DR. HELEN SCHUCMAN
Helen Schucman, Ph.D., was a clinical and research psychologist, who held the tenured position of Associate Professor of Medical Psychology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York City. A Course in Miracles was “scribed” by Dr. Schucman between 1965 and 1972 through a process of inner dictation. She experienced the process as one of a distinct and clear dictation from an inner voice, which earlier had identified itself to her as Jesus. Helen Schucman’s scribing of A Course in Miracles began with these words: “This is a course in miracles, please take notes.”
DR. WILLIAM THETFORD
Bill ThetfordWilliam Thetford, Ph.D., was a tenured Professor of Medical Psychology at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Director of the Psychology Department at the Presbyterian Hospital in New York City for whom Dr. Schucman worked. As her trusted friend and colleague also, Dr. Thetford assisted and supported Dr. Schucman throughout the Course’s scribing, including the events that led up to it. A vital participant, Dr. Thetford acted as transcriber throughout the entire process by typing the material from the scribed notes that Dr. Schucman had taken down and would dictate to him almost daily.
BACKGROUND
Helen Schucman and Bill Thetford were an unlikely team in scribing A Course in Miracles. As career-oriented psychologists working closely together at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, they were attempting to develop and strengthen the Center’s Psychology Department. While their professional interests and goals for the department were compatible with each other, their personalities certainly were not. Helen’s overtly critical and judgmental stance was juxtaposed with Bill’s quiet and more passively aggressive personality, and they clashed constantly.
It was therefore a rather startling event when, in the Spring of 1965, Bill delivered an impassioned speech to Helen in which he said that he was fed up with the competition, aggression, and anger which permeated their professional lives, extended into their attitudes and relationships, and pervaded the department. He concluded and told her that “there must be another way” of living—in harmony rather than discord—and that he was determined to find it. Equally startling, and to their mutual surprise, Helen agreed with Bill and enthusiastically volunteered to join him in a collaborative search to find this other and better way.
It was as if Helen had waited all her life for this particular moment, which triggered a series of internal experiences for her that carried through the summer. These included heightened dream imagery, psychic episodes, visions, and an experience of an inner voice. The experiences also became increasingly religious, with the figure of Jesus appearing more and more frequently to her in both visual and auditory expressions.
This period of preparation culminated on the evening of October 21, 1965, when the now familiar voice of Jesus said to Helen: “This is a course in miracles, please take notes.” Troubled, she called Bill immediately, and he reassured her that she was not going mad. He suggested she write down what was being dictated to her, and that he would look at it with her early the following morning at the office. Helen did just that, which is how the scribing of A Course in Miracles began. As Helen later described the experience:
“The Voice made no sound, but seemed to be giving me a kind of rapid, inner dictation which I took down in a shorthand notebook. The writing was never automatic. It could be interrupted at any time and later picked up again. It made obvious use of my educational background, interests and experience, but that was in matters of style rather than content. Certainly the subject matter itself was the last thing I would have expected to write about.”
Helen retired from Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in 1977, and died in New York City on February 9, 1981. Bill retired from the Center in 1978, and moved to Tiburon, California and later La Jolla. He died on July 4, 1988, during a visit to the Foundation for Inner Peace in Tiburon.
HELEN SCHUCMAN
1909 (July 14): Birth – New York City
1921 (Summer): Experience at Lourdes, France
1922: Baptism as a Baptist
1931-1935: New York University (B.A.)
1932 (Fall): Meets Louis Schucman
1933 (May 26): Marries Louis Schucman
1938 (circa): Subway Experience
1952-1957: New York University (Ph.D.)
1958 (Early): Meets William Thetford
1958: Accepts position as Research Psychologist from Bill Thetford
at Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University
1965 (June): “There must be another way” speech by Bill
1965 (June-October): Pre-Course visions and experiences
1965-1972: Scribing of A Course in Miracles
Text: October 21, 1965 – October 10, 1968
Workbook for Students: May 26, 1969 – February 18, 1971
Manual for Teachers: April 12, 1972 – September 7, 1972
1969,1971: (December 25, 1969, March 12 – November 11, 1971): Early poems
1972 (October), 1977 (April): “Notes on Sound”
1972 (November 25): Meets Kenneth Wapnick
1973 (January), 1975 (January, March): “Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice”
1973 (December 24) – 1978 (March 20): Later poems
1973 (late) – 1975 (early): Final editing of A Course in Miracles
1975 (May 29): Meets Judith Skutch
1975: Copyright of A Course in Miracles obtained by Foundation for Inner Peace for
Helen Schucman who then assigns copyright to the Foundation
1975 (Summer, Fall): Distribution of 300 photo-offset copies of A Course in Miracles
manuscript in book form
1975 (September – December): “Clarification of Terms”
1976 (June): Publication A Course in Miracles: First Printing – 5,000 copies
1976 (Fall): Retires – Columbia University
1977 (September -November): “The Song of Prayer”
1978 (February 8 – April 11): “The Gifts of God”
1981 (February 9): Dies – New York City
WILLIAM THETFORD
1923 (April 25): Birth – Chicago
1940: Lindblom High School, Chicago (Diploma)
1940-1944: DePauw University (A.B.)
