Is Spiritualism Losing Its Roots?

When we speak of the birth of spiritualism, we often think of the Fox sisters as the start of the spiritualist movement, and tend to forget that both spiritualism and mediumship, have their roots in the dawn of mankind.

“The Witch of Endor Calling Up the Spirit of the Prophet Samuel” Painting by Nikolai Ge, 1857

​Nikolai Ge, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

There are many accounts of mediums within the world religions. A prime example of an early séance, the Hebrew Bible tells of the Witch of Endor, a medium who apparently brought forth the Prophet Samuel’s spirit in her home at the behest of King Saul of the Kingdom of Israel (I Samuel 28:3–25). Even now, scholars argue that Moses was a medium who had the ability of automatic writing in connection to the Ten Commandments. These small examples remind us that mediumship and spiritualism are deeply rooted in the history of mankind. With that long history in mind, we must consider the Fox sisters as the birth of Modern Spiritualism and the spiritualist organizations that exist today, rather than spiritualism as a whole.

Solutions to a Common Problem in Spiritualism

When I first came into mediumship in the spiritualist church, I did attend development circles, but I felt something was not right, especially after being taken onto the rostrum by a medium far too soon, which I now find is an ongoing occurrence within the movement today. Although I could not put my finger on it at the time, I realize now that with the lack of good mentors, teachers, and development circles, I faced a lack of knowledge around the subject that I needed.

So I decided to do what many of our great pioneers did in the past and find the right direction with spirit via the old ways. This incorporated setting aside time to study, read and research – especially the many great literary works that were written by Maurice Barbanell through his guide Silver Birch; Ivy Northage and Chan; and Arthur Findley. And the list goes on.

The time and effort required for self-development, unfolding and understanding ourselves and the spiritual side of self also seems to be a forgotten part of mediumship development. Gordon Higginson once said: “Development should be split into three areas: theory, getting to know one’s self, and then the spirit world.” It takes time, effort and discipline to nurture such qualities. This should be pointed out by all tutors to their students.

Our Home Circle put so much time and effort into this when we developed Trance and Physical mediumship. Sitting with spirit and sitting to build the energy, is not carried out by many within the movement or not relayed by tutors to their students. Attending Open Circles – not just at your regular church or center but further afield – is important for your development because it is within these groups that you gain valuable experience by working in a different environment.

We have personal responsibility to other people, ourselves, and of course spirit.

“Newisms,” Practices, and Rituals in Spiritualism

The teachings that were once presented by many mediums of the past have now either been forgotten or watered down to the point that true mediumship is but a shadow of its former self. Stardom and fame seems, to many, more important than proving the continuation of life through concrete evidence.

I am seeing that, instead of evidence, time and time again counseling is being offered during demonstrations by mediums who usually have little or no knowledge around this area.

But look also how we have brought into mediumship what my team called “newisms” – or in layman’s terms, new age practices and rituals. Look at the mediums of the past and you will find that things such as grounding, chakras and protection were never mentioned. Yet these are being taught in many development groups. Chakras are connected to Eastern practices and especially Reiki. The term grounding just means bringing yourself back from the spiritual side of your work to your physical life which can be achieved by participating in normal every-day activities, such as spending time in nature, housework, going out with friends, to name a few.

Evil Spirits or Just Negative Energy?

One area which seems to cause a lot of controversy is the “new-age” idea of protection. But what are we truly protecting ourselves from? Being a highly-advanced species, the question is, why would we revert to bygone practices created by mankind during their infancy of evolution?

Of course the finger of suspicion can be pointed at orthodox religion which created evil, demons and hell. But can it not be argued that we make our own heaven and hell here on the physical plane? We talk about spiritualism being a religion? This comes once again from man and not spirit. In fact, Silver Birch – speaking to us from spirit – states “Spiritualism means nothing in the spirit world for it is but a name.”

Religion, Science and Spirituality

Look at how new age practices have ingrained themselves into mediumship. They have nothing to do with mediumship and the development of individuals, and should be kept separate. Many great spiritualists were scientists and carried out some amazing and fantastic work around the whole subject, such as Sir William Crookes, Sir Oliver Lodge, and Arthur Findley. But the scientific research in spiritualism is not highlighted like it once was. For example, the great scientific work over a five year period by Arthur Findley with John Campbell Sloan (Where Two Worlds Meet) brought so much information to the forefront in regards to spirit and the spirit world, why is work like that not being taught, not being emphasized, and worst of all, not continuing?

