Jock Brocas is a spiritual author and teacher with books published internationally. Jock is also the president of the charity organization assmpi and works tirelessly to he others develop spiritually and live a more rewarding life. Join Jock Brocas on a spiritual journey.
http://jockbrocas.us
This is the second installment of a captivating series detailing the direct guidance from Spirit that led Robin and Sandra Foy to establish the Spiritual Science Foundation in Spain. The Scole Experiment lives on. This is a republishing of the initial article that was originally published in The Otherside Press, which is now a part of Paranormal Daily News.
From ‘Scole Hole’ To Spain
In early 2004, Sandra began to receive crystal clear clairvoyant and clairaudient messages again. Whilst she sat quietly during her night-shift job in a Diss electronics factory, she kept getting a recurring message that constantly told her to ‘move to Spain’.
At the same time, I clairaudiently received a single word from Spirit: Guardamar. I had not heard this name before, but when I researched it, I discovered that it was the name of a place – ‘Guardamar del Segura’—a small resort on the Costa Blanca in the Province of Alicante, Spain. We were due to go to a mountain town near Barcelona for a break to celebrate our Silver wedding (25 years) anniversary in April 2004, and decided to look at some properties near Guardamar whilst we were there.
We were psychically led to an advert for small new apartments being built in Formentera del Segura, a village just 7 minutes' drive away from Guardamar, and scheduled an appointment to view them. We had a problem in that we were unable to get out of our hotel early enough to be on time for the 250-mile drive south because the hotel owner locked up the property overnight. However, despite arriving two hours late, we did get our viewing, and it was actually in Formentera del Segura that we finally came to live in December 2006!
Amazingly accurate and evidential information from Spirit
After making a firm decision to actually move there, we felt pretty sure that Spirit really did want us close to Guardamar on the Costa Blanca. We no longer looked for any new circle members for our Scole group, but nevertheless continued to sit together as a duet on a weekly basis.
Sandra’s clairvoyance developed naturally during this period, and she often came out with names and places that were indicated to her as being relevant to us and our future work. When I researched these after a sitting, it was amazing just how accurate and evidential much of this information from Spirit was!
On December 4th 2006, we crossed the English Channel by Ferry in Sandra’s small Toyota Yaris, having previously disposed of my old Volvo Estate Car. The car was packed to the gunwales with the last of our belonging, with a tiny space left in the back for our beloved black cat Cookie.
We arrived at our tiny apartment in Formentera del Segura on the Spanish Costa Blanca in the late afternoon of December 6th 2006. It was January 2007 before Sandra and I started to once again sit together on a weekly basis.
Assurance from Spirit that the Scole Experiment work would continue
Early in March 2007, we were contacted by physical mediums Tom and Linda Anderson, a Glasgow-based husband and wife team known as the ‘Freedom of Spirit’ group. They had been getting amazing physical phenomena for some time and contacted us whilst we were still living at Scole but were unable to visit us before we left.
Consequently, Tom and Linda asked us if they could come and stay with us in Formentera del Segura for a week and share some sittings for our benefit. They told us that the phenomena they were now getting was energy-based, similar to some of the phenomena we had enjoyed during the ‘Scole Experiment’, including independent voice and teleported ‘solid’ spirit visitors. So we were very happy to have them as guests, even though we had not met them before.
During the week that Tom and Linda stayed with us, we had three sittings. It was very clear that their physical phenomena was excellent, and quite advanced. We experienced some spirit lights, levitations of their two trumpets and a heavy table, and apports of crystal clusters. Very quickly too, were ‘direct voice’ from the trumpets and ‘independent voice’ from a number of different communicators.
These included several of the spirit guides and helpers from The Scole Experiment whose voices were unknown to the two mediums but instantly recognized by us. The well-known, beloved guides and helpers from our Scole days assured us that our work would definitely carry on!
Chatting to the likes of Helen Duncan and John Lennon
The loud independent voices also included those of past physical mediums Gordon Higginson and Helen Duncan. We had known Gordon Higginson in his lifetime, and immediately recognized his voice. An evidential aspect of this voice communication was the fact that whilst the spirit voices were speaking, the two mediums joined in. The sittings took place in our tiny spare bedroom and there had been absolutely no opportunity whatsoever for the mediums to prepare for the sittings in that room. This meant there was no question that everything that took place was absolutely 100% genuine!
During the three sessions in our home, we also chatted to the likes of Winston Churchill (Sandra and I had enjoyed connections with him through many other groups and circles since 1975); Thomas Edison; John Lennon and George Harrison. Karen Carpenter and Al Jolson sang for us. Maria Callas also sang in her beautiful trained operatic voice. Her singing was literally so loud, it could have been heard two streets away!
Our late friend Anne Child (who was totally unknown to the mediums) spoke independently and gave some very evidential information to Sandra, and we had many touches from teleported spirit people. What really impressed us was the fact that these solid spirit visitors included our parents: my mother spoke to me in her vary familiar earthly voice; my father signed his name exactly as he did during his lifetime, and – amazingly – the little ET we knew as Blue from our Scole days was teleported into the room in a solid form. Just as he had done at Scole on previous occasions, Blue stood in front of us and lifted our hands onto his head, so we could feel his face and check that it felt identical to the way we remembered it.
We thoroughly enjoyed these three sittings with the Andersons and arranged to share a gite (cottage) near Carcassonne in the South of France, just one month later. Whilst there, we had another two sittings that were extremely evidential. Since the owners of the gite lived in the house next door, we had to politely ask Maria Callas to lower her voice when she again sang for us so that the gite owners would not hear the singing!
Interpreting clues to the new spiritual centre
However, the most significant thing to come out of all five sittings with the Andersons was that our Scole Spirit Team repeatedly told us that our work must go on, and that Spirit wanted us to open a specialist centre in Spain for physical mediumship and physical phenomena.
They also told us that the actual premises they wanted us to use would eventually become self-evident. While refusing to tell us exactly where this centre would be, they offered us several clues so we could work the area out for ourselves. This is what we were given:
The place would be inland from the ‘Costa del Sol’.
The name of the town began with an ‘A’.
There were tombs that were thousands of years old.
There was a well.
There was a natural spring.
There had been many UFO sightings.
There was an important mountain where there was a portal.
There were very unusual rock formations.
There was a ‘Sleeping Indian’.
There was a castle.
Close by was a lake and nesting area for Flamingos.
It was close to an area where wolves were kept.
It was close to a ‘camp’.
There was a ley line connected to magnetic energy. Not actually in a town, but very close.
Interesting bridge close by.
Special bread roll made in the town.
Statue of a king with a robe and jagged crown.
A special drink was brewed close by.
The property would be specially selected by Spirit.
There was a cave in a mountain.
Many Spanish people would become involved in the experiments.
There were Roman remains in the town.
The town had many very old churches and convents.
The town had historically been occupied by many settlers from abroad.
Dozens of confirmations about Antequera, Andalucia
It was not long before I started to investigate the clues. At this stage, my geographical knowledge of Spain was not brilliant, but after much searching, I discovered that the only place in Spain that fitted almost all of the clues was Antequera in Andalucia. In the 12 years since the sittings with the Andersons in Spain and France, we have had dozens of evidential confirmations from Spirit that Antequera is the place!
We were rather excited about what we might find in Antequera, which lies about 260 miles south of our current home on the Costa Blanca. We wanted to visit the area as soon as possible in order to explore and booked a three-day visit in July 2007.
Before the visit, however, we returned to the UK to see the family. Whilst we were there (and knowing that she was usually booked up for months in advance) Sandra got in touch with evidential mental medium Alexia Green who lives in Stowmarket, Suffolk to see if she had any dates available for a private reading.
