SPIRIT COMMUNICATION A comprehensive guide to the extraordinary world of mediums, psychics and the afterlife ROY STEMMAN piatkus 2 PIATKUS First published in Great Britain in 2005 by Piatkus Books Ltd This paperback edition published in 2010 by Piatkus Reprinted 2011 (twice) Copyright © 2005 by Roy Stemman The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-0-7499-4111-6 Text design by Briony Chappell Edited by Krystyna Mayer Typeset by Phoenix Photosetting, Chatham, Kent Printed in the UK by CPI Mackays, Chatham ME5 8TD Piatkus An imprint of Little, Brown Book Group 100 Victoria Embankment London EC4Y 0DY An Hachette UK Company www.hachette.co.uk 3 www.piatkus.co.uk 4 Contents Acknowledgements iv Foreword v My Introduction to 1. 1 Spiritualism When Spirits Take 2. 16 Over Automatism — 3. 33 Spirits in Control? Searching for 4. 53 Psychic Clues Conversations with 5. 70 the Dead Producing Visible 6. 86 Spirits 7. Recording Spirits 103 Spiritualism and 8. 121 Healing 9. Trance Healing 137 5 10. Psychic Surgeons 148 Believers and 11. 165 Sceptics Spiritualism as a 12. 180 Religion Spirit Guides and 13. 200 Beyond Ghosts, Poltergeists 14. 214 and Exorcisms 15. Reincarnation 229 Television 16. 243 Mediums 17. The Best Evidence 257 Bibliography 269 Useful Websites 271 Index 273 iii 6 Acknowledgements The author would like to thank The Spiritual Truth Foundation who made a significant contribution to the publication of Spirit Communication. The Foundation was established for the promotion and advance​ment of the religion and religious philosophy of Spiritualism. It finances the publication of books whose contents deserve a wider audience than that represented by the Spiritualist movement. It supports the publication of the series of books on the spirit teachings of Silver Birch and reprinting of out-of- print classics on spiritual knowledge and phenomena. The charity also alleviates poverty among Spiritualists. For more information about The Spiritual Truth Foundation, or make a bequest, please contact The Spiritual Truth Foundation, .5 Broom Hall, Oxshott, Surrey, KT22 OJZ. 7 Foreword Spirit communication has been an integral part of most cultures from their earliest days, with the special gifts of oracles, shamans, witches, seers, mystics, prophets or psychics helping to guide and direct individuals and groups. Just over a century and a half ago, however, it seemed that the veil that separates this world from the next was lifted a little more, to allow greater contact between the two. Gifted individuals declared that a new age was dawning; loud raps and blockings responded to questions with a simple yes/no code, indicating contact with an unseen intelligence; and the reli​gion of Spiritualism was born in the United States, quickly spread​ing around the world. Spiritualism’s humble birthplace was the tiny hamlet of Hydesville, just outside New York City, and its first, relatively modest manifestation consisted of strange blockings in the home of the Fox family, which began on 31 March 1848. Disturbed by these inexplicable sounds, John Fox, his wife and his two daughters Margaret and Kate soon discovered that they could communicate with the spirit responsible, who used a code to rap out his answers. He claimed to be a peddler who was murdered in the house and, indeed, human remains were later discovered buried in the cellar. Hundreds of people witnessed the phenomenon: the raps were often so loud that many individuals gathered outside were able to hear them. Several committees were formed to investigate the phe​nomenon, and their tests included asking questions mentally to which the spirit gave replies. The raps followed the Fox sisters when they visited other places, and the talent seems to have spread quickly to others. Before long, Margaret, Kate and their older sis​ter Leah were giving private sittings. Within three years, there were an estimated one hundred mediums offering their services in New York 8 and between 50 and 60 private circles had been established in Philadelphia. The first experimental organisation, the New York Circle, was also formed to test the powers of mediums claiming to be able to communicate with the spirit world. Spiritualism had arrived but its birth was not without complica​tions. By April 1855, the North American Review reported there were nearly two million Spiritualists in the United States. More powerful mediums than the Fox sisters had appeared and incredible stories circulated about heavy objects levitating, spirit voices speaking and even full-form materialisations of the dead appearing and speaking to their loved ones. With Spiritualism’s rapid growth and startling phenomena, which challenged both orthodox religion and science, it was inevitable that it attracted many detractors wishing it a short life. Their wish was almost granted, with the confession of fraud - later retracted - by the Fox sisters in 1880. By then, however, there were enough serious-minded and influential people willing to tes​tify to the truth of Spiritualism for it to survive the embarrassing behaviour of the movement’s founders. It took no time at all for Spiritualism to cross the Atlantic. It arrived in the form of Mrs. W.R. Hayden, the first visiting medium, whose arrival in Britain in 1852 was greeted with deri​sion by the press. Despite this, she convinced a number of intellec​tuals, among them veteran socialist Robert Owen, that the spirit world could communicate with them. It wasn’t long before Britain was experiencing an epidemic of table-turning and producing its own mediums, of whom Scottish- born Daniel Dunglas Home, who had moved to the United States at the age of nine in 1842, was one of the most spectacular; pro​- ducing a wide range of manifestations in good light. The first investigator to be satisfied that he had mediumistic powers was a Professor George Bush, a 9 distinguished theologian and Oriental scholar. Home returned to England in 1855 and was soon travel​ling throughout Europe, demonstrating his powers to heads of state, famous intellectuals and royalty, including Napoleon III, the King of Bavaria, the King of Naples and the Queen of Holland. It is hardly surprising, then, that when Prince Albert died in 1861, Queen Victoria, like millions of others, turned to Spiritualism for comfort and reassurance that her beloved husband lived on and would be waiting for a reunion with her in the spirit world. She had sittings with several mediums and many Spiritualists believe that John Brown, her ghillie, was also a power​ful medium through whom Albert regularly communicated with the Queen. Despite attacks from narrow-minded religious zealots and closed-minded sceptics, Spiritualism still thrives globally, in differ​ent forms. It does so because, despite ridicule and criticism, it con​tinues to provide evidence of spirit communication that many people regard as indisputable. Moreover the appearance and devel​- opment of new mediums, who are continuing its tradition of pro​viding a psychic bridge between this world and the next, are ensuring that its future is assured. Spirit communication and Spiritualism are huge subjects and it would be impossible for a single volume to do justice to the past 150 years of its history. Fortunately, I do not need to do this, since there are already two excellent books that tell part of the story and to which this book should be seen as a companion volume. The first of these books is The History of Spiritualism by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Born in Edinburgh in 1859, Sir Arthur was a physician whose passion for writing led to the creation of the world-famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The cautious author spent 20 years studying and researching Spiritualism before 10