Psychometry
Encyclopedia
Psychometry also known as token-object reading, or psychoscopy, is a form of extra-sensory perception
characterized by the claimed ability to make relevant associations from an object of unknown history by making physical contact with that object. Supporters assert that an object may have an energy field that transfers knowledge regarding that object's history.
Psychometry is commonly offered at psychic
fairs as a type of psychic reading
. At New Age
events psychometry has claimed to help visitors "meet the dearly departed" (a form of spiritualism
).
Although many police departments around the world have released official statements saying that they do not regard psychics as credible or useful on cases,, psychics claim that they have functioned as psychic detectives
and used psychometry for law enforcement.
) in 1842. Buchanan came up with the idea that all things give off an emanation
.
Buchanan asserted that his particular psychism would supersede empiric science. He wrote a comprehensive treatise, Manual of Psychometry: the Dawn of a New Civilization (1885), detailing how the direct knowledge of psychometry would be applied to and affect the many various branches of science. It also would elevate the various schools of philosophy and arts thereby affecting wide social change and ultimately an enlightenment of humanity:
Buchanan continued to promote psychometry throughout his life and his followers believed that it would revolutionize science in a comprehensive way as "the dawn of a new civilization". Other spiritualism
-based scientists built upon Buchanan's theories such as Stephen Pearl Andrews
who promoted Psychometry along with his own new science of Universology
. As a lecturer Andrews asserted that such inquiries, as paraphrased by a 1878 New York Times article, "demonstrated that the sympathy between the mind and body is an exact science".
In the later nineteenth century demonstrations of psychometry became a popular part of stage acts and séance
s; with participants providing a personal object for "reading" by a medium
or psychic.
, Ever can touch people and know their thoughts and past actions. The Goth series by Katie Maxwell
features a psychometrist as the main character, Fran. In the Maximum Ride
book series the character Nudge has psychometric abilities. In the novel The Witching Hour
, the first of Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches trilogy, protagonist Michael Curry receives the power of psychometry. In the novel The Dead Zone
(1979) by Stephen King, Johnny Smith
uses his newfound psychometric powers to help the police in solving many cases. In the young adult fiction Dark Visions Trilogy
(1994–1995), by L. J. Smith
, the character Laurie Frost has the ability of psychometry. In the Fingerprints series of youth novels (2001–2002) by Melinda Metz
, the character Rachel "Rae" Voight can receive the thoughts and emotions of others by touching the fingerprints left on a object handled by them. The light novel
series Katanagatari
by Nisio Isin
boasts a psychometrist by the name of Kawauso Maniwa, one of the 12 Maniwa Ninja Corps Heads.
In the 1988 movie Vibes, Jeff Goldblum
plays a psychometrist. In the 1994 film, The Crow
, Brandon Lee
plays a spirit of vengeance with psychometric powers. In the 2009 action film Push, psychics called Sniffs can relive a person's past and their location by touching or sniffing objects. In The Meteor Man
, Jefferson Reed (Robert Townsend) gains various superhuman powers from a meteorite
, including to ability to psychometrically and psychosomatically
memorize by touch the contents of a book.
In the 2003 HBO television series Carnivàle
, Professor Lodz can read thoughts and dreams through contact with a person or object. Creating visions by touching objects is also displayed in Charmed
and Medium
. In the television series Chuck
(2007- ), the main character has the ability to 'Flash', or have a memory blast when coming into contact with or sighting something. On the superhero comedy-drama The Greatest American Hero
(1981–1983), the lead character possesses psychometric powers when wearing his super-suit. Kaos, the son of mad scientist Desty Nova in Yukito Kishiro
's Battle Angel Alita
appears as a very unusual psychometrist in that not only can he read the memories of objects but can also absorb the talents and skills necessary for their creation.
A number of comic book characters exhibit psychometric powers, including Longshot
, Adrienne Frost
and Terror
, all of whom appear in books published by Marvel Comics
. Many field agents featured in Mike Mignola
's Hellboy
series have this ability. Characters appearing in Japanese manga
and anime
that possess psychometric abilities include Chiba Mamoru from Sailor Moon
, Olivier Davis from a Ghost Hunt
, and Kaos, the radio DJ from Battle Angel Alita
.
Extra-sensory perception
Extrasensory perception involves reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses but sensed with the mind. The term was coined by Frederic Myers, and adopted by Duke University psychologist J. B. Rhine to denote psychic abilities such as telepathy, clairaudience, and...
characterized by the claimed ability to make relevant associations from an object of unknown history by making physical contact with that object. Supporters assert that an object may have an energy field that transfers knowledge regarding that object's history.
