On Friday 24th August I had the pleasure of attending the Supernatural in Contemporary Society Conference in Aberdeen. Mine were the only books purporting to be fiction on the display table. The rest were true accounts and academic studies. It was a two day conference, packed with twenty-one speakers. Due to prior commitments I could only attend the second day, so I shall restrict myself to discussing the lectures I managed to attend.
My own thoughts on the subject of the supernatural are slightly sceptic in that I neither totally believe in the existence or non-existence of the supernatural. I am drawn to the idea that we only perceive a tiny part of the information that surrounds us and if we are able to shift our perception (through meditation, trance, drugs or music etc) we can perceive things normally hidden to us. However, I am always fascinated in hearing stories from people who do believe, perhaps hoping that their credulity will rub off on me.
The speakers at this conference were a mix of academics and people who interact with ghosts for a living.
The first lecture was by Dr Tom Clark, entitled “The Devil Rides In: ‘Cinematic Satanism’, ‘the swinging sixties’, and the idea of evil in civil society”. His book “Sociology of Evil” is likely to be available in 2019.
The crux of his argument was easy to follow and agree with. Evil is the antithesis of current social structures. This is as opposed to Manichean Dualism, which views evil as an absolute. Clark tied this neatly into his study of a wave of Satanic films released in the UK and USA in the 1960’s and 70’s.
The witch, invariably portrayed as avenger or occult leader, was a direct response to patriarchal fears of women’s liberation. Witches were seen (like feminism) as corruptors of feminine purity. The heroes of these films were the men who saved women from themselves and in so doing reestablished patriarchy.
Dangerous children and children in danger, represented a young generation who were “hell-bent” on destroying the conservative established social order. Real life cases, such as Mary Bell (a precursor to the Jamie Bulger murder) a child who murdered two children and served twelve years in prison as a result, were perhaps at the helm of this moral panic.
The second lecture was by Dr Derek Johnston, entitled “History and Causality through the Television Ghost Story”.
This lecture discussed the ways in which the past (represented by ghosts) remains relevant in the present. As opposed to the usual way history is portrayed, centering on the rich and famous, the ghost story is history from the forgotten; a recurring cyclical interruption of linear time. He discussed two television dramas “The Living and the Dead” and “The Stone Tape”.
We had an amusing interlude with a presentation by Dr Christopher Bader about Bigfoot enthusiasts, but it was guilty joviality as we were put in our places at the end of the lecture by a member of the audience for laughing at people who believe one thing while listening with academic seriousness to the other lectures.
The fourth lecture was by Dr David Clarke about flying saucers and the way in which media reports altered the way people saw unusual objects in the sky, going so far as to potentially change their shapes (perhaps entirely by suggestion) to the famous saucer shape.
Filip Andjelkovich, presented us with the evidence of the Philip Experiment to suggest that psychic phenomena is a result of a group’s shared belief that works as a focal point even when they were aware that the subject was one they had invented themselves. Fascinatingly, “the group experienced an ‘increased social growth and self-confidence .. They felt more freedom to give voice to their opinions.’”
Professor Robin Wooffitt’s lecture, “Intimate entanglements and social action”, looked at whether poetic confluence might be the product of telepathic communication. Poetic confluence was defined as “a moment of social interaction in which one participant produces a spoken turn that exhibits a poetic relationship to a co-participant’ unspoken thoughts or unarticulated mental imagery.”
Alicia Edwards, discussed ghost tourism and the absence of ghosts of colour. Either she was a nervous speaker or my concentration waned at this point, because while her subject was probably one of the more fascinating ones of the day, I found her hard to follow. I plan to check the web for written sources from Edwards so I can fully understand the topic.
Dr Terence Palmer, was a real character. He challenged everyone to disbelieve that he had had personal contact with spirits and had helped them move on. His discussion was about a hospital group of psychics who released earthbound spirits. This intriguing man has written a book that he assures me is more terrifying than any horror, because it’s real. I hope to be able to tell you more about that with his permission at a later date.
Dr Leo Ruickbie explained the history and current work of The Society of Psychical Research.
The final lecture of the day was by a psychotherapist who performs exorcisms and offers therapy to spirits who have become entangled with living humans, who might have otherwise been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, but are in fact possessed. Paula Fenn called her practise “Spiritual Release Therapy”. I spoke to her before her lecture and she struck me as a highly intelligent, well balanced and sane individual. In view of this it was difficult to completely disregard her personal accounts with clients.
In eight hours we covered a diverse range of subjects and perspectives. My agnostic scepticism remains unbruised but I am fascinated by what I heard and driven to find out more. Congratulations to Robert Gordon University and Rachael Ironside for a fascinating, enlightening and serious event.
In case you are interested in finding out more I include a list of books that may be of interest.
A series of books on horror cinema called “Devil’s Advocates” is available from www.auteur.co.uk “Sociology of Evil”, Tom Clark (2019) “The Subliminal Self”, F.W.H. Myers “Ghost Hunting”, Dr Leo Ruickbie