Residual Hauntings, Stone Tape Theory, and Psychometry
Don't worry, The True Paranormal has not suddenly taken to discussing clearly fictitious media. The above image is actually a film which was released in 1972 and is where the main topic of this post, 'Stone Tape Theory', gained its name.
The sources I will be using:
4. The Quietus
6. Mama Mia
7. Live About
Residual Hauntings
Firstly before we discuss the theory, let's first discuss the type of haunting which prompted the creation of the theory. It is believed that residual hauntings are the most common type of haunting, and they are the type you tend not to see in popular films. These are considered as non-intelligent hauntings due to not being aware of their surroundings, and so are unable to interact with any passers-by or witnesses to their ghostly presence. They will simply do as they always do, whether that be falling from a window at 3am, or slamming a door on the chime of midnight. This is also the kind of haunting where apparitions can be seen walking through walls where once there was a door, or gliding high above where once there was a walkway. This is all because the ghost in this haunting is just that: a ghost. They are nothing more than a distant memory, an echo of the past which can keep being heard long from its own time.
Stone Tape Theory
The 'Stone Tape Theory' dates back to originally being called 'place-memory'. In 1938, Charles Babbage, a thinker who is credited with the concept that eventually became the programmable computer, was likely the first person to write about the concept which would become known as 'place-memory'. He speculated on how words could linger in the air long after they have been spoken and that a few people could even pick up on these words and interpret them, in the process unlocking memories.
At the time, people believed that ghosts either had free will to roam where ever they pleased, or would have an attachment to someone and so followed them around. 'Place-memory' instead suggested that ghosts were instead attached to particular locations which had played a significant role within their lives. This role could be anything from the scene they gruesomely died, to the place they got married. All it needed was some sort of high emotional significance to the ghost when they were alive.
In 1939, Henry H. Prince advanced his theory about a 'psychic ether' in 'Haunting and The Psychic Ether Hypothesis'. He speculated that this psychic ether could store memories or thoughts and that psychics and others who connected with the spiritual world could access the psychic ether and interpret its contents. He also speculated that memories could attach to places and be played back again. His 'psychic ether' was basically another realm where human memories were always present and occasionally we would get glimpses of that realm through what we now know as being residual hauntings.
In 1961, Thomas Charles Lethbridge published 'Ghost and Ghoul' which was a collection of his own experiences during his time as an archaeologist. He concluded that there are things in the world we don't know about and that impressions of memories can be stored in fields of energy which would often be unseen and inaccessible. He also thought humans could encounter these fields of energy and this would cause paranormal events to occur for those who encountered the fields to witness.
'Ghost and Ghoul' potentially inspired the film 'The Stone Tape', which I spoke about briefly earlier. The film itself used what Thomas spoke about and showed researchers trying to figure out how memories were being recorded in the stones of a victorian mansion. By the end of the 1900's, the term 'stone tape theory' was commonly used by investigators. The modern day theory is that when a highly emotional event occurs, the walls of the building it occurs in, for example the stone walls of a castle, absorb the energy and record the event. This event is then replayed under certain circumstances. It's also important to note that ancient cultures believed in sacred stones and important objects in the landscape, an example of this could be stonehenge. Perhaps they experienced residual hauntings at these sites?
One big issue with the theory is that it isn't a theory at all. Biology professor Jaime Tanner of Marlboro College explained to Livescience in 2017 that a theory refers to how facts are interpreted, and this can't be the case with stone tape theory as there are no facts to be interpreted. She even asked the questions of 'how do things get recorded?', 'what gets recorded and what doesn't?', 'how is it preserved?', and 'how can it be played back?'. She really emphasised the point that it is all purely speculation when it comes to the stone tape theory, and not a theory at all.
Psychometry
Psychometry is a psychic ability where a person senses/reads the history of an item just by touching it. The psychic, or psychometrist, can see images, hear sounds, smell scents, taste flavours, or feel emotions while they do this and they interpret these into a solid history. Psychometry is a form of scrying, which is just a psychic way of seeing what otherwise cannot be seen. It is believed that the history and emotions to do with an object, all of the things the object has experienced, are recorded in it. It's basically a self enduced residual haunting. Instead of a haunting playing out in a room under certain circumstances, it is instead you who has triggered it through touching an object and the haunting occurs only for you to witness. In a way, this could explain things like haunted dolls. Instead of a doll having an intelligent spirit attached to it, a psychic may simply pick up on the dolls previous owner and assume this is an attached spirit, especially if emotion is also accompanied during the reading.
The term psychometry was first coined by Joseph R. Buchanan in 1842. The word comes from the Greek words 'psyche', meaning soul, and 'metron', meaning measure. Buchanan was an American professor of physiology and was also one of the first to experiment with psychometry. He placed various drugs in glass vials and asked students to identify the drugs only by holding the vials. The success rate was more than chance and so he wrote about it and published his findings in 'Journal of Man'. He theorised that all objects have souls that retain memory.
William F. Denton, who was an American professor of geology in 1854, has also experimented with psychometry. He wrapped specimens in a cloth so that his sister, Ann Denton Cringe, couldn't see what they were. She placed them all to her forehead and accurately described them through mental images she received. Another who experimented with psychometry is the German doctor and psychical researcher Gustav Pagenstecher who, between 1919 and 1922, discovered psychometric abilities in one of his patients. He found that Maria Reyes de Ziereld could go into a trance while holding an object and state facts about the objects history while describing sights, sounds, smells, and feelings. He theorised that a psychometrist could tune into the vibrations condensed in the object.
My Thoughts
I don't think any one theory can explain the paranormal, however I do think that stone tape theory is interesting in attempting to explain unintelligent hauntings, and it does explain why spirits can mindlessly walk through walls etc. As mentioned earlier though, it does have its flaws. It doesn't explain any of what it says. The two questions of 'how do things get recorded?' and 'how do you replay things?' Are particularly outstanding here. There just seems to be too much convenience around it... stuff only being replayed under certain unidentified triggers or specific unlikely circumstances just isn't good enough for me. This is the exact kind of haunting which begs for empirical evidence. 'A woman is said to appear and fall from a window at 3am? Great, let's set up cameras and prove it' should be what investigators are doing, but instead this kind of evidence doesn't seem to exist in as convincing a fashion as stone tape theory would suggest it should. Even if the event was only on certain days, not capturing solid evidence of this residual haunting is a huge mark against the haunting existing. Really, until this kind of evidence is caught, I would consider that specific haunting as debunked.
Now, if you go to that window, and you set up those cameras, and you don't catch anything, does that mean there is no haunting? No. It just means there likely isn't a residual haunting. I would suggest using equipment to try and determine if there is perhaps an intelligent haunting there instead. Perhaps certain spirits experience something similar to ptsd or dissociation where an event was so traumatic to them that they can't help but repeat it? Then, if you stand in their way, or disturb the loop in any way, they avoid you instead of carrying out their usual routine? I definitely need to make a post going through my own theories on how it all works.
My main thought on stone tape theory is it doesn't hold up as far as explaining hauntings are concerned. I do, however, think psychometry is legitimate. I do think objects will be able to hold emotions, but this is just an opinion with no fact backing it. As far as the studies I mentioned are concerned, I don't know the legitimacy of those and so I'm not trusting them. I would like to experiment with psychometry myself to see how reliable it is.
Thank you for reading to the end of this post! I really hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments whether that be about the blog, experiences of your own, or even places you would like for me to investigate, then you can comment and follow on here, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or Reddit, and you can email thetrueparanormal1@gmail.com for a quick response to any questions.
Comments
Post a Comment