Psychometry is commonly offered at psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
fairs as a type of psychic reading
Psychic reading
A psychic reading is a specific attempt to discern information with clairvoyance and the resulting statements made during such an attempt. The term is commonly associated with paranormal-based consultation given for a fee in such settings as over the phone, in a home, or at psychic fairs...
. At New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
events psychometry has claimed to help visitors "meet the dearly departed" (a form of spiritualism
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
).
Although many police departments around the world have released official statements saying that they do not regard psychics as credible or useful on cases,, psychics claim that they have functioned as psychic detectives
Psychic Detectives
Psychic Detectives or Psychic Investigators is a television program produced by StoryHouse Productions for Court TV, as of 2006 in its 5th season. The program documents real-life cases of situations in which police departments have enlisted the aid of psychics in solving difficult cases...
and used psychometry for law enforcement.
History
Joseph Rodes Buchanan coined the word "psychometry" (measuring the soulSoul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
) in 1842. Buchanan came up with the idea that all things give off an emanation
Emanationism
Emanationism is an idea in the cosmology or cosmogony of certain religious or philosophical systems. Emanation, from the Latin emanare meaning "to flow from" or "to pour forth or out of", is the mode by which all things are derived from the First Reality, or Principle...
.
The Past is entombed in the Present! The world is its own enduring monument; and that which is true of its physical, is likewise true of its mental career. The discoveries of Psychometry will enable us to explore the history of man, as those of geology enable us to explore the history of the earth. There are mental fossils for psychologists as well as mineral fossils for the geologists; and I believe that hereafter the psychologist and the geologist will go hand in hand — the one portraying the earth, its animals and its vegetation, while the other portrays the human beings who have roamed over its surface in the shadows, and the darkness of primeval barbarism! Aye, the mental telescope is now discovered which may pierce the depths of the past and bring us in full view of the grand and tragic passages of ancient history!
Buchanan asserted that his particular psychism would supersede empiric science. He wrote a comprehensive treatise, Manual of Psychometry: the Dawn of a New Civilization (1885), detailing how the direct knowledge of psychometry would be applied to and affect the many various branches of science. It also would elevate the various schools of philosophy and arts thereby affecting wide social change and ultimately an enlightenment of humanity:
The thermometer measures caloric (thermo temperature). The barometer measures the weight (baro, weight) of the atmosphere; the electrometer measures electric conditions; the psychometer measures the soul (psyche). In the case of Psychometry, however, the measuring assumes a new character, as the object measured and the measuring instrument are the same psychic element, and its measuring power is not limited to the psychic as it was developed in the first experiments, but has appeared by successive investigation to manifest a wider and wider area of power, until it became apparent that this psychic capacity was really the measure of all things in the Universe.
Buchanan continued to promote psychometry throughout his life and his followers believed that it would revolutionize science in a comprehensive way as "the dawn of a new civilization". Other spiritualism
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
-based scientists built upon Buchanan's theories such as Stephen Pearl Andrews
Stephen Pearl Andrews
Stephen Pearl Andrews was an American individualist anarchist and author of several books on Individualist anarchism.-Early life and work:...
who promoted Psychometry along with his own new science of Universology
Universology
Universology literally means "the science of the universe." Popularizing universologic science was a life's work for 19th century intellectual Stephen Pearl Andrews, a futurist utopian. The word can be used synonymously with consilience, a term Edward Osborne Wilson has popularized with his...
. As a lecturer Andrews asserted that such inquiries, as paraphrased by a 1878 New York Times article, "demonstrated that the sympathy between the mind and body is an exact science".
In the later nineteenth century demonstrations of psychometry became a popular part of stage acts and séance
Séance
A séance is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word "séance" comes from the French word for "seat," "session" or "sitting," from the Old French "seoir," "to sit." In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, speak of "une séance de cinéma"...
s; with participants providing a personal object for "reading" by a medium
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
or psychic.
In fiction
In Evermore by Alyson NoelAlyson Noel
Alyson Noël is an American author writing from her home in Orange County, California.-Biography:Noel was raised in Orange County and attended Richard Nixon Elementary School for two years. She lived in Mykonos, Greece after leaving her high school, Troy High School...
, Ever can touch people and know their thoughts and past actions. The Goth series by Katie Maxwell
Katie MacAlister
Katie MacAlister is a Seattle-area author of fiction and non-fiction. Her most popular titles are historical, contemporary, and paranormal romance. She also writes young-adult books under the pseudonym Katie Maxwell and mysteries under the pseudonym Kate Marsh.MacAlister's contemporary and...
features a psychometrist as the main character, Fran. In the Maximum Ride
Maximum Ride
Maximum Ride is a series of young adult science fiction and fantasy novels by American author James Patterson. The series chronicles the lives of six fugitive kids – Max, Fang, Iggy, Gasman, Nudge, and Angel – known collectively as the Flock...
book series the character Nudge has psychometric abilities. In the novel The Witching Hour
The Witching Hour (novel)
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice is the first novel in her series "Lives of the Mayfair Witches." The novel begins the tale of a family of witches, and a spirit that has guided their fortunes for generations.-Plot summary:...
