Based on ten years of research into the paranormal debate, here the author asks whether agreement on unexplained phenomena can ever be obtained? With the tendency to demonise those who believe differently from oneself, the author demonstrates that fruitful dialogue is difficult to achieve, but not impossible. Through a detailed examination of the participants, issues, strategies and underlying factors that constitute the contemporary paranormal debate, the book explores the struggle surrounding the status of paranormal phenomena and its comprehension. It examines, on the one hand, how the principal arbiters of religious and scientific truths - the Church and the academic establishment - reject paranormal ideas as "occult" and "pseudo-scientific", and how, on the other hand, paranormal enthusiasts attempt to resist such labels and instead establish paranormal ideas as legitimate knowledge. This book is written for academics and learned readers interested in religious studies, postmodern sociology, New Age spirituality and paranormal research.
"... a classic contribution" - Professor Stanley Krippner
"... this is fascinating" - Dr Dean Radin
"...this was an unusually enjoyable and enlightening book" - Professor Barry Markovsky
Professional Reviews
Ectoplasm, poltergeists and a bit of holy S&M
"For reasons that sociologist Jeremy Northcote lays bare, the truth about phenomena called paranormal is elusive. ...This book...will help readers navigate rough waters in the quest for big truths." - Dr Michael Grosso, University of Virginia. The Times Higher Education Supplement, 1 June 2007.
Entangled Minds
"I recommend this 2007 book by Jeremy Northcote... I'm grateful to Northcote for publishing this book..., because if he hadn't done so, I would have been motivated to write a similar book myself." - Dean Radin's Blog, http://deanradin.blogspot.com/, 24 February 2008
Metapsychology Online Reviews
"Northcote walks us through the changes in practices and behaviors regarding the supernatural from the Medieval and Enlightenment eras to current dialogue and controlled experiments on paranormal experiences and events. ...Anyone can pick up this work and keep track of the argument while Northcote threads together theories and patterns of discursive practices on the supernatural across disciplines. ...Northcote should be praised for his courage and integrity to pursue such a risky subject matter." - Chris Rawls, MA, Metapsychology Online Reviews, http://metapsychology.mentalhelp.net, 30 October 2007
In today’s secular environment the two worlds of science and spirituality are alien worlds, distinguished primarily by a deep-seated antagonism in which the principles of spirituality and the pragmatism of modern science exist face to face in a peren