Surprise, surprise! Alexia just had a single cancellation and was able to fit Sandra in. Her reading was quite amazing and contained confirmation about our starting a special centre in Antequera for physical mediumship and its phenomena.
Sandra’s mum communicated the information. She told us there was a sanctuary nearby for exotic birds – ‘Flamingos’. She also described exactly how to get to Antequera: Go down the coast to Malaga – turn 90 degrees inland, and travel for 25 miles. This was fantastic and accurate evidence, as Sandra’s mum knew nothing in her lifetime about Spain and, in fact, was not at all in favor of afterlife communication!
My mum-in-law added that we must carefully read and act on the small print when we bought this property (now we know exactly why, because the property is technically an ‘illegal build’). Of course, we had absolutely no idea of just exactly where this property might be in relation to Antequera.
The final ‘coup de grace’ from Sandra’s mum was that Spirit wanted us to visit the area on certain dates in July (which proved to be the exact dates we had already booked for our visit), and that we were to look out for the goats with the bells.
End of part 2
If you missed part one of From the Wilderness to Scole Swansong, click this link
In Part 3 of this article, we learn exactly how Spirit brought the Spiritual Science Foundation into being, why they guided Robin and Sandra to choose a particular property to buy and turn into a special centre for physical mediumship and its phenomena.
Humans have always had a powerful desire to learn what the future holds and, if possible, control it. As early as prehistory, people developed any number of practices and associated beliefs to try to accomplish this. People have employed various types of divination, oracular consultations, witchcraft, and the use of witch familiars throughout time to attempt to discern and influence the future.
The custom of observing animal or bird behavior as omens or indications of things to come is ancient. This practice in the British Isles is at least as old as Druidic times. But observation itself is limited to gathering information. The next logical step is to attempt some sort of control. Here is where the notion of the familiar is born. If a falconer trains a bird to hunt and return to the glove, why couldn’t a witch command an animal to do his or her bidding?
Accused witches, like most people, lived with pets. Once a person was suspected of witchcraft, the accusers stigmatized this pet as a ‘familiar’ (also known sometimes as an ‘imp’) and believed it to be able to assist the witch in the practice of witchcraft. People suspected that many small animals, which could live in a household, were familiars. Witch trial transcripts in Britain as early as 1566 cite cats, dogs, rats, mice, toads, moles, rabbits, ferrets, and even insects as familiars.
Familiars - Cats and the Devil
Cats have been common household pets for hundreds of years. Accusers understandably often suspected them of being familiars. Although several other animals could be familiars, people most often associated cats with witches. Some people believed that witches were able to turn themselves into cats. Other people believed a witch had the power to command her cat to cast curses or to spy or inflict other mischief on her behalf. Still others believed the cat belonged to the devil, to whom the witch had pledged her soul, and that the devil could use it to cause evil. People also sometimes believed familiars to be minor demonic spirits that took the shape of cats or other animals and could assist the witch in evil doing.
In a famous witch trial headed by King James himself, Agnes Sampson was tortured and executed as a witch in Scotland in 1591. King James suspected that his fiancé, Anne of Denmark, had been unable to reach Scotland by boat due to storms caused by curses. After torture, Agnes Sampson confessed that she and other witches had prevented Anne’s boat from reaching Scotland by throwing bewitched cats into the North Sea. Such were beliefs at the time that no one found this explanation questionable, including the King.
Margaret Flower was employed as a charwoman at Belvoir Castle, where she resided in the servant’s quarters. The Earl of Rutland owned the castle. His heir was his son, Lord Rosse. In early 1618, the Earl terminated her employment with charges that she took things she had no right to and was lax in her duties. Margaret decided to take revenge for her dismissal because she had lost both her residence and income.
Margaret asked for help from her mother, Joan Flower, a reputed witch with a cat familiar called Rutterkin. Joan herself held the Earl of Rutland in low regard as a result of former dealings and was eager to help her daughter in this matter. She instructed Margaret to steal a glove from Lord Rosse and give it to her mother. Joan stroked Rutterkin with the glove, dipped it in boiling water, pricked it and buried it. Subsequently, Lord Rosse fell ill and eventually died.
Trial documents indicate that Joan may have alluded to revenge in conversation with someone. At any event, people discovered their actions, and both mother and daughter were arrested. After torture, Margaret Flower confessed. She was hanged in March 1619. Her mother refused to admit guilt. Instead, she asked for bread and butter, invoking an ancient “test of ordeal” involving a prayer to God that the bread ‘would not go through her’ if she were guilty. Fascinatingly, she choked on the bread and died on the way to jail.
The Witch’s Teat or Devil’s Mark
The story of Margaret Flower is typical of testimonies about familiars given at witch trials in the seventeenth century. The Devil could gift a familiar to a witch. A witch could inherit a familiar. Another witch might gift a familiar to her. People believed the witch would feed the familiar with his or her blood. Either the familiar sucked directly from some part of her body, or she mixed her blood into its food. Evidence of any sort of mark on a witch’s body, often called a ‘witch’s teat’ or a ‘Devil’s mark,’ proved that she fed her familiar with her blood. A ‘witch’s teat’ could be any sort of mole, birthmark, discoloration, skin tag, or other skin anomaly.
Over time, people connected black cats in particular with a witch’s familiar. In the Scottish Highlands people still tell stories of the cat sith(pronounced ‘cot she’), a large black cat (think the size of a dog) with a white patch on its chest. The cat sith has the special ability to slip between our world and the realm of the fairies and sometimes serves as a guardian of the fairy realm. Seventeenth-century Scots took fairies very seriously. People were keen to avoid fairies, since they could trap you underground in their realm or do you other harm. It was best to avoid the cat sith as well, since it might be aiding fairies in their mischief, or was perhaps a kind of fairy itself.
Fairy Darts
Among their other activities, Scots believed that fairies roamed the Scottish countryside in search of sustenance. These fairies used ‘fairy darts’ or ‘elf darts’ to hunt game for food. (Such darts were associated with prehistoric arrowheads found throughout Scotland.) The fairies often used humans as archers for shooting their darts, since humans were stronger than fairies. Fairies were also often in league with witches, who were delighted to become their archers.
One of the most famous of all Scottish witches, Isobel Gowdie, claimed to shoot ‘elf-darts’ in her 1662 trial testimony. Witches such as Isobel could make use of these darts to harm or kill their enemies, which Isobel testified that she had done. Humans who were shot with such a dart and did not immediately bless themselves would sicken and die. Also, witches who followed the fairies in their feasting and processions through the countryside could gain magical benefits. Isobel claimed to have feasted with the fairy king and queen under the local hills.
Whether a fairy, a fairy guardian, a shapeshifting witch, or some other supernatural being, the cat sith lurked in moors and lonely pathways. A wise traveler would avoid such paths, especially at night or in other times of poor visibility. Fairies, with the help of the cat sith , collected human souls. The Highlanders carefully guarded their dead before burial so that the cat sith could not steal their souls before they were able to get to Heaven. The living mourners played games outside the home where their dead were laid out in order to distract the cat sith from going inside. Firelight would attract the cat sith, so mourners avoided lighting fires at all cost.
Shapeshifting Witches
Another common belief was that a witch could transform or shapeshift into her familiar. There were whispers that the cat sith might be a witch who could transform into a cat nine different times before she became stuck in cat form. Might that be why we say a cat has nine lives?
