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The Philip Experiment (Toronto; 1970s)

MS Indigo, The case you're talking of is the French explorer Alexandra David-Néel, after much meditation she managed to create a monk like entity, a short chubby jolly looking one. After a while she was able to will him into existence whenever she wanted, he would almost flit into and out of sight in a ghost like way.

With a lot of practice she got the tulpa so she could almost not distinguish him from physical reality.

Alexandra eventually lost control of the tulpa, he began manifesting when she had not willed it, and he was beginning to change his appearance to a much slimmer, malevolent looking monk.

Around this time her companions began asking questions about "the stranger" who has been hanging around the camp, Alexandra realised her tulpa was beginning to take on a more physical form. Using different meditation techniques she was able to "reabsorb" the tulpa back into her concious, the tulpa proved very unwilling and this took several weeks.

Lyra, under normal circumstances a Tulpa would be imaginary, like an extension of it's creators unconscious, but the Tibetan belief is everything around us is imaginary, and the collective conscious of the worlds population keeps it "real", so if the world is imaginary, then anything can be imagined into being. Whether purposefully or not.

There are many cases I’ve read in the past that can be explained by this belief, here’s one example I’ve just pulled off the internet:

"In 1973, a group consisting of eight members of the Society of Psychical Research in Toronto decided to find out more about these mysterious [PK] effects....The group was an ordinary cross-section of the population: an accountant, an engineer, an industrial designer, a scientific research assistant, and four housewives. None of them claims to be a medium."
- A. R. G. Owen in Conjuring Up Philip
"(1) The Toronto group produced raps and table movements, of an apparently paranormal nature, in full light, in many places, with different tables.
(2) They did not designate anyone person as a special communicator, nor did they believe that any single member of the group was a medium or had more power than any of the other members. In fact, any combination of four of the original group was able to produce the phenomena.
(3) They do not believe that their communicator was a discarnate spirit. Their common focus of attention was an invented character, a product of their own imaginations."
(Philip, the invented character, has performed in full light in a documentary film and before TV cameras and a studio audience.)
"...The group had motivation and expectancy....they were able to create an atmosphere of harmony. This was more than just a 'good friends' feeling; the group members have come to regard themselves as a family, and they behave together very like a closely knit family.
"A significant psychological asset was the fact that they had created together a 'personality' who could become the focus of their attention, and even more important, that they could ascribe to their 'personality' the production of the phenomena, so that no one needed to be bothered about the question of who or what produced the phenomena.. Philip was held entirely responsible, and it was remarkable how quickly the members took to addressing the table as Philip."
"Positive and expectant thought were absolutely necessary to keep the phenomena 'alive'."
"There was a definite correlation between the affirmation of the group mind as to the desirability of a specific question being pout to Philip and the loudness of the raps, which seemed geared to the actual affirmative or negative nature of the response."
"If at any time an unlikely situation could be created, when all the tensions and stresses of all the members of the group were resolved, it is probable the phenomena would evaporate, at least temporarily. The tensions and stresses probably responsible for a good deal of the raps and movements were not consciously apparent to the members of the group. They only manifested themselves as a shared experience."
"...During the summer months of 1974 when the Philip group had a rest, individual members of the group reported inexplicable and unusual poltergeist-type happenings in their own homes."
- Iris M. Owen with Margaet Sparrow, Conjuring Up Philip

In the above extract, a group of people created a character to focus their concentration on, effectively meditating a tulpa who was able to interact with the physical world. After the end of the experiments no care was taken to “reabsorb” the tulpa, and Phillip continued to exist in the unconscious of those who created him for a while.

-Kornflake™
 
Poltergeists and DID

This is an old thread, but it contains so much of what I've been lately pondering upon that I thought to continue it, rather than start a brand new one.

