The One Million Dollar Challenge

www.awakenlight.org

Since I am on an Island where ghost stories abound, it seemed natural to try to learn more about automatic writing.  I was researching the topic at length today.  Automatic writing is used for therapeutic as well as spiritual purposes in order to channel either the subconscious mind or a spiritual entity.  The object is to write freely, without stopping or editing.  Reportedly, unexpected messages can materialize.  The best example I found  compared automatic writing to doodling.  We can sketch an entire page of doodles without being aware we are doing so.  It is only in retrospect, perhaps when we are flipping through an old notebook and stumble upon our artistic rendering, that we recognize our work.  Often, we can see how plainly we were communicating a very specific idea or message.  

I visited about six websites trying to garner more understanding of this method and how the technique can be used to straddle the divide between the living and the dead.

The unexpected bonus came when I stopped in at the James Randi Foundation www.randi.org.  This organization is dedicated to investigating the validity of claims that paranormal activities exist. In 1964, James Randi offered to pay $1000 to anyone who could demonstrate paranormal powers exist under a scientifically controlled environment.  Since that time, just over 1000 legitimate applications were filed. Not a single one got to the second round of testing.  The challenge appears to be both stringent and fair.  The tests for each claim are designed by the claimant and a representative of the Randi Foundation.  

Automatic writing did not, thus far, pass the test.

For those of you who wish to pursue the challenge...

THE MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE

The Foundation is committed to providing reliable information about paranormal claims. It both supports and conducts original research into such claims. At JREF, we offer a one-million-dollar prize to anyone who can show, under proper observing conditions, evidence of any paranormal, supernatural, or occult power or event. The JREF does not involve itself in the testing procedure, other than helping to design the protocol and approving the conditions under which a test will take place. All tests are designed with the participation and approval of the applicant. In most cases, the applicant will be asked to perform a relatively simple preliminary test of the claim, which if successful, will be followed by the formal test. Preliminary tests are usually conducted by associates of the JREF at the site where the applicant lives. Upon success in the preliminary testing process, the "applicant" becomes a "claimant." To date, no one has passed the preliminary tests.

http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge/challenge-faq.html