METAPSICHICA. — From the Greek μετὰ (beyond) and ψυχή (soul); in Italian also: metapsychology, parapsychology, metagnomics, psychical research. M. may be defined as a branch of experimental psychology concerned with non-pathological and not even normal, but paranormal, psychic phenomena—that is, those facts which, depending in some way on the psyche of the healthy individual, occur according to a mechanism other than the normal one (e.g., reading a sealed packet without the use of sight).
In order adequately to distinguish m. from experimental psychology, certain authors (e.g., E. Boirac, La psychologie inconnue, Paris 1912, p. 82; C. Richet, Traité de métaphysique, there 1922, p. 5; R. Soudre, Introduction à la métaphysique humaine, there 1926, p. 50) have assigned to the field of m. the study of rare, mysterious psychic phenomena, probably due to unknown faculties, which psychologists are not yet able to explain. This is not
enough for anyone who reflects that, apart from their mysterious nature, metapsychic facts cannot be considered rare. In 1900, in the United States and Canada, there seem to have been approximately ten thousand persons endowed with mediumistic faculties (E. Morselli, Psicologia e spiritismo, II, Turin 1908, pp. 528 ff.), and in 1913 there were said to be almost seven million spiritualists worldwide and 129 periodical publications devoted to the subject (L. Roure, Lo spiritismo davanti alla scienza e alla religione, Italian translation, Milan 1921, p. 332). From 1880 to the present, 150 groups of major metapsychic experiments of a statistical nature have been listed, corresponding to approximately five million individual experimental trials; Rhine and his collaborators alone have applied the statistical method to almost one million experiments (v. CHIAROVEGGENZA). On the other hand, m., with its numerous national and international societies, both private and university-based, devoted to the scientific promotion of such studies, with its imposing literature and the very numerous scientists who undertake this research using methods of unquestionable seriousness, demonstrates that it wishes to be an autonomous discipline and effectively assumes a specific object of study, at least from a practical point of view, which justifies its operational autonomy. Hence the definition given above.
THE PHENOMENA. — The phenomena that fall within the field of m. are usually divided into physical and psychic, with the qualification, however, that all possess a psychic characteristic, inasmuch as they occur only in the presence of a human being, always through his conscious or unconscious cooperation. Nevertheless, those facts are classified among the physical phenomena which, not necessarily manifesting the psychic characteristic in themselves, could, strictly speaking, also be produced by a purely material, that is, non-intelligent, cause (e.g., knocks on the table or walls when they do not correspond to a conventional language).
Among the physical phenomena are listed: raps (knocks, noises, scratchings, percussions); telekinetic phenomena (movements of objects without apparent contact, including the levitation of the medium or of one of those present [F. Bottazzi with the medium Eusapia Palladino, W. Crookes, J. Ochorowicz, A. F. von Schrenck-Notzing with the mediums W. and R. Schneider, F. Grunewald with the medium A. Rasmussen, E. Osty with the medium R. Schneider, W. Crawford with the medium Goligher, H. Price with the Schneiders, etc.]); luminous phenomena (flashes, phosphorescences, nebulae, flames, etc. [observed with the mediums E. Palladino, D. Home, W. Stainton Moses, S. Tomczyk, etc.]); variations in temperature (in objects and in the surrounding environment, cold draughts [apparently observed especially as currents of cold air with the mediums named in the preceding category]); chemical, magnetic, and electrical phenomena (variations in the current in a circuit, in the power of a magnet, etc. [various observations concerning different phenomena were carried out by F. Zollner, O. Murani, J. Ochorowicz, F. Grunewald, and others]); variations in weight (generally that of the medium, observed with balance or spring scales; at the end of the experiment the subject regains his normal weight [W. Crawford with the medium K. Goligher]); apports (the introduction of an object into an enclosed place [F. Zollner with the medium H. Slade, E. Morselli with the medium E. Palladino, Oliveira Feijao with the medium d'Andrade, etc.]); apparitions of ghosts (complete or otherwise; it should be borne in mind that such phenomena cannot be classified among the psychic phenomena, except when the apparition acts intelligently and purposefully [W. Crookes with the medium F. Cook, various experiments with the mediums E. Palladino, E. Carrière, L. Gazzera, d'Andrade, D. Home, F. Cook, Stainton Moses, Monck, Eglinton, Mad. d'Espérance, Fl. Marryat, O. Corralès, A. Collemann, Sambor, R. and W. Schneider, etc.]); ectoplasmy (by ectoplasm [etym. πλάσμα = figure, image, and εκτός = outside] is to be understood a « sui generis » substance emitted by the medium which, outside him, assumes various forms [that is, it « materializes »] and is, whether visible or not, the agent of kinetic actions at a distance and the « quid » of which ghosts are constituted [the mediums with whom the experiments were conducted are those in the preceding category, and many others as well; the experiments with Goligher are famous]); ectoplasmic actions upon matter (touching of those present, impressions of faces and hands in plastic materials, photographs of ectoplasm, displacement actions, etc.).
