Garrett, Eileen J.

Garrett, Eileen J. (1893–1970) British psychic Eileen Garrett was among the most famous trance mediums of her time. When in a trance, she would typically connect with what she said was the spirit of an Arab, Uvani, who would then possess her body and speak with anyone else present. During some of these sessions, Uvani would describe events that Garrett could not possibly have known about, such as the technical details of what happened during an airplane crash that was still under investigation and for which the report had yet to be released. This particular incident was recorded in 1930 as part of a scientific investigation of Garrett’s skills, undertaken by the National Laboratory of Psychical Research. During the 1930s Garrett also participated in U.S. studies at Johns Hopkins University and at the New York Psychiatric Institute that examined whether Uvani and other spirits connected to Garrett were indeed unique personalities. Researchers concluded that these entities were separate from Garrett’s own personality, but they could not determine whether they came from the spirit world or from Garrett’s subconscious.

Garrett herself was worried that the spirit might not be genuine—that she was somehow creating Uvani (and other spirits)—and agreed to participate in a series of experiments by heart disease specialist Dr. Cornelius Horae Traeger. Traeger, along with many psychologists, theorized that Garrett was suffering from a multiple personality disorder, a psychological condition whereby a person’s subconscious mind creates alternate personalities that seem real and unique. With this disorder, no matter which alternate personality is speaking, the person’s physical characteristics generally remain unchanged. Consequently, in 1965 Traeger decided that he could determine whether Garrett—or any other medium—was suffering from such a disorder or, instead, was really being possessed by a separate entity simply by taking laboratory readings of her heart rate, blood pressure, blood chemistry, nerve reflexes, and other physiological characteristics both before and after the “spirit possessions.”

He tested Garrett both in her normal state and while she was in a twenty-minute trance and under the control of one of her spirits, Uvani, who had told Traeger he would cooperate with the test. Another spirit guide, Abdul Latif, was also involved; he agreed to “enter” Garrett immediately after Uvani “left” and remain in control for twenty minutes. Throughout the experiment, Traeger’s tests included measurements of blood count, blood-clotting time, respiration, pulse, heart pressure, heart rate, and Garrett’s reaction to various medications that were administered by injection. The test results were so surprising that Traeger was afraid his colleagues would think he had made some mistake. All of Garrett’s vital signs changed when she seemed to have been entered by a spirit, and each spirit provided unique readings. Moreover, each drug affected each entity—Garrett, Uvani, and Latif—in different ways. Sceptics, however, have suggested that these results were caused by the fact that Garrett used self-hypnosis before each spirit communication session, putting herself in a trance in preparation for the experience. Under hypnosis, sceptics note, people are able to alter their physiology so that readings for parameters like blood pressure and respiration can change.

Indeed, Garrett herself continued to worry about whether she was creating her spirits, and eventually, she founded her own research institution, the Parapsychology Foundation, to investigate mediums like herself and determine whether there really was such a thing as genuine spirit communication. Garrett also worked with the Society for Psychical Research to expose fraudulent mediums as part of its research into paranormal phenomena.

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