Julian Goodare, inScottish Witches and Witch Hunters, speaks of Isobel Elliot and Marion Veitch who, in 1678, flew in the shape of bees. Thomas Lindsay, in 1697, confessed that “if he pleased, he could fly in the likeness of a crow.” In Glasgow in 1699, William Scott accused Margaret Duncan, Janet Gentleman, and Marion Ure of appearing in his bedchamber as a sow, a cat and an ape, where they danced around his bedstead. In the same book, Lauren Martin tells of Christian Grintoun, who in 1629 left his house in the shape of a cat.
The belief in shapeshifting is ancient and was once widespread throughout the world. Early cave paintings depict shapeshifting. Similar to the oracular interpretation of animal behavior, belief in shapeshifting has persisted and has been passed down throughout cultures. People associate shapeshifting with shamanism and with magical powers. Though often denied by the learned, in the seventeenth century the majority of ordinary people considered the ability to shapeshift as irrefutable. The idea that witches possessed such powers of transformation seemed self-evident.
Today it seems absurd to our rational minds that these beliefs could have been widespread. Very few people alive now would believe throwing cats into the North Sea could cause storms. Perhaps a few more would believe that people could turn into animals in shamanistic rituals. At the same time, there are a small but significant number of people who feel uncomfortable around black cats, especially at Halloween. Perhaps in some tiny dark corner of our minds, a certain resonance with such suspicions still lingers.
Susan Finkleman is currently working on a historical novel about the Crook of Devon witch trials in 1662. For more stories, please check out her substack (here)
Most ghost stories walk familiar ground. Someone complains about a cold draft that has no source, or they glimpse a shadow moving where no person stands, or maybe a staircase groans as if carrying a hidden weight. People nod along because that’s what they expect from such tales. Dodleston messages refused to follow that script. In the 1980s, in that quiet Cheshire village, the haunting skipped the attic and the corridor. It showed up instead on a BBC Micro computer, lines of text glowing in green, as though someone from another century had discovered the keyboard.
Meadow Cottage and the Early Disturbances
Meadow Cottage looked ordinary enough when Ken Webster and his partner Debbie moved in during the autumn of 1984. It was the kind of place you might picture in a postcard, quiet evenings, steady routines, nothing remarkable at all. Yet the stillness didn’t last. Within weeks, odd disturbances began to chip away at that sense of calm.
Cans of food were discovered stacked in precarious towers. Chalk lines appeared on the walls with no explanation. They even noticed prints in the dust, shaped like feet but with six toes, not five. Anyone who knew their folklore would have thought straight away of poltergeists, those restless spirits famous for pranks and noise. For a time, that seemed the most sensible answer, but it did not hold for long.
The First Messages
Among the cottage’s possessions was a BBC Micro Model B computer, a workhorse of the 1980s. One day, Webster found new files saved in its word processor program. No one in the household had written them. Inside were lengthy passages in odd, old-fashioned English.
The writer introduced himself as “L.W.,” later switching to “Lukas.” He said he was a man of the sixteenth century, living on the same ground where Meadow Cottage now stood. His words were inconsistent, sometimes awkward, yet carried a conviction that suggested a living voice behind them.
After weeks of exchanges, the writer revealed himself as Thomas Harden. He spoke of tending his garden, of neighbors whose suspicion weighed heavily on him, and of living under the eyes of the sheriff’s men who accused him of witchcraft. His words painted a man torn between learning and faith, watching his back at every turn.
What startled the Websters most was Harden’s apparent ability to glimpse their world. He once wrote about a photograph of a Jaguar car left on a table, describing it as if it were some bizarre contraption. He commented on furnishings in the cottage, objects he could not possibly have known about if the story were nothing more than a fantasy.
A Tudor’s Glimpse of the Present
As the correspondence unfolded, Harden’s curiosity about the modern age grew. He puzzled over light without fire, over warmth in the rooms when no hearth burned, and over food kept in vessels he did not recognize. Things the Websters considered normal read like enchantments to him.
Harden’s letters showed more than fear; they showed fascination. Once he wrote about Debbie’s clothing in a way that made her seem like a stranger dropped from another world. Modern fabrics and colors appeared otherworldly to him. These descriptions gave the correspondence an almost dreamlike texture, as though the centuries were folding into one another right there in the cottage.
The Arrival of 2109
Then came a third voice. This one signed itself “2109.” It did not write in Tudor rhythms, nor in warm conversational tones. Instead, the words arrived clipped, abrupt, almost like orders.
2109 told the Websters that the strange exchange was part of an experiment. They were warned not to interfere, since the balance of events across centuries could be damaged. The notes carried an unnerving authority. Little was revealed about who or what 2109 was, only that “we are watching, we are guiding, we are correcting.”
Sometimes, 2109 broke into ongoing conversations between Harden and the Websters. The effect was jarring: a Tudor villager begging for reassurance, a modern couple struggling to respond, and a brusque presence from the future interrupting to remind everyone of the rules.
A Dialogue Across Three Centuries
By then the whole thing had shifted. It was no longer just about a ghost sending odd notes. The dialogue stretched across three fronts: a Tudor man writing in fear, a modern couple trying to keep up, and a cryptic voice from a future century that offered few answers.
It was not the sort of haunting anyone could have predicted. Instead, it became a conversation stretched across time, entangling three worlds at once.
The Vertical Plane by Ken Webster
The Vertical Plane
In 1989, Webster set down the account in a book called The Vertical Plane. It introduced readers to a haunting where old-fashioned poltergeist mischief gave way to spectral conversations through a word processor. Harden’s archaic voice, the eerie presence of 2109, and the surreal image of a ghost communicating through a computer made the book unlike anything that had come before.
The book fascinated its readers, but it did not stay in print. Over time, it slipped into obscurity. Secondhand copies became scarce. Word spread among enthusiasts, and collectors began hunting it down, speaking of it as if it were a rare prize worth chasing.
Then in 2022, a new edition appeared. The response was immediate. Podcasts devoted episodes to the Dodleston Messages. YouTube channels dramatized the text. Online forums dissected every claim. The story was reborn in an era more accustomed to the idea of digital hauntings.
Support and Skepticism
Believers pointed to Harden’s language as too convincing to be the work of an amateur. Webster consulted Peter Trinder, a local teacher with a background in English, who supported the authenticity of the phrasing. To those inclined to believe, this seemed like evidence the case was genuine.
Skeptics had plenty to say. They pointed out awkward spellings, clumsy archaisms, and phrases that sounded closer to parody than to Tudor English. A few even noticed that Harden’s sentences echoed Webster’s own style, suggesting the book might be more literary trick than paranormal breakthrough.
The Society for Psychical Research briefly considered the case but never published a full report. Without their stamp of investigation, the Dodleston Messages remained in the gray zone, unproven, but not dismissed either.
Digital Folklore and Echoes of the Present
From today’s perspective, the Dodleston case feels ahead of its time. In the 1980s, the thought of a ghost typing into a computer was almost absurd. Now, with artificial intelligence producing convincing text and myths spreading across the internet in hours, the idea does not seem quite so ridiculous.
Hauntings have always adapted to the tools of their age. Spirits once scratched on walls or knocked on tables. Later, they spoke through radios or appeared in ghost photographs. In Dodleston, they left files on a BBC Micro. In our own age, stories of digital hauntings and uncanny algorithms feel like a continuation of the same pattern.
Second Edition includes additional material and further thoughts by the author, thirty-six years later.
The Mystery’s Legacy
By 1986, Webster and Debbie had left Meadow Cottage. Harden’s final message was a farewell. 2109 announced their work was complete. No more files appeared.
The lack of closure only deepened the fascination. Believers continue to see it as evidence of time-spanning communication. Skeptics continue to treat it as a hoax. And others remain in the middle, seeing it less as proof than as a powerful story about possibility, imagination, and fear.