Among the psychic phenomena are: clairvoyance (v.); xenoglossy (speaking foreign languages absolutely unknown to the subject; not, however, repeating passages from memory, since they may already have been heard by the person who recalls them and brought back in a subconscious manner when particular psychic states arise in the subject); changes of personality (they must not be attributable to hysteria: the new personality must manifest a content foreign to that of the subject’s normal personality [cases studied by C. Richet, H. Azam, P. Janet, W. F. Prince, Morton Prince, T. Flournoy, W. Deanna, H. Sidgwick, O. Lodge, J. H. Hyalop, etc.]); knocks and sounds possessing intelligent and purposeful characteristics (it is not enough, in fact, that they be produced in some manner; they must consist of genuine musical passages or noisy actions interpretable as language by means of an agreed law; both, evidently, must be produced by the subject without physical contact with the musical instruments and the objects from which the noises arise); automatic writing (the subject writes not through his own will and intellect, but as though guided by an extrinsic intelligence; it is clear that what is written must convey knowledge normally impossible for the percipient); direct voices (these are not vocal noises, but authentic speeches and words; they are called « direct » because they occur independently of the medium and those present [mediums C. Centurione, G. Valiantine, « Margery », E. Roberts, etc.]); local infestations (paranormal events — noises, footsteps, ghosts, lights, telekinetic actions, etc. — that occur in a particular place — house, garden, street, room, etc. — and persist over time. They are classifiable as physical or psychic phenomena according to the aspect they present; they are often mixed).
CRITICAL ASSESSMENT. — Given that the purpose of science is to derive from facts the laws that govern them, the primary necessity is to work with authentic facts; yet no field, in this respect, is as unreliable as that of metapsychics, because of the great mass of experiments which, on the other hand, generally offer minimal certainty of authenticity, owing to the very nature of the phenomena, which cannot be repeated at will and under the same circumstances, to the mysterious and occult character of the facts, and to the amateurism of many incompetent practitioners, which creates an enormous body of documentation almost wholly devoid of scientific value. Moreover, such an extraordinary phenomenology demands greater guarantees than those required in other sciences, and the facts adduced must enjoy not a subjective and private certainty, but a public and scientific one, similar to that which exists in support of innumerable phenomena and laws of physics. Yet precisely in the field of metapsychics, exaggeration, credulity, self-interest, and trickery play an enormous role. It is enough to consider how such men as C. Richet, W. Crookes, and A. F. von Schrenck-Notzing were deceived and remained convinced that no deception existed (in this respect V. specialmente: C. M. de Eredia, Spiritism and common sense, 2ª ed., Nuova York 1922; A. Zacchi, Lo spiritismo e la sopravvivenza dell'anima, Roma 1922; F. M. Palmés, Metapsíquica y espiritismo, 2ª ed., Barcellona 1950).
