I was recently honoured to share my opinion on a peculiar sounding story on the fantastic Uncanny podcast, hosted and written by Danny Robins (The Battersea Poltergeist, 2:22 A Ghost Story) Of course, one can only explain so much in a short interview, so I wanted to use this space to elaborate further. I present this purely from the Spiritualist perspective, in keeping with Danny's request on the show. My earliest memories are of attending the Spiritualist church in High Wycombe, I now run it. So, we are talking 40 years I have been involved with the movement. Do I get paid for running it? No, not a penny. Do I claim my own expenses? No, not a penny. Have I turned down lucrative work offers to ensure the centre remains established and open? Yes.
I am clairsentient (emotion), claircognizant (knowing), clairtangent (physical feeling), clairalient (smelling)
While listening you will hear Laura's story of seeing her friend Anna in a local park, although Anna was at home, receiving palliative care for cancer. When Laura returned home some moments later, she heard the dreadful news that Anna had passed away. I have heard such stories a number of times, people seeing the apparition of loved ones just before or just after the point of death. Some of these were deaths were unexpected, cardiac arrest, road traffic accidents. Although departed loved ones can pop up at any time.
One story I found particularly fascinating was as follows. I run a ghost tour in the town of Amersham, Buckinghamshire. My tour script was used as the synopsis for an episode of a documentary called World's Most Unexplained which aired globally on the Discovery Network. Along the tour we have a break/drink in one of the old haunted pubs. I make a point of calling in to let them know if I have a large group booked, so they can prepare for the sudden influx of people on the evening of the tour. One such occasion I called in, I decided to have pint while I was there. I was sat next to a chap in his late 60's, he had recovered from throat cancer and talked through on of those devices you hold to your neck. He looked at me and said, "I've seen a ghost" I sat back and eagerly listened. He went to to explain that in the 80's he was working in the London Bridge area. One evening he was walking across the bridge back to the tube station, he bumped into a friend he had worked with some years previously. They shook hands, had a quick catch up and agreed to meet in a nearby pub the following week for a drink and proper catch up. When he got home he told his wife of this encounter, only to see a puzzled look on her face. She told him he must be mistaken, she thought he knew, this friend had died 6 months ago. He told her she was talking nonsense, he had no knowledge of this friend dying and had just seen him and shook his hand. One week later he's waiting in the pub for his friend. He sits and waits, nothing. Still sure that he is correct, he gets the phone book to trace his friend's whereabouts. He dials the number and the friend's wife answers. The friend had indeed died 6 months previously.
I myself saw my brother-in-law some days after he had died in a car crash. Friend's of my sister reported seeing his work van driving around to the point they followed it down a cul-de-sac, only for no such or even similar vehicle to be there.
As I explained on the episode of Uncanny, I firmly believe that the souls of the recently departed make efforts to visit loved ones, it's what they would do if still incarnate, so why would that want to connect change?
I am saddened that Laura felt no comfort from the very specific message she received from Anna via a medium, saddened further that she likens life after death to prison. For me, it's like going to school with an older sibling, at some point, they will move onto the next stage of education and leave you behind. But, we all catch up eventually. I don't know Laura, or what formed this opinion. There is incredibly poor information out there as to what Spiritualism actually is. I have long been critical of money mediums, show mediums etc. A number of them are not Spiritualist, their motives are purely financial, yet the general public will look at them and think "That's a Spiritualist" We all know of celebrity mediums who have been exposed for fakery. These incredibly selfish actions affect the entire Spiritualist movement, not to mention emotional damage caused to vulnerable grieving people.
Laura goes on to explain that receiving the message was unwelcome and made her furious. She attended the evening with the medium as a night out/bit of a laugh. Part of me thinks, "Well, if you don't want to get wet, don't see the dolphins at Sea World." Of course it was a show, but the show had ended when the message was given.
