Wickland, Carl August (1861-1945)
Wickland, Carl August (1861-1945)
Physician, psychiatrist, and Spiritualist who spent more than three decades researching and experimenting with the application of Spiritualist techniques to assist those suffering from mental illnesses. Wickland was born on February 14, 1861, in Leiden, Sweden. He qualified as a physician at Dunham Medical College, Chicago, Illinois, later becoming a medical advisor for the National Psychological Institute, Los Angeles.
He claimed that discarnate spirits caused some phases of mental illness in the living, and his book Thirty Years Among the Dead (1924) reports his experiences. Using the services of his wife as a medium, he operated what amounted to a rescue circle dealing with what Spiritualists describe as earth-bound entities who attach themselves to unsuspecting individuals. Their work in diagnosing and treating mental patients believed to be possessed by spirit entities had much in common with that of Titus Bull. Mrs. Wickland died in March 1937; Carl Wickland died November 13, 1945.