The First Seance from Glimpses of the Next State

I have mentioned in several blog articles Vice-Admiral W. Usborne Moore's books documenting the epoch of Spiritualism at the beginning of the 20th Century: Glimpses of the Next State (1911) and The Voices (1913).  The following passage from the earlier book provides an account of the first seance that he attended.  His circumstances in life allowed him to intensively study what he referred to as Spiritualists and spiritism, resulting with many unforgettable experiences.  The mediumship of Cecil Husk (1847-1920) is also a subject of the two preceding articles.

The first séance I attended was on November 16, 1904, in a private room—a studio in Acacia Gardens, St. John's Wood.  The medium was Cecil Husk, who is nearly blind.  I believe he can see pictures or writing put very close to his face, but for all the ordinary purposes of life he is helpless, and has to be attended out of doors by a member of his family.  The table on this occasion was circular, and between four and five feet in diameter.  There were twelve people sitting at it, including Mr. and Mrs. Husk and our host and hostess; there was also an organist at the organ, screened from view by a heavy curtain.  Among the guests was the materialization medium, F. Craddock.  I sat directly opposite Husk, with a lady on either side of me, both of whom are gifted with psychic powers.  On the table were two cards painted with luminous paint, and contained in aluminum frames with a handle of the same substance at the back, placed face downwards; a cardboard tube, and a light zither, which had two phosphorised spots on the bottom of the sounding-board.  This enabled us to see it when it was elevated above the table.

Husk went into trance.  The room was pitch-dark; the organist played a voluntary.  In a short time lights were seen moving about over the table.  I was only able to see one or two, but my psychic neighbours saw several; and the lady on my right asserted that she could see clouds very faintly illuminated.  Scent was detected around us.  Presently, an old, feeble voice, sounding from somewhere above and to the right of Husk, as I faced him, offered a Latin prayer, ending by the Benedicite.  This, I was told, was Cardinal Newman.  He went round the table blessing the sitters individually; and after one final collective blessing, we heard no more of him.  We then sang "Lead, kindly light" to the accompaniment of the organ.  Spirit voices, bass and tenor, joined in with great vigour from some feet above the medium's head and on both sides of it.  There was, I thought, three of these voices, and they were of very fine quality: the big room was filled with sound.  Then a control called "Uncle" made himself known by voice, going round and greeting each member of the circle.  He spoke in a natural voice, but as if he had a small stone in his mouth.

Suddenly, a loud bass voice, coming from above and to the left of Husk, called out: "God bless you all."  This was the chief control, "John King" whose name in earth-life was Henry Morgan, the famous buccaneer of the time of Charles II.  He greeted everybody in the circle by name except me; I had to be introduced. He told me later that he was three times Governor of Jamaica, and was knighted by Charles II.

John King's advent is always the prelude to the materialisations, but before they took place, the zither (usually known as "the fairy bells") was intelligently played by a spirit whose name, I afterwards learned, is Ebenezer.  It rose from the table and soared above the circle, performing all the time a definite tune.  Its movements could be watched by the phosphorescent spots on its under-side.  It rose to a height of many feet (I judged about ten) above the table, paused there a minute, then came down, and after two or three swirls over our heads, dashed on to the floor.  Apparently it went through the floor, for faint music could be heard underneath; after a short interval this became louder and louder, until a sudden change in the strength of the tune made us aware that it was again in the room.  After a few gyrations it was laid down gently on the table.

Materialisations occupied about three-quarters of an hour.  About fifteen spirits materialized.  Only the face and bust were visible.  These showed by one of the illuminated cards held to the side of the face by the right hand.  The women's faces were swathed in a sort of bandage below the nose.  One sitter, who could not recognize his relative, asked for this to be removed; the card was dropped, and presently the form reappeared without the bandage, when he identified his visitor.  This time the illuminated card was not held by the handle at the back, but by two small fingers which I saw clasping the side of it.  The faces were about two-thirds of life size [an impression].  Three came to me.  They presented themselves over the middle of the table about halfway between the medium and myself.  One saluted three times with his illuminated card.  I did not recognize it at first, but found out afterwards that it was Admiral T., an officer under whom I had served nineteen years before.  The first and third appearances were the same.  I could not identify them, and it was not until some months had elapsed that I discovered it was a stranger trying to influence me to bring him into touch with a member of my family.

A Hindu also appeared, either for me or my left-handed neighbour (Miss Bates).  He sank down through the table; I watched him disappear until only his head was visible; the illuminated card (or "slate," as it is often called) fell over it, and he was gone.

One of Handel's solos was sung in a deep bass voice of great compass and power; the low notes were such as I had never heard before. 

The last event of the materialisations was a series of wafts of air, lasting two or three minutes and closely resembling the effect of a punkah, also loud scratches on the table.  While these scratches were going on the voice of Uncle was heard warning the spirit not to make such a noise.  He was answered by a voice from the centre of the table calling "Chuprao, Chuprao!"  (shut up, shut up!).

