FROM THE

AUTHOR OF
Professor Richard Wiseman started his working life as an
award-winning professional magician. After completing
an initial degree in psychology, he spent four years test-
ing psychics and mediums as part of his doctorate at the
Koestler Parapsychology Unit, Edinburgh University. For
the past twenty years he has investigated the psychology of
the paranormal, spending sleepless nights in haunted castles,
investigating gurus in India, attempting to talk with the
dead, and examining psychic dogs. Professor Wiseman has
published over fifty academic papers on the paranormal and
is a fellow of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of
Claims of the Paranormal. He has spoken at The Royal Soci-
ety, Microsoft, Caltech, Google, and The Royal Institution.
Over a million people have taken part in Professor Wiseman’s
mass participation experiments, and his YouTube channel has
received over 10 million views. A survey conducted by Times
Higher Education revealed that he was the psychologist most
frequently quoted in the British media. Professor Wiseman is
also listed as a ‘must follow’ scientist by The Celebrity Twitter
Directory, and in 2010 the Independent on Sunday named
him as one of the top 100 people who make Britain a better
place to live.

www.paranormalitybook.com

www.richardwiseman.com

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Professor Richard Wiseman

PARANORMALITY
Why We See What Isn’t There

MACMILLAN
TALKING WITH
THE DEAD
It is 10 p.m. and we are just about to start the session. Ten
unsuspecting members of the public and I are sitting around
a wooden table in the front room of a house in London’s
East End. The room is in near darkness, illuminated only by
a couple of candles on the mantelpiece. I ask everyone to lean
forward and place their fingertips lightly on the tabletop, take
a deep breath and call upon the spirits to join us. Nothing
happens. I tell everyone not to become dispirited and to sus-
pend any scepticism that they might have. Once again I speak
into the darkness and ask the spirits to make their presence
known by moving the table. After a short time the table gives
a small, but real, shudder. It is a good sign, and I have a hunch
that we are all in for an interesting night.
Over the course of the next 30 minutes the table shudders
several more times. A man in the group then says that he is
going to have to nip to the toilet. As he stands up, the tabletop
emits a tremendous creaking sound and suddenly tips up on
two legs. It is a dramatic movement, and it feels as if someone
has kicked the table from below. Several people in the group
scream and the man decides that perhaps his trip to the toilet
isn’t that important after all. All four legs of the table return
to the ground and the table starts to skid from one side of the
room to the other, sometimes pinning members of the group
to the wall. After about an hour the movements suddenly
cease and we solemnly thank the spirits for making their pres-

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 TALKING WITH THE DEAD

ence known. The candles are blown out, the lights are turned
on, everyone discusses the strange events that they have just
experienced, and the man finally gets to go to the toilet.
I have staged many such séances over the years and the
results are always the same. Regardless of whether the group
consists of believers or sceptics, the table always moves. Even
if everyone takes turns removing their fingers from the table-
top, the table continues to tip and shake.
Table-tipping was first practised in Victorian parlours
throughout Britain, and the phenomenon is as puzzling to
the modern-day mind as it was to those living then. But when
it comes to talking with the dead, table-tipping is just the tip
of the iceberg. In other types of séance, the Victorians asked
the deceased to spell out messages by moving an upturned
glass towards alphabet cards and even to scribble words
directly onto pieces of paper. Investigations into these curi-
ous phenomena yielded surprising insights into the power of
the unconscious mind, the fundamental nature of free will,
and how to be a better golfer.

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PARANORMALITY

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TALKING WITH THE DEAD

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 PARANORMALITY

Extracted from PARANORMALITY: Why we see what isn’t there by Professor Richard Wiseman,
published by Macmillan @ £12.99.

Copyright # Richard Wiseman 2011