Channeling

Nineteenth-century antecedents

Accounts of channeling usually begin with modern Spiritualism. The Psi Encyclopedia, published by the Society for Psychical Research, dates the Fox sisters episode to late March 1848 at Hydesville, New York, where rapping sounds in a family home were interpreted by visitors as spirit communication; sitting circles, books and periodicals followed across the United States. It gives 21 October 1888 as the date of Margaret Fox's public statement that the raps were fabricated, which she recanted in 1889. Alcock, a psychologist writing as a sceptic in 1989, also names the 1848 events as a milestone.

Alcock traces the lineage further back and sideways. Citing a 1978 reference work, he describes the Swedish writer Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 to 1772) as the first Western medium, and he treats the Theosophical Society, founded by Helena Blavatsky in 1875, as another milestone, saying she claimed access to two Tibetan mahatmas and 'channelled' The Secret Doctrine in 1888. These are his characterisations. He adds that the label is sometimes applied backwards to shamans and prophets, and that Edgar Cayce is now called a channeler although, by Cayce's own description as Alcock reports it, no guide used his body.

The New Age wave from the 1970s

Alcock dates the most recent wave of channeling to the 1972 publication of Seth Speaks by Prentice-Hall, prepared by the writer Jane Roberts (1929 to 1984) and her husband Robert Butts. A master's thesis in literary studies by Shaw says Roberts claimed, from the 1960s through the early 1980s, to channel the teachings of a discarnate energy personality named Seth. Shaw argues that these texts can be read by the principles scholars apply to channeled writing of earlier periods, including the way they unsettle ordinary ideas of authorship.

Alcock reports that public interest rose further in the 1980s. He says Shirley MacLaine's book Out on a Limb (1983) sold more than four million copies, that a television miniseries followed three years later, and that J. Z. Knight, who channels an entity called Ramtha, was by 1989 the best known and most financially successful channeler. He draws these figures from secondary sources of the late 1980s, and they have not been checked here against the originals.

Ethnographic study in the 1990s

The main book-length anthropological study among the sources is Michael F. Brown's The Channeling Zone (Harvard University Press, 1997). According to the jacket text reproduced on the author's page, it draws on dozens of interviews with practising channelers and on participant observation in New Age workshops, and it argues that the practice has roots in earlier American spiritualism while reflecting late twentieth-century concerns. A reviewer quoted on the same page says Brown spent four years among channelers and their clients in New Mexico, Arizona and upstate New York. The fieldwork was therefore in the United States, and these sources do not show whether its findings apply elsewhere.

How researchers define the term

Research papers usually define channeling with the formulation of the American writer Jon Klimo, as quoted by Pederzoli and colleagues: the communication of information to or through an embodied person from a source said to exist on another level or dimension of reality than the physical, and not from the normal mind or self of the channeler. The definition is neutral about whether such a source exists; it describes what is claimed. Practitioners are generally called channels, according to a reviewer quoted on Brown's page, and the jacket text says channelers describe angels, aliens and ascended masters as the voices speaking through them.

Channeling and Spiritualist mediumship

Writers disagree about whether channeling is a distinct practice. Alcock calls it essentially the mediumship of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in new clothes, a sceptical framing. Albanese, in a Journal of the American Academy of Religion review quoted on Brown's page, calls it a variant, broadly speaking, of spiritualist activity. Alcock also notes a difference in the entities named: Swedenborg and Spiritualist mediums spoke with the souls of the dead, whereas the best-known 1980s channeled entities, such as Archangel Michael, Moses or Ramtha, bear biblical or mythic names or are said to have lived long ago or never in a body. Communication with the deceased is the central concern of mediumship and is not the focus of this page.

Channeling and spirit possession

Anthropologists and psychiatrists use possession for states in which a spirit is understood to take over a person's body or identity. Pederzoli and colleagues reproduce the definition of possession trance disorder in ICD-11, the World Health Organization's eleventh International Classification of Diseases, which requires among other criteria that the state is involuntary and unwanted, is not accepted as part of a collective cultural or religious practice, and causes significant distress or impairment. They conclude that, for most cases, channeling is distinct from that disorder and from dissociative identity disorder, and can be treated as either an exceptional experience or a non-pathological dissociative trance or possession experience.

Possession traditions differ widely by region and religion, and the sources reviewed describe only a few. A study of more than 2,000 participants in the United States, Ghana, Thailand, China and Vanuatu found that vivid experiences of gods and spirits were more likely where cultural models portray the mind as porous, and in people with a tendency to become absorbed in inner experience. That study did not examine channeling sessions, so it informs context only.

Forms and settings

Alcock writes that a channeler may be awake, in a trance or asleep, and may speak, produce automatic writing or use a Ouija board. A reviewer quoted on Brown's page says the sessions he attended ranged from informal meetings in suburban living rooms to staged events with professional channelers. Alcock reports, from a 1988 directory, that a seminar with Knight cost up to 1,500 US dollars in the late 1980s; current prices and formats are not covered by these sources.

What channelers report during sessions

In a laboratory study of 13 trance channelers, most said they were aware of the experience and not in a full trance, with varying levels of perceived incorporation, meaning how far they felt in control of their own body. In an online survey of 83 self-identified trance channelers, most said the process was willing and consensual and that they were consciously aware during it. In interviews with 20 Israeli women who channel, researchers identified three themes, dissociation, absorption and control, and said the descriptions corresponded to what psychology calls dissociative states.

