The Articulate Dead (Paperback)

by Michael E. Tymn (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there were dynamic and evidential forms of spirit communication. A number of distinguished scientists and scholars studied some of the best mediums and concluded they were genuine. Unfortunately, there were also many charlatans and it was difficult for the general public to distinguish between the real mediums and the frauds. Scientific and religious fundamentalists along with a cynical press, were constantly on the attack, driving the genuine mediums underground or forcing them to abandon their gift.

In The Articulate Dead, Michael E. Tymn examines several of the best mediums of yesteryear and the scientific research surrounding them. A number of very intriguing stories unfold, including spirits directing an archaeologist in the uncovering of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey, spirits leading a researcher to crosses buried by American Indians, a deceased author completing his books through a medium, a Titanic victim coming back to tell about his new environment, and an afterlife researcher continuing his work after dying, to name just a few.

About the Author
A resident of Kailua, Hawaii, Michael E. Tymn is vice-president of the Academy of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies, Inc., and editor of the Academy's quarterly magazine, The Searchlight. He has been a freelance journalist for more than 50 years. His articles on paranormal subjects have appeared in FATE, Mysteries, Nexus, Atlantis Rising, Christian Parapsychologist, Vital Signs, Venture Inward, Two Worlds, Dark Lore, Alternatives, and The Honolulu Advertiser.

Product Details

• Paperback: 276 pages
• Publisher: Galde Press (December 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193194248X
• ISBN-13: 978-1931942485
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #363,832 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A long awaited book by an expert on mediums, December 12, 2008

By	Michael Schmicker (Honolulu, HI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Michael Tymn is a recognized expert in the history of mediumship, writing extensively about the subject in his highly-respected online blog ([...] and in many articles for magazines and journals such as FATE, Nexus, Mysteries, Two Worlds, Atlantis Rising, The Summit, The Christian Parapsychologist, and other publications.

He brings a wealth of serious reseach and insights to "The Articulate Dead" and presents it with journalistic flair. As Mike notes in his preface, his goal was to "resurrect some of the most interesting and credible personalities and cases in the annals of psychical research from the period 1850 to 1940, what might be called the 'heyday' of mediumship, or spirit communications."

What we're offered is a fascinating look at some of the most convincing evidence available to date on the phenomena -- "evidence that seems to have been forgotten or ignored" -- strongly suggesting a continuing existence beyond the grave.

If you don't believe in a life after death, or comminciations from spirits, you may change your mind after reading this book. You don't have to take it on faith, take it on evidence. It's here.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative for both researchers and open-minded skeptics, January 15, 2009

By	R. Craig Hogan - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In the first stages a science's development, individuals carefully record phenomena they observe in the natural world, not fully understanding the relationships among them or their causes, but intent on advancing their understanding through careful attention to the data. The records become natural histories. In the early 19th century, William Smith, Georges Cuvier, and Alexander Broignart recorded the presence of fossils in layers of rock, leading to theories about stratification. Adam Sedgwick, Charles Lyell, and Roderick Murchison then used that understanding to map geological periods in the stratifications. Eventually, sciences of geology and evolutionary biology developed from these natural histories.

Observations of natural phenomena involving the afterlife and after-death communication were recorded from 1848 through 1944 by the early pioneers such as John W. Edmonds, Allan Kardec, Sir William Crookes, Sir William Barrett, Federick W. H. Myers, James Hyslop, Richard Hodgson, Oliver Lodge, and Robert Hare. Their observations provided natural histories of the afterlife and after-death communication that had the potential for providing succeeding generations of researchers with the bases on which to formulate theories and perform research. Hare, for example, noted in 1855 the "deliberate attempt on the part of the inhabitants of the higher spheres to break through the partition which has interfered with the attainment, by mortals, of a correct idea of their destiny after death" (quoted on page 10). However, the partnership between scientists on the next plane of life and researchers on this plane of life remains poorly understood and virtually undeveloped today, in spite of Hare's very early observation of this natural phenomenon. Researchers into the afterlife and after-death communication have not sufficiently attended to the records developed by these pioneers, and today's research remains poorly developed because the natural history from this period hasn't guided research designs.