In a Spiritualist church or centre, we always ask the recipient of a message from a spirit contact if we may "work with them" Indeed, the evening in question, the medium made mention that she knew Laura would not be open to receiving the message in an open forum. You may think it strange that people turn up to such places and don't want to hear from loved ones, but it does happen and we are always respectful of their choice. It can be frustrating as a medium, you are not only trying to provide evidence of life after death, but also portray Spiritualism in a positive light.
I recall one evening at Wycombe Spiritualist Centre, connecting with a spirit, a loving yet brash grandmother, very much the matriarch of the family. I could not have given any more detail. Her illnesses, her personality, mannerisms, physical description (including bust size, which was a family joke) Nothing, a sea of blank faces in the congregation. I wondered how such specific information could not be relevant to anyone, and she wasn't going away either. Eventually I had to move on. At the end of the night a couple of young ladies approached me. "That was our Grandmother, but we didn't want to put our hands up" They went on to confirm all of the information I had received and given out. As you can imagine, this is quite frustrating. On a personal level, I waffled on for 10 minutes, any newcomer would have thought I was making it up to fill time. On a spiritual level, the Grandmother went to great effort to come through, and she probably had a great deal more to say, but without any validation, I cut it off.
For those curious, I would say go along to your local Spiritualist church or centre. Most will only ask for a small fee, or voluntary donation towards the cost of the building and medium's travel expenses. Visit a few times, different mediums have different styles. I myself worked for many years in community psychiatric services, working with people with very complex lives and diagnoses. Unsurprisingly, when demonstrating mediumship, I regularly receive contact from spirits who had similarly complex lives. Like attracts like. As mediums our life experiences shape how we connect with spirit, and their life experiences affect who they feel they can best connect with. We are them, they are us. Consciousness continues.
I've often said Spiritualism is the least essential religion. Nothing bad happens if you don't believe what we believe. If you attend services for a few weeks and stop, you're not going to burn. It's very much a tool, a crutch to complement people's lives if they so need. At any given Spiritualist meeting you will meet people of varied background and faith. Many Spiritualists don't even like that it is classed as a religion, that for me is semantics, there are other things in the world to worry about.
The Sceptical View: It would be foolish to dismiss the views of the eminent Professor Chris French on this case. In the paranormal, the most plausible explanation is often the correct explanation. When I relayed the story of the Amersham man to Dr Ciaran O'Keeffe, Ciaran suggested similar explanations to those of Professor French in this case. Yet, the eye witness first hand accounts are so compelling. It's #Uncanny!
I am clairsentient (emotion), claircognizant (knowing), clairtangent (physical feeling), clairalient (smelling)
While listening you will hear Laura's story of seeing her friend Anna in a local park, although Anna was at home, receiving palliative care for cancer. When Laura returned home some moments later, she heard the dreadful news that Anna had passed away. I have heard such stories a number of times, people seeing the apparition of loved ones just before or just after the point of death. Some of these were deaths were unexpected, cardiac arrest, road traffic accidents. Although departed loved ones can pop up at any time.
One story I found particularly fascinating was as follows. I run a ghost tour in the town of Amersham, Buckinghamshire. My tour script was used as the synopsis for an episode of a documentary called World's Most Unexplained which aired globally on the Discovery Network. Along the tour we have a break/drink in one of the old haunted pubs. I make a point of calling in to let them know if I have a large group booked, so they can prepare for the sudden influx of people on the evening of the tour. One such occasion I called in, I decided to have pint while I was there. I was sat next to a chap in his late 60's, he had recovered from throat cancer and talked through on of those devices you hold to your neck. He looked at me and said, "I've seen a ghost" I sat back and eagerly listened. He went to to explain that in the 80's he was working in the London Bridge area. One evening he was walking across the bridge back to the tube station, he bumped into a friend he had worked with some years previously. They shook hands, had a quick catch up and agreed to meet in a nearby pub the following week for a drink and proper catch up. When he got home he told his wife of this encounter, only to see a puzzled look on her face. She told him he must be mistaken, she thought he knew, this friend had died 6 months ago. He told her she was talking nonsense, he had no knowledge of this friend dying and had just seen him and shook his hand. One week later he's waiting in the pub for his friend. He sits and waits, nothing. Still sure that he is correct, he gets the phone book to trace his friend's whereabouts. He dials the number and the friend's wife answers. The friend had indeed died 6 months previously.
