Jock Brocas On Spiritual Life

Wednesday, 10 June 2026

The Very First Public Seance of Physical Medium, Colin Fry

A few months before he passed to Spirit in August 2015, Sandra and I enjoyed an excellent lunch with our good friend Colin Fry at a restaurant in Mazarron, close to our home in Spain. We shared some lovely memories of the early days, when Colin was just starting to develop what became a superb (and eventually quite famous) physical and later, clairvoyant mediumship.

What made the memories even more precious at our final meeting was the fact that we had been there in the very beginning – I had myself been a member of his development circle (the ‘Swift’ Circle) at Hove for some time, and was privileged to witness some of the Colin’s first physical phenomena.

Shortly after my formation of the Noah’s Ark Society (NAS), we planned our first residential members seminar at the Park International Hotel in Leicester, UK, in May, 1991. By then, Colin’s own physical mediumship was sufficiently developed for us to consider the possibility of inviting him to undertake the responsibility of being the very first physical medium to demonstrate Physical Mediumship for the NAS at that seminar.

It was important for us that Colin Fry, as a new and unknown physical medium at that time, first put the suggestion to his personal and circle guides for their approval before he agreed to do the demonstration. We were delighted to soon learn that Colin’s spirit team were happy for him to agree, so the arrangements for the experimental séance went ahead, with the actual event planned for Saturday May 11th.

Physical mediumship séance preparations

The Noah’s Ark Society felt that we should protect the identity of any of our demonstrating physical mediums (once news of their mediumship was out) to prevent them being inundated with requests from the public for private sittings before they were ready to do general public work, and I therefore came up with the pseudonym of ‘Lincoln’ for Colin Fry, which was as near as possible an anagram of his Christian name. So our demonstrating medium at that time simply became ‘Lincoln’.

The Park International Hotel provided a large conference room with 20 foot high ceilings and we prepared it very carefully for the séance. 96 people including the medium, attended, with an inner circle of 16; a middle circle of 32 and an outer circle of 47 people.

Although every effort was made to darken the room, a sliver of dim light still got in, due to the large size of the conference room and its many windows. Two light metal ‘trumpets’, painted with fluorescent bands; a tambourine; pen, pencils, and paper – plus vitamins and water were placed at the center of the circle before the sitting began.

What particularly struck the President of the Noah’s Ark Society, Alan Crossley, when he first met Colin Fry, was his striking resemblance to famous physical medium Jack Webber who, like Colin, also worked in an ectoplasmic-based way. Alan Crossley was a veteran medium and researcher who was an expert in Physical Mediumship and its phenomena and had often organized séances for Helen Duncan (the well-known materialization medium).

A symphony of spirit

Cable ties were used to secure the medium’s wrists to his chair, and his feet were also tied to the chair legs. Once fastened, these cable ties cannot be undone. They have steel teeth in them and are normally used in engineering work. Consequently, at the end of the séance, the medium has to be cut loose. I explained to the delegates that, whilst hoped for, results could not be guaranteed, as this was an experimental séance, but it was important that the test conditions were strictly adhered to. We tried to reproduce as faithfully as possible the conditions the medium sat in during his own home circle.

There was a short period after the séance started where we were quiet, to allow the medium to enter his usual deep trance state but, as soon as everybody began to sing, the phenomena started to happen. One of the trumpets moved off the floor and started to tap the tambourine – quite clearly in time to the music. It then rose high up in the air as if conducting the song whilst tapping out the beat. At the end of the singing, the trumpet ‘dipped’ as if it was taking a bow!

Because of the small amount of light that was entering the room, it was possible for us to see the outline of the top of the medium’s head during the proceedings. We also witnessed the two trumpets up in the air simultaneously (although many feet apart), and the levitated tambourine being shaken in time to the music. One member of the medium’s circle asked that the tambourine be levitated high into the air, whereupon it shot up to a height of 15 to 18 feet, and was waved over the heads of the sitters – some distance away from the medium. It then moved rapidly in an arc before landing with a bang under a seat at the back of the second row.

First ‘Voice’ Communication from ‘The Mandarin’

The first ‘voice’ communication received was from a teaching guide known as ‘The Mandarin’, who spoke through the levitated trumpet. He recommended that all physical circles placed some crushed or powdered vitamins and minerals in their circle. Vitamins C; D; Riboflavin (vitamin B2); iron; magnesium, calcium and salt were all recommended. ‘The Mandarin’ also stated that a new baby – who was a potential physical medium – had been born that very day in Leicester.

The second communicator was a young ‘Cockney’ named ‘Charlie’, who was a regular speaker in the home circle. He suddenly announced that he was NOT going to use the trumpet, which was then thrown into the middle of the circle before he then started to speak in ‘Independent Voice’, using the ectoplasmic ‘voicebox’, which he said was built about two feet away from the medium. Because of the unusual conditions and the unintended influx of light, he explained that Spirit were unable to move the ‘voicebox’ about as they did in their home circle.

Whilst ‘Charlie’ was answering questions from the floor, we could hear paper being torn off the pad, and one piece of this actually landed on the lap of one of the ladies who was present. Jokingly, he said that he could not find the pencil – so he would have to write the messages elsewhere, and then ‘apport’ them into the circle. These would be found at the end of the séance, and would be evidential to the recipients.

Messages from beyond

As predicted, when the séance was over, two screwed-up pieces of tissue paper were found. No tissue paper of any kind had been brought into the circle by anybody present, so, indeed these must have been apported into the room. When one of these messages was opened, it was intended for a lady who was present, and was from her deceased 10-year-old son. It read: “Mummy xxxx Richard”. This was indeed very evidential to the lady sitter. The second message read: “Annie, I still love you”. This, too, was extremely evidential to the lady who received it. The words were printed in the form of little dots – very much like braille – or the print from a dot matrix printer.

The third communicator ‘Daphne’ was also a regular visitor to the ‘Swift’ home circle. She explained that her role was to convey personal messages during sittings but in the Spirit World, her main function was to help children who passed over at an early age. Even though the lighting conditions were less than adequate – nevertheless – the Independent Voices were loud and clear.

During the séance, those of us close to the cabinet were able to confirm that at no point had the medium moved from his chair, as we were able to see the top of his head at all times. When the sitting was over, the medium remained firmly bound by cable ties, and had to be cut free. We also noticed that the bowl containing the vitamins and minerals showed signs of its contents having been used.

Special thanks went to ‘Lincoln’ and his circle members for taking part in this historic experimental séance, particularly in view of the fact that Colin Fry had only been sitting for development of just over ONE year! Needless to say, this public demonstration by physical medium Colin created headlines in the ‘Psychic News’ in its May 25th issue 1991.

