CHAPTER THREE
THE PASTOR WHO RETURNED

Three days after our first experience of hearing the “voice” we decided to hold another sitting. The trumpet was placed on the table in case another attempt would be made to speak.

After the usual prayer and singing of hymns, we sat in an atmosphere of expectancy. A little time elapsed before we observed the trumpet leave the table and rise above our heads where it remained suspended. We naturally expected a repetition of the previous sitting, but a surprise awaited us. There was no hissing or gurgling sound this time. Without any warning, a terrific “voice” bellowed through the trumpet which scared all of us. It was deafening, and vibrated the whole room.

After we had recovered from the shock, the entity announced himself as the Rev. T. H. J. (for private and personal reasons I have to omit the name), adding that he was onetime pastor of a chapel in a well-known Monmouthshire mining town. We were told it was his special mission that night to assure me I was contacting the right spiritual conditions, and there was no reason to worry in this direction any more.

He explained that having no other means of communication at previous sittings, the cross and the framed crucifix were brought to us in the hope that symbolically they would give the necessary assurance. He gave one of the most inspiring sermons I have heard. He was a gifted orator. For over twenty minutes he held us spellbound. It was one of the most delightful and uplifting moments of my life.

At the close of his sermon, he asked me to verify the information he had given. In the course of my inquiries, would I convey a father’s love and blessing to his two daughters, tell them that he was with them and helping them as much as he did when on earth. I agreed to do this. He then pronounced the blessing and bade us good night.

I was so impressed with this wonderful experience that I sent a report to a psychic journal. After it was published, I received letters from all parts of the country asking for advice regarding the development of direct voice. As the phenomenon was new to me, I could be of little help. Among the letters I received was one from a friend with whom I had lost touch for about thirteen years. He had apparently forgotten me in the passing of the years, for he addressed me in the formal “Dear Sir.” His letter was in the same strain, “Could I help him with my experience?” The outcome was an invitation to my friend to visit us.

It so happened that he was living within ten miles of the town mentioned by the Rev. T. H. J. My business at the time prevented making a special journey to pursue my inquiries. When my friend came, I talked the matter over with him and he volunteered to make the necessary investigation. A fortnight later he wrote that he had found the chapel just as the Rev. T. H. J. described it, and the grave where this clergyman was buried. He had sought out the caretaker of the chapel and learned of the whereabouts of the two daughters.

My friend went to the address and met the ladies. He was anxious as to how they would accept the message from the “dead” father, but when he explained the whole circumstances, instead of fainting or being upset, as he thought they might, they told him that they were very glad to receive such a comforting message from their father. They added that they often felt the father’s presence and influence, and would my friend convey their thanks to him when he next had an opportunity of speaking to him.

Although at this stage we had many interesting experiences we were far from being confirmed Spiritualists. We were still investigators, endeavouring through long and patient research to satisfy ourselves about the truth of Survival. I would like to mention, too, that we were unaware who was the medium through whom the phenomena were being produced.

The manifestation of the Rev. T. H. J. proved one vital point. Our subconscious minds had played no part in the happenings. He was a stranger and absolutely unknown to us. The mining town he mentioned we had never visited, neither did we know that the chapel he had described was in existence.

From now on it became our joy to hold conversation with those whom we considered dead, but whom we found very much alive, in fact more so than many who are living on earth.

As time went on, different entities attached themselves to us. These were known as controls. Controls should not be confused with guides. There is a marked difference between the two in respect of their particular work. There is only one guide, better known to the world as a “guardian angel.” The special duty of the guide is to take charge of the soul of an individual during its earthly experiences. The guide is the heavenly parent of the soul from the time of its association with the body of a child until it leaves that body to enter the higher realms. The controls are, in a sense, specialists. For instance, doctors who have passed to the greater life come back and give medical advice; others, like. nurses, clergymen and philosophers, deal with their own special subjects.

The Rev. T. H. J. told us that a little girl, a daughter of a maharajah, would be attached to the circle in the role of doorkeeper and messenger. He said that she was unable to speak English, and with the help of others in the spirit world we would have to teach her. We learned, too, that it was the wish of the little girl when on earth to speak the language of the “Great White Queen”-Queen Victoria - but owing to an early passing, as the result of a snake bite, her ambition was not realised. However, she was told by those in the spirit world that her ambition would be realised one day. And so it came about that we were chosen to help the little one.