Supposing that the poltergeist phenomena really exist, and as has been suggested, are the workings of the psi-powered mind of the focus person associated with the events, might they be related psychologically to Dissociative Identity Disorder (the former Multiple Personality Disorder)? As it appears the poltergeist on many an occasion presents itself as some other person than the suggested agent, usually a child or adolescent, might it actually be the person's externalised alter (alternate personality, or insider, as some prefer them to be called)? There seems to already to be two points of similarity between the poltergeist agents and people with DID. Firstly, DID has been suggested to be caused by severe childhood trauma with the initial age for development of alters averaging at 5.9 years, and as noted, most PAs are children or adolescents. Secondly, 85 % of DID patients are women, and 2/3 of PAs are girls. So most crucially there remain the questions of whether the PAs also have a background of severe trauma in their childhood and episodes of amnesia, typical to DID? Then again, the amnesia is caused by the take-over of an alter, whereas the poltergeist is about an external actor, not a "possession". Therefore amnesia wouldn't necessarily feature diagnostically with PAs as the poltergeists would be co-conscious with them, and only the trauma-factor should be present.

And then again, the Empowered Multiples believe their alters are not caused (or only) by traumas, but is a natural feature of their mental make-up, and thus the PAs wouldn't either necessarily have traumatic childhoods, but only a special inclination to produce alters. Or perhaps we all have the potential, but supress it, or are not just aware how our alters go about in their psychic endeavours, perhaps only rarely influencing our lifes in ways to make us wonder what forces might have been in effect?

Also, I have understood the Buddhist idea of the illusory nature of a self (anatta), ego, or soul, to mean that it is created by the memories, of the present and past-lifes, giving an appearance of its continuity, and which by some means transfer from one rebirth to another. This again appears similar to the way the alters are believed to be generated through dissociation, which isolates the traumatic memories from the main person's consciousness. Another dissociative disorder bearing similarity would be dissociative fugue, where a person becomes through amnesia unaware or confused of his identity and may even assume a new one. Thus it would appear that as the memories create our sense of self and identity, isolation of some memories may induce the splitting-off of new selves, as such no less "legitimate" or real than the original.

[edit 18-01-05, 18:34]
 
Coming soon to a theatre near you!

Producer Andrew Form told SCI FI Wire that the upcoming supernatural movie Superstition is based on a true story. "It's about a real experiment in Toronto, where a guy believed that he could create a ghost," Form said in an interview. "They put a group of people in a ... séance room, and he thought with their minds they could all create this entity. And in the experiment, some weird stuff happened."

Form is producing with his Amityville Horror producing partners Michael Bay and Brad Fuller for Paramount. Fuller said that the producers are rewriting Neal Marshall Stevens' spec script. No director is yet attached.


http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire2005/index.php?id=30770
 
ideasman said:
Some have suggested that quantum non-locality etc. could underpin the notion of 'ambient consciousness'.
Click to expand...

Ok, I have a layman's understanding of non-locality ('spooky interaction at a distance', and all that).

What is meant by 'ambient consciousness' and can we have the argument please?

Non-physicist
 
knowing a little physics. . .

It sounds like "ambient consciousness" means that the mind is not contained it the brain. the non-locality of quantum mechanics seems to be a fun buzzword that some have used to explain how the mind can be used outside of the physical body.

Unfortunately, it is a misunderstanding of non-locality of the quantum mechanical sense, and using it to further paranormal studies. Quantum mechanics explains the physical world, not the spiritual world. People use the cutting edge science to explain what is truly unexplainable. "For lack of a better word" is one phrase I've used a bunch recently because the quantum world explains how paranormal things work better than the chemical/gravitational world most of us can see with our eyes.

The world needs a much better understanding of quantum physics, the brain, and thought before you can even begin to explain the paranormal.
And some of this could be why the Philip experiment "worked" the way it did. Our minds can connect to other things in inexplicable ways (and some things are explicable, but not on lay terms). The difficulty is finding the middle ground between "you are imagining things", "you have imagined it, so it became real", and "there is something real out there, and you can detect it".

(100th post! woohoo!)
 
Thanks for giving this a bump and giving the you tube link. The Philip experiment is something I wasn't familiar with before but I've found reading back through this entire thread fascinating. I've only really started scratching on the surface but I have a question; why was it such a surprise that a group of people can "create" a form of mass hallucination? Coz if you remove the detail that's basically what happened....wasn't it?
 
Books on the Philip Experiment?

I'm sure most people are familiar with it.

