by Melvyn Willin, Associate Editor
This blog presents a series of questions and answers to provide some details about the archive of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) and how we are using them or plan to use them in the Psi Encyclopedia (PE). See here for a longer article about the SPR archive.
Where examples are given it must be taken into account that a list only represents a fraction of the number of entries that could have been included. The complete size of the archive (without books) has been estimated as covering almost 150 metres of floor to ceiling space!
Introduction and relevance to the PE
The SPR archive can be of immense use in augmenting first-hand what has been referred to in the PE. It is a major source for the mass of material that appears in the contributors’ articles. (See below for the range and types of items mentioned.) Photographs are of particular interest and although the Mary Evans Picture Library contains a number of SPR images, the Cambridge University Library (CUL) SPR collection contains all the provenance and cases that are illustrated by the photos. Furthermore, the CUL SPR collection only contains relevant psi examples, notably from the spiritualist, psychic, apparitional, and ESP worlds, with a few examples of ufology and other related phenomena.
What is the Archive?
The SPR archive consists of a large collection of items pertaining to and exploring psychical research and parapsychology from the nineteenth century up to the present time. This includes correspondence, articles, manuscripts, journals, magazines, newspapers, photographs, artefacts, audio, and audio-visual material. Books are held separately in two libraries, namely CUL and the SPR office in London.
What subjects are covered within the above fields of study?
There is a broad range of subjects and people involved in its research which are presented with varying amounts of detail. Scientific rigour is displayed from both a sceptical and positive believing stance. The subjects include:
- Apparitions, ghosts, hauntings, phantoms, hallucinations, etc.
- Poltergeists and psycho-kinesis (PK).
- Extra-sensory perception (ESP) including remote viewing, thoughtography, telepathy, precognition, retrocognition etc.
- Mesmerism, hypnotism, regression and other altered states of consciousness.
- Mediumistic phenomena including séances, clairvoyance, clairaudience, automatic writing, psychometry etc.
- Witchcraft and related occult material.
- Laboratory experiments including the ganzfeld and other direct mental interaction with living systems (DMILS).
Whose writings can be found in the archive?
There are writings from a vast array of scholars who have researched the above subjects since the nineteenth century. They have provided a similarly large range of different viewpoints – both positive and negative. A small sample of contributors would include:
- Sir William Barrett
- C.D. Broad
- Whately Carington
- Sir William Crookes
- Professor E.H. Dodds
- Dr Alan Gauld
- Mostyn Gilbert
- Anita Gregory
- Sir Alister Hardy
- Sir Oliver Lodge
- Andrew Mackenzie
- F.W.H. Myers
- Guy Playfair
- W.H. Salter
- Professor Donald West
What specific cases and people are researched?
Once again a complete list would fill many pages, but a taste of what/ who is researched would include:
- An Adventure (Versailles time-slip)
- H.P. Blavatsky
- Borley Rectory
- Chaffin Will case
- Helen Duncan
- The Enfield Poltergeist
- Eva C.
- Eileen Garrett
- The Hallucinations Census
- D.D. Home
- Mrs Leonard
- Eusapia Palladino
- Phantasms of the Living
- Mrs Piper
- Rudi Schneider
- S.G. Soal
Where is it kept?
What might described as paper items are stored at CUL as well as various artefacts. The audio-visual items are housed in a separate private venue near Norwich in Norfolk.
How is it accessed?
Access to CUL is obtainable via a reader’s card which can be obtained through contact with the library and is free of charge if proof of membership of the SPR is presented, otherwise proof of university attendance is expected. Access to the audio-visual collection is available to members via an appointment with the SPR archive liaison officer. Some items in both collections are restricted for confidentiality reasons.
Who uses the archive?
The simple answer to this question is just about everyone who is interested in past and present psychical research and parapsychology! More specifically, this ranges from high-powered academics, including Nobel Prize winners, to members of the public who are intrigued by the ‘weird’ – as Dean Radin and others would describe it. As a primary source for the Psi Encyclopedia and other academic publications from the UK it is very frequently used and both myself and the staff at Cambridge University Library receive frequent queries from researchers around the world.
What exactly does the audio-visual archive contain?
Much of the collection consists of video copies of documentaries of bygone television programmes, which are therefore subject to stringent viewing regulations. A few videos and DVDs contain lectures by members of the SPR. There are also some old reel-to-reel recordings in black and white and without sound of early material such as Kulagina, Zugun, Zener card experiments and the Indian Rope trick. The audio collection is very large – over 1000 cassettes – and consists of recordings of SPR lectures made during approximately the years from the 1960s onwards. These include the study days and conferences when recorded. The most recent talks are available directly on the SPR website for members.
Is it possible to donate items?
Yes, items that are within the sphere of psychical research and parapsychology are welcomed in any format. There are a few provisos, including the genuine ownership of said items being passed to the SPR without any conditions attached to the donation, and with large items requiring transport there may be transport costs to be discussed – especially if originating from abroad.
What is the future of the archive?
Like many archives covering many subjects, the onslaught of technology and AI is having both a positive and a negative affect on archival content. The positives are that digitalization is allowing quicker and (usually) easier access to material and search engines allow key references to be pinpointed without large amounts of time needing to be spent trying to track down specific references. The information can usually be downloaded at the press of a ‘button’. The negatives include the fact that poor signals, in some areas, and faulty machines can cause considerable problems in accessing what is required. The AI paraphrasing of articles, subjects, etc. can make mistakes (I have discovered many) which can therefore convey confusing or wrong information. Hacking allows material to be intentionally changed or acquired which is obviously undesirable. Furthermore, there is less material being donated to archives. People do not write letters which can be kept for later scrutiny, since most people use e. mails which are deleted either immediately after being sent or only kept for a limited period of time.
In conclusion
I do not like ‘conclusions’ since as soon as one makes a conclusion, new information arises that can contradict what has been set ‘in tablets of stone’ to the detriment of the concluder! However, there is always room for discussion as to how the future of the SPR archive can be improved and maintained. Currently the SPR devotes one day per week to the maintaining of the archive … a good start might be to double this amount of time if the finance was available.