Decades later, The Vertical Plane still refuses to fade. The Dodleston Messages endure not because anyone solved them but precisely because they remain unsolved. They remind us that hauntings change shape with the times, that the line between past and present can blur in unexpected ways, and that the strangest stories may not drift from attics or ruined halls at all, but blink into life on the screen of a machine.
References
HowStuffWorks. “Did a 16th-Century Ghost Haunt a 1980s Computer in the Dodleston Messages?” Last modified July 2021. https://science.howstuffworks.com/dodleston-messages.htm
Ruffles, Tom. Ghost Images: Cinema of the Afterlife. Jefferson: McFarland, 2004.
Society for Psychical Research. “Dodleston Messages.” Case files and reviews, 1985–1989.
Webster, Ken. The Vertical Plane. London: Grafton/HarperCollins, 1989.
The Vertical Plane, Second Edition. Norwich: Iris Publishing, 2022.
Woolley, Matthew. “The Haunted BBC Micro: Revisiting the Dodleston Messages.” Journal of Digital Folklore 12, no. 3 (2019): 44–58.
YouTube. “The Dodleston Messages Explained.” Posted by Bedtime Stories, March 2023.
The haunting of Esther Cox remains a mystery to this day.
The Amherst haunting started in 1888 when Esther Cox lived on Princess Street with her sister Olive, Olive's husband Daniel, their two children, and Esther's siblings. The strange events began in August 1878, when Esther Cox was on a date with what turned out to be an unsavory gentleman. She was sexually assaulted by the male ‘friend’ at gunpoint, which caused her to spiral into a deep emotional trauma response. It is after this horrible assault that the phenomenon began.
How The Amherst Haunting Began
The Amherst haunting began with knockings, bangings, and rustling in the night. Esther began to suffer seizures; her body would visibly swell, and she experienced chills as well. Objects moved on their own in the house. Concerned for her well-being and struggling to find an explanation for the odd events, her family called a doctor. During the doctor's visit, the bedclothes shifted, scratching sounds were heard, and the phrase “Esther Cox, you are mine to kill” appeared on the wall by her bed. The next day, the doctor gave Esther sedatives to help her calm down and sleep, but the noises continued, and objects still flew around the house. They attempted to communicate with the rambunctious spirits, and this led to tapped responses to their questions.
The haunting continued for many months, and the family gained a reputation for having the most haunted house on the block. When people would visit the cottage, including those from the church, they heard banging, knocking, and the movement of objects, and this happened even when Esther was under close observation. In December, Esther fell ill from diphtheria, during which time haunting ceased while she was recovering for two weeks in bed. There was no haunting activity when she spent time at her sister’s home in New Brunswick either. When she returned to Amherst, though, the mysterious events picked up right where they left off. In a horrifying turn, fires broke out in various spots around the house, and Esther claimed to see the ghost, which was threatening to burn down the home unless she stayed away.
Peace away from the house, but phenomena continued.
In January 1879, in an attempt to restore some much-needed tranquility to her home, Esther Cox moved in with another family. However, the haunting persisted, unwavering in its presence. Several people witnessed the manifestations, including conversing with the ghost and receiving rappings for answers. Some people felt sympathy and curiosity, while others were more skeptical. Those who were skeptical believed that Esther was responsible for the odd occurrences and were hostile toward her. Poor Esther was pricked, slapped, and scratched by the ghost, and on one occasion, was even stabbed in the back with a knife.
The news spread far and wide about Esther Cox. In late March, she visited New Brunswick, where she was visited by a few gentlemen with an interest in science. This is where Walter Hubbell enters the picture. He moved into the Teed cottage to study the phenomena more closely. Hubbell was an actor with an interest in psychic phenomena who happened to be in that area of Canada when the mystery began, and he kept a diary of the events in the house. He later developed the diary entries into a book, which was dismissed as a hoax by skeptical investigators.
Hubbell spent several weeks with Esther Cox and her family to study the phenomenon. While in her home, he claimed to have witnessed objects moving on their own, as well as fires and items manifesting from nowhere. He claimed to have witnessed this occurring even when Esther was in full view and not in a position to have caused these things. He and Esther went on a speaking tour to share their experiences but faced significant hostility and skepticism, which ended their efforts. Esther returned to Amherst in an attempt to have an everyday life. She worked for a man, but after his barn burned down, he accused her of causing the fire, and she was found guilty and sentenced to four months in prison. She spent only one month in jail, and when she returned home, the activity had completely ceased as mysteriously as it had started. She married twice and had two sons. Esther moved to Massachusetts and lived there until her death in November 1912.
The Great Amherst Haunting Mystery - Published
Hubbell’s book, titled “The Great Amherst Mystery: A True Narrative About the Supernatural,” about the occurrences at Esther Cox’s house, was published and was successful, with 55,000 copies of his book having been sold. However, there is no solid scientific evidence to suggest that the ghostly activity ever happened beyond Hubbell’s notes.
Local Nova Scotia author Lorri Neilsen Glenn wrote a book about Esther Cox, titled "Haunted Girl: Esther Cox and the Great Amherst Mystery." The book was published by Nimbus Publishing in April 2012. The book includes thirty photos of the locations in Amherst that are related to the house where Esther lived.
The town of Amherst now holds an annual festival, EstherFest, which began in 2017. EstherFest holds numerous activities for the public, including the Fifth Annual Scarecrow Stroll, a Ghost Hunt with Paranormal Phenomena Research and Investigation, a staged reading, and scary movies at Amherst Theatre. Additionally, there will be a ghost walk and a ghost hunt, as well as a youth dance and many other family activities. The festival takes place from October 18 to 30th.
The Great Amherst Mystery will always remain a mystery. We will never know for sure what really happened to Esther Cox and her family and sadly, the house that Esther and her family lived in no longer exists. The tale of Esther Cox in the Great Amherst mystery has inspired many podcasts, a town festival and books. She continues to inspire our minds and hearts today.
There’s no handbook for grief. No checklist. No fast-forward button. Just you and your pain, moving at the speed of breath—if you can remember to breathe at all. I’ve come to believe that grief doesn’t ask to be solved; it asks to be witnessed. And in that witnessing, sometimes the most radical thing you can do is get still. Not to escape the pain, but to make room for it without letting it devour you. That’s where mindfulness can become something more than a buzzword. It becomes a kind of lifeline.
Meeting the Moment, As It Is
When you’re grieving, everything feels like it comes with jagged edges. The mind races with “what ifs,” regrets, flashes of memory, and that sudden ache in the chest when you remember they're really gone. Mindfulness won’t erase that ache—but it will help you meet it without flinching. It’s the practice of turning toward the moment, without trying to fix or flee it. That might sound simple, but in grief, it’s revolutionary. Instead of pushing emotions away or drowning in them, mindfulness invites you to sit beside them like old friends who don’t need to be solved—just heard.
Staying Open to Light: Mindfulness and a Positive Outlook
It’s easy to spiral when life feels heavy, but mindfulness gives you a way to pause before you slide too deep. By tuning into your breath or simply noticing your surroundings, you interrupt the loop of negative thought patterns that often reinforce grief or anxiety. Without forcing yourself to be cheerful, you start to notice small joys—warm coffee, birdsong, the way the sun lands on your skin—and that shift in awareness changes everything. By embracing the present moment without judgment, you create space for a more positive and balanced mindset.