Before he departed Uncle came round to each person in the circle, addressing them by name, to say "Good night."  The voice sounded to me as if coming from below my knees.  In all subsequent séances the voices have all appeared to come from one and a half to two feet above the table.  I cannot account for this; it may have something to do with the peculiar build and supports of the round table, which we never used afterwards.

During the evening, Craddock's guide "Sister Amy," was seen by clairvoyants standing behind him.  She had several conversations with her medium and his neighbours.  During the singing of "Abide with me," I heard a very audible "good night," and learned that it came from Amy, who was going away.  She was unable to hear the singing, and the abrupt interruption was quite unintentional.

When this séance was over I was much astonished.  I later attended some séances with Husk that were far more fruitful of phenomena and better in every way; but this was my first, and I felt great surprise that such manifestations should be neglected by scientific men, and that they were not better known to the public.  The singing, materialisations and direct voices all appeared to be quite genuine.  I was not particularly affected by the spiritualistic aspect of the séance, though I saw one or two touching incidents of meeting with departed friends; the thing that disturbed me was the apparent indifference of the outside body of thinking people.

 

Moore usually judged the mediums and psychics on the basis of what he personally witnessed in their presence but sometimes his opinions could be influenced by the testimonials of others.  Moore commented about Cecil Husk’s seances —

I have sat with him over forty times, and have only once suspected fraud.  On that occasion the conditions were bad, and I am by no means sure that my doubts were reasonable.  Even supposing my first ideas were correct, there were good reasons for attributing the trick I thought I had witnessed to unconscious fraud. 

Moore considered it possible for Husk to have a sitting when it might be necessary to "help out" the manifestations.  This possibility was feasible to Moore due to a denialist claim made nineteen years earlier that Husk had been "detected impersonating a spirit."  Moore wrote, "From my own personal knowledge or observation, I cannot say I have ever detected him; but I can conceive a séance where fraud and genuine phenomena both occur."

The predicament of Moore occasionally expressing harsh words for mediums whose seances he'd personally observed to present authentic phenomena reminds readers about the wall of disbelief that can intrude on the progress of an individual engaged in developing a perspective of 'unexplained phenomena.'  Moore learned about bewildering circumstances of mediumship.  It was believed that a perplexing phenomenon known as ‘transfiguration’ could occur during a trance and he commented that he disagreed with the "theory . . . that, when an astral figure is seized, the body of its medium may fly to it and coalesce, thus inducing the captor to believe that he originally laid hold of the medium himself . . ."  Nonetheless, although allegations of fraud were made about English medium Craddock, Moore recounted the incidents "indicative of supernormal knowledge, and the consequent reality of the existence of the familiar spirits, which, necessarily, would imply genuine mediumship on the part of Craddock." 

I have listened to these familiars through twenty-five séances, and I have not been able to detect a false note.  Each has his or her own idiosyncrasy of voice and manner.  Even if the voices of Graem and Red Crow could be assumed, it would be impossible to repeat constantly the voices and special modes of speech of Alder, Sister Amy, Joey Grimaldi, and, least of all, the French girl Cerise. 

Moore wrote that during a 1904 séance "a face showed to me which I did not know" —

I described it in my notes thus: "A firm and well-set face . . . the impression of a military man who had seen active service."  This same face appeared to me twice afterwards in another private room, when Husk was the medium; but I was never able to identify it.  On February 6, 1905, A. accompanied me to a séance in the same room as mentioned above (November 16).  The medium was Craddock.  A face resembling that of my puzzle appeared to me.  I could not identify it.  It then swept swiftly across to A., who instantly called "D.," the name of a messmate who had died in China.  The spirit tapped the slate three times and patted A. on the head.  D. has a thin face and light moustache; his gestures are those of a military man, bright and most active.  I do not see how Craddock could personate this face and figure.  He appeared subsequently at every séance attended by A. or myself, and has communicated through the table at Southsea, once giving an address we wanted, which turned out to be quite correct.

Joseph Grimaldi (Joey) called out "That is Captain D., (the name given by A.), and he has been impressing the Admiral to bring you, Mr. A." 

Moore’s supposition about the possibility that on certain occasions Craddock ‘personated’ the materialized Abdullah, "a Ghazi" (Moslem hero), was addressed in February 1906 by vocally manifesting Joey Grimaldi at a Craddock seance — this communicator described by Moore as "alleged to be the famous clown of the early part of last century."  Grimaldi was quoted by Moore: "It is not the medium, but his astral body, which we use to shape the form of the spirits."

In January 1909 during a seance with the Jonsons in Toledo, Ohio, Moore reported a new appearance of Abdullah.  "Then came an etherealisation of a man in silver robes . . . Grayfeather, who had not previously spoken much, said that this spirit had met me before on the other side of the 'great pond,' and that his name was Abdullah.  I presume this was the Abdullah of Craddock's band.  He salaamed several times, but did not speak."

'Joseph (Joey) Grimaldi' was one of the manifesting entities associated with medium Frederick Foster Craddock.