Interview given to Nikos Apostolopoulos for the magazine Unlocking the Truth, February 2019.
interview
The field of Alternative Research flourished in our country, particularly around the end of the 1990s and the start of the first decade of this century. The reasons are numerous: television shows, movies, magazines, publications, events, and the founding of investigation teams all caused a wave of enthusiasm for the Alternative in all its expressions. This provided some remarkable examples, just as it illustrated some ridiculous extremes.
Personally, I trace the reason for this boon to the turn of the century! Just like every other time, we humans are afraid of the change. For that very reason, the passage into a new and very promising millennium caused a deep existential wonder. In our country, this translated into what our generation experienced as the recent boon of Alternative Research.
The Crisis you are referring to clearly impacted this whole field, but mostly financially. We had reached a point where all the secrets and mysteries of the world, history, and inner traditions, were becoming available at the lowest price, in your neighborhood’s kiosk. The feeling itself and the momentum of the occult, in other words, were beginning to fade. It was not so strange, then, when the consequences of this information overload backfired on those who spread it. The Crisis initially deprived money from the people who funded this situation. Later, it turned their attention to different topics questions that concerned humanity’s identity or its difficulty in handling reality.
Mr. Ioannidis, we thank you for being here with Unlocking the Truth. What is your opinion on the domestic publishing business in alternative research and the level of this research into such matters in Greece? Do you think that the financial crisis has impacted books, and if so, how?
1
As I say in my book The Philosophy of Melancholia (Daedalos Publishing), a writer never works alone that’s why the Greek word for writer implies collaboration. It reveals that this idea comes from the Muse. She is the inspiration, the breath that carries the idea into the vessel the scribe. The writer is the instrument that having attuned itself to the Idea seeking embodiment harmonizes its meaning through words. As you can tell, at least for me, writing is with all the meaning of the word an intellectual process. All the remaining stages of the project's execution are purely procedural.
According to your own experience as a writer, how much do you agree with the opinion that writing is an intellectual process? Would you like to share with us thoughts and feelings, from the inspiration of a book until the moment it has finished printing?
2
exclusive
As my own students confided in me, they always loved our lectures because I would add elements of philosophy and parapsychology. I don’t remember ever finishing a teaching hour without referencing existentialism and the paradoxical! This is life. Not a predictable system, but a chaotic complex that accepts the incomprehensible as normal. What rationalism are you talking about?
During the course of your professional career you have worked as a psychologist and psychology professor. Do you think that rationalism is a necessary companion in the research of paranormal phenomena? Can a “marriage” of the two exist?
3
An upturn? I don’t think there was any difference between then and now, besides the way things were interpreted. What I mean is that, in Tanagras’s time, the world was closer to magical thought. People would interpret experiences through the lens of the paranormal, unlike today, when they think to an even greater degree so materialistically. What changed is the way things are interpreted, not the phenomena themselves.
During a certain time in our country, the Society for Psychical Research was at its peak under the leadership of Angelos Tanagras. Would you say that at that time, there was an upturn in paranormal activity compared to today? What has changed since then in the field of research and explanation of the phenomena?
4
Ghost hunting came from abroad, and particularly from Anglo-Saxon countries that love their history and constantly seek ways to come into contact with it. In Greece, the same thing does not happen. Most of those who investigate the problem of death with night vision cameras and recording devices are mostly looking for the excitement this adventure promises, rather than genuine answers. This topic is extremely large and complicated to go into more detail. Suffice to say, I had to write an entire book to explain it titled Uneasy Shadows: Ghost, Mora & the Problem of Death (Daedalus Publishing).
How do you define the phenomenon of Ghost Hunting? Are there really souls trapped in specific places, or is human physiology in combination with other factors, what can cause such phenomena?
5
exclusive
I think that we no longer need more data, but rather their meta-analysis. Furthermore, we need a new language of research that will bring in turn, new tools and methods for research. I’m saying this not because I think that research until now (amateur or not) hasn’t contributed. But because most of us either measure the wrong things or our methods and tools have limited capabilities. If you want to understand the quantum dimension of the universe, you need something more than simple arithmetic, right?
In recent years, dozens of groups of people have come out to visit places famous for paranormal activity with video cameras, still cameras, EVP, etc. Is this ultimately something that adds to paranormal research, or have we now entered a phase of making fun of the research?
6
I was more wary of coming face to face with some wild animal (or disturbed homeless person) who found shelter in the place I was investigating, or getting hurt by debris or rusted nails, rather than being intimidated by the unexpected of the paranormal. Obviously, I’d be startled by a disembodied voice or a passing shadow. But it’s not the same thing. The chances of getting hurt by a strange phenomenon are negligible compared to the damage that can be caused by panic and poor preparation.
A prevalent human feeling is fear of the unknown. From your own participation in ghost hunting research, has there ever been a time when you felt fear? Would you like to share with us some particular incident that stands out to you?
7
Skepticism is not the problem here a negative predisposition is! If someone wants regardless of the data that turns up to dismiss and doom all this effort, then they would do even more damage to such a team. Similar problems are caused by gullibility, as it impedes critical thought from functioning methodically and distorts the meaning of the data.
If you had the luxury to put together a team for ghost hunting, who would be the individuals you would pick to be a part of it? Would there be room for people who exhibit psychic phenomena, skeptics, or even those with a light shadow (the spirit-sensitive)?
8
exclusive
From Lovecraft, I’d want his patience from Jung, his foresight as for Christos Giannaras (that would be the third one), his eloquence. As for the questions you mention… I don’t think I’d want anything! The answers I need are all left in their works for us to find.
If today you had in front of you Howard Philips Lovecraft, Karl Jung, and an author of your choice, and you could ask each of them one question, what would you ask them, and which feature would you like to “borrow” from each of them?
9
Lately, I’ve been working on my tenth personal book. It’s about a philosophical development concerning one of the greatest questions that have troubled humanity since the dawn of its existence. After Philosophy of Melancholia, I’ve been working on the metaphysics of Love. At the same time, I am taking part in a large publishing project of Pigi Publishing on Cavafy’s oeuvre. The first volume, The love of Cavafy, is already published and contains my commentary. We are currently preparing the second volume, which offers a theological view on the works of the Alexandrian poet.
I realize that these books do not concern the Strange, with which perhaps most of your readers are more familiar. My quest, however, was and remains the deeper, real Self Humanity. The way to knowledge and contact with it, is really the nucleus of the question for every other search. Because even in the investigation of the Strange, the researcher is not looking to find the event outside of himself, but rather an external confirmation that things are not as pedestrian and surface-level as we have been taught.
And the truth is this: just as there is a heart that beats beneath our skin, so too, behind the material world exists a hyper-reality. The Uncanny just confirms this truth, and that’s exactly why it captivates us. Because it answers a question that haunts us even if we’re not fully aware of it: “Who am I?.”
What can we expect from your inspiration in the future? Are there plans for something new? Should we wait for a new book?
10
