What is psychometry?
Psychometry, or “token-object reading,” is the alleged ability to derive facts from touching an object - these facts could be related to the history of the object or its owner. Dr. J. Rhodes Buchanan introduced the term in 1842 to describe how psychics could obtain impressions from objects. Since then, researchers around the world have tested the possibility that people can do this. Many of their experiments have yielded fascinating results.


The Psychometry Experiment, Summer 2007
Independent historian Chris Laursen conducted a new psychometry experiment in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas of Ontario, Canada from May 1 to June 30, 2007. It compared the impressions people give about objects to their actual history.

These experiments were conducted in public spaces throughout the region. People of all ages were invited to participate - from those who have never had a "psychic" experience before, to people who have had inexplicable events occur in their lives, to people who assert that they have psychic abilities. All that was required was an open mind.

Several personal objects were collected for this experiment - each of them with a special meaning to its owners. The results are now available in the News section of this website.

Acknowledgements
Many thanks to Sue Darroch and Matthew Didier for all of their help, to the volunteers who assisted with conducting the experiment and managing the volunteer participants, and of course to all of the participants who came out to try the experiment and for their patience while I was assessing results! Thanks to Heather Anderson of Maple Ridge, B.C., for guarding information on those who lent objects for the experiment. I am especially grateful to St. Catharines Museum at Lock 3, the Ancient Mystic (Markham), Robert Cross at Seneca College, and Conspiracy Culture (Parkdale in Toronto) for providing free space for the experiment, and to Lucsculpture Studio & School in the Danforth in Toronto for kindly offering space although that date was cancelled. Special thanks to the anonymous donor who covered travel costs and rental of space at the Dundas Public Library and Toronto Public Library (Beaches Branch). The kindness of people is what carried this experiment.