Mental and Trance Mediumship Medium A person who

Mental and Trance Mediumship Medium: A person who allegedly communicates with the dead.

Mental Mediumship Ostensible direct communication between the mind of a medium and the mind of a discarnate person. Discarnate Person Information Medium The mode of communication is telepathic. Sitters must rely on the medium’s description of messages she is allegedly receiving from the discarnate person.

Trance Mediumship Ostensible spirit communication mediated by the spirit’s control of the medium’s body as an instrument of communication with the living. 1. The medium goes into a trance-like state (typically voluntarily). While in this state, a new personality emerges and animates the medium’s body. 2. The spirit or discarnate person controls the vocal organs of the medium to speak, arms to gesture, facial muscles for facial expressions, and the medium’s hands to write (automatic writing).

Discarnate Person causal control Medium’s Body

Leonora Piper (1857 -1950) The first mental medium to provide members of the British and American societies for psychical research with convincing evidence of her abilities.

Leonora Piper’s Background At age eight, Leonora Piper had a vision concerning the death of her Aunt Sarah. As it turned out, her Aunt actually died about the time she had the vision. Leonora Piper’s demonstrations of mediumship began in Boston shortly after her marriage in 1884. While visiting a medium and healer named J. R Cocke in 1884, Mrs. Piper fell into a brief trance state. On her second visit to Cocke, she fell into a deeper trance. This time she rose from her chair, located a pencil and paper, and began to write a note.

The Note…. The note was directed to Judge Frost (of Cambridge Massachusetts) who was present. The message on the note claimed to be from Judge Frost’s deceased son. Shortly after this incident, Piper began holding seances in her home on a regular basis. Word of her abilities spread throughout Boston and the northeast region of the United States. Piper continued her mediumship, often despite serious physical illness, until 1911, at which time her powers seemed to diminish.

Mrs. Piper’s Mediumship Like many other mediums, Mrs. Piper manifested two different types of personalities in her trance states. Communicator: An alleged discarnate spirit of a formerly Communicator living person who sends messages to the living through the medium. Control: A personality manifested during trance states that assists Control with contacting the spirit world. The control was a kind of afterlife operator who could make a connection with the spirits of people who had died. Controls often claimed to be the spirits of the deceased, and they often spoke “on behalf” of the communicator.

Methods of Communication Piper’s controls and communicators spoke through the medium by taking control of the mediums vocal organs and/or producing written messages by controlling the medium’s arms and hands (co-called automatic writing). Piper’s first consistent control was an alleged French doctor named Phinuit. This particular control dominated Piper’s seances until 1892, at which time a new control appeared named George Pelham (or G. P). The G. P. personality corresponded to a man by the same name who had lived in Boston and died in New York in 1892. G. P. was a lawyer with literary and philosophical interests. He had also been an acquaintance of several members of the Society of Psychical Research.

In the early phase of Piper’s mediumship, the Phinuit control communicated by voice. This gradually gave way to a greater reliance on automatic writing from controls and communicators. In some cases voice and automatic writing were both used, sometimes simultaneously, by one or more personalities.

Researchers Who Studied Piper

William James (Harvard University) Sir Oliver Lodge (Liverpool University) Richard Hodgson (Cambridge University) Frank Podmore James Hyslop (Columbia University) Frederic Myers (Cambridge University)

William James (1842 -1910) Shortly after her rise to popularity, Piper came to the attention of Harvard psychologist and philosopher William James (1842 -1910). James was also one of the founders of the American Society for Psychical Research (1885). James would end up publishing dozens of articles (500 pages worth) on topics related to psychical research, including Piper’s mediumship.

