Historically, much of the documented paranormal phenomena from around the world seems to be intermingled with religious beliefs. The belief in the existence of miracles and other paranormal phenomena are staples of many Eastern religions, and even western religious scriptures, such as the Old Testament, are filled with examples of prophetic dreams and other paranormal phenomena. In fact, "some of the best-documented early reports of paranormal phenomena come from the investigations of individuals declared saints by the Roman Catholic Church." For example, Saint Joseph of Copertino and Saint Teresa of Avila were often seen levitating during services or while praying.

Those investigating these events, such as Prospero Lambertini (who would later become Pope Benedict XIV), could rightfully claim to be among the earliest psychical researchers. In fact, Lambertini's treatise, entitled De Beatificatione et Beatorum Canonizatione, is an accurate assessment of many paranormal experiences, and many of his observations remain valid today.

Despite the fact that these investigations took place fairly early on, interest in parapsychological phenomena continued to thrive well into the 1700's as many noted scholars and scientists conducted investigations of individuals with unusual abilities. "The late eighteenth century, however, saw two developments that led directly to the organized study of psychic phenomena and eventually to parapsychology as we see it today: mesmerism and spiritualism."

Mesmerism refers to the belief in Franz Anton Mesmer's theory in the power of "animal magnetism" and the use of magnets to guide healing forces. After moving to Paris in 1778, Mesmer's magnetic treatments became a public fad, and many investigators began researching into mesmerism. Among these is Chastenet de Puysegur, who is best known for his discovery of the hypnotic trance. From the start, there were claims that mesmerism facilitated clairvoyance and other psychic phenomena, and indeed, the committee charged by the Academies of the Sciences and Medicine to investigate these claims reported that they were convinced that the trance state was genuine and that it deserved further research. However, the leaders of the Academies were not pleased with the findings, and for decades, the controversy surrounding mesmerism raged in scientific and medical circles, finally converting into what is today known as hypnotism.

Spiritualism is the quasi-religious belief that living persons can communicate with the spirits of dead persons, and that the human personality, in the form of a soul or spirit, survives bodily death. Emmanuel Sweedenborg is credited with the development of this belief, which quickly spread throughout northern Europe, Britain, and the United States. Spiritualists claimed that the mesmeric trance seemed to facilitate their communication with the spirit world, giving rise to a wave of mediums.

The most famous of these mediums were the physical mediums: those who, while communicating with the dead, included physical effects such as the movement of objects, sourceless sounds, and strange lights. In general, physical mediums were regarded mainly as charlatans, but there were a few individuals who seemed to posses genuine gifts. Among these was a man by the name of Daniel Douglas (D.D.) Home.

Born in Scotland in 1833 but raised in Connecticut, Home's psychic abilities were apparent since childhood. As a practicing medium, Home attracted many investigators who tried to determine whether his abilities (which included being able to conduct seances, move items, levitate, and play musical instruments without touching them) were fraudulently produced. The various investigators, which included William Crookes, a noted British physicist, chemist, inventor, and Fellow of the Royal Society, came to the conclusion that Home's abilities were genuine and not the result of "optical illusions."

As a result of the increasing momentum of Spiritualism, a group of scientists and scholars gathered in London in January of 1882 to discuss the scientific investigation of these claims. This gathering resulted in the establishment of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), whose aim was "to investigate that large body of debatable phenomena designated by such terms as mesmeric, physical, and spiritualistic. It was pledged to do this without prejudice or prepossession of any kind, and in the same spirit of exact and unimpassioned inquiry which has enabled Science to solve so many problems, once not less obscure nor less hotly debated."

The creation of the SPR (and the American Society for Psychical Research, created approximately three years later in Boston) led to the establishment of standards of evidence for case studies and methods for experimental research, as well as the publishing of a scholarly journal. "In short, psychical research was becoming a science." In 1886, the SPR also published what is now the starting point for all case studies in parapsychology: a 1,300-page compilation, entitled Phantasms of the Living, of the best documented cases of apparitions.

