Ghosts / en Undead or unexplained? Photos, books on the paranormal at 91łÔąĎ's Fisher Library /news/undead-or-unexplained-photos-books-paranormal-u-t-s-fisher-library <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Undead or unexplained? Photos, books on the paranormal at 91łÔąĎ's Fisher Library</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-13-Paranormal%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=wLvVjjYR 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/2017-01-13-Paranormal%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=aNfM3JMi 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/2017-01-13-Paranormal%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=AQhVZwzT 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/2017-01-13-Paranormal%20main.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=wLvVjjYR" alt="Photo from book showing seance"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>ullahnor</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2017-01-12T18:01:35-05:00" title="Thursday, January 12, 2017 - 18:01" class="datetime">Thu, 01/12/2017 - 18:01</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">Fisher Library’s collection of paranormal literature explores everything from spirit photography to seances (photo by Romi Levine) </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-reporters field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/authors-reporters/romi-levine" hreflang="en">Romi Levine</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-author-legacy field--type-string field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Author legacy</div> <div class="field__item">Romi Levine </div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/city-culture" hreflang="en">City &amp; Culture</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ghosts" hreflang="en">Ghosts</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/fisher-library" hreflang="en">Fisher Library</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t" hreflang="en">91łÔąĎ</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/literature" hreflang="en">Literature</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/donation" hreflang="en">Donation</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>While modern science helps us understand the world around us, it’s the unexplained that really captures our imagination.</p> <p>91łÔąĎ’s Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library is celebrating our fascination with otherworldly beings in an exhibit called “Investigating the Paranormal,” on display until the end of January.&nbsp;</p> <p>Curated by Fisher librarian <strong>Chris Young</strong> and archivist <strong>Natalya Rattan</strong>, the display draws from a collection of more than&nbsp;1,500 items from the 18th century until today. The collection was donated by 91łÔąĎ alumnus <strong>Adam Crabtree</strong>,&nbsp;a former Catholic priest&nbsp;who has been interested for awhile in paranormal experiences.</p> <p>The collection, which also available online, includes illustrated&nbsp;books,&nbsp;fictional pieces, journals and important literature pertaining to psychical research, which is the study of the paranormal.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3123 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/Puysegur.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>This first edition of Puysegur’s work, is signed by the author. It’s of the most valuable books in the collection (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>Crabtree was a Benedictine monk but decided to leave the monastery while studying philosophy at 91łÔąĎ.&nbsp;</p> <p>After finishing his studies, he became a psychotherapist and began to explore paranormal phenomenon.</p> <p>“I used hypnosis or trance states to make the work more effective in exploring the inner life of my clients, and in the process, I became very interested in understanding how hypnosis came to be and how the unusual things that were being revealed about the unconscious life of human beings came to light,” he says.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3117 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/the%20supernatural.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>Crabtree’s collection includes books about the paranormal with interesting illustrated bindings (photo by Romi Levine)&nbsp;</em></p> <p>Crabtree was attracted to the works of psychical research’s forefathers – Franz Anton Mesmer and his pupil Marquis de Puysegur.&nbsp;</p> <p>“Puyesgur explored how people talked and what view of the world they had when they were in a mesmerized state,” says Crabtree.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3120 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/Magnetisme_0.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>This is the first illustration of a sĂ©ance from the 18th century. It may even depict Mesmer himself (third from left). Patients are grasping iron rods protruding from the water. They applied them to ailing body parts, to&nbsp;transfer&nbsp;therapeutic magnetism to their bodies (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>Though psychical research is considered a fringe science today, that wasn’t always the case, says Young.</p> <p>“When it was starting off in the 19th century, people used contemporary scientific methods for it,” he says. “The problem at the time was there wasn’t enough evidential proof that these paranormal activities were actually happening. That’s why it never took hold as a scientific discipline along the lines of chemistry, biology.”</p> <p>Mainstream fascination in the paranormal also began in the 1800s with social events meant to conjure spirits such as&nbsp;seances and table turning.