Colin Fry continued to demonstrate for members of the Noah’s Ark Society on many occasions – both at our home in Scole and during subsequent residential seminars. In fact, it was this first demonstration in Leicester that prompted deep trance and physical medium Stewart Alexander (who was present) to speak of his own mediumship, and to volunteer, like Colin, to demonstrate physical phenomena for members of the Noah’s Ark Society.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in The Afterlife Magazine by The Otherside Press which has since joined the PDN family.

Deadly Departed: Jock Brocas’ Vintage Interview Series With Historically Significant Mediums

Colin Fry On TOSP | The Interview Spiritualists Still Talk About

Tuesday, 9 June 2026

Hew Draper - the Tower of London’s Vanishing Warlock

The Salt Tower is part of the Tower of London, typically used as a prison for both noble personages (the comfortable upper levels) and the lower runs of society (the dungeons). Many carved images and religious tracts into the walls protesting their innocence or indulging in more esoteric practices. One such captive was one Hew Draper, a 16th-century Bristol innkeeper (’vintner’) who got sent to the Tower in 1560 for attempted sorcery. Specifically: cursing Lady Elizabeth St. Loe, better known as ‘Bess of Hardwick’ and husband William St. Loe; Bess being one of the most powerful and wealthy figures of Elizabethan England. The couple held sizeable estates at Tormarton near Bristol, disputes over which may have been the reason for the Draper’s alleged malediction.

Richard Nevell, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Hew

Hew claimed he had once been interested in magic, but had since rid himself of his spell books (burned), but his engravings point to an educated man with a deep knowledge of the mystic arts.

On one wall, he carved a detailed astrological sphere with Zodiacal signs, demonstrating Draper's deep belief in the power of the stars, on which he wrote: "Hew Draper of Brystow made this spheere the 30 day of Maye anno 1561."

Close by Draper’s Zodiac is an even more adeptly crafted craving that of a bronze astrological globe. These are probably the most proficient of the 300 surviving examples of prisoners’ graffiti at The Tower of London. Certain scholars believe the position of the inscriptions - both of which were made very low to the ground in his cell - suggest he was seriously ill when he made them.

Others, suspect he drew the inscriptions there simply to hide them from the Tower Guard’s cursory probes.

Draper was no scholar, priest, or a gentleman, but a freethinking, educated everyman from Tudor Bristol who attempted to achieve a measure of earthly power through arcane means, in the manner of Queen Elizabeth I’s Welsh-descended court astronomer Doctor John Dee, also a famed occultist, and alchemist.

But what happened to Draper?

There is no record of his death in the detailed annals of the Towers; nor any mention of an escape; Draper simply disappears from the archives. Perhaps, like the Marvel comic character Doctor Strange, Hew somehow either fashioned or acquired a kind of interdimensional ‘Sling Ring’ and magicked himself from the confines of the dreaded Salt Tower?

Whatever became of Hew Draper, his supposed enemy Bess of Hardwick continued to thrive, so maybe he didn’t hold a grudge. Or, she, recognising Draper’s sorcerous skills, helped free him, then used the mage as a confederate in her schemes, aping the relationship between Elizabeth and Dee?

Bess went on to live to 87, a VERY great age, even today. Almost supernaturally so, some might say.

TOWER OF LONDON - SALT TOWER

DRAPER’S GLOBE

Doctor John Dee - Court Astronomer

Briefly, Dee was the court astronomer for, and advisor to Elizabeth I, and as an antiquarian, he had one of the largest libraries in England at the time. Dee left Elizabeth's service to seek deeper, dark knowledge in the realms of the occult and supernatural. He enjoyed (if that’s the right word) many adventures on the continent, acquiring the reputation as both a sorcerer and spy of his ‘former’ employer. Upon his return to England and the Queen’s official service, he found his home ransacked library stolen and ‘scientific’ instruments missing.

After the Queen’s death in 1603, Dee was shunned; he died in poverty aged 81 in 1608/09, his grave unknown. In 2013 a memorial plaque to Dee was placed on the south wall of the present church of St Mary’s in Mortlake, where he resided in later years.

Henry Gillard Glindoni, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Queen Elizabeth with Dr John Dee

Dee’s astrological chart - in his own hand

National Library of Wales, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

And turning to ‘fiction’, the virtually contemporary figure of Doctor Faustus...

Faust, the protagonist of a Teutonic legend, was supposedly based on the real-life magician/physician/Doctor of Philosophy/sodomite/alchemist/astrologer and trickster, Johann Georg Faust (c. 1480–1540). Grimoires or magical texts later attributed to Faust are artificially dated to his lifetime, either to "1540", or to "1501", "1510", etc., some even to unreasonably early dates, such as "1405" and "1469".

An educated but deeply dissatisfied man, the fictional Faust makes pact with Satan, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and all the pleasures the world can offer.

The Faust timeline:

Notizen zum Faust

Faust - Fakten und Variationen

web.archive.org

Faust - Marlowe

Faust - Goethe

And this from Doctor Who - The Masque of Mandragora (S14, 1976); in Renaissance Italy, astrologer Hieronymous (Norman Jones) seeks to summon the power of an intelligence called the Mandragora Helix to rule the Earth.

My own explorations in the area:

Stephen Arnell’s novel THE GREAT ONE is available on Amazon Kindle. His second book, THE FORTUNATE ONE will be published sometime later this year.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-One-Secret-Memoirs-Pompey-ebook/dp/B0BNLTB2G7

References & Further Reading

https://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/tower_london_16.html https://spitalfieldslife.com/2024/07/14/graffiti-at-the-tower-of-london-i/ https://www.rct.uk/collection/2102215/carving-by-hew-draper-on-the-wall-of-his-cell-in-the-salt-tower

https://www.enotes.com/topics/renaissance-natural-philosophy/criticism/astrology/keith-thomas http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Documents/magic_witchcraft.htm https://www.enotes.com/topics/renaissance-natural-philosophy/criticism/astrology/keith-thomas https://daily.jstor.org/treating-wounds-with-magic/

Monday, 8 June 2026

Rita Goold: Spirit Materializations, UFOs & Crop Circles

Rita Goold - The First Modern Pioneer of Energy-Based Physical Mediumship (Pt 2)

There is much more to Rita Goold than just her unique and – to many people in the 1980’s – strange new style of ‘materialization’ within Physical Mediumship. Rita was extremely interested in the (then popular) phenomenon of ‘crop circles’, together with theories of how these might be produced by, or in conjunction with, UFO’s and ‘Beings from Other Dimensions’.

I find it fascinating that Rita had this particular interest in addition to her mediumship because just as there were remarkable similarities between Rita’s energy-based solid spirit ‘materializations’ in the séance room, and our own energy-based ‘teleported’ solid spirit visitors during the ‘Scole Experiment’ in the 1990’s, Sandra and I also shared Rita’s interest in UFOs and ‘Beings from Other Dimensions’.

