Abstract

Discusses the shortcomings of psychical researcher R. Hodgson\'s 1897 report on seance sittings involving the American medium Mrs. Piper and the control "George Pelham". It is suggested that Hodgson\'s belief in the dominance of conscious mind, and inability at the time to attach weight to unconscious motivation or the divided self introduced by Freud probably contributed to his belief in the possibility of spirit communication. This is seen as part of a context of the time that resulted in Hodgson\'s conclusions regarding the sittings. He faced accusations that he deceived his colleagues in the Society for Psychical Research and that he ignored or misconstrued evidence for other ways that people involved in the sittings could have acquired information. It is also suggested that Hodgson\'s colleagues might not have understood the difference between Piper, whose manifestations were purely words, and the physical mediums on whose exposures Hodgson\'s reputation was founded. Th!e author concludes about the report, that the control in the sittings with Mrs. Piper drew on what Piper unconsciously retained from reading death notices, contact with mementoes of the deceased, and in other ways not explainable without understanding the unconscious mind.