An Extraordinary Journey: The Memoirs of a Physical Medium

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During this meeting Eileen shared some of her many experiences whilst sitting with me, when loved ones have spoken in foreign languages unknown to me, including French, German, Italian, Dutch and Spanish, testimony which Tanya supported, saying that she remembered having to translate one. Eileen said that surely this was proof in itself, but still they want the camera in the room. In her paper ‘What is Spirit Possession?’, cognitive anthropologist Emma Cohen suggests that the apparent similarities in spirit possession practices and beliefs across cultures arise from innate human cognitive processes. This work draws heavily on the writings of of cognitive scholars of religion such as Pascal Boyer 56 and Justin Barrett. 57 According to Cohen’s model, spirit possession is a complex phenomenon involving multiple cognitive processes, and which usually takes one of two distinct forms: voluntary and involuntary. Cohen suggests that these can be explained in the following way: Maude told me she lived close to London in her last life and I was familiar with the West Coast of England. She went on to say that she would travel with me if I have the opportunity to go. 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 The first person in spirit was Doris Maude O’dlum. I looked her up and she was a well-known psychiatrist in England.

Hunter, J. (2013). ‘Numinous Conversations: Performance and Manifestation of Spirits in Spirit Possession Practices.’ In A. Voss & W. Rowlandson (eds.) Daimonic Imagination: Uncanny Intelligence. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press. Frazer, J.G. (1993 [1890]). The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion. Hertfordshire: Wordsworth Editions. When the new protocol had been read, I said I could fulfil over 85 per cent of it but knew from past investigations that I could not fulfil the filming or night vision goggle requirements, due to the vibration that is emitted in infrared. The image I have used this month is the precipitated card I received. I photographed both sides. I hope this has sparked your interest in Physical mediumship. Physical mediumship is not practiced much today. One reason might be that these phenomena brought on quite a bit of skepticism, as well as the exposure of many fraudulent physical mediums. Seances are still popular today, and the necessity of a physical medium is no longer a requirement. People have turned more to mental mediumship, psychic mediums, and evidential psychic mediums ? to assist in their connections with the spirit world.

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

Some of the key cross-cultural features of spirit possession practices can be summarized as follows: The shielded twisted pair type of cable is most frequently used in extremely cold climates, where the additional layer of outer covering makes it perfect for withstanding such temperatures or for shielding the interior components.The use of the term ‘trance’ in anthropology, however, is particularly broad, and may appear meaningless without further descriptive detail. 76 For instance, while many spirit possession traditions undoubtedly do employ some form of altered state of consciousness during their incorporation rituals, it is not necessarily true that all of these various traditions employ the same alteration of consciousness to initiate the incorporation. 77 How can we say, for example, that the form of trance utilized in Haitian Vodun possession rites 78 is the same as that employed by Spiritualist trance mediums in the UK, or that the trance of the Candomblé medium is the same as that of traditional Taiwanese spirit mediums? We may well find similarities in terms of neurophysiological activity, but the subjective element may vary considerably. 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. Skultans, V. (1974). Intimacy and Ritual: A Study of Spiritualism, Mediums and Groups. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. PerformanceMost spirit possession practices involve some form of bodily performance, again ranging from elaborate culturally-recognized dances, movements and gestures, to subtle transformations in bodily demeanour. The cognitive approach to spirit possession does not see it as a pathological phenomenon, though in essence it does suggest that spirit possession beliefs and experiences arise from cognitive illusions and category errors.

All physical mediums should be assessed under test conditions before being allowed to work at AFC and a register of approved Physical mediums is kept just as for all college tutors. Bourguignon, E. (1973). ‘A Framework for the Comparative Study of Altered States of Consciousness.’ In E. Bourguignon (ed.) (1973). Religion, Altered States of Consciousness and Social Change. Columbus: Ohio State University Press. pp. 3-38. You, or someone you’re related to, has pointed out Spirits or paranormal experiences they've had to you #17Cabinets are of course permitted to be used, but should be searched by independent sitters prior to seance commencing. Trumpets and planchettes may also be used if requested by the spirit operatives. Sometimes percussion instruments may be utilised in the seance and small lightweight balls; all requests for equipment by the spirit operatives should be considered if sensible and appropriate. Ong, A. (1988). ‘The Production of Possession: Spirits and the Multinational Corporation in Malaysia.’ American Ethnologist, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 28-42. 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. Lewis, H. Carvill, et al. ACCOUNTS OF SOME SO-CALLED ‘SPIRITUALISTIC’ SÉANCES, Proceedings 4, 1886-7, pp. 338-80. Sceptical treatment of slate-writing séances with Eglinton. Reports considered convincing by spiritualists are shown to be inadequate by editorial notes. A letter and messages written by ‘spirits’ are compared and considered to be written by the same hand. slate writing/physical mediumship/cheating Zingrone, N. (1994). ‘Images of Woman as Medium: Power, Pathology and Passivity in the Writings of Frederic Marvin and Cesare Lombrosso.’ In L. Coly & R.A. White (eds.) (1994). Women and Parapsychology: Proceedings of an International Conference. New York: Parapsychology Foundation. (pp. 90-123). Endnotes