It gives me great pleasure to announce that we have finally been able to make a very modest return to supporting PF’s grant program in much the same way we have recently brought back our scholarship and award program. These small research grants going forward will be named in honor of our late President, my mother, Eileen Coly. As PF’s second President taking over from her mother, Eileen J. Garrett, at Garrett’s death in 1970, until her retirement in 2013 she oversaw a robust grant program which apart from the maintenance of the Eileen J. Garrett Research Library was her pride and joy.
Taken from an interview with Rosemarie Pilkington first published as “Men and Women of Parapsychology: Personal Reflections” and then appearing in “Espirit”. Her enthusiasm for research was apparent when stating “The research must go on and anyone who has anything important to offer and will do their very best should receive as much attention, and support, as possible. If they have a worthwhile program to present that’s for the cause, as it were, not just to advance Dr. Joe Doakes, but as a
contribution and, where possible, original—the more original the better—we will try to fund them. We can’t stop because we haven’t solved the mystery of psychic phenomena yet. It’s got to be out there somewhere—but little by little the information is still being sifted and brought in.”
I am confident that Eileen Coly would be in total agreement that Dr. Julie Beischel fits our criteria and then some. Her grant is for a “Psi Experiences Survey”. As Julie wrote on her grant application:
“Surveys regarding anomalous beliefs and experiences have been an important methodology in parapsychology though they have often focused on dysfunction. We used established survey development and piloting methods to create novel web-based instruments including the Windbridge Psi and Related Phenomena Awareness Scale (WPRPAS) which assesses, without using loaded terminology or judgmental language, respondents’ awareness of phenomena including energy healing, mediumistic communication, telepathy, clairvoyance, micro- and macro-psychokinesis, out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, and children who remember past lives. Data was collected from roughly 1,400 Internet-using Americans. The grant will cover analysis of the collected data.” Julie went on to describe both the Windbridge Institute and the newly formed nonprofit, Windbridge Research Center. Herewith in Julie’s own words:
Institute
Launched in 2008, the Windbridge Institute, LLC, is dedicated to conducting world-class research on phenomena currently unexplained within traditional scientific disciplines. Our primary focus is on applied research with the goal of developing and distributing information, services, and technologies that allow people to reach their full potential so they can live happier, healthier, and more fulfilling lives. Our main areas of research and development include Mindfulness, Intuition, and Intention.
Since starting the Institute, three main themes have emerged in our research projects regarding psi phenomena: Normalize, Optimize, and Utilize.
Normalize: Our goal is to demystify occurrences of psi functioning (like precognition, telepathy, clairvoyance, and mind-matter interactions) and other spiritually transformative experiences through empirical research and education.
Optimize: Through the use of traditional mindfulness practices, new emerging technologies, and creative expression, we are developing tools and experiences which allow people to understand and potently tap into and enhance their own intuitive abilities.
Utilize: Armed with this better understanding of our full human potential, we apply what we learn to solve real-world problems.
For more information, see: http://windbridgeinstitute.com/
Center
In July 2017, the Windbridge Research Center, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt Arizona non-profit, took over the peer-reviewed research on the topics of life after death and after-death communication that had been conducted at the Windbridge Institute, LLC, since 2008. The Center has also added outreach and educational activities to this research. The mission of the Windbridge Research Center is to ease suffering around dying, death, and what comes next by performing rigorous scientific research and sharing the results and other customized content with practitioners, clinicians, scientists, and the general public.
For more information, see: http://www.windbridge.org/
Center and Institute
The Windbridge Research Center focuses on the charitable activities of performing rigorous scientific research and public education regarding dying, death, and what comes next while parapsychology-related application development in the areas of mindfulness, intuition, and intention remain at the Windbridge Institute, LLC. For a video explaining the evolution of the Windbridge Institute and the Windbridge Research Center, see https://youtu.be/LWW7RiVYTpM”
We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Julie Beischel to our long list of well deserving and creative grant recipients.