Furthermore, all three of us have had similar practical experiences with UFOs and ‘Stellar Friends’ from other dimensions. For Rita, these mainly occurred outside the séance room while we experienced the actual presence of UFOs both inside and outside the séance room, as well as the teleported solid presence of ‘Stellar Friends’ inside the experimental room on a number of occasions.

David Rogers: How we met Rita Goold

There is a very interesting account by David Rogers of the unusual and ‘spooky’ way in which he and Joan came to meet Rita Goold and became good friends, sharing outings and sittings with her. David explains:

“I think it worthwhile to explain how we met Rita Goold – who is a ‘materialization medium’ – and the day’s event that led up to an amazing materialization experience after we had investigated a crop-circle in Wiltshire UK. The experience described below took place in good ambient light with the living room curtains open and a lamp light on the street right outside Rita’s house shining enough light into the room allowing both Joan and myself to see quite clearly what took place.

We first met Rita Goold through very strange circumstances; receiving contact details for Rita which happened during our usual get together at Joan’s home in Coventry. Present was Joan, Pam and myself and as we sat talking about different psychic subjects, Joan’s phone began ringing. When Joan answered the phone, both Pam and I became amused at the expressions of surprise and puzzlement on her face. The phone call ended and Joan began to explain what had just taken place. A man with a slight Italian accent had introduced himself as John and then asked if he was speaking to someone called Joan – which Joan confirmed he was.”

John went on to explain that he belonged to a small group of psychic and paranormal researchers and that his group was using an Ouija board through which various spirits were communicating. He stated that the spirits asked his group to contact someone called Joan and to tell her that she needs to contact a woman by the name of Rita Goold (materialization medium). John told the spirits that they didn’t know anyone called Joan and in response, the board spelled out a telephone number for the group to reach Joan. When Joan explained to John that she had heard of Rita Goold in the Psychic News but didn’t personally know her and that she had no way in contacting her, John said he would try to find out more information and would phone back in a short while. They waited for about ten minutes and the phone rang again. John said they explained the situation to the spirits and they gave another telephone number to pass to Joan saying it was Rita’s home number. Joan thanked John and his group and they never heard from him again.

“We decided that we had nothing to lose in ringing the number and nominated Joan to be the spokesperson. Joan dialed the number and a woman answered introducing herself as Rita Goold. Well – the look on Joan’s face was a picture! Anyway, Joan went on to explain the whole strange incident and Rita said we should meet up. She invited us over to her cottage and from there we went on many exciting excursions with Rita over a period of about 14 years – witnessing all sorts of phenomena”.

David Rogers also spoke of a particular outing they enjoyed with Rita Goold”

“Rita was also an accomplished psychic and UFO researcher and had a great interest in crop circles. An interesting crop-circle appeared in Wiltshire and Rita invited Joan and myself to go with her to investigate the phenomena. We packed the car with lunch and set on our way, driving through the picturesque villages of the Cotswolds which happened to be where my mother was born. As usual, we talked about our favorite subjects - psychic and UFOs, and Rita told us about the large triangular UFO that she and others saw which stopped and hovered about 50 feet above their heads.

We began driving through a village and as we stopped at some red traffic lights, all of a sudden Rita called out saying, ‘My God what’s that?’ She explained that she had just seen a small UFO pass right in front of the car! We decided Rita’s experience must have taken place on some sort of psychic level because Joan and I didn’t witness anything. However, we drove on and Rita suggested we stop for lunch at a picnic park about 10 minutes away”.

Rita checked her watch which showed 1 pm. We started to discuss Rita’s UFO experience and what it meant but we couldn’t reason why it took place. We saw the sign for the park and Rita again checked her watch.’ This can’t be right,’ Rita said and asked Joan to check her own watch. The time read 2.30pm. We pulled into the park grounds, confused about the time it took to get to the park. Somehow, 1 hour and 30 minutes were missing because it should have taken only 10 minutes to arrive at the park! Rita suggested it must be missing time, which was often linked to UFO sightings. A strange experience for us all – to say the least!

We finished our picnic lunch and set off for Wiltshire – wondering if anything else was in store for us. Making good time from there, it wasn’t long before Rita pointed out a winding road up the side of a hill and told us we would be able to see the crop-circle from the hilltop overlooking the valley of cornfields. The view was indeed majestic; Rita slowed the car down to a crawling pace so we would get a better view when – all of a sudden – the whole of the car’s electric system shut down. Concerned that we might cause an accident, Rita frantically tried to start the car with no response – the car was totally dead! We sat wondering whether to get out and push the car over to the side when – exactly at that moment the car’s electrics just simply came back on again. It was just another one of those strange happenings when Rita was around!

We arrived at the crop-circle and spent quite some time at the circle, meeting some very interesting people with out of this world explanations as to how such crop-circles were made. Some suggested that UFOs, aliens and even people who fraudulently make the circles – but who really knows?

After an eventful day investigating the crop-circle, we started our trip back home. I don’t why but it really seemed that we arrived back quicker than when we journeyed down. We soon pulled into Rita’s driveway and quickly unloaded the car. Rita made a nice hot cuppa and we sat together, going over the day’s events.

A short while later, we began to hear what sounded like ‘scratching’ coming from the skirting board down by Rita’s side. Rita looked down to see if she could make sense of the noise and first suggested it might be mice! We carried on talking and I noticed that Rita seemed to become tired, but I just put it down to the long drive there and back from Wiltshire. I glanced over to Joan who was sitting at the other end of Rita’s oblong living room to see if she also had noticed how tired Rita had become. Without our realizing it, Rita was starting to go into trance. The ‘penny dropped’ with us only due to the fact that Rita’s head was starting to slump forward. We both sat quietly as Rita seemed to go even deeper into a somnambulistic state. Then her head started to rise and her body became upright. We waited in anticipation and then a voice in a clear broad Scottish accent introduced itself as Helen Duncan.

The exact details of what Helen spoke about on that occasion are now, regrettably, fragmented after so many years, but after Helen had spoken for awhile, she said there were others who also wished to speak to us. Rita gently started to lie backward and within minutes, another voice was heard but this time it was a distinctly male voice who introduced himself as Raymond Lodge.

Raymond spoke about materialization phenomena and stated that this type of mediumship should be nurtured more and it’s great benefits emphasized in its value as emphatic proof of survival after death. After Raymond finished talking, Rita’s body became relaxed. Then a different voice was heard but this time I realized immediately that it was little Russell Byrne. I recognized his voice from the tapes that a friend Linda Holroy had sent some time ago that had been recorded during one of Rita’s materialization séances. Russell came through with exactly the same character that he has become well known for; noted by his high pitched voice and giggles.

Russell said that although Rita didn’t sit much for phenomena by that time, Spirit still watched over her. He gave a few giggles and then asked us if was there anything we wanted Spirit to do. Of all the things I could have asked for at the time, I could only think of asking if Spirit were able to move the heavy brass coffee table which sat in the middle of the living room. Russell said to give him a minute and he would go and ask. Rita’s head fell forward while we waited.

