The Paranormal Blog

Historian Chris Laursen has been busily preparing a two-and-a-half-month long project that gives people a chance to try out psychometry, the ability to perceive accurate information from objects merely by touching them.

Adventures in Psychometry, Part 1
by Chris Laursen

I’m taking a detour from my usual storytelling to tell you about a rather unique project that I am doing in the coming weeks. It is called the Psychometry Experiment, and you may have already read a bit about it here on the Paranormal Blog. I invite all of you who will be in the area to participate!

Psychometry, also known as “token-object reading,” is when people are able to divine accurate information merely by looking at or touching an object that belongs to someone they don’t know. It is well known that police departments have sometimes consulted with psychics on difficult cases, from missing persons to unsolved murders. At times, these consultants have employed psychometry, for instance taking a piece of clothing connected to the case which somehow gives them vivid impressions about someone’s whereabouts or who the killer is. It is hard to tally just how accurate this technique has been. Obviously, successes are highly publicized, and could very well be exaggerated by the consultant or their supporters. Police often downplay their use of psychics, though there are many cases where it is hard to deny that the impressions were helpful.

In more typical form, psychic readers use personal possessions from clients to get impressions. The problem with this has been that numerous supposed psychics have employed a form of cold reading in which they derive information through a clever series of remarks that start vague and, via the reaction of the client, become more specific. Such behaviour historically has delivered a nasty blow to the legitimacy of psychic ability.

In February, I wrote about a medium and PSICAN consultant, Elsie Lynn Leyland, who does psychometry readings with strict measures of control. I wrote: “When giving readings, she will turn her back to the sitter to ensure she does not pick up on their facial expressions. If doing psychometry, she receives items to read in a basket with a cloth lid, each item sealed in an envelope. She will pull the envelope out and open it to show the audience of sitters what the object is. Then, she turns her back to the audience for the majority of the reading. She has no idea who owns the object until the reading is completed.”

I found Lynn’s technique key in devising the concept for my own experiment on psychometry. In the experiment, which I am conducting through to July 15 in the Toronto, Hamilton and Niagara regions of Ontario, Canada, I have collected a variety of items from a diverse group of people. Each of these objects has special meaning to its owner - in other words, the owner could tell a good story about the object. It took some time to find people willing to part with objects that are special to them, especially people who would complete a vigorous questionnaire that probes their personal lives and the history of the object that they are submitting. The questionnaires they have completed help develop a story of what they have lent for the experiment, its meaning to them, as well as both objective and subjective questions about their lives. I even went as far as asking those lending objects to submit photographs of where they keep the object, their homes and the people in their lives.

Any of these details (and doubtlessly many more not accounted for) could come forth in the impressions people get from the objects. Initially, I will only compare the impressions people give with the documentation submitted, however, the objects’ owners will be privy to what every participant in the experiment said about their object, and may very well find details that pinpoints something not mentioned in the documentation submitted.

The completed documentation was sent by the lenders to a third party in another part of the country to hold on to until the experiment is complete so that I have no idea whatsoever the story behind each object or about the owner’s personal lives. I wouldn’t want anyone to read my mind to get the details, after all!

The experiment itself is being conducted in public locations in the coming weeks (see the below dates). Anyone can participate - from those who have never had an experience involving extra-sensory perception (ESP) to those who can control extra-sensory abilities.

The procedure is quite simple. You arrive at the location and fill out a brief questionnaire which asks you about your beliefs and personal experiences in regards to ESP. Then, you have half an hour in a private room to give your impressions on up to four objects. Time is limited to allow for a fair number of people to participate in these public dates, and I encourage participants to take their time. In terms of the data I collect, it is more valuable for someone to spent a good amount of time with one or two objects than rush through all four.

One by one, you open boxes and see what is inside. Then, closing your eyes, you take a few minutes to let impressions come to you. I ask participants to give their impressions honestly, for anything that comes to their mind may be accurate. And I ask them to give these impressions in as much detail as they can. Sometimes, nothing comes, at which point the participant moves on to the next object. Other times, the participant becomes very absorbed by the vivid impressions coming to them from one object.

After the experiment and into early autumn, I will be correlating these impressions with the documentation submitted by those who lent the objects. Each person who participates will be e-mailed summaries of the history of each object and a basic description of who its owner is, along with a comparison to the impressions they gave. (No one’s actual identity is revealed, including those who participate in the experiment.)

Ultimately, I will be writing about the process of doing this experiment, the results, and the history of how people have used psychometry.

I am not out to prove whether or not individuals have psychic ability. No doubt people with strong perceptive abilities may not get accurate impressions from these particular objects, while others will. And, likewise, those who have never knowingly experienced ESP may very well surprise themselves through this experiment. So far, those who have participated have commented on how relaxing the process is. They express a certain joy in connecting with other’s personal possessions.

That’s what fascinates me so much about looking at psychometry in a historical context. Somehow, we are all connected via history, and history resonates for us - even distant history. Objects are put in museums to carry this connection forth. People treasure family heirlooms in glass cabinets or on shelves in their homes. We keep pictures of those who we have loved who are now gone, and of long gone relatives or even historical figures who we never even met. There is a strong force that connects us to the past, and maybe, somehow, that force can be perceived through objects themselves.

Confirmed Psychometry Experiment dates:

SAT., MAY 19 – DUNDAS (Hamilton Area), Dundas Library

SAT., MAY 26 – MARKHAM, The Ancient Mystic

SAT., JUNE 2 & SUN., JUNE 3 – ST. CATHARINES (Niagara Region), St. Catharines Museum at Lock 3

SAT., JUNE 9 – TORONTO (East), The Beaches Library

* Check the below website for full details on dates.

To participate or for more information, visit the Psychometry Experiment website:

http://psychometry.psican.org