THE DEAD SPEAK... "THOSE
WERE THE DAYS!"
During the course of the séance,
the medium would speak under the apparent
control of a spirit, relaying messages from
the dearly departed. Other methods of spirit
communication included automatic writing,
writing on sealed slates, writing with planchettes
(similar to the Ouija board), impressing
images onto photographic plates which had
been kept in sealed enclosures, and painted
images which gradually appeared upon previously
blank canvas.
 |
Séances
were always conducted in dark or semi-dark
rooms with participants seated around
a table. Some say this is to help the
medium use tricks to fool the participants.
Sometimes the table would lean and tilt,
participants (sitters) might feel a
cold breeze on their faces, items could
materialize apparently out of thin air
and musical instruments might play mysteriously.
During the course of the séance,
the medium would speak under the apparent
control of a spirit, relaying messages
from the dearly departed. |
Belief in the ability to communicate with
the dead is part of, although not exclusive
to, a religious movement called Spiritualism,
which flourished from the 1840s until the
1920s and still exists in various forms
today. Skeptics generally consider séances
to be scams, or at least a form of pious
fraud. M. Lamar Keene once practiced scam
séances, but revealed the fraud in
his book, The Psychic Mafia
Channelling is a common element of a séance.
This is said to be the process by which
the medium allows a spirit limited use of
their physical body to communicate with
the sitters present. This is distinct from
the concept of 'possession', which is considered
to be the complete, non-consensual takeover
of a living being by a spirit or demon,
and is usually detrimental to the 'victim'.
Channelling, on the other hand, is assumed
by believers to offer opportunities for
more positive and mutually respectful interaction
between the living medium and the spirit.
The most commonly-reported physical manifestations
of channelling are an unusual vocal pattern
or uncharacteristic physical behaviours
by the medium. Therefore, channelling is
quite easily faked, and is considered by
skeptics to be a rather basic 'trick'; although
for participants, hearing a message believed
to be from a dead loved one can be an emotionally
powerful experience.
Channelling is part of the belief systems
and rituals of many religions, such as shamanism,
Candomblé, Voodoo, Kardecism, Umbanda,
and more.
Channellers claim to have channelled ascended
masters like Buddha, Jesus, or St. Germain.;
people that have died; angels; higher dimensional
beings; and extra-terrestrials of a spiritual
or more evolved nature. Channelling is a
popular source of revealed teachings in
some New Age groups. Well known channellers
like Diandra (Salem), Esther Hicks (Abraham),
Jane Roberts (Seth), and Lee Carroll (Kryon)
have volumes of teachings on angels, chakras,
higher dimensions, future predictions, manifestation,
meditation, non-judgment, now moment, past
lives, and spirituality.
The channels, depending upon their expertise,
tap many tools to ‘channelize’
their psychic energy. They may use tarot
cards, crystal balls, gems or dream analysis.
They use their psychic abilities of clairvoyance,
clairaudience, and clairsentience.
| One type of channeling
is 'Conscious voice channelling,' in
which the channeller calms his or her
mind and 'connects to the energy' of
the source being channeled. The source
uses the vocabulary of the channeller.
Channellers in this state usually have
their eyes closed and are conscious
of the room and what is being said.
They then, allegedly, allow the source
to speak through them by staying in
this calm state. |
|
A less common form of channeling, 'Trance
channelling,' occurs through deeper meditation
in which the channeller appears to have
their consciousness leave their body and
the 'source' enters. Observers may notice
the channeller's voice and mannerisms change
when the transition is complete. This is
not related to multiple personalities. The
trance channeller will later reconnect to
their physical body and the session will
be over. The depth of the trance varies,
with some channelers recollecting the entirety
of the session while others are conscious
of little or none of what transpires. Deep
full-trance channeling is relatively rare.
Trance channelling appears to use the same
dynamics as astral travel.
CONSULTING WELL KNOWN MEDIUMS
A WHO'S WHO?
Now a days under bright spotlights and
in the light of day spirit channeling mediums
come into our homes on a daily scheduled
program. Popular modern-day television and
notable mediums today include Derek Acorah,
Tony Stockwell, Colin Fry, Alison Dubois,
Esther Hicks, Sylvia Browne, John Edward,
the late Betty Shine, Ailene Light and James
Van Praagh. Their names have become household
words. And the work they do under scrutiny
and the ever present eye of the media and
public.
The claims of some channels have been found
to be without merit, such as Mina Crandon.