1972, Toronto, psychic investigators "invent" a biography for an imaginary ghost and then try contacting him...and succeed. There's apparently a recent hollywoodized movie "based upon" it.

Can anyone point me to a book specifically about the events in question? I believe there have been several. However the original/principle one.. Conjuring Up Philip..is one of those out of print books that get listed on Amazon for over £100! (that's a fortean mystery in itself..does anyone ever pay such prices). I can't look up other books because I don't know any titles.

Can anyone direct me?
 
Alas the YouTube link on the last page is unavailable. One tip, if you want to know what happened whatever you do don't watch the film based on it called The Quiet Ones, it's utterly useless.
 
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Gattino, we must be sharing the same wavelength recently, because I've been obsessed with the Phillip experiment this last week.

I don't have any of the books, either, but I recall hearing about it when I was a little kid and desperately wanting to create my own poltergeist. A group of my cousins got together and tried, but as we were only about 9 or 10 years old, it wasn't very effective. Oh, and our "ghost" was Frodo Baggins, so...you can imagine. :p

Hmm, wonder if we could do better now... :twisted:
 
All the key information is readily available online. The reason I want a book about it as a christmas gift to one of my brothers. A perhaps mischievous, perhaps useful one.

My eldest brother has a parallel, though somewhat different, interest in the paranormal to me. We swap accounts fo things which have happened but I don't pry too much in to the particular things he's apparently involved in (I'll explain in a moment) as it seems to me that he's very much sucked into the part of the fortean world that believes in formal, channeled, solutions rather than mysteries to ponder sceptically (in the proper sense). What I mean by that is the books I might lend him are dean radin or chris carter etc..ie setting out scientific data and arguments. But when he passes books to me they tend to be by celebrity mediums or ladies in middle america who've died and seen jesus.

Anyhow the thing is for a while he's been in some kind of closed psychic "circle" where they speak to spirits guides round a darkened seance table. He's reported discarnate voices and lights and things amid the otherwise total darkness, andhe - this being the most remarkable thing - has started automatic drawing! The experience is clearly real, that his hand is operating outside his conscious efforts. But when I've asked himabout it lately he said its been mostly pictures of Jesus! He is not overtly religious I should say and is not raising the subject unrequested. I've no reason to think the group he is in,which meet in a pub every week or fortnight or whenever it is, are a cult. But the religious nature of that response seems to fit in with the established beliefs of their leader. But its a little worrying if he's going to accept such things at face value..and questioning too intently or raising objections to what he says will always sound like a sneering interrogation. So I thought to casually draw his attention tothe philip phenomenon might give him food for thought about reintepreting any strange things he has witnessed before he starts banging a tabourine in shopping centres....
 
Are the drawings actually labelled "Jesus"? Or is that the group leader's suggestion? There could be an infinite number of possibilities as to who a bearded gentleman with long hair, might be!
 
Here is an article about a paranormal experiment allegedly conducted by a Psychical Research Society envisaged and brought into being a ghost. I didn't first read about it in the following article, but bumped into it many years ago. I think I would classify Philip as an Egregore/Tulpa/Artificial Elemental. He was in effect imagined into being. I don't know if it was a fraud or not, but superficially, the findings should be immensely interesting to all Fortean fans. If you can find more info about Philip and the following experiments, I would love to find out more about it, and I am sure that I will not be alone. The subject matter is fascinating; the ramifications (if true) are startling. Please have a read and I doubt if you need food for thought that you will not be well fed but wanting more:

https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-create-a-ghost-2594058
 
Thanks for posting that. It has been a long time since I read anything about that episode. I agree that it is fascinating, and I think it's a glimpse into how things really work here. By the time I read about Philip, it didn't surprise me much because of the direction of my reading at the time, and the state of my understanding of the world. People generally seem to file it away as some weird anomaly, or write it off as a hoax, but I don't think it's an anomaly at all. Everyone needs to sleep at night, though, so it mainly gets ignored. That's okay. We have the right to ignore what we can't process. We couldn't function well if we didn't have that ability.
 
First time I heard of it was in The Unexplained :)
 
You'll be surprised to learn that we had a thread on this. ;)

Possibly to be found under 'Tulpas'.
 
escargot said:
You'll be surprised to learn that we had a thread on this. ;) Possibly to be found under 'Tulpas'.
Click to expand...

