Where Mind, Body, and Spirit Were Tested
While searching through the Psychic Observer, I came across a 1970 article written by Dr. Samuel S. Rizzo. What caught my attention wasn’t just the topic of psychic research. It was the objective behind it.
This wasn’t just about psychic ability.
This was about finding the soul.
The article moved beyond simple discussion of altered states or psychic perception. It built toward something much bigger—the attempt to prove that the soul exists and could somehow be located, studied, and observed. Religion has spoken about the soul for centuries. Metaphysics has defined it in many ways. Science has largely avoided it. Yet the question of its location remains unsettled. Various systems offer different answers, placing the soul in different locations or defining it in different ways. Among these, Kabbalistic teachings present a structured distinction that separates the soul from the spirit.
Neshamah — Soul
Ruach — Spirit
Nefesh — Physical/Living Body
I agree with the Kabbalah.
Rizzo’s investigation was structured, working with individuals exhibiting altered states of consciousness—many of them already classified as mentally ill—who were observed, questioned, and documented. What they said, what they knew, how they behaved, all of it became part of the record.
The objective was clear: to determine whether anything emerging through these states could point to the existence and location of the soul.
Within that framework, institutions like Pinehurst Sanatorium became more than places of care. They became environments where this kind of research could take place—a controlled setting with a consistent population where these states could be observed over time.
This was not an isolated effort. The work reflected a broader collaboration involving researchers and others working across both scientific and spiritual lines of inquiry. At the same time, it highlighted a significant obstacle: funding. Research of this nature required financial backing, and that support was not easily secured. Medical cooperation was limited, and investment in this area remained uncertain, placing the work in a space that was both controversial and difficult to sustain.
Rev. Starlene Joyner Burns, President & Founder
National Spiritual Science Center Historical Society
Spiritual Science Researcher
A Spiritual Science Reflection, © All Rights Reserved
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