Creating Tiny Rituals for Presence
Grief doesn’t operate on a schedule. It sneaks up in grocery stores, or when a song comes on the radio. You can’t predict it, but you can create small rituals that give your day structure and make space for your emotions. Lighting a candle at the same time every night. Journaling with your morning coffee. Touching a photograph and whispering a few words. These aren’t big, performative acts. They’re quiet ways of saying: “I’m still here. And so are you, in some way.” Mindfulness loves ritual, not for the sake of repetition, but for the presence it cultivates.
Grieving in the Body, Not Just the Mind
Most of us think of grief as a mental or emotional experience. But grief lives in the body too. You clench your jaw. You hunch your shoulders. You hold your breath without noticing. Mindfulness brings awareness to where your body is holding pain, so you can soften into those places. Practices like gentle yoga, body scans, or simply placing a hand over your heart can remind you that you are not just a brain grieving—you’re a whole person. Tuning into physical sensations can offer clues about your emotional state, even when you can’t name the feeling outright.
Letting the Mind Wander—But With Intention
Meditation doesn’t always mean sitting still in silence. Sometimes, mindful walking through your neighborhood, or even mindfully washing dishes, can be a salve for a restless mind. The key is not in silencing your thoughts, but in noticing them without getting tangled up. If a memory surfaces, you don’t have to shove it down or hold it tightly. You can let it pass like clouds across a sky. Intentional wandering is different from spiraling—it has boundaries. It says: “You’re allowed to feel this, but you don’t have to drown in it.”
Compassion Over Control
Grief often makes people feel like they’re doing it wrong. “Why am I still crying?” “Why can’t I get over this?” Mindfulness teaches you to replace judgment with curiosity. Instead of berating yourself for not being “better” by now, you start to ask, “What does this moment need?” That gentle pivot from criticism to compassion is one of the most powerful shifts you can make. You learn to treat yourself with the same tenderness you’d offer a friend—no timelines, no harsh expectations, just presence.
Learning to Coexist with Absence
There’s a cruel kind of magic in grief: the way it hollows out a space in your life that never fully fills back in. But mindfulness doesn’t try to patch over that absence. It helps you learn to live beside it. That’s the real practice—not erasing the loss, but living with the shape of it, the way a tree grows around a fence. With time, the absence becomes part of your landscape. Not a gaping hole, but a quiet space you return to with reverence instead of resistance.
The world doesn’t know how to grieve well. It wants you to move on, to get back to normal, to smile politely when someone asks how you’re doing. But healing doesn’t happen on anyone else’s timeline. Mindfulness reminds you that you don’t need to rush, perform, or pretend. You just need to show up—fully, honestly, breath by breath. And in that simple, radical act of presence, something starts to shift. Maybe not all at once, and maybe not visibly. But inside, a quiet seed of peace begins to grow. And that, somehow, is enough.
Uncover the mysteries of the unknown and explore the world of the supernatural with Paranormal Daily News – your gateway to the latest in paranormal and parapsychology news from around the globe!
The illustrious owner and chief editor of Paranormal Daily News, John Brocas, is also an academic and has a soon-to-be-published paper titled: “Expanding Grof’s Transpersonal Framework to Integrate Parapsychology and Address Spirit Intrusion in Spiritual Crises.” Spiritual intrusion can also be considered as an obsession state or what is known as possession, though the latter is very rare.
For the majority of people not familiar with these terms, Brocas is referring to Czech-born American psychiatrist Stanislav Grof (who, as of this writing, is still alive at the age of 93) and investigated the therapeutic benefits of psychedelics in the 1950’s and 60’s Soviet era. These ideas have caught on in the West only recently. (See the work of Dr. David Luke)
Grof and Transpersonal Psychology
One of the most notable areas of exploration in psychiatry for Grof was the idea of transpersonal psychology, where non-ordinary (aka exceptional) experiences are taken into account as part of the spectrum of human experiences instead of being treated as a sickness of the mind. These often exceptional experiences are then used to benefit the individual instead of being treated as aberrant behavior.
This paper branches out from the core of transpersonal psychology to introduce another element to be taken into account: nonphysical intelligent entities that attach themselves to people. Brocas uses the term “direct spiritual intrusion,” which is also known as possession, although that term is probably a bit too dramatic. Brocas writes in his paper:
This paper argues for an interdisciplinary framework that redefines pathology, and integrates empirical evidence with spiritual experiences that may be viewed as originating external to the individual . This framework could contribute to a more harmonious relationship between the experiential focus of transpersonal psychology and the empirical methodology of parapsychology. Additionally, it proposes that psychotic disorders such as psychosis and schizophrenia, could, in many cases be interpreted as instances of Intelligent Spirit Intrusion (Brocas, 2018).
It’s Like a Toxic Coworker
Think of spiritual intrusion as being similar in emotional impact to having to deal with a toxic relative or coworker on a daily basis—someone very negative and critical that you can’t really get away from. Their presence is a form of possession. I posed this to Brocas, and he agreed. Such a problem is neither a mental disorder nor lends itself to easy fixes. It weighs on a person and induces strong emotional reactions, but it is largely an external problem, even though the entire effect is on a person’s mental state.
Brocas goes on to provide a definition:
We can differentiate direct spiritual influence or possession states by using the term spiritual subjugation (Brocas, 2018). Spiritual Subjugation is the direct influence of an external force or intelligence where the individual’s will, spirit, or the immediate environment is controlled by the influencing intelligences. The Oppression's existence is demonstrably clear through both subjective and objective empirical data.
What he is saying in the last sentence is that this isn’t a matter of speculation. A proper diagnosis requires subjective (i.e. subject testimony and data from mediumship) and objective data. (observable behavior, emotional states, and intellectual capacity)
Is It an Intrusion or Something Else?
The existence of such entities is difficult to diagnose, and that is why Brocas suggests employing different methods to discern whether an intelligent spiritual intrusion is at play. It was beyond the scope of the article to address how one would go about treating such a condition, but it is an important consideration for further exploration. All of the symptoms begin in the mind, so the question arises about whether the treatment of an internal or external force causing the problem makes any difference. What does one do differently in the healing process when confronted with an external intrusion rather than an internal conflict?
I think that there is a difference. If we look at the example of dealing with a toxic relative or coworker, we observe that the problem a person faces is in maintaining their sense of identity in the face of external forces attempting to create a weaker and more submissive identity for them. Possession can also be treated as an external issue.
Conversely, an internal struggle is one where a person is finding or building their identity in the first place. The former is pushing against manipulation whose purpose is creating a false identity, the latter is a process of discovery. They are quite different goals and therefore require different approaches.
What John Brocas is suggesting here—that we take the idea of spiritual interference seriously—is, I think, a good one. Properly diagnosed, a therapist can then direct a person to focus on productive strategies for dealing with the problem.
Brazilian Methods
To that end, Brocas presents evidence from Brazil, where mediums are used to help determine if a mental illness, such as schizophrenia or psychosis, has a basis in spiritual interference. he writes:
A growing body of research [DP1] (Friel, 2024, p. 11) would suggest that psychosis and schizophrenia share the same similarities and experiences that are reported by mediums. This includes hallucinations, hearing voices, visions, and altered states. These symptoms are at risk of being wrongly pathologized (Moreira-Almeida, 2012) and the individual being treated for a psychiatric illness when, in fact, it is a more spiritual expression. In Brazil, spiritists who practice mediumship believe that many mental illnesses are caused by negative spirits. [DP2] They use a mediumistic approach to facilitate DE possession, a practice that mainstream psychiatry would likely pathologize.
