ASPR - Psi & Anthropology:
Cross Cultural Perspectives Conference

Presentations from the Psi and Anthropology Conference are available on video and audio tapes (except where noted).



Australian Aborigines and the Paranormal

Reports of paranormal phenomena among the Australian Aborigines abound. Virtually every account of early white settlers meeting Aborigines cites some putative paranormal phenomena. These include: walking on fire, use of a magical cord to travel to the tops of trees, de- and re-materializing, traveling faster than persons can normally run, clairvoyance, diagnosis and healing, and reading signs, among other phenomena.

Hoyt Edge, Ph.D. is a Professor of Philosophy at Rollins College. He has studied the paranormal for over twenty years. He began a study of the Australian Aborigines in 1982. Dr. Edge is co-editor of Philosophical Dimensions of Parapsychology, and co-author of Foundations of Parapsychology. His latest book, A Constructive Postmodern Perspective on Self and Community (Edwin Mellen Press, 1994), discusses some of the philosophical conclusions based on his study of the Aborigines.

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Altered States of Consciousness in Southeast Asian Healing Practices

Manifestations of altered states of consciousness are integral to the healing traditions of Southeast Asia. Dr. Heinze discusses how the "supernatural" and the "natural" are conceptualized in these healing traditions. She compares the insights of Western Psychological anthropology and comparative religion with her Southeast Asian field data. Her presentation explores the richness of supernatural phenomena in Southeast Asia.

Ruth-Inge Heinze, Ph.D. received her B.A. in Anthropology, and her Masters and a Doctorate in Asian Studies from the University of California, Berkeley, and is presently Research Associate at the Center for Southeast Asia Studies. She is Founder and National Director of Independent Scholars of Asia, Inc. Dr. Heinze has been exploring different states of consciousness and alternative modes of healing in 22 Asian countries, Europe and the USA for the last 35 years. She speaks nine languages and has published six books and more than 100 essays in professional journals.

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The Role of Psi in Native American Dreamworking

After examining the literature on dreamworking in sixteen pre-conquest Native American tribes it became apparent that their models of dreaming were sophisticated and holistic. A ten facet model proposed by Montague Ullman was utilized for descriptive purposes. This model inquires as to the source of dreams, the functions of dreams, the roll of the dreamworker, the techniques of dreamworking and many other aspects of dreaming for the individual and the culture. Such psi processes as precognition and clairvoyance were an integral part of Native American dreamworking before the arrival of the Europeans, and stand in marked contrast to recent Western approaches to dreams. Dreams served many practical purposes such as healing and discovering food resources, in addition to reinforcing tribal myths and visionary experiences.

Stanley Krippner, Ph.D. is Professor of Psychology at the Saybrook Institute in San Francisco and an ASPR Trustee. He is known internationally for his important contributions to parapsychology and healing research. He is author and co-author of numerous articles and books, including Dream Telepathy (McFarland, 1989), Healing States (Simon & Schuster, 1986), The Realms of Healing (Celestial Arts, 1976), and Spiritual Dimensions of Healing (Irvington, 1992).

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