Harry Houdini was a famous debunker of psychics
who claimed they could channel spirits.
James Randi offers a million dollar prize
to anyone who can prove they can do anything
paranormal (as do many other skeptic organizations).
Despite these money prizes, famous channellers
such as John Edward, Sylvia Browne and James
Van Praagh have not attempted to claim them.
Critics claim that channellers and other
psychics use techniques like cold reading
and hot reading to appear to have mystic
powers. Scientists have criticized the claim
that chanelling is an actual phenomena.
There are two types of channelling using
the spoken word. Conscious voice channelling
and trance channelling. Conscious voice
channelling is when the channeller calms
their mind down and connects to the energy
of the source being channeled. The source
uses the vocabulary of the channeller to
speak through them. The channeller usually
has their eyes closed and is conscious of
the room and what is being said but they
are allowing the source to speak through
them by calming their mind.
Trance channelling is when the channeller
does not want to become one with the energy
of the source being channelled through them.
A trance channeller therefore through meditation
has their consciousness leave their body
and the source consciousness enters it.
Observers will notice the channeller's voice
change when the transition is complete.
This is not related to multiple personalities.
The trance channeller makes a freewill choice
for their consciousness to reconnect with
their physical body. Trance channelling
uses the same dynamics as astral travel.
Several notable books describe the entering
of a trance state to allow the dead to speak
through the medium or channel, or a spiritual
guide to convey messages from other spirits
to the sitters or listeners (see
séance).
A New Day Is Dawning: Channelled text allegedly
from Jesus, channelled by Diandra founder
of www.inwardjourney.com
Ask and it is Given: Channelled text, allegedly
from Abraham, channelled by Esther Hicks.
Conversations with God: Channelled text
allegedly from God channelled by Neale Donald
Walsch.
The Wind of Change: The first of four channelled
books by writer/ medium Julie Soskin.
Opening to Channel: How to Connect with
your Guide (1987) by Sanaya Roman and Duane
Packer describes how to channel a spirit
guide.
The Law of One channelled from Ra (channelled
entity) (not the Egyptian deity) by Carla
Rueckert. five books edited by Don Elkins.
The Coming of Seth (1966): Jane Roberts
describes the beginnings of her experiences
with speaking for Seth.
The Cosmic Tradition of Max and Alma Theon
seems to be based in large part of Mme Theon's
channelling ability
The Michael Teachings
The Indigo Children: Channelled text.
Toward the Light: Channelled text.
The Book of the Law: Channeled by Aleister
Crowley's wife.
Sunlight On Water: Channeled by Flo Aeveia
Magadalena.
Entities and Mediums
Seth entity, channelled by Jane Roberts.
Abraham group of entity, channelled by Esther
Hicks.
Oth entity, channelled by Ellen Rauh.
Ra entity, channelled by Carla Rueckert.
Cassiopeans entity, channelled by Arkadiusz
Jadczyk and Laura Knight-Jadczyk.
Pleiadians entity, channelled by Barbara
Marciniak.
Kryon: Channelled entity.
Matthew Ward: Channelled entity.
Oahspe: Channelled entity.
Bashar:Channelled entity by Daryll Anka.
Brazilian psychic surgeons, such as José
Arigó, claim to work as channels
for deceased surgeons.
Salem entity, channelled by Diandra
Lazaris entity, channelled by Jach Pursel.
The Wonders entity, deep trace channelled
by entity, Réné Gaudette
Kris entity, channelled by Serge J. Grandbois.
Bartholomew entity, channelled by Mary Margaret
Moore.
Ramtha: Assended Master, channelled by JZ
Knight, Ramtha claims to have coined the
term channelling in the late 70's.
Carlos entity, channeled by José
Alvarez beginning in 1988 in Australia.
Soon revealed to be a hoax orchestrated
by Alvarez and skeptic/magician James Randi,
in collaboration with an Australian newsmagazine
show.
