Materialization Mediumship

Helen Duncan (1895-1956)

Today the term 'channeler' conveys a similar meaning as 'trance medium,' an expression associated with the lexicon of Spiritualism.  Trance mediums include Mrs. J. H. Conant, Eileen Garrett, Gladys Osborne Leonard, Leonora Piper and Helen Duncan, the latter also known as being a materialization medium.  A 'materialization' or 'physical medium' is a rare individual whose seances or sittings result with materialized people or 'simulacrums' of people.  Some previous blog articles have reported about aspects of materialization mediumship (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, etc.) with photos of materialized people (1, 2).  In this article, passages are presented from two books in relation to materialization mediumship.  The first is Maurice Barbanell's commentary about Helen Duncan from This Is Spiritualism (1959).  The second is a description of a materialization seance from the autobiography My Life in Two Worlds (1931) by Gladys Osborne Leonard.

 

 

An incident involving Duncan was mentioned by Chief Constable A C. West of Portsmouth at the infamous trial that resulted with imprisonment of the medium who thereafter was known as "Spiritualism's martyr": "In 1942, Mrs. Duncan was reported for having transgressed the security laws when she foretold the loss of one of His Majesty's ships before the fact was made public."  

A journalist/author who wrote about Helen Duncan, Maurice Barbanell (1902-1981) was himself a trance medium.  Books are available with transcripts of the communication from Barbanell's 'control' 'Silver Birch.'  The following commentary about Helen Duncan is from Chapter Fifteen of This Is Spiritualism.

I shall always contend that my friend, Helen Duncan, the materialisation medium, was the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice.  When, during the war, she was charged at the Old Bailey under the archaic Witchcraft Act of 1735, some newspapers called it "The trial of the century."  Obviously an Act which became law more than a century before Spiritualism began was not intended to apply to modern mediums.

Her conviction, and subsequent imprisonment, led Spiritualists to campaign, successfully, for the repeal of this Act, which, by being resurrected, implied that all séances were illegal, and thus jeopardized our religious freedom.  In his war memoirs, Sir Winston Churchill has recorded that he sent a note to the Home Secretary complaining of the fact that in a time of urgency and peril so much time and money should be wasted on a "witchcraft" trial.

Counsel's defence that Mrs. Duncan was a genuine medium, and his offer to demonstrate her powers of materialisation within the precincts of the court, were not regarded as legally admissible.  The "offence" under the Witchcraft Act was pretending that she could conjure up spirits.  Whether she was genuine or not was beside the point so far as this Act was concerned.  Counsel for the defence was satisfied of her ability to demonstrate her materialisation powers at the trial, for she gave us evidence just before it opened that she was capable of doing so.  Despite the strain of her ordeal, she willingly offered us an experimental séance which was remarkable in its results.  Yards and yards of ectoplasm streamed from her, and billowed and flowed in swirling masses until even experienced Spiritualists like myself gazed with astonishment at the spectacle.

With Helen Duncan I have been privileged to see the growth of a materialisation inside the cabinet.  Outside, I have observed the ectoplasmic forms as they gradually dwindled in size until they resembled small globes of light, and then finally disappeared as if sinking through the floor.

Inside the cabinet, I have watched ectoplasm exude from the medium's nostrils, mouth and ears in waving billows of luminosity that gradually solidified into the six-foot figure of her guide.  Harry Price, a researcher who thrived on publicity, propounded the extraordinary theory that, instead of being a genuine materialisation medium, Helen Duncan swallowed yards of cheesecloth which she later regurgitated.  To show how nonsensical this theory was, Mrs. Duncan gladly submitted herself to X-ray examination.  Price's "explanation" was that she had a secondary stomach, like a cow.  The X-ray examination proved that both her stomach and her esophagus were normal.  Counsel for the defence at the Old Bailey tried to introduce the X-ray photographs as evidence, but these two were legally inadmissible.