He goes on to cite a specific case:
An example where this evidence would support the joint parapsychological approach was in a case in Scotland with a schizophrenic patient who was presenting with a combination of all pathology. The medium could bring forth evidence of the experiences and evidence of the influencing spirit or agency, as well as external phenomena witnessed. The evidence brought forth used a pyramid of evidence approach (Brocas, 2018) that corroborated experiential phenomena, as well as knowledge unknown. This case was a clear case of spiritual subjugation.
Brocas is raising an interesting question here about the basis for some cases of schizophrenia. Could people get some relief by addressing spiritual interference?
The Conscious Universe Model
If all of this sounds a bit “out there,” bear in mind that that attitude comes from assumptions about the nature of the universe. Many of us assume that the universe is material because that’s what our senses tell us is real. Under those conditions a noncorporeal intelligence seems quite unlikely. However, the world we experience originates in our minds, something that is often forgotten or brushed over. What we take for real is actually a picture that our mind creates. This suggests that consciousness, not the material world, is fundamental to physics. And since this appears to be true, then the existence of beings that are nonphysical is a foregone conclusion. When you remove the assumption of materialist theory, the spiritual interference, which initially appears far-fetched, becomes a concept worth taking seriously.
In the end, it’s not about theory; it’s about helping people in the quickest and effective way. If this approach turns out to be successful in helping people, then that is the only metric that really matters.
This article is in reference to a BBC documentary “Dark Premonitions Paranormal Britain’s Last Witch” that is only available in the UK. Helen Duncan was a physical medium in the UK during the Second World War and is notable for being tried and convicted of witchcraft under a 1753 law. Naturally, this law presumes the existence of witchcraft. For this reason, and the exceptional skill she displayed during her lifetime, she was, and still is, a controversial figure to say the least. Like many documentaries on the paranormal, this one is a mixed bag.
In addition to being the owner and chief editor of Paranormal Daily News, I have spent decades researching her work and have worked closely with Helen’s granddaughter. I assisted the producers of the documentary by connecting Helen’s granddaughter, Margaret ‘Maggie’ Hahn, who was too ill at the time to be part of the broadcast, and ensuring her role as the surviving member of the family that is fighting to clear Helen’s name. Margaret has been researching and fighting for over 40 years.
It has also come to our knowledge that some people and organizations are already exploiting Helen’s story for personal gain. We have noted that they are not authorities in the subject matter and are profiting from the pain of the family. Such behavior is condemned by Helen's immediate family and team.
The Most Prolific Medium Of The Time
Helen Duncan was, and still is, the most prolific physical medium of our time. She demonstrated remarkable physical mediumship where she materialized full-form spirit figures in red light. In séances, these spirits were able to commune and communicate with their loved ones, providing astounding evidence. Her name is often whispered with reverence in spiritualist circles and reviled in the corridors of power even to this day. There is no self-proclaimed medium today that can come close to what Helen could do in the séance room. In fact, she has recently become the subject of another BBC documentary that plays out in four parts. I cannot say that I support the choice of the name ‘Dark Premonitions ParanormalBritain's Last Witch, but I understand the need for a clickbait title to sell the show. The show presented itself well and had a compelling storytelling narrative, in my opinion.
Decades after her passing, Helen Duncan’s life remains shrouded in controversy, her legacy tangled in a deception spun by those who sought to silence her. There are many so-called experts who have no connection to Helen and who use third-party knowledge to formulate their assumptions. Skeptics lack firsthand experience of events that challenge the fundamental principles of science, leading them to adopt unfounded assumptions. Scientists who are chained to the materialist paradigm and others who are mere sheep in a pen, unknowing that a wolf has infiltrated.
Truth Obscured
The truth is often obscured by fear and manipulation. Just look at the world around us. Manipulation is rife, and it is no different now than it was in Helen’s time. The fear and manipulation of Helen have left a wound that lingers in her family to this day. The documentary was acceptable in many ways and unacceptable in other ways, featuring some questionable, hypothesis-based theories. However, it's important to keep in mind that the documentary primarily focused on the journey of a single woman, who had no prior knowledge of Helen, yet took on the task of investigating her story.
At times, it felt as though it was way more about the journalist’s journey than the real truth behind Helen, which I would have preferred. This, however, was the true premise of the documentary, and I must set aside my bias. Easier said than done. Nevertheless, it is important to remind ourselves that it is a difficult story to tell with so much controversy. Journalist Sian Eleri infused the storytelling with personal intrigue and kept you engaged, but as usual, the BBC inevitably overdramatized it.
If we accept the documentary's depiction of spiritualism and mediumship as a standard, it falls severely short. There was much that was not said, and the lack of evidence in the demonstrated mediumship did no favors for those of us who have dedicated our lives and service as professional mediums. I'm glad it was about Sian Eleri and her journey, not spiritualism or mediumship. Helen’s life just happened to be the subject. Nevertheless, as I mentioned to Maggie, it was and continues to be an opportunity to uncover the truth and provide behind-the-scenes education.
Building Bridges to the Truth
It is an honor for me to finally uncover the truth and shed light on the shrouded ignorance. As I previously mentioned, my friend and colleague Helen’s granddaughter Margaret Hahn has been fighting for over 40 years to clear her grandmother's name. She was to fly to Scotland to be filmed for the documentary, as she is the only surviving family member who has spoken out about the injustice done to her grandmother over a considerable time. This was something I tried to arrange with the BBC for Margaret. However, Margaret's health deteriorated, making it impossible for her to film on location. We managed to get around it, though, and recorded her interview online.
No Time For False Perceptions and 3rd Party Wisdom
I will not dive into a Rotten Tomatoes-type review of the BBC program. I'll let the so-called experts and pundits try to explain it. The presentation of the facts in a balanced format was a valiant effort to distinguish fact from fiction. But as I mentioned before, more could have been done to focus on Helen and the fight to clear a woman charged under an old, archaic law. The British prime minister during World War II was furious about this law's use in Helen Duncan's case and made his own demands. In a letter to the home secretary, he penned the following:
“Give me a report of the 1735 Witchcraft Act. What was the cost of a trial to the State in which the Recorder (magistrate) was kept busy with all this obsolete tomfoolery to the detriment of the necessary work in the courts?”
Winston Churchill was not ignorant of spiritualism and actually had some of his own experiences with paranormal phenomena.
The Family Lawyer
Graham Hewitt, a retired solicitor and member of Helen’s team to clear her name, stated the following misconception, and we already amended the statement above:
Sir Gerald Dodson certainly was not a junior magistrate. He was admitted as a barrister in 1907. Between 1925 and 1934 he was senior Counsel to the Crown at the Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey). He became a judge in 1934 and was then appointed as the Recorder of The City of London in September 1937. This meant that he was the most senior judge at the Old Bailey and had the administration of that court and the subsidiary courts under his jurisdiction.
It is time to strip away the veils of misjudgment and bring Helen’s story into the light. For too long, history has been written by those who sought to suppress her, distorting facts to protect their interests. But now, for the first time, we have direct evidence from Helen’s own family. We have proof that challenges the narratives dictated by authority figures of her time. We also have proof of the real identity of Helen’s spirit guide—affectionately known as Uncle Albert.
Let’s Recap Helen’s Work and Downfall
Most within the spiritualist community know of Helen Duncan’s infamous arrest in January 1944, an act of desperation by a government terrified of what she might reveal. In a séance, she manifested the spirit of a sailor from H.M.S. Barham, a warship that had undergone a classified operation. But few realize that her guide, Albert Stewart, had also delivered another staggering revelation: a warning to Brigadier Firebrace, Head of Military Intelligence of Scotland, about the fate of H.M.S. Hood. As a result of the revelation of the sinking of HMS Hood and subsequently HMS Barham, her work was called to the attention of military intelligence as a breach of national security.