Today, a medium is not so much likely to
write just inspirational books and say he
or she is channeling, such as Jane Roberts
"Seth", and " Ramtha"
from Atlantis. Today’s most successful
mediums, however, simply claim the dead
communicate through them, or speak to them
directly. Skeptics suggest that under the
guise of doing “spiritual healing”
and “grief counseling,” they
use traditional cold reading techniques
and sometimes surreptitiously gathered information
about their subjects to give the appearance
of transmitting comforting messages from
the dead.
| Subjective validation
plays a key role in this kind of mediumship:
The mediums often rely upon the strong
motivation of their clients to validate
words, initials, statements, or signs
as accurate. The clients' success at
finding significance and meaning in
the sounds made by the medium are taken
as evidence of contact with the dead. |
|
Consulting real Mediums is a fairly common
practice amongst the public today. Mediums
in the past often conjured up images of
the popular media-fed Hollywood version,
that is, a person of a certain, somewhat
suspicious spiritual or psychic bent, usually
in a turban and a darkened smoked filled
room acting as a conduit or go-between to
the "spiritual world," using seances,
tarot cards, or crystal balls to contact
the dead. But of course today that is not
the case.
NOTABLE POPULAR PSYCHICS
AND MEDIUMS
Ailene Light
is a third-generation psychic, Reiki Master/Teacher,
Psychic Reader, Medium.
Ailene Light, aka Sumeet (last name
unknown and needed), born in New Delhi,
India claims to be a clairvoyant psychic,
channel and medium after an out-of-body/near-death
experience. Ailene was a star psychic on
the now defunct South Asian portal www.chaitime.com,
and has a supposed growing practice of those
seeking contact with loved ones from the
other side. While her practice flourishes
among people that share her heritage, there
is a growing following in her spiritual
center in North America and UK. Ailene's
practicing philosophies are on similar paths
to those of Jane Roberts and Esther Hicks
in terms of controlling at least part of,
if not entirely creating, one's own life
path. Ailene's mediumship and clairvoyance
abilities have come to be renowned largely
by word of mouth.
Ailene claims to have predicted the Iraq
war and the Israel-Lebanon war a few day
ahead of when they actually started. The
predictions were purportedly received in
dreams. She was able to describe the geography
and the "feeling" of the states/nations
at the time of commencement of war but was
not able to nail down the particular countries.
She claims these predictions are beginning
to be passed to many individuals on earth
to open them up to a feeling of responsibility
of taking action prior to an event like
war such that war can be avoided altogether.
While
it is not uncommon for psychics to practice
under a pseudonym, this has drawn intense
flak and impacts credibility. Ailene purports
to use a pseudonym so as not to provide
contact information under her own name to
a childhood stalker.Official web site
http://www.enlightenspiritualcenter.com/.
Betty Shine (born
1929 - died March 2002) was a spiritual
healer, medium and author of many best selling
books including the "Mind" series:
"Mind to Mind", "Mind Magic"
and "Mind Waves". She passed away
in March 2002 of heart failure.
Betty Shine was called the world's #1 healer,
without a doubt, among many other spiritual
gifts - documented in all her books and
tapes. Her daughter Janet Shine, follows
through as a healer; possessing her own
spiritual gifts, and aptitude for spiritual
healing - she continues to take absent healing
requests from around the world.
Betty Shine has also reached literally
millions with her inspirational and dynamic
best-selling books. Her words continue today;
to the many readers of tomorrow, through
her books and tapes.
On March 26th, 2002; Betty Shine passed
into Spirit. Janet - through her own spiritual
gifts as a healer, continues all of the
good work that she, and her mother have
been doing for nearly two decades. Through
Janet, Betty will still be healing and giving
comfort to everyone world-wide.
In Janet's own words:
'As a mother Betty touched my soul,
as a friend she was always there, and as
a spiritual teacher she was magic! I hope
I will make her proud by continuing the
healing network.'
Betty and Janet Shine's Spiritual Healing
Network -
Official Website http://www.zitaglio.com/bettyshine/
Colin Fry is an
international Spiritualist, Medium and Healer.
In 1850 Colins’ Great-grandma arrested
for reading tea leaves. Colin Fry has his
own show on Living TV entitled '6th Sense'.
Colin Fry claims to be a spiritualist medium
and clairsentient, and has also trained
as a bereavement counsellor.
Colin has become involved in many charitable
fund raising ventures over the years. The
International College of Spiritual Science
& Healing. Originally built in the 1880's
as a workhouse, it then became a hospital
and nursing home in the 1920's. Eventually
it became the home of Sweden's leading spiritual
society in 1969. Colin Fry purchased the
college in 2003 and a year long renovation
program was undertaken , being a large and
old building constant improvements to the
college facilities and appearance is underway.
Official WebsiteThe International College
of Spiritual Science & Healing http://www.colinscollege.com/home.asp?lang=en.
His main interest is in childrens' charities.