At first I thought we were tackling a hopeless task. How were we to start? We could not hold conversation in the child’s native tongue, and she did not know our language. I sought advice from the Rev. T. H. J. He informed me that the spoken word would be mentally interpreted by the spirit control to the little girl, and by this procedure she would in time get to understand.

It was a tedious business, and required a lot of patience, but it had its compensation because we found the child a very apt pupil. We started with the alphabet, then with small words like cat, dog, top, etc., until we got her to repeat and understand small sentences. Later, we introduced nursery rhymes, which she thoroughly enjoyed when she became proficient. We taught her to sing many of the Sunday School hymns, her favourite being, Now the day is over. It was a sheer delight to hear her singing this hymn. In the end, she spoke perfectly apart from a sweet little accent. The spirit name of the child was Belle, known to Spiritualists all over the world who heard her speak on varying occasions.

As time went on, relations and friends who had passed into the higher life manifested. It was a source of comfort to us to know that they had survived the grave, and were alive and well. We were happy in this new­found understanding, as everything seemed to be going along so smoothly. But an alarming, not to say unnerving, experience was in store for us.

At the suggestion of friends we went to London to spend Christmas with them. We arranged to have a sitting and a room was made ready. From the start we sensed a disturbing condition. We missed the usual harmony and brightness to which we had been accustomed. The atmosphere was heavy and depressing. Owing to our inexperience we could not understand the reason for this depression. We had not been sitting long when one sitter exclaimed that he had a feeling of suffocation as though his heart had stopped beating. Our collie dog, who was in the room, began to snarl and growl. The dog then paced the room as if in search of something, growling and snarling the whole time. Suddenly, a weird laugh was heard, followed by blasphemous utterances. The cursing and foul language were appalling. We were alarmed.

We immediately offered a prayer, after which we sang hymns, hoping by doing so to bring about the right conditions and rid ourselves of the undesirable influence that had come into our midst. All the time the prayers were said and the hymns sung, unsavoury epithets were shouted at us. Finally, a terrific crash filled the air. The dog began howling. We decided to close the sitting and get out of the room as soon as we could. At this moment, the Rev. T. H. J., in a loud voice, called on us to offer further prayers and to make the sign of the cross.

We did as we were told. After a while a feeling of peace and tranquility came over the room. With this more peaceful condition, the Rev. T. H. J. informed us that an undesirable entity had managed to get in, and because of our ignorance had been able to cause the distressing conditions we had experienced. He warned us to be careful in future of our mental and spiritual attitude. Before pronouncing the blessing, he told us that in the event of meeting similar trouble in the future, we should close the sitting immediately with a prayer.

When we switched on the lights we found the carpe~ covered with fragments of what was once a figure of the Buddha. The Buddha, previous to the sitting, had occupied a place on a plate shelf which formed a part of the frieze running round the room.

We carefully examined every part of the room, walls, furniture, etc., but we found no marks which could have been caused by the Buddha smashing against it. As a matter of fact, the resounding crash was heard above our heads, and the only conclusion at which we could arrive was that the Buddha had been smashed by psychic forces.

Three days later we held another sitting, and this time peaceful conditions prevailed. After a general discussion, the Rev. T. H. J. told us that we were to prepare ourselves for a special sitting when four medical men would be attached to the circle for the purpose of healing through me. We respected his wishes and held the sitting a few days later. After the customary prayer and hymn, the Rev. T. H. J. manifested and addressed us at length. Before leaving, he said the medical men would come in turn and introduce themselves.

The first to manifest told us that he was Charles Wright, of Leeds, giving his full name and address. He said that he was at one time consultant to the Women and Children’s Hospital in Leeds. He expressed his joy that an opportunity had been afforded him to help the sick and suffering from the spirit world as he tried to do when on earth. In turn the other three spoke. Each gave his name and other particulars such as address, the branch of medicine in which they specialised, and the name of the hospital they visited. Their names were, Scattergood, Jessop and Brown. The last named was a surgeon, and as he said, he was known as “Butcher Brown” to the residents. They had all lived in Leeds and were colleagues. The particulars supplied by these men were recorded and in due course were verified.

Some two years later we met a doctor in London. Through conversation on psychic matters, a subject in which he was keenly interested, we had a pleasant surprise. He had known Scattergood, who was one of his lecturers in his student days when training in Leeds. Later, another doctor recalled having met Wright when the former was a young man. Not the least remarkable was the occasion when Wright, in a public hail in London, where over 600 people were gathered to hear the direct pro."