1945-1949: University of Chicago (Ph.D.)
1949-1951: Research Psychologist – Michael Reese Hospital, Chicago
1951-1954: Senior Psychologist, U.S. Government (CIA), Washington, D.C.
1954-1955: Director, Psychology Department, Institute for Living, Hartford
1955-1958: Faculty, Research Psychologist, Cornell University
1958: Professor of Medical Psychology, College of Physicians and Surgeons,
Columbia University, and Director, Psychology Department, Presbyterian Hospital
1958: Meets and hires Helen Schucman as Research Psychologist
1965 (June): “There must be another way” speech to Helen
1965-1972: Transcribes Helen’s scribings of A Course in Miracles
Text: October 21, 1965 – October 10, 1968
Workbook for Students: May 26, 1969 – February 18, 1971
Manual for Teachers: April 12, 1972 – September 7, 1972
1972: Meets Kenneth Wapnick
1973 (Late) – 1975 (Early): Final editing of A Course in Miracles
1975 (May 29): Meets Judith Skutch
1975: Copyright of A Course in Miracles obtained by Foundation for Inner Peace for
Helen Schucman who then assigns copyright to the Foundation for Inner Peace
1975 (Summer, Fall): Distribution of 300 photo-offset copies of A Course in Miracles
manuscript in book form
1976 (June): Publication of A Course in Miracles: First Printing – 5,000 copies
1978: Retires from Columbia University, moves to California (Tiburon, later La Jolla)
1981 (February 9): Helen’s death – New York City
1981: Choose Once Again (book) with Jules Finegold
1988 (July 4): Dies – Tiburon, California
The actual process of the scribing was not difficult, and for the most part flowed rather smoothly. Helen would write down words dictated by the “voice” in shorthand notebooks, and whenever she and Bill had time during a very busy schedule, she would dictate to Bill what had been dictated to her. Bill would then type it directly from Helen’s dictation, acting as transcriber. It was truly a collaborative venture between them. It also ensured that the Course—the answer to their question to find “another way”—would be absolutely faithful to the words and message Helen received from the “voice” she identified as Jesus. The process took seven years, and was completed in October, 1972.
Although the scribing itself was relatively effortless, it did engender tremendous anxiety in Helen, though less in Bill. As Helen wrote:
“It made me very uncomfortable, but it never seriously occurred to me to stop. It seemed to be a special assignment I had somehow, somewhere agreed to complete. It represented a truly collaborative venture between Bill and myself, and much of its significance, I am sure, lies in that. I could neither account for nor reconcile my obviously inconsistent attitudes. On the one hand I still regarded myself as officially an agnostic, resented the material I was taking down, and was strongly impelled to attack it and prove it wrong. On the other hand I spent considerable time in taking it down and later in dictating it to Bill, so it was apparent that I took it quite seriously. I actually came to refer to it as my life’s work. As Bill pointed out, I must believe in it if only because I argued with it so much. While this was true, it did not help me. I was in the impossible position of not believing my own life’s work. The situation was clearly ridiculous as well as painful.”
And as Bill recalled:
“The material was something that transcended anything that either of us could possibly conceive of. And since the content was quite alien to our backgrounds, interests and training, it was obvious to me that it came from an inspired source. The quality of the material was very compelling, and its poetic beauty added to its impact.”
As to the impact of A Course in Miracles on Bill, he said:
“It changed my life totally. I recall typing the first fifty principles on miracles that came through Helen in the Fall of 1965, and realized that if this material was true then absolutely everything I believed would have to be challenged—that I would have to reconstruct my whole belief system. At the time, however, I thought that would be impossible; I didn’t know how I could do it. Yet I felt that was a requirement, since the material that came through Helen in the beginning phase seemed so authentic and genuine. I went into shock for a brief period, wondering how it would be possible to make such an abrupt change in my perception of life and the world. Later I realized that God is merciful, and does not ask us to make changes so abruptly, that there would be adequate time to gradually begin to shift my perception. I think what was important was my willingness to change, not mastery of the material.”