The International College of Spiritual Science
& Healing, the College has a long history
of being a place of spiritual awareness
and healing. Colin
Fry - Official site. Features information
about the medium, his schedule, tour dates,
and other appearances.
John Edward established
himself as the first clairaudient to have
his own show that featured deceased loved
ones contacting audience members: "Crossing
Over with John Edward" on the Sci-Fi
Channel. John Edward McGee Jr., (born October
19, 1969 in Glen Cove, New York), better
known as John Edward, is a television personality
and performer who claims that he is a psychic
medium who can communicate with the dead.
Today, John is one of the country’s
foremost psychic mediums and author of the
critically acclaimed New York Times best
sellers One Last Time; What if God Were
the Sun; Crossing Over: The Stories Behind
the Stories, After Life: Answers from the
Other Side, Final Beginnings and most recently
Practical Praying: Using the Rosary to Enhance
Your Life.
John’s broad appeal has led to two
international Australian tours and guest
appearances on everything from CNN’s
Larry King Live to The Today Show. He is
a regularly featured guest on top rated
morning radio shows, including New York’s
WPLJ and Los Angeles’ KROQ. His many
television appearances include Entertainment
Tonight, Live with Regis & Kelly, The
Early Show, The Crier Report, The Tony Danza
Show, The View, The Big Idea with Donny
Deutsch, Fox and Friends, Maury, Jimmy Kimmel
Live, The Wayne Brady Show, Dateline, ABC’S
20/20 and the critically acclaimed HBO Special,
Life After Life; America Undercover. He
recently had a cameo appearance on NBC’s
Will and Grace. John has been featured in
articles in The New York Times, The Los
Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Newsday,
People, Entertainment Weekly and in the
Associated Press.
Born and raised on Long Island, NY, John
exhibited psychic abilities from an extremely
early age, and was deemed "special"
by many in his family. The fact that he
would uncannily know family history and
events that took place prior to his birth
solidified that fact. Because no fuss was
made over these early experiences, he maintained
as normal a childhood as possible. Since
Psychic Phenomena was so accepted by his
family, it was easy for his abilities to
flourish. John embarked on developing his
own abilities after an encounter with famed
psychic Lydia Clar. Lydia made him aware
of his abilities and told him his life’s
work would be teaching people about it.
That mission has been channeled into his
work as a medium which enables him to bring
comfort and hope to people by reuniting
them with those who they loved, lost...and
crossed over. John
Edward - Official site. Features information
about the medium, his website is the
only official on-line source of information
regarding John Edward, his schedule, tour
dates, or other appearances. John and his
office make absolutely no representations
or endorsements of any web-sites containing
information about him, crossing over, or
his books.
Allison DuBois one
of the more successful mediums is Allison
Dubois, whose success multiplied when NBC
showcased "Medium," a program
said to be based on Dubois's psychic exploits.
Allison DuBois You can sneak a peek into
the life of Allison DuBois each week on
NBC in a TV show called Medium. No matter
what you believe about people who can see
beyond the physical lives around us, the
show is made enjoyable by the characters
involved. On TV's Medium, they are normal,
attractive, humorous, and somehow tackle
the additional pressures of having a medium
in the family--not far, apparently, from
Allison DuBois' true life story. The series
Medium is based on Allison DuBois's book
entitled "Don't Kiss Them Good-Bye."
Patricia Arquette was cast to play the role
of Allison DuBois, and won an Emmy for her
portrayal. Allison became aware of her special
talent when she was 6 years old. She believes
that her three daughters have inherited
her gift.
Allison DuBois refers to herself as a medium
and profiler. She doesn't use the term 'psychic'
because of the negative connotation she
feels that are associated with it. One variation
from the Medium TV show: Allison DuBois
says that although some of her visions come
to her in dreams, most of them come to her
when she's awake.
Official site. Features information
about the medium, her schedule, tour dates,
and other appearances.
Tony Stockwell Even
as a child Tony knew he was different from
other children. From an early age he was
aware of seeing people before him that others
could not see. It was common for him to
hear his name being called by someone unseen,
and also common for him to be aware of events
before they actually happened.
To him, all this was perfectly normal.