One must not, however, fall into the opposite exaggeration of denying everything; indeed, it seems impossible that an edifice such as metapsychics is today should be founded upon nothing. It may therefore be affirmed that there is a scientific certainty of a generic and relative value, that is, concerning the overall paranormal character of the phenomena (whereas it is more difficult to determine which facts, among the categories listed above, are worthy of belief), owing to modern methods of control, employed especially in well-equipped university laboratories.
With regard to psychic phenomena, clairvoyance (v.) certainly enjoys scientific certainty. Especially after the experiments of J. B. Rhine, every doubt appears impossible. Premonition, however, leaves room for serious doubts, particularly when future events dependent upon man's free will are involved. Certain facts, nevertheless, must be admitted; but their number is, to date, so small that it cannot provide the required certainty. There is almost no certainty concerning xenoglossy and direct voices; somewhat greater certainty concerning automatic writing; and still greater concerning purposeful raps. In any case, the balance is meagre.
HYPOTHESES AND THEIR EVALUATION. - After such conclusions, it is easy to assess the importance of hypotheses intended to explain the phenomena; if they are generally worth less than facts, when the latter are worth so little, hypotheses are worth almost nothing.
Among the various hypotheses advanced, noteworthy is the spiritistic one, according to which the phenomena, or at least many of them, would be due to the disembodied souls of the dead. It is true that a certain number of facts occur, assuming them to be true, as though the agent were a deceased person. But so far it has not been possible scientifically to establish the identification of the cause of the phenomena with a deceased person (the proofs adduced are puerile; v., p. es.: O. Lodge, Raymond or Life and Death, London 1917); the whole question involved here will be studied in SPIRITISMO.
Another hypothesis is that telekinetic phenomena, raps, materializations, etc. would depend on special energies and substances emitted by the medium’s body. These are perhaps probable hypotheses; yet, to this day, every attempt to capture such energies and substances has proved vain. Some positive results do not withstand serious examination (the experiments of W. Crookes with F. Cook, of A. F. von Schrenck-Notzing with M. Béraud [Eva Carrière], of W. Crawford with K. Goligher, of G. Geley with Kluski, etc., offer no assurance whatsoever). The matter, therefore, is still « sub judice ». The phenomena of poltergeist (from the German poltern = to make a noise and Geist = spirit), of the same kind as “local hauntings,” except that the disturbing entity is noisy and mischievous in nature, have been explained, among other ways, by means of the so-called “psychometric” hypothesis (E. Bozzano), according to which the personalities of the living would leave permanent “traces” in the places where they have dwelt and lived; these “traces,” under special conditions and under the influence of particular psychic actions of those who subsequently came to live in the same place, produce objective revivals of a noisy and fantastic character. The hypothesis is not entirely without foundation. Another theory (T. Zollner, G. B. Bernard), intended especially to explain phenomena of apport, is that of the “fourth dimension”; according to this doctrine (improperly based on the thought of A. Einstein), objects would be capable of entering or leaving an enclosed place by moving along the aforesaid fourth dimension. If one considers that this fourth dimension is time, it becomes evident that this hypothesis has no basis; the error consists in regarding the fourth dimension as being of the same nature as the three spatial dimensions. Laymen are led into error by the fact that, in mathematical formulations, time, considered only in its purely numerical metric properties, can be assimilated to the dimensions of space; but these are, obviously, mathematical schemes far removed from the integral physical reality of things. Other explanatory hypotheses are of lesser importance (v. phenomenon). Rather, the conclusion is that one proceeds in the dark. In this respect, the book by H. Price (Ghost Hunting, Milan 1937) is striking, in which the author—an exceedingly authoritative scholar of m. and president of the “National Laboratory of Psychical Research” of the University of London—sums up his long years of experience in an uncertainty as humorous as it is desolate. It is therefore surprising to see scholars of merit (e.g., E. Servadio, W. Mackenzie, etc.) assert as absolutely true phenomena in favour of which there is not even a glimmer of scientific certainty.