During the Second World War, the British Admiralty imposed a strict veil of secrecy over the loss of their warships, concealing these tragedies not only from the enemy but also from their people. Families waited in agony, unaware that their loved ones had perished. When the grim letters of notification finally arrived, they carried not only the weight of sorrow but a stark warning;
Speak of this to no one.
Silence was demanded, enforced by the unrelenting fear that even whispers of the truth might find their way into enemy hands.
Assumptions Abound
The documentary suggests that Helen may have heard the stories that were likely spread in the area due to the need for grieving family members to unsilence themselves from the pain of not knowing. This analogy is reminiscent of old wives gossiping on a Sunday because there was nothing better to do. This statement is simply an assumption; no one truly knows the objective truth, and let's be honest, truth is often personal and subjective.
However, truth can also emerge unexpectedly and unconventionally. Within the sacred space of the séance room, truth had a way of surfacing. Helen’s spirit guide, Albert Stewart, was no ordinary presence, and his connection to the physical world was deeply rooted in a life tragically cut short. Born in Scotland, Albert immigrated to Australia, only to face a cruel fate. On Christmas Eve, 1912, while riding in a cart driven by a twelve-year-old boy, a sudden swerve to avoid a pothole sent him tumbling. The cart overturned, pinning him beneath the water. Desperate efforts to lift the weight proved futile. Albert Stewart drowned, his voice silenced in one world, only to emerge powerfully in another.
Albert's Death Certificate
And so, through Helen, Albert continued his work. He was not just a spirit guide to her. He became a builder of truth, a messenger from the beyond whose insights shook the foundations of secrecy and threatened the government of the day. The British government may have feared Helen Duncan, but what they truly feared was the undeniable reality that the spirit world was listening, watching, and revealing what the living sought to hide.
Questionable Motivations
During the BBC documentary, Helen's motivation comes to fruition, and of course, those who investigated her mediumship failed to see that their motivations may have been clouded by false judgments and expectations. Such as questions about what she earned and if she deliberately chose an area based on the grieving who were ripe for the taking. But I also get how someone who has no experience with the afterlife or mediumship and can only go by third-party knowledge could be sidelined by assumptions.
The Mechanics of Helen’s Mediumship
Modern physical mediumship is also fraught with controversy, and to date, there is no self-proclaimed medium that even comes close to the materialization mediumship that Helen Duncan displayed. The lack of evidence is predominant in modern times compared to the level of empirical evidence that was shown in Helen’s time. Additionally, there is a significant deficiency in our understanding of what defines excellent evidence. But we must also remember that one man’s evidence is another’s failure. This need for real evidence was not evident in the documentary. I felt sorry for Sian, as she clearly was not experiencing what she should have, or, at worst case, it was edited out. The modern-day séance room also comes into question from many avenues, especially those within the skeptics' community, materialist science, and even uninformed spiritual perspectives.
Issues In The Seance Room
Let’s try and examine some issues. We are taken from dark to light, and what I mean is that we evolve from nothing into substance. We transform from formlessness into form, and this transformation represents the journey from dark to light. This journey has been used to justify developing physical mediumship in total darkness, but only certain waveforms of energy or light are needed. Helen exemplified the concept.
She never sat in complete darkness. According to her family and those who sat with Helen, she was always in a subdued red light. Everyone who sat with Helen could see the materialization take place. While the documentary shows one séance that is held in total darkness and another at the end that is in red light, the latter is in no way typical of a legitimate séance. The former was a legitimate seance by today’s understanding. Again, the last event leaves you with more questions than answers, and I suspect it would be fodder for the skeptical community, who will no doubt levy their opinions in due course. Clearly, our intrepid investigator was not convinced, and I know many others were not convinced of Helen’s presence in the room. Evidence is fundamental to all research, and empirical evidence is the pinnacle of scientific research.
Albert Speaks: A Rare Glimpse into the Mechanics of Materialization
In 1932, Albert himself, who was Helen’s guide, granted a rare interview through Helen’s mediumship, documented in The Two Worlds. The conversation not only reaffirmed the depth of his connection to Helen but also provided an extraordinary glimpse into the process of spirit materialization. It was this act of materializing spirits in her séances that both baffled and terrified skeptics.
Albert revealed that his role extended far beyond simply acting as a spirit guide; he was a builder of materialized forms, working with a group of spirits who manipulated a substance he called psychoplasm, as confirmed by Albert. We now refer to this material as ectoplasm, a substance that provides spirits with a temporary physical form. He called it thought manifestation, where the spirit form was shaped by the deceased and the sitters' expectations and energy.
Materialized form example image
The ectoplasm, which resembled a cloth-like material, has been a point of controversy for many years. Many of the fake photographs depicting ectoplasm demonstrations, initially dismissed as Helen's fraudulent material, were actually staged to illustrate how spirit manifestations operated. This incident is clearly noted in a private diary that belonged to Helen’s husband, and we have the record in our possession.
Theories and Hypotheses
This revelation of fully materialized ectoplasm aligned with contemporary spiritualist theories but also posed unsettling implications for skeptics. If materializations were influenced by human consciousness as much as by spirit agency, could thoughts alone shape what was seen? That is a valid point and should also be considered in a séance, as most are prepared and have expectations. I even found myself falling into that trap at times and have always had to bring my awareness back to the moment. If so, could Albert's existence be partly due to the collective mind of his believers?
Nevertheless, the evidence presented gave far more weight to the truth of the continuation of consciousness after the death of the physical body. The evidence was astounding and empirical, and we have written statements from those at the various séances, including private sittings with Helen. A great deal of the evidence and phenomena was corroborated and had similar patterns throughout all séances and in all areas that were many miles apart. This brings into question the theory that the phenomenon was fake. Cheesecloth cannot disappear into the floor, yet the ectoplasm was witnessed and corroborated as having done exactly that. The witnesses were at different times, had no relationships, and were in areas that were all hundreds of miles apart, yet they all claimed the same. I will leave you with that thought to contemplate.
Spirit Forms Have Weight
During the interview, Albert also disclosed an astonishing fact: materialized spirit forms had weight. While most spirits manifested at around 4 to 9 pounds, some figures, particularly in highly developed cases, could reach up to 30 pounds. Helen, as the medium, could only withstand the extraction of about 26 to 30 pounds of substance from her body before suffering extreme exhaustion.
Undeniable Empirical Evidence
The empirical evidence presented was undeniable. The séance room was illuminated by ruby light, allowing witnesses to observe Albert’s full-form materializations. Sitters saw Helen enveloped in vast streams of ectoplasm. Up to ten measured yards of the substance extended from her mouth and nostrils before retracting. The sight was both mesmerizing and unsettling, leaving even seasoned investigators at a loss for rational explanation. Also note my theory above regarding witness statements.
Albert also spoke of the environment’s role in these manifestations. Atmospheric conditions influenced séance success, with dry and cold nights being most favorable. He explained that each sitter in attendance played an integral role, unknowingly contributing elements of their physiology to the spirit’s formation. This included calcium from bones, breath from lungs, and mental energy all being siphoned into the process. So, it shows the need for the spirit, the medium, and the sitters to work together during the séance.
Beyond the mechanics, Albert revealed an unsettling perception of the living from his vantage point in the spirit world. To him, those in the physical realm appeared shadowy and dark, almost insubstantial —merely echoes of their true selves. He said that, in contrast, it was often the spirits, not the living, who struggled to accept their passing. This is rather comforting because it exemplifies how we continue to exist after the death of the physical body and continue with our incorporeal form.
