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

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Barrett, J.L. (2000). ‘Exploring the Natural Foundations of Religion.’ Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 29-34. Mental mediumship: A mental medium is someone who connects with etheric-world intelligences that cooperate with them medium by presenting information. When you book a one-to-one mediumship reading, it is very likely to be mental mediumship.In mental mediumship, Spirit uses its own energy, and the medium perceives information that Spirit reveals. This is in contrast to physical mediumship, in which Spirit uses the medium's energy. 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 Oohashi, T., Kawai, N., Honda, M., Nakamura, S., Morimoto, M., Nishina, E., Maekawa, T. (2002). ‘Electroencephalographic Measurement of Possession Trance in the Field.’ Clinical Neurophysiology, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 435-445. By contrast, in the parapsychological literature the term ‘spirit possession’ seldom refers to mediumship, as it carries connotations of involuntary and demonic possession, while mediumship is usually held to be a voluntary and deliberately initiated activity.

Intriguingly, the protocol states that “night vision viewers” are required to be made available “to watch events live during the séance and so have independent witnesses acting on behalf of those present.” I asked David who would be responsible for providing this equipment and who would select the people to use it in each séance? 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. Because we are spiritual beings, living in physical bodies, it follows that we have spiritual senses even if few of us are aware of these latent powers. Some exercise them so naturally that they are surprised when they learn that not everybody has them. Others discover them during an enforced solitude, such as a childhood illness or perhaps when, for some reason, they’ve become isolated by their peers. The stereotypical image of the group of friends holding hands in a circle in a darkened room has plenty of roots in the reality of the experience. Sitters can hold hands to form a link. This helps to act as a bond that can help in the transference of etheric energy for bodies other than that of the medium. This magnetism between the bodies allows for high energy transference and can help with certain phenomena. This magnetism was discovered by Franz Mesmer, who went on to research the potential of this force in hypnosis and spiritual healing. A fun fact here is that this is where we get the term animal magnetism, although it has a very different meaning today. Physical manifestations via ectoplasm and etheric energy.

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 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.

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. Almost everyone would agree that it would be “preferable” to conduct séances in some degree of light, Scott and other physical mediums included. Who would not want to see a spirit person ‘in the flesh’, so to speak? But would they really wish to do this if it meant the physical medium in question could well suffer injury? The Freudian psychoanalytic perspective treats spirit possession as a form of culturally shaped hysteria, which itself refers to an ‘irrational emotional state caused by repressed oedipal desires in the unconscious’. 25 Other psychoanalytic interpretations of spirit possession emphasize ‘past traumatic and distressful experiences’ 26 in the lives of the possessed, and suggest that the behaviours and psychological sensations associated with the possession state are symbolic symptoms of the unconscious repression of such experiences, converted from the psychological to physical symptoms through a process known as ‘conversion’ or ‘somatization’. 27Functionalist approaches suggest that social phenomena perform specific social functions that help to maintain the solidarity and cohesion of the social group.

Wilson, D.G.M. (2011). Spiritualist Mediums and Other Traditional Shamans: Towards an Apprenticeship Model of Shamanic Practice. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of Edinburgh. Those from Silver Birch, Red Cloud, Abu and White Eagle are well worth studying. Passive, or ‘automatic’ writing also requires a mild form of trance and the book Spirit Teachings – regarded as the ‘bible’ of Spiritualism – came to us in this way. Guides’ true identities are often shielded behind names such as those above, otherwise their identities, rather than their teachings, would preoccupy the listener. 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. Pathogenic possession concepts result from the operation of cognitive tools that deal with the representation of contamination (both positive and negative); the presence of the spirit entity is typically (but not always) manifested in the form of illness. Executive possession concepts mobilise cognitive tools that deal with the world of intentional agents; the spirit entity is typically represented as taking over the host’s executive control, or replacing the host’s ‘mind’ (or intentional agency), thus assuming control of bodily behaviours. 58We fully accept that every medium works in a different way and are sensitive enough to the demands of the spirit world to wish only to invest in equipment which is going to be fit and suitable for purpose. With this in mind we sought to work closely with Scott to ensure we selected equipment which both met the requirements of the protocol and had been fully tested by Scott in his home circle with advice sought from his spirit team. Scott’s decision to withdraw completely as a guest tutor at the College is to my mind a lost opportunity which could act only to further the cause of physical mediumship. The medium or chairperson at a seance must give a pre-seance briefing to the sitters with details of what can and can’t be done during the seance, tailored to the individual medium who is working during the seance. Stoller, P. (1994). ‘Embodying Colonial Memories.’ American Anthropologist, Vol. 96, No.3, pp. 634-648. 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.