• James had 12 impressive initial sittings with Piper in 1885 in which she revealed intimate details about James family and his own life. • He sent 25 different persons to Piper as sitters, taking necessary precautions to ensure that they had never met Piper before. Sitters were also introduced on separate occasions and under pseudonyms. • Piper consistently provided correct and highly detailed information about the deceased relatives of the sitters and demonstrated an intimate knowledge of the lives of the sitters. James published the results in a 1886 article. James wrote the following about his first personal sitting with Piper: “My impression after this first visit was that Mrs. Piper was either possessed of super-normal powers or knew the members of my wife’s family by sight and had by some lucky coincidence become acquainted with such a multitude of their domestic circumstances as to produce the startling impression which she did. ”

James went on to conclude: “My later knowledge of her sittings and personal acquaintance with her has led me to absolutely reject the latter explanation, and to believe that she has supernormal powers” -Letter to Frederic Myers (1890)

James’ 1886 report on Piper inspired British researcher Richard Hodgson to come to America and begin a detailed investigation of Piper. Hodgson was a leading member of the Society of Psychical Research in England a recognized expert in detecting fraud. He had on several occasions exposed fraudulent mediums. Hodgson moved to Boston in 1887 and began a thorough investigation of Piper, which continued until Hodgson’s death in 1905. His work involved the analysis of the results of well over a thousand sittings, hundreds of which Hodgson himself participated in and presided over, often with other researchers.

Hodgson’s Investigative Techniques • Hodgson hired private detectives to spy on Piper for several weeks, to ensure that Piper was not acquiring her information through agents or other normal means. • Sitters were introduced under pseudonyms and typically selected by Hodgson himself and/or other researchers. • Hodgson took Piper to England in the Winter 1889 -90 to provide further assurance that Piper had no prior acquaintance with the sitters. • Hodgson and fellow researchers also tried to craft questions, the answers to which were unknown to the sitters at the time.

Hodgson’s Documentation of Piper’s Mediumship Hodgson, Richard. (1892). “A Record of Observations of Certain Phenomena of Trance. ” Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 8, pp. 1 -167. Hodgson, Richard. (1897 -8). “A Further Record of Observation of Certain Phenomena of Trance. ” Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 13, pp. 284 -582.

The Kakie Sittings (1893) Mr. And Mrs. Sutton In December 1893 Hodgson booked two sittings with Mrs. Piper for the Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Sutton. The Suttons daughter Katherine (nicknamed Kakie) had recently died. Kakie’s Illness and Death The precise cause of Kakie’s death is not disclosed in Hodgson’s publication, but Mrs. Sutton informed Mrs. Howard that Kakie’s fatal illness involved a severe sore throat and swollen tongue. Kakie’s Siblings Kakie had a brother named George and two sisters, Margaret and Eleanor. Her siblings were still alive, but they were not present at the sittings.

The Sittings • The Suttons brought with them to the sittings various items belonging to their daughter (e. g. , a silver medal, buttons). • The Suttons were introduced under the pseudonym “Smith, ” and they had never visited Piper before. Present also was Mrs. Howard, an expert note taker who carefully recorded the sittings for Richard Hodgson, as she had many other sittings. • Dr. Phinuit was the control and claimed to have made contact with Kakie. Phinuit either spoke or gestured on behalf of Kakie throughout each of the two sittings.

Selections from the Transcript

Phinuit says, “A little child is coming to you. . . ” With open arms Phinuit says: “Come here, dear. Don’t be afraid. Come darling, here is your mother. ” Phinuit proceeds to describe the child as a young girl with “lovely curls. ” [Kakie had very striking curls. ] “Where is papa? Want papa. ” Phinuit takes a silver medal from the table. . . “I want this – want to bite it. ” [Kakie used to bite it. ] Reaching for a string of buttons, “Quick, I want to put them in my mouth. ” [Kakie used to bite buttons]. . “Who is Dodo? ” [Dodo was Kakie’s nickname from her brother George. ]

“Speak to me quickly. I want you to call Dodo. Tell Dodo I am happy. Cry for me no more. ” Gesturing with hands to throat, “No sore throat anymore. ” [Kakie had pain in her throat and tongue before she died. ] “Papa, speak to me. Can not you see me? I am not dead. I am living. I am happy with grandma. ” [Mrs. Sutton’s mother, Kakie’s grandmother, had been dead for many years. ]. . . Phinuit says, “Was this little one’s tongue very dry? She keeps showing me her tongue. ” [Kakie’s tongue was paralyzed before her death. ] Phinuit: “Her name is Katherine, but she calls herself Kakie. ” Correct.

