channeling - The Skeptic's Dictionary

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<div class="logo"> <img src="_images/logo_01.png" alt="The Skeptic's Dictionary" width="270" height="60" border="0" />           <br /> by <a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bio.html">Robert Todd Carroll</a> * est. 1994 </div> <div class="slogan"> <img src="_images/slogan_01.gif" alt="A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions" width="362" height="30" /> </div> </div> <div class="menu"> <ul> <li></li><li><a href="http://skepdic.com/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/news/">Newsletter</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/feedback.html">Feedback</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/faq.html">FAQ & Interviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tour.html">Site Map</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="middle"> <div class="left"> <h2>Topical Indexes</h2> <ul class="nav_1"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tialtmed.html">Alternatives to Medicine</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/ticriticalthinking.html">Critical Thinking</a></li> 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href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Z">z</a></li> </ul> <webContent><h1>channeling </h1> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Channeling is a process whereby an individual (the "channeler") claims to have been invaded by a spirit entity which speaks through the channeler. The channeling craze began in earnest in 1972 with the publication of <i>Seth Speaks</i> by Jane Roberts and Robert Butts, her husband. They claim that "Seth," a very wise "unseen entity," communicated his wisdom to Jane, who dictated to Butts while she was in a trance. Though Roberts, a somewhat accomplished poet,  was obviously very literate and widely read in many religious and occult traditions (including <a HREF="jung.html">Jung</a>), her advocates portray her as communicating ideas beyond her ability. They take this as proof she was inspired. This is true: Roberts and Butts were probably inspired by the depth of human credulity. </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Actress <a href="http://www.shirleymaclaine.com/">Shirley MacLaine</a> and the ABC television network gave this modern version of <a HREF="ghosts.html">ghosts</a> speaking through a <a HREF="medium.html">medium</a> a modicum of credibility. In 1987, ABC showed a mini-series based on MacLaine's book <i>Out on a Limb</i>, which<i> </i>depicts MacLaine conversing with spirits through channeler <a href="http://www.kevinryerson.com/">Kevin Ryerson</a>. One of the spirits who speaks through Ryerson is a contemporary of Jesus called "John." "John" doesn't speak Aramaic--the language of Jesus--but a kind of Elizabethan English. "John" tells MacLaine that she is co-creator of the world with a god. MacLaine, a consummate egotist, becomes ecstatic to find out that she is right about a belief she'd expressed earlier, viz., that she is a god (Gardner, 1987 ). </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">One of MacLaine's favorite channelers is <a href="ramtha.html">J.Z. Knight</a> who claims to channel a 35,000 year-old Cromagnon warrior called Ramtha. This preposterous notion has made her famous and wealthy. Some of her patrons pay as much as $1,000 to attend her seminars where she dispenses such wisdom as "[we must] open our minds to new frontiers of potential." </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><b>See also</b> <a href="carlos.html">"Carlos" hoax</a>, <a HREF="dianetic.html">dianetics</a>, <a HREF="bridey.html">Bridey Murphy</a>, <a HREF="cayce.html">Edgar Cayce</a>, <a HREF="rama.html">Rama</a>, <a href="ramtha.html">Ramtha</a>, <a HREF="reincarn.html">reincarnation</a>, and <a href="http://skepdic.com/steveterbot.html">the Steve Terbot hoax</a>.</font></p> <hr noshade width="25%" align="left"> <p style="text-align: left"><b><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="comments/channelcom.html">reader comments</a></font></b></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><b>further reading</b> </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=1573920215/roberttoddcarrolA/">Alcock, James E. "Channeling," in <i>The Encyclopedia of the Paranormal</i> edited by Gordon Stein (Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1996), pp.759-766.</a> </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Gardner, Martin. "Isness Is Her Business," <i>New York Review of Books</i>, April 9, 1987. </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a HREF="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0879756446/roberttoddcarrolA/">Gardner, Martin. <i>The New Age: Notes of a Fringe Watcher</i> (Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1988).</a> </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0879755032/roberttoddcarrolA/">Gordon, Henry. <em>Channeling into the New Age - The "Teachings" of Shirley MacLaine and Other Such Gurus</em> (Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1988).</a></font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Schultz, Ted. editor, "Voices from Beyond: The Age-Old Mystery of Channeling," in <i>The Fringes of Reason</i> (New York: Harmony Books, 1989). </font> <p><b><font size="3">news stories</font></b></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font size="3" face="Arial">According to a 2005 Gallup poll, 9% of Americans believe in channeling, down from 15% in 2001. </font> <br> </webContent>Last updated 27-Oct-2015 </p> <p> </div> </div> <div class="right"> <div class="right_it"> <div class="search"> <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" target="_top"> <input type="hidden" name="domains" value="skepdic.com" /> <input type="text" name="q" maxlength="255" value="" size="20" /> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" /> <br /> <div class="search_2"> <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="" /> Web     <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="skepdic.com" checked="checked" /> Skepdic.com <br /> <img src="_images/logo_google.gif" alt="Google" width="48" height="19" /> </div> <input type="hidden" name="client" value="pub-3542920166946725" /> <input type="hidden" name="forid" value="1" /> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="oe" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="GALT:#008000;GL:1;DIV:#336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699;ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;" /> <input type="hidden" name="hl" value="en" /> </form> </div> <div class="center"> <p align="right"><a href="http://skepdic.com/authorpage.html"><strong>Books by R. 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