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I AM now going to describe some experiments I carried out on "direct-voice"
phenomena, which phenomena occurred during several séances held in my own house.
As the reader is no doubt aware, the "direct voice" is a rather rare form of
psychic phenomenon. Voices, not apparently the voice of the medium or of any of
the sitters, speak from the air within or around the circle. They speak through
thin metal cones or "trumpets" which seemingly float about in the air under
psychic support, their function being to concentrate the voice sounds and thus
make them more audible than they otherwise would be. I refer the reader who
desires to obtain a good general idea of this type of mediumship to the late
Vice-Admiral Moore's book The Voices.
The medium who was responsible for the voice phenomena occurring at the séances
held in my house was Mrs Z., a well-known public psychic. There has been much
controversy over this woman's mediumship. Her séances, in order to produce any
result worth mentioning, have to be held in absolute darkness, which, however, I
believe, is generally true of all sittings for the "direct-voice" with all
mediums. Hence there is considerable scope for fraud if the medium be a
fraudulent one.
Mrs Z. has been going up and down the country for a number of years, giving
hundreds of séances. I do not think anything definite has ever been discovered
during this period of time which points conclusively to fraud. I have heard the
explanations of many people who claim to describe how her phenomena are produced
fraudulently, but when these explanations are critically examined they are found
to be of little value.
The reader, however, must understand that the experiments I carried out with
this medium were done under the following limitations:
(1) They were nearly all carried out in complete
darkness.
(2) The medium was a public one.
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Fig. 29 (below) |
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I carried out the tests for my own satisfaction and
did not think of publishing them; but, on consideration, I have come to the
conclusion that they should be put on record, if for no other reason than that
the results may be compared hereafter with the vast quantities of experimental
work that will have to be done if we are ever to get at the bottom of this
psychic question.
It must be distinctly understood by the reader that I do not guarantee the
genuineness of the results given below. I did everything I could to prevent
fraud; but in an absolutely dark séance-room it is obviously impossible to
ensure complete prevention. The reader must draw his own conclusions, or wait
till the results obtained are compared with similar results from other
"direct-voice" mediums.
The sittings were held in my own house in a small laboratory I have fitted up
for psychic work. The sitters were all my personal friends, specially invited to
the séances by myself.
Fig. 29 shows (in connection with other apparatus) a photograph of the two
trumpets used. Each of them was made in two lengths of thin tinned iron, which
fitted tightly telescopically together. The particulars are as follows:
No.1: weight, 1 lb. 2 oz.
No. 2: weight, 1 lb.
Length of each, 34 in. Apertures, ¾ in. and 4 in.
diameter.
Séance I
Date: Saturday, 20th April
Time: 8 to 9.30 p.m.
Weights of medium and sitters and just after the
séance:
| |
Weight
just before séance |
Weight
just after séance |
Mrs Z. (medium)
Mrs A.
Mr X.
Mr R.
Mrs Q.
Mr M.
Mrs B. |
19 st
9 st
11 st
13 st
10 st
12 st
11 st |
13¾ lb.
13½ lb.
6¼ lb.
7 lb.
3½ lb.
9½ lb.
6 lb. |
19 st
9 st
11 st
13 st
10 st
12 st
11 st |
13½ lb.
13½ lb.
4¼ lb.
6½ lb.
3 lb.
9½ lb.
5¼ lb. |
The above weights include weight of chair and drawing-board (13 ⅜ lb.).
It will be noted that there was an almost general reduction in weight after the
séance, but that the medium lost only a quarter of a pound.
The reader will be interested to hear that at a circle held about a year
previously with Mrs Z., one of the voices, just before the break-up of the
séance, gratuitously informed us that if we were to weigh the medium at the
conclusion, we would find that she had lost 10 or more pounds, due to the
phenomena occurring during the evening. There is no doubt that the medium
believed this herself; at any rate she mentioned it several times in the course
of conversation. But it is all rubbish. The medium loses permanently very little
weight; less, indeed, than some of the sitters. And in this respect she is in
line with all other mediums I have known.
I think the origin of the medium's belief that she lost 10 or more pounds in
weight during one of her circles came about as follows: Some years ago, in
America, telekinetic phenomena occurred through her; as a matter of fact, a
piano is said to have moved across the room. She was weighed while this was
happening, and it was found that she lost a good many pounds. The medium
immediately came to the rash conclusion that this loss of weight was permanent,
and she has since so informed all and sundry. Of course, the loss (supposing it
to have taken place) was merely temporary and lasted only during the time the
phenomenon was occurring. The reader who has followed my experiments will know
that these temporary fluctuations of weight seemingly occur during all phenomena
of the telekinetic order.
