Anderson Cooper Spooked by Mother's Mediumistic Messages

TV host Anderson Cooper is spooked by his mother's mediumistic messages.

Gloria Vanderbilt has spooked her son and even a professional psychic by being 'contacted by Marilyn Monroe' - and has revealed that she believes she is psychic herself.

The actress, socialite, artist and mother of TV presenter Anderson Cooper, met with psychic John Edward who revealed that Monroe had something to tell the veteran star.

On the host's daily talk show, Anderson, Mr Cooper spoke about his and his mother's unnerving experiences of visiting the medium. Read more

How to Run a Home Séance

Does mediumistic ability exist within the circle of your family and friends? Dr. W.D. Chesney tells how you may find it and put it to work.

The power of certain mediums to break through the veil and put us into communication with those we have loved and lost is unquestioned nowadays by many of us. I know it is possible to hold conversations with those who are living but invisible to our eyes—if certain conditions are supplied. And these conditions can be supplied.

Every reputable medium I have known has discovered his or her psychic gifts in home seances. Read more

Michael Jackson's Spirit "Asked for Forgiveness"

Michael Jackson has spoken out from beyond the grave to Lisa Marie Presley in a seance, according to his former make-up artist Karan Faye. Faye insists Jackson's spirit seemed to be "unsettled" and expressed remorse for any wrongdoing.

Michael Jackson's spirit asked his ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley for forgiveness during a seance.

Michael died aged 50 last June, after taking a cocktail of drugs including powerful anaesthetic Propofol. His personal physician Dr Conrad Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter on Monday, but has pleaded not guilty.

The pop icon's former make-up artist Karan Faye has revealed she and Lisa Marie visited a psychic last week, and were put in touch with Michael. Read more

What Is Ectoplasm?

Ectoplasm is a seemingly lifelike substance, apparently exuding from the body of a medium, which can be transformed into materialized faces, limbs, and even the entire bodies of spirits. Ectoplasm often appears to be milky white in color and smells like ozone, according to most witnesses. Is this mysterious substance a fraud or phantasm?

... If we are to believe the debunkers and skeptics, ectoplasm is nothing more than cheesecloth stuffed into one or more of the cavities of the body and then extruded at an opportune time, the sole purpose being to dupe those present. However, it is difficult to believe that some of the most eminent men of science, who observed it, examined it, tested it, and proclaimed it real, could have been fooled over and over again, especially under laboratory conditions. It stretches the imagination to believe that as much "cheesecloth," as seen in many of the photographs, could be stored in an orifice of the body, especially the ears and pores, and so dramatically extruded, then to have human forms shaped from it or within it, and then, in some cases, to have those human forms emerging from the ectoplasm and carry on conversations with those present, sometimes about personal matters known only to the sitter.

Equally puzzling is why numerous alleged charlatans would dream up something so seemingly ridiculous and revolting. Couldn't they come up with a trick a bit more realistic and believable? If it all began with one trickster, why were so many other charlatans impressed by something so bizarre? Read more

The Departed

The Daily Grail interviews Julie Beischel, PhD, co-founder and Director of Research at The Windbridge Institute. Her research interests center on the survival of consciousness hypothesis and include proof-focused studies on mediums' communication with discarnates and process-focused studies on mediums' experiences of that communication.

Julie Beischel, PhD, is the co-founder and Director of Research at The Windbridge Institute. She graduated magna cum laude and with honors with a BS in Environmental Sciences from Northern Arizona University and received her PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology with a minor in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Arizona. She served as Co-Director of the VERITAS Research Program with Dr. Gary Schwartz, investigating the alleged ability of mediums to 'talk to the dead', before moving the research of prospective research mediums to Windbridge in January of 2008. Her research interests center on the survival of consciousness hypothesis and include proof-focused studies on mediums' communication with discarnates and process-focused studies on mediums' experiences of that communication.

Q: Thanks for talking to The Daily Grail, Julie. To start off, can I ask how you ended up in this 'heretical' area of research that is certainly not known for its career-building potential? And can you tell us a little bit more about the Windbridge Institute and why it was formed? Read more