Table of Contents
Psychometry. What is it? Psychometry is the practice of holding an object in your hands and picking up the energetic signatures on it.
It’s supposed to be the easiest of the various psychic abilities. Its the one that’s recommended to start with if you want to learn to develop your own intuitive powers.
- What is Psychometry?
- Joseph Buchanan and Psychometry
- William Denton’s Psychometric Experiments
- Hypnosis to Aid in Reading Objects
- What is Psychometry Good For Anyway?
- Using Psychometry to Find Things and People
- Do I Really Want That Item?
- Does Science Support Psychometry?
- Scientific Theories Pertaining to Psychometry
- How Do You Do Psychometry?
- Psychometric Get Togethers
- Is Psychometry Real?
Read on below to learn all the details about Psychometry that we learned.
What is Psychometry?
A breakdown of the word can give us a clue to its meaning.
“Psycho” means soul or spirit and “metron” means measure, so it’s the measure of the soul.
It’s therefore thought that you can learn something about a particular soul or person by the residue of it left on an object. A small measure of its energy.
Another word for it is clairtangency which means “clear touching”.
Joseph Buchanan and Psychometry
Joseph Rodes Buchanan first used the word in 1842.
He was the first person who thought that objects gave off parts of the vibrations of those who’d handled them and that those vibrations could be read.
As an experiment, he gave vials containing various drugs to his students to see if they could determine the type of drug in each.
They gave the right answer more often than if they’d just been guessing or by chance and Buchanan wrote about it in his book “Journal of Man”.
William Denton’s Psychometric Experiments
A geologist named William Denton, became curious about the phenomenon of reading objects and decided to do his own experiment.
he had his sister help him explore this possible ability in 1854.
She held geologic specimens that were wrapped in cloth to her forehead to see if she could tell what they were without looking at them.
She was, apparently quite accurate. And, in the way of these experimenters, he wrote it up in a book called “The Soul of Things”.
Of course, there was the requisite skeptic, Joseph Jastrow who thought they were delusional and just relying on wishful thinking.
I’m beginning to think if a skeptic doesn’t denounce you, you aren’t doing it right.
Hypnosis to Aid in Reading Objects
In the early 1920s, a German psychical researcher named Gustav Pagenstecher, conducted some experiments with a woman named Maria Reyes de Zierold.
She originally had been treated by him using hypnosis for insomnia.
Somehow, don’t ask me how, during this treatment, it was discovered that she could read energy off of objects while in a hypnotic state.
Really, I would love to know how a jump from insomnia to reading objects could accidentally happen.
But there doesn’t appear to be any record of the sequence of events that lead to this.
So, going on, she could, reportedly, tell things about an object’s past, leading Pagenstecher to theorize that she was tuning into the vibrations of the object.
I found no record of a skeptic denouncing this, so the information may not have been as accurate as they say.
What is Psychometry Good For Anyway?
I mean, why would you want to “read” energy off of an item, anyway? What would be the use?
Well, several people have found a use for it.
One of the early uses was as entertainment.
Just like a traveling magician, people would put on shows reading information off of items probably brought up by the audience.
In this way, they would tell the owner something about him or herself.
Enough correct information and the public would be fascinated. These shows would be performed on stage or at psychic fairs.
The Russian performer, Stephan Ossowieki, had people write notes by hand on paper and put them in a sealed envelope.
He wouldn’t accept anything typewritten.
Presumably, because the act of writing by hand would leave the person’s energetic imprint on the paper, and typing wouldn’t.
He claimed to be able to know what was written on the papers without looking at them, just holding the envelopes that contained them.
A later claim was that a psychometric reading could help someone communicate with the dead.
I’m not sure how that would be accomplished, since the energy was put on the item while the person was alive.
Some people also claim to not only read what was going on with the person at the time they used the item but their past and future as well.
So, maybe the reader could read their future as spirit?
Or, more likely, handling something the deceased was fond of would help them link to the spirit easier.
To be honest, until I read this doing research, it was the first I’d heard of it.
Using Psychometry to Find Things and People
The Dutch university, Riksuniversiteit te Utrecht did some experiments. I couldn’t find a date for this.
He used this method of psychometric reading to find lost objects and people and to help in solving crimes.
Since practitioners claim that they are able to use the objects to tune into the energy of the person, they would probably get a picture of where they would be or of the crime as it occurred.
I’ve not heard of the use of one object to find another.
There was no description of how this was done.
I can’t even imagine unless it was to link the energy left on the held item to the same energy of that person left on the item sought. Could happen, I guess.
Since then, there have been some police departments that used a psychometrist to help them solve crimes, although many of them deny it when asked.
A woman named Noreen Renier used a toothbrush and the shoes of a person who was missing and told the police where to find the body.
But, they couldn’t use the information she provided in court.
Because a person giving the information could be making it up, whatever is said must be verified before it can be accepted as true.
If it’s unable to be verified, then it’s just something interesting to hear.