I am not at all surprised. I did actually go searching before posting this, but found a fast travelling Buddhist lady in a kamikaze plane (nun-zero-zip). In truth I was surprised that I didn't find it. On the other hand, I think it is worth raising again for a couple of reasons...

For example, what if people are producing Tulpas unconsciously? If they become visible occasionally, they could account for some of the more bizarre cryptid sightings, and potentially aliens, ghosts, and gods as well; hey, throw in faeries for good measure. Bigfoot? Some kid's imaginary wookie friend. Chupacabras? Someone's chihuahua phobia given form by thought. I know that sounds appallingly reductionist, and I don't want to over-apply the idea until it is tested, but the whole Philip incident potentially puts a process "under a bell jar" that science can at least look at (assuming it isn't an elaborate hoax). This could be a bit of an accumulated weirdness jackpot, philosophically speaking. What say you "Beloved of Ra"?
 
Anonymous said:
I think that's a different Philip... here's the one I was thinking of:
maxpages.com/mapit/THE_CANADIAN_PHILIP_EXPERIMENT
Link is dead.
Click to expand...

It's the same Philip, but the 17th century bits represent the fictional back story the experiment's participants developed.

Here's the text of the MIA webpage to which the dead link above led ...

THE CANADIAN PHILIP EXPERIMENT
Compiled by S.Darroch

“Philip was an aristocratic Englishman living in the middle 1600's at the time of Oliver Cromwell. He had been a supporter of the king and was a Catholic. He was married to a beautiful but cold and frigid wife, Dorothea, the daughter of a neighbouring nobleman.

One day, when out riding on the boundaries of his estates, Philip came across a gypsy encampment and saw there a beautiful dark-eyed, raven-haired gypsy girl, Margo, and fell instantly in love with her.

He brought her back secretly to live in the gate-house near the stables of Diddington Manor - his family home. For some time he kept his love-nest secret, but eventually Dorothea, realizing he was keeping someone else there, found Margo, and accused her of witchcraft and of stealing her husband. Philip was too scared of losing his reputation and his possessions to protest at the trial of Margo, and she was convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake.

Philip subsequently was stricken with remorse that he had not tried to defend Margo and used to pace the battlements of Diddington in despair. Finally one morning his body was found at the foot of the battlements where he had cast himself in a fit of agony and remorse.”

This of course is a very tragic tale that contains many elements normally associated with reports of historical ghosts. It is however a complete fabrication.

The true story of ‘Philip’ is actually a remarkable experiment that was conducted in the early 1970’s by The Toronto Society Of Psychical Research. The purpose of the experiment was to see if a wholly fictious historical character - ghost could in fact manifest itself through the groups efforts of concentration on the bogus data.

Dr. A.R.G Owen, a member of the Department For Preventative Medicine and Biostatistics at the University of Toronto and psychic researcher who specialized in poltergeist cases was the group’s scientific advisor.

He is quoted in the introduction to “Conjuring Up Phillip” as saying, “It was essential to their purpose that Philip be a totally fictious character. Not merely a figament of the imagination but clearly and obviously so, with a biography full of historical errors.”

The opening paragraph of this article is the basic storyline that was concocted by one of the group’s members named only as “Sue” - a former nurse with the Canadian Armed Forces. Further details including a sketch were added on as the group discussed and immersed themselves in Philip’s invented biographical data.

Contradictions such as Philip being reincarnated several times yet also being seen walking the battlements of Diddington every century or so were carefully woven into the story. And while a Diddington Hall really does exist in Warckshire, England the group made sure that the real location’s history in no way resembled Philip’s home.

In essence the group sought to create a “collective hallucination” of Philip through subscribing to a common mental picture of him and his surroundings.They meditated on his appearance, his food preferences, and mostly his ‘feelings’ towards his wife Dorothea and his gypsy lover Margo.

The experiment went on for months with absolutely no success. The group would sit around a table and merely concentrate - much like the spiritualists of the 19th century. And then one day it just happened. There was a knock on the table, which at first was felt more than heard. All of the group’s eight members felt the vibration.

