I asked A.I.: How do you, if at all, align Blackwood and Myers on the topic of possession?
"Brilliant question, Gary. Blackwood and Myers never explicitly co-authored a theory of possession, but their frameworks intersect profoundly when possession is reframed not as demonic invasion, but as psychic permeability, field entanglement, and subliminal resonance."
"Let’s map the alignment:
"🧠 Frederic W.H. Myers: Possession as Subliminal Overflow
"Myers, in his theory of the Subliminal Self, viewed possession not as supernatural intrusion but as:
- A breakdown of psychic boundaries between the supraliminal (conscious) and subliminal (unconscious) layers.
- Automatism: Possession-like states (trance, glossolalia, mediumship) are expressions of subliminal content surfacing.
- Field transmission: The psyche may absorb external psychic residue, especially in sensitive individuals or charged locations.
- Survival hypothesis: Some possession phenomena may reflect the persistence of personality beyond death—not as ghost, but as psychic imprint.
Possession, for Myers, is not evil—it’s evidential. It reveals the layered architecture of the psyche and its openness to field phenomena."
"🌲 Algernon Blackwood: Possession as Elemental Attunement
"Blackwood dramatizes possession as:
- Psychic attunement to place-memory (The Listener, The Occupant of the Room).
- Elemental absorption (The Man Whom the Trees Loved, The Centaur).
- Residual field saturation (A Psychical Invasion, Ancient Sorceries).
- Voluntary dissolution of ego boundaries—often mystical, not pathological."
"His protagonists are often possessed by nature, by ancestral residue, or by archetypal forces. The possession is not demonic—it is initiatory, ecstatic, or traumatic, depending on the dreamer’s containment."
"🌀 Alignment: Possession as Field Phenomenon
| Concept | Myers | Blackwood |
|---|---|---|
| Subliminal permeability | Possession as automatism | Possession as psychic resonance |
| Field transmission | Absorption of psychic residue | Haunted places, elemental fields |
| Survival of personality | Possession as imprint | Residual hauntings, place-memory |
| Initiatory collapse | Trance as evidence | Ego dissolution in nature |
| Ethical ambiguity | Not evil, but evidential | Not evil, but transformative" |
"Both thinkers treat possession as a phenomenon of psychic scale—where the ego is overwhelmed by forces it cannot metabolize, whether internal (subliminal) or external (field)."
"Would you like to design a diagnostic grid for possession dreams—one that distinguishes Myersian automatism from Blackwoodian field saturation? Or build a containment ritual for dreamers who experience elemental or ancestral possession in the imaginal field?"
What more if anything can you say about Blackwood's notion of psychic attunement to place-memory and can you align that with the phenomenon of mediumship?
"Yes, Gary—this is a rich seam. Blackwood’s notion of psychic attunement to place-memory is one of his most haunting contributions to literary metaphysics. It’s not just a trope—it’s a phenomenological stance, a way of being porous to the residual psychic charge of a location, often without conscious intent. When aligned with mediumship, it reveals a shared architecture: both involve subliminal permeability, field resonance, and transpersonal transmission."
"🏚️ Blackwood’s Psychic Attunement to Place-Memory
"In stories like The Listener, The Occupant of the Room, and A Psychical Invasion, Blackwood dramatizes how certain places retain:
- Psychic residue: Emotional, spiritual, or traumatic imprints left by previous inhabitants.
- Field saturation: The space becomes a kind of psychic echo chamber, amplifying unconscious content.
- Unconscious attunement: Sensitive individuals begin to resonate with the field, often involuntarily.
'The room was not empty. It was saturated with something that had once lived there.' —The Occupant of the Room"
"This is not haunting in the gothic sense—it’s psychic entanglement, where the protagonist becomes a medium for the place’s memory."
"🔮 Mediumship as Field Resonance
"Mediumship, especially in the Myersian and psychical research tradition, involves:
- Subliminal openness: The medium’s psyche is tuned to receive transmissions from beyond the ego.
- Field sensitivity: The medium may absorb impressions from spirits, places, or collective unconscious strata.
- Automatism: Speech, gesture, or vision may emerge involuntarily, as if the medium is a conduit."
"In this frame, mediumship is not performance—it’s psychic ecology. The medium becomes a living membrane between worlds."