If we were to look at the spirit world through science instead of religion, we would start to understand more about energy. Like electricity, which is energy, there is a positive and a negative. Our actions, thoughts, and words create a vibration or energy. If we are positive in such things we create a larger amount of positive energy, and vice-versa when we are negative in such actions. These negative energies can be picked up by sensitives and mediums, but problems can arise where some see this as a negative or evil spirit. Negative energy can often be felt in buildings where some traumatic past event occurred and it is really easy to disperse by counter-acting this energy with positive energy.

In 1947, John Butler wrote in his book Exploring the Psychic World:

“Many people were aware of the existence of Spiritualism even before it was generally discovered, but they could not explain it scientifically. Now, however, with our deeper knowledge of the constitution of matter and our increasing knowledge of energy, wavelengths, and vibrations, we can, in the main, do so. We can show that the claims of Spiritualists are more and more confirmed by every advance in our knowledge concerning the nature of matter.”

If you walk into many spiritualist churches and centers, you find that crosses, Bibles and other Christian artifacts adorn the walls. We have adopted Christian scriptures and hymns. Not to mention the new trend where some people wear Christian uniforms such as dog collars and vestments. We are seeing the spiritualist movement following the same path as the Christian Church, branching off into sub-groups and following Christian ideology or their own ideology.

Too often now within mediumship, it comes down to money, stardom, and fame. We no longer explore the spiritual nature of ourselves, nor take the time to spend with those who work with us from the spirit world, those invisible friends who never judge us and who unconditionally love us at all times.

Returning to Our Roots 

Let us get back to how spiritualism and mediumship were first presented to us in their simplest and purest form. We just need to remember that it is about Dedication, Discipline, Commitment and Perseverance which were the words spirit gave to me when I first started. There was a line in an old book about spiritualism I will never forget: “Spiritualism is not a religion, it is a discovery of an actual fact in nature. Like other facts in nature, it always existed and operated, even before it was discovered.” (John Butler, Exploring the Psychic World)

Divine Law Is Perfect In Operation

Many laws exist that govern us. We have man’s law, the laws of physics and scientific laws such as the law of gravity and laws of the state, laws of the organization, religious law and so forth. All laws have been developed as a method of control and to conduct behavior, and are, of course, designed to create structure from chaos. Laws are all about governing and there’s no greater quote that explains this concept than from the Swiss philosopher ‘Jean Jacques Rousseau’ who argued in 1762 that:

People are born free and must willingly give legitimate authority to the government through a “social contract” for mutual preservation.

At this moment in time, we as a people have never felt so incarcerated as man dictates what he feels is right and just – control based on perception.

A Divine Law That Supersedes All Of Man’s Laws That Are Governed By Perception

However, there’s one set of laws that governs all of humanity, nature and creation. It is known as our Divine Law. As an example, allow me to relay a story that might explain how Divine Law operates above and beyond all of man’s laws and to which man has no power to change.

She Confirmed Her Soul’s Path That Was Governed By Divine Law

Katherine* was a devoted wife and mother, until she was stricken by cancer that eventually caused her to pass to the world of spirit. Her husband, Michael*, who is now my closest friend, was guided to me by events that were outside the norm of operations governed by man. One of the greatest conundrums of Katherine’s journey through her illness and subsequent passing, was that if this journey was indeed chosen by her for a greater purpose, was it meant to be, and why did she suffer in the way that she did? Could anything have prevented that path that Laura went down?

For Michael, this was a question that needed some confirmation. He had always felt this was a course that Katherine had chosen, but confirmation would require substantial evidence in order to be accepted. Anyone can offer a judgment or perception based on one’s ego or own perceptions whether they are false or true to them, but only evidence from the person who chose their path would be sufficient enough to go some way to offering an explanation.

He Would Have Given Anything To Have Changed It!

Michael would have done anything he could at the time to change the outcome of the journey. His wife was suffering and if he could have changed places, he would. Prayer to change the outcome, prayer to heal, or anything that could have reversed the path she was on, he would have done, and given. The suffering for all members of the family was absolutely overwhelming.

At the time, Michael could not see the greater picture, and Katherine, confined to the consciousness of this earth plane, would not have seen that picture or known how it would impact things forever more. Anyone in Michael’s position would do anything they could to change what was transpiring at that moment. These situations are reminiscent of the story of Jesus in accordance with Divine Will and Divine Law as exemplified during the agony in the garden, when Jesus had to succumb to what was inevitably governed by will and Divine Law.

