in the spooks' and before the near-demise of PN.
Interesting, too, that as I took a quick look at the early editions I happened to drop on discussions about the predictions that war would not come about, something I've pointed out as an unexplained matter when in online discussion forums. I did read that Modern Spiritualism lost a huge number of former followers over that apparent failure to give sound guidance.
Interesting too that Spiritualism was also referred to as 'Modern Spiritualism', a term hiorta had earlier said he'd only ever heard me using .
Interesting even for me to look back at the first issues but I'll be equally interested in the ones I used to read in my early days 'in the spooks' and before the near-demise of PN.
Interesting, too, that as I took a quick look at the early editions I happened to drop on discussions about the predictions that war would not come about, something I've pointed out as an unexplained matter when in online discussion forums. I did read that Modern Spiritualism lost a huge number of former followers over that apparent failure to give sound guidance.
Interesting too that Spiritualism was also referred to as 'Modern Spiritualism', a term hiorta had earlier said he'd only ever heard me using .
mac
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by Admin Mon Jun 04, 2018 7:16 am
mac wrote:
Interesting, too, that as I took a quick look at the early editions I happened to drop on discussions about the predictions that war would not come about, something I've pointed out as an unexplained matter when in online discussion forums. I did read that Modern Spiritualism lost a huge number of former followers over that apparent failure to give sound guidance.
Interesting too that Spiritualism was also referred to as 'Modern Spiritualism', a term hiorta had earlier said he'd only ever heard me using .
I agree Mac its fascinating, funny I have always called it Modern Spiritualism and understood that to be the accepted term.
I think you hit the nail on my trance head with your comment. RedCloud, White Eagle and Silver Birch are, probably, the foremost Trance Guides we have. So how did they make such prophecies of peace? They were even continuing these right up to June 1939. Does it undermine all of our acceptance of trance communication? or does it suggest the limits that exist between communication with Spirit and the inherent ability of our sub-concious (or the combined subconscious of a circle wishing peace) to alter the communication. I note other hiccups in the communication with Silver Birch, the antipathy to organ transplants and blood transfusions on other occasions, which may reflect Barbanell's own views.
I also remember my research on William Lyon Mackenzie King, for my Psychic News Article ( https://www.spiritualismlink.com/t2197-william-lyon-mackenzie-king-the-spiritualist-prime-minister 0, the Canadian PM and seances with the Duchess of Hamilton predicting peace before he went on to meetings with Hitler, where the occult background of Adolf was tending to impress him on the potential that there would not be war.
An interesting time and one which did much to discredit earlier good work with trance, as you noted many walked away because of this failed propecy. My memory says it was a period that really drove home the message that mediums must never fortune tell or prophecy the future. In my eyes it is strange that this particular period has become forgotten; but probably not surprising that people were pleased to forget it, especially Maurice Barbanell given Silver Birch's culpability (I note that Red Cloud was hedging his bets in June 1939 saying a popular uprising in Italy and Germany, in 1942, would overthrow the tyrants and ensure peace).
Just a reminder why Lis and I are not too comfortable with trance mediumship although Lis is an excellent trance medium. I am not sure whether such a warning about Trance material is necessary after all the Kryon and acension material over the years; which has proved, time after time, to be incorrect.
Jim
Last edited by Admin on Tue Jun 05, 2018 12:04 am; edited 1 time in total
Admin- Admin
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by mac Mon Jun 04, 2018 8:53 am
Admin wrote:mac wrote:
Interesting, too, that as I took a quick look at the early editions I happened to drop on discussions about the predictions that war would not come about, something I've pointed out as an unexplained matter when in online discussion forums. I did read that Modern Spiritualism lost a huge number of former followers over that apparent failure to give sound guidance.
Interesting too that Spiritualism was also referred to as 'Modern Spiritualism', a term hiorta had earlier said he'd only ever heard me using .