"🧠 Alignment: Blackwood & Mediumship
| Concept | Blackwood’s Fiction | Mediumship Phenomenon |
|---|---|---|
| Place-memory | Rooms and landscapes retain psychic charge | Locations may trigger trance or messages |
| Psychic permeability | Sensitive characters absorb field residue | Mediums open subliminal channels |
| Unconscious attunement | Protagonists resonate involuntarily | Mediums enter altered states |
| Field transmission | Psychic invasion from residual energy | Messages from spirits or collective field |
| Automatism | Nightmares, moods, gestures shift | Speech, writing, or vision emerges" |
"Both phenomena suggest that consciousness is not bounded by the skull—it is relational, environmental, and transpersonal."
"🌀 Implications for Dreamwork and Ritual
"If we treat place-memory as a kind of ambient mediumship, then:
- Dreamers may be channeling the field, not just their own unconscious.
- Ritual containment must include spatial cleansing, boundary reinforcement, and field mapping.
- Expressive arts can be used to translate field transmissions into symbolic form—painting the residue, singing the echo, sculpting the haunting."
"Would you like to design a dreamwork protocol for field-saturated dreams—perhaps one that distinguishes personal unconscious content from place-memory transmissions, using Myersian diagnostics and Blackwoodian reverie? We could even build a ritual for closing psychic membranes after unintentional mediumship."
Can you delineate the differences among 1) Possession; 2) Mediumship; and 3) Channeling; and is A Psychical Invasion a possession story, a medium's story, or a trance-channeling?
"Absolutely, Gary. Let’s delineate the three phenomena first—then spiral into A Psychical Invasion and diagnose its psychic architecture."
"🧠 1. Possession
"Definition: A state in which an external force, entity, or psychic field overtakes the ego, often involuntarily, disrupting agency, identity, and volition."
"Key Traits:
- Involuntary: The subject is overwhelmed or invaded.
- Disruptive: Alters mood, behavior, memory, or bodily control.
- Often pathological or initiatory: Can be traumatic or transformative.
- Myersian lens: A collapse of subliminal boundaries; automatism triggered by field saturation."
"🔮 2. Mediumship
"Definition: A receptive state in which the medium becomes a conduit for messages, impressions, or presences from beyond—whether spirits, fields, or archetypes."
"Key Traits:
- Receptive: The medium tunes in, often voluntarily.
- Communicative: Transmits messages, visions, or sensations.
- Often ritualized: May involve trance, containment, or symbolic tools.
- Myersian lens: Subliminal self opens to transpersonal transmission."
"🌀 3. Channeling
"Definition: A more conscious or semi-conscious form of mediumship where the channel allows a distinct voice, personality, or energy to speak or act through them."
"Key Traits:
- Semi-voluntary: The channel may retain partial awareness.
- Distinct persona: Often involves named entities or archetypes.
- Creative or revelatory: Used for guidance, prophecy, or mythic transmission.
- Myersian lens: Controlled automatism; subliminal content shaped into coherent form."
"📘 A Psychical Invasion: Diagnostic Reading
"Let’s apply this triad to Blackwood’s story.
"Symptoms in the Story:
- The protagonist experiences nightmares, oppressive moods, and psychic invasion.
- The flat is saturated with residual psychic energy from a previous tenant.
- Dr. John Silence diagnoses the phenomenon as psychical, not ghostly.
- The protagonist is unconsciously attuned to the field, triggering psychic distress."
"Diagnostic Grid:
| Phenomenon | Present in Story? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | ✅ Yes | The protagonist is involuntarily overwhelmed by residual psychic force. |
| Mediumship | ⚠️ Partial | He does not transmit messages, but he receives impressions and moods from the field. |
| Channeling | ❌ No | No distinct persona or conscious transmission emerges." |
"Verdict:
"A Psychical Invasion is primarily a possession story—but not in the gothic or theological sense. It’s a Myersian possession, where the protagonist’s subliminal self becomes entangled with a residual psychic field, triggering automatisms and psychic collapse. It flirts with mediumship, but never crosses into active transmission or channeling."
"Would you like to build a containment protocol for field-induced possession—perhaps using expressive arts, sonic resonance, and spatial cleansing to metabolize psychic residue? Or map a diagnostic ritual for distinguishing possession from mediumship in dreamwork?"
In his work on Planchettes, did Myers ever speculate on the human body as planchette?
