Czech parapsychologist Milan Ryzl helped bring Cold War-era ESP research to international attention through his investigations of hypnosis as a psi facilitator and his striking experiments with Pavel Stepanek. After defecting from communist Czechoslovakia, he continued his scientific and popular writing career in the United States.
- Ryzl’s most famous subject, Pavel Stepanek, produced repeated high scores in card-guessing experiments in Prague and later in tests involving American researchers.
- Ryzl argued that hypnosis could help certain individuals access psi and built an extensive experimental programme around that hypothesis.
- His 1967 defection to the United States followed pressure from the communist regime to use overseas trips for espionage.
Contents
Life and Career
Milan Ryzl was born on 22 May 1928 in Prague, where he studied at Charles University. He worked as a biochemist at the Institute of Biology at the Czechoslovak Academy of Science and also pursued successful ESP research, particularly in connection to hypnosis. He developed methods of bringing ESP under voluntary control through hypnosis, demonstrating their repeatability of high-scoring performance by his trained experimental participants. He published his findings in several languages, for which he acquired an international reputation. He was in touch with JB Rhine in the 1950s and became a charter member of the professional Parapsychological Association when it was formed in 1957.1Pleasants (1964), Rechcigl (n.d.), Ryzl (2007).
Ryzl’s parapsychological research attracted the attention of the communist government of Czechoslovakia, which pressured him to carry out espionage on his foreign trips. To escape this, in 1967 he defected with his family to the United States, where he continued his work as a biochemist at San José College, California. Ryzl died on 9 July 2011 in Sacramento, California.2Rechcigl (n.d.).
Parapsychological Research
Ryzl was associated with the Parapsychology Laboratory at Duke University between 1963 and 1968, before and after leaving Czechoslovakia. A standout participant in his ESP studies with hypnosis was Pavel Stepanek, a 30-year-old clerk who achieved high scoring in simple binary tests, guessing which side of a concealed card (green or white) was face up.3Ryzl, Freeman, & Kanthamani (1965); Ryzl & Otani (1967). The experiments, reported in 1962, were followed by several further tests in which Ryzl collaborated with JG Pratt, an American parapsychologist, and these too were successful. Ryzl was also visited in Prague by Pratt and other foreign researchers, including John Beloff, whose tests with Stepanek however resulted in a rare failure.4Ryzl & Pratt (1963a, 1963b, 1963c); Ryzl & Beloff (1965). Ryzl continued to carry out research in the United States. (See here for full details of the research with Stepanek.)
Ryzl won praise from Western parapsychologists for his wide knowledge, his focus on hypnosis as a potential facilitator of psi, and for drawing attention to the Russian use of ESP for military and security intelligence purposes.5Ryzl (1968). There was less enthusiasm for his books written for a general audience, which some regarded as superficial.6Beloff (1971); Cardeña (2009), 111-14; Playfair (2008).
Works
Books in English
Parapsychology: A Scientific Approach (1970). New York: Hawthorn Books.
How to Develop ESP in Yourself and Others (1973). Self-published.
Voyage to the Rainbow: Reminiscences of a Parapsychologist (2007). Bloomington, Indiana, USA: Trafford.
Searching for Happiness in Troubled Waters (2007). Bloomington, Indiana, USA: Trafford..
Journal Papers
Research in telepathy in Soviet Russia (1961). Journal of Parapsychology 25/2.
Review of biological radio (1962). Journal of Parapsychology 26/3.
Training the psi faculty by hypnosis (1962). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 41, 234-52.
A case of high-scoring ESP performance in the hypnotic state (1962). Journal of Parapsychology 26, 153-71.
Confirmation of ESP performance in a hypnotically prepared subject (1962, with J.G. Pratt). Journal of Parapsychology 26, 237-43.
A further confirmation of stabilized ESP performance in a selected subject (1963a, with J.G. Pratt). Journal of Parapsychology 27, 73-83.
A repeated-calling ESP test with sealed cards (1963b, with J.G. Pratt). Journal of Parapsychology 27, 161-74.
The focusing of ESP upon particular targets (1963c, with J.G. Pratt). Journal of Parapsychology 27, 227-41.
Loss of stability of ESP performance in a high-scoring subject (1965, with J. Beloff). Journal of Parapsychology 29, 1-11.
A confirmatory ESP test with Stepanek (1965, with J. Freeman & B.K. Kanthamani). Journal of Parapsychology 29, 89-95.
An ESP experiment in Prague (1965, with J.T. Barendregt, P.R. Barkema, & J. Kappers). Journal of Parapsychology 27, 161-74.
A method of training ESP (1965). International Journal of Parapsychology 8/4, 501-32.
Telepathy (1965). Signal, 25 January, Prague.
A model of parapsychological communication (1966). Journal of Parapsychology 30/1, 18-30.
An experiment in duplicate calling with Stepanek (1967, with S. Otani). Journal of Parapsychology 31, 19-28.
Parapsychology in communist countries of Europe (1968). International Journal of Parapsychology 10/3.
Precognition scoring and attitude toward ESP (1968). Journal of Parapsychology 32/1.
Training methods for psi induction (1968). In Psi and Altered States of Consciousness: Proceedings of an International Conference on Hypnosis, Drugs, Dreams, and Psi, ed. by R. Cavanna & M. Ullman, 55-67. New York: Parapsychology Foundation.
Correspondence (1990). Journal of Parapsychology 54, 282-84.
How parapsychology can bridge the gap between religion and science (2008). Journal of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies 31/1, 39-49.
Melvyn Willin
Works Cited
Beloff, J. (1971). Review of Parapsychology: A Scientific Approach by Milan Ryzl. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 46, 64-68.
Cardeña, E. (2009). Review of Voyage to the Rainbow: Reminiscences of a Parapsychologist by Milan Ryzl. European Journal of Parapsychology 24, 111-14.
Ostrander, S., & Schroeder, L. (1973). Psi: Psychic Discoveries Behind the Iron Curtain. London: Abacus.
Playfair, G.L. (2008). Review of Voyage to the Rainbow: Reminiscences of a Parapsychologist by Milan Ryzl. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 72/2, 121-22.
Pleasants, H. (ed.). (1964). Biographical Dictionary of Parapsychology with Directory and Glossary, 1964-1966. New York: Helix Press.
Pratt, J.G. (1963). Parapsychology in Russia and Czechoslovakia. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 42, 16-20.
Rechcigl, M. (n.d.). In memoriam: Milan Ryzl (1918-2011). [Web page.]
Ryzl, M. (2007). Voyage to the Rainbow: Reminiscences of a Parapsychologist. Bloomington, Indiana, USA: Trafford.
Ryzl, M., & Beloff, J. (1965). Loss of stability of ESP performance in a high-scoring subject. Journal of Parapsychology 29, 1-11.
Ryzl, M., Freeman, J., & Kanthamani, B.K. (1965). A confirmatory ESP test with Stepanek. Journal of Parapsychology 29, 89-95.
Ryzl, M., & Otani, S. (1967). An experiment in duplicate calling with Stepanek. Journal of Parapsychology 31, 19-28.
Ryzl, M., & Pratt, J.G. (1963a). A further confirmation of stabilized ESP performance in a selected subject. Journal of Parapsychology 27, 73-83.
Ryzl, M., & Pratt, J.G. (1963b). A repeated-calling ESP test with sealed cards. Journal of Parapsychology 27, 161-74.
Ryzl, M., & Pratt, J.G. (1963c). The focusing of ESP upon particular targets. Journal of Parapsychology 27, 227-41.
Ryzl, M. (1968). Parapsychology in communist countries of Europe. International Journal of Parapsychology 10/3, 263-76.