01379. LARCHER, HUBERT. PARAPSYCHOLOGY: YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW

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CIA-RDP96-00792R000701050001-4
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1
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November 4, 2016
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April 5, 2000
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Approved For Release 2000/08/15 : CIA-RDP96-00792RO'OO7G1G5000104379-01383 be attended by Dietz and six medical doctors. From the very start of the seance, Dicbel was intensely watched such that he could not play any fraudulent tricks. Dressed only in bathing trunks, he was seated in an armchair, and the armchair was placed on top of a table so every person present could watch him. On two places of his body (the left thigh and the left side of his trunk) circles about 5 cm. in diameter were drawn. Diebel was then asked to make blood come out of these circles. After some time blood was suddenly seen to gush out of the circle on Diebel's thigh. Several drops of blood ran down his leg. When this circle was examined by means of a magnifying glass, the circle's skin was found to be completely intact. An experiment to make Diebel's eyes bleed did not succeed. All those present declared that they were convinced that the bleeding of the circle on the thigh could not be explained in a normal manner. Dietz stated that Diebel's bleeding was a para- normal phenomenon. -- G.Z. REVUE METAPSYCf11QUE (Editor: David Hess) Hubert,. Parapsychology: Yesterday, today, ant tomorrow. es_e etapsyc? ique1982, 16(1-4), 7-2-1. 36 refs "this article divided into three sections corresponding to the divisions of the title. The terms "parapsychology" and "para- physics" were coined by Max Dessoir in 1889, and the Rhinean usage was introduced in.. ranee around 1954 by Robert Amadou. The term metapsvchique (metapsychics) was introduced by Charles Richet in 1905. "Objective metapsychics" corresponds to para- physics, and "subjective metapsychics" corresponds to parapsy- chology. The term "psychotronics" was first introduced in 1954 by the French engineer Fernand Clerc, and it was subsequently adopted by the Prague school. Today a war of paradigms dominates the field. Parapsycholo- gists with a "spiritualist" (philosophical, not religious, sense) perspective tend to argue for a new paradigm, whereas psycho- tronicians, with a materialist perspective, attempt to encompass metaphysical phenomena under the existing scientific paradigm as reducible to matter and energy. Metaphysical researchers propose a more global paradigm that encompasses objective and subjective phenomena as well as their interactions. The future will be a time of the "supplement of the soul," as the philosopher Henri Bergson called metapsychical phenomena. Certain promising areas of future research include dermal-optical perception, altered states of consciousness, microplethysmography, and ethnometapsychics. - D.H. 01380. Duplessis, Yvonne. Non-visual perception of colored sur- faces. Revue Metapsychique, 1982, 16(1-4), 29-45.2 figs; 30 refs,.] table nonvisual perception of colored surfaces: synesthesia, paranormal perception (clairvoyance and/or telepathy), and dermal-optical perception (DOP). The latter operates through a sensing mechanism in the skin that is probably responsive to infrared radiation. The author argues that one in six people can develop DOP, and it is a skill comparable to musical ability. For DOP training and tests, colors are put on various types of surfaces (e.g., paper, plastic) and placed in opaque boxes. Training takes place in four stages: (1) Subjects learn to associate colors with some tactile sensation such as weight, thickness, or heat; (2) Subjects move from distinguishing pairs of colors to triads; (3) Subjects do not touch the stimuli, which are placed at a 5-20 cm distance from the hands; and (4) Sub- jects try DOP with various transparent (glass, plastic) or opaque (cardboard, aluminum foil) screens placed over the colors. In addition to DOP tests, the author also performed a clair- voyance test with bi-color cards in opaque cardboard envelopes. A protocol of 25,000 trials with 25 color combinations yielded above Approved For Release 2000/08/15 chance results, with green giving the highest results and the colors at the end of the spectrum (red-orange and blue-violet) yielding the lowest results. Other data on results by color are presented. There is no information in this article on double blind conditions (although the author reports using them in DOP studies), optional stopping, number of subjects, statistical procedures, etc. - D.H. 01381. Virel, Andre. Image of the body. Image of the world. Revue Metapsychique, 1982, 16(1-4), 47-50. 8 refs The author questions dichotomies such as expression/im- pression, motor/sensory, etc. Images or cognitive schemes of the body cannot be separated from general spatio-temporal schemes. Greek and Christian myths are compared; they mark the transition between mythic thought (atemporal) and historical thought (tem- poral). In these myths, images of the body and of the world are intertwined. - D.H. 01382. Daran, Henri. The structure of perception and meta- psychics: Anthropodynamic Studies I. Revue Metapsychique, 1982, 16(1-4), 51-55. 3 refs The author describes the perceptual act as that which gives reality to the objects of the exterior world. He insists on a relativistic concept of reality for individual, cultural, and historical schemes, and he applies these considerations to the "objects of deformed reality," which are the objects or events shaped by psychokinesis. The author discusses the importance of the system of inhibition of information in the production of certain meta- psychical phenomena. He presents metapsychics from the perspec- tive of a cross-fertilization of the reality of the world and the presence of the person, that is, from the perspective of an "anthropodynamic of perception." - D.H. 01383. Passeron, Aube. Haiti: Horse-men and the living dead. Revue Metapsychique, 1982, 16(1-4), 57-76. 7 refs The author first reviews the historical and cultural background of Haitian religion. Haitian voodoo is the result of a mixture of African religions brought by the slaves during the colonial period. These religions were further syncretized with the Catholicism of the European colonists, resulting in a complex pantheon of deities. Voodoo encompasses both a domestic version, which is localized in a village or neighborhood temple called a hounfort, and a tourist version. Training of voodoo sacerdotes is a complex process involving four major stages. The fourth stage is called the "prise des yeux" (capture of the eyes or second sight), when the sacerdote or houngan is believed to obtain clairvoyant powers. The author describes several voodoo ceremonies that he ob- served, including both tourist and nontourist voodoo. He argues that tourist voodoo should not be dismissed out of hand, and he cites some anomalous behavior that he observed during one of such ceremonies. In nontourist voodoo ceremonies at Jacmel, the author saw several trance episodes. (The "horse" of the title of the article refers to the popular designation of mediums as horses.) Possible paranormal phenomena that the author observed included swallowing glass, walking through a wood fire (about 10 seconds), and chewing on hot fire brands. He offers alternative, nonpara- normal explanations for the phenomena observed, and he compares possession episodes to the general phases of possession-trance described by Georges Lapassade in Essaisur la trance (Essay about Trance). The general range of ostensible paranormal phenomena associated with voodoo includes "spirit" voices, xenoglossy, levitation, telepathy, divination, healing, and black magic. The author also discussed three case histories of zombies who had been in the care of Dr. Lamarck Douyon, Director of the Center of Psychiatry at Port-au-Prince. One victim suffered from poisoning symptoms, was pronounced dead, and was buried. During this period he had an experience similar to an out-of-body experience of the parapsychological literature. This victim was later exhumed and taken away as a slave. Dr. Douyon explained that a neighbor or relative of the victim pays the bokor, or practitioner of black magic, a sum of money to make the victim into a zombie. Victims must be exhumed within 12 hours if they are CIA-RDP96-00792R000701050001-4