She actually has a website, if you want to know more about her. You can find it here
Do I Really Want That Item?
The difficulty in verifying this information is one reason, probably the main, reason why psychometric information can’t be used in court.
On a more everyday note, you can use psychometry before you make a purchase of a used item, obviously in person and not online or mail order.
You can get impressions of an item and if it feels uncomfortable to you, you may want to skip the purchase.
No matter how nice it looks or how much you like it otherwise.
Another discipline, feng shui, talks about the energy on items and how that can affect your living space.
So, the two can presumably be used together to make a harmonious living environment.
Does Science Support Psychometry?
I looked up some possible scientific support for psychometry but found very little.
I also didn’t see any real experiments having been done to test the ability.
It crossed my mind that if there was energy left on an item it might be able to be measured by instruments of some kind.
The first I looked into was Kirlian photography. It’s not really photography.
It records a color onto a plate directly using an electrical charge.
The charge hits the object and an image is laid onto the plate, usually showing a light surrounding the object.
A person can put their fingers into a metal clip that is attached to the camera.
When the charge hits, it will show the light around the person and be captured on the plate.
These colors are different depending on the inner workings of a person’s mind or emotions, according to some parapsychologists.
I wondered if Kirlian photography could pick up the residual energy left on objects, but the technique would seem to preclude that.
The other option seemed to be thermal imaging.
A camera set up to use infrared can detect heat signatures that are normally invisible to the naked eye.
Now, this technology can pick up residual heat signatures off of an item.
If someone turns a doorknob and you focus the thermal imager on that doorknob after the person lets go, you will see a thermal imprint of the hand on the nob.
It doesn’t last long and fades over a short time as the heat cools. But it does show that something remains behind if only for a short while after a person has held something.
This was the closest I could find to something that might prove the validity of psychometry.
Scientific Theories Pertaining to Psychometry
If something is left behind, it’s possible that someone could feel it.
If you’ve ever walked into a room where a fight has been and felt uncomfortable even if you didn’t know about the fight, then you know that energy can remain behind from someone and be picked up.
People have felt peace in areas where people have come to meditate or focus on peace such as Buddhist monasteries.
And felt disturbed in areas where there’s been violence or where discord has occurred.
The old phrase, “You could cut the tension with a knife” implies something physical even if you can’t see it.
I would have liked to find some definitive proof that energy remains on an object and may be able to be picked up, but was unable to.
These two devices may help to eventually get some of that proof. Who knows?
In my research, I found a book recommended. Although I haven’t had a chance to find it and read it yet, I have read other books on quantum physics and paranormal events. This one looks very good, so it’s on my (growing) list of books to read.
It’s called “The Holographic Universe” by Michael Talbot and explores the work of physicist David Bohm and neurophysiologist Karl Pribram about the possibility that everything we know is just a construct of our own, I presume, collective minds.
Both Bohm and Pribram are well respected in their fields.
It covers several paranormal types of phenomena, although I didn’t see psychometry listed, and connects them with these physics theories.
So, if you have a scientific bent, I’ll pass this recommendation on to you.
How Do You Do Psychometry?
It’s not difficult to do psychometric readings.
You just have to hold an object in your hand, I would try your non-dominant or receptive hand, and wait to see what images or impressions come to mind.
It’s better to do this in a relatively quiet atmosphere to keep distractions down.
Try not to censor or dismiss impressions but just take note of them.
If you’re doing this with someone, then speak them aloud as they come up.
If the item belongs to them or someone they know well, what you come up with may make more sense to them than to you.
It’s generally thought that items that are harder, like metal, hold energy and are more easily read than items that are soft, such as clothing.
Also, it should have been used frequently by the person or worn close to the body like the keys they use or often worn jewelry.
Psychometric Get Togethers
A group I visited once, did psychometric readings once in a while.
People would come and put objects in a bag that was passed around the group.
We’d reach in and take something out and now everyone had something that belonged to another group member.
We’d go around and have each person tell what they thought they were receiving off of the object.
The owner would verify the information or say if it wasn’t quite accurate. Whether you had a “hit” or not.
I pulled out an item, I can’t quite remember exactly what it was now, but when it was my turn to speak, I just kept seeing flowers in a garden setting.
The garden was well kept and peaceful and a love of nature seemed to be the main feeling I got.
It turned out that the owner was a woman who was an avid gardener and had a beautiful, landscaped flower garden that was her joy.
So maybe I did pick up something from the item.
Other Posts
Is Psychometry Real?
Skull Gal will discuss topics of interest to those who want to know what else is out there beyond what we can see and hear physically.
I don’t know if psychometry is real or not, but it is kind of fun to try.
It can’t hurt to give it a whirl and see what you get.
Maybe try a group event to exchange belongings and see what comes up, such as the one I went to.
If nothing else, it will give you a start on developing or exploring psychic abilities.
Check out our other posts…
- Recognizing After-Death Communication From A Loved One
- Skull Symbolism: What Does a Skull Symbolize?
- Psychic Experiences First Time Stories
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