But what are we to think of the voice (quite evidently a "direct" voice, and not
the voice of the medium either in or out of trance) which definitely declared
that the medium permanently lost a great many pounds in weight? Did the voice
belong to a sub-conscious part of Mrs Z.'s ego masquerading as an
independent entity, or did it really belong to an independent spirit? If the
latter was the case, why did the spirit make incorrect statements in so
fundamental a matter? If an independent spirit was speaking, he must be very
like unscientific people here, who, in order to impress others, are not very
careful or exact in their statements.
Returning to my experiments, the two trumpets were placed upright on the floor
within the circle. The red light (obtained from a gas jet enclosed in a large
lantern having a sliding red glass front) was turned on full, and the lantern
was placed on a table at the end of the room farthest from the medium. Nothing
happened for about a quarter of an hour. Then there were some raps on the floor
and on the trumpets. In reply to questions the operators said (by raps) that the
light was too strong. I went over to the lantern and turned the gas half down. A
feeble voice, apparently emanating from near the ceiling within the circle
space, was then heard saying, "Sing something." Soon the swish of what might
have been the trumpets flying about in the air was heard (they could not,
however, be seen). The voice then said, "Turn the light round," i.e. the light
was to be turned round so that it faced the wall, away from the circle and the
medium. This voice is from the "control," who is supposed to be a daughter of
the medium who died many chief guide or years ago, and who now acts as control
at her mother's circles. Her voice is very much in evidence at all Mrs Z.'s
circles, and it has a peculiar timbre not easily 'mistakable. The light
was turned round as directed, which had the effect of making the room
practically dark. There were then heard some facetious remarks from the control
with regard to the experimental apparatus in the room, and various voices spoke
which gave names, but no evidence of identity.
What I wished, however, was to see if the trumpets were really moving about in
the air, as they seemed to be doing from the various directions in which the
voices were speaking and from the peculiar way in which the trumpets apparently
touched sitters in different parts of the circle. But it was now evident that
only the feeblest light was possible with this medium. So I inserted a yellow
screen in front of the red glass of the lantern, which I again turned round
facing the medium. (It is to be remembered that the lantern was on a table right
outside the circle of sitters, and perhaps seven feet distant from the medium.)
The screen had the effect of practically extinguishing the light, there only
remaining the dullest glow visible just in front of the lantern. Mr M., who was
holding the left hand of the medium, then said that he could see the trumpets
moving in front of the lamp. I went over beside him and saw shadows crossing and
re-crossing the dull glow produced by the light. These shadows seemed to be due
to the trumpets, for their outlines were visible crossing both in a vertical
position (sometimes small end up and sometimes large end) and in an inclined
position.
At the conclusion of the séance, when the lights were turned up, a fresh mark
was found on the plaster of the ceiling of the room which would appear to have
been made by the end of a trumpet. This mark was more than ten feet distant from
the chair on which the medium was sitting. After the medium had departed we
tried if it was possible to make such a mark fraudulently, even with the aid of
both trumpets, but nobody could see how this was possible. (The small ends of
the trumpets were of practically the same diameter and would not telescope into
each other.) I may say also that I had heard voices speaking from the vicinity
in which the mark was discovered.
During the whole séance Mr M. had hold of the medium's left hand. Mrs A.
had her right hand, but this was occasionally free for a few seconds.
This séance showed that practically no phenomena could be obtained with this
medium even in the feeblest of light. The trumpets could not even be made to
move in the air round the room except in the dullest of dull glows. With Miss
Goligher's mediumship the trumpets floated about in strong red light, and could
be examined in detail (see The Reality of Psychic Phenomena).
Séance II
Date: Sunday, 21st April 1918.
Time: 7.30 to 9.15 p.m.
Weights of medium and sitters just before and just
after the séance:
| |
Weight
just before séance |
Weight
just after séance |
Mrs Z. (medium)
Mr R.
Mr M.
Mrs S.
Mrs T.
Mrs A.
Mrs Q. |
20 st
13 st
12 st
10 st
9 st
10 st
10 st |
2½ lb.
6¾ lb.
8½ lb.
6 lb.
10¾ lb.
1½ lb.
5¼ lb. |
20 st
13 st
12 st
10 st
9 st
10 st
10 st |
2¼ lb.
6½ lb.
8 lb.
4¼ lb.
10½ lb.
1 lb.
5 lb. |
The above weights include weight of chair and drawing-board (15½ lb.). (The
chair used at these séances was not always the same.)