When once asked his definition of A Course in Miracles, Bill replied:
“To help us change our minds about who we are and what God is, and to help us let go, through forgiveness, our belief in the reality of our separation from God. Learning how to forgive ourselves and others is really the fundamental teaching of the Course. The Course teaches us how to know ourselves and how to unlearn all of those things which interfere with our recognition of who we are and always have been.”
Helen chose to conceal her spiritual journey from almost all of her friends, and all family members, except of course from her husband Louis. They would have been incredulous if they had known of her hidden life and scribing, which also included two pamphlets—”Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice” and “The Song of Prayer”—that were dictated to her after A Course in Miracles was completed. Helen also took down well over a hundred poems, published posthumously in 1982 as The Gifts of God by the Foundation for Inner Peace.
While generally ill at ease with the Course, Helen was more uncomfortable with the poetry, which at times reflects a closer and more personal relationship with Jesus. Because the poems gave her secret away, she did not wish them to be published during her lifetime. In addition, she wanted to preserve her anonymity as scribe of A Course in Miracles, firmly maintaining that it should stand on its own, with the true author, Jesus, remaining its sole inspirational figure. She knew that any public recognition of her role would distract from this focus.
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
In 1972 Judith and Robert Skutch founded and chartered under the State of New York’s nonprofit organization laws, the Foundation for Inner Peace. It was initially called the Foundation for ParaSensory Investigation. This early name reflected the Foundation’s educational interest and support of parapsychological research in academia at the time.
In 1975, Judith Skutch met with Dr. Helen Schucman and Dr. William Thetford in their office at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. After exploring many common interests, Helen and Bill revealed to Judith their well-kept secret regarding a document they had scribed called A Course in Miracles. Bound by common enthusiasm for this remarkable spiritual teaching, the group began meeting regularly. Within months the decision was made to publish A Course in Miracles. The Foundation for Inner Peace was established as trustee and publisher of the Course. The Foundation for Inner Peace published the first edition of A Course in Miracles in 1975, and the rest is a bit of wonderful history.
In 1975, Dr. Schucman assigned copyright of the Course to the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP). In 1996 FIP assigned the copyright and trademark to our affiliated organization, the Foundation for A Course in Miracles (FACIM). Currently there are nearly three million copies of the Course in circulation worldwide including translations in Afrikaans, Bulgarian, Chinese-Simplified, Chinese-Traditional, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Japanese, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovene, Spanish, and Swedish with more to come.
Our affiliated organization, the Foundation for A Course in Miracles is an Academy and Retreat Center for A Course in Miracles located in Temecula, CA. It was founded in 1983 by Dr. Kenneth Wapnick and Gloria Wapnick. As a teaching center, it was conceived and has always functioned as a school for A Course in Miracles under the direction of Kenneth and Gloria Wapnick—husband and wife—who served as both administrators and faculty members until the passing of Dr. Kenneth Wapnick in December 2013. The Foundation for A Course in Miracles continues the work of Dr. Kenneth Wapnick under the guidance of Gloria Wapnick.
On June 13, 2014, the copyright to the book, A Course in Miracles, and trademarks of A Course in Miracles were transferred from the Foundation for A Course in Miracles (FACIM) back to the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) through a joint agreement.
GENERAL POLICY
In 1975, Dr. Helen Schucman, the Scribe of A Course in Miracles (ACIM), assigned the manuscript of the Course to the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) for publication. At that time, upon the insistence of the Voice, which had authored the Course and identified itself as Jesus, Dr. Schucman told the Foundation to copyright A Course in Miracles.
WHAT IS COPYRIGHTED?
The First Edition in English of A Course in Miracles, dated 1975, along with all previous drafts, were found in a federal court opinion not to be protected by copyright in the United States. That decision was limited only to that first edition (plus previous earlier drafts) and to the territory of the United States. All other works are protected in the United States and worldwide. The First Edition is protected everywhere except the United States.
In summary, the following material remains under full copyright protection:
• The Preface
• The Clarification of Terms
• The Superscript Numbering System
• The Song of Prayer Supplement
• The Psychotherapy Supplement
• All Foundation sponsored Translations
• The First Edition (except in the United States)
• The Second Edition
• The Third Combined Edition
• All audio, video, electronic, or other digital media editions and apps
All editions and translations of A Course in Miracles and all films, audio recordings, videos, apps, and any other print, audio, electronic media or yet to be developed digital material published by the Foundation for Inner Peace now or in the future will enjoy full copyright protection in the United States and around the world.
