Approved For Release 20084)6/1 1 nature and only partly veridical. Although such dreams are ob- viously of a clairvoyant, paranormal nature, Dunne denies this and attempts to explain such dreams by an intricate theory of time. -- G.Z. 01374. Dietz, P.A. Is everybody in possession of the gift of extra- sensory perception (E.S.P.) Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie, 1928/29, 1, 97-108. Extrasensory perception is a term that was coined around the time the pioneers of psychical research were busy with the investigation of the occult, the phenomena of spiritualism, and the like. Other terms, old and new, were advanced to describe certain phenomena that could be regarded as belonging to the ESP group, but that did not encompass the entire subject. Other groups of phenomena belonging to what was termed ESP include telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and a few others. Discussing the question of whether all or most people worldwide are more or less paranormally gifted, Dietz advances the opinion that a greater percentage of people possess paranormal gifts to a certain degree. In support, he cites the fact that most people have some musical talent, some idea of rhythm, etc. Of course, there are a number of people who are completely devoid of any feeling or interest for music. The above, in Dietz’s opinion, might well be the case concerning paranormal faculties. Most people might be para- normally gifted to a certain degree; highly gifted persons, on the other hand, seem to be very rare. Dietz’s point of view appears to be upheld by the fact that there are many cases in which ESP manifests itself only once during a person’s entire life. — G.Z. 01375. Tenhaeff, W.H.C. Experiments with Mrs. Lotte Plaat- Mahlstedt to test her gift of extrasensory perception. Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie, 1929/30, 2, 1-80. , In 1928, Tenhaeff was able to test the medium Mrs. Lotte Platt-Mahlstedt for several weeks. Together with Tenhaeff, dozens of well-educated men, journalists, medical doctors, judges, etc. were present and participated in these experiments in which the medium was offered a “psychometric” object (an envelope, opened or sealed, a pencil, a pocketbook, etc.), and asked to describe the owner of the object. The results obtained were quite positive because far more hits were registered than misses. A remarkable hit was the following: With regard to the object offered, the medium said: “This lady is all the time getting hold of her wrists. Is she going to commit suicide by cutting her wrists?” The truth was that this lady was very much afraid of being buried when still ina condition of apparent death. She insisted that her wrists be cut before being buried. Based on communications of 2 centuries ago concerning dowsers experiencing subjective sensations when finding themselves above certain ore veins, coal, mineral deposits, and the like, Tenhaeff decided to test Mrs. Platt to see whether she was sensitive to certain chemicals and substances (mercury, silver, gold, sulphur, etc.). These substances can be found in various homeopathic medicines. The results of these experiments in which the medium had to identify which metals were present in the bottles presented to her were highly successful. According to the experimenters (Tenhaeff and several other persons), there was little doubt that Mrs. Lotte Platt was highly paranormally gifted. — G.Z. 01376. Dietz, P.A. Have the dead anything to do with the paranormal? Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie, 1929/30, 2, 240- 247. It is the opinion of Dr. Dietz that the claims of the spiritualists, that is, that all médiumistic performances are brought about by the “spirits” of the dead, are not based on actual facts. On the contrary, paranormal phenomena are the result of certain faculties of living human beings. On the other hand, Dietz goes on to say, there seem to have been some rare occurrences pointing to discarnate influence. Asan example he cites the manifestations of apparitions that year after year appear at some locality. But these apparitions should not be regarded as spirits of the dead — the still-surviving personalities of deceased persons. Rather, they are a kind of dream, a dreamlike state having its own life and repeating itself all 2R000700700002-2 91374-01378 the time. Dietz also thinks that a number of cases of alleged spirit communications that have occurred during seances with Mrs. Piper as the medium should probably be regarded as an authentic contact with a deceased person, although one can never be sure. Because we know very little about the reach of the psi faculties of mediums, it is quite possible that a medium can know practically anything concerning a deceased person by means of his or her ESP gifts. Dietz regards the alleged physical manifestations of dead persons (the moving of objects, stopping of clocks, etc.) as a kind of convulsion of the dead or dying person. The last vital powers are set free and produce the physical manifestations. These manifesta- tions are not consciously produced, and very soon come to anend. But everything the alleged spirit tells us about conditions, etc. in the life to come are nothing but products of the medium’s imagination. — G.Z. 01377. Dietz, P.A. A successful psychometric experiment with the clairvoyant E. Hanussen. Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie, 1930/31, 3, 70-76. In 1930, Hanussen (who later would often be consulted by Adolph Hitler) visited the Netherlands and gave seances in several Dutch towns. When he gave a public seance at The Hague, Dietz was very keen to be present, as he wanted to test Hanussen's paranormal faculties. Dietz was, however, unable to be there, but he sent his wife to the seance with a psychometric object. The object was a letter written in 1796 by the clergyman, Jan Scharp, living in Rotterdam. Scharp was well-known in Rotterdam where he had been preaching for many years. In the spring of 1796, he was called to visit a prisoner who had committed a number of daring thefts, stealing quite a lot of money from two rich citizens. He was condemned to be hanged. To his surprise, Scharp found that the prisoner was a very friendly man who was highly educated and had read the books of Spinoza and Voltaire. The two gentlemen became close friends. Although he had had an excellent education, he soon began to indulge in debauchery and lost all his money. In despair, he jumped on the first ship he could find, and came to Rotterdam. On May 20th he was to be hanged, but the night before, he got hold of a knife and cut his throat. Dying, but still alive, he was hanged. A few hours before his suicide he wrote a letter to Scharp, and it was this letter that was handed to Hanussen in an unsealed envelope to be used as a psychometric object. Hanussen did not take the letter out of the envelope, but held it in his hand all the time, His impressions were the following: When he started talking it was clear that he found himself in a state of great unrest. Walking nervously up and down, he said: “Had a very eventful life, a great inner struggle; this man was very much misjudged; he died a long time ago but he is still not forgotten; he possessed great mental gifts, a genius.” A few minutes later Hanussen continued: “A life that ended witha cry of despair, what a terrible end.” Finally, he called out with a loud voice: “Suicide!” During these words Hanussen repeatedly gripped his throat with his fingers. According to Dietz, Hanussen’s impressions were correct with regard to the most important points of the prisoner's life. Dr. Tenhaeff was present during the Hanussen seance. — G.Z. 01378. Dietz, P.A. Stigmatization produced by Paul Diebel. Tijdschrift voor Parapsychologie, 1930/31, 3, 145-155. Paul Diebel, a German by birth, was a soldier who fought against the Russians during World War [. He was takena prisoner of war, but he was able to steal the uniform of a Russian officer and flee. He was caught and condemned to be shot: because he was wearing a Russian uniform, he was believed to be a spy. The night before he was to be executed he cut his wrists. When the Russians found him, they believed him to be dead and put him in an empty truck. There he came to his senses and saw that the bleeding had stopped. The owner of a mill took care of him and allowed him to stay with him until the end of the war. Diebel became convinced that by pure will power he could make any part of his body bleed, or any wound bloodless. When Diebel gave public sittings in Holland, Dietz persuaded him to give a private sitting that would Approved For Release 2000/08/11 : CIA-RDP96-00792R000700700002-2 “19