Materialisation – Part 4

Yolande as she appeared when materialised (Photographed by magnesium light 8 March 1890)



Respecting the methods of building of the materialised form, that adopted by the spirit ‘Yolande’ came most frequently under my notice. She seemed by practice to have become an adept in the art, and her methods seldom varied. She appeared also to have overcome the dispersing effect of the light to a great extent, for after a few hundred experiments she was able to carry on her operations in a sufficiently strong light to enable the sitters to observe every detail. A good description of her methods is given in “Shadow Land” by an eyewitness, who had many opportunities of observing the phenomenon. My own observations in no way differed from those of the sitters during such manifestations, but my sensations were strange and curious. ‘Yolande’ came and went entirely independent of my will. I lost physical strength, but no particle of my individuality. On the contrary, the loss of physical power seemed but to intensify that of the senses. Distant sounds, beyond hearing at other times, became painfully audible; a movement of any of the sitters sent a vibration through every nerve; a sudden exclamation caused a sensation of terror; the very thoughts of the persons in the room made themselves felt, almost as though they were material objects.

If anyone was suffering, I could feel the pain. If anyone was anxious or sad, I was constrained to weep. At the same time the desire to follow the proceedings intelligently was always strong enough to overcome the longing to put an end to the torment.

I found that ‘Yolande’ was dependent on me for her material existence, and that if I grew weary of the terrible weakness, and made an effort to throw it off, ‘Yolande’ was compelled to return to where I sat, and as I regained my strength she lost somewhat of hers. On one occasion, just previous to a séance the sleeve of my dress caught fire, so that my arm was scorched and caused me a good deal of pain. During the manifestations ‘Yolande’ was noticed to touch her arm gingerly, as though it was in some way uncomfortable. Then I found that the pain had left my arm entirely, and did not return until the séance was over. But, at another time, when a dislocated shoulder necessitated me wearing a surgical bandage for a few days, ‘Yolande’ appeared with both arms uninjured. Nor did she exhibit any signs of weakness, for she lifted with ease a pitcher of water in her right hand, a feat which under the circumstances, would have been quite impossible for me.

One can only reconcile these contradictions by presuming that ‘Yolande’ had found sufficient material (on that occasion) from the persons in the circle, which in this case numbered over twenty. On the occasion of the burnt arm under ten persons formed the circle.

I could quote numerous instances proving that the consciousness of the medium, subliminal or otherwise, has nothing to do with the intelligence animating the materialised forms. One however will suffice; I have chosen it in preference to others because it has been well attested and much spoken of in the country where it happened.


This I will relate in the next blog. It is fascinating is it not, to realise just what it cost Madame D’Esperance to insist on remaining conscious throughout the proceedings. It also of course enables us to receive information about the process from the medium’s point of view that would have been quite impossible had she been unconscious. Lionel

Materialisation – Part 3

A pencil drawing by spirit (completed in darkness in a couple of minutes) of Walter, another of Madame D'Esperance's guides.

The following is translated from an article by Max Rahn in the German journal ‘Ubersinnliche Welt,’ on his observations during a séance for materialisation held in Berlin some time ago.

After speaking of streams of faint light playing about the knees of the persons sitting in the circle, and which seemed to be attracted to the cabinet, into which they disappeared, and how he had peeped behind the curtains and had seen something like flickering lights in movement, he goes on to say:-
“The third and undoubtedly the most important of my observations was that of the modus operandi of the building of the material of the spirit form, which is the more interesting as it was also witnessed by my friend Weinholz.

"I saw from the central opening in the cabinet behind the medium, and far above her head, a milk-white luminous cloud appear, which slowly sank to the floor before her, and then rose in a pillar-like form to a height of five or six feet. Suddenly, from the immediate neighbourhood of the medium, seemingly from her side, a shadowy something rose. It entered the cloudy mass, which swept itself about the shadowy figure, which then, as a spirit in luminous garments, began to move about the circle.

I raised myself in astonishment and leaned towards where, in spite of what I had seen, the medium sat quietly in her chair and replied to my remarks.
‘The medium and the spirit were clearly two separate individuals.’

I maintain therefore, that I was so fortunate as to be a witness of the most important process in the phenomenon of materialisation, and am therefore able to throw a little light on this most mysterious subject.”