I agree Mac its fascinating, funny I have always called it Modern Spiritualism and understood that to be the accepted term.
I think you hit the nail on my trance head with your comment. RedCloud, White Eagle and Silver Birch are, probably, the foremost Trance Guides we have. So how did they make such prophecies of peace? They were even continuing such prophecies in Jume 1939. Does it undermine all of our acceptance of trance communication or does it suggest the limits that exist between communication with Spirit and the inherent ability of our sub concious (or the combined subconscious of a circle wishing peace) to alter the communication). I note other hiccups in the communication with Silver Birch, the antipathy to organ transplants and blodd transfusions on other occasions which may more reflect Barbanell's own views.
I also remember my research on William Lyon Mackenzie King, teh Canadian PM and seances with the Duchess of Hamilton predicting peace before he went on to meetings with Hitler where the occult background of Adolf was tending to impress him. An interesting time and one which did much to discredit earler good work. My memory says it was a period that really drove home the message that mediums must never fortune tell or prophesy the future. In my eyes it is strange how this particular period has become forgotten but probably not surprising that people wer pleased to forget it, potentially especially Maurice Barbanell given Silver Birch's culpability (I note that Red Cloud was hedging his bets in June 1939 saying a popular uprising in Italy and Germany, in 1942, would overthrow the tyrants and ensure peace).
Just a reminder why Lis and I are not too comfortable with trance mediumship although Lis is an excellent trance medium. I am not sure whether such a warning is necessary after all the Kryon and acension material over the years which has proved to be all to incorrect.
Jim
I'm always cautious about trance mediumship for fear of colouration by the views and beliefs of the medium bleeding through into a message. But the points you raise above leave me in an awkward place when I advocate for the quality of Silver Birch's guidance (I consider SB my 'mentor' in matter spiritual) as the benchmark for trance work.
Is it possible that the wishes, desires, hopes of all those mediums came through as intense colouration of their guides' words? Could they have such a message-changing effect? Or might it have been that even such august spirit teachers and guides were themselves influenced in some way into delivering such predictions? Might there even have been a divine plan to intervene in the affairs of man? To prevent another world war? Do unseen entities ever interfere with major events on earth?
I guess that this side of the divide we'll never discover those answers but, presumably, we'll be able to research what happened, why the war predictions were hopelessly, and misleadingly, wrong.
My first suggestion sounds preposterous even to me. More likely in my view is that so much was 'up in the air' as the prospect of war loomed that any prediction could have turned out right, partially right or totally wrong. A lesson, perhaps, that even spiritually-advanced guides can not predict future earth events and we should ignore those who do. And we should ignore incarnates' predictions similarly.
mac
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by Admin Mon Jun 04, 2018 11:54 pm
Good points Mac.
I think we need to consider the nature of trance and teh way it works. Lis, as a trance medium, was aware of moments when the trance weakened and at those moments the subconscious of the individual in an altered state could influence the conversation. I would have to go back and look at the early work, jointly conducted between mediums and the pioneers in psychology like William James to review their findings but I believe that was one of their conclusions. Sadly little of value has been added to that early work over the intervening years, so few understand teh value gained by both Spiritualism and Psychology in teh early exchanges.\ (indeed the Society of Psychical research was involved,, particularly the American organisation, which produced the first study on multiple personalities, the Doris Fischer Case https://oregondigital.org/sets/dissociation/oregondigital:df670h05c#page/3/mode/1up
In my own case, when taking a talk though the inspiration of my guide, my preferred method rather than rambling on platform and letting my sub conscious loose on the attendees, I write it then re evaluate what is mine and theirs; the style is very different. This is far from deep trance and always reminds me of teh dangers of the subconscious mind with either thoughts of your own, or from waht you have been reading, come through rather than Spirit Communication. This explains, with a lack of discernment by the "medium", why the rather exotic acension material can spread so rapidly
I think its why, in all cases, we need to rely on our own discernment. I will still accept much from Silver Birch and Red Cloud (I also like parts of White Eagle but my feeling is teh mediums Christianity is around some of the exchanges). I walk around Trance with care, My guide wants me to try it, indeed after 35 years I have total faith in that guide, however, I understand one basic, you need someone running the group who can take control while you are in trance, who understands the nature of what is going on and they and the circle need to test the Spirits and challenge if the material seems wrong. A tough call to find a group like that these days.
