CHAPTER ONE
HOW THE VOICES ARE HEARD
As this book deals mainly
with direct voice phenomena, I will explain in simple language, and as
briefly as possible, what they are.
There is a mistaken idea that
the “voices” heard are those of the spirit communicators. If we stop and
think, we realise that everything of our physical make-up is left on the
earth when the soul passes into the spirit world, where it manifests
through the etheric counterpart of our being. In the etheric state
everything is expressed by mental and spiritual vibrations. When spirit
entities communicate their messages by means of direct voice, they
transmit their thoughts to an apparatus constructed from the power taken
from the sitters.
The only physical
contribution is the medium’s larynx. The larynx is dematerialised and
then rematerialised in a form required by the spirit entity. The larynx
is then attached to an ectoplasmic pipe, which in turn is connected by
means of an ectoplasmic rod to an ectoplasmic soundbox. All the
apparatus is built up outside and away from the medium. The next process
is to bring about suitable conditions for spirit communication, or, in
other words, getting the right wave length. Just like the wireless,
where it is necessary to tune in the instrument to a wave-length to
receive the station we desire to hear, so we have to tune in to the
higher vibrations of the spirit world. The only wavelengths on which the
spirit world operates are love, sympathy, harmony and faith. The sitters
are responsible for supplying the right vibrations. Having gone so far,
one has to wait with patience for any communication.
The spirit entity who desires
to communicate transmits his thoughts on to the ectoplasmic sound-box.
The thought-vibrations are then built up in some ingenious way on to the
ectoplasmic larynx so that they become audible to the sitters’ physical
hearing. When the channel of communication is free from disturbing
vibrations, the “voices” come through loudly and distinctly. The
individuality of the spirit entity cannot be mistaken once he has
accustomed himself to this new experience. Dialects are recognised, and
I have heard many foreign languages spoken.
The medium is in a normal
state during a direct voice séance. There is no need for trance, because
the medium’s body and intelligence are not required in this type of
phenomena.
A lot of so-called direct
voice phenomena is nothing more than a spirit entity taking charge of a
medium when in trance and speaking through his lips. That is trance
mediumship, and should not be confused, as it so often is, with direct
voice.
In the early stages of
development a trumpet - it is really a megaphone - is needed to amplify
the weak voices so that they may be audible to sitters.
The megaphone should be
constructed of light aluminium or celluloid. It should be on the small
side. The one we used was not more than fourteen inches long, with four
inches diameter at one end, tapering to three quarters of an inch. It
needs power for the spirit entity to levitate the megaphone and hold it,
suspended in space. It is for this reason it should be light in
construction.
When a spirit entity is using
a megaphone, it is usually suspended above or some little distance away
from the medium, not in front of the medium’s lips. Neither is it
necessary for the medium to touch the megaphone in any way or under any
circumstances.
As spirit entities get
accustomed to the new vibrations, and providing conditions are good,
they are able to carry the megaphone to different parts of the room and
speak, so that the sitters are able to hear the “voice” coming from
other than one fixed place.
When we speak of “direct
voice,” we are apt to lead people to believe that it is the actual
“voice” of the spirit communicator we hear. This is not so. If it were,
there would be no logical reason for the use of the medium’s larynx.
Are the “voices” of the
spirit entities like their earthly ones, and can they be recognised?
This question is often asked. Sometimes they have been and sometimes
they have not. It all depends on the vibrations operating at the time of
communication.
Like many people, I was under
the impression that spirit communicators spoke with their own voices. It
was not until a spirit entity, who purported to be my mother, addressed
me one evening that I realised my mistake. All the “voices” I had heard
up to then were those of strangers. Every “voice” had a different
intonation, and it was because of this I had imagined I was hearing the
real voice.
On this
particular occasion a female “voice” said, “Hello, my boy.”
“Who is that?” I replied.
Expecting to be addressed by name, I was surprised when the “voice” said,
“Hail smiling morn,” adding, “It’s your mother, my boy.”
“Hail smiling morn” had a
special significance, and only I knew to what it referred. The evidence
that was given could have been known only to my mother, but I was puzzled
because I could not recognise her voice. Later I mentioned this fact to my
mother, and received my first explanation of the method of communication.
Anyway, I was comforted in the knowledge of my mother having survived the
grave, and that she was happier in her new life than she had been on
earth. |