There Was No Change

No matter what Michael or Katherine wanted, it could not be changed. Why? Well, the soul is governed by Divine Law and also knows what it needs for growth, what it needs for service or what it has chosen as its path for whatever divine reasoning it has. Yet, we who exist on this plane may not have the knowledge or understanding of the different needs of the soul, which may not be in accordance with what we desire or want as human beings. Though the connection is there, the perception can be different.

Katherine Confirms Her Path

Katherine finally came through during a mediumship sitting with a complex yet important piece of evidence that confirmed her path was chosen at the soul level and that no man-made law or human desire could have prevented the inevitable. She had to convey to her husband that the words in a song he resonated with were understood, and why that song meant so much to Michael in terms of the love they had, the journey they went through together as one.

This was achieved by leading evidence in a pattern and, toward the end of the sitting, conveying her understanding of that song which had important words and meanings that were known only to Michael. In fact, she did not know of the song when she existed on this side of life. This demonstrated that she was aware of the wording, the music and why Michael made the connection to that particular song. Therefore, she confirmed that her path had a higher authority that was not able to be changed due to the service and the lessons it offered to foster growth and change in the lives of others.

This example shows that no matter what we desire, or what we want for our own gratification, no matter how we plead or demand change of outcomes or ask for the cup to be passed as in the case of the garden at Gethsemane, Divine Law is perfect in its operation and no perception or power of man can change these laws.

What Is Divine Law

Divine Law governs all of creation and comes from the mind of God or Source, no matter how you label your perception. We only exist because of Divine Law and without it, no life or nature would be possible. Consequently, Divine Law is often misunderstood. Man has created a perception of Divine Law that actually does not adhere to what real Divine Law is, or how it operates.

When one starts to talk about Divine Law, religion immediately comes to mind as if these laws are only understood by religious beliefs and practice. However, that could not be further from the truth. Religion is man-made and therefore not the source of Divine Law. However, certain laws will exist within the religious perception but only from the reality of hidden truths that exist within all religious beliefs, such as the Divine Law of Love that exists within the basis of all religious belief.

Misconception Of Law To Suit the Ego

Many individuals, spiritual teachers and organizations will almost color what they perceive as a Divine Law to suit them or to suit the need of the EGO. One such example would be the belief in Reincarnation as being a Divine Law. If we look deeply into this, and learn from the wisdom of those gone before us and from explanations we have received from the other side of life, we would see that Reincarnation is a choice and not a law. There is no necessity governed by any other need that says it is an inevitable law to which we all must adhere.

We have a choice whether to reincarnate or not. That choice is given to us by free will, which is another law that is perfect in its operation and allows us to make the choice to reincarnate or not – hence the Law of Free Will allows us to choose between the action of Reincarnation.

Image: NoDerog, Canva

A Divine Law Is Harmonious And Needs Other Laws To Operate

There is a grave misjudgement which perceives Divine Laws as being separate laws that operate only within their individual purpose or remit. But let’s consider something within two of these Divine Laws. Let’s look at the following;

• The Law of Karma
• The Law Of Responsibility

Each of these laws actually work in harmony with one another and therefore the Law of Harmonic Resonance comes into play with both of these laws. Nevertheless, to make it easier to understand, we will only use the example of these two laws to exemplify how one is reliant on the other.

I fully understand that we could sub-divide even more into other laws of the universe, but we must begin somewhere and sow that seed from which we can grow. Therefore, we now have a nice segway into understanding the Law of Karma, which can be thought of in terms of cause and effect – again comprising another Divine Law. Furthermore, we can understand the Law of Karma more simply in layman’s terms i.e. ‘What you give out you get back’ or you ‘Reap what you sow’. So how does this correspond with another law that is in harmonious resonance – the Law of Responsibility?

Responsibility

The Law of Responsibility is perceived as a law that makes you responsible for all that you are, all that you think, all that you perceive or believe, all that you act upon and all that you say. In essence, you are wholly responsible for every aspect of you, down to mind, body and soul. Therefore, what you choose under free will to think or act upon is your responsibility and no one else can be held responsible for the choices you make or express as a Divine Being.

As a consequence, if you choose unwisely and do something that perhaps goes against other laws, you will have to pay a karmic price for the choices you make. As you are responsible for your choices and how you act upon those choices, which are governed by free will, the consequences of those actions will actually have a karmic effect. The truth is that each law in this example is working in harmony with the other laws and one cannot exist without the other.

Destiny Is Not Purpose

Let’s go back to Katherine and Michael. Purpose is not destiny and your purpose changes in accordance with the choices you make that are based on the journey. But inevitably, each chosen purpose leads to the one destiny which is what you chose before you incarnated upon the earthplane.