Jim
I think we need to consider the nature of trance and teh way it works. Lis, as a trance medium, was aware of moments when the trance weakened and at those moments the subconscious of the individual in an altered state could influence the conversation. I would have to go back and look at the early work, jointly conducted between mediums and the pioneers in psychology like William James to review their findings but I believe that was one of their conclusions. Sadly little of value has been added to that early work over the intervening years, so few understand teh value gained by both Spiritualism and Psychology in teh early exchanges.\ (indeed the Society of Psychical research was involved,, particularly the American organisation, which produced the first study on multiple personalities, the Doris Fischer Case https://oregondigital.org/sets/dissociation/oregondigital:df670h05c#page/3/mode/1up
In my own case, when taking a talk though the inspiration of my guide, my preferred method rather than rambling on platform and letting my sub conscious loose on the attendees, I write it then re evaluate what is mine and theirs; the style is very different. This is far from deep trance and always reminds me of teh dangers of the subconscious mind with either thoughts of your own, or from waht you have been reading, come through rather than Spirit Communication. This explains, with a lack of discernment by the "medium", why the rather exotic acension material can spread so rapidly
I think its why, in all cases, we need to rely on our own discernment. I will still accept much from Silver Birch and Red Cloud (I also like parts of White Eagle but my feeling is teh mediums Christianity is around some of the exchanges). I walk around Trance with care, My guide wants me to try it, indeed after 35 years I have total faith in that guide, however, I understand one basic, you need someone running the group who can take control while you are in trance, who understands the nature of what is going on and they and the circle need to test the Spirits and challenge if the material seems wrong. A tough call to find a group like that these days.
Jim
Admin- Admin
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by mac Tue Jun 05, 2018 7:34 am
As I've grown older and more familiar with the potential shortcomings of mediumship of every flavour I have become ever more cautious about information apparently from discarnate sources - I apply that caution to ALL forms of (claimed) mediumship without exception.
My approach is that in all cases details from communicators need to be tested, evaluated, before they're considered information. Almost impossible, of course, in the case of philosophical guidance or details about life in the etheric realms. However the more the same details are heard from different sources the more one may feel persuaded that it's genuine information. On all such points one must, I believe, consider what appeals to one's reason as there is no way to fully authenticate details.
Trance mediumship can be no more trustworthy than any other mediumship given the way it's delivered - via an incarnate medium's brain/mind. Colouration should be expected although it's arguable that under the deepest trance conditions (how deep is deep?) there might be a significantly lower level of colouration - all being well.....
All these points may be little more than academic nowadays.
Whatever one's views of the situation it's irrefutable how much Modern Spiritualism has changed and with it the mediumship that supported its teachings. As I've mentioned on numerous occasions my view is that the message of survival that ultimately led to our movement has been delivered and the job's done for now.
Who knows what will follow to continue to spread the message of survival? Not Spiritualism in my view but I'll not be around here to find out and whether I'll have any interest in following events when I'm 'over there' is anyone's guess!
My approach is that in all cases details from communicators need to be tested, evaluated, before they're considered information. Almost impossible, of course, in the case of philosophical guidance or details about life in the etheric realms. However the more the same details are heard from different sources the more one may feel persuaded that it's genuine information. On all such points one must, I believe, consider what appeals to one's reason as there is no way to fully authenticate details.
Trance mediumship can be no more trustworthy than any other mediumship given the way it's delivered - via an incarnate medium's brain/mind. Colouration should be expected although it's arguable that under the deepest trance conditions (how deep is deep?) there might be a significantly lower level of colouration - all being well.....