Content of channeled messages

A qualitative analysis of what 13 trance channelers delivered when asked for messages about future channeling research found seven themes, including advice on research methods, descriptions of the channeling process, philosophical statements, gratitude, and personal messages for healing or growth. The authors note that research has tended to give little attention to channeled content, partly because it is hard to validate. The analysis describes what was said and does not test whether it is accurate.

Reasons people seek channeled messages

The jacket text of Brown's book says clients seek advice and solace from the entities channelers describe, and it places the quest in American traditions of individualism and self-perfection. Alcock summarises the usual message of the 1980s channelers as one in which people are spiritual and immortal beings who create their own reality, which he describes as reflecting themes long present in occult literature. These are descriptions by an anthropologist and a sceptical psychologist of what channelers and their audiences say, not findings about outcomes.

Benefits reported by channelers

In the survey of 83 trance channelers, the majority reported a positive impact of channeling on their lives. Pederzoli and colleagues, summarising earlier studies, say channelers generally describe the experiences as meaningful and beneficial and regard the information they provide as useful to clients. These are self-reports from people who practise. None of the sources reviewed measured outcomes among the people who receive channeled messages, so the benefit claimed for clients is untested here.

Surveys of psychological characteristics

In an online survey of 83 self-identified trance channelers, the majority did not report pathological levels of dissociative or psychotic symptoms, anxiety or depression, and scores on most personality factors, absorption and empathy were similar to published norms. A larger survey of 3,023 people found that the 42% who reported mediumship experiences scored higher on a dissociation scale than the rest (mean 18.2 against 11.8), yet neither group exceeded the threshold of 30 used to indicate pathological dissociation. That survey concerned mediumship and not channeling specifically.

A comparison of 150 Israeli women found that channelers had higher dissociation, absorption and psychological health scores than non-channelers with a similar history of trauma, and that dissociation and absorption were linked to trauma only in the comparison group. These designs show associations in volunteer samples and do not show that channeling causes any psychological outcome.

Comparison with dissociative disorders

Moreira-Almeida and colleagues interviewed 24 Brazilian Spiritist mediums with a structured dissociative disorders schedule and compared the answers with published data on people with dissociative identity disorder. The groups were similar in female predominance and first-rank symptoms, but the mediums showed better social adjustment, fewer mental disorders and less use of mental health services. Spiritism is a distinct tradition, and the comparison was with published figures and not a matched control group.

Physiology and brain imaging

In a within-subject study of 13 trance channelers who alternated channeling and non-channeling blocks, voice measures differed between states, but electroencephalography, heart, skin conductance and respiration measures showed no substantive difference despite the participants' sense of distinct states. A preliminary scan study of ten Brazilian psychographers, who write in a trance they attribute to spirits, reported lower activity in several brain regions during trance writing than during normal writing among the five experienced writers. The authors call for replication, and psychography is not the same activity as channeling in New Age settings.

Accuracy of channeled information

Pederzoli and colleagues note that some studies have tested information given by channelers or mediums about deceased persons, including with triple-blinded designs, and state that there is no definitive evidence for the survival of consciousness or for the existence of non-physical entities. PubMed searches run for this draft found no randomised trial of channeling sessions as an intervention for any health outcome; other databases were not searched. Findings on psychological adjustment should not be read as evidence about the source of the messages.

A sceptical reading

Alcock argues that channeled communications are products of the channeler's own mind and experience, a view he says most parapsychologists share. He also says the claims are hard to check because the entities usually have no earthly record. Of the Seth material, he writes that fraud and unconscious production cannot be told apart, and that Roberts herself once considered that it might come from her own subconscious. This is an opinion essay in a sceptical magazine from 1989, and it addresses the practice as it was in the 1980s.

Limits of the research base

Most quantitative studies reviewed use small, self-selected samples, online surveys or comparison with published norms, and several share authors, so the evidence is narrow and not independent in the sense of coming from many research groups. The samples come mainly from the United States, Brazil and Israel. Pederzoli and colleagues treat the origin of channeling experiences as an open question, and the studies reviewed do not settle it either way.

Religious objections

The jacket text of Brown's book records that some intellectuals dismiss channelers as cranks and charlatans, and that evangelical Christians accuse them of trafficking with Satanic forces. Brown is described there as neither a debunker nor an advocate. These objections are reported as positions held by others and are not assessed here.

Distressing or involuntary experiences

A sociological study of channelers describes an initial wild phase in which powerful, strongly embodied encounters with entities can be harsh and demanding and may be horrifying, followed by a cultivated phase in which channelers interpret them through narratives learned from friends and literature. In the survey of 83 trance channelers, lower psychotic symptoms predicted a more positive impact. The ICD-11 criteria quoted above treat involuntary, unwanted and distressing possession states as a clinical matter. A person with such experiences, voices or loss of control should seek assessment from a qualified health professional.

Cost and reliance on channeled guidance

Alcock warns, as his opinion, that following advice from channelers may divert people from dealing realistically with their difficulties, and that for most this costs only money. Brown's jacket text refers to a lucrative career for some channelers. Channeled messages are not diagnosis or medical advice and should not delay or replace necessary medical or mental health care. No source reviewed measured harms among people who attend sessions.

Ethics, training and regulation

A 2025 study surveyed 119 mediums and channelers, 74% of them living in the United States, and found that 66% said they follow a specific code of ethics. A draft aspirational code built from their responses received 91% approval in a follow-up survey. This is a voluntary, community-developed code. The sources reviewed do not identify any statutory licensing or training standard for channelers in any jurisdiction, and requirements may differ by country; consumer-protection rules for paid services were not examined.