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 download 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. 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 three are in the United States;
the fifth lives 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 concerns
about potential bias were 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.
References
Coyle, Julie (2024) The Early Life of
Irish Psychic and Trance Medium Eileen J. Garrett: Fact or Fabrication?
Independently published.
Psi Encyclopedia (no date) ‘About’.
Available at: https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/about/
(Accessed: 1 May 2026).
Society for Psychical Research (2025) Annual
Report 2024/25. Available at: https://www.spr.ac.uk/node/19834
(Accessed: 1 May 2026).
Warwood, Elizabeth J. C. (2025) Behind
the Medium's Mask: Eileen Garrett's Shadow Self. New Directions Network.