, the first of Anne Rice's Mayfair Witches trilogy, protagonist Michael Curry receives the power of psychometry. In the novel The Dead Zone
The Dead Zone (novel)
The Dead Zone is a horror novel by Stephen King published in 1979. It concerns Johnny Smith, who is injured in an accident and enters a coma for nearly five years. When he emerges, he can see horrifying secrets but cannot identify all the details in his "dead zone", an area of his brain that...
(1979) by Stephen King, Johnny Smith
Johnny Smith (Dead Zone)
John Smith is a fictional character and the main protagonist originally appearing in the Stephen King novel, The Dead Zone, then in the film and the television series of the same name.-Novel:...
uses his newfound psychometric powers to help the police in solving many cases. In the young adult fiction Dark Visions Trilogy
Dark Visions Trilogy
Dark Visions is a trilogy of young adult fiction by L. J. Smith written in the mid- 1990s. The story follows the protagonist, Kaitlyn Fairchild, as she attends, uncovers a plot, and ultimately defeats the Zetes Institute, a place where she went to learn about her own psychic powers...
(1994–1995), by L. J. Smith
L. J. Smith (author)
Lisa Jane Smith, known professionally as L.J. Smith, is an American author of young-adult literature. Her books, which combine elements of the genres of supernatural, horror, science fiction/fantasy, and romance, are populated with young and apparently young human and supernatural characters...
, the character Laurie Frost has the ability of psychometry. In the Fingerprints series of youth novels (2001–2002) by Melinda Metz
Melinda Metz
Melinda Metz is an American author of young adult books. Her series Roswell High, about teenage aliens, is the basis of The WB television series Roswell. Another series, Fingerprints, is about a psychic girl who reads thoughts from fingerprints...
, the character Rachel "Rae" Voight can receive the thoughts and emotions of others by touching the fingerprints left on a object handled by them. The light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
series Katanagatari
Katanagatari
is a Japanese light novel series written by Nisio Isin and illustrated by Take. The series is published by Kodansha under the Kodansha Box imprint. An anime adaptation by White Fox began airing on January 25, 2010 and consisted of 12 episodes. The story revolves around the collection of twelve...
by Nisio Isin
Nisio Isin
, frequently written as NisiOisiN to emphasize that his pen name is a palindrome, is a Japanese novelist and manga writer. He attended and left Ritsumeikan University without graduating. In 2002, he debuted with the novel , which earned him the 23rd Mephisto Award at twenty years of age...
boasts a psychometrist by the name of Kawauso Maniwa, one of the 12 Maniwa Ninja Corps Heads.
In the 1988 movie Vibes, Jeff Goldblum
Jeff Goldblum
Jeffrey Lynn "Jeff" Goldblum is an American actor. His career began in the mid-1970s and he has appeared in major box-office successes including The Fly, Jurassic Park and its sequel Jurassic Park: The Lost World, and Independence Day...
plays a psychometrist. In the 1994 film, The Crow
The Crow (film)
The Crow is a 1994 American action film based on the 1989 comic book of the same name by James O'Barr. The film was written by David J. Schow and John Shirley, and directed by Alex Proyas...
, Brandon Lee
Brandon Lee
Brandon Bruce Lee was an American actor and martial artist. He was the son of martial arts film star Bruce Lee...
plays a spirit of vengeance with psychometric powers. In the 2009 action film Push, psychics called Sniffs can relive a person's past and their location by touching or sniffing objects. In The Meteor Man
The Meteor Man (film)
The Meteor Man is a 1993 superhero film written, directed, and starring Robert Townsend, and featuring an ensemble cast. Townsend stars as a mild-mannered schoolteacher, who becomes a superhero after his neighborhood in Washington, D.C. is terrorized by street gangs.Although the film is set in...
, Jefferson Reed (Robert Townsend) gains various superhuman powers from a meteorite
Meteorite
A meteorite is a natural object originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. Meteorites can be big or small. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids...
, including to ability to psychometrically and psychosomatically
Psychosomatic illness
Psychosomatic medicine is an interdisciplinary medical field studying the relationships of social, psychological, and behavioral factors on bodily processes and well-being in humans and animals...
memorize by touch the contents of a book.
In the 2003 HBO television series Carnivàle
Carnivàle
Carnivàle is an American television series set in the United States during the Great Depression and Dust Bowl. In tracing the lives of two disparate groups of people, its overarching story depicts the battle between good and evil and the struggle between free will and destiny; the storyline mixes...
