Helen Cohn Schucman (born Helen Dora Cohn, July 14, 1909 – February 9, 1981) was an American
clinical psychologist
Clinical psychology is an integration of social science, theory, and clinical knowledge for the purpose of understanding, preventing, and relieving psychologically based distress or dysfunction and to promote subjective well-being and persona ...
and
research psychologist
Experimental psychology refers to work done by those who apply Experiment, experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ Research participant, human participants and Animal testing, a ...
. She was a professor of
medical psychology at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
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Film and television
* '' ...
from 1958 until her retirement in 1976. Schucman is best known for having "scribed" with the help of colleague
William Thetford the book ''
A Course in Miracles
''A Course in Miracles'' (also referred to as ''ACIM'' or the ''Course'') is a 1976 book by Helen Schucman. The underlying premise is that the greatest "miracle" is the act of simply gaining a full "awareness of love's presence" in a person's ...
'' (1st edition, 1975), the contents of which she claimed had been given to her by an inner voice she identified as
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
. However, at her request, her role as its "writer" was not revealed to the general public until after her death.
[
]
Early life and education
Schucman was born Helen Dora Cohn in 1909 to Sigmund Cohn, a prosperous metallurgical chemist, and Rose Black, who had married on October 18, 1896, in Manhattan. Schucman had a brother, Adolph Cohn, who was almost 12 years her senior. Though her parents were both half-Jewish
"Who is a Jew?" ( he, מיהו יהודי ) is a basic question about Jewish identity and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question pertains to ideas about Jewish personhood, which have cultural, ethnic, religious, political, ...
, they were non-observant. Schucman's mother Rose dabbled in Theosophy
Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...
and various expressions of Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
such as Christian Science
Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...
and the Unity School of Christianity
Unity, known informally as Unity Church, is an organization founded by Charles and Myrtle Fillmore in 1889. It grew out of Transcendentalism and became part of the New Thought movement. Unity is known for its '' Daily Word'' devotional publi ...
.
However, it was the family housekeeper, Idabel, a Baptist
Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
, who had the deepest religious influence on Schucman while she was growing up. In 1921, when she was 12, Schucman visited Lourdes, France
Lourdes (, also , ; oc, Lorda ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Château ...
, where she had a spiritual experience, and in 1922 she was baptized as a Baptist. Later in life, she considered herself an atheist.
She received her B.A. from New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
(NYU), (1931–1935), where she met fellow student Louis Schucman in 1932 and whom she married, in a 10-minute ceremony in a local rabbi's office, on May 26, 1933. Louis owned one or more bookstores on "Book Row Book Row was a district in New York City from the 1890s to the 1960s composed of six city blocks which, at its peak, contained over three dozen bookstores. Many – if not most – of the places were used bookstores. In its heyday, Book Row spanned ...
" in Manhattan, and during the early years of their marriage Schucman worked at his main store. Growing restless in her early forties, she returned to NYU to study psychology. She received her M.A. in 1952, followed by her Ph.D. (1952–1957).
Career
Schucman was a clinical and research psychologist, who held the tenured position of Associate Professor of Medical Psychology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S) is the graduate medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan. Founded i ...
at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center
NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (NYP/CUIMC), also known as the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), is an academic medical center and the largest campus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. It includes Co ...
in New York City. During her tenure at Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, Schucman worked with William Thetford, whom she first met in early 1958.
''A Course in Miracles'' (ACIM) was "scribed" by Schucman between 1965 and 1972 through a process of inner dictation. She experienced the process as one of a distinct and clear dictation from an inner voice, which earlier had identified itself to her as Jesus. Her scribing of ''A Course in Miracles'' began with these words: "This is a course in miracles. Please take notes."[
]
Wouter Hanegraaff
Wouter Jacobus Hanegraaff (born 10 April 1961) is full professor of History of Hermetic Philosophy and related currents at the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He served as the first president of the European Society for the Study of W ...
distinguishes Schucman's process as a type of channeling that articulates revelation, clarifying that "... in cases of inner dictation in which the medium hears a voice dictating messages, (s)he writes down hese messagesin a fully conscious state." Hanegraaff continues by specifically characterizing Schucman's case as spontaneous channeling, indicating that "... er the years the voice proved to be remarkably consistent, stopping the dictation when interrupted y Schucman's daily activitiesand continuing at the next opportunity." Hanegraaff also references specific dialogue between Schucman and William Thetford citing author Robert E. Skutch, among other authors, including Kenneth Wapnick (1942-2013), whom Hanegraaff indicates as a "good" source for complete discussion on this subject.
During this time, Schucman worked in a collaborative venture with William Thetford in scribing ''A Course In Miracles
''A Course in Miracles'' (also referred to as ''ACIM'' or the ''Course'') is a 1976 book by Helen Schucman. The underlying premise is that the greatest "miracle" is the act of simply gaining a full "awareness of love's presence" in a person's ...
'' (ACIM) and also with its initial edits. The main transcription process took seven years, from 1965 through 1972, during which time she would take down the notes in shorthand, then each day read back these notes to Thetford, who would type them out while she read them. After all the ACIM material had been initially transcribed it was then edited for publication by Schucman and the other two primary editors, Thetford and Kenneth Wapnick.
Schucman also wrote two supplemental ACIM pamphlets by the same process as well as a collection of poetry later published as ''The Gifts of God''. Following the transcription and editing, Schucman began to reduce the level of her direct involvement in the ACIM related effort and was never as heavily involved with teaching or popularizing the material as were its editors, Bill Thetford and Kenneth Wapnick.
Death
In 1980 Schucman was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...
. After a prolonged illness, she died of related complications at age 71 in 1981.[
]
Legacy
A collection of her poems, ''The Gifts of God'', was posthumously published by the Foundation for Inner Peace.[
''Absence From Felicity: The Story of Helen Schucman and Her Scribing of A Course in Miracles'' is the only biography of Schucman. It was written by her longtime friend, Kenneth Wapnick.
Wapnick later founded the Foundation for A Course in Miracles (FACIM), an organization that claimed to hold a copyright to ''A Course In Miracles''. Upon Wapnick's death in 2013, the purported copyright to ''A Course In Miracles'' reverted to the Foundation For Inner Peace (FIP).
]
Writings
*
*
* (contains 114 poems that share the spiritual content of the Course as well as the prose poem "The Gifts of God," which summarizes the teachings of the Course)
* She also has an autobiography that will soon be published.
Notes
References
* (discusses the pre-publication history of ACIM)
* (discusses Helen Schucman and the pre-publication history of ACIM)
External links
*
*
Helen Schucman
at ''A Course in Miracles'' website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schucman, Helen
20th-century American psychologists
American women psychologists
Psychology educators
20th-century American writers
American spiritual writers
New Age writers
New Thought writers
A Course in Miracles
Channellers
Columbia Medical School faculty
New York University alumni
People from Manhattan
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
1909 births
1981 deaths
20th-century American women
American women academics
American clinical psychologists