Annette Taylor has personal experience of a phenomenon that lies behind many tales of ghosts, demonic possession, and alien abduction. I was asleep. Marley, our cat, was faster asleep by my side. ... (757 words)

Supernatural forces on the increase Spirits are increasingly making their presence felt in New Zealand, spurred on by celebrity ghost whisperers, says the Manawatu Standard (12 April). A recent ... (1266 words)

Although formal religion is continuing to decline in this country, belief in the supernatural remains high. That seems to be the main conclusion to be drawn from a recent survey of New Zealand ... (425 words)

When the Sunday Star-Times decided to survey the nation on how superstitious New Zealanders are and about what, I got used as guinea pig. Having done a lot of survey design and analysis during the ... (1773 words)

There were more than 20,000 pilgrims packed around ancient Stonehenge for the 2004 summer solstice. Among them were witches, druids, new age healers… and Hamilton journalist Russell Joyce. He reports ... (507 words)

A female photographer was banned from flying with the Romania socccer team because of superstitions that women bring bad luck, according to Romanian sports daily Gazeta Sporturilor. Gabriela Arsenie, ... (87 words)

Providence based medicine If the caring practitioner has no idea of what to do next, the decision may be best left in the hands of the Almighty. Too many clinicians, unfortunately, are unable to ... (1523 words)

Proceedings on Saturday were meant to be opened with a talk from Elric Hooper, but we were denied the opportunity to hear that leader of New Zealand theatre. In order to keep appointments in the USA ... (88 words)

In which John Riddell reminisces about happy childhood days and reflects on the stories we tell to grown-ups When I was just a young skeptic our family used to go to big Christmas family ... (1013 words)

Superstitions, Stars and Pigeons Astronomy is the science of stars and outer space stuff. Not everybody knows this and so astronomers get insulted when they get called astrologers. Astrologers will ... (981 words)

There are three types of people in this country. Those that can count and those that can't. It is common to blame the education system for this. One of the consequences of a poor education is we end ... (1061 words)

A lucrative new career option! If you have a look through the TV Guide during any week, you will find nestled tastefully beside ads for X-rated products a whole host of 0900 psychic phone ... (991 words)

EVERYTHING was roses and buttercups until that fateful day. An omen, it was, for sure. In July, on Friday, only 17 days before the 13th, we had born on our humble dairy farm a calfie. She had four ... (597 words)

Pull up a chair and hearken to the tale of the Great Drought of '94 "Skeptical?" piped up the old timer. "Of course I'm flaming skeptical, ye addlepated mudfish! "Aye, but it wasn't always so. I was ... (825 words)

Late in his life, in answer to a question, Freud compared the human condition approximately to the contents of a baby's nappy. When I first heard this story, it seemed to mark a bitter old man. That ... (562 words)

What is it that keeps superstitions going in the face of our increasing knowledge about the world? There is no easy, let alone absolute, way of telling the difference between a true belief and a ... (1713 words)

The _New Internationalist Review, a magazine not normally known for gullibility beyond the political, decided not all that long ago to examine the paranormal. Our intrepid reporter Peter Lange ... (865 words)

Are Skeptics pussy-footing around by not attacking the major source of superstition and pseudoscience -- religion? With the reintroduction of serious Islam in Afghanistan, women are now required by ... (685 words)