When I look back at my silly request now I become frustrated with myself! Why on earth didn’t I ask for direct voice so that Joan and I could have requested to speak to our mothers? Russell was soon back and told us that Spirit would try. He said it was good to have met us and then Rita began to lean back with her head tilted to the right. The room seemed strangely quiet. We both began to watch the coffee table and glanced over to Rita who was by now breathing very heavily. All of a sudden, without warning, the coffee table took a stride forward in the direction of Joan! Our mouths dropped open with excitement and again the table took another long stride and continued doing this until it was moved to the other end of the room and positioned itself right in front of Joan’s chair. Joan pulled up her feet onto the chair as the table still tried to move in even closer, and then stopped.

By now, our hearts were beating faster! We both looked at Rita, who was still breathing heavily. I then noticed some white mist pouring from the side of Rita’s body. When I asked Joan if she could see anything by Rita, she said yes, that she could see what looked like mist rising into the air. I was closer to Rita, so Joan came over and sat next to me in order to see more clearly.

The mist oozed from the right-hand side of Rita’s body. We both began talking – describing exactly what we were seeing in order to confirm the phenomena to each other. The mist, (looking very much like steam from a kettle) began to suspend itself in mid-air and as more mist joined, it started to become very dense.

In the meantime, Rita remained very still in her chair and was now breathing very quietly. The mist, however, had become very dense and so thick that we were not able to see through it at all. The ‘cloud’ seemed alive and began undulating. Slowly but surely we could see a figure starting to form from it. I turned to Joan and asked, ‘Are you seeing what I’m seeing?’ at which Joan confirmed she could see a man with a tall top hat. This was also exactly what I was seeing, although I hadn’t yet described it to Joan. For me, it was a definite confirmation that we were both seeing the same thing.

This figure in spirit form reminded us of the Victorian or Edwardian times when top hats were the fashion; clearly his clothing was from the same era with a three quarter length coat, which reminded me a little of a psychic experience I had myself when I was 16 years old. The spirit form turned his head – first looking at me and then Joan. At this point, we saw a white pillar of light appear on the spirit’s left-hand side, whereupon he turned his head to the light and we could see he was talking to someone but couldn’t see or hear who it was.

After a short while the spirit form once again looked in our direction, then all of a sudden, the dense vapor began once again to undulate and disperse. Within about 30 seconds, it had disappeared altogether. I looked at Joan in disbelief at what we had just witnessed and then Rita began moving her head and was back to normal. We both started to tell Rita what had just taken place and she saw the coffee table still in the same place where spirit had moved it. The materialization had taken place in good ambient light, with a light source shining through the window from a street lamp allowing us to see Rita and each other quite clearly.

What a wonderful witness statement from somebody who knew Rita Goold well! Her materialization mediumship was indeed of an amazing pioneering nature (perceived at the time as ‘very different’ and somewhat controversial), as it was energy-based – just like ours during the Scole Experiment many years later in the 1990’s. Her ‘materialization’ sittings (where teleported solid spirit people walked amongst the sitters) provided some wonderful and impressive ‘evidence’ of post-mortem survival. Helen Duncan’s daughter sat with Rita Goold on many occasions, and – without a shadow of a doubt – was able to identify the solid spirit person she met and interacted with during materialization séances at Rita’s, as 100% as her mother, in solid ‘teleported’ form.”

Despite her impressive results, Rita never considered herself to be a professional medium. She NEVER charged for her services and was consequently frequently out of pocket’ as she was always an excellent host to those who attended her séances, and they never left without being fed!

A bereaved mother reunites with her son at Rita’s séance

How much more ‘evidential’ can it get than for a bereaved mother to meet and fully identify her young son, who had passed to spirit, and now presented himself in Rita’s séances as a loving, playful, cheeky and fully animated, quite solid spirit child, who she had no problem in immediately identifying as her ‘dead’ son. Gwen Byrne wrote a book ‘Russell’ (published by ‘Janus Publishing’) about her experiences, and her joy at meeting her son again in such happy circumstances during Rita’s séances. I can personally thoroughly recommend the book to anybody interested in reading the full story.

Here, in an excerpt from Gwen’s book which tells of the first time she had the opportunity to meet Russell again in fully solid and animated form after his ‘death’, during the first of Rita’s sittings to which she was invited:

“Earlier I spoke of Russell waving a torch about, which had a red sock over the lit end. This was no game, although it would seem so to some of my readers. As the medium did not use a cabinet, it was the torch plus the energy that enabled me to see Russell fully materialize. I do not intend to explain the ‘energy’, for this explanation is beyond my capacity. Suffice it to say that that ‘energy’ and Russell, plus his torch, achieved this. ‘Watch Mum. I will show you all of me!’ And he did. The torch was just an ordinary torch, believe me. He started by showing his feet, which were bare–the familiar knees. So familiar to me as I remembered–like any other mother would–the number of times I had scrubbed them.

He wore little shorts and a T-shirt. His dear familiar hands with their square nails, just like his daddy. Then up to his face. So beautiful! A spirit child is so lovely that one’s mind or voice finds it hard to convey a description. I can only say that it was just as I had known him. There he stood in all his glory! Hair–spiky as always. Eyes–so, so blue–which looked into mine with the love that only a son can share with his mother. How can I explain further? He then took my hand and I was allowed to feel his hair with its familiar cowlick flopping over his dear sweet face. Freckles too, all over his nose. As I have already said, I cannot explain this ‘energy’, but will leave it to the experts in that particular field. Also, I will not try and describe my feelings at that moment as they are mine only, and now a very precious memory.

As I have said, I had previously seen parts of Russell at various times, but was now given the wonder of the sight of the whole of him. No amount of words can fully explain my feelings and emotions then–or now when I remember it–so I will leave it there”.

Over my two-part article series, I have attempted to show exactly what a wonderful Physical Medium Rita Goold was. It was an honour for me to meet her just once, and it is to my regret that I did not have the opportunity to sit with her. Also to my regret is the fact that I never had the opportunity to meet Rita after the end of our project ‘The Scole Experiment’, because I would then have had a much greater understanding of the ‘Modus Operandi’ and Spirit World mechanics behind the (as I now know) energy-based phenomena of Rita’s mediumship, which was years before its time.

The way Rita was treated by many sceptics and ‘supposedly spiritual’ people alike was shameful and disgusting. If we consider just how great and rare Rita’s physical mediumship actually was – just imagine how great it could have become if treated properly at the time, so that it had been allowed to grow and develop naturally into what it should have been!

Editor’s Note: In 2014, 20 years after publishing her first book Russell, Gwen Byrne wrote a sequel: The Russell Connection: Reuniting Parents with their Children in the Spirit World through Physical & Trance Mediumship

“Read how, through the rare Physical Mediumship of Rita Goold, Russell was able to walk and talk again - and for the first time in print, Gwen shares transcripts from some of the original audio recordings from these regular reunions - where Russell’s unique humour, love of music and personality shine through.

