A New Editor of the Society for Psychical Research’s
Psi Encyclopedia
I’ve reported a couple of times on the Society
for Psychical Research’s online Psi Encyclopedia (PE), designed to be a more
reliable guide than Wikipedia to subjects which fall within psychical
research. Under the able guidance of its
first editor, Robert McLuhan, it grew in size until, as chair of the Education
and Publicity Committee Bernard Carr stated in his contribution to the SPR’s
2024/25 annual Report, it contains almost two million words (and is still growing).
It was recently given a makeover as the
original platform, inaugurated in 2014, was creaking with age. The new version offers a more up-to-date look
and enhanced accessibility of topics, both within the PE and to articles in the
SPR’s Journal and Proceedings via a ‘links library’. Unfortunately, the ability to download files
as PDFs and epubs has disappeared, but I have been told that it requires a
plug-in which will be reinstalled shortly.
I personally like to transfer articles to an e-reader, so will be
pleased when that happens.
Bernard Carr added in his report that “The
founding editor, Robert McLuhan, is moving on and the name of his successor
will be announced shortly.” A new editor
has now been appointed, but the transfer was low-key and no announcement was
made. The current ‘About’ section of the
PE states:
“The PE was created by Robert McLuhan, who
edited it until April 2026, when he was succeeded by James G Matlock as General
Editor and a team of Associate Editors (Nemo Mörck, KM Wehrstein, Melvyn Willin
and Nancy L Zingrone). The site was developed by Ian Rons and Circle
Interactive and is currently under the management of James Matlock and Hugh
Matlock. Its initial funding came a bequest [sic] from Nigel Buckmaster, a
long-time member of the SPR.”
Jim Matlock is a Research Fellow at the
Parapsychology Foundation and is best known for his work on reincarnation. He has gathered a useful group of associates,
which acknowledges that the size and scope of the project are too great for one
person to manage with only ad-hoc assistance.
Nemo Mörck is the SPR’s website content manager and Journal
reviews editor; Karen Wehrstein has been a prolific contributor to the
encyclopaedia, mostly in, but not confined to, the field of reincarnation (she
wrote the PE entry on Matlock); Melvyn Willin is the SPR’s archives officer,
custodian of the Society’s AV collection, and a frequent PE contributor; Nancy
Zingrone is an eminent parapsychologist with a longstanding connection to the
Parapsychology Foundation, and also with a PE page devoted to her (co-written
by Matlock).
One obvious point is that, of the new team,
only one member is based in the UK, while two are in the United States, one is
in Canada and one is in Sweden. The
style guide for contributors states that the PE adheres to British English
standards – with the minor exception of most hyphenated words – so one hopes
Americanisms will not creep in (though the paragraph following this reassurance
begins with the word “Organize”). However,
the expertise assembled bodes well for the future of the project as a dependable
source of information, provided that no difficulties arise from perceived
conflicts of interest, such as the one that occurred during the final weeks of
McLuhan’s tenure.
This concerned the PE entry on Eileen Garrett,
founder of the Parapsychology Foundation, which was written by Matlock. There have been two recent books critical of
some of the assertions Garrett made about herself (their very titles alluding
to deception), but one of these, by Lis Warwood, was only listed in the
bibliography and not referred to in the text, while the other, by Julie Coyle,
was mentioned briefly in passing, with no elucidation of her claims. Any rounded portrait of Garrett should have
included discussion of these authors’ findings, though it is understandable
there might be discomfort in the Parapsychology Foundation camp at having them
aired. After disquiet about potential
bias was raised on Facebook the article was withdrawn, and a revised version is
awaited with interest. In the meantime,
there is an article in the PE about the Parapsychology Foundation, co-written
by Matlock.
Update 6 May 2026:
The new Psi
Encyclopedia regime has now been announced to the world on social media, so it
has not been quite as quiet a transfer as I had thought it would be, and to
mark the changing of the guard the website has some additions. Firstly, in recognition that the funds from
the Buckmaster bequest used to support the project have now diminished
substantially, a page soliciting donations has been introduced. This is an excellent idea, and I hope some of
those who benefit from its information will feel moved to give something,
though as the regular Wikipedia appeals indicate, obtaining money from users is
not always easy.
Another innovation is a
bi-weekly ‘Editors’ Blog’, the first instalment of which was penned by Jim
Matlock and dated 4 May, which I think gives a good idea of his vision for the
PE. For a start, he doesn’t seem to be
in sympathy with the term psychical research, referring to “academic parapsychology, which until the 1930s was better known as
psychical research.” This suggests that
psychical research as a term is redundant and has been completely superseded by
parapsychology, whereas in practice the two co-exist, albeit uneasily.
Before stressing the
continuity in aims for the Encyclopedia, he announces two more names on the
editorial team. In addition to the
Associate Editors, there are two “staff writers”: Courtney Block and Roberto R Narváez. This brings the total of personnel working on
the editorial side of the PE to seven, definitely a multinational group, but
with three in the US, one in Canada, one in Mexico, one in Sweden, and only one
in the UK. Hugh
Matlock is a software developer, which will be useful in keeping the look of
the PE up to date.
Matlock refers to the SPR as the “PE’s sponsor” rather
than owner, suggesting an element of autonomy (whereas the PE falls within the
remit of the SPR’s Education and Publicity Committee). Furthermore, the new Facebook page and
Bluesky feed headers refer to ‘Psi Encyclopedia’ rather than ‘The SPR’s Psi
Encyclopedia’, downplaying the association.
These moves suggest a desire to create some distance between the Society
and the PE, though when I raised the issue of the abbreviated title, Matlock
pointed out that there were multiple references to the SPR within the PE, so
the link was firmly visible to readers.
An alternative view is that no opportunity should be lost
to emphasise the relationship. I have
looked after the Psi Encyclopedia Twitter/X account since 2019 (shortly to be
handed over to the editorial team) and was careful there, and in my other SPR
social media activities, to ensure it was always referred to as the SPR’s Psi
Encyclopedia. The connection may be
shown within the PE, but when people are discussing its articles, that
connection can become severed, so stressing the SPR at every opportunity is
important. However, it is early days and
the new team is still bedding in, so there may be refinements as it gains
experience and obtains feedback on its efforts.
The reservations above aside, there is a vigorous programme of new
entries, and that is to be welcomed.
References
Carr,
Bernard (2026) ‘Report of the Education and Publicity Committee’, Society
for Psychical Research Annual Report 2024/25. Available at: https://www.spr.ac.uk/node/19834 (Accessed: 1 May 2026).
Coyle, Julie (2024) The Early Life of Irish
Psychic and Trance Medium Eileen J. Garrett: Fact or Fabrication?
Independently published.
Matlock, James G. (2026) ‘New Team, Old
Direction’, Psi Encyclopedia.
Available at: https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/2026/05/04/new-team-old-direction/ (Accessed 5 May 2026).
Psi Encyclopedia (no date) ‘About’. Available at: https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/about/ (Accessed: 1 May 2026).
Warwood, Elizabeth J. C. (2025) Behind the
Medium's Mask: Eileen Garrett's Shadow Self. New Directions Network.