. . . “Where is horsey? ” After Mrs Sutton pulls out a little horse and hands it to Phinuit, “Big Horsey, not little one. ” [Kakie here refers to another horse that was hidden away at the house that she secretly loved. Mrs Sutton realizes this later. ] “Dear Papa, take me wide” meaning to “ride. ” “Do you miss your Kakie? Do you see your Kakie? The pretty white flowers you put on me, I have here. I took little souls out and kept them with me. ” [Phinuit describes here on Kakie’s behalf the lilies of the valley placed in her casket. ] “Papa, want to go wide horsey. I like that Horsey. I go to ride. ” [Kakie had asked all during her sickness to ride her horse. ]

. . . Mrs. Sutton asks: “Do you remember anything from the day you were brought down the stairs? ” Kakie (through Phinuit) says: “I was so hot, my head was so hot. ” [Correct]. . “Eleanor, I want Eleanor. ” [This was Kakie’s little sister whom she asked for regularly during her illness. ] “I want my buttons. Row, my song, sing it now, I sing with you. ” [This was a song Kakie sang during her final days alive]. The family joins in singing the song with Phinuit, but Kakie finishes the last verse of the song by herself. . “Where is Dinah? I want Dinah!” [Dinah was the name of Kakie’s rag doll. ] “I want Bagie. ” [Kakie’s name for her sister Margaret. ] “I want Bagie to bring me my Dinah. . . ”

. . . “I want the tic-tic…Open the tic-tic, mama. Do you love me so? I want to see the mooley-cow, where is the mooleycow. Take me to see it. ” [“Tic tic” was Kakie’s name for clocks. She was taken almost daily to see cows, which she referred to as “mooley-cows. ”]. . . “I will put my hand on papa’s head when he goes to sleep. Want the babee. ” [Kakie’s pronunciation of her doll. ] Phinuit takes the doll and says: “She wants it to cuddle up to her, so. She wants to sing to it. Bye, Bye. ” The actual transcript is considerably longer.

Observations 1. Phinuit as the control exhibits a vivid and detailed knowledge about Kakie and her family. 2. Phinuit was able to speak and gesture on behalf of Kakie in a way that made it seem like it was Kakie who was the ultimate source of the information. • Linguistic Features: “Want to go to wide horsey, ” and similar expressions with idiosyncratic pronunciation or syntax. • Gestures: In the second sitting, Kakie asks for the “little book” [prayer book] from which Mrs. Sutton read during the latter part of Kakie’s illness, and which Mrs. Sutton placed in Kakie’s hands after Kakie died. Phinuit gestures by putting Piper’s hands in the same position as Kakie’s at death.

3. Phinuit knows Kakie’s nicknames for family members (brother George, Dodo; sister Margaret, Bagie), as well as Kakie’s unique names of objects such as her dolls (Dinah, Babee), clock (tic-tic), and cows (mooley-cow). 4. Phinuit exhibits specific interests and desires indicative of Kakie, for example, wanting to sing her favorite songs, play with specific toys, see particular things which Kakie enjoyed in life (e. g. , the mooley-cow). 5. The flow of conversation doesn’t allow much if any fishing for information. It thereby creates the impression of an actual discarnate person who is engaged in conversation, in a way appropriate for her age and experience.

The sittings demonstrate how Piper was effective with the information she delivered and the manner of delivery. The delivery trance personalities are capable of exhibiting characteristics of the deceased that could not be adequately captured through the mere transmission of information.

George Pelham Sittings (1892 – 1897) • George Pelham (G. P. ), a writer and poet with a Harvard law degree, died as the result of an accidental fall in New York in February 1892. He was 32. • G. P. had an interest in philosophy and the topic of survival of death. He was an associate of the American Society for Psychical Research. • Richard Hodgson first met G. P. shortly arriving in America to study Piper. • While alive G. P. had promised to make an attempt to communicate with Hodgson if he should die before Hodgson and “find myself alive. ”

• Hodgson was present the first time G. P. appeared in a Piper session in March 1892, about four weeks after Pelham’s death. • Also present at this sitting was John Hart, an intimate friend of G. P. Hart’s identity was not revealed to Piper. • Dr. Phinuit was Piper’s control at this sitting. • After stating that a certain “George” would like to speak to Mr. Hart, a personality claiming to be G. P. announced his presence through Phinuit.

