Joe Nickell “the world’s only full-time professional paranormal investigator” has died. He studied weeping statues, ghosts, poltergeists, crop circles, flying saucers, Elvis sightings, the Loch Ness myth and the Turin Shroud. For almost all he found there were logical or scientific explanations or they were hoaxes.
Born 1 December 1944 11.30pm Lexington, Wisconsin, he took an English degree, joined the civil rights struggle, and fled to Canada when he was drafted for Vietnam, earning a living as a magician in Toronto, a private investigator, a blackjack dealer and gold prospector. Once pardoned as a draft dodger he took a PhD in literary mysteries. Eventually he was invited to start writing for Skeptical Inquirer and appeared on many TV shows. He set out to explain rather than debunk, and always sought to keep an open mind. “I urge sceptics … not to be as closed-minded as the other side is ridiculously open-minded,” he once said. Most paranormal mysteries he attributed to natural phenomena, wilful disbelief or fantasy-prone personalities.
He had Uranus in his 10th opposition a 4th house Sun Mars in Sagittarius which would make him opt for an unconventional career. His Neptune in Libra was emphasised on the focal point of a T square to Mercury opposition Moon Saturn in Cancer.
A 12th house Pluto would make him curious about mysteries and keen to dig below the surface and it sat on the midpoint of Uranus trine Neptune giving him influence.
It is a chart which could as easily made him an astrologer and drawn to Neptunian realms. Though perhaps his Sun inconjunct Saturn pulled him towards an overly rational view of events and people. Not that there are not myriads of gullible types who would believe anything but I distrust a career built on scepticism.
The Fixed stars were precisely aligned for him with the destructive Algol conjunct his Midheaven; his Sun exactly opposition Aldebaran; his Neptune exactly conjunct Lilith with Chiron conjunct as well. His Venus was conjunct his South Node.
Paul Kurtz, 21 December 1925 3pm Newark New Jersey, founder of the Sceptical Inquirer, was also a Sun Sagittarius; and had an emphasised Neptune on the focal point of a yod inconjunct Uranus sextile Jupiter. He had Algol opposition his Mars in Scorpio exactly which was conjunct Saturn in Scorpio as well. His Pluto was conjunct his Black Moon; and his Jupiter conjunct South Node was square his Chiron. A harder, more aggressive personality than Nickell, he was known as the father of secular humanism.
James Randi, another former magician turned sceptic and member of the paranormal-trashing CSICOP organisation (Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal) 7 August 1926 1.20 am Toronto, Canada, had an entrepreneurial chart, full of Fire and lacking in realism. His Leo Sun was square Jupiter, trine Uranus and trine Saturn in self-righteous Sagittarius. His Mars in Taurus conjunct Algol was in a publicity-attracting square to Neptune. His Chiron was conjunct his Jupiter and his Black Moon conjunct his South Node.
All three have planets on their South Nodes as well as strong Neptunes – I may be biased but it does not suggest a progressive approach. Part of my dislike of the CSICOP tribe relates not only to the attacks on astrology but also because both Kurtz and Randi were on the American False Memory Society Advisory Board which did a great deal of damage in the abuse field in the 1990s.
Another interesting skepticist was Harriet A. Hall, known as The Skepdoc.
I cannot remember his name, but there was a famous escapologist who was desperate to contact his dead mother. However he became extremely sceptical Conan Doyle’s second wife insisted that his mother had spoken to her. Which he knew was impossible because she only spoke Yiddish. From then on the man exposed those who he felt were taking advantage of the bereaved and grief stricken. I have just remembered his name, it was Houdini. Now if only I could remember Conan Doyle’s first name.
The escapologist was Harry Houdini.
Sorry, I missed your last line and can’t delete. It was Arthur Conan Doyle.
I was very glad to see the skepticism of skepticism here. I’ve had a long series of experiences I cannot explain and think sometimes we just need to accept some mystery.
There was a tentative explanation put forward about ghost sightings which were connected to the molecular make up of certain kinds of rock (granite) plus a damp atmosphere which it was postulated could ‘trap’ events/people almost like a camera and replay them to those who had particular sensitivities.
And it is certainly true if you speak to psychotherapists or those who work with clients in the throes of mental turmoil that odd synchronous events occur which can feel very unnerving.
There is so much we don’t know about the world and indeed human psychology that dogmatic denials about any paranormal experiences existing seem obstinately blinkered.
Thanks Marjorie. The more dogmatic the apparent consensus, the more I tend to distrust it. The same mindset crops up amongst scientists and medics, historians, and archaeologists. I’ve had many paranormal experiences since early childhood, and prefer to leave them without labels. I’ve rarely related most of them to others. A particularly weird Fortean type experience was seeing a large hailstone pass through the glass pane of a closed window in my sitting room one afternoon during a hailstorm. It bounced, and landed close to the fire, where it melted. The glass in the windowpane showed no cracks. I remember checking the carpet to make sure it was damp in that spot, I could hardly believe my eyes. Finding out more about quantum physics, which I barely understand, helped me with that one!
The ‘stone tapes’ ghost theory is a fascinating one, and could explain some sightings – particularly those of buildings that no longer exist, battles, or the entire Roman legion a family friend (a sceptic) saw one night while walking his dog. Perhaps Saturn and Neptune are involved? Also the common experience of seeing someone walking on a floor that’s at a lower level than the contemporary one, so appearing to be ‘cut off’ below the knee. I tend to think there are other kinds of ghosts and hauntings too. Some animals, certainly dogs and cats, also seem to see things that are invisible to most of us, and respond to them.