, Professor Lodz can read thoughts and dreams through contact with a person or object. Creating visions by touching objects is also displayed in Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...
and Medium
Medium (TV series)
Medium is an American television drama series that premiered on NBC on January 3, 2005, and ended on CBS on January 21, 2011. Themed on supernatural gifts, its lead character, Allison DuBois , is a medium employed as a consultant for the Phoenix, Arizona district attorney's office...
. In the television series Chuck
Chuck (TV series)
Chuck is an action-comedy/spy-drama television program from the United States created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. The series is about an "average computer-whiz-next-door" named Chuck, played by Zachary Levi, who receives an encoded e-mail from an old college friend now working for the Central...
(2007- ), the main character has the ability to 'Flash', or have a memory blast when coming into contact with or sighting something. On the superhero comedy-drama The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero
The Greatest American Hero is an American comedy-drama television series that aired for three seasons from 1981 to 1983 on ABC. Created by producer Stephen J. Cannell, it premiered as a two-hour movie pilot on March 18, 1981...
(1981–1983), the lead character possesses psychometric powers when wearing his super-suit. Kaos, the son of mad scientist Desty Nova in Yukito Kishiro
Yukito Kishiro
is a Japanese manga artist, born March 20, 1967 in Tokyo, Japan.-Works:*Hito **Kikai **Kaiousei **Hito **Dai-Majin **Mirai Tokyo Headman **Uchukaizokushonendai...
's Battle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine. Two of the nine-volume comics were adapted into two anime original video animation episodes titled Battle Angel for North American release by...
appears as a very unusual psychometrist in that not only can he read the memories of objects but can also absorb the talents and skills necessary for their creation.
A number of comic book characters exhibit psychometric powers, including Longshot
Longshot
Longshot is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero best known as a member of the X-Men. He was created by writer Ann Nocenti and artist Art Adams.-Publication history:...
, Adrienne Frost
Adrienne Frost
Adrienne Frost is a fictional character of the Marvel Universe, the older sister of Emma Frost and Cordelia Frost. Not much is known about her. She first appeared in Generation X #48 . The issue was scripted by Jay Faerber and drawn by Terry Dodson.-Early years:Adrienne was the first child born to...
and Terror
Terror Inc.
Terror Inc. was an American comic-book horror series from Marvel Comics starring the antihero Terror. Terror is an eternal entity that absorbs the talents of others through their dismembered limbs. He was created by writers Dan Chichester and Margaret Clark and artist Klaus Janson as the villain...
, all of whom appear in books published by Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
. Many field agents featured in Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola
Michael Joseph "Mike" Mignola is an American comic book artist and writer who created the comic book series Hellboy for Dark Horse Comics. He has worked for animation projects such as Atlantis: The Lost Empire and the adaptation of his one shot comic book, The Amazing Screw-On Head.-Career:Mignola...
's Hellboy
Hellboy
Hellboy is a comic book superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2 , and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossovers...
series have this ability. Characters appearing in Japanese manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
and anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
that possess psychometric abilities include Chiba Mamoru from Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon
Sailor Moon, known as , is a media franchise created by manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. Fred Patten credits Takeuchi with popularizing the concept of a team of magical girls, and Paul Gravett credits the series with "revitalizing" the magical-girl genre itself...
, Olivier Davis from a Ghost Hunt
Ghost Hunt
, originally titled , is a light novel series written by Fuyumi Ono. It follows the adventures of the Shibuya Psychic Research Center as they investigate mysterious occurrences all over Japan with a team of other spiritualists and clever assistants. Although the last novel was published in 1994,...
, and Kaos, the radio DJ from Battle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita
Battle Angel Alita, known in Japan as , is a manga series created by Yukito Kishiro in 1990 and originally published in Shueisha's Business Jump magazine. Two of the nine-volume comics were adapted into two anime original video animation episodes titled Battle Angel for North American release by...
.
See also
- Law of contagionLaw of contagionThe law of contagion is a folk belief described axiom found in magical thinking which suggests that once two people or objects have been in contact, that a magical link persists between unless or until a formal exorcism or other act of banishing breaks the non-material bond...
- List of parapsychology topics
- ParapsychologyParapsychologyThe term parapsychology was coined in or around 1889 by philosopher Max Dessoir, and originates from para meaning "alongside", and psychology. The term was adopted by J.B. Rhine in the 1930s as a replacement for the term psychical research...
- RetrocognitionRetrocognitionRetrocognition , from the Latin retro meaning "backward, behind" and cognition meaning "knowing", describes "knowledge of a past event which could not have been learned or inferred by normal means". The term was coined by Frederic W. H...
External links
- Psychometry Experiment, a project that gave residents in Ontario, Canada the opportunity to participate in a psychometry study