This was followed by a number of distinct knocks that were in fact heard and felt. Skeptical at first, the group felt that these knocks were perhaps inadvertently the result of one of the group’s participants. They quickly changed their minds when the table itself began to move around the room. When a startled member asked aloud, “I wonder whether Philip is doing this,” a loud knock was heard as if in response.

Philip, a made in Canada ghost had finally arrived. The group devised a plan in which one knock would signify a yes and two knocks would indicate a no. Soon after they began enjoying ‘spirited’ conversation with Philip.

This ‘entity’ that they apparently conjured up “exhibited likes and dislikes, had strong views on some subjects and was hesitant on others.” They questioned ‘him’ on his personal life. And once when an apparently too personal question was asked in regards to ‘his’ wife Dorothea loud scratching sounds were heard.

It was noted that the ghostly sounds and movements of the table seemed closely related to the thoughts of the group. If they were in agreement to what an answer should be the resulting ‘yes’ knock was quick and loud. If there were doubts amongst the group’s members the result would be a corresponding hesitation in the sounds.

As their experiment progressed the participants would engage in teasing and joking with Philip. The table movements and knocks became more frequent and it was reported that the table would occasionally rush up as if in greeting to latecomers and even trap members in the corner of the room! Philip apparently was the cause of lights turning off and on by themselves and other strange anomalies as well.

The experiment captured the attention of local media with group and ‘ghost’ featured on the CBC television show “Man Alive” as well as other talk shows of the day.

In conclusion the experimenters succeeded far beyond their wildest expectations. However, in the end they were never able to prove the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ behind Philip’s manifestation.Was Philip a direct result of the group’s collective subconscious or perhaps did they conjure an actual entity that simply latched onto the story? We may never be able to actually answer these questions in regards to this particular case.

However, the Philip phenomenon remains not only a groundbreaking experiment, but an important historical account of para-reasearch efforts in Canada.
Click to expand...

SALVAGED FROM: https://web.archive.org/web/2007021...ages.com/mapit/THE_CANADIAN_PHILIP_EXPERIMENT
 
AlchoPwn said:
I am not at all surprised. I did actually go searching before posting this, but found a fast travelling Buddhist lady in a kamikaze plane (nun-zero-zip). In truth I was surprised that I didn't find it. On the other hand, I think it is worth raising again for a couple of reasons...

For example, what if people are producing Tulpas unconsciously? If they become visible occasionally, they could account for some of the more bizarre cryptid sightings, and potentially aliens, ghosts, and gods as well; hey, throw in faeries for good measure. Bigfoot? Some kid's imaginary wookie friend. Chupacabras? Someone's chihuahua phobia given form by thought. I know that sounds appallingly reductionist, and I don't want to over-apply the idea until it is tested, but the whole Philip incident potentially puts a process "under a bell jar" that science can at least look at (assuming it isn't an elaborate hoax). This could be a bit of an accumulated weirdness jackpot, philosophically speaking. What say you "Beloved of Ra"?
Click to expand...

Reddit has threads on 'Accidental Tulpas' which you may enjoy.


I'd leave the light on at bedtime though.
 
I'm always equally fascinated and turned off by this experiment. I first read about it years ago and the above footage was a treat.

However, because I can create knocking and rapping on tables with my hands visible at all times, I take this with a pinch of salt. I can do table tipping and turning experiments and demonstrations without anyone knowing how I do it. There are methods which are now over 100 years old for making loud resonant raps on tables when the only thing you have on it is your fingers. No movement is observed yet the raps still come.

Mentalists and magicians have fooled scientists and psychologists before - we use the most basic of methods and tools. You wouldn't believe how easy it is to fool someone who expects something to happen.

For example: Steve Shaw, also known as Banachek, is a great Magician and Mentalist from the States. He worked on Washington University's Project Alpha from 1979 until 1983. Shaw replied to an ad by the University looking for psychics or people who could demonstrate a paranormal power. Shaw knew he couldn't but he had worked as a fake psychic before and thought that he could try to fool them. There he met Mike Edwards. Edwards had been sent there by James Randi, another magician who intended to show the flaws in studying parapsychology by planting a charlatan. It soon became apparent to Shaw that Edwards was faking it too. So they started faking it together.

