HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The College of Psychic Studies (founded in 1884 as the London Spiritualist Alliance) is a non-profit organisation based in
South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
. It is dedicated to the study of psychic and spiritualist phenomena.


History


British National Association of Spiritualists

In August 1873, the British National Association of Spiritualists (BNAS) was formed by Thomas Everitt, Edmund Rogers and others at a meeting in
Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
. Oppenheim, Janet. (1988). ''The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850-1914''. Cambridge University Press. p. 53. "The British National Association of Spiritualists emerged from a meeting in Liverpool, in August 1873, sponsored by the local Psychological Society. Attendance was not confined to spiritualists from the immediate area, and among the participants were W. H. Harrison and Thomas Everitt from London. The meeting heard several papers advocating the benefits of national organization for the expansion and consolidation of British spiritualism, and these arguments carried the day. The conference resolved to form a national association, and initiative then passed to London, where the following year the BNAS commenced its activities. From 1875, it was comfortably housed at 38 Great Russell Street, the scene of its numerous stances, both public and private, committee meetings, lectures, and social gatherings."Lavoie, Jeffrey D. (2014). ''Search for Meaning in Victorian Religion: The Spiritual Journey and Esoteric Teachings of Charles Carleton Massey''. Lehigh University Press. pp. 19-20. Early members included well known spiritualists such as Charles Maurice Davies, Charles Isham, William Stainton Moses, Stanhope Templeman Speer, Morell Theobald and George Wyld. Spence, Lewis. (2006 edition, originally published 1920). ''An Encyclopaedia of Occultism''. Cosimo. p. 80. The BNAS carried out experimental séances and investigations into mediumship. It held no dogmatic religious views but was known for "sympathising with the religion of Jesus Christ". The first public meeting of the BNAS took place on 16 April 1874 under the chairmanship of
Samuel Carter Hall Samuel Carter Hall (9 May 1800 – 11 March 1889) was an Irish-born Victorian journalist who is best known for his editorship of ''The Art Journal'' and for his much-satirised personality. Early years Hall was born at the Geneva Barracks in Wat ...
. By 1875 the BNAS had over 400 members. Its headquarters moved to Great Russell Street, London. In 1879 the German astrophysicist Johann Karl Friedrich Zöllner became an honorary member. William Henry Harrison and his colleagues from the "Scientific Research Committee" of the BNAS were involved in experiments that weighed mediums during materialization séances.Noakes, Richard J. ''Instruments to Lay Hold of Spirits: Technologizing the Bodies of Victorian Spiritualism''. In Iwan Rhys Morus. (2002). ''Bodies/Machines''. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 125-163. Specially built self-recording instruments were used. This was considered controversial and not all members agreed in conducting such experiments. In 1872, Harrison also caused controversy in the spiritualist community by exposing the fraud of spirit photographer Frederick Hudson. In 1875, Harrison with
C. F. Varley Cromwell Fleetwood Varley, FRSA (6 April 1828 – 2 September 1883) was an English engineer, particularly associated with the development of the electric telegraph and the transatlantic telegraph cable. He also took interest in the claims of p ...
conducted an unsuccessful experiment in photographing the alleged Odic force of Carl Reichenbach. There was a large dispute between Moses and Harrison over its leadership council. Harrison was expelled from the BNAS. In April 1879, Charles Massey a vice-president resigned, as did Moses on 31 December 1880. In 1882, the BNAS changed name to the Central Association of Spiritualists (CAS). The remaining members such as vice-president Edmund Rogers, one of Moses's loyal supporters tried to reconstruct the society. Oppenheim, Janet. (1988). ''The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850-1914''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 55-57. However, internal conflict between members and financial problems caused the group to dissolve.