MORAL EVALUATION. - From a practical point of view, the experiences of m. are to be discouraged for anyone who lacks serious preparation and a firm, balanced disposition; indeed, the occult character of the phenomena, the apparatus within which they are supposedly produced, and the mentality of those who engage in these experiments can quickly lead to infatuation, fanaticism, an imbalance of organic functions, and mental disorganization. Unfortunately, the cases are numerous. Moreover, the not-excluded possibility of coming into contact, through such practices, with evil spirits (demons) further aggravates their illicit character. It is true that m. falls outside the Church’s decrees against spiritism and necromancy, so that, in its case, there does not seem to be any positive prohibition (unless, in fact, the experiences are identified with spiritistic practices). Nevertheless, since studies and, above all, experiments in m. may prove harmful to an individual’s mental equilibrium and religious faith, they remain prohibited to him by natural law and positive divine law (no one may, without just cause, place his own physical and spiritual health in danger); it is therefore advisable that the faithful, before undertaking experiences in m., consult the ecclesiastical authority and obtain its permission. Indeed, it must be remembered that the step from m. to spiritism is a short one (v. Roma).
HISTORY. — It remains only to give a few notes on the history of m. From the dawn of humanity there has been discussion of the evocation of the dead (Book of the Dead; Deut. 18:9–12; I Reg. 28; Herodotus, I, 92; Pausanias, III, 17; Plutarch, De sera numinis vindicta, X, XVII; Cicero, Tusc., I, 8; Horace, Satire, I, 8; Pliny, Hist. nat., XL, 5; Tacitus, Annal., II, 28; Tertullian, Apol., XXIII; Lactantius, Div. instit., IV, 27; Gregory Nazianzen, C. Julian., XCII; etc.). Necromantic practices and customs are found in every period and place, among both savage and civilized peoples; but modern spiritism began with the experiments of Mesmer and, more particularly, with those of the Fox sisters in Hydesville (USA, 1848). In a short time the evocation of the dead spread everywhere; almost simultaneously, however, there were men who attempted to detach research from the spiritistic hypothesis, in order to study it with minds free from prejudice, seeking its objective cause, whatever it might be. Thus m., or scientific psychical research, arose, and gradually the corresponding private and state institutions, university-affiliated or otherwise, devoted to such studies and equipped with special experimental laboratories. The following may be mentioned: the “National Laboratory of Psychical Research,” attached to the University of London; the “Laboratory of Parapsychology” of Duke University at Durham, North Carolina; the “Society for Psychical Research” of London (SRP, 1882); the “American Society for Psychical Research” (Boston, 1885); the “Institut métapsychique international” (Paris, 1919); the “Società italiana di m.” (SIM, 1941), etc. Nevertheless, despite these Institutes and the best intentions on the part of researchers, m. has even today emerged only to a small extent from the sphere of vulgar empiricism and spiritism; consequently, alongside serious publications and experiments, there has accumulated a mass of worthless studies and writings, capable of confusing minds and bringing discredit upon this research.
Principal journals and periodical publications on m.: Annales des sciences psychiques (monthly journal founded in 1891 by Ch. Richet); Revue métapsychique (it is the continuation of the preceding journal and the official organ of the « Institute métapsychique international » of Paris); Proceedings (almost 50 volumes published by the « Society for Psychical Research » of London); Journal of the Society for Psychical Research of London (monthly journal intended solely for members); Proceedings (the first volume appeared in 1907; it is published by the « American Society for Psychical Research » of Boston, U.S.A.); Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research of Boston, U.S.A. (New York); La ricerca psichica (formerly « Luce e ombra », monthly journal founded in Rome in 1900; since 1932 published in Milan); Zeitschrift für Parapsychologie (formerly « Psychische Studien », monthly journal founded in Berlin in 1874); Zeitschr. für metapsychische Forschung (monthly journal published in Leipzig). Alighiero Tondi