I myself saw my brother-in-law some days after he had died in a car crash. Friend's of my sister reported seeing his work van driving around to the point they followed it down a cul-de-sac, only for no such or even similar vehicle to be there.
As I explained on the episode of Uncanny, I firmly believe that the souls of the recently departed make efforts to visit loved ones, it's what they would do if still incarnate, so why would that want to connect change?
I am saddened that Laura felt no comfort from the very specific message she received from Anna via a medium, saddened further that she likens life after death to prison. For me, it's like going to school with an older sibling, at some point, they will move onto the next stage of education and leave you behind. But, we all catch up eventually. I don't know Laura, or what formed this opinion. There is incredibly poor information out there as to what Spiritualism actually is. I have long been critical of money mediums, show mediums etc. A number of them are not Spiritualist, their motives are purely financial, yet the general public will look at them and think "That's a Spiritualist" We all know of celebrity mediums who have been exposed for fakery. These incredibly selfish actions affect the entire Spiritualist movement, not to mention emotional damage caused to vulnerable grieving people.
Laura goes on to explain that receiving the message was unwelcome and made her furious. She attended the evening with the medium as a night out/bit of a laugh. Part of me thinks, "Well, if you don't want to get wet, don't see the dolphins at Sea World." Of course it was a show, but the show had ended when the message was given.
In a Spiritualist church or centre, we always ask the recipient of a message from a spirit contact if we may "work with them" Indeed, the evening in question, the medium made mention that she knew Laura would not be open to receiving the message in an open forum. You may think it strange that people turn up to such places and don't want to hear from loved ones, but it does happen and we are always respectful of their choice. It can be frustrating as a medium, you are not only trying to provide evidence of life after death, but also portray Spiritualism in a positive light.
I recall one evening at Wycombe Spiritualist Centre, connecting with a spirit, a loving yet brash grandmother, very much the matriarch of the family. I could not have given any more detail. Her illnesses, her personality, mannerisms, physical description (including bust size, which was a family joke) Nothing, a sea of blank faces in the congregation. I wondered how such specific information could not be relevant to anyone, and she wasn't going away either. Eventually I had to move on. At the end of the night a couple of young ladies approached me. "That was our Grandmother, but we didn't want to put our hands up" They went on to confirm all of the information I had received and given out. As you can imagine, this is quite frustrating. On a personal level, I waffled on for 10 minutes, any newcomer would have thought I was making it up to fill time. On a spiritual level, the Grandmother went to great effort to come through, and she probably had a great deal more to say, but without any validation, I cut it off.
For those curious, I would say go along to your local Spiritualist church or centre. Most will only ask for a small fee, or voluntary donation towards the cost of the building and medium's travel expenses. Visit a few times, different mediums have different styles. I myself worked for many years in community psychiatric services, working with people with very complex lives and diagnoses. Unsurprisingly, when demonstrating mediumship, I regularly receive contact from spirits who had similarly complex lives. Like attracts like. As mediums our life experiences shape how we connect with spirit, and their life experiences affect who they feel they can best connect with. We are them, they are us. Consciousness continues.
I've often said Spiritualism is the least essential religion. Nothing bad happens if you don't believe what we believe. If you attend services for a few weeks and stop, you're not going to burn. It's very much a tool, a crutch to complement people's lives if they so need. At any given Spiritualist meeting you will meet people of varied background and faith. Many Spiritualists don't even like that it is classed as a religion, that for me is semantics, there are other things in the world to worry about.
The Sceptical View: It would be foolish to dismiss the views of the eminent Professor Chris French on this case. In the paranormal, the most plausible explanation is often the correct explanation. When I relayed the story of the Amersham man to Dr Ciaran O'Keeffe, Ciaran suggested similar explanations to those of Professor French in this case. Yet, the eye witness first hand accounts are so compelling. It's #Uncanny!
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