In this episode we speak to researcher and historian Dr. Christopher Laursen about the poltergeist phenomenon.

About Dr. Christopher Laursen

from his web page https://christopherlaursen.com

I am a scholar of religions, sciences, and the environment. I explore and study the interconnections between them. What Carl Gustav Jung called the “collective unconscious,” the philosopher Gregory Bateson referred to as “ecology of mind,” and the visionary artist Alex Grey calls the “net of being.”

The way I do this is by focusing on people’s extraordinary experiences, historically and in the present day. Such experiences have been given many names: intuition, self-actualization, peak experiences, mysticism, paranormal, supernormal, preternatural, psi, parapsychological, psychical, second sight, extra-sensory perception, clairvoyance. I position these experiences as part of nature, human and environmental. These things are “super natural.” Inspired by the work of the historian of religions Jeffrey J. Kripal, I insert a space between the noun “natural” and the adjective “super,” meaning beyond our present knowledge but with the potential to be better comprehended. The word “super natural” draws our attention to the potential that nature holds, and how people and cultures sense that potential. I approach these topics from historical perspectives and by working with those who sense and study that human and natural potential.

I am an educator who teaches university courses, works with researchers, and speaks to the public on topics that relate to the interconnectedness between religions, sciences, and the environment. Trained as a historian, I introduce a historical perspective to these topics, particularly in relation to how people experience these things and make knowledge from them. I bring in contemporary experiences and studies in order to examine what’s at stake in the present. How do these things reshape humanity and our world? I also educate through written work and other forms of media. Please see Teaching for more about my current courses at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington.

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