All these points may be little more than academic nowadays.Whatever one's views of the situation it's irrefutable how much Modern Spiritualism has changed and with it the mediumship that supported its teachings. As I've mentioned on numerous occasions my view is that the message of survival that ultimately led to our movement has been delivered and the job's done for now.
Who knows what will follow to continue to spread the message of survival? Not Spiritualism in my view but I'll not be around here to find out and whether I'll have any interest in following events when I'm 'over there' is anyone's guess!
mac
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by obiwan Tue Jun 12, 2018 5:22 pm
A useful resource - thanks Mac
obiwan
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by mac Wed Oct 17, 2018 4:25 pm
Can anyone access the archive now? I can't find it. Do you know what's happened, Jim?
mac
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by Admin Thu Oct 18, 2018 1:22 am
No idea Mac I have just contacted Psychic News to see if there is an answer.
Admin- Admin
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by mac Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:06 am
Admin wrote:No idea Mac I have just contacted Psychic News to see if there is an answer.
You've beaten me to it Jim. I was going to try again to register on the UoM website and then contact Tony Ortzen if I didn't get any joy. Better that you've done it, though, as he'll know you and probably not remember me!
mac
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by Admin Fri Oct 26, 2018 5:50 am
Tony has told me there is a technical glitch and PN will let us all know when its back up again.
Admin- Admin
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by mac Fri Oct 26, 2018 6:06 am
Admin wrote:Tony has told me there is a technical glitch and PN will let us all know when its back up again.
Thanks for that, Jim. I'll wait 'til we hear something. It's disappointing as I was hoping to read editions published after 1984, the time I first started buying that once-august newspaper.
mac
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by Admin Fri Oct 26, 2018 11:38 pm
Yes Mac I was looking forward to catching up with that period too. Mayhap we may see Lis's name (as a Ross) in the mediums advertised for some of the churches around East London too.
In many ways we have far better access to the historical material than the black box between the 60's and 2000. Yet in the early 80's when I was introduced to the movement the mediumship was of a generally consistent high standard, the talks were often well worth listening to and the meetings engaged peoples minds as well. There has to be a strong correlation between that and the fact this was the period where membership of the SNU reached its highest levels.
I look forward to seeing them.
Jim
In many ways we have far better access to the historical material than the black box between the 60's and 2000. Yet in the early 80's when I was introduced to the movement the mediumship was of a generally consistent high standard, the talks were often well worth listening to and the meetings engaged peoples minds as well. There has to be a strong correlation between that and the fact this was the period where membership of the SNU reached its highest levels.
I look forward to seeing them.
Jim
Admin- Admin
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by wattie Thu Dec 13, 2018 6:53 pm
There's still no access to the University of Manitoba's Psychic News archive. Does anyone know if it's going to be restored?
wattie
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by mac Thu Dec 13, 2018 8:12 pm
wattie wrote:There's still no access to the University of Manitoba's Psychic News archive. Does anyone know if it's going to be restored?
I emailed Tony Ortzen a week or more ago to ask him what the situation is but I've heard nothing from him and I'm getting the feeling it's a lost cause. Jim wrote to him many weeks ago but Jim didn't come back on it so I'm gessing he didn't get a response either.
Unless an orgnisation pays for the service provided to digitise the archive and then host it on a server it all sounded too good to be true.
mac
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by Admin Thu Dec 13, 2018 11:18 pm
Hi Mac, Its very very odd, its not been mentioned in Psychic news either as broken or fixed and Tony suggested it would be mentioned there.
University of Manitoba has been very good at providing free access to many archives so I doubt free access is an issue. They have a very good archive set up including teh magnificent materia from the Glendennig Hamilton Psycic Research ( for interest
https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3Ahamilton_family ).
Time I wished Tony a Merry Christmas so I will ask again.
