Exploring Physical Mediumship: Psychic Photos, Spirit Voices, & Materializations

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Littlewood, R. (1995). ‘The Return of Multiple Consciousnesses.’ In A.P. Cohen & N. Rapport (eds.) (1995). Questions of Consciousness. London: Routledge. At its best, physical mediumship leaves no doubt in the minds of those fortunate enough to witness it. It was always rare and is now rarer than ever. For a full explanation of what it’s all about, see ‘The Psychic News guide to physical mediumship’, published in the December edition. To watch a one hour video about the circle of Minnie Harrison (pictured right) just google: ‘YouTube materialisation mediumship Minnie Harrison’. YouTube also has dozens of other clips of physical mediumship. 7

Seligman, R. (2005). ‘Distress, Dissociation and Embodied Experience: Reconsidering the Pathways to Mediumship and Mental Health.’ Ethos, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 71-99. Pierini, E. (2014). ‘Becoming a Spirit Medium: Initiatory Learning and the Self in the Vale do Amanhecer.’ Ethnos, Vol. No. , pp. 1-25. AmnesiaThe altered states of consciousness associated with spirit possession are frequently associated with amnesia. Rogo, D.S. (1988). The Infinite Boundary: Spirit Possession, Madness, and Multiple Personality. Wellingborough: The Aquarian Press. Functionalist analyses of spirit possession in this vein have been popular among anthropologists, applied to numerous societies worldwide. 9 These include accounts of the Zar possession cult of Northern Sudan, 10 spirit possession amongst the Digo in Southern Kenya, 11 the case of spontaneous epidemics of involuntary spirit possession in Malaysian factories, 12 and even in a Spiritualist home-circle in 1960s Wales. 13

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When I sat for the spirit world, guidance was given that it would be unwise at this moment of my unfoldment to interfere by bringing modern technology into the sanctuary of my home circle. This article consults The Donning International Encyclopedic Psychic Dictionary by June G Bletzer PhD, 1986, a copy of which is in the College library. Stoller, P. (1994). ‘Embodying Colonial Memories.’ American Anthropologist, Vol. 96, No.3, pp. 634-648. Boddy, J. (1988). ‘Spirits and Selves in Northern Sudan: The Cultural Therapeutics of Possession and Trance.’ American Ethnologist, Vol.15, No. 1, pp. 4-27.

There are three key factors that all mediums most possess if they are ever going to be able to progress into physical mediumship. Some have the talent and physical capabilities that will allow them to hone these skills into an effective form of spirit communication. Others simply are not able. This is the key separation between mediums that can connect with those higher frequencies and those that do so to allow physical manifestations. These factors are as follows. Clairsentience is a French word which means ‘clear sensing’ and is an enhanced form of intuition. The majority of what most mediums perceive comes in this form and it requires some interpretation by them, which is where it can sometimes break down. However, it is the string on which the other two types can be threaded. Most mediums are primarily, or exclusively, clairsentients. Following a recent meeting called by AFC Principal and Spiritualists’ National Union President David Bruton, at which Scott, accompanied by the greatly respected evidential medium and course organiser Eileen Davies, was presented with the new protocol, he has taken the radical step of withdrawing from all bookings at the College. This explains why there are such variations in the look and quality of the images seen during these sessions. There will be some manifestations that are faint and dull, either due to a poor connection or the ill health of the medium. Ill health and fatigue will play their part on the result. A medium exhausted from one sitting my struggle to replicate the experience soon after. Others will see a much brighter, clearer image with more distinct features. This occurs with that stronger communicative link and the greater abilities and health of the medium. So how does this ectoplasm enter the room and become visible to the sitters in the session? In spite of this, the concept of altered states of consciousness is still a useful tool in the study of mediumship, enabling us to develop a continuum of states of consciousness and to place the ASCs associated with spirit mediumship and possession within the broader context of human consciousness. There is a danger, though, that the scholarly use of the ASC concept lends itself to a reduction of the phenomena of spirit possession to the simple formula of ‘spirit possession is just an altered state of consciousness, and as such has no basis in reality.’ This kind of interpretation is inherent in Western culture’s general monophasic attitude to consciousness. Another view is that altered states of consciousness should be thought of as preconditions for the experience of spirit possession, not necessarily as its cause. We might say therefore that ‘spirit possession involves the use of altered states of consciousness, but is not necessarily synonymous with them.’ Trance