London Spiritualist Alliance

In October 1883 a special conference was set up to discuss the ideas of Moses to form a new society. In March 1884, Moses and others formed the London Spiritualist Alliance (LSA). The first meeting was held on 5 May at the banqueting room in St James's Hall. Moses was president and members included John Stephen Farmer, Massey, Rogers, Stanhope Templeman Speer, Alaric Alfred Watts and Percy Wyndham. After Moses died in 1892, Rogers became the president. The LSA obtained a wider membership under the leadership of Rogers including notable figures such as
Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British natural history, naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution thro ...
. In 1886, Eleanor Sidgwick from the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) claimed that the medium William Eglinton was fraudulent. Members from the LSA and articles in the journal ''Light'' supported Eglinton and accused Sidgwick of bias and prejudice. Some spiritualist members resigned from the SPR. In 1925, Arthur Conan Doyle became president and the LSA bought a new headquarters at Queensberry Place, South Kensington. Between October 1930 and June 1931 the materialization medium
Helen Duncan Victoria Helen McCrae Duncan (née MacFarlane, 25 November 1897 – 6 December 1956) was a Scottish medium best known as the last person to be imprisoned under the Witchcraft Act 1735 for fraudulent claims. She was famous for producing ectopl ...
was investigated by the LSA. Despite early favourable reports, an examination of Duncan's ectoplasm revealed it was made of
cheesecloth Cheesecloth is a loose-woven gauze-like carded cotton cloth used primarily in cheesemaking and cooking. Grades Cheesecloth is available in at least seven different grades, from open to extra-fine weave. Grades are distinguished by the numb ...
, paper mixed with the white of egg and lavatory paper stuck together. One of Duncan's tricks was to swallow and regurgitate some of her ectoplasm and she was persuaded to swallow a tablet of
methylene blue Methylthioninium chloride, commonly called methylene blue, is a salt used as a dye and as a medication. Methylene blue is a thiazine dye. As a medication, it is mainly used to treat methemoglobinemia by converting the ferric iron in hemoglobin ...
before one of her séances to rule out any chance of this trick being performed and because of this no ectoplasm appeared. The journal ''Light'' endorsed the court decision that Duncan was fraudulent and supported Harry Price's investigation that revealed her ectoplasm was cheesecloth.


College of Psychic Studies

In 1955 the LSA changed its name to the College of Psychic Science. In 1970 it became the College of Psychic Studies. According to psychical researcher Simeon Edmunds, by the 1955 name change there was "no doubt that from that time onwards the society was no longer a spiritualist one" as it was accepting non-spiritualist members and held no corporate opinion on the question of survival. In the 1960s, after a revival in spiritualism, the college associated itself with the Society for Psychical Research, collecting thousands of case files."Paul Beard"
''The Telegraph''.
Paul Beard was the president of the college for 16 years. In 2006, the college offered twelve courses on psychic abilities. In April 2021 The College re-launched their website with an expanded programme of online courses, talks and events able to be completed online. Their current president, Geoffrey Dart C.B.E, references this being partly in response to the challenges of running in-person events during the Covid-19 pandemic.


Publications


Books

In 1930, the London Spiritualist Alliance published a series of five books under L.S.A Publications Ltd. These were: *Helen A. Dallas. ''Human Survival and its Implications''. *
Charles Drayton Thomas Charles Drayton Thomas (1867 - 1953) also known as C. Drayton Thomas was a British Methodist minister and spiritualist. Career Thomas graduated from Richmond Theological College and was a minister at Wesleyan Methodist Church. He was a member ...
. ''The Mental Phenomena of Spiritualism''. * Stanley De Brath. ''The Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism''. *Helen MacGregor and Margaret V. Underhill. ''The Psychic Faculties and Their Development''. * Oliver Lodge. ''Demonstrated Survival: Its Influence on Science, Philosophy and Religion.


Journal

The oldest spiritualist journal in Britain is known as ''Light''. It was formed in January 1881 by Edmund Rogers and became affiliated with the BNAS and its successor organisations. The College of Psychic Studies publishes the ''Light'' journal twice a year."Light"
College of Psychic Studies.


Notable historical members

Image:Arthur Conan Doyle by Walter Benington, 1914.png, Arthur Conan Doyle, physician and writer Image:John S. Farmer spiritualist.png, John Stephen Farmer, lexicographer Image:Samuel carter hall.jpg,
Samuel Carter Hall Samuel Carter Hall (9 May 1800 – 11 March 1889) was an Irish-born Victorian journalist who is best known for his editorship of ''The Art Journal'' and for his much-satirised personality. Early years Hall was born at the Geneva Barracks in Wat ...
, journalist Image:Frederick Hockley spiritualist.png,
Frederick Hockley Frederick Hockley (1809 – 10 November 1885) was a British occultist and scryer who was a London-based Freemason and a member of the Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia. Career Hockley avidly collected and transcribed over many years a vast l ...
, occult writer Image:Sir Charles Isham circa 1850.jpg, Charles Isham, gardener and landowner Image:Edmund Dawson Rogers.jpg, Edmund Dawson Rogers, journalist Image:George Wyld physician.png, George Wyld, homeopathic physician Image:Percy Scawen Wyndham, Vanity Fair, 1880-10-30.jpg, Percy Wyndham, politician


References


External links


Official website
{{Parapsychology Paranormal organizations Parapsychology Psychics Religious organisations based in the United Kingdom