A similar phenomenon is reported in a French work by Mr Aksakof and Colonel de Rochas. It happened one Mid-summer’s eve in Paris, when a few friends were having an after dinner chat in our sitting room. Mr Aksakof writes (I translate his remarks from the French):-

“My nephew, Herr Boutlerof, sat on a chair beside the medium’s sofa, chatting with her. I sat before her within an arm’s length. The conversation was general. The semi-darkness of the room was agreeable after the glare and heat outside. The windows were open.

The lamps were not lighted. My attention was called by my nephew to a curious white mist, or cloud, which seemed to be gathering between Madame D’ Esperance and himself – “issuing from her side,” he said. Madame D’ Esperance was talking to Colonel de Rochas and a lady, and seemed unconscious of what we saw. M. Boutlerof had his hands covered with the white mass, as it lay on his knees. He closed his fingers over it, and the mass shrank together as if sensitive, and almost disappeared. I signalled to him silently to avoid disturbing the phenomenon. The mass continued to grow till the attention of others was drawn to it. Madame Cauvin grew excited and afraid. I tried to quiet her, but her nervousness increased. The white, cloudy mass assumed the height and something of the shape, of a six year old child, in active movement under a too large garment, but went no further, and almost immediately grew less and less, till nothing remained. It was, M. Boutlerof positively declared, re-absorbed by the medium, who watched the process as interestingly as he did. Although the evening was closing in, the light was sufficient to enable one to observe all that went on in the room. It was very interesting because quite unexpected. I regretted Madame Cauvin’s nervousness extremely.”

The conclusions which I have drawn from the numerous, varied and oft-repeated experiments are: That while the material used in the production of visible spirit forms is borrowed entirely from the sitters and particularly from mediumistic persons in a circle, the intelligence that animates that form is entirely extraneous and independent of the intelligence or consciousness of mediums or sitters.

Some readers may be mystified by the references to the medium being conscious during the process of materialisation referred to above, because in the vast majority of cases materialisation mediums are not conscious when being used by their controls. Madame D’ Esperance was a very singular lady. Quite early on in her development she made a pact with her controls that she would only agree to be used for materialisations if she could remain conscious throughout the entire process. In her autobiography “Shadow Land” she reports that it was something of a pyrrhic victory for her because if she as much as moved a muscle during the phenomenon, it would cease immediately.

Lionel

Materialisation (2)

Upper Picture: Materialised form of Bien Boa, one of Elisabeth D'Esperance's guides.
Lower Picture: Materialised form of Katie King with Sir William Barrett, famous phycisist.

This has been seen by many persons as though given off from the side of the medium. It is evident that the physical bodies of mediumistic persons lend themselves more readily to the process of emanation, but they are not alone in this, for it is a quality common to each and every one. The medium who is being used is certainly the centre of attraction for the material gathered from the circle. It is absorbed by him, some say, while others maintain that it is only changed in its character by admixture with that given by the medium himself, in much the same manner as that in which steam is changed and made visible by being condensed as it comes into contact with the outer air. This, being generally the first noticed by the inexperienced observer, has given rise to the supposition that it is the medium alone who contributes the material. Instead, however, of being the first process of manipulation, it is almost the latest. From this point it becomes a separate, independent, individualised object, gathering itself into a mass on the floor, rising and increasing in height and volume until it reaches the stature of a human form. Constant movement is seen to be going on within the mass, as though some living creature were actively engaged within a dense cloud, which is agitated by its movements, causing it to resemble a rolling, waving, ebullient volume of steam. In a short space the outer covering of this moving mass becomes an unmistakeable veil of more or less fine texture. This will be thrown off, revealing the form of an individual to all appearance as solid and material as any person in the circle, yet which each person in the room has seen evolved from that omnipotent no-thing to which he or she has contributed.

