This is taken from Time-loops.net:
The Philip experiment
In the 1970’s, a group of Canadian parapsychologists wanted to attempt an experiment to create a ghost, proving their theory that the human mind can produce spirits through expectation, imagination and visualization.
The actual experiment took place in Toronto, Canada, in 1972, under the direction of the world-renown expert on poltergeists, Dr A. R. G. Owen.
The members of the experiment proposed an idea… by using extreme and prolonged concentration, they could create their ghost through a collective thought form: Non-physical entities which exist in either the mental or astral plane. In order to create this ghost and make it as ‘real’ as possible, it needed a life story; a background in which the ghost could ‘relate’ to.
They named the ghost they were attempting to bring into focus “Philip Aylesford” and created a tragic story, explaining to the fullest and in great detail, his life, and the few actions that lead to his tragic death.
Step two was contacting Philip. In September 1972, the group began their “sittings” and after some initial problems the group attempted to duplicate the atmosphere of a classic spiritualist séance. They dimmed the room’s lights, sat around a table and surrounded themselves with pictures of the type of castle they imagined Philip would have lived in, as well as objects from that time period.
Within a few weeks, Philip made contact. Although he did not manifest in spiritual form, appearing as an apparition or ghost, he did make contact through a brief rap on the group’s table. “Philip” answered questions that were consistent with his fictitious history, but was unable to provide any information beyond that which the group had conceived. However, “Philip” did give other historically accurate information about real events and people. The Owen group theorized that this latter information came from their own collective unconsciousness.
The sessions took off from there, producing a range of phenomena that could not be explained scientifically. His “spirit” was able to move the table, sliding it from side to side. On more than one occasion, the table chased someone across the room. All hands were clear of the table when this occurred.
In conclusion the experimenters were never able to prove the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ behind Philip’s manifestation. Was Philip a direct result of the group’s collective subconscious or perhaps did they conjure an actual entity that simply latched onto the story?
While some would conclude that they prove that ghosts don’t exist, that such things are in our minds only, others say that our unconscious could be responsible for this kind of the phenomena some of the time.
Another point of view is that even though Philip was completely fictional, the Owen group really did contact the spirit world. A playful (or perhaps demonic, some would argue) spirit took the opportunity of these séances to ‘act’ as Philip and produce the extraordinary psychokinetic phenomena recorded.
Whatever caused the manifestation it seems that it adapted itself to the expectation of the audience, playing the role of the spirit they intended to contact. Since all was based on fiction it could not be the spirit of Philip so what else could it be?
Do you believe that this can actually be done?
Have you ever tried it or thought about trying this?
Will you try it after this?
Do you think if you started this around or on Halloween that it would work faster?
Or is it all hogwash and this study doesn't deserve credit?
Here is a link to "Phillips" background story:
http://www.pararesearchers.org/Ghosts/Article_Five/article_five.html
This sounds a little like something I saw on an episode of The Outer Limits. Very interesting.
Hmmmm interesting story.
Not sure if a group could actually conjure up a creative imaginative Ghost however.
That would be like saying if a group tried this and consintrated on lets say "BigFoot" then bigfoot ghost would appear and prove to us they exist????
They might have seen a spirit, but was it really the one they created, or something/someone else?
I don’t know if I believe this was actually done. I am pretty sure I will not ever try this.
I do believe they could have made contact with a playful spirit. I would even go as far as to say I believe the spirit world might have spirits that do have a sense of humor.
Thank you for posting the story. I did enjoy reading it.
Personally I think that anything is possible. It all comes down to the power of the human mind. I remember my father, and a college professor both stating that humans use something like less than 25% of their brains. If they were able to use the whole thing, they could re-grow amputated or dead limbs, they could cure their own cancer, and they could probably grow wings right out of their backs and fly. I think I agree with this. However there are alot of hoaxsters out there that simply want credit for doing something extraordinary....But there is no way for any of us to know if it was real or not, seeing as how none of us were there to witness these claims.
Dr. A. R. G. Owen is real, he's not on wiki, but I've found multiple websites crediting him.
I also found his wife's book on both amazon.com and ebay.com, "Conjuring up Phillip" by Iris M. Owen.
They say that humans could achieve alot of things, if we used a higher percentage of our brains. But wings, I don't know.........sounds a bit too much.
eh I think its a bit of a country saying...at least being where I am from I tend to hear it alot....I know that it would be absolutely fantastic if it were possible to do things like growing wings. :)
I would call this practice "practical group hypnosis", the act of believing something so strongly through concentration that the individual tricks their mind into thinking that any sort of sound, vibration, or what have you, is an actual entity trying to make contact.
This can also be done through the act of "smoke and mirrors" or so says the illusionist.
Next...
They said during the ongoing experiment, they made a t.v. episode about it.
On the groups website, they talk about a similar experiment, 'The Lilith Experiment'.
Not the same group, I believe a different group from Oxford college. Is going to try this experiment, and create 3 different entities, to prove that it works.
My personal creature/entity is the "Squat Monster" it grabs articles of importance, and moves them to unfrequented locations, when one sacrifices an item to the "Squat Monster" another item will surface. They are more associated with Gremlins, then ghost, or geist though.
I've heard of sleep studies done in which people made spirits of their deceased loved ones manifest in some way or another but never about creating a ghost that never technically existed....
Do you believe that this can actually be done?
I don't know, what I do know is that we have only tapped into what the mind can and can not do
Have you ever tried it or thought about trying this?
