INTRODUCTION A four-year longitudinal research programme investigating the effect of local geomagnetic field fluctuations and meditation on receptive psi has been initiated at a Tibetan monastery in Scotland. This Note is intended to give the theoretical background for this research programme. Research findings from several disparate disciplines have been synthesized into a model that can be used to understand associations of both environmental variables and a person’s state of consciousness with an individual’s performance in controlled psi tests. Initially a description of the evidence for both geomagnetic activity (GMA) and meditation relationships with psi is presented. Since GMA exhibits variation by season, and possibly lunar phase, relationships between these cycles and psi are also considered. A theory that connects these variables is then presented, drawing on evidence that GMA may affect the function of the pineal gland within the human brain, and research that suggests that the pineal gland may produce psi-conducive neurochemicals.

In two experiments, the hypothesis was tested that participants' ability to remotely access the picture they would be shown in the nearest 15 min.depends of the magnitude of the reward.In Experiment 1, in the no-extra reward condition participants received a regular pay of £4 for participation independently of the success of their attempt to access the target picture, whereas in the extra-reward condition participants who successfully identified the picture were paid an additional sum of £80 on top of their regular pay.Results indicated that in the no-extra reward condition participants scored positively and significantly above zero, whereas in the extra reward condition the remote viewing score was negative and not significantly different from zero.In Experiment 2, the reward in the extra reward condition was decreased form £80 to £8 for a successful attempt.In both conditions of this experiment participants scored around zero.In both experiments, participants' performance was at their best in the first 25 trials, and deteriorated during the subsequent 25 trials.In Experiment 1 the drop in performance was statistically significant.The study did not support the hypothesis that an additional material reward improves ESP performance.Nevertheless, the results partially support the ESP based experimenter's expectancy effect.

The Link Between Psi and Geomagnetic Activity (GMA) GMA is the aggregate of disturbances in the natural magnetic field surrounding the Earth, caused by the interaction of that field with plasma (electrically charged gas) ejected from the Sun during solar storms. For the past three decades research in parapsychology has found evidence that psychic experiences may be affected by fluctuations in the geomagnetic field, that is, geomagnetic activity (GMA). For a detailed review of the literature see Roney-Dougal, Ryan, and Luke (2013). Receptive psi studies have found that, in general, psi scoring was greater during periods of low GMA as measured by the global indices (e.g., Krippner & Persinger, 1996; Persinger & Krippner, 1989). Occasionally, however, the opposite is reported (e.g., Radin, McAlpine, & Cunningham, 1994). Hubbard and May (1987) criticized research into the psi-GMA link for relying on global GMA measurements and urged that local measurements be made. In a meta-analysis of 51 studies comprising 2,879 free-response trials, Spottiswoode (1997a) found that the correlation of psi with global GMA was much stronger in a 2-hr window centered close to the local sidereal time (LST) effect size peak. Dalkvist and Westerlund (2000) suggested that Spottiswoode's findings could be explained if performance was affected by a factor that varied by an interaction of time of day and time of year. Ryan (2008) noted that as the large majority of ESP experiments in Spottiswoode's database were carried out during the daytime, an influencing factor with seasonal variation would generate a systematic variation of psi effect by LST. The trials in Spottiswoode's database did indeed exhibit a seasonal variation of psi effect (Sturrock & Spottiswoode, 2007). Ryan (2008) identified geomagnetic pulsations as a candidate for the underlying factor; these regular fluctuations in the geomagnetic field are the components that make up local GMA. They are classified into five bands according to frequency (i.e., the number of waves per second) and character (regular sinusoidal or irregular; Campbell, 2003; Jacobs, 1970), and each type exhibits distinct seasonal and/or interacting seasonal/daily variation (Jacobs, 1970). Pulsation strength and frequency tend to be related; in other words, pulsations at the lower end of the frequency spectrum tend to be the strongest. Ryan (2008) studied the relationship between local geomagnetic pulsations and the results of 343 ganzfeld and remote viewing sessions and found that psi effect size did indeed vary by pulsation frequency. Ryan suggested that these results may explain the inconsistent relationship between psi and GMA. He found that low frequency band 3 (0.025-0.1 Hz) geomagnetic pulsations were in general associated with poor psi performance (a finding further supported by Ryan and Subbotsky, 2010), whereas higher frequency band 1 (0.2-0.5 Hz) pulsations were associated with enhanced psi performance. The positive correlation between ESP and high frequency band 1 activity is a new finding. Local band 1 activity generally is not correlated with ap but in some years it is positively correlated with it. Low frequency band 3 disturbances correlate with the global GMA index and it is this aspect that relates to the correlations previous studies have found. However, there have been occasions where the general finding of negative correlation of psi with global GMA has been reversed and the high frequency band I component could well be implicated here, as Ryan (2008) found psi scoring related to enhanced band 1 activity. Ryan (2008) also suggested that an apparent association of specific frequencies of geomagnetic pulsations with psi may explain the relationships between LST, GMA, and psi performance reported by Spottiswoode (1997a, 1997b). Geomagnetic pulsations exhibit seasonal variation and will therefore be distributed unevenly across LST, due to the fact that psi trials have been mostly conducted in the daytime. …