How has it been done? The work has in many cases been performed before the eyes of the sitters; they have watched the whole process from the beginning, but they can no more understand the mysterious development of the living, sentient creature in their midst, than they can understand other and commoner phenomena constantly being manifested before them; the development, for instance, of a plant from a tiny seed, the intelligence it displays in extracting the necessary gases from the air for its nourishment, and the advantage it takes of every opportunity to attain its object without considering the welfare of its neighbours, in a manner almost human in its selfishness. (laughter)

This process of materialisation is slow in the tree, but there is another common manifestation which is analogous to that of the séance room; that is the covering, of objects by the minerals held in solution in certain waters. There are springs, common in every country, the waters of which are clear, pellucid and tasteless. There is nothing in appearance to distinguish them from other waters, yet if a flower, or a leaf, or any delicate object be suspended for a few hours in those springs, it becomes covered with a grey, stony mass, hard and brittle, as though carved in stone. It is perfect as to form, but the beauty of colouring is hidden by the coarse material substance with which, by some natural affinity or attraction it has clothed itself. This transformation has always seemed to my mind to be a fair illustration of the process of materialisation by a spirit at a séance, and the observations of other investigators are to a great extent confirmatory of my own.

There is more to follow tomorrow.

MATERIALISATIONS

Photograph from the booklet, "The Remarkable Mediumship of Minnie Harrison" by kind permission of Tom Harrison

How is a materialised form built up and how is it animated?

In a lecture in 1909, Elisabeth D’Esperance, an excellent materialisation medium from the North East of England, gave the following explanation:

We put these questions to Stafford. (Humnor Stafford, the chief control in spirit for her materialisation work) He bade us learn the answer by careful observation and study of the phenomena. So we were thrown upon our own resources, and forced to use our senses, observation and, reason for the gathering of information, which was a very good thing for us in many ways, and made the knowledge the more valuable because of the price we had to pay for it.

Our theosophical friends, I believe, answer this question by propounding the theory that all physical manifestations, including materialisation, are caused by the extruded etheric body of the medium, animated by the subliminal consciousness of the medium, and not by the consciousness of disembodied spirits, as we are told by the materialised spirits themselves.

This appears to me a very difficult and unsatisfactory explanation. To say the least, it gives one a vast amount of trouble to understand it; and when one has succeeded to some extent in grasping the idea, one finds one’s self involved in a maze of new theories, and complications of theories, till one is bewildered. Why should we throw aside as untrue the statements of the spirits that they are the spirits of persons who lived, and who died to find death but a change of life, and that they have found means to come and acquaint us with the fact? Why, instead of believing this, should we prefer to invest mediumistic persons with such fabulous powers, as those of being able, by the exercise of will and the concentration of thought, to produce a human form, and having produced it to endow it with the genius of a clever actor, the craft of a Macchiavelli, the memory of the person whose role it plays, and the duplicity of the father of lies himself? They who accept such theories are in many respects like the dog in the fable, who dropped his piece of flesh in the stream in order to grasp the shadow which was reflected there. (Hear, hear)

The medium, by the exercise of his will, can at any time prevent manifestations. In fact, the opposition of any person in a circle will act as a hindrance to the work of the unseen operators, but so far as I have yet seen in thirty years of experiment no medium has yet, by his will power or thought concentration, compelled a spirit to manifest itself.

Concerning my own observations as to the building of a materialised form, I can say very little more than others who have witnessed the process. It has varied according to the skill, or perhaps the knowledge, of the unseen worker; no two operators working exactly alike. I have watched the gathering together of the faintly luminous, hazy material I have before spoken of, seen it grow denser and more material in its consistency, so that it was visible to every person. Sometimes this is of a greyish white colour, sometimes of a dead whiteness, sometimes slightly luminous, becoming more so as it appears to condense, till it sheds a faint radiance on surrounding objects. To the touch it at first appears of a light, fleecy character, resembling combed, finely-drawn cotton wool, but quickly, even under the fingers, it seems to assume the character of a textile fabric.

I shall continue this description in tomorrow’s blog but should just like to comment on Madame D’Esperance’s observations about the views of Theosophists on this subject. Madame Blavatsky, a former Spiritualist, who founded Theosophy, enjoyed a wide reputation for her “intellectual” approach to spirit manifestation. Isn’t it surprising how often, so called intellectuals, prefer to accept a complex but erroneous theory to the simple facts? It as though for them, the more complex an idea, the more likely it is to be true! More often than not, the reverse is the case.

ESCAPE!

I have come to the mountains this weekend to escape the heat of Rio, where it is around 40 degrees C or over 100 F. It is wonderful to be able to walk around easily, outdoors and in and not have to bother with air conditioning. I guess the temperature is about 15 degrees C lower here. I brought the dogs with me and they are so happy! They have been running around the garden here like two-year-olds!

