subconsciouses

Thomson Jay Hudson

Thomson Jay Hudson born Windham, Ohio, USA, February 22, 1834, Chief Examiner of the US Patent Office and Psychical researcher, known for his three laws of psychic phenomena, which were first published in 1893.

Refusing his father's wish to become a minister of religion, Thomson Jay Hudson had to fund his own study of law at college. He began a law practice in Port Huron, Michigan, but, in 1860, he began a journalistic career instead; and, in 1866, unsuccessfully ran for the US Senate. From 1877 till 1880 he was Washington Correspondent for the Scripps Syndicate. In 1880 he accepted a position in the US Patent Office, and was promoted to Principal Examiner of a Scientific Division, a post he held until the publication of his remarkable book The Law of Psychic Phenomena in 1893.

He wrote and lectured on this subject until his death from heart failure in 1903.

Hudson's theory

Thomson Jay Hudson began observing hypnotism shows and noticed similarities between hypnosis subjects and the trances of Spiritualist mediums. His idea was that any contact with "spirits" was in fact contact with the medium's or the subject's own subconscious. Anything else could be explained by telepathy, which he defined as contact between two or more subconsciouses.

Hudson postulated that his theory could explain all forms of spiritualism, and had a period of popularity until the carnage of the First World War caused a fresh interest in spiritualism again as psychic mediums emerged to meet the demands of grieving relatives.

Hudson's work, although unrefuted, and thought by some to be a "bust" of spiritualism, remained almost forgotten until recently when his theory was found to explain some of the theories of Rupert Sheldrake. In 1998, the electronic voice phenomena, that Hudson could have known nothing about, which had hitherto defied explanation, was found to follow Hudson's laws. Paranormal investigators are beginning to look again at his works.