Tony has had three of his own televisions
series, The Psychic Detective, Street Psychic
and Psychic School, as well as one off specials
Street Psychic San Francisco and The National
ESP Challenge. Tony has also appeared on
The Sixth Sense, Most Haunted Live 4 and
The Mystery of Body 115. He is very proud
to be one third of The 3 Mediums with Colin
Fry and Derek Acorah, which has been televised
twice to date. The 3 Mediums Live at the
Hammersmith Apollo was the paranormal event
of 2003, attracting a live audience of over
3000, and excellent viewing figures when
broadcast in August 2003 as the highlight
of Living TV's special Paranormal Weekend.
Tony is very proud to be co-founder of The
Avalon Project, to promote and encourage
spiritual learning and development. The
Avalon Project offers teaching seminars,
one-day workshops and lectures across the
country. Tony
Stockwell - Official site. Features information
about the medium, his schedule, tour dates,
and other appearances.
Sylvia Browne is
an author of numerous books on spirituality
who claims to be a psychic and medium. She
is the regular featured guest on The Montel
Williams Show. While Browne claims to have
paranormal abilities, critics assert she
is a cold reader. Currently she has had
a long running feud with noted skeptic James
Randi who has pointed out that her readings
are indistinguishable from those achieved
by mentalists using cold reading and hot
reading techniques.
In 2001, Browne publicly accepted Randi's
offer to test her abilities in a controlled
environment, but has yet to perform the
tests. Browne began performing psychic "readings"
in 1974. She has performed thousands of
one-on-one readings and with a wide variety
of groups and individuals. Browne claims
to have provided information to police departments
and the FBI, but police officers and family
members say that in all 35 cases she worked
on she played no useful role. In the late
1970s, she appeared as a psychic consultant
on Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of... television
programme. Browne is a frequent guest on
US television and radio programs. She has
appeared numerous times on Larry King Live
as well as the Montel Williams Show and
Coast to Coast AM. During these appearances
she usually discusses her abilities with
the host and then performs readings of audience
members or callers.
Browne has written a number of books that
include both serious and humorous stories
detailing her adventures. She is the head
of the Sylvia Browne Corporation, and the
founder of a church in 1986 in Campbell,
California, known as the Society of Novus
Spiritus. According to its web site, the
church employs forty ministers, and refers
to itself as "Gnostic Christian."
Sylvia
Browne- Official Web Site, Features information
about the medium, her schedule, tour dates,
and other appearances. http://www.sylvia.org/home/index.cfm
James Van Praagh is
a self-proclaimed medium who claims he has
a gift that allows him to hear messages
from just about anyone who is dead. According
to Van Praagh, all the dead people are just
waiting for someone to give him their names.
Van Praagh might be described as a "celebrity
medium", in much the same vein as John
Edward and the British medium Derek Acorah.
James is a survival evidence medium, meaning
that he is able to bridge the gap between
two planes of existence, that of the living
and that of the dead, by providing evidential
proof of life after death via detailed messages.
"I'm clairsentient," he explains,
"which simply means clear feeling.
I feel the emotions and personalities of
the deceased. I am also clairvoyant,"
he adds, clarifying that, "the first
is feeling, the second is seeing, very much
like Whoopi Goldberg in the movie, Ghost."
James' public popularity began during his
appearances on the NBC talk show The Other
Side.The show concentrated on paranormal
issues, and James became the favorite guest
and resident expert on the subject of life
after death. Even Howard Rosenberg, the
Los Angeles Times distinguished television
critic, dubbed James "spectacular".
Through the years his message of hope has
touched a great many more people due to
his television appearances on such shows
as Oprah, Larry King Live, Maury Povich,
20/20, and 48 Hours. His unique paranormal
experiences during the past twenty-two years
have seen him author best-selling books,
create meditation programs and development
videos, teach mediumship classes, conduct
seminars to sold-out audiences, and produce
successful television projects.
He is co-Executive Producer of the television
series Ghost Whisperer on CBS. James
Van Praagh - The medium's official site,
which includes a schedule of appearances,
chat room, message board, biography, and
photos.
Esther Hicks is
an American spirit channeller, motivational
speaker, and author. She has co-authored
four major books with husband Jerry Hicks
and presents seminars for Abraham-Hicks
Publications.
Esther Hicks is the channel for a group
of spiritual teachers who call themselves
"Abraham". Most commonly, this
work is referred to under the name Abraham
Hicks The "Abraham" teachings
"affirm our well-being and help us
to recognize the power of joy in achieving
all that is desired in life." They
also teach that people are the creators
of their own reality, that their emotions
are guides to help in this creation and
that humans are eternal beings and for that
reason will "never get it done."