Because it is still spring, many trees and shrubs are in blossom and the roses are a picture. There is a beautiful purple bougainvillea over the gate and it is in glorious bloom again and seems to light up the entire house and garden. As the peace of this lovely part of the world sinks into my bones, so I begin to relax more and to remind myself how fortunate I am to be able to come here whenever I choose; to come and to feel “Nature’s great heart beating over my head and under my feet,” which is how it was so eloquently described by a much more gifted person than me. Here I feel a million miles away from the sordid greed and selfishness that are still laying waste so much of our beautiful planet and destroying the lives of so many people. Here I can more easily invite those beautiful beings of light to draw close and help me help them focus their angelic light on those dark minds in the world that have been blinded by materialism, lust for power and overwhelmed by the power of their ego. To focus this beautiful light in the expectation that it will so affect those dark minds that their own light which is still there, though buried deep, will burst forth and that by its illumination they will see how foolish and ultimately self-destructive are their lives and decide to change to a more caring and constructive way of life.

It is as though the clear, sweet breeze here in the mountains sweeps through the mind, blowing away everything that is unimportant and encouraging the development of closer links with the subtle worlds that surround us at every turn. Those worlds wherein lie inspiration, knowledge, understanding of the world and all that is in it and above all an awareness of the simplicity that lies at the heart of God and the awe-inspiring powers that encompass both creation and destruction. (In reality, two sides of the same coin) By trying to make ourselves more aware of these subtle worlds which form part of both the physical and spiritual universes and their equally subtle energies, we can gradually realise that all that at one time seemed contradictory in life; everything that made no sense, in fact is entirely logical and makes perfect sense because we are beginning to see with our entire being and not just those five inadequate measures which so dominate our physical existence.

We should take every opportunity to move amid the wonders and beauties of the natural world, even if it is only in the local park, or walking along the beach. Take a break from the routine that our way of life has forced upon us and just try to be! Yes, we have to live this life as physical beings with all that entails but we should never do so to the exclusion of the inner life both of ourselves and of the natural world that surrounds us. We are not merely physical beings our physical body is a suit we have tailored using earthly materials to enable us to understand as spiritual beings, the spiritual lessons that follow when we choose to subject our free, spiritual selves to the constrictions upon that freedom inherent in temporary, physical existence. It is an existence that will encourage us to forget our spiritual origins unless we make an effort to still the insistent voice of ego and listen for a while to “the still small voice” within. Creating inner peace in the surroundings of the natural world is one sure way to do this.

ARE THERE TEARS IN HEAVEN?

Beyond the door
there’s peace I'm sure.
And I know there'll be no more...
Tears in heaven

“Eric Clapton wrote the touching song Tears in Heaven, in response to his young son’s tragic passing. As anyone who has lost a loved one knows, it is the most painful ordeal anyone can endure.

However, physical death is not the end of existence. Physical death is transference of our life force and consciousness from the Material World to The Other Side, which many of us refer to as Heaven.

As a psychic medium, I facilitate connections between people here in the Material World and the spirits of their loved ones on The Other Side. Some of the most frequent questions I’m asked is whether a loved one is alone on the Other Side, and whether that person’s spirit is afraid. In other words, “Are there tears in Heaven?”

After communicating with thousands of spirits, it is my belief no one is alone on The Other Side. When a spirit leaves the physical body and ascends, he or she crosses into the “Light.” The Light is the spiritual energy of God. Upon entering this beautiful Light, the spirit is then greeted by spirits of family members and friends. These loved ones are connected by love to each other in Heaven, and they remain connected to us from Heaven by love. No one in Heaven is ever alone or afraid.

That is why there are no tears in Heaven.”

oooooooo00000000oooooooo

I was asked recently if I agreed with the views of the medium who wrote the above and I am afraid I do not. Whilst I am not in favour spreading alarm and despondency about life after death, and I am certainly no “fire and brimstone” man, I do believe we should always try to be honest and objective. There is ample information from those who have spoken to us from spirit that there are in fact many spheres in the spirit world, some bright and some much darker. These are the “many mansions” of Jesus of Nazareth.