They were both able to produce all manner of paranormal activity, over a period of several months, under clinical conditions. Everything was repeatable, video recorded and analysed. They bent metal, stopped clocks, affected the film in cameras, moved objects under sealed glass jars, stopped and started watches etc. The problem was, the better they got, the easier and more slack the scientists gave them. In the end, it was childs play.

The scientists in charge of the study were about to announce their amazing findings when they got wind of the hoax - Randi had mentioned something to somebody at a magical meeting and word had got back to them at the University. They cancelled the study and pointed the finger at James Randi. However, some still believed in Shaw and Edwards. They were asked to carry on by other scientists and spent the next few years travellling around the country, conducting experiments. Shaw continued to demonstrate amazing supernatural phenomena. Shaw worked very closely with one scientist and they became good friends. Shaw even mentioned feeling a little sorry for taking advantage of his gullability - he was so convinced everything was real, Shaw eventually had to come clean and explain how it was all achived. This obviously destroyed their friendship. The whole study fell apart and the research community was up in arms.

So, back on thread. If all Philip did was rap and tip tables then I'm not very professionally convinced. I can teach you all to do that in less than 10 minutes.

However, I love the idea of willing a spirit/poltergeist into existence. I might even use this as the narrative for a show/performance in the future.
 
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So, you're a stage magician. That makes you a potentially clued-in investigator of psychic phenomena. Good for you! While I have read a little on it, I can't even juggle, though I can do simple tricks like the old coin behind the ear for children. I did once fool an entire wicca circle by making a straw move "by mind powers". Hilarious.

Ringo said:
So, back on thread. If all Philip did was rap and tip tables then I'm not very professionally convinced. I can teach you all to do that in less than 10 minutes.
Click to expand...

I read that Philip made the table buck and jump about in other articles. Of course that isn't the same as real evidence. We saw that in the video.

Ringo said:
However, I love the idea of willing a spirit/poltergeist into existence. I might even use this as the narrative for a show/performance in the future.
Click to expand...

Hot damn! That is a great idea. I would love to see an act like that.
 
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AlchoPwn said:
So, you're a stage magician.
Hot damn! That is a great idea. I would love to see an act like that.
Click to expand...

Stage Mentalist. My speciality is recreating Victorian Seance parlour-shows but bringing them into the 21st century. Every show includes live demonstrations of "paranormal phenomena" - psychokinesis, objects levitating, seance work, psychic demonstrations, telepathy, clairvoyance, psychometry, spirit manifestations and automatic writing. For Halloween I branched out into Voodoo, curses and physical manifestations (voices, marks on my body etc).

I have "summoned" spirits (as in, fooled people) before but it would be a very interesting evening to gather a group in a room, allow them to create a back story for spirit and then conjour it up for them - so they actually can communicate and interact with a figment of their imaginations.
 
And as if by magic mentalism, behold - he has created such a show. I've called it "The Supernatural Experiment". So if anyone here speaks Swedish and can get to Stockholm in May then drop me a line.

The premise is a "parapsychological" experiment whereby the participants tune into the building and start to divine aspects/information from its past. We then manage to communicate with a trapped spirit (through my very own Spirit Cabinet!) before holding a dark seance and helping the sprit on the way. But there may be (there definitely is) a twist.

People are going to sh*t themselves when it all kicks off!
 
Ringo said:
And as if by magic mentalism, behold - he has created such a show. I've called it "The Supernatural Experiment". So if anyone here speaks Swedish and can get to Stockholm in May then drop me a line. The premise is a "parapsychological" experiment whereby the participants tune into the building and start to divine aspects/information from its past. We then manage to communicate with a trapped spirit (through my very own Spirit Cabinet!) before holding a dark seance and helping the sprit on the way. But there may be (there definitely is) a twist. People are going to sh*t themselves when it all kicks off!
Click to expand...
*mischievous giggle* That is excellent! Are you in Blighty? I would love to catch the show next time I am in-country, though I could not say when that will be. I seriously wish you the very best with this act Ringo, it sounds like something I would really enoy, and I bet I'm not alone.
 
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