The Official Abraham-Hicks Website
George Anderson
a former switchboard operator and author
of Lessons from the Light: Extraordinary
Messages of Comfort and Hope from the Other
Side (2000), got his own ABC special featuring
celebrities who wanted to contact the dead.
For more than forty years, George Anderson
has been able to bridge the world of the
hereafter and the earth, through his ability
to communicate the messages of hope from
those we love who have passed on. Since
the age of six, George has had a special
relationship with the souls who depend on
his ability to hear them, and bring peace
and comfort to their grieving families.
He is considered, by those in the medical,
scientific and religious fields to be the
world's greatest living medium.
George Anderson has dedicated his life
to helping the bereaved cope with loss by
delivering messages of hope from their deceased
loved ones with an accuracy and specificity
that is unrivalled by contemporaries in
his field. His ability is so unusual that
those in virtually every walk of life consider
him a true and genuine conduit to the world
hereafter.
George Anderson -The medium's official site,
which includes a schedule of appearances,
chat room, message board, biography, and
photos.
Derek Acorah first
supernatural experience came as a child
when the spirit of his late grandfather
visited him. When young Derek told his grandmother
she was not surprised as Derek was to learn
that she herself was a medium. His early
career was playing football with teams such
as the legendary Bill Shankly's Liverpool
Football Club and the premier Australian
team USC Lion. His psychic powers were always
with him, therefore on his return to England
in the early 1980s he became a full time
spirit medium based at his home city of
Liverpool.
Over the past ten years Derek has achieved
international success with his television,
radio and personal appearances across the
United Kingdom , Europe, the Middle East,
New Zealand and the U.S.A. He has conducted
telephone consultations for people as far
south as India , Australia and New Zealand
. In October 1997 he was invited to take
part in a tour of the Middle East when he
appeared at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dubai
, the Brit Club in Abu Dhabi and Hotel Inter-Continental
in the desert location of Al Ain.
Derek Acorah - The medium's Official web
site which includes a schedule of appearances,
chat room, message board, biography, and
photos.
Mediumistic automatism is the automatism
associated with a medium receiving supernatural
messages from ghosts, spirits or the like,
the expression of such messages (in speech,
writing or drawings) lacking conscious control
or intervention by the medium.
The medium knows absolutely nothing about
you before the sitting begins. During the
sitting the medium will only know those
facts which the Spirits choose to tell him
or her. However, just as they would while
they were here, However, trance mediums
very seldom remember much of what they have
said after a sitting has been concluded.
Communication with the
Dead
A medium has a different focus than that
of a psychic. While the psychic focuses
on the events and relationships of person
for which a reading is being given, the
medium focuses not only on the person, but
on the spirit energies surrounding that
person also. A medium is someone who acts
as a vehicle for receiving messages from
those who have passed on. The information
may take the form of advice or guidance
from a loved one to a relative still living.
|
The channels,
depending upon their expertise, tap
many tools to ‘channelize’
their psychic energy. They may use tarot
cards, crystal balls, gems or dream
analysis. They use their psychic abilities
of clairvoyance, clairaudience, and
clairsentience. |
The Bible has a story about a case where
communication with the dead actually happened.
King Saul did it. The Witch of En-Dor put
him in touch with the prophet/judge Samuel,
who had made Saul king many years earlier.
This spiritist was apparently renown as
an extra-large among the area's mediums.
This was no fake Samuel she reached, either
(despite what you may read in the fundamentalist
press); the text treats him as the real
Sam. But this Sam was not at all happy about
being contacted. He truthfully issued God's
final doom on Saul and his sons, specifically
because Saul was so willing to do dirty
to God. The next day, Saul found out first-hand
about being in the realm of the dead.
Channeling the spirits, as Jane Roberts
did Seth, is where a human enters into an
'altered state of consciousness' which allows
the person to become a conduit or 'channel'
for the spirit of another, who can then
use the channel to speak and take limited
actions. This is, in essence, what a medium
does to communicate with the dead. The channeling
popular in some New Age circles is more
extensive than the traditional medium, and
sometimes involves the identity of the channeled
being taking full control of the channel
for a short period of time.
Keep an open mind. Try not to limit your
thoughts to one or two people, your message
could be from pretty well anyone you have
known (or even people who passed over before
you were born). Be honest with the medium,
if you can't understand a part of your message,
say so, and the medium will try to clarify
it for you. Be honest with yourself, don't
say 'No' just to be awkward, and don't say
'Yes' just to be helpful.
