Meet Philip - He's Unreal
Posted: Thursday, January 20, 2011
by Dante Petrilla
Doorway to Happiness
We use those senses calibrated to respond to the stimuli of the real world. They are our only window to the world, the only way we can interact with our surroundings. We go through life responding to what we see, hear, feel, etc. There are, however, phenomena which suggest that this is not the only way we can interact with, and indeed influence the physical world we inhabit.
Philip was an aristocrat from the 17th Century who lived in Warwickshire at the Diddington Manor. Apparently inconsolable after his mistress was labelled a witch and burned to death, Philip took his own life. In 1972 Philip's spirit returned to the physical world in Canada at the Toronto Society of Psychical Research, and communicated with several people. He tapped out messages on a card table which the society's members frequently gathered around.
An odd tale, worthy of mention in paranormal circles, but made all the more interesting by the astounding fact that Philip never existed. The members of the society who made contact with him created him.
Philip was an experiment - the Philip Experiment. It seems that Dr. A.R.G. Owen and his wife along with a number of members of the society had made the decision to create their own ghost.
This ghost, whom they named Philip, would be what amounted to a group experience of hallucination - the creation of a presence via psychic energy generated by the group, which would manifest itself objectively, and essentially take on its own reality. It would need to be able to make itself known to the group at their meetings, and communicate with them in some way they were capable of understanding. This communication was established as a code of taps on the table around which they all sat.
They gave the fictional Philip an equally fictional history, inventing him in as much rich detail as possible. These details would make it easier for the group to focus on Philip, and lend more credence to his existence. Above all, it was essential that each member had a firm belief in him if the experiment was to yield results.
Initially, these results were discouraging. Nothing happened. The members of the society gathered often and discussed Philip, attempted to make contact with him - one member even sketched a portrait of him which was hung on the wall. The experiment just was not working.
The members decided to research the matter further, and in the course of their study they discovered some information concerning the very experiment they were attempting. They found that in the 1960s, experiments involving psychic phenomena had been conducted by the British researchers Brooks-Smith, Hunt, and Batcheldor. Their findings had indicated that if the group's frame of mind was correct, they would indeed be able to create the phenomenon they sought.
The members discovered that they had in fact been going about it the wrong way. Rather than meditating quietly in an attempt to make contact with Philip, they gathered around a card table upon which they all placed their hands. They talked amiably, joked and sang songs - generally developed a more relaxed approach to the experiment.
They focused their attention on the card table, calling it Philip, and after some time they got their desired result. Philip had finally broken through and made contact with them. The table would vibrate at the hands of the members, would move on its own, and when one member wondered aloud if it were indeed Philip who was responsible for all this, there came a loud rap at the table top.
But it didn't stop there. As the group became more comfortable with Philip, and he with them, taps began to come from all around the room they occupied. Even the light illuminating Philip's portrait flickered independently of the main room lights. The table was capable of moving about the room, and incredibly, when the group would sing, it would hop up and down in time to the tune.
The phenomenon became much more than Dr. Owen or any of the other members ever imagined it would be, and yet it was evident that its strength was tied up solely in the group's belief in it. It seemed to have an independent reality, and in this way was separate from the group, and yet, at the same time, Philip's "essence" was inextricably linked to the group - it had no life unless they gave it life.
At one stage when Philip was performing his usual tricks, one of the group mentioned in jest that they had only made him up. Amazingly, at that point the table went still and silent. It was quite some time before the members were able to restore Philip after much reaffirming of their belief in him. It nearly appeared that Philip might just be more than the sum of his parts.
The potential of the human mind alone to affect physical reality is documented quite powerfully in the Philip Experiment. Through sheer force of will and projection of their thoughts, the group had succeeded in animating an inanimate object which for a time seemed to take on an objective existence all its own.
These people were not trying to fool anyone. They were always very up front about their intentions to create a spirit rather than simply make contact with one. So none of it was done as a joke or prank in an attempt to receive media attention.
And whether or not the society's members were trying to prove anything specific by what they did, they succeeded in proving that there is certainly a vast hidden potential in the human mind.
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