FACTS AND FRICTION: Is it time to unpick old paranormal theories?

DOES RESIDUAL ENERGY REALLY

During the 19th century, there was a movement where mediumship and spirit communication became quite popular. In fact, it became its own kind of religion. It was known as spiritualism. One of the core beliefs in the spiritualist movement was that a person survives the death of their physical body by ascending into the spirit realm. For those who had lost faith in traditional Catholic values, spiritualism offered them a new religion and they were referred to as spiritualists. When you read the paranormal history books, people will often be able to tell you about famous figures within spiritualism from England and even the US, but they don’t know much about the work that was done here in the land of EXIST? By Jane Rowley Oz. It is time to change that, so let’s meet 5 famous Spiritualists from Down Under!

In the 4 years I have been at the Haunted Antiques Paranormal Research Centre (HAPRC) as the residential Medium, I have found that despite having many paranormal encounters and discovering many new things regarding the Spirit World and how it works, I have not encountered any energies that could be considered as Residual. I have questioned the notion of Residual energy for many years, and seeing Spirit since I was a child, I do not recall engaging with anything that was not a ‘real’ energy. I have come across many spirits, creatures, the Fae and energies from darker realms, but nothing that I would class as a ‘replay’ of a former energy that has been ‘stored’ or ‘recorded’. Of course, as always, this article is based on my own opinions, experiences and research. In the paranormal world many people refer to the ‘Stone Tape Theory’ - the theory that ghosts, and hauntings are similar to tape recordings and the energies of traumatized souls being trapped in the materials of their surrounding environment at the time of their passing (stones, bricks, slate floors etc.), only to be released at some point in the future, to keep replaying their experience as a residual energy, and over time they fade away. I have always been skeptical of this theory as it is not compatible with what I have experienced and what I have researched. So, where has this theory come from? The idea that environmental elements are able to store traces of human thoughts or emotions was introduced by several 19th century scholars and philosophers. They tried to find a natural explanation for supernatural activity. It was believed that during emotional or traumatic events, energy can be projected and “recorded” onto rocks and other items and “replayed” under certain conditions. What the conditions are, no one seems to know but the ideas were shared by a few 19th century intellectualists and psychic researchers, such as Charles Babbage, Eleonor Sidgwick and Edmund Gurney. In 1837, polymath Charles Babbage published a work on natural theology called Ninth Bridgewater Treatise. Babbage speculated, that spoken words leave permanent impressions in the air, even though they become inaudible after time.

An interesting read, regarding Natural Religion, Mathematics, Physics, God and Miracles...

The concept of “place memory” was a consideration in the early days of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). Place memory was thought to be an explanation for ghostly apparitions, seemingly connected with certain places. In the late 19th century, two of SPR’s investigators - Edmund Gurney and Eleonor Sidgwick, presented their views about certain buildings or materials being capable of storing records of past events, which can be later play backed by gifted individuals. There was much speculation in the early days, but nothing actually proven. So why is the concept of The Stone Tape theory still around today? The theories from the early days were the inspiration for a television play written by Nigel Kneale called “The Stone Tape”. The Stone Tape was directed by Peter Sasdy and starring Michael Bryant,

Jane Asher, Michael Bates and Iain Cuthbertson. It was broadcast on BBC Two as a Christmas Ghost story in 1972. It combined aspects of science fiction and horror. The story is about a team of scientists who move into their new research facility, a renovated Victorian mansion that has a reputation for being haunted. The team investigate the activity, trying to determine if the stones of the building are acting as a recording medium for past events, however, their investigations serve only to unleash a darker, more malicious force.

The Stone Tape was written by Nigel Kneale, best known as the writer of Quatermass. The play was also inspired by a visit Kneale had made to the BBC’s research and development department, which was then located in an old Victorian house in Kingswood, Surrey.

Critically acclaimed at the time of the broadcast, it remains well regarded as one of Nigel Kneale’s best and most terrifying plays. Since its broadcast, the hypothesis of residual hauntings – that ghosts are recordings of past events made by the natural environment – has come to be known as the “Stone Tape Theory”.

Was the success of this broadcast the reason The Stone Tape theory is now cemented firmly in the Paranormal Field, even though it was fiction?

The Stone Tape Theory concept was retrospectively and inaccurately attributed to British archaeologist turned parapsychologist - T. C. Lethbridge, who believed that ghosts were not spirits of the deceased but were simply non-interactive recordings similar to a movie. This has led to many people in the paranormal field today believing that the Stone Tape theory is actually a thing, but it was based only on the speculation of a few people and was never proven to be real. The fact that it provided inspiration for a televised play, which was popular at the time, has left the paranormal world with a legacy of people believing that the Stone Tape Theory is actually real, and ghosts and spirits are released from stones and other environmental materials in the form of residual energy.

Ihave heard many people referring to the Stone Tape Theory when on investigations and it appears that many in the paranormal world, have gone (with full blinkers on) down the road of believing it to be real and many newcomers into the field have inherited the belief of the theory without question. Following the speculation of residual energy, a belief evolved that ghosts and spirits are different things. A ghost is believed to be the residual energy of someone who has died tragically and doesn’t know they are dead, and a spirit is the soul of a deceased person…. I don’t see the difference but researching for a clear definition of this has been very interesting with the varied points of view found. On the BBC Website, Medium Philip Solomon states the following -

“Ghost and hauntings are very different to spirits. A spirit is a continuation of your soul that goes on forever, but a ghost is just something that has happened in the past and replays back in the ether. They are the emotional memories of an ordinary human being who has died unexpectedly or tragically and are not aware they have died. A part of their personality carries on in the surroundings where they lived or died repeating their last actions over and over again. Like a tape-recorded message.”

The late Hans Holzer (1920 –2009), was an Austrian-American author and parapsychologist. He wrote more than 120 books on the supernatural and occult, as well as several plays, musicals, films, and documentaries, and hosted a television show, called Ghost Hunter. A professor of parapsychology, he wrote “Ghosts are similar to psychotic human beings, incapable of reasoning for themselves. … Spirits on the other hand are the surviving personalities of all of us who pass through the door of death in a relatively normal fashion.” He also wrote that ghosts are tied to the location of their death, usually a sudden or tragic one, and they often don’t realise that they are dead. In most cases, they have “unfinished business” as the deceased person does not accept the way in which they died. A point of view from author, Toni Therese Maisey, who wrote “Ghosts and Spirits Are Real and What Is the Difference” (Paperback). She writes:

“To explain what a ghost or a spirit is, simply means that a spirit is from a live human body, whose spirit is traveling to others and often you can hear them coming to you. A ghost apart from the Holy Ghost is a dead man’s spirit. If a dead man’s spirit comes into you then you will need exorcisms.