Keep these few simple guidelines in mind,
and your sitting should be an experience
to remember.
Historical Mediums
Bangs Sisters, The - During the heyday
of spiritualism, among the 'physical phenomena'
commonly manifested were so-called spirit
paintings. An article on the
Barrett , Harrison D. - This medium, writer,
organizer and first President of the National
Spiritualist Association of Churches.
Britten, Emma Hardinge - perhaps, the most
renowned and most respected advocate and
proponent in the early Modern Spiritualist
Movement.
Campbell Brothers, The - During the heyday
of spiritualism, among the 'physical phenomena'
commonly manifested were so-called spirit
paintings. An article on the Campbell Brothers
by Joe Nickell, Investigative Files (Skeptical
Briefs March 2000).
Duncan, Helen - Scottish housewife who found
herself in the centre of a WWII legal battle
which ended with her brutal conviction of
a 'crime' under Britain's ancient Witchcraft
Act and jailed for nine months simply for
falling asleep on request. she had the astonishing
ability to bring the dead to life.
Dye, Aunt Caroline - An African-American
spiritualist medium and hoodoo root worker
of the 19th century whose exploits are celebrated
in blues songs.
Mesmer, Anton - Anton Mesmer's writings
set off an intense interest in hypnotism.
Mirabelli, Carmine (1889-1951) - Carmine
Mirabelli (1889-1951), born in Botucatú,
Brazil, became internationally recognized
as "the world's most powerful medium".
Peebles, Dr. James M. - James Martin Peebles,
(1822-1922), author, Spiritualist, medium,
leader in 19th Century Spiritualism, physician,
healer.
Piper, Leonore E. - Boston's most prestigious
trance medium.
Randall, Edward C. - Randall established
himself as a voice for Spiritualists, his
books outlining the philosophy of eternal
life and marshalling what he viewed as empirical
evidence supporting his beliefs. Notes on
his life and details of the collection of
his manuscripts in William L. Clements Library:
The University of Michigan.
Randolph, Paschal Beverly - A celebrated
African-American spiritualist medium, healer,
novelist, and sex magician of the 19th century;
a contemporary and friend of Emma Hardinge
Britten.
Jane Roberts
(1929-1984) was an American author, poet
and psychic. She is best known as a trance
medium or spirit medium who "channelled"
a personality named Seth. The publication
of the Seth texts established her as one
of the preeminent figures in the world of
paranormal phenomena. She was also an author
of short stories, novels, children's literature,
and metaphysical texts unrelated to Seth,
including The After death Journal of an
American Philosopher, The Education of Oversoul
Seven and Adventures in Consciousness.
In late 1963, Jane Roberts and her husband,
Robert Butts, experimented with a Ouija
board as part of Roberts' research for a
book on ESP. According to Roberts and Butts,
on December 2, 1963 they began to receive
coherent messages from a personality who
eventually identified himself as Seth. Soon
after, Roberts reported that she was hearing
the messages in her head. She began to dictate
the messages instead of utilizing the Ouija
board, and the board was eventually abandoned.
For 21 years until Roberts' death in 1984
(with a one-year hiatus due to her final
illness) Roberts held regular sessions in
which she went into a trance and purportedly
channelled messages from Seth (hereinafter
referred to as the "Seth personality"
or simply "Seth"). Butts served
as stenographer, taking the messages down
in homemade shorthand, although some sessions
were recorded. These messages from the Seth
personality, consisting mostly of monologues
on a wide variety of topics, are collectively
known as the "Seth Material" (sometimes
referred to herein as the "Material").
The Material through 1969 was published
in summary form in The Seth Material, which
was written by Jane Roberts with substantial
excerpts from the Seth personality. Beginning
with the 511th session in January, 1970,
the Seth personality began to dictate his
own books. This series of "Seth books"
eventually totaled nine volumes, although
the last two books appear to be incomplete
due to Roberts' illness. The list of titles
includes Seth Speaks; The Nature of Personal
Reality; The Nature of the Psyche, Its Human
Expression; The Individual and the Nature
of Mass Events; The Unknown Reality; and
Dreams, Evolution and Value Fulfillment.
Robert Butts contributed notes and comments
to all the Seth books, and thus he was a
co-author on all of them.