The Veridical Data The G. P. personality provided the following information to Hodgson and John Hart. 1. G. P. ’s real name, which was George Pellew. 2. The name of John Hart and his relation to G. P. 3. The full names of several of G. P. ’s close friends and private matters related to them. 4. A pair of studs Mr. Hart was wearing had been removed from G. P. ’s body by G. P. ’s stepmother and sent to Mr. Hart from G. P. ’s father as a G. P. momento. • Note: At the time of the sitting, Mr. Hart knew that G. P. ’s father had sent the studs to him, but he did not know that they had been removed from G. P. ’s body by his mother. This was subsequently verified.

G. P. manifested three weeks later at a session with Hodgson, an SPR associate, and a certain Mr. Vance who had known G. P. After mentioning the names of some of his intimate friends (also mentioned in the sitting with Mr. Hart), G. P. expressed in writing a wish to see his father. G. P. then said to Mr. Vance, “How is your son? I want to see him sometime. ” Mr. Vance: “Where did he [G. P. ] know my son? ” “In studies in college. ” “Where did George stay with us? ” “Country, peculiar house, trees around, porch that projects at the front. . . Vine at the side. Porch at the front, and swing on the other side. ”

The information was correct. Mr. Vance had a son who went to college with G. P. , and G. P. visited the Vance family at Mr. Vance’s country house, which was as G. P. described it. In subsequent sittings (between 1892 and 1897), G. P. provided a consistent flow of veridical information to other intimate friends and family members, including G. P’s father and mother. In some cases the G. P. personality could provide a specific description of concurrent activities in the lives of friends or family members. For example, G. P. correctly stated (on April 22, 1892) that his father, who was living in Washington, had taken a photograph of G. P. to a photographer during the past week to be copied.

Between 1892 and 1897, there were at least 150 different people who had sittings with Piper. 30 of these people were former friends of G. P. GP correctly identified 29 out of 30 of the 150 as his former friends or relatives, usually providing intimate details of his associations with them at different times in his life. G. P. didn’t identify anyone as a former friend who was not one of his former friends. The single acquaintance G. P. did not initially identify was a young girl when G. P. last saw her. Later in the sitting, G. P. realized that she was the grown-up daughter of one of his friends.

After twelve years of investigation Hodgson concluded that Piper had genuine mediumistic abilities, that she was actually in contact with the discarnate spirits of those who had died. "During the first few years I absolutely disbelieved in her power. I had but one object, to discover fraud and trickery…of unmasking her. Today, I am prepared to say that I believe in the possibility of receiving messages from what is called the world of spirits. I entered the house profoundly materialistic, not believing in the continuance of life after death; today I say I believe. The truth has been given to me in such a way as to remove from me the possibility of a doubt. ” ~ Richard Hodgson

Researchers such as William James and Hodgson were convinced that Piper had not engaged in fraud. Frank Podmore, a well-known skeptic of the day, was also convinced that Piper had not engaged in fraud. “Mrs. Piper’s trance statements are so precise, and the possibility of leakage to Mrs. Piper through normal channels in many cases so effectively excluded, that it is impossible to doubt that we have here proof of a supernormal agency of some kind – either telepathy by the trance intelligence from the sitter or some kind of communication from the dead” ~ Frank Podmore

Hodgson died in 1905, after investigating Piper for 18 years. Curiously, a week after his death, a new control appeared in the Piper seances. Communicating through Piper, Richard Hodgson assured friends and family that he had indeed survived death. The Hodgson personality appeared on numerous occasions to different sitters for the better part of a year.

During a session with Professor William Newbold on July 23, 1906, the Hodgson control said: “And I am not wholly conscious of my own utterances because they come out automatically, impressed upon the machine (Piper’s body)…I impress my thoughts on the machine which registers them at random, and which are at times doubtless difficult to understand. I understand so much better the modus operandi than I did when I was in your world. ” William Newbold

The Hodgson personality said he was present in spirit the prior week when Newbold and William James were privately discussing Hodgson. The Hodgson control revealed details of the conversation which James later confirmed. The Hodgson personality, typically communicating through automatic writing, revealed similar curious details to other researchers who knew him while he was alive.