More than once at Helen Duncan's séances, I was invited to handle some of the ectoplasm immediately after it had been produced.  It was always bone dry, and had a curious stiff "feel," proving that it could not have been regurgitated.

 

 

 

Trance medium Gladys Osborne Leonard (1882-1968) is the author of the 1931 autobiography My Life in Two Worlds (the topic of two previous blog articles: 1, 2).  She prefaced her description of a 'materializing seance' with some background details —

Until early in 1915, although my husband had heard of my experiences with Florence, Nellie and Agnes, and other friends, and was aware of all that Feda was doing through me, he had had no first-hand experience of his own at all.  He read literature on Spiritualism occasionally, but always used to say that he couldn't get up an great enthusiasm for reading very deeply on the subject until he had some personal contact with the Other Side.  So when I came into touch with a really powerful materializing medium, I thought "what a splendid opportunity for my husband to see and hear something for himself."  Of course I ought to have initiated him gradually, by sitting at the table regularly, but in those days I had not the power, vitality or time left for many personal sittings after I had finished my professional work each day . . .

The account of the materializing seance is presented in the chapter entitled "We See More Than We Bargained For.”  Although the materialization medium was left unnamed by Gladys, he evidently is Frederick Foster Craddock.

About a dozen of us assembled with the medium in an absolutely bare room, bare except for a plain bentwood chair for each sitter and one for the medium; a small octagonal table measuring about 2½ feet across, and a pair of serge curtains hung across one corner of the room, and a couple of oblong pieces of thin wood, about 12 inches by 6 inches, painted on one side with strong luminous paint which, it was explained to us, were to be used by the materializing spirits to hold near their faces, so as to illuminate their features more clearly.  The medium referred to these painted boards as “slates.”  The floor was entirely covered with linoleum.

All the sitters were known to each other, but were strangers to the medium.  In these sittings the sitters were placed in horseshoe formation, men and women alternately, the open ends of the horseshoe ending close to the curtained corner, in which the medium sat for part of the séance.  The medium left the gas-jet fairly full on in the early part of the sitting. One could read quite small print by the light.

The door was locked. 

The medium now stood in front of the curtains, within the horseshoe formed by the sitters, with the little table—the presence of which puzzled me—by his side.  He asked us to join hands, the two sitters ending the horseshoe closing their free hand over the hand that clasped the next person's hand.  This, we were told, was to shut in the power until it had become strong enough to use.  The magnetic power set up by this procedure soon made itself felt; it was like a weak electric current.

After a couple of minutes, the medium went behind the curtains, and we heard him rubbing his hands vigorously and breathing hard.  Another few minutes, perhaps eight or ten, and he suddenly flung back the curtains and came out into the circle.  We scarcely knew him. I looked closely at him to make sure it was the same person.  He appeared to be at least two or three inches taller, with a most commanding, one might say imperious, almost dictatorial manner.  He broke out into fluent French, and one of the sitters replied to him.  He explained that he was a French-Canadian—a doctor—who was the regular Control of this medium, and he said that as he gained more control over the medium's brain he would be able to use more of the medium's language; this, indeed, happened, and he spoke in broken English, easily intelligible to us all, but still maintaining a very different personality from that of the medium in the normal state.

He instructed the sitter who sat at the extreme end of the left side of the horseshoe, to release her left hand and throw it out towards him.  She did so, and we could all see a stream of pale grey matter, like fog or steam from a kettle, oozing from her fingers.  It was shaped like rods, about a foot long and an inch thick.  The medium reached out his hands carefully towards the ends of the rods, and seemed to try and coax the grey material to come farther away from the sitter, towards himself.  The rods “thinned” slightly, as he induced them to extend, and after a couple of minutes the French Control said, speaking through the medium again, “No, not strong enough. Link hands up, and close in the power again."