SETH SPEAKS
The Seth personality described himself
as an "energy personality essence no
longer focused in physical form" who
was independent of Roberts' subconscious,
although Roberts herself expressed skepticism
as to Seth's origins. The Seth personality
said that he had completed his earthly reincarnations
and that he was speaking from an adjacent
plane of existence. He described himself
as an educator whose task was to impart
the Material to the current generation of
human beings. The Seth personality's demeanor
was notably different from Roberts', as
reported by witnesses which included Robert
Butts, friends, acquaintances and students.
He was at times stern, jovial or professorial,
and he frequently assumed a distinct foreign
accent that wasn't readily identifiable.
Unlike the psychic Edgar Cayce, whose syntax
was decidedly convoluted, Seth's syntax
and sentence structures were modern and
clear.
Sessions were held at regular intervals,
usually three per week lasting two or three
hours. Roberts consciously initiated most
sessions, although during some sessions
she seemed to slip in and out of trance
spontaneously. With the exception of a weekly
ESP class in which the Seth personality
spoke to class members, Roberts gave few
readings to the public and was mostly focused
on publishing the Material in printed form.
Jane Roberts died in 1984 at the age of
55 after a long battle with what appeared
to be an autoimmune disease. In 1996, sessions
1 through 510 (the "early sessions"
which preceded the dictation of the Seth
books) were published posthumously by Robert
Butts in nine volumes, along with six volumes
of previously unpublished personal messages
which accompanied the later sessions. Roberts'
and Butts' manuscripts, notes and recordings
were donated to the Yale Library. Robert
Butts currently lives in Sayre, Pennsylvania.
* Roberts, Jane (1974). The Nature of
Personal Reality. Amber-Allen Publishing.
ISBN 1-878424-06-8
* Roberts, Jane (1981). The Individual and
the Nature of Mass Events. Amber-Allen Publishing.
ISBN 1-878424-21-1
Jane Roberts wrote a number of books not
dictated by Seth, which discuss the same
ideas and how they affected her life. These
are, among others, Adventures in Consciousness,
Psychic Politics, The God of Jane, The Education
of Oversoul Seven, The Further Education
of Oversoul Seven, and Oversoul Seven and
the Museum of Time.
In addition she wrote poetry, short stories
and novels.
SPEAKING OF JANE ROBERTS, biography by
Susan Watkins
THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM
Harry Houdini (March
24, 1874 – October 31, 1926) was one
of the most famous magicians, escapologists,
and stunt performers of all time, as well
as an investigator of spiritualists.
In the 1920s, after the death of his beloved
mother, he turned his energies toward debunking
self-proclaimed psychics and mediums, a
pursuit that would inspire and be followed
by later-day conjurers James Randi, P. C.
Sorcar and Penn and Teller. Houdini's magical
training allowed him to expose frauds who
had successfully fooled many scientists
and academics. He was a member of a Scientific
American committee which offered a cash
prize to any medium who could successfully
demonstrate supernatural abilities. Thanks
to the contributions and skepticism of Houdini
and three others (there were five in the
committee), the prize was never collected.
As his fame as a "ghostbuster"
grew, Houdini took to attending séances
in disguise, accompanied by a reporter and
police officer. Possibly the most famous
medium whom he debunked was the Boston medium
Mina Crandon, also known as "Margery".
Houdini chronicled his debunking exploits
in his book A Magician Among the Spirits.
These activities cost Houdini the friendship
of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of
Sherlock Holmes. Doyle, a firm believer
in spiritualism during his later years,
refused to believe any of Houdini's exposés.
Doyle actually came to believe that Houdini
was a powerful spiritualist medium, had
performed many of his stunts by means of
paranormal abilities, and was using these
abilities to block those of other mediums
that he was 'debunking' (see Doyle's The
Edge of The Unknown, published in 1931 after
Houdini's death). This disagreement led
to the two men becoming public antagonists.
In Houdini's will, his vast library was
offered to the American Society for Psychical
Research on the condition that research
officer and editor of the ASPR Journal,
J. Malcolm Bird, resigned. Bird refused
and the collection went instead to the Library
of Congress.
Fearing spiritualists would exploit his
legacy by pretending to contact him after
his death, Houdini left his wife a secret
code - ten words chosen at random from a
letter written by Doyle - that he would
use to contact her from the afterlife. His
wife held yearly séances on Halloween
for ten years after his death, but Houdini
never appeared.
Houdini left a final sting for his spiritualist
opponents: shortly before his death, he
had made a pact with his wife, Bess Houdini,
to contact her from the other side if possible