Experiment to find the Effect on the Medium's
Weight while a Voice was speaking
The medium sat on a chair which rested upon a
drawing-board placed on the platform of a weighing-machine. The medium is a
heavy woman, and she found it difficult to make herself comfortable on the
machine, yet she sat upon it for nearly an hour. I exactly balanced her weight,
so that the lever of the machine was just quivering between the stops. The
machine just balanced at 20 st. 2½ lb. The two trumpets were placed upright on
the floor within the circle. The medium sat with her hands on her knees. The
lights were turned completely out and the séance commenced. I stood at the back
of the machine with my right hand upon the lever, so that I was sensible of its
slightest movement. With my left hand I felt the back of the medium from time to
time.
Nothing happened for a quarter of an hour or so. Then the lever of the machine
fell lightly on the bottom stop, indicating that the medium's weight was
decreasing. Very carefully I moved the rider back along the lever and obtained a
new balance. Although it was dark, this was quite easily accomplished by my
sense of touch. The medium's original weight had balanced at 20 st. 2½ lb., so
that the rider had been at the 2½-lb. mark beyond zero on the scale. I found
that by almost exactly moving the rider to zero the lever just balanced again.
The decrease in the medium's weight was, therefore, within an ounce of 2½ lb.
Immediately after I had surely obtained the new balance, the control's voice,
issuing apparently from somewhere near the roof within the circle, cried out
"Weigh me," and a trumpet dropped with a crash to the floor within the circle.
The medium's weight then immediately returned to the original value.
About a quarter of an hour later the same thing happened: the medium's weight
suddenly decreased almost exactly 2½ lb.; the control's voice called out from
near the ceiling, "Weigh me"; a trumpet dropped with a crash to the floor; and
the medium's weight immediately returned to normal.
The whole experiment was carried out in absolute darkness, only the senses of
touch and hearing being of any use to the experimenter. What, then, are the
chances that the decrease in the medium's weight was due to genuine psychic
action and not to fraud?
(a) With the exception of the occasion when her
weight decreased as described, there was absolutely no action on the
weighing-machine. The lever was very delicately balanced, and I could note, by
my sense of touch, if it moved the smallest amount. I am perfectly satisfied in
my own mind that the medium, far from moving off the machine, or touching, or
pushing on, or lifting extraneous bodies, hardly moved a muscle all the time she
was sitting on the machine (possible exceptions, of course, being during the two
periods of decreased weight). If she had done any of these things the delicately
poised lever would have given it away. Moreover, the medium is a large heavy
woman, and any movements she would make, especially from the small platform of a
weighing-machine seven inches above the floor, would most likely be of a clumsy
nature. Therefore any fraud attempted was only during the periods of decreased
weight.
(b) If the medium lifted a trumpet with a hand or foot and held it out in the
air, the weighing-machine would register increase of weight equal to weight of
trumpet. The medium's weight, however, decreased on both occasions.
(c) If the medium put out a hand, grasped the end of a trumpet and pressed the
other end of the trumpet on the floor, her weight would decrease. In order,
however, to make the decrease almost exactly 2½ lb. on two separate occasions,
she would need to have a very nice sense of touch.
(d) If acting fraudulently, the medium, during the period of the fraud, must
have been doing something with the trumpet, for it crashed on the floor as soon
as the voice spoke, and then immediately she regained her lost weight. It is
certain she did not lift the trumpet clear of the floor at any time, for at no
period was there the slightest increase in her weight. Yet the voice spoke from
near the ceiling. If the trumpet had been pressed on the ceiling by the medium
she would have gained weight, and during the time she was lifting it from floor
to the ceiling she would have also gained weight.
Taking it on the whole, I am inclined to think the
phenomenon was genuine, and that the decrease in weight of 2½ lb. was due to
psychic action.
As practically no phenomena were forthcoming while the medium was sitting on the
weighing-machine (with the exception of those noted), I finally removed the
machine, and the medium sat on a chair placed on the floor. The medium said that
the iron of the machine was hindering the production of phenomena. Voices in
fair number then spoke, but nothing in the way of tests of identity was given.
I asked the control if, during the experiment, I had been weighing her or the
trumpet. She did not seem to know, for she told me to "find out" for myself.
Séance III
Date: Saturday, 27th April
Time: 8 to 9.30 p.m.
Weights of medium and sitters and just after the
séance:
| |
Weight
just before séance |
Weight
just after séance |
Mrs Z. (medium)
Mrs A.
Mr M.
Mr U.
Mr W.
Mrs S.