We who are engaged in research in the afterlife and after-death communication owe a great vote of thanks to Michael Tymn for reviving the natural history of that period from 1848 through 1944 to bring to us the neglected records we need to inform our studies of the afterlife and after-death communication today. The Articulate Dead provides a chronological overview of after-death communications from the Fox sisters through Wicklund's astonishing discoveries of the sinister effects lower-level discarnates have on people. Most of the valuable insights from the period described in the book have been neglected because of the current fascination with near-death experience research that can more readily be fitted into today's dominant, physical-science research paradigm. Researchers wouldn't consider holding séances to gather data, even though through the encounters Tymn describes between people on the two sides of life, clear, valuable insights into the nature of the death, the afterlife, and after-death communications have emerged.

I recommend that anyone engaged in afterlife and after-death communication research purchase a copy of this book and read it thoroughly, then listen to as many of the Leslie Flint séance tapes as he or she can obtain, and only then begin to develop theories and create research designs. Only with this solid background in the literature can we move forward in our attempts to understand death, the afterlife, and after-death communication.

And because it's an interesting, easy read, I recommend that skeptics and people who don't know the rich literature and history of after-death communications read this book as a primer, then delve into any of the lives and mediumship accounts of the great mediums and researchers described in the book. The open-minded, albeit skeptical reader cannot help but be moved at least a few steps from ignorance toward understanding by the contents of this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Convincing Evidence About Medium Contact with the Deceased, April 28, 2009

By	Donald R. Morse - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a scientist for most of my adult life, I rarely thought about mediums. When I did consider them, I thought they were fortunetellers or just plain charlatans. In 1997, after evaluating my near-death experience (NDE), I became interested in spirituality, religion and paranormal phenomena. This led to my joining the Academy of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies (ASPSI), becoming the editor of its journal, and writing Searching for Eternity: A Scientist's Spiritual Journey to Overcome Death Anxiety. In researching that book, I evaluated a variety of paranormal phenomena, including NDEs, out-of-body experiences (OBEs), apparitions, visions, dreams, mediumship, electronic voice phenomena, past life regressions, and other evidence for reincarnation. I concluded that the best evidence for a surviving soul, the existence of an afterlife, and the reality of God came from NDEs. I changed my previous belief about mediums and reaiized that although many were charlatans, there were a few who apparently did make contact with deceased entities. Nevertheless, even with those I was still not convinced of their veracity.
As a result of several submissions to The Journal of Spirituality and Paranormal Studies and from meetings of the Academy, plus watching popular mediums such as John Edward and James Van Praagh, I realized that there were few current mediums who appeared to be authentic, and many more in the late 1800s through the mid-1900s who also seemed to have made contact with the deceased. However, I believed that those previous reports might have been deceptions because of the lack of good scientific investigations in those years. After reading this book I realized that I was wrong on both counts, i.e., scientific investigations and reliable medium contacts. There were several eminent scientists, such as Sir William Crookes, Sir Oliver Lodge, Dr. Alfred Russel Wallace, and Dr. Charles Richet who began as skeptics, but after thoroughly investigating mediums they became convinced that some were genuine. For them, the evidence appeared incontrovertible.
Why were there so many more medium reports in those days (and so many eminent scientists willing to examine the evidence) and so few medium reports currently with only a few scientists willing to investigate mediums? I believe the answer is that before movies, cable television, VHSs, DVDs,computers, the Internet, iPods, rapid air travel, and cell phones, scientists and people in general had a lot more free time and were willing to wait the lengthy time it often took for medium contacts to take place. It could be that it is difficult for discarnate spirits to make contact with us, and that is why it took so long for contact to be made in the past. Nowadays, with rapid mass communication and so much to do, most scientists and people in general do not have the time or patience to investigate mediums and wait for events to unfold. Many believe that today's science is so much better than that of the late 1800s to the mid-1900s that even apparently good investigations of mediums by eminent scientists of that era would not be reliable. However, after reading The Articulate Dead and discussing its conclusions with eminent current scientists, I am convinced that even had those previous scientists the use of modern technology they would have come to the same conclusions.
ln a thoroughly enjoyable manner, Mike Tymn takes us back to that era when mediumship flourished. We accompany the scientists and the mediums as they divulge amazing results. It is difticult to remain a real skeptic after reading this outstanding book. Even though not everyone will be convinced that mediums can and do communicate with deceased entities, most people wili come away from The Articulate Dead with a new appreciation and understanding of mediums and their uncanny abilities.