TRANSLATIONS
All translations of A Course in Miracles, the two Supplements, Psychotherapy: Purpose, Process and Practice and The Song of Prayer as well as any audio recordings, apps, electronic or other translated materials published by The Foundation for Inner Peace are fully copyrighted in the United States and around the world. Use of quoted materials from these ACIM translations requires written permission from the Foundation for Inner Peace. See Guidelines below.
Permission to use any translated material in German should be made to Gruethof Verlag at mail[at]greuthof.de.
All translations of A Course in Miracles are undertaken in partnership with the Foundation for Inner Peace. If interested in translating the Course, please first contact the Foundation at copyright[at]acim.org. Any unauthorized translation of the English edition or of any FIP translation constitutes copyright infringement and is subject to legal action.
No content of these translations or their extensions (Supplements) can be used as the basis of any products (such as eBooks, digital products, calendars, inspirational cards, etc.) without specific, written permission from the Foundation for Inner Peace.
SUMMARY
In every global location outside of the United States, every edition of the English and all translations of A Course in Miracles, as well as translations of related material published by The Foundation for Inner Peace, are under full copyright protection. In the United States this also holds true, with the exception of the First Edition (1975) and all previous drafts of A Course in Miracles. Specifically, only the Text, Workbook and Manual of the First Edition is without copyright protection; this applies only in the United States.
Limited Use: Limited quotation of A Course in Miracles material for personal study and teaching purposes may be made without written permission provided that proper acknowledgement is given. The use of quoted material must be acknowledged as follows.
Acknowledgement: A general acknowledgement of the Foundation for Inner Peace as copyright holder in printed media should be a single footnote on either the title, first or last page of a book (either print or eBook); namely, “All quotes from A Course in Miracles © are from the ‘X’ Edition, published in “x” year, by the Foundation for Inner Peace, P.O. Box 598, Mill Valley, CA 94942-0598, www.acim.org and info@acim.org.” This same acknowledgement needs to be used for inspirational cards, audio recordings, video recordings, use of quotations on social media, the internet or any new electronic media yet to be developed.
PERMISSION GUIDELINES
Use of Quotations for Personal Study or Teaching Purposes
Limited Use: Limited quotation of A Course in Miracles material for personal study and teaching purposes may be made without written permission provided that proper acknowledgement is given. The use of quoted material must be acknowledged as follows.
Acknowledgement: A general acknowledgement of the Foundation for Inner Peace as copyright holder in printed media should be a single footnote on either the title, first or last page of a book (either print or eBook); namely, “All quotes from A Course in Miracles© are from the ‘X’ Edition, published in “x” year, by the Foundation for Inner Peace, P.O. Box 598, Mill Valley, CA 94942-0598, www.acim.org and info@acim.org.” This same acknowledgement needs to be used for inspirational cards, audio recordings, video recordings, use of quotations on social media, the internet or any new electronic media yet to be developed.
Use of Quotations for Publication
Extensive Use: Extensive use of A Course in Miracles material for publication in books, ebooks, films, audio presentations, etc. requires written permission.
Written Permission: If you would like written permission to quote extensive material from A Course in Miracles, please write to the Foundation at PO Box 598, Mill Valley, CA 94942-0598 or contact us at: copyright[at]acim.org.
Presentation: The cover of the book, eBook or product containing approved quotations must not be the same color and design as our regular book cover. Above all, the new cover must not use the Foundation’s trademarked registered logo (starburst above ACIM).
Referencing: A reference for each individual quote or passage should follow the guidelines as described here, http://www.facim.org/online-learning-aids/annotation.aspx such as, “And, in His being, He accomplishes all things.” (W-pt1.169.5:2)
Use of Quotations for Digital Editions
Apps: The Foundation is in the process of producing Apps of all of the A Course in Miracles material, including translations. If you are interested in developing Apps in partnership with the Foundation please submit a proposal to copyright[at]acim.org.
eBooks: The Foundation is developing eBooks of all the A Course in Miracles material, including translations. If you have an eBook project in mind, please contact us at copyright[at]acim.org.
Audio Books: The Foundation is developing Audio Books of all the A Course in Miracles material, including translations. If you have an Audio Book idea, please contact us at copyright[at]acim.org
Royalties – Commercial Products
The Foundation is familiar with prevailing standards for royalties on commercial products. Royalties should be negotiated during the process of obtaining permission to quote. Or consider tithing a portion of any profits back to FIP so that we may continue our work in disseminating the Course to as many students as possible throughout the world.