The choices Katherine made, impacted upon her purpose at each stage in her life; her purpose as a wife and her purpose as a mother, yet her destiny was on the same path as her purposes which could not be changed, even though purposes change based on the choices you make. You can choose different paths which have different purposes, but your destiny remains that constant truth. Each law that governs our destiny is that which is in harmony with Divine Will and, therefore, Divine Law.

No matter what Michael wanted at the time when all the events were taking place, it could not change Katherine’s destiny and how those Divine Laws were operating. When Katherine came through during the mediumship sitting and confirmed her destiny was to be of greater service, it brought a level of comfort to understand how Divine Law and Divine Will operate and govern our lives from every moment.

Awareness Of Divine Law

Awareness of Divine Law goes beyond perception or theory. It is something that requires discernment to be able to understand the resonance within each governing law and how that law is in correspondence to another. This also means that one with awareness of this deeper level of understanding about not just the law, but its operation, relationship and mechanics, will have to be more aware of how it operates within one’s life. One who is ignorant of such laws or who has no understanding, will not experience the impact as much as the discerning individual who understands that law, for the impact of such laws will be meted out with more impact. Consequently, one who has spiritual awareness of Divine Laws can in fact suffer more because these laws govern this earth plane and impact the soul’s growth.

It is therefore important that one has awareness of Divine Law in operation within the universe and of course one’s life. By understanding the governance of Divine Law, we can learn to live in harmony with ourselves, with others and of course with nature. Divine Law supersedes all other laws made by man’s perception and of course ignorance and man’s perception cannot change the operation of Divine Law.

* Real names not used

Founding the Noah’s Ark Society to Save Physical Mediumship

Back in 1990 (nearly 30 years ago now), I founded the Noah’s Ark Society (NAS) to help save physical mediumship – which, at that time, appeared set to become extinct. Many of the few remaining physical mediums who were demonstrating in public at that time were elderly, deteriorating in health, and undertaking less and less work as their mediumships ‘wound down’.

For instance, within the next four years, two of the best known physical mediums – Gordon Higginson and Leslie Flint both passed to Spirit. Several other well-known physical mediums, such as Maud Gunning and Geoffrey Jacobs, had already passed to Spirit a little earlier as well. Some genuine physical mediums such as Rita Goold (who was working in a different energy-based way) had been forced to discontinue their mediumship due to alarming threats (including death threats) from anonymous ‘Arch Sceptics’ who – without any proof – accused them of fraud. Some excellent physical mediums like John Squires of Romford simply gave up because of health issues.

Ilkeston Physical mediumship circle

With the public’s increasing lack of access to séances and demonstrations of physical mediumship, and the lack of any exciting reports regarding encouraging contemporary results in this unique field of mediumship, it was perhaps inevitable that public interest in the subject would fade away. Instead of witnessing available demonstrations of physical mediumship (the publicity of which, naturally, would have generated considerable interest from scientists and the public), and since practical experience was sadly lacking, anyone seeking more knowledge and information was forced to go to the history books for answers! I remember more than one person at that time remarking to me: “Physical Mediumship – isn’t that something that happened way back in time – but is no longer being practiced?”

In 1989, my wife Sandra and I moved into a rented Church of England Rectory at Postwick – just a few miles East of Norwich. For many years, we had run our own home circles for the development of physical phenomena in the Romford area and had, in fact, actually met in a physical circle at Romford where the medium John Squires went on to develop the Independent Voice phenomenon (of an excellent quality) to almost rival that of Leslie Flint. My own interest as a researcher of physical mediumship goes back to 1972.

Once at Postwick, it was not long before I began to miss the home circles we had run and, although we did ask around the area, we never discovered any physical home circles who were looking for sitters at that time. Consequentially, a little later, we did once again start our own home circle at Postwick – but that is another story.

In the meantime, in March 1989, an advert for sitters in a physical circle at Ilkeston, Derbyshire appeared in the ‘Psychic News’. I replied and agreed to meet the trance medium of that circle, Stuart Hellen and his wife Valarie, for a chat. Although the circle was 130 miles away from Postwick, they had been asked by their Spirit Team to start a physical circle, running just once per month on the Saturday closest to the new moon. The traveling was therefore not too frequent, and when asked, I was happy to join the circle.

