ions - kn

What is the source of the information? Theories abound about what the source of channeling is: The Unconscious Mind, Our Higher Self, or Collective Consciousness. In mediumship studies, the main theories of the source are that it is psi (e.g., telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance), superpsi (using multiple other channeling types, such as clairvoyance, precognition, or telepathy, to get information), some sort of universal knowledge reservoir, or actual survival of the deceased person and their personality.

What do people who channel have in common? Can anyone channel? There is growing evidence that yes, everyone has some channeling capacity, but that the way they access it is unique.

IONS has published a paper on channeling that investigates the differences between mental disorders and trance channeling experiences.

So you, too, might be wondering about the million-dollar question: How does channeling work? Well, unfortunately, the short answer is that we don’t really know for sure.

As we explored in last month’s blog, we know that the subjective experience of channeling is very common. However, just because they are common doesn’t mean that they are actually real. What is the evidence that channeling experiences are “real” phenomena, or that channeled information is valid?

Because many people are in the closet about their channeling experiences, they don’t quite realize how common they are. Channeling experiences are actually very common.

I can’t even begin to count the number of emails and people commenting about being worried to share their channeling experiences because people will think they are “crazy.”

Background

The IONS Science Team recently published the results of the study, A Physiological Examination of Perceived Incorporation During Trance, which evaluated neurophysiological measures in trance channels before, during and after channeling sessions. We hypothesized that differences in EEG frequency measures and autonomic nervous system measures (such as heart rate variability, respiration, and electrodermal activity) would be observed between the channeling and non-channeling states.

Our IONS scientists Helané Wahbeh, Loren Carpenter, and Dean Radin have just published an exciting paper about full-trance channeling in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research! The paper, titled “A mixed methods phenomenological and exploratory study of channeling,” details research conducted with five full-trance channelers in a pilot study at Mt. Shasta, California, in March 2017.

At a recent conference, I mentioned my interest in studying channeling and mediumship to my fellow scientists. An awkward silence fell across the group before one colleague turned to me and said, “You understand that telling people you want to study channeling is pretty much a career wrecker, right?” I paused to consider the question, and then replied, “Yes, I know that. But honestly, I can no longer NOT ask the questions.”