The work of other Mediums, like Stewart Alexander, Helen Duncan and Tony Stockwell are also highlighted as we learn much more about the process of Spirit communication.

Finally, the evolving soul of Russell Byrne inspires us all with his wisdom and knowledge, gained from many years in the Spirit World. He talks about what he’s learned, his hopes for the future and how we can all communicate with our loved ones.”

Read Part 1: Why Rita Goold’s Energy-Based Physical Mediumship Caused a Furore

Sunday, 7 June 2026

Understanding Psychic Awareness

Everyone has thoughts and feelings, many of these are influenced by the outside world, and some from deep within. It’s those thoughts and feelings that arise from deep within us we want to explore. There will be times in everyone’s life when a strong feeling or emotion arises to encourage us to either remain still, or to take a step forward or a step back, often to re-evaluate or change something. This is what we call a psychic feeling or intuition.

All too commonly we ignore or dismiss our psychic awareness because it does not make sense or it even seems rather illogical. We often ignore our sixth sense because we cannot see a rational reason for following it, e.g., “Why should I take the long way to work, there is no benefit and I will waste time’’, not realising that if we follow this psychic thought, the outcome of our day, week or even year will be improved in some way. We should always keep the butterfly effect in mind!

Is It Your Intuition?

Sometimes we all have that feeling in our stomach, a hunch. This can also be described as our intuition and developing psychic ability is really about taking this much further whilst also enabling us to help others.

Like the entire Universe, all thoughts, actions and events are made of energy and energy vibrates. Each event that happens is linked to several causes and this will, in turn, also affect the outcome. This is known as cause and effect. Someone who has a developed psychic awareness is able to naturally sense and interpret these vibrations and is therefore able to gain a deep understanding into the timeline of an individual’s life.

A professional psychic has personal responsibility and should be thoughtful and not give any information that may lead to unnecessary fear or anxiety. They should always aim to be kind whilst being supportive and professional.

A powerful psychic ability may be seen and recognized from an early age, or it may remain unrecognized or misunderstood. Everybody has different experiences in this world and sometimes these experiences can bring out inner knowledge and abilities, or conversely, they can make them seem further away.

It is often those who have led a life full of varied experiences, both good and bad, that have the potential to become more sensitive and therefore more psychic. It is often when people are faced with life’s hardest lessons that they realize how strong they are and during these periods can also develop powerful feelings of empathy and compassion.

It is commonly known within psychology that people like to feel they are in control of their lives; we feel safer and much less anxious if we believe that. Part of this inherent need for control is really about us feeling reassured that we know what will happen in our future. In some ways, this is positive because it helps us plan and develop successful, happy, and balanced lives. It’s not very common that someone can build a happy family home without planning. It takes planning in order to build a career and of course we need to plan when to have a time off for relaxation and holidays; this is a basic example.

If somebody is constantly looking into their future, then sadly they leave no energy to enjoy the here and now, to be mindful. We can focus too much on what we want therefore not always appreciating what we have. Another issue here is that by constantly fixating on certain outcomes, one can limit the potential of more fruitful opportunities and therefore more successful or fulfilling outcomes.

Mindfulness and Living In The Moment

Living in the moment makes life more of an adventure and full of surprises. Sometimes joy and excitement come from not knowing what will happen, to wait and see. There is an important concept within Daoism known as Wu Wei, this means ‘non-action’ or ‘non-doing’, many misunderstand this to mean laziness or having a lack of personal direction. What this really means is to not act with prior judgement. Often, we visualize anticipated future situations and how we think they will play out, and also how we will emotionally react to them when they do, well before they even take place. Wu Wei, is about choosing to be calm and act spontaneously in each situation as each new situation arises.

This is when we can sense our psychic ability in a more natural and undisturbed way. This is partly because we have not already preconditioned our mind and made it rigid within the particular context. It is not always possible to achieve this state due to our busy and chaotic lives, and sometimes because of our ‘monkey mind’, named after monkeys that often don’t sit still. Sometimes just simply reminding oneself of this can also remind us to relax our minds and to be at peace within.

Personal desire greatly clouds psychic clarity because it often fills us with a range of thoughts and emotions. At times, people experience a positive feeling or sense of knowing about a particular outcome, for example, about something they want to happen. However, the difference between wishful thinking, being optimistic, and psychic intuition is very subtle. It’s not easy to look into the future and see clearly when we have a strongly defined perspective regarding our hopeful outcome. To be aware of this combination of mind, emotion, and energy is beneficial. This can stop us being too attached to what we may consider psychic thoughts and feelings before fully understanding and validating them. Learning the difference between a psychic feeling or thought, and something arising from a simple desire or optimism can take many years of refinement. When working with clients, one has to be careful not to become energetically attached to their hopes and desires because this can weaken or mask true psychic awareness.

If, for example, a psychic person is often faced with a negative feeling about a particular event in life, they will be able to understand if this is caused by a basic level of normal human anxiety or is in fact a premonition. To learn to develop one’s psychic or mediumistic ability, it can also be helpful to gain at least a basic insight into evolutionary psychology. In doing this, one can learn about the mind’s negativity bias and why it will often try to hold us back when venturing into unknown territory. Learning about mindfulness is also a wonderful way to study the human mind and our thought patterns. This helps us rediscover clear and acute awareness, in essence rediscovering our true nature, which is often described in Buddhism as ‘Buddha nature’ or ‘beginners mind’. The more somebody learns about their true self, the more natural is the flow of their psychic awareness.

When using one’s psychic ability to help others, the psychic is able to blend with the person’s aura. Some psychics can see the aura which often contains many different colors. The different colors (and the brightness of each color) represent a different facet of one’s mind, energy, and life. A massive amount of information can be observed and the level of the psychic’s awareness will determine how deeply they are able see into a person’s life. Sometimes our problems overwhelm us, and we cannot see any clear pathways forward. This is when a skilled psychic can help provide clarity, advice and support. Developing a high level of empathy helps the psychic naturally and objectively feel another person’s emotions, often with more clarity than the individual can themselves. This should also make the client feel at ease. A psychic should not disempower a client by only highlighting shortcomings and problems, they should also help the client find understanding into the cause and help them to feel their inner strength and find practical solutions to move ahead.

Psychic Awareness and You

Is everybody psychic? The answer is yes, but does everyone understand their ability? The answer is no. It’s a bit like saying every person has some level of ability to communicate with other people, but not everyone can do it well and only a few will master it. A skilled teacher can feel a student’s energy and gain insight into their ideas and thought patterns. They may also see any mental blocks or fears that may be hindering progress and gently help them along the way to achieving their full potential. Always remember, having an open mind and a kind heart will make you a good student of life.

