The Spirit of Dr. Bindelof: The Enigma of Seance Phenomena [Paperback]

This is a very interesting, informative, and intriguing read. In addition to the Bindeloff case, the author summarizes some of the most credible cases of psychic phenomena, including D. D. Home, Francis Cook, Franek Kluski, and Eusapia Palladino. They are all bundled together under the classification of "physical mediumship," although some of the people discussed were more psychics than they were mediums. The author doesn't clearly explain the difference and this is bound to confuse some readers.

The Bindeloff case took place in 1933-34 and involved several very intelligent high school boys conducting séances and communicating with the "spirit" of a Dr. Bindeloff.
As the boys had read up on mediumship, they conducted some interesting experiments and documented their séances. The author draws from the documented records as well as from two of the participants still living. As intelligent as these boys seem to have been (taking college courses at age 16), it apparently did not occur to them to inquire as to when and where Dr. Bindeloff had lived and practiced. If it did occur to them, it is not documented. Thus, there does not appear to have been any investigation as to the actual existence of a Dr. Bindeloff. The author, while clearly accepting the genuineness of psychic phenomena, does not appear to have made any attempt of her own to see if a Dr. Bindeloff ever existed as she assumes he was nothing more than a manifestation of the collective subconscious minds of the young boys - a collective energy so powerful that they were able to form a photograph of Dr. Bindeloff, which appears on the cover of the book. Unfortunately, the author offers her subconscious and secondary personality theories as fact, something which will likely confuse readers with limited exposure to such phenomena.

In effect, the author rejects the "spirit" hypothesis. This is typical of psychologists and some parapsychologists who are unable to shake the reductionist mindset. Interestingly, the author sneers at the pseudo-skeptics, who assume all such phenomena are just so much bunk, and yet she seems as locked into her views as much as those pseudo-skeptics are locked into theirs. While citing some research which gives credence to her views, she avoids, with slight exceptions, mentioning an abundance of research which is contrary to it. Nor does she attempt to tie in the subconscious theory with the "oversoul" or "higher self" aspects, theories which link the subconscious to soul and spirit.

Historically, this is a great book. Metaphysically and philosophically, however, it was a disappointment to me - not so much because I believe there is a preponderance evidence for the spirit hypothesis, if not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt - but because the author slants the conclusions to her own biases. The uninformed reader will likely finish the book even more confused than he or she was before starting the book. The informed reader should, however, be able to recognize the author's biases and see beyond them. For them, it is definitely a five-star book.

Contemporary parapsychology has tended to become rather anemic in its search for scientific respectability, studying tiny statistical effects in an oh so very rigorous fashion. That has its place, but we tend to forget that the laboratory study only exists because dramatic and important and inexplicable events happen in real life that remind us there's something important to try to understand - like the question of whether the mind survives death!

Pilkington's book gives the full story of Dr. Bindelof, an apparent spirit who changed the lives of several teenage boys through seance manifestations. One of those boys was Montague Ullman, a psychiatrist who spearheaded research into telepathic dreams decades later. It's a fascinating story, and a frustrating one - frustrating because we devote almost no energy and resources to thoroughly investigating paranormal phenomena. A good read!

By preserving the once-elusive Bindelof case, a unique episode in the history of physical mediumship, Rosemarie Pilkington, the author/compiler of this book, has done a great service to all those who are professionally involved with the sciences that deal with anomalies and psychic events. The book will be of considerable value especially to those with systematical science-historical interests in this area. By placing the Bindelof case into a wider framework, she has produced an eminently readable book also for those who are less familiar with the peculiar history of seance rooms and their irritating phenomena.

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