In his article "Magnetic Anomalies and the Paranormal" in JSE 26:4 (Ralphs 2012), John D. Ralphs notes that correlations have been found between geomagnetic fluctuations and hallucinatory visions, poltergeists, PK phenomena, and ESP. Ralphs argues that ". . . it is a distinct possibility-indeed, a definite probability-that the active agent in most such cases is NOT the magnetic fluctuations themselves, but the cosmic rays that cause them." Ralphs describes the nature of these cosmic rays emitted from the Sun: He asserts that a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is a stream of cosmic rays that "can be imagined in terms of a gigantic volcanic eruption ejecting millions of tons of this electrically charged 'dust' at speeds in excess of four million miles per hour." Ralphs further asserts that these cosmic rays create the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). The Sun does indeed emit cosmic rays, which can travel at the speeds approaching the speed of light, but these are not the constituents of a CME, and they are not responsible for geomagnetic fluctuations. Geomagnetic fluctuations, and the Aurora Borealis, are caused by a plasma of low-energy particles emitted from the Sun, traveling at between 50 and 1200 km/sec (Kivelson & Russel 1995, Campbell 2003, Kallenrode 2004). Correlations between mental phenomena and geomagnetic fluctuations cannot be due to cosmic rays, as the latter arrive at the Earth one to three days before the plasma responsible for the fluctuations.

S OF PRESENTED PAPERS Nicola J. Holt Program Chair Abstracts of Presented Paperss of Presented Papers Parapsychological Association Annual Convention, Paris, 2010 2 Convention Committee David Luke, Ph.D. – Committee Chair Annalisa Ventola, B.A. – PA Business Manager Mario Varvoglis, Ph.D. – Arrangements Chair Nicola Holt, Ph.D. – Program Chair Renaud Evrard, M.A. – Student Assistant Louis Sagnières, M.A. – Student Assistant

A database of 343 free-response ESP trials conducted at centers in the U.K. was constructed in order to test the hypothesis that the relatively fast varying components of geomagnetic activity, geomagnetic pulsations, might be driving the reported associations between ESP, geomagnetic activity and local sidereal time. Local geomagnetic field measurements taken at 1- second intervals during 99 trials, and at 5-second intervals during 244 trials, were converted by fast Fourier transform into power within five frequency bands. Two patterns were observed: ESP was found to succeed only during periods of enhanced pulsation activity within the 0.2-0.5 Hz band, but ESP effect was absent during the most disturbed periods of activity in the 0.025-0.1 Hz band. The pattern of ESP effect by local sidereal time was similar to that found by Spottiswoode (1997b), and this shape was found to be attributable to the pattern of ESP results by pulsation activity in the 0.2-0.5 Hz band. The observed patterns were demonstrated to have excellent explanatory power in terms of accounting for findings previously reported in the literature.