I have tried something like it but I will never try it again, you are only asking for trouble when messing around with the spirit world
Will you try it after this?
No
Do you think if you started this around or on Halloween that it would work faster?
No
I think that it is bullshit. There are things in this world that cannot be explained no matter what. Thermal images mainly can never be explained away as well as EVPs.
I wouldn't try to pull something like this. I would conduct and investigation.
I would conduct and investigation instead of doing something like this.
No i do not think doing something like this on or around Halloween would help.
Its all bullshit and study shouldn't be credited because as i've stated before there's things that cannot be explained.
well, the article states that, either 'phillip' was created or was already a spirit that was attracted to the storyline given
Do you believe that this can actually be done?
Yes I believe this was actually done. This story is old to me because I was in my twenties then. What it was remains to be seen. Those who use magick know of the creation of servitors and for a group an egregore. Most create a background and a storyline for them. These folks most likely wouldn't have gone that route. Others just call them thoughtforms. I have the book around somewhere but don't know where because I have had to move. Not sure if it is still in print. It was an odd experiment but proved nothing because we know very little about what is unseen so they may have attracted something or created something. I doubt it was imagined. It could have been the participants making things happen due to concentrated thought...it is an unknown factor.
Have you ever tried it or thought about trying this?
I have created servitors but they are for specific things. I have felt things at a seance and attended many channelings but to me this is pure experimentation and I wouldn't do it alone. I wouldn't be afraid of it because I know how to shield, etc. But what would be the purpose because if it is a created thoughtform it would only be as knowledgeable as the creators made it. It isn't really anyone who has been alive. They say after a time they take on a life of their own...this is just rumor and nothing I know to be fact. I would say though that this seems to be the case.
Will you try it after this?
No, I think they did this only to discredit others who believe in spirits. I like channeling experiments better and have always been interested more in the Seth materials than this stuff. It is old news to me I guess is the reason.
Do you think if you started this around or on Halloween that it would work faster?
No. I think ideas about Halloween being more powerful is superstition.
Or is it all hogwash and this study doesn't deserve credit?
An answer to this can only be conjecture. Those that believe in the paranormal will say something positive and those that don't will think if folly. This would be an uneducated judgment call. If one wasn't present at the experiment then one would not be able to answer this question definitively and I think would tend to find fault with the whole idea of the experiment. My 50 cents :)
I don't think this was done to discredit anything. I think it was done to make a statement to the uneducated public that we have the same abilities as spirits and usually most of the time it is the public that creates paranormal activity out of their fear of what they do not know or understand.
I would highly suggest dabbling with the spirit world all the time and alone. It is very safe.
I love the Philip ghost theory, this is also similar to Servitor creation in chaos magic and the Kheprian order summon a vampire entity this was as well.
Dabbling in phenomena’s of the mind can be very therapeutic as long as one understands what one is doing. If you move out of town coz the Ouija board worked then please don’t try this at home lol
This can be done; I myself have conjured a ghost whom I "affectionately" refer to as Twit; although basically harmless, he can be quite annoying. For instance,he removes the toilet paper when I am sitting there not paying attention. He also eats the last M&M in the bowl.
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Seriously, though...Conjuring a ghost is nothing novel. Creating a ghost...now, theres an interesting question. If a ghost is the spirit of someone deceased, how could one exist without having once inhabited a living person?
I am reminded of families with unruly impulsive, or clumsy children, what better way to divert accidents, or incidents then to declare that it " just happened." or " It just flew off the table."
As a once practicing geist myself, I know that even the most basic effect can trigger the supernatural spectulations of individuals predisposed to such concepts. It also instigated those who enjoy spooking such people into feeding their hysteria.
Too true Dabbler, when people believe you when you said you didn’t do it, naturally they will start to look for other explanations and one may be ghost…. And others not
However that isn’t the answer to all supernatural events and far from Hysteria (Somatization disorder) .. so dramatic lol
Yes creeper.. do you have more to post on your view? Were talking about a manifestation of the mind that seems to work….
coolleyhou,
You are using words without knowing their meaning. You said, "If a ghost is a spirit".... so you don't know?
A ghost is not a spirit! Not at all.
They are not the same thing.
A ghost is a shell of a physical object, such as a human body. It can also be a thought form created by your imagination as you build and condense energy in front of you. These shells can then float around void of any intelligent control or they can be occupied by anyone such as yourself or a bodiless entity.
A spirit is a sphere of light that resides in our brains. Without a body, they can gather their own energy to self generate their own shell bodies, usually with the help of feeding on others.
Sounds like the story of the "Entity" which scientists studied with some credible witnesses.
A "spectral rape" with witnesses...
http://www.ghosttheory.com/2008/09/21/the-entity-haunting-the-true-story-of-doris-bither
From what they gathered, this was a male entity. An investigator soon fainted after seeing this.
No matter how many high-speed cameras were setup to capture this, or that the team even had professional camera men present; none of this ever came out on film. The pictures only shows what appears to be a free floating arc light in the middle of the room as well as some light orbs.
The most famous and incredible of these photographs is the one that shows Doris sitting on a bed, investigators surrounding her and the free floating arc of light in the middle of the picture. What’s incredible and equally unbelievable is that the arc of light appears smooth, even though this is a room with corners and one would expect bends in the arc as when someone uses a projector to display an image and the image hits corners in a room. The image will bend. The photographic evidence produce by the team shows the arc of light floating above Doris Bither with no bends, even though behind it, we see the room’s corner.
The pictures is on the link...