First Published In Trinity Magazine Japan, then The Afterlife Magazine which has since integrated with PDN.

Friday, 5 June 2026

Why Rita Goold’s Energy-Based Physical Mediumship Caused a Furore

Rita Goold - The First Modern Pioneer of Energy-Based Physical Mediumship (Pt 1)

How could there be no ectoplasm in physical mediumship?

Back in the 1980’s, some very unusual physical mediumship phenomena was being reported by those lucky people who experienced séances with Leicester-based Physical Medium Rita Goold. Results included regular ‘materialisation’ of spirit personalities and evidential messages from those spirit ‘friends’ who visited Rita’s séances. Interestingly, although there was no doubt whatsoever of the ‘solid’ presence of these spirit visitors, there was no evidence whatsoever of the substance known as ‘ectoplasm’ which virtually all Spiritualists at that time claimed was ‘absolutely vital’ for the purposes of allowing spirits to ‘materialise’.

In fact, the lack of ‘ectoplasm’ during Rita’s séances caused many skeptics and die-hard Spiritualists alike to cry fraud where these unusual séances were concerned. The consequences of this were extremely shameful, coming – as they did – mainly from the Spiritual community themselves!

It is a fact that Rita Goold was on the receiving end of frightening anonymous telephone threats warning her of dire consequences if she went ahead with the séances and scientific experiments. Vicious lies were also being spread to discredit and blacken her character. Rita was deeply hurt because she had dedicated her gift to bringing enlightenment to humanity. She had flatly refused to take one penny for the incredible inconvenience that she was subjected to. In fact, she and her circle hosts, Barry and Pat Jeffery, were out of pocket every time a demonstration took place, and all the visitors were fed.

In 1983, I had already been researching and participating in Physical Mediumship and its phenomena for around 10 years, and had experienced many of its forms. I had belonged to active circles, and Sandra and I were running our own circle in Harold Wood. In my work, I travelled around the UK, and was fortunate enough to meet Rita Goold herself whilst I was in Leicester, where I had once lived. We had a very interesting conversation but unfortunately, I never had the opportunity to sit with her in her circle.

It was really only after ‘The Scole Experiment’ in the 1990’s that I fully realised the similarities between Rita’s séances and our own Scole sittings. There was no doubt in my own mind that the phenomena which took place under Rita Goold’s mediumship must have been energy-based, just as ours was at Scole!

Testimonies about Rita Goold’s energy-based mediumship

Recently, I have discovered more worthwhile testimonies to the nature and value of Rita’s mediumship, and I would like to share some of those with our readers. A good friend of ours – Medium Christine Morgan (who sat with us at Scole on the day that Princess Diana’s death was announced) – spoke of Rita Goold’s mediumship in 2011, when she recounted what her father, UK medium Eddie Grenyer, had told her of his own personal experiences of ‘materialisation’ in séances with Rita.

Eddie Grenyer met Alan Crossley whilst they were both working as mediums in the 1980’s, and they became good friends. At this time, Alan was investigating physical mediumship himself, as he had done for many years before. Sandra and I came to know Alan Crossley well ourselves as a friend who was very knowledgeable in the field of physical mediumship and its phenomena. In fact, Alan became the second President of the Noah’s Ark Society, which I personally founded in 1990.

One of the frequent ‘solid’ Spirit visitors in Rita’s séances was the famous materialisation medium Helen Duncan. Alan knew her for many years and had often arranged and/or hosted her séances himself whilst she was still alive. After her death, Alan was the author of the book: ‘The Story of Helen Duncan – Materialisation Medium’. Following Helen’s death, as Alan told us many years later, Helen Duncan ‘telephoned’ him on a number of occasions (ringing his normal home telephone!) from the Spirit World.

During one of the Rita Goold séances, Helen Duncan asked the circle to ‘find Alan Crossley, and invite him to sit with the circle’. Alan was duly found and invited to Rita’s. He sat with them and became a regular sitter. On one occasion, he sat with the circle 7 times on 7 consecutive nights, staying with Rita during the week. Years later he told us that he had been totally convinced of Rita’s genuine psychic abilities when, whilst conversing casually with her, he watched a child’s soft toy in full light, ‘walking up the wall to the ceiling!’

Alan Crossley’s visits to the Rita Goold Circle eventually led to Eddie Grenyer also being invited along on eight or nine occasions. Mr Grenyer spoke of the wonderful phenomena and evidence provided by the communicators at these sittings, and of the many discussions about them that he had with Alan Crossley right up to the time of Alan’s passing to Spirit himself in the late 1990’s.

Helen Duncan was one of the main controls of the circle, together with Laura Lorraine (Rita’s own grandmother). Rita’s séances, like those at Scole, were all held in the dark and NO ectoplasm was used. Helen Duncan herself said that the reason for Spirit’s ‘no ectoplasm’ policy was the fact that ectoplasm could be dangerous. Helen herself had died after being harmed by inappropriate police action during a raid at one of Helen’s séances in Nottingham.

An energy as old as time itself

Instead, Rita’s Spirit team explained that they were using an ‘energy’ as old as time itself. They said that Rita Goold was rare in having an abundance of this energy, so that it was possible for it to be used for the ‘materialisation’ of actual Spirit People during séances.

Spirit actually produced some of the ‘spirit lighted’ conditions themselves on occasions for sitters to see the ‘materialized’ visitors (reminiscent of the spirit lights we had at Scole for the same purpose). When this happened, the silhouette and solid form of the Spirit person could be seen. Sometimes, however, without the spirit lights, evidence could only be given through the Independent Direct Voice of the visiting spirit themselves.

Eddie Grenyer was present on one occasion when Raymond Lodge visited the circle and conversed with the sitters. There were spirit lights produced, and sitters could see the clear outline of Raymond’s boots and army uniform. He did not look completely solid, but there was no question as to the fact that he was indeed materialized and completely solid as he stood in the room.

Laura Lorraine was a very significant Spirit character at the séances. She had actually died giving birth to Rita’s mother, aged just 22. Before that, she had been a young singer in the music halls. This was confirmed by the beautiful quality of her singing in the séances.

In fact, Eddie Grenyer stated that on two occasions he had been pulled from his chair by the solid form of Laura Lorraine, who then proceeded to waltz around the room with him! Once Laura had also asked him to run his hand down her body to prove that she was quite solid and, furthermore, was a female with feminine curves! Whenever Laura was there, sitters were treated to the strong smell of her favourite old-fashioned perfume, too.

Helen Duncan’s materialization and apports from Spirit

Helen Duncan materialized and conversed many many times with Alan Crossley, and Eddie Grenyer was a witness to this – as well as having direct conversations with Helen himself in his capacity as a medium.

There were quite a lot of apports during the séances, with Spirit saying they were experimenting. A friend of Eddie’s was given by Spirit the apport of a small furry toy mouse. He was told to give this to children to hold whilst he was giving them healing, which he did, and several of the young patients reported that the mouse gave off heat and energy when this happened.