Lovely and comforting initially, the sentiments expressed by this medium might be but I am afraid I must disagree with him. Had he focussed on the tragedy of losing a child and that such children can never be alone in heaven, I would have no quarrel with him. Whilst I cannot tell if there are sad tears in heaven, I do know there are tears of happiness. I imagine there must also be tears of sadness sometimes too - maybe not as much for oneself as for others, both on earth and in the spirit world. He is correct about everyone being met by loved ones when they arrive in the etheric world and from that point of view no-one should be lonely. But loneliness is a matter of choice, not of circumstances. If a person has lived a bad or selfish life on earth, they may eventually become so full of remorse that they shy away from any company. They still will not be deserted by their Guardian but they may be unable to see him or her because of their remorse.

Where I really part company with this medium though is in his apparent assumption that everyone ascends into the light and remains "happy ever after" as it were. By comparison with earth, the etheric world into which we all pass on death, is a place of light - BUT we do not remain there, except for those so wedded to the flesh that they wish to continue to live in closest proximity to the world of the flesh, and even they will have to move on to a suitable spirit sphere. However when we do move on - and we all do eventually - we go to that sphere of spirit closest in light to the light we give out ourselves (our spiritual, mental and emotional aura) which is the result of the type of life we have lived on earth.


Very selfish and even more, evil people, do not go to a sphere that is particularly bright. In these darker spheres, the loved ones of a spirit living there due to their 'lack of charity' (to use an old phrase) do not often visit because it is emotionally and spiritually painful for them to visit the darker places. Therefore, separation from loved ones would be a fact. Were it not so, the Spiritualist principle "Compensation and retribution for all good and evil deeds done on earth," would be meaningless. Life on earth and in spirit is all about growth, spiritual growth. Some people refuse to make the effort required in order to grow spiritually and they either stagnate or worse, go backwards. This is true I understand in spirit as well as on earth (where it is obvious). Since the measure of a person's spiritual attainment is the light they emit, it would make nonsense of the efforts made by those who have tried hard to do good if those who never bothered finish up in exactly the same place in the spiritual world! God is nothing if not loving and just and His laws are so perfect that if we transgress them (by being unkind, uncharitable or downright evil) we cannot move forward until we have made amends for those transgressions.


I hope this explains where I am coming from. I must say I become impatient with those who seem to think everything is 'lovey-dovey' in life, when clearly it is not and there are sound, logical reasons why that is so. Telling people what you think they would like to hear is not the most honest approach and can do more harm than good in the long term. I am very much in favour of looking for the best in everyone and it is true, even the worst of us has good things about him/her, but to pretend that behaviour here on earth is unimportant, as this man seems to do, is irresponsible and he is guilty of the worst type of sentimentality.

Psychography – Slate Writing

In the early days of Spiritualism, slate writing was a very common form of physical mediumship. Mediums would have two slates (the type children used at their lessons in school in those days) securely fastened together, having first placed a fragment of a pencil between the slates, then sealed so they could not be separated without breaking the seals. Mediums would usually hold both slates in one hand against the under-side of a table, thus forming a makeshift cabinet. One exceptional medium, Fred Evans, would have none of this. He always arranged for the slates to be held by one of the investigating committee, in full view of the audience at all times and in good, bright light. What follows is a report of a demonstration of his powers given in Scottish hall San Francisco in 1885.

“At Scottish Hall, Mr Evans did similar work worthy of note. At this latter séance a shrewd Real Estate operator, sitting in the back part of the audience, wagered $20 with a companion that if he could be chosen as one of the committee to examine and hold the slates, no writing would appear on the slates in his hands. Thereupon his name was called, and by vote of the audience he was elected as one of the committee. He examined his slates with especial care, saw that they were thoroughly washed, dried and tied together, in a manner to make deception impossible. He did not suffer them to leave his hands for a moment, nor did Mr Evans even touch them.

He declared that he heard the pencil scratching between the slates, and upon opening them one of the inner surfaces was covered with about thirty messages, written in the usual patchwork manner peculiar to this psychic. He gave it up, and was quite earnest in extolling the fact as he was at first in declaring that it could not be done.

On the inner surface of one of the slates held by the other member of the committee, were also a large number of messages. It is needless to say that the friends of Mr Evans were delighted, whilst the sceptics present were completely bothered.”

Taken from the book “Psychography- Marvellous manifestations of psychic power through Fred P.Evans” by J.J. Owen (No relation to me)


I think by clicking on the image, you might be able to enlarge the slate so you can read what is written upon it.