Key figures

Joseph Banks Rhine is the person most responsible for establishing parapsychology as a scientific discipline. Working at Duke University from the 1930s onwards, Rhine conducted the first systematic controlled experiments on extrasensory perception using the Zener cards — the simple five-symbol set designed to remove the ambiguities of earlier psychic research. He coined the term “extrasensory perception” (ESP) and his statistical approach became the methodological foundation for all the research that followed. The Rhine Research Center continues his work today.

A physicist and laser researcher at Stanford Research Institute, Targ co-founded the remote viewing programme at SRI in the early 1970s alongside Harold Puthoff. Working with initial CIA funding, Targ and Puthoff ran controlled experiments that eventually became the classified government programme known as Stargate. His book The Reality of ESP (2012) provides a first-person account of the SRI experiments including declassified target transcripts.

Ingo Swann was the artist and psychic who worked with Targ and Puthoff at SRI and is widely credited with developing the structured Coordinate Remote Viewing (CRV) protocol — the methodology used throughout the Stargate programme and still the most evidence-backed approach to remote viewing in existence. Swann identified the patterns of interference that distort psychic data — what he called “analytical overlay” — and designed a structured session format to minimise it. His full archive of writings is freely available at iswann.com.

McMoneagle was the most decorated viewer of the entire Stargate programme. His operational sessions involved real intelligence targets, and he is credited with a number of verified intelligence successes during the programme’s active years. Unlike many figures in this field, McMoneagle’s work is both militarily documented and publicly verifiable through declassified records. His book Remote Viewing Secrets remains the most practically detailed guide to CRV written by a practitioner at this level.

Dean Radin is one of the most prominent active researchers in psi science. His major contribution has been the meta-analytic approach — rather than relying on individual experiments, he aggregates the results of hundreds of studies to produce statistically robust conclusions. His meta-analyses have been published in mainstream scientific journals including Psychological Bulletin and Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. He is the author of The Conscious Universe (1997), Entangled Minds (2006), and Real Magic (2018).

A biologist and author, Sheldrake is best known for his theory of morphic resonance — the idea that memory is inherent in nature and that fields carry information across time and space. His research into the sense of being stared at, telepathy in animals, and phone telepathy has been conducted with controlled experimental methodology. His work is directly relevant to MMI’s courses on the Akashic Records, plant intelligence, animal communication, and field consciousness.

A Dutch cardiologist who published the landmark 2001 Lancet study on near-death experiences in cardiac arrest patients — one of the most methodologically rigorous NDE studies ever conducted. Van Lommel’s prospective study followed 344 resuscitated patients and documented the experiences of those who reported NDEs, including verified perception during periods of clinical death with no measurable brain activity. His book Consciousness Beyond Life (2010) presents the full case for consciousness as a non-local phenomenon.

A psychiatrist at the University of Virginia, Stevenson spent his career collecting and rigorously verifying cases of children with apparent past-life memories — cases where specific, verifiable details were confirmed independently. His team documented over 2,500 cases over several decades. His methodology was careful, his standards high, and his willingness to eliminate alternative explanations thorough. Jim Tucker continues this work at UVA’s Division of Perceptual Studies today.

Robert Jahn, Dean of Princeton’s School of Engineering, founded the Princeton Engineering Anomalies Research (PEAR) Laboratory in 1979 with psychologist Brenda Dunne. For 28 years, they conducted rigorous controlled experiments on mind-matter interaction — specifically whether human intention can influence the output of electronic random event generators. Their published data showed consistent, statistically significant effects across millions of trials. Their book Margins of Reality (1987) presents the full experimental record.

A radio broadcasting executive who began having spontaneous out-of-body experiences in the late 1950s, Monroe went on to document and systematise his experiences over several decades. He founded the Monroe Institute in Virginia, developed the Hemi-Sync binaural beat technology, and wrote three books — Journeys Out of the Body, Far Journeys, and Ultimate Journey — that remain the primary practical reference for OBE and astral travel. A declassified 1983 US Army intelligence report assessed the Monroe Institute’s Gateway Process in detail.

A Yale-trained psychiatrist who, while treating a patient under hypnotherapy in 1980, unexpectedly encountered what appeared to be past-life memories. Weiss documented the case in Many Lives, Many Masters (1988) — a book that has sold millions of copies and brought past-life regression therapy to mainstream awareness. Weiss has continued to develop and teach regression therapy methods and has trained thousands of therapists internationally.

One of the most prominent practical teachers of energy medicine, Eden has spent decades developing and teaching a comprehensive system for working with the human energy field — meridians, chakras, aura, and related systems. Her book Energy Medicine (1998) remains the most widely used practical reference in this area. Her approach is pragmatic and body-centred rather than purely theoretical.

The leading Western teacher of core shamanism — the cross-cultural foundation practices common to shamanic traditions worldwide, as identified and systematised by anthropologist Michael Harner. Ingerman has trained thousands of practitioners and written extensively on shamanic journeying, soul retrieval, and the practical ethics of shamanic work. Her book Shamanic Journeying: A Beginner’s Guide is the direct practical companion to MMI’s A-I1 course.

A cell biologist whose research on cell membranes led him to the conclusion that the environment — including the beliefs and perceptions of the organism — directly influences gene expression through epigenetic mechanisms. His book The Biology of Belief (2005) presents this case in accessible terms and has been widely influential in integrative medicine. Lipton’s work provides biological grounding for the idea that mental states and beliefs can affect physical health.