News of Christ from the Afterlife

Although I’m not superstitious and an atheist, I am, of course, sometimes affected by certain cultural themes. And so, when I was reading a book about Spiritualism, I couldn’t help but be unsettled by the following passage that describes part of a seance.

Now, to put this in some context, one of the people at this seance was the Reverend Dibdin, who was determined to show the other people present that Spiritualism was the work of the Devil, so it’s likely that there was a certain amount of pushing and pulling on his part. Nevertheless, if I’d been there, I’m sure that I would have been as appalled as the witnesses. The description of the seance continued...

“As the last letter was indicated, the girl drew her hands quickly off the table, much as a person would do who was drawing them off a hot iron. Her brother-in-law turned vary pale, and took his hands off the table also.

“Now,” I [ie, Rev Dibdin] said, “I hope you are satisfied.” “Yes,” he said, “I am.” I said, “You must notice this: the table has told you things you did not know before, and, in connexion with them, tells you that Christ in not God, and at last tells you that he is in hell. Now, I entreat you to have nothing more to do with Table-Moving.”

According to the lecture, it had the desired effect, although the man involved later rationalised table-turning as being somehow related to electricity.

By the way, the “things you did not know before” which the spirits told everyone earlier in the seance were disappointingly mundane: the age of the Princess Royal and what the time was. That’s not really the kind of unknowable knowledge that I expect from a departed spirit.


References:

Dibdin, R. W., (1853) “Table Turning: A Lecture”

The Syderstone Ghost

The issue of Bury and Norwich Post for 8 May 1833 carried a story about a series of daily hauntings in Sydertsone Parish, Norfolk, England.

"The following circumstance has been creating great alarm in the neighbourhood of Fakenham for the last six weeks. In Syderstone Parsonage lives the Rev. Mr. Steward, Curate, and Rector of Thwaighte. The house has a modern appearance, and not at all calculated for concealment. About six weeks since an unaccountable knocking was heard in it in the middle of the night. The family became alarmed, not being able to discover the cause. Since then it has gradually been becoming more violent until it has now arrived at such a frightful pitch that one of the servants has left through absolute terror, and the family, we understand, intend removing as early as possible."

A modern reader not familiar with the area may take the name "Fakenham" as a clue that the story isn't to be trusted, but such a town does exist and I suppose ghosts are as likely to appear there as anywhere else. Similarly, the same article gives the supposed name of the man haunting it as "Reverend Mental", which would also cause some eyebrows to be raised.

However, leaving these suggestive (but misleading) aspects aside, in the weeks that followed, two newspapers carried articles describing the phenomenon at Syderstone Parsonage and the debate surrounding them. Three weeks after the first article, on 29 May 1833, the same paper carried a story describing how a number of investigators (all named in the article) had gone to witness the phenomenon for themselves.

"The first commencement was in the bed-chamber of Miss Stewart, and seemed like the clawing of a voracious animal after its prey. Mrs. Spurgeon was at the moment leaning against the bed post, and the effect on all present was like a shock of electricity. The bed was on all sides clear from the wall; — but nothing was visible. Three powerful knocks were then given to the sideboard, whilst the hand of Mr. Goggs was upon it. The disturber was conjured to speak, but answered only by a low hollow moaning; but on being requested to give three knocks, it gave three most tremendous blows apparently in the wall. The noises, some of which were as loud as those of a hammer on the anvil, lasted from between 11 and 12 o'clock until near two hours after sunrise."

Having described a number of events and the baffled reaction of the visiting gentlemen, the article ends by calling the haunting an "unaccountable mystery".

On 12 June, a letter from one of those present, Reverend Samuel Titlow, was published drawing attention to a few inaccuracies, as he saw it, of the previous letter.

"The noises were not loud; they commenced in the bed room of Miss Steward and the female servants, and the time of the commencement was, as we had been prepared to expect, exactly at half past one o'clock a.m. It is true that knocks seemed to be given, or were actually given, on the side-board of a bed in an adjoining room, where two little boys were sleeping, whilst Mr. Goggs' hands were upon it, but they were not " powerful knocks."

[ ... ]

If the writer of the paragraph had been present with us, he would not have said that we were terrified, as if we had experienced " a shock of electricity;" but rather, that though there was no want of proper decorum, we were all in good humour"

He seemed convinced that there was nothing supernatural behind the events, also adding that he couldn't believe that a ghost would appear "for trifling purposes, or accompanied with trifling effects."

On 22 June, the Norfolk Chronicle carried a number of witness statements regarding the hauntings going back many years. These statements had been submitted to the magistrates as Affidavits, but since it was not clear if the magistrate could legally accept Affidavits on a subject of this nature, they were published in the local paper. The earliest event described was from 1785, when Rev Mantle (the source of the name "Mental", it appears) moved in to the parish. He immediately boarded up two rooms, and there was one occasion when his sister saw something "which had greatly terrified her".

How much faith can be placed in so vague a report after so many years is unsure but, as Rev Mr Titlow mentioned in a later letter, it had at least removed the blame of the haunting from the former occupant.