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3121 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/Table%20turning%20table%20talking_0.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>Spiritualist events like table turning were popular in the 19th century (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>“Table turning is a type of a seance. Allegedly spirits are communicating with you, but somebody was probably turning it with their foot –&nbsp;who knows? It’s kind of like a ouija board,” says Rattan.&nbsp;</p> <p>Early photographers also claimed to have captured paranormal phenomenon –&nbsp;a trend explored in the Fisher exhibit.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3122 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/Ectoplasm.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>Ectoplasm is a substance that is said to be visible on mediums when photographed (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>“Photography was fairly new and involved a lot of chemicals to be able to reproduce the photographs,” says Young. “So people would take photographs, and there would be this mirror image of a face or other types of lighting that had been captured and people couldn’t explain it.”</p> <p>Rattan adds that people at the time thought the likenesses that appeared were people that had died who were important to them.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3125 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/Arthur%20conan%20doyle.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was a member of the Society for Psychical Research (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> <p>Psychical research was so popular in the 19th century that well-known figures like Sherlock Holmes author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle embraced it.&nbsp;</p> <p>The topic may not be as readily embraced today, but Crabtree’s collection is beginning to spark interest: 91łÔąĎ scholars and even an American PhD student have looked into it.&nbsp;</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__3124 img__view_mode__media_original attr__format__media_original" height="500" src="/sites/default/files/ghost%20in%20photo.jpg" typeof="foaf:Image" width="750" loading="lazy"><br> <em>Can you see the ghostly faces in this photo? Spirits are alleged to have been captured on camera (photo by Romi Levine)</em></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Thu, 12 Jan 2017 23:01:35 +0000 ullahnor 103265 at Are there ghosts at 91łÔąĎ? Maybe... /news/ghosts-of-u-of-t <span class="field field--name-title field--type-string field--label-hidden">Are there ghosts at 91łÔąĎ? Maybe...</span> <div class="field field--name-field-featured-picture field--type-image field--label-hidden field__item"> <img loading="eager" srcset="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/haunted_house.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ggScwm-D 370w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_740/public/haunted_house.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=YgAXAzYX 740w, /sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_1110/public/haunted_house.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=zAA8N-gt 1110w" sizes="(min-width:1200px) 1110px, (max-width: 1199px) 80vw, (max-width: 767px) 90vw, (max-width: 575px) 95vw" width="740" height="494" src="/sites/default/files/styles/news_banner_370/public/haunted_house.jpg?h=afdc3185&amp;itok=ggScwm-D" alt="University College at night"> </div> <span class="field field--name-uid field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden"><span>lavende4</span></span> <span class="field field--name-created field--type-created field--label-hidden"><time datetime="2016-10-31T11:29:20-04:00" title="Monday, October 31, 2016 - 11:29" class="datetime">Mon, 10/31/2016 - 11:29</time> </span> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-field-cutline-long field--type-text-long field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Cutline</div> <div class="field__item">University College at night: just one of six buildings at 91łÔąĎ that might be haunted (Photo by Christopher Dew)</div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-topic field--type-entity-reference field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">Topic</div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/topics/our-community" hreflang="en">Our Community</a></div> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-story-tags field--type-entity-reference field--label-hidden field__items"> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/halloween" hreflang="en">Halloween</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/ghosts" hreflang="en">Ghosts</a></div> <div class="field__item"><a href="/news/tags/u-t-magazine" hreflang="en">91łÔąĎ magazine</a></div> </div> <div class="clearfix text-formatted field field--name-body field--type-text-with-summary field--label-hidden field__item"><p>It's Halloween, and ghosts, ghouls, zombies and other supernatural creatures will be roaming through the streets of Toronto – and, legend has it – some of the buildings at the 91łÔąĎ.</p> <p>Are there ghosts at 91łÔąĎ? Read on and judge for yourself.</p> <p>And, if you're really brave, you can take a <a href="http://muddyyorktours.com/?page_id=44">walking tour of haunted places at 91łÔąĎ</a> through Muddy York walking tours.