Annual Convention of Parapsychologists was held in Paris in July 2010

The principal international scientific organization studying the nature of consciousness, the Parapsychological Association (PA), held its 53rd annual convention in Paris, France on July 22-25, 2010. Members of the PA who are engaged in the study of psychic (psi) experiences, including extrasensory perception (ESP) , psychokinesis (PK), psychic healing, precognition and survival of bodily death. Leading scientists and scholars from universities and laboratories around the world gathered to present and discuss their latest research findings on these sometimes controversial, but always fascinating, aspects of human consciousness.

Sally Rhine Feather, John Palmer, Sandra Shelton and Annette LePoris attended the conference. The event featured over 30 presentations on a variety of parapsychological topics. Sally Rhine Feather presented the results of a survey on psychokinesis conducted at the the Rhine Research Center by Dr. Feather and Dr. Christine Simmonds-Moore, a Research Associate at the Rhine Research Center.

Other presentations included historical and case studies of mediums, including a neuroimaging study of mediumistic trance, the effects of geomagnetic activity on psi, meditation and psychic functioning, anomalous mental phenomena studied in South America and Tibet, telephone telepathy, psychokinetic experiences, and the application of psi in archeology.
The convention’s keynote speaker was Paul Devereux, managing editor and co-founder of the peer-reviewed publication, Time & Mind - The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture. A research associate at the Royal College of Art and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Devereux was a Senior Research Fellow with the International Consciousness Research Laboratories (ICRL) in Princeton for twelve years. He has written 27 books since 1979. His latest work, Sacred Geography, a look at ancient and traditional mindscapes, is due out in October 2010.
Other notable speakers included Russell Targ, a physicist and author who was a pioneer in the development of the laser and laser applications, and is best known in parapsychology for his pioneering research on "remote viewing," a form of ESP, sponsored by U.S. government intelligence agencies in the 1970s and 1980s. The winner of PA’s 2009 Career Award, Targ’s invited address was titled, Why I am absolutely convinced of the reality of psychic abilities, and why you should be, too. Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at Saybrook University, fellow of the American Psychological Association, and author of numerous articles and books on dreams, hypnosis, altered states of consciousness, led a workshop on psi and creativity. Sally Rhine Feather was the recipient of the PA's 2010 Outstanding Career Award.

The conference was hosted by the Institut Métapsychique International and held at Enclos Rey in Paris.

About the Parapsychological Association:

The Parapsychological Association is the international professional organization of scientists and scholars engaged in the study of consciousness-related experiences and phenomena known as 'psi'’ (or 'psychic') experiences. The primary objective of such studies is to achieve a scientific understanding of these experiences. The PA was first established in 1957, and has been an affiliated organization of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) since 1969. It provides an international forum for scholarly exchange through annual conferences, generally held in North America or in Europe, and through the publication of its Mindfield bulletin. There are approximately 300 PA members around the world.

Photos courtesy of Sandra Shelton