Regular communicators in the Ilkeston Group

Woodbury type on paper mount, late 1860s-1870s

​See page for author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

In April 1989, I was present at their first proper physical phenomena sitting. Several raps occurred, together with psychic breezes, and ‘whistling’ was clearly heard over the singing of the group. Later in the year, after a few more sittings, I was able to arrange for the circle members to visit Leslie Flint, whom I had known for several years. Through his Independent Voice mediumship, the group received confirmation of the work they were doing to develop physical mediumship, and much evidence concerning the circle. The well-known Victorian Novelist and Spiritualist Florence Marryat (1833-1899) also became a regular communicator in the Ilkeston Group. Her book ‘There Is No Death’ is one I can highly recommend!

Stuart Hellen’s mediumistic development continued apace and early in 1990, at the request of the Spirit Team, Stuart’s chair was moved into a cabinet and during this first ‘cabinet’ sitting, the circle was taken unawares when the initial attempt at Independent Voice took place. This phenomena continued to develop during the further sittings in 1990.

In late 1989, another advert had appeared in the ‘Psychic News’ for sitters to attend another physical circle – this time in Hove, near Brighton. Again (and I shall never know quite why!) I replied, despite the fact that this circle was actually 140 miles away from our home – in a totally different direction. This group was run by John Austin, a veteran Spiritualist and his wife Gerry. They too knew Leslie Flint well. Although it was a weekly circle, I joined this group, too.

After sitting with the circle for a number of months, John and Gerry decided that they needed a new carpet for the lounge in which their sittings took place. The manager of a local carpet warehouse called to measure up the room, and instinctively made the comment that he knew what that room was used for. ‘Séances!’ There was no way he could have known this by normal means, so John and Gerry chatted to him about their interest. The result was that the young man Colin Fry was asked to join the circle. He agreed, and history was born! It was not long before Colin’s physical mediumship took off, and he started to go into deep trance. In terms of physical phenomena, his development was quite rapid. Within months, advanced examples of physical phenomena were taking place and by mid 1990, it was apparent that he was going to be an excellent physical medium. I personally witnessed one of the first instances of his phenomena, when a coin was suddenly apported into the centre of the circle from the medium’s solar plexus. Later, when levitation of the medium became commonplace, he was once levitated, complete with chair, through a wall into the next room!

How the Noah’s Ark Society was born

Meanwhile, back at the Ilkeston Circle in May 1990, it was on the anniversary of the inaugural meeting of the ‘Link of Home Circles’ (held in 1931 and attended by its founder – Mr Noah Zerdin) that a spirit personality communicated with us in the Independent Direct Voice. This was no less than Noah Zerdin himself, who had been a mentor to Leslie Flint in his early days, and many other mediums besides. He specifically asked us to: “Start a Society which would educate the public about physical mediumship – ensuring its safe development, demonstration and practice – as well as generally promoting physical mediumship and its phenomena to the public”.

This, for us, was a very exciting development, and we quickly realised the significance of such a message, and the importance of actually implementing Noah Zerdin’s request. After the sitting, we sat round discussing the possibility of starting such a society. Since I had more experience in this specialist type of mediumship and its phenomena than the others, I agreed to take over the responsibilities and practicalities of putting the society together, and badgered the other circle members to join me on the initial committee to help with the basic work (which involved an awful lot of diplomatic persuasion!)

At that time, I was in a reasonable position financially and was able to fund the society in its early days out of my own pocket. I came up with the name myself – The Noah’s Ark Society (I guess with a little help from Spirit), and commissioned an art studio in Norwich to produce a suitable logo. The name was suitable for three reasons:

1)  The ‘Noah’ referred to Noah Zerdin, who had been the spirit communicator who asked us to start the Society.

2)  Biblically speaking, ‘Noah’s Ark’ was a vessel that saved many species of animals from their ultimate extinction. The Noah’s Ark Society aimed to save a particular form of mediumship – physical mediumship – from extinction too.

3)  The ‘Ark of the Covenant’ – biblically speaking – was a repository for psychic power and spiritual knowledge. That seemed particularly appropriate here too!

Over the next few weeks, I placed adverts regularly throughout the psychic press to notify the public of the new organization. We sent out information sheets to interested people, detailing the aims and objects of the new Society, and inviting them to join the NAS. There was to be a monthly newsletter starting in August 1990 with Issue 1 and although much preparatory work had been done before that date (including the rapid recruitment of members), it was generally accepted that the Society would be officially formed in that month.

The very first member – number 001 – was Stewart Alexander. He agreed to join the committee and to be the ‘Archive Officer’. However, it was to be quite some time before he actually admitted to me that he was a physical medium himself! I started the Newsletter as planned, and edited it. In those early days it was produced by me on a photocopier (initially at my workplace, starting at 5.50am!)