However, the enthusiasm and energy of the SPR's founders could not last, and by the early part of the twentieth century, psychical research had considerably declined. "The Heroic Age of psychical research had passed, and the young science had to await the emergence of a new figure to rejuvenate it."

That "figure" was Dr. Joseph Banks Rhine and his wife,Dr. Louis E. Rhine, who promoted the belief that progress in psychical research would only occur if it became an experimental science.

In 1928, Rhine was offered a position in the psychology department of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and in 1930 (upon the creation of the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory), he began conducting his own research into parapsychology (which resulted in the creation of the well-known ESP cards).

By 1932, Rhine felt he was on the verge of a breakthrough. Not only had he demonstrated the existence of psychic phenomena (which he termed extrasensory perception) through the use of his card guessing experiments, but, more importantly, he was able to show that ESP seemed to obey certain natural, psychological laws. For example, subjects typically did better when they had some type of intrinsic motivation or when they were engaged and interested in the experiment. Conversely, subjects performed worse when they were tired, bored, self-conscious, or depressed. ⁵ Rhine felt that these findings "would do more to make parapsychology acceptable to other scientists than any number of miracle demonstrations."

By 1934, other researchers in America and abroad began duplicating Rhine's methods and met with some success. This proved as corroboration for Rhine's methods and findings. As momentum built, articles on parapsychology appeared in Time, Reader's Digest, Scientific American, and many other publications. This, however, led to much criticism regarding Rhine's statistical procedures, most of which was later retracted. In 1937, the American Institute of Mathematical Statistics gave its blessing to the statistical methods used by Rhine and the Duke researchers. ⁵

Also in 1937, Zenith Radio Corporation began a series of nationwide broadcasts about psychic phenomena and began selling special ESP cards for people to test themselves. A month later, Rhine's popular account of the Duke research program, New Frontiers of the Mind, hit the bookstores and became a sensation. By the end of the year, few people in the United States had not heard of ESP or the research at Duke University.

By the mid 1950's, due to parapsychology's popularity, many researchers began to branch out from the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory, creating many new research institutes.

In 1956, the Parapsychological Association (PA) was formed to serve as the international organization of professional researchers investigating psi phenomena. "Its purpose is to set the standards for parapsychology and facilitate communication between the increasingly far-flung researchers."

"The annual conventions of the PA have typically been the main forum for presenting and discussing new research in parapsychology, and the affiliated professional journals of the PA are the chief outlets for published research." These journals are: the Journal of Parapsychology, the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, and the European Journal of Parapsychology.

In 1969, the PA was granted affiliation with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). "This was an important milestone in parapsychology's struggle for scientific acceptance."

Since the creation of the Duke Laboratory and the PA, several other research institutes have also appeared. In 1979, a small group of researchers began investigating psi phenomena at Princeton University. The group was started by Robert Jahn when he was Dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Science, and is located in the engineering department. The lab goes by the name of the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Laboratory. On the West coast exists the SRI (formerly known as the Stanford Research Institute), and in San Antonio, Texas, a small research team has its base at the Mind Science Foundation. The Psychophysical Research Laboratories (PRL) was also located in Princeton, New Jersey, but recently had to shut down due to funding difficulties.

In Great Britain, home of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR), there is a long tradition of small institutes conducting parapsychological research. Presently, the mainstay of British research is at the Parapsychology Laboratory of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, endowed in 1983 by the writer and philosopher Arthur Koestler. In 1985, the university appointed one of America's leading parapsychologists, Dr. Robert Morris, as the first Koestler Professor of Parapsychology, and the lab is attracting researchers from around the world.

Other laboratories exist in Russia, India (such as the institute at Andhra University in Andhra Pradesh), and China (such as the Institute of Space Medico-Engineering).

With the advent of such parapsychology research institutes, the field has been able to progress a long way from the days of association with spiritualism and mysticism: parapsychologists have succeeded in bringing psi into the laboratory. Initially, psi research consisted of efforts to prove that psychic abilities exist; nowadays, psi research is "aimed at understanding the fundamental processes [involved with psychic abilities] and and how they are integrated into human consciousness." ¹¹ It seems that now more than ever before, we are prepared to delve into the workings of these ancient mysteries.