For Alan Crossley specifically, the sittings he had with Rita Goold represented a totally new style of physical phenomena, which he found extremely comfortable and evidential. Alan himself described this feeling:

“Gone are the cabinets, black draperies and semi-religious trappings,” he explained. “The sittings are notable for their informality. From my point of view, the new methods and techniques used by the spirit operators mark the greatest turning point in psychic history. Void of all mystique, there is none of the spooky atmosphere so common in former years.”

The absence of ectoplasm in evolving materialisations during Rita Goold’s seances was seen by Alan Crossley as a new development in mediumship. He stated at the time:

“There are many features concerning the new phenomena which clearly distinguish them from all previous methods,” he said. “This shift away from old techniques can only help rather then hinder progress towards a better understanding of the whole subject. The question many will ask is: ‘How do they do it?’ That is, of course, too complex a question at this stage and one that has not so far been revealed.”

Ten years later, in the 1990’s, another Spirit Team (working with us at Scole) went on to replicate much of the phenomena that had been witnessed during the sittings in Rita Goold’s Circle (whilst working ostensibly in the same way), and expanded on the work they had done there. Luckily, during the five years of ‘The Scole Experiment’ our Spirit Team were able to explain the mechanics of the energy-based phenomena in depth to us, so we could pass that information on to others.

But what all of us should remember is that it happened through Rita Goold’s mediumship FIRST. Rita is truly the First Modern Pioneer of Energy-Based Physical Phenomena!

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the Afterlife Magazine which has since been integrated with the PDN group.

Mediumship Karma - It’s Not About the Evidence

How words can hurt

Have you ever considered the role karma plays in relation to the importance of the job you do as a medium and how much responsibility you carry? I often wonder how many mediums actually think about the weight of their responsibility, and those who miss it because they are too caught up in the evidence or desire to perform and make a living.

I have lost count of the times when a grieving individual has made contact, only to tell of the terrible reading they had with another medium and how upset they were. I know that some of you will be wondering how awful the so-called evidence was, or if the person was actually communicating with spirit at all. Words used in a mediumship sitting are often used frivolously, without thought. While the actual reading by most standards may be great, and many would be happy to receive the information, how it is delivered and how the words are chosen, must be carefully considered – or they will cut like a knife which is the very last thing a grieving man or woman needs.

Try this exercise. Have someone like your partner or even a member of your circle stand in front of you with their hand and arm outstretched in front of them. Place two fingers lightly, but firmly on the top of their hand, and start to push down as you say amazing wonderful and complimentary things. You will notice the person is still fairly strong and nothing will move them. Then take a moment, and do the same thing, but this time, say horrible, nasty things to them and about them. You will now find they are powerless. You have taken and affected their personal energy by firing and charging negative energy and forcing it upon them. This small exercise exemplifies how words can hurt and destroy someone’s joyful spirit.

Now let’s get back to the sitting with the medium and how the wrong word choices may cause more damage to the sitter than one could imagine. Statements like, “He’s not happy with you” or “You should not have done that” may sound innocuous but in actual fact, do more damage than good to the person’s spirit. In fact, there are so many examples that could be given, such as how the person passed etc. One must consider how frail the sitter’s spirit is and the amount of turmoil they are in. It is, therefore, a great responsibility on the medium to be able to deliver messages in a caring, respectful and responsible way.

Karmic Influence

I am sure that you have all heard the saying “What goes around comes around,” which is that basis of karmic law – saying in layman’s terms that all debts must be paid and your responsibility is not something that you can escape; what you sow, so shall ye reap or words to that effect. So is it wise to consider the reality that a medium may shoulder more karmic responsibility than one would think? If you are steeped in a bath of ignorance about Karma, you won’t escape the karmic responsibility because you did not know any better, but it may be to a lesser degree.

However, there is a hypothesis that suggests one who is spiritually aware, should, in effect know better. I am in no doubt that Karma acts quickly on an individual who has a high level of spiritual awareness. How the karmic debt is paid is of no consequence to anyone other than the relationship between the individual and the divine source or whatever they aspire toward. Nevertheless, the reality of checks and balances does have an immediate effect. As a consequence, perhaps from a developed medium’s perspective, this means that the responsibility of what they say and do has a greater effect and the scales of Karma may tip one way more than the other.

Mediums Beware

Let us now get back to the hypothesis of the mediumship reading. It’s very easy for a medium to reel off everything and anything they see, hear or feel without actually processing it properly. One sure sign of an untrained or undeveloped medium is following that pattern of “Just Say what you see.” In this instance, it is all too easy to cause more harm to the sitter because you are unable to discern what to say and how to communicate the message in a compassionate way. I have lost count of the number of times I have heard a medium give a graphic representation of how the spirit person passed, and though they mean no malice, it causes tremendous angst and upset to the sitter because they are faced with the visions or emotions that compounded the grief.

So, consider this as another aspect of the aforementioned hypothesis, if indeed karma has an immediate effect upon an individual who may be more spiritually progressed than another or who may have more understanding of spiritual law. Does that mean the individual could be the catalyst to immediate karmic balance, or, would there be no change? It certainly is something to ponder. If you do something against your spiritual knowledge or make up for your own personal gain, there will be a karmic balance, but where does that leave the medium, should the medium have that discerning power, because ultimately you have taken on a major responsibility of spirit and passing on information that can change a person’s life. If you knowingly give a grieving individual evidence because you feel it is strong and that evidence causes the individual to be further catapulted into grieving or indeed any other negative state, there could very well be an instant Karmic reaction. This also bears down on the old argument that mediums should not work too early until a sufficient amount of development and training has taken place.

It’s not about the evidence, it’s about the whole package and as mediums who are supposed to be more aware, we have a deeper responsibility and I would suggest, are subject to Instant Karma.

Wednesday, 3 June 2026

Meet Puck, the Mischievous Sprite of Olde (and maybe current) England

Puck, The Naughty Sprite

As we approach Midsummer’s Eve...

To many, the naughty sprite Puck (aka Robin Goodfellow) is best known from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream (1596) as one of the main fairy characters that populate the play, significantly influencing events with his cheeky pranks such as replacing Nick Bottom's head with that of an ass.

Henry Fuseli, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Older readers may possibly recall Kipling’s novel Puck of Pook's Hill where Puck (“a small, brown... pointy-eared person”), who refers to himself as "the oldest Old Thing in England", recounts various scenes of English history/fantasy to two children from nearby Burwash, in the High Weald of Sussex. Kipling's Puck is extremely critical of the modern image of a fairy: “Can you wonder that the People of the Hills don't care to be confused with that pointy-winged, wand-waving, sugar-and-shake-your-head set of imposters? Butterfly wings, indeed!”