</p> <hr> <p><strong>The Ghost of UC Quad</strong></p> <p>Legend has it that two of the stonemasons that worked on the construction of University College – Ivan Reznikoff and Paul Diablos – got into a murderous fight over a woman, which ended with Diablos stabbing Reznikoff and then hiding his body somewhere on site. Two years later, much of University College burned in the Great Fire, but workers digging through the rubble discovered something strange: inside a ventilation shaft a skeleton wearing a belt with a buckle stamped with the stonemason’s emblem. It’s said the ghost of Reznikoff still roams the UC quad at night.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__2364 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="291" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/hart_house_480-480x291.jpg?itok=5NxR5XcT" typeof="foaf:Image" width="480" loading="lazy"></p> <p><strong>The spirit that saved a life at Hart House</strong></p> <p>Working late one winter night, Hart House Theatre manager <strong>Paul Templin</strong> decided to sleep in his office and asked the security guards not to wake him. Sometime during the night, the door swung open and hit his cot. The door was glass-paned, so he could see there was someone standing behind it. The room was filling with smoke – the result of an electrical fire – so Templin quickly left and gathered with Hart House’s overnight staff on the sidewalk outside. He asked if anyone had been to his office; no one had. Templin credits the ghostly apparition for saving his life.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__2365 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="306" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/Christie_Mansion_480.jpg?itok=2KvZ9IYo" typeof="foaf:Image" width="480" loading="lazy"></p> <p><strong>The mad woman of Christie Mansion</strong></p> <p>The large house at the northeast corner of Wellesley Street and Queen’s Park Circle that belongs to Regis College is said to have been home to a man who trapped a woman in a windowless room there. Eventually the woman went mad from the solitude&nbsp;and hanged herself. Decades later, rumours persist that a woman entering the room alone late at night will find that the door suddenly swings shut behind her and refuses to open. To escape, she must pound on the heavy door until her rescuer is able to easily open it from the other side.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__2366 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="320" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/massey-at-night_Tina_Park_480.jpg?itok=oHQrznAY" typeof="foaf:Image" width="480" loading="lazy"></p> <p><strong>Things that go bump in the night at Massey College</strong></p> <p>For the 18 years he was master at Massey College, <strong>Robertson Davies</strong> captivated the crowd at the annual Christmas party with spectral stories of his own invention. He sometimes told his fellow faculty members that, given his druthers, he’d haunt the college himself one day. Davies may have gotten his wish. Students past and present whisper of inexplicable phenomena within Massey’s walls that began the day that Davies did (or didn’t) leave us – wraithlike figures that disappear into thin air, objects that mysteriously move or show up in unlikely locations, and thuds and crashes coming from empty rooms.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__2367 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="321" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/lab_480.jpg?itok=5fNdjCjW" typeof="foaf:Image" width="480" loading="lazy"></p> <p><strong>The mysterious electrical engineer</strong></p> <p>As a first-year engineering student, <strong>Leo Comitale</strong>&nbsp;was working with a peer on an electronics assignment in an old lab in the Wallberg Building. They were stumped when they noticed a man standing nearby they didn’t recognize. “He asked us what was wrong, and we told him we didn’t know. We had built the circuit exactly as described&nbsp;but it was not behaving as expected,” says Comitale. The mysterious man told the students to double-check their wires. When they did, they found one was broken. They replaced it and completed the assignment. When they turned to thank the man, he was no longer there. “No one else could remember seeing anyone who matched his description. Neither of us saw this man again during our time at the university,” says Comitale.</p> <p><img alt class="media-image attr__typeof__foaf:Image img__fid__2369 img__view_mode__media_large attr__format__media_large" height="307" src="/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/laidlaw-windows-clouds_480_0.jpg?itok=SHI-jARX" typeof="foaf:Image" width="480" loading="lazy"></p> <p><strong>Eerie lights at Laidlaw Library</strong></p> <p>In the 1980s, students held a regular pub night on Saturdays in the basement of Laidlaw Library. One evening at about 1:30 a.m., the overnight watchman, <strong>Barry Breen</strong>, noticed that the library was in complete darkness; the pub night had ended. At 4 a.m., he looked up from a book, and was alarmed to see that all three floors of the library were lit-up. He called 91łÔąĎ police and advised them that a break-in was in progress. Two officers arrived within minutes and searched the library for half an hour. Neither of the library’s two entrances showed any signs of forced entry. Breen wondered if the librarian had set the light-timer incorrectly. The officers agreed that it was a plausible theory, except that the library was not equipped with a light-timer.</p> <p><a href="http://magazine.utoronto.ca/blogs/six-extremely-spooky-stories-about-u-of-t/"><em>This story originally appeared in 91łÔąĎ Magazine</em></a></p> </div> <div class="field field--name-field-news-home-page-banner field--type-boolean field--label-above"> <div class="field__label">News home page banner</div> <div class="field__item">Off</div> </div> Mon, 31 Oct 2016 15:29:20 +0000 lavende4 101789 at