Mrs T. |
20 st
10 st
13 st
10 st
11 st
10 st
9 st |
6 lb.
3 lb.
¾ lb.
13½ lb.
4⅞ lb.
6¾ lb.
12½ lb. |
20 st
10 st
13 st
10 st
11 st
10 st
9 st |
5½ lb.
2½ lb.
½ lb.
13⅛ lb.
4⅛ lb.
6½ lb.
12¼ lb. |
The above weights include the weight of chair and drawing-board (18¾ lb.).
Experiment to determine if the "Direct Voice"
could be registered on a Phonograph
In order that the medium might not be able to move
the trumpets with her feet, I devised an electrical apparatus which effectually
prevented this. A photograph of it is shown (fig. 29). It consists of a couple
of flat boards hinged at their back ends to an under board which is screwed to
the floor. An electrical contact device and springs are so arranged to each that
normally the contacts are closed and an electric bell in the circuit rings. If a
person sits on a chair and places a foot on each of the flat hinged boards, the
contacts are opened due to the weight, and the bell ceases to ring. Each
foot-rest operates independently. Between the two footrests is a vertical board
sufficiently high to prevent one foot from being placed across both rests
simultaneously. Many control tests showed that neither foot could be raised for
an instant without the bell ringing.
When Mrs Z. came into the séance-room and saw the foot electrical apparatus she
seemed annoyed and nervous (I had not previously told her of it). She said I
should have made arrangements with her guides, i.e. spirit controls, before it
was used. It took a lot of coaxing before she would consent to sit on a chair
above the apparatus and put her feet on it.
A friend of mine, Mr Stoupe, sat on her left, and Mrs Mills on her right,
throughout the whole séance. The medium placed a hand on each knee. A minute or
two after the light was put out each of these sitters linked the little finger
of each of the medium's hands with their own hands, and I have their word that
except during the times the light was subsequently lit (it was lit twice) they
held tightly and that the medium's hands were never free. On the occasions upon
which the light was temporarily lit I examined the situation and found each of
the medium's hands properly gripped: in fact, they were gripped so tightly that
it was necessary, during the few minutes the light was on, to relax hands
temporarily in order to give relief to the fingers of medium and sitters, which
had become cramped. But before the light was again extinguished the medium's
hands were again tightly held.
As I have said, Mrs Z., although obviously nervous and ill at ease, eventually
submitted to all the test conditions. The trumpets were placed upright on the
floor within the circle and the light was extinguished.
Within four minutes from the commencement, the control's voice was heard from
the air within the circle. I was surprised at this quick starting of phenomena,
as at the previous séances they had been much slower in getting under way. Is it
possible that the control, being a real spirit entity, desired to give her
mother confidence and to show her that there was no reason for her nervousness?
At any rate this was the effect produced, for the medium immediately became
quite cheerful.
The phonograph was resting on a table outside the circle of sitters,
directly opposite the medium. The horn of the instrument was more than seven
feet distant from her.
The control seemed to be in charge, so I explained that I wished her to bring
the mouth of the trumpet, through which the direct voice would speak, right up
to the horn of the phonograph, as otherwise the voice might not be clearly
reproduced. She rather discourteously replied that "she would do what she
liked."
However, in a short time she said she was ready. I told her to wait until she
heard the buzzing of the machine and then to speak into it. Before I pulled the
lever which started the machine (it was an Edison "Standard," kindly loaned me
by Mr Edens Osborne of Belfast), I asked the sitters on either side of the
medium if they had tight hold of her hands, and they replied in the affirmative.
The cylinder had only made a few revolutions when the control commenced to sing
a song into the horn. This song was three verses in length, and at the end of
each verse she interjected remarks such as "How's that?" etc. I told her to sing
a little louder, and during the third verse she sang quite loudly.
I plainly felt the movement of the air just at the mouth of the phonograph horn
as the song was being sung, which would seem to indicate that the end of the
trumpet was moving to and fro at the spot. Moreover, the control's voice
emanated from a position just at the mouth of the horn. I did not attempt to
touch the trumpet, as I knew from experience that if I did so it would be likely
to drop. If an end of the trumpet was thus right at the mouth of the phonograph
horn, as it appeared to be, the nearest distance of the other end of the trumpet
from the medium must have been well over four feet. At the conclusion of the
song, and after I had stopped the instrument, I asked the sitters on either side
of the medium if they still had hold of her hands, and they replied in the
affirmative. These sitters afterwards told me that during the taking of the
record the medium's hands were vibrating rapidly, as though they were under
great nervous stress.
Then occurred the incident of the silk coat (discussed later).