Jim
University of Manitoba has been very good at providing free access to many archives so I doubt free access is an issue. They have a very good archive set up including teh magnificent materia from the Glendennig Hamilton Psycic Research ( for interest
https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3Ahamilton_family ).
Time I wished Tony a Merry Christmas so I will ask again.
Jim
Admin- Admin
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by mac Thu Dec 13, 2018 11:36 pm
Admin wrote:Hi Mac, Its very very odd, its not been mentioned in Psychic news either as broken or fixed and Tony suggested it would be mentioned there.
University of Manitoba has been very good at providing free access to many archives so I doubt free access is an issue. They have a very good archive set up including teh magnificent materia from the Glendennig Hamilton Psycic Research ( for interest
https://digitalcollections.lib.umanitoba.ca/islandora/object/uofm%3Ahamilton_family ).
Time I wished Tony a Merry Christmas so I will ask again.
Jim
Hi Jim
Yes it's mighty odd nothing's been in PN for at least the last three editions of PN (catching up with reading back issues now I have a 12 month subscription!) but it's reassuring that there's no charge for the digitising and hosting services so maybe it will get going again some time soon. Odd, too, that after being able to access back issues of PN going way back when, the link to the website pages just stopped working. I tried to register on the university website and was told my application was being considered but I heard nothing about it - it just looked like a broken link.
mac
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by Admin Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:29 am
I tried registering some time back amd my memory says the same happened to me Mac.
Interestingly some of the best Psychic Research came from Canada. Glendennig Hamilton records are brilliant with the extensive use of flash photographs to capture events (and no medium was harmed in their use) but you also have Dr J King and also the brilliant record of the medium William Chartheuser on Jenny O'Hara Pincock's Trails of truth. Love to get to see te holdings at Manitoba as listed here http://umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/collections/subject/spiritualism/index.html
Interestingly some of the best Psychic Research came from Canada. Glendennig Hamilton records are brilliant with the extensive use of flash photographs to capture events (and no medium was harmed in their use) but you also have Dr J King and also the brilliant record of the medium William Chartheuser on Jenny O'Hara Pincock's Trails of truth. Love to get to see te holdings at Manitoba as listed here http://umanitoba.ca/libraries/units/archives/collections/subject/spiritualism/index.html
Last edited by Admin on Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:47 am; edited 1 time in total
Admin- Admin
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by Admin Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:32 am
Also https://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/c.php?g=527353#Collection%20Summary
Admin- Admin
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by Admin Fri Dec 14, 2018 12:50 am
Hmm cost me some money too found a reasonable copy of this Anatomy of a Seance: A History of Spirit Communication in Central Canada written by STAN McMULLIN. Covering the work of these researchers (I already obtained a copy of Pincock's Trails of Truth). At one stage I was building up to an article for the prior incarnation of Psychic News but I am not sure whether this type of material could be converted to the new format.
Admin- Admin
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by Admin Sun Nov 10, 2019 10:43 pm
The link is now back up and alive https://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/psychicnews
Admin- Admin
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by mac Sun Nov 10, 2019 11:40 pm
Admin wrote:The link is now back up and alive https://libguides.lib.umanitoba.ca/psychicnews
Many thanks, Jim - I've passed on the link to other interested parties. (https://lightafterlife.forumotion.com/t1138-78-years-of-past-psychic-news-in-newspaper-format-to-become-available-online-to-read-free-of-charge#7609.)
I'll settle down and take a look later today, all being well.
mac
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by mac Mon Nov 11, 2019 2:44 am
I couldn't figure out what to do as all the links led either nowhere relevant or to a multi error-message display.
any ideas, Jim?
any ideas, Jim?
mac
Re: Psychic News archive - University of Manitoba
by Admin Mon Nov 11, 2019 3:32 am
Unbelievable th elink into the archive is not working and it has taken a short cut I was provided with last week to test down as well.
Admin- Admin
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