Puck of Pook's Hill (1906) by Rudyard Kipling

‘Pook’s Hill’ is thought to be the hill that can be seen to the south-west from the lawn at Bateman’s, Kipling’s charming rural residence. Its real name is Perch Hill.

Jonathan Whitesell played Robin Goodfellow in The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2020):

Jack Gleeson (Joffrey from Game of Thrones) also essayed Puck in season two of The Sandman on Netflix last year.

Joseph Noel Paton, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In Amazon’s appalling fantasy series Carnival Row (2019, 2023), the Puck are a race of ‘fae’.

But who was Puck - and was he in any way ‘real’?

Puck associated place-names in England are relatively rare when compared to those commonly said to possess Norse and Saxon stems and originate from Gloucestershire, parts of Sussex, and the South-West, suggesting a possible Celtic origin. Names such as South Gloucestershire’s Pucklechurch ("Puck's Church") and various Puck- and Poke- prefixed woods, hills, and wells survive from early-medieval times to the this very day. Looking further back, Puck has been linked to the Greek God, Pan. In Anna Franklin’s Midsummer: Magical Celebrations of the Summer Solstice (2002) she says, “Robin Goodfellow is sometimes described as having the head of a youth and the body of a goat. Like the god Pan, he has a lusty nature, small horns on his head, and carries musical pipes. It may be that he is the fairy remnant of the ancient horned god or nature spirits, since there originally seems to have been a race of pucks.”

There is also said to be a link between Puck, The Green Man and Robin Hood - all to an extent representing nature in its raw and wilful form. Mike Harding, author of A Little Book of the Green Man (1998), said in a 2010 letter to The Guardian:

Robin Hood and the woodland orgies

Of course there was no Robin Hood. The name is a corruption of Robin of the Wood or Robin in the Hood and refers to Robin Goodfellow/Puck, the spirit of the woods, a pagan nature god who lived on well beyond the Christianisation of this island (Robin is often quoted in witchcraft trials as the name the witches chose for their familiars). He was no "tricksy spirit" but a powerful green god – perhaps seen in one aspect in the images of the Green Man that adorn so many of our great medieval churches and cathedrals. Mayday (a movable feast dependent upon the first blossoming of the hawthorn) was the signal for all and sundry to hie them away to the woods for a mass orgy. Harsh winters and poor diet meant low fertility, so the best way to ensure a good stock of babies was for women to have as many sexual partners as possible.

Any children born of the woodland orgies that went under the name of the Robin Hood games became known as Robson, Robinson or Hudson (Robert Graves – The White Goddess). Men in tights might work very well for the film-makers and the tourist boards – green gods that encouraged fecund fornication probably wouldn't figure highly in the naming of airports. And Maid Marian? Mary the Virgin Mother, the maid, consort of the Green Man perhaps. Morris dancers? Well that phallic symbol the maypole was brought out of the woods accompanied by a gang of dancers – Morris men. (Mary's men?) Until Cromwell came along and did away with maypoles and bonking in the bower, England was a much more ribald and perhaps even merry place. Perhaps the Tories who want a Big Society and a return to merry England could revive the maypole and spontaneous and widespread woodland nookie – bit late to put it in the manifesto though.

Despite the comparative scarcity, at least 50 places in England feature the word "Puck," including:

Puckrup, Gloucestershire - the hamlet derives its name from Old English, meaning a "goblin-haunted farmstead". In local folklore, the locality is heavily associated with Puck (or Puca)

Puckaster Cove, Isle of Wight - mentioned frequently in local folklore regarding ‘fairy dances’.

Puckstye & Pockford, Surrey - relating to nearby fields and a centuries-old goblin/sprite-haunted pathway

Puckham Woods, Gloucestershire - associated with medieval witchcraft

Puckshipton, Wiltshire - strongly associated with sightings of goblins etc

According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898): Puck/Robin Goodfellow is both a "drudging fiend", and merry domestic fairy, famous for mischievous pranks and practical jokes. During late evenings Puck will sometimes perform small services for the family over which he ‘presides’. The Scots call this kind of domestic spirit a brownie; the Germans, Kobold or Knecht Ruprecht. Scandinavians called it Nissë God-dreng.

According to his mood, Puck would undertake minor housework, some fine needlework or butter-churning. He would assist housewives with their chores, in expectation of an offering of some fresh crusty white bread and creamy milk. If this were neglected, he would steal that which he believed was owed and enact other petty acts of retribution upon the householders.

After the Protestant Reformation, Puck became the subject of negative texts written by Protestant proselytisers, along with, of course, other supernatural entities. Edmond Bicknoll claimed he was born from the ‘fruit of infidelity’ and was a conspirator of the devil, whilst Reginald Scot referred to Puck as the ‘great and ancient bullbeggar’ and Edward Dering blamed the sprite for the ‘idle superstitions’ of medieval religion.

Contrary to the attacks from Protestant authorities, the belief in Robin Goodfellow and his fairy companions remained significant in early modern popular life, particularly in the realm of household. Indeed, in Bedfordshire, where I currently abide, local rustic families supposedly still give offerings and venerate the ‘Little Folk/Hobs/Lubber Fiends’ who will minister to their domiciliary needs, if appropriately placated.

The fear Puck could engenderer also led to other customs which were designed to prevent his punishments from occurring. For example, people would often leave out pails of water for the creatures to wash themselves. In 1731, George Waldron argued that this belief was still important, saying “a person would be thought impudently profane” to go to bed “without having first set a tub, or pail full of clean fresh cool water”, in order for “these guests to bathe themselves in”.

Which is nice. Maybe this accounts for the pails of water left by cottages in my locality; unless of course it’s meant for the squirrels and birds during the current heat wave.

Puck was portrayed as a cocky trickster who could also shape-shift to toy with the people he met, stating, “sometimes I meet them like a man, sometimes an oxe, sometimes a hound, and to a horse I turn me can.” His jolly japes ranged from ruining dinner parties by annoying guests, spooking people in their sleep and when in the mood, swapping human children for hideous elf-changelings.

Joshua Reynolds, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Puck, as Robin Goodfellow, even appears in an 1856 speech by Karl Marx: "In the signs that bewilder the middle class, the aristocracy and the poor profits of regression, we recognize our brave friend Robin Goodfellow, the old mole that can work the earth so fast, that worthy pioneer – the Revolution."

In 1952, a woman named Mrs. C. Woods reported encountering a 3-foot-tall "elf" or sprite whilst yomping on Dartmoor. Apparently she initially mistook the peculiar little figure for an animal, but realized it was a "tiny man in brown" wearing a smock when she approached closer.

The Red Sprite, a form of upper-atmospheric lightning, is sometimes referred to as "Puck", a reference to mischievous nature spirits, inspiring the phenomenon's name. Whilst extremely rare, Red Sprites have been photographed and witnessed in the night skies of England during severe thunderstorms.