The sitters obeyed  for a few minutes, during which the electric current became so strong that some of the sitters' hands were jerked up and down; they could not keep them still.  The end sitter was instructed to throw out her hand towards the medium, as before, and this time the rod of steamy material was much thicker and longer.  The Control expressed satisfaction, and began the drawing motion again.  As he drew the grey substance towards himself, he appeared to rub it vigorously into his chest, and then he threw it in coils round his neck.  We could see these coils lying round his neck and shoulders for a few seconds; then they seemed to be absorbed into his body.  This operation took several minutes.  He then placed the fingers of one hand lightly on the top of the small table, instructing the end sitter to put her left hand on it, too.  She did so, and the table rose several feet into the air, lightly and gracefully.  It was so high that the sitter had to stand up and hold her arm as high as possible in order to keep her fingers upon it.  It was very curious to see, in a bright light, a table in the air without any kind of support under it.  A simple phenomenon, but very striking and convincing.

The Control then told the sitters that he would give them an illustration of what would happen if they were to unloose hands, and break the current of power during the séance.  He asked one sitter in the centre of the horseshoe to unlink, and immediately the table crashed to the ground.  The sitters linked up again for a few minutes, and the end sitter was instructed to turn out the gas, which was close to her, after the medium had retired behind the curtains and seated himself on the bentwood chair.

We were now almost in darkness except for a faint red light which burned high up in one corner of the room.

We had been instructed to sing softly, so as to make the vibrations which appear to be necessary in all circles for Materialization or Direct Voice phenomena.  We promised not to “let things down” by being heavy and silent, and set to work thinking of all the songs we could, so as not to have long pauses in between.  I think we all had a feeling that we might have to wait some time before anything happened, and I know my husband had an idea that if he really saw anything under such conditions it would be in a very vague form, probably such a distance away from him that he would not be able to examine it at all closely. Imagine, then, our surprise, when' the curtains were quickly thrust aside and somebody stepped out, picked up one of the illuminated boards—or slates—and turned the bright side towards himself.  By this means we could all clearly see a very tall form of an Indian, about 6 feet 6 inches in height, dressed in a gorgeous robe, with a high turban, and a sword by his side.  His robes seemed to be composed of many yards of material: part of it was white and hung in heavy folds from his shoulder.  He moved straight across the circle to where my husband sat, and standing straight in front of him, he stooped and put his face close to my husband's, holding the luminous board so that my husband could examine every  pore of the skin.

I remember that, true to our instructions, we were softly but enthusiastically singing “Annie Laurie.”  My husband's attempt to keep on singing, with the Indian standing in front of him, was comical. His teeth chattered so loudly that we could hear them above the singing.  He told us afterwards that he had never before understood the meaning of “his hair stood on end,” but now he said he felt his hair rise stiffly on his head.  It was unlike anything he had expected.  After a minute or so, interest overcame his fright.  He looked intently at the Indian's face, and could see, as I afterwards could, the tiny bloodshot veins in his large almond-shaped eyes which he obligingly rolled around, so that my husband could examine them.

Then the Indian, whose name we heard later was Abdullah, came over to me, and allowed me to examine him closely, and it was difficult indeed to realize that this handsome and dignified Oriental, whose outfit would have graced a West End production of, let us say, Chu-Chin-Chow, or Kismet, was there in our midst, for the moment apparently as solid as we were ourselves, and yet we knew that he would vanish again in a little while.  Even as I watched him, he began to melt.  That is the only word I can think of to describe the process by which he gradually disappeared in front of our eyes.  It was exactly like holding wax in front of a fire, but there was nothing whatever left afterwards.

Several other forms came out from the cabinet, one at a time, sometimes so quickly that one wondered how they had managed to take the power and “mould” it on to their etheric bodies as to render them temporarily visible to our earthly eyes, because that is what happens at a materializing séance.  Of course, in saying this I am trying to describe a complicated operation to you in a few words, when volumes might be, and are, used to do so.