The first committee consisted of just the members of the Ilkeston Circle, together with Stewart Alexander. I did not want to take on the mantle of ‘President’ myself, preferring instead to remain as ‘General Secretary’, which allowed me to quietly get on with the building, expansion and running of the Society. It was agreed by all that the first ‘President’ would be the medium – Stuart Hellen. The first ‘Treasurer’ was Denise Lacey, another Ilkeston sitter. Apart from Stewart as ‘Archive Officer’, the rest of the committee was made up by: Stuart’s wife Valarie Hellen; Michelle Hackett; Mark Stanley and Jaquie Turner.

The psychic press reported and trumpeted the details of the new Society. Because of that, our adverts, and ‘word of mouth’ generally, the NAS membership grew rapidly over the first few months. Physical circles from all over the world joined as well, together with dozens of individual interested people and researchers. We quickly surpassed the significant benchmark of 100 members, and approached 200. All of a sudden, it became clear that as well as the committed physical circles and researchers already involved in our specialist subject, there was also – amongst those who had never come across physical mediumship themselves before the advent of the NAS – a new, and massive interest in physical mediumship and its phenomena from the general public, many of whom were totally lacking ANY knowledge of the reality of physical phenomena. The NAS, therefore, provided a rallying point for interested people. We set out a programme of education so that everyone could learn the basic facts and so that members who had not previously done so, could witness demonstrations of physical mediumship themselves on a regular basis.

I wrote a NAS teaching guide on the ‘Development of Physical Mediumship and its Phenomena’, based on the traditional use of ‘ectoplasm’ (at that early stage, nobody knew that excellent phenomena could be produced using only ‘energy’. The ‘Scole Experiment’ and its work came later.) This, like the Newsletter, was produced in large numbers by me on my work’s copier machine, with a copy of this teaching booklet being sent out free to all members – together with Newsletter number 2 in September, 1990.

Over the next few months, the NAS continued to grow at a rapid rate, and the contacts that we made through the Society proved to be most useful. At a general meeting in January 1991, veteran medium and researcher Alan Crossley was elected as the new ‘President’, and I became ‘Chairman’ of the Noah’s Ark Society – a position I held until Sandra and I withdrew from the NAS in September 1994 (at the specific request of our Scole Spirit Team), to concentrate on our work with the Scole Experimental Group, which was producing some really amazing and exclusive Physical Phenomena – working in a brand new ‘energy-based’

The first NAS physical mediumship demonstration

At a residential Seminar in Leicester in May (with almost 100 people present), the very first NAS demonstration of Physical Mediumship took place, using medium Colin Fry (at that time identified simply as ‘Lincoln’). It was a huge success and – Stewart Alexander (who was present) recognised the importance and full impact of such a public demonstration. He was immediately motivated to offer to undertake similar public demonstrations for the NAS in the future so – for many years, members were able to witness demonstrations of physical mediumship by these two superb mediums.

Stewart Alexander later took over as ‘President’ of the Noah’s Ark Society. The last ‘President’, the late George Cranley, engineered the closing of the NAS in 2004. The ‘Vice-President’ at that time was the late Colin Fry – a superb Physical Medium.

It is quite clear today that there is now a massive interest in Physical Mediumship and its phenomena all over the world. Newer (and often younger) physical mediums are developing and coming on to the scene in so many different countries. I have no doubt personally that the work of the Noah’s Ark Society and the later work of the Scole Experimental Group have contributed tremendously to that interest, and motivated a large number of those emerging physical mediums to develop their own mediumship and phenomena.

In conclusion, therefore, I think I can justly claim that the ‘Noah’s Ark Society’, which set out to ‘save’ Physical Mediumship and its phenomena achieved, in part, exactly what it set out to do. The subject (and practice) of Physical Mediumship today is thriving and continuing to expand constantly. Therefore it is far more commonplace (and available to the public) than it used to be. Interest in this specialised subject indeed continues to grow at a rapid rate.

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

The Very First Public Séance 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.

Colin Fry (19 May 1962 – 25 August 2015)

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

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.

Hew Draper's Zodiac

​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.

John Dee performing an experiment before Queen Elizabeth I

​Henry Gillard Glindoni, CC BY 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

​Queen Elizabeth with Dr John Dee

Dee’s astrological chart - in his own hand

Dee’s Astrological Chart

​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:

The University of Hull

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/

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.”

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