S OF PRESENTED PAPERS Nicola J. Holt Program Chair Abstracts of Presented Paperss of Presented Papers Parapsychological Association Annual Convention, Paris, 2010 2 Convention Committee David Luke, Ph.D. – Committee Chair Annalisa Ventola, B.A. – PA Business Manager Mario Varvoglis, Ph.D. – Arrangements Chair Nicola Holt, Ph.D. – Program Chair Renaud Evrard, M.A. – Student Assistant Louis Sagnières, M.A. – Student Assistant

The proposal is that the local environment, as well as the person‟s state of consciousness, affects the ability to consciously use psychic awareness. For the past three decades research in parapsychology has found evidence that psychic awareness may be related to fluctuations in geomagnetic activity (GMA). Most of this research has used global measures of GMA, but recently Ryan found that certain classes of local GMA appeared to enhance receptive psi, whilst other classes had an inhibitory effect. He demonstrated that these patterns accounted well for the previously reported relationships between psi performance, global GMA and local sidereal time. We are running a long-term study with a special population, which will hopefully help to elucidate this effect. This research also extends previous studies with Yogis and Tibetan Buddhist monks in India, seeing whether the finding, that more years of meditation practice is related to psi-hitting, remains true for Western Tibetan Buddhist meditation practitioners, and further exploring which aspects of meditation are most psi-conducive. A clairvoyance/precognition free-response design is being used in which the participant, after a 15-minute meditation period, attempts to correctly choose a video clip selected at random by a computer. The computer program (PreCOG) chooses a target set at random from a pool of 25 sets, and a target video clip at random from the 4-clip set. Each participant completes a minimum of eight sessions each year, which enables both a within-subjects and a between-subjects design to assess whether or not local GMA is related to psi awareness. This design has both a randomized double-blind and inbuilt fraud control. Participants are all meditators residing at Kagyu Samye Ling Tibetan centre who have practiced meditation for at least 10 years, up to a maximum of 30 participants. There are three psychological tests being correlated with the psi scores at present: the Meditation Attainment Questionnaire is a measure of the level of meditation attainment achieved by each participant; the Stroop test is a measure of focus of attention; and the Temporal Lobe Questionnaire assesses temporal lobe lability, which may be an indicator of the degree to which the person is affected by GMA. Geomagnetic field measurements sampled each second are being supplied by the British Geological Survey's Eskdalemuir observatory, which is located 2 miles from Samye Ling Tibetan centre. There are three formal hypotheses: 1) Years of meditation practice will be positively associated with performance on the psi task; 2) Psi performance for sessions conducted during “high band” 1 (0.2 – 0.5 Hz) GMA will be greater than psi performance for sessions conducted during “low band” 1 GMA; 3) Psi performance for sessions conducted during “high band” 3 (0.025 – 0.1 Hz) will be less than psi performance conducted during “low band” 3 GMA. In addition, as this is a preliminary study, a number of exploratory analyses, such as correlations with the psychological tests, are planned in order to enable optimum design for the controlled studies to follow.

There is evidence that psychic experiences are related to geomagnetic activity (GMA). However, sometimes these are related with higher, and sometimes with lower, GMA. This anomaly may be clarified by studying local GMA. In order to explore this, a 4-year investigation was conducted. Unfortunately, solar activity and GMA were at their lowest for 100 years, so it was necessary to combine the preliminary and follow-up study data. Both studies used the same free-response design. The 26 participants, all of whom resided at, or near, Samye Ling Tibetan Centre, had practiced meditation for at least 10 years. Each participant completed a minimum of eight sessions each year. Three questionnaires and one psychological test were completed. Geomagnetic measurements were supplied by the British Geological Survey's observatory located near Samye Ling. There was no difference between sessions conducted during high or low band 1, or high or low band 3 GMA, but post-hoc analyses suggested a band 3 GMA effect. Overall, males' psi scores were significantly negative (p = .02, two-tailed), whereas females scored at chance; the difference was significant (p = .03). The participants with the highest temporal lobe questionnaire scores showed the strongest correlation of psi with GMA(p = .06).