Do you have occupied water houses, Jane? My mother has had several ghostly experiences and told me that her grandmother would see the figure of a young woman in a crinoline at the old rectory house where she lived. According to her, this young woman died as a result of her dress catching fire. So it’s quite interesting to see that my mother has a 4th house Sag Moon as well as Neptune in the 12th and an 8th house Uranus.
Nothing in those houses VF, but a Sagittarius Moon like your mother. It is heavily aspected in many ways. I also have a Scorpio Mars, trine Pisces MC and Cancer Asc. Again, that’s all heavily aspected – indeed, most of my planets are. A veritable thicket in there really, garlanded with yods! Several senior family members were psychic, but nobody really made much of it, it was normal for them and didn’t align with any particular belief systems or philosophies. But it made for an open atmosphere and so the socially acceptable gates didn’t slam shut on mysteries of any kind, and I believe that’s important.
I too have had many “ghostly” experiences, seeing “echoes” of distantly past events fraught with emotion, as well as views of more “normal” events, such as shadowy robe-clad monks “walking” the cobblestones of a mediaeval ruelle in Paris and the seemingly floating image of a deceased woman inhabiting her former apartment. My late mother also had what would be considered paranormal experiences.
I have posted in the past about my experience with a ghost. It was really more like the past and the present occupying the same space.
I was in bed in the summer of 1976. It had been very very hot and yet it felt really cold, and I asked my then boyfriend to put the electric fire on. And he did then returned to bed.
It was then that we both say a man in front of the fireplace. He was bending over warming his backside. He was wearing a first world war army uniform. He was totally unaware of us, and it only lasted a few minutes. Not very interesting, but I have never forgotten it.
Interesting article, Marjorie which prompted me to look at the chart of American writer and researcher, Charles Fort whose name gave rise to the word ‘Fortean’ which describes those phenomena which science alone cannot explain. ‘Fortean’ describes phenomena and events which seem to challenge the boundaries of accepted scientific knowledge.
Perhaps his most famous work is ‘The Book of the Damned’, 1919 which is a compilation of anomalous events, inexplicable experiences and objects, a work which became a favourite of science fiction writers as well as those who felt there were limitations to the scientific perspective when it came to explaining the paranormal and anomalous human experiences, etc. Though his writing has come in for some criticism by for example Colin Wilson who described Fort as a crank and his writing as messy and unreadable.
He was born 6th August, 1874 in Albany, NY to an authoritarian father who physically abused his son, subjecting him to many beatings. This, Fort claimed led to his dislike and distrust of authority. The boy was a keen collector of sea shells, minerals and birds and he has the collector’s Mercury in Cancer. Fort has Scorpio Rising and perhaps his violent, tyranical father is reflected in his Uranus/Sun closely conjunct in Leo conjunct the MC, with Uranus also conjunct Mars and opposing Saturn in Aquarius conjunct his IC from the 3rd. He has an 8th house Moon in Gemini. His Neptune is conjunct his North Node, exact at 0 Taurus, conjunct the descendant and squares both Mercury in Cancer and Mars in early Leo. His Black Moon Lilith is unsurprisingly inthe 12th.
His Neptune NN is interesting given that Fort thought of the anomalous as belonging to a vast ‘Sargasso Sea’ wherein everything lost goes.
I fear Charles Fort was describing parts of my home there!
Likewise, reading that back I did think of our so-called spare room, which is more of a repository than a room these days!
Thanks Marjorie. Sometimes those with ‘a career built on scepticsm’, as you write, need investigating themselves! I thought of Harry Price, 17 January 1881 who was also a ‘magician’ who became famous for investigating fraudulent mediums, and subsequently ghosts and hauntings. The Haunting of Borley Rectory was a sensational case study – Price was accused of faking much of the ‘evidence’ for this and other investigations.
I noticed that you pick up on Nickell’s “Neptune exactly conjunct Lilith with Chiron conjunct as well”. Harry Price had Neptune in Taurus conjunct Chiron in Taurus, sextile Black Moon Lilith, and trine Uranus in Virgo.
Price’s Capricorn Sun was square Saturn in Aries, and trine Pluto in Taurus, close to Algol. Nickell has Sun trine Pluto, with Sun inconjunct Saturn. Re planets on the South Nodes which your examples share, Price doesn’t have this. However, his Capricorn Sun is inconjunct S Node in Gemini, while Mars at 1 Capricorn is conjunct the North Node at 27 Sagittarius.
It’s tempting to look at writer,comedian, and paranormal investigator Danny Robins, 22 September 1976 as well. His ‘Uncanny’ series on radio and TV has been a huge success. He’s less of a professional sceptic, and much more open to mystery, and the idea that people are telling the truth (or ‘their truth’) about unsettling experiences. He is kind and respectful to those he interviews, and likes to involve the audience via social media in the investigations and theories.
Danny Robin’s Nodes at 4 Scorpio/Taurus have Uranus conjunct the NN – unusual career? – with Black Moon Lilith 6 Taurus, and Chiron 0 Taurus on the South Node. Chiron and BML plus the Nodes seem to be a curious theme.
Bob Nygaard is another interesting case.