In all, about a dozen forms showed themselves—elderly men and women, young men, young women, children, and also a small dog that had belonged to one of the sitters, and who was as pleased to manifest to his mistress, and far more excited about it, judging from his snuffles and pantings and jerky little barks, than even the “human” spirits were.  The latter all expressed their happiness in being able to show themselves in tangible form to their friends on earth, but one knew that they were more anxious about the success of their efforts than was the little dog.  The owner of the dog sat next to my husband, and when the dog ran to her he placed his two front paws on her knee, and his two hind feet were resting on my husband's foot, who said afterwards that the dog weighed just about the same as a dog of that breed (it was a pekinese) would weigh in its physical body.  We happened to have a pekinese at the time that often stood on one's feet in order to clamber up to one's knee.

A few minutes afterwards another spirit materialized for another sitter some distance away on my left.  As we were sitting in a half-circle I could only see the profile of the spirit, but I recognized him as the husband of the lady from a photograph I had seen of him.  I noticed that he wore rather old-fashioned clothes; a black coat and a very broad white starched front with turned-down collar and black tie.

A woman sitting next to me on my right hand nudged me, and whispered: ”Look, it isn't a spirit at all; it's the medium dressed up.  I recognize his coat at the back, and his collar too.  The beard, shirt-front, and black coat are only hung on in front of him.”

She persisted in this, and it upset and worried me.  I sent out a silent prayer that some light should be thrown on the matter, as I myself thought the back of the coat looked different from the front.  An answer came quickly and unexpectedly.

The materialized spirit vanished, and in his place came Abdullah again.  He stood right in front of me, looking at me in a searching manner.

I felt there was something he wanted to tell me or show me, so my eyes never left him as he walked slowly across the room to the opposite corner where the medium lay back in a chair, in deep trance.

Holding up the illuminated “slates” the spirit showed us the medium and himself-side by side!

How glad and relieved I was.

Unfortunately, the sitting came to an end soon after.  I  think that the difficult mental atmosphere that had arisen through my, and the other sitter's doubts, was responsible for breaking up the séance (sooner than was usual, as I found out during the long series of sittings that I had later), though so much had happened in it that was a revelation to many of us.

The medium was terribly exhausted afterwards, and that is always the case when an adverse condition has sprung up during the sitting.

When the conditions were perfect—clear dry weather, which is so important to physical manifestations—and experienced and sympathetic sitters were present, the medium seemed to experience little or no fatigue.  I once sat with the same medium, with only three friends present, making five of us in the circle, and a thunderstorm came on while we were sitting. 

The thunderstorm outside was nothing to the thunderstorm in the room, I can assure you. It was terrifying.  The room and sitters were illuminated by great blinding sheets of light, and the electric shocks were so severe that I felt that if they became any stronger we should be electrocuted.

The medium's chief Guide suddenly spoke during a temporary pause in the “fireworks,” and said in an urgent and rather angry manner, “Unloose hands, and stop the sitting at once.  Can't you see that you are forming a battery?  It is most dangerous.  Stop at once.”

We did so.  The condition of the medium was pitiable.  He could scarcely stumble out of the room.  It had evidently been a great strain on him.

William Usborne Moore wrote in Glimpses of the Next State (1911) about the 'controls' of Frederick Foster Craddock:

Craddock is a man about forty-five years of age.  He has several familiar spirits—Graem, a Canadian doctor who is alleged to have lived late in the eighteenth century; Red Crow, a North American Indian; Sister Amy, a Canadian nun of about the same period as Graem; Alder, and an Irish gentleman; Cerise, a Frenchwoman who cannot speak English; Abduallah, a Ghazi; and Joseph Grimaldi, alleged to be the famous clown of the early part of last century.  I have not any doubt as to the reality of Graem, Amy, Alder, Cerise and Grimaldi as spirit entities, though, for obvious reasons I cannot vouch for their identities.  Abdullah and Amy were the only two who habitually materialized.