Rev Mr Titlow's letters prompted a lengthy reply from Reverend John Spurgin (who had also been present at the investigation in May) which is peppered with italics as repeatedly emphasises his indignation. He begins by stating that he had "furnished the public with the best information in my power, as to the facts connected with the knockings" and he dismisses Mr Titlow's arguments as "conjecture", "mere conjecture" and "ridicule and insinuation!"

The spat between the two reverends was short lived, since Rev Mr Titlow wrote in the Norfolk Chronicle, 27 July 1833, that he stood by his doubts and that "Time, Sir, and facts duly authenticated, authenticated on the testimony of me, unbiassed, unreserved, intelligible in their representations, and of sound judgment and discretion, may hereafter prove what or who is the evil spirit at Syderstone."

References:
Bury and Norwich Post, 8 May 1833
Bury and Norwich Post, 29 May 1833
Bury and Norwich Post, 12 June 1833
Norfolk Chronicle, 22 June 1833
Norfolk Chronicle, 29 June 1833
Norfolk Chronicle, 13 July 1833
Norfolk Chronicle, 20 July 1833
Norfolk Chronicle, 27 July 1833

Sothern and the Spiritualists

In February 1866 a court case attracted the attention of the media, when the popular actor Edward Askew Sothern was libelled in the pages of a Spiritualist newspaper.

The periodical Spritual Times published allegations that Mr Sothern had, during his time as a pretend medium on a travelling show in the United States, abused (sexually, it is supposed) a woman after having put her in a trance.

"We remember Mr Sothern when, as Mr Stuart, he played the "walking gentleman" at Barnum's Museum, and was considered hardly worth his meagre salary of fifteen dollars a week. We also remember the same Mr. Stuart when, as a small actor at some other place of amusement here, he professed to be a mesmeriser. He created quite a sensation by admitting the truth of an accusation brought against him by a certain new actress that he had grievously wronged her after placing her in a state of mesmeric influence."

The case was initially brought against Robert Cooper, the printer and publisher of the Spiritual Times. His defence was that he was in Dublin at the time, and had no idea of what was being published in his own weekly periodical. Additionally, it was merely a reprinting of a letter that had appeared in the New York Sunday Times from 31 December 1865. Notwithstanding Mr Cooper's defence, Mr Sothern eventually accepted an apology from Cooper. Meanwhile, the writer of the piece in question, Mr Coleman, pleaded guilty, and was fined £50.

Additionally, another journal, The Spiritual Magazine had published the allegations with the offending parts blanked out with asterisks. They, too, were forced to apologise in print, which they did in a very backhanded manner, stating that "we entirely repudiate and retract and charge or intention to make a charge on those matters, which were out of the knowledge of the writer of the article, or of any one known to us" but in the following paragraph justify their statements by reminding their readers that "Spiritualism, he [Mr Sothern] says, is a delusion, a snare, and a swindle, and Spiritualists are personally guilty of imbecility, irreligion, fraud, impudent chicanery, and blasphemous indecency."

The story may have ended there, were it not for a very peculiar turn of events.

Barely two days after the court case had ended, on the 11 April 1866, Mr Sothern was served with papers regarding a divorce in which he was named as a co-respondent. A certain Mr Robertson, from the United States, wished to dissolve his marriage on grounds of adultery, naming Mr Sothern as the third party involved.

However, right from the start, this action had certain aspects that did not make sense. For a start, ten years had passed since the adultery was alleged to have taken place and Mr Robertson admitted he had no money with which to serve papers. In his affidavit he describes how a stranger had approached him. The Era for 8 July 1866 transcribes the section of the affidavit written by Mr Robertson:

"On or about the 6th of April I received a call at the office of the Cash Payment Association (Limited) from Mr Walter Weldon, whom I had never seen or heard of before. He was a total stranger to me. He apologised for introducing so delicate a subject as the domestic affairs of a man to whom he was a stranger, but hoped I would excuse him. He informed me that he called about steps necessary for me to take to procedure a divorce from my wife."

The same issue of The Era, it relates how this same Mr Weldon had written to say that "Robertson's affidavit contains statements respecting him which are wholly untrue, and which he has contradicted on oath."

By the time Edward Sothern appeared in court in mid-July, the case was almost at an end. The judge observed that the petition for divorce seemed to have been presented "under circumstances that would amount to a conspiracy." It was also announced that the petitioner, Mr Robertson, wished to withdraw the accusation.

But the timing of the case, coupled with the curious nature of how the petition was funded and its sudden collapse, raises some questions about how certain members of the Spiritualist movement were unable to forgive Mr Sothern for his time as a fake medium, followed by a successful libel action against two of their most prominent journals.

References
"Mr Sothern and the Spiritualists," The Era, 18 February 1866,
"Mr Sothern and the Spiritualists," The Era, 11 March 1866,
"Mr Sothern and Spiritualism," The Spiritual Magazine, 1866, New Series Vol 1, p143
"Cout of Probate and Divorce," The Morning