In this extraordinary exchange, Albert did more than defend Helen’s mediumship. He provided a framework for understanding how spirit communication worked at its deepest levels. He refuted the notion that séances were mere parlor tricks, instead positioning them as scientific experiments in an undiscovered field of study.
The Head Of Intelligence Sat With Helen Duncan
On May 24, 1941, Brigadier Roy Firebrace, Head of Intelligence in Scotland, had the opportunity to attend a séance with Mrs. Duncan in Edinburgh. Mrs. Duncan’s control, Albert Stewart, appeared during the séance and suddenly said, “a great British battleship has been sunk”. Brigadier Firebrace was not aware of us losing a ship. When he returned to his headquarters approximately two hours after the sitting, he heard on a private line from the Admiralty in Scotland that the H.M.S. Hood had sunk.
After receiving the news, Brigadier Firebrace checked the time of the sitting, and it was the actual time that Albert materialized and provided him with information about the sinking of the H.M.S. Hood.
According to Brigadier Firebrace, the authorities looked at Mrs. Duncan as a somewhat dangerous person. He went on to say that Scotland Yard did go to the spiritualist organization and consulted with Mrs. Duncan and Brigadier Firebrace to see how Mrs. Duncan could be prevented from giving out information like this, as the authorities admitted the information was accurate. This set in motion a series of events that led to the authorities targeting Mrs. Duncan.
Intelligence Services Surveilled Helen
This is MI6 AI Image and not MI5
In an interview withChief Constable of Portsmouth, Arthur West, in 1979, West confirmed the intelligence community’s agenda. The recorded interview was played during the BBC documentary, and you can clearly hear West claiming there was governmental foul play or a conspiracy. In short, West claimed that the intelligence services or government institutions would do anything to get rid of her or just make it all go away. Helen became a scapegoat for the governmental agenda. I can understand why there was turbulence in the intelligence community. D-DAY was not far away, and there was a need to keep everything as secretive as possible, so the revelations by Helen were considered a potential intelligence threat. After all, it was World War II.
Guy Liddel Quote
The Barham case has come up once more. A medium has produced a drowned sailor called Syd, who was recognized by several people present at the seance and said he was one of the crew. Cookie and Cussen are once more taking up the trail.
(Lawyer) Graham also further corroborated new evidence and stated in an email to PDN:
That was the basis of the investigation. We are having to prove that the main witnesses in the case were there as “agents provocateur” in order to entrap Helen and to force her to be arrested. They had a misleading understanding that she was using “muslin cloth” rather than ectoplasm. They have no deep understanding of what physical mediumship was all about. Harry Price had tried to intervene (to) give information to the Chief Constable. He was on the expedition to earn money. I have a letter from his “secretary” working in the War office that she had confirmed that this was an intervention on behalf of the Admiralty.
On 19 January when she was arrested, Worth and Cross went out to achieve an entrapment on police instructions. The police were in attendance outside the séance room and that is when Inspector Ford intervened. This had been manufactured as an exercise on 17 January. All of this is new evidence which has not been reviewed or disclosed and is confidential until approved by the grandchildren. At the time of writing this, it has been officially approved.
Skeptics and Magicians
Despite the extensive research and investigations into Helen’s mediumship, there was never any fraud detected, and all claims of fraud were mere assumptions. Those assumptions exist to this day. At one point in the documentary, a well-known skeptic, Professor Richard Wiseman, known for his exposure of fraud in psychic phenomena and mediumship, is brought in to discuss the research of Harry Price and to offer his personal theory in support of Price's assumptions. Wiseman shows Sian various photos that apparently depict fraudulent materialism, and he discusses the belief that what she was doing was regurgitating cheesecloth.
Again, these are mere assumptions, and no one has any proof of the genuineness of the images from both camps and if the photos may have been staged as a mere example. One has to also consider the amount of so-called cheesecloth Helen would need to consume. It would be a biological and physiological impossibility to swallow the amount that was protruded without serious injury to the biological functioning of the human anatomy.
Magicians and Skeptics
The documentary also fails to mention the magic circle leader's evidence or explanation, who was baffled by the events. Actually, I am probably being unfair, as perhaps the editors would not have any experience with Mediumship and would not know how important it really is to have this as testimony. Nevertheless, one of the most striking validations of Helen Duncan’s mediumship came from none other than Will Goldston, founder of the Magician’s Circle and a man who spent his life studying and exposing illusions. In 1932, Goldston attended her séances not as a believer but as an expert trained to detect deception. He was left speechless by what he witnessed. He described multiple spirit forms, each with distinct personalities and voices, something he admitted could not be explained by ventriloquism, sleight of hand, or any known trickery.
In a later test séance, Helen was bound with handcuffs, cord, and thread, and her thumbs were tied so tightly they left marks. Still, within minutes, she walked freely from the cabinet. Goldston openly stated that he had no explanation for what he saw. Coming from someone so deeply rooted in the world of magic and illusion, that kind of testimony holds weight. It suggests that what unfolded in those rooms wasn’t performance. It was genuine, and it defied explanation. This is one part of the story that should not have been omitted. It would have given balance to a skeptical inquiry.
Voiced Opinions
I voiced my opinion to the BBC producer about the use of any skeptics before filming and during the information-gathering phase of the documentary. I also voiced the concerns of Maggie based on the history of the past events that persecuted the family, and we did not want another repeat of the past. However, I accepted the need to have a balanced approach and to give the opinions on the science and skeptical side of the inquiry. I do feel that whilst it was handled adequately, more could have been done to contrast the two dynamics.
The Truth Behind the Persecution
Helen Duncan’s story is not just one of mediumship. It is a story of persecution, of a world unwilling to accept the unknown, and of a woman whose gifts became a battleground between truth and power. The British authorities sought to discredit her, twisting scientific phenomena into accusations of fraud. The church branded her work as heresy. However, the evidence—the very laws of physics governing the ectoplasmic materializations repeatedly witnessed—presents a different perspective. During the trial, Helen’s lawyer actually offered proof of the existence of Albert by demonstrating the mediumship and manifesting the voice of Albert, but the jury declined it. We do not know if the decline was forced or if it may have been a genuine fear of the potential for discarnate phenomena to present themselves. Nevertheless, Albert was willing to demonstrate his existence.
The interview with Albert serves as both a testament to Helen Duncan’s authenticity and a direct challenge to those who dismissed her as a charlatan. It stands as a stark reminder that Helen was not the illusionist they claimed, nor the fraud they feared. She was an entirely different entity, posing a far greater threat to the establishment. Helen shattered the very illusions of reality and power. She was the keeper of a door they desperately wanted to keep shut.
And today, as we revisit Helen’s legacy, we must ask ourselves: What is it that we still fear?
And more importantly:
Are we finally ready to listen?
Final Thoughts
This article is a collaborative effort aimed at revealing the truth and definitively dispelling myths. There will be more articles to come as we focus on new evidence unknown to the public and, of course, the legal community. Personally, I believe the documentary was one of the better ones available, although it may have overlooked some important points. I acknowledge the potential influence of my personal bias. Nevertheless, it has shed more light on the case, and the documentary was more balanced. We are happy about that, and the new evidence will bring us one step closer. Margaret is aware of those who are profiting from the case and she notes that none of these individuals or organizations are supported by the family or Helen’s team.
Together, we will continue the fight for Helen’s legacy and truth. Maggie is fighting—not only for her grandmother but also for her life— as she battles a horrific illness. Her greatest strength comes from the love and the desire she has to fight not only for Helen Duncan but to reveal the real truth behind this remarkable woman who was the greatest ambassador for spirit in her time and whose impact can still be felt today.