The control asked that the light be turned on, which was done. I tried the
record and found the voice satisfactorily recorded.
Another blank record was put on the machine, the medium's hands were held, and
the light was put out. The control, at my request, this time spoke into the horn
of the phonograph, instead of singing, and again the voice was recorded.
There is internal evidence in the records themselves that the voice must have
been speaking right into the horn of the phonograph and not from some distance
away. Amongst people who are continually making records it is well known that if
the voice to be recorded speaks too close into the horn a kind of tinny,
metallic sound is produced which spoils the quality of the reproduced voice.
Phonograph manufacturers call this effect "blasting." In several places in the
two records of the control's voice this metallic "blasting" is heard, indicating
that the voice must have been very close to, if not indeed within, the horn of
the phonograph.
At the conclusion of the experiment the electrical foot apparatus was tested and
was found to be working perfectly.
The Coat Incident
At the commencement of the séance the medium wore a
knitted silk coat having sleeves reaching down to the wrist. There was a silk
belt fastened round it at the waist.
Just after the first phonographic record had been taken I heard a peculiar
fussling noise near me (on the side of the circle remote from the medium). When
the light was turned on, the coat and belt were found neatly hung over the arm
of one of the men (Mr W.), sitting opposite the medium and perhaps five feet
distant from her. They had previously landed on Mrs T.'s hands, and had then
seemed to take a leap on to the gentleman's arm (so at least says Mrs T.). One
sleeve of the coat was found turned outside in. The belt was found undone and
separate from the coat. At the time the coat was thrown or lifted on to Mr W.'s
arm, both Mrs Mills and Mr Stoupe were holding one of the medium's hands, and
her feet were on the electrical apparatus. But there was a minute or two at the
beginning of the séance, while the hands of everybody were supposed to be
resting on knees, during which the medium's hands were free. Hence there is
nothing of test conditions about this incident, and I only relate it as a matter
of interest.
Séance IV
Date: Sunday, 28th April 1918.
Time: 7.30 to 9 p.m.
Weights of sitters just before and just after the
séance:
| |
Weight
just before séance |
Weight
just after séance |
Mrs Z.
Mrs A.
Mr M.
Mr W.
Mr U.
Mrs Q.
Mrs P. |
...
10 st
12 st
11 st
10 st
10 st
10 st |
...
1½ lb.
12 lb.
5 lb.
13⅞ lb.
8¾ lb.
4¾ lb. |
...
10 st
12 st
11 st
10 st
10 st
10 st |
...
1½ lb.
11¾ lb.
5 lb.
13½ lb.
8¾ lb.
4¾ lb. |
The above weights include the weight of chair and drawing-board (18¾ lb.).
There was very little phenomena at this séance, and the reader should note that
the decreases in weight of the sitters are not so marked as in previous
sittings.
Experiment with a Photographic Plate
The medium held a dark slide containing a half plate
in her hands for half an hour. There were noises as though the slide was being
opened and closed, and the medium may have been doing this. The control's voice
was heard saying that she was trying to put something on the plate.
Result.- Negative. Nothing whatever on the plate.
Experiment with Curtain Rings
Two wooden curtain rings were placed on the floor
with A request to the operators to interlock them. (This would have amounted to
the penetration of solid matter by solid matter.)
Result. - Negative.
Experiment with Clay in Sealed Box
A wooden box about 12 inches square and 4 inches
high was used. Into this some modeller's clay was placed and nicely smoothed.
The lid was then placed on it and the whole roped and sealed. The operators were
asked to make an impression on the clay inside the box without breaking the
seals.
Result. - Negative.
The Municipal Technical Institute,
Belfast,
6th May 1918
I hereby declare that during the whole time the
control was singing and speaking into the phonograph, I had firm hold of Mrs
Z.'s left hand. Her hand was resting on her knee and my little finger was
tightly twisted round her little finger. Dr Crawford asked me just before each
phonograph record was taken and just after it was taken if I was sure I had
tight hold. I replied that I was sure.
(Signed) Seamus Stoupe
Bray,
Co. Wicklow
7th May 1918.
I hereby declare that during the whole time the
control was singing and speaking into the phonograph, I had firm hold of Mrs
Z.'s right hand. Her hand was resting on her knee and my little finger was
tightly twisted round her little finger. Dr Crawford asked me just before each
phonograph record was taken and just after it was taken if I was sure I had
tight hold. I replied that I was sure.
(Signed) Marian Mills.
Note: The above article appeared in "Experiments
in Psychical Science" by W. J. Crawford (1919, E. P. Dutton & Co, New York).
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