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King David, for instance, was not above putting Uriah, one of his top generals, in the heat of battle where he was sure to be killed, leaving the way open for David to seduce his widow, Bathsheba! Mediums, no matter what their skill, are no better or worse than the rest of us. Because mediumship can be used for good or ill, Spiritualists develop it in a spiritual context. Taves, A. (1999). Fits, Trances and Visions: Experiencing Religion and Explaining Experience from Wesley to James. Princeton: Princeton University Press. It’s easy to get carried away with mediumship. It’s a natural gift and subject to laws and limitations, not all of which we understand. It’s therefore important to subject everything to the test of reason. According to Maurice Barbanell, the medium of Silver Birch, “You should never put a psychic explanation on an event, if a normal explanation fits the facts.” In other words, keep your feet firmly on the ground, but be open to many possibilities. To bring about a spiritual awakening within the recipient of the message. Once the fact of spirit life is assured, the implications should be clear as to the way we need to live our lives here – not in the context of three score years and ten, but in the setting of eternity. Spiritualism offers a rational philosophy to complete its unique offering. 3 He was not willing to disclose the identity of the medium involved, but told me: “. . . five working mediums contributed to the protocol, collectively drawing upon the support from their spirit teams.” He followed this with a lengthy quote from pioneer Emma Hardinge Britten which space limitations will unfortunately not allow me to reproduce here.

Seligman, R. (2010). The Unmaking and Makin of Self: Embodied Suffering and Mind-Body Healing in Brazilian Candomble.’ Ethos, Vol. 38, No. 3, pp. 297-320. Bourguignon, E. Bellisari, A. & McCabe, S. (1983). ‘Women, Possession Trance Cults, and the Extended Nutrient-Deficiency Hypothesis.’ American Anthropologist, Vol. 85, No. 2, pp. 413-416. At one extreme it is applied to what can loosely be described as possession, in which the individual’s normal self seems to be displaced, leaving him rapt, or paralyzed, or hysterical, or psychotic, or taken over by another personality. At the other extreme is sleep. Between the two are conditions in which consciousness is maintained, but the subliminal mind makes itself felt, as in light hypnosis or the kind of reverie in which fancy, or fantasy, breaks loose. 79 It is also clear that the term ‘mediumship’ refers to different phenomena even within the Western context. Indeed, Spiritualist mediumship, as the above definition suggests, can be broadly split into two categories. There is ‘mental mediumship,’ which itself can be split into two distinct forms of clairvoyant/telepathic/clairaudient/clairsentient mediumship, often also known as ‘platform mediumship,’ and trance mediumship, during which the body of the medium is temporarily occupied by an ostensible spirit entity. Physical mediumship can be defined as the ‘purported ability of the medium to channel unknown energies’ to create physical changes in the immediate environment’. 2 Sound is always important in a physical seance. Silence does not provide the right energy for physical mediumship. It is important to have vocal responses from the sitters about what they are experiencing or what they are not experiencing, so that these can be compared. We must remember that physical mediumship is witnessed by all present through the physical senses, therefore all should be perceiving the same thing at the same time.Music can be a great help in building the energy, but should not be so loud that it is distressing to the sitters and is not required to be played throughout the seance.Nelson, G.K. (1975). ‘Towards a Sociology of the Psychic.’ Review of Religious Research, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 166-173. Winkelman, M. (1986). ‘Trance States: A Theoretical Model and Cross-Cultural Analysis.’ Ethnos, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp. 174-203. Halloy, A. (2010). ‘Comments on “The Mind Possessed: The Cognition of Spirit Possession in an Afro-Brazilian Religious Tradition” by Emma Cohen.’ Religion and Society: Advances in Research, Vol. 1, pp. 164-176.

Tart, C. (2000). ‘Investigating Altered States on their own Terms: State-Specific Science.’ In M. Velmans (ed.) (2000). Investigating Phenomenal Consciousness: New Methodologies and Maps. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.The passing of the great materialisation medium Alec Harris in 1974 seems to have marked a watershed in physical mediumship. Since then, there has been no reported instance of full materialisation in light, a mystery over which many of us have puzzled, including our physical mediums. Erika Bourguignon, in a cross-cultural study of 488 widely distributed societies, 74 determined that 90 percent of her sample societies employed some form of institutionalised altered state of consciousness (trance), and that 70 percent of the sample societies associated such states with the notion of spirit possession. 75 Turner, E. (1993). ‘The Reality of Spirits: A Tabooed or Permitted Field of Study?’ Anthropology of Consciousness, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 9-12. The interpretive framework employed by early commentators such as Frazer tended to be dismissive. Frazer referred to this ‘temporary inspiration’ as an ‘abnormal state,’ 4 indicating a pejorative attitude. According to this perspective, spirit possession practices represented little more than delusion or folly. In the words of Frazer’s contemporary EB Tylor, it is merely a surviving remnant of primitive mentality. Altered States of ConsciousnessMost spirit possession practices employ some form of altered state of consciousness to initiate spirit incorporation. The state is usually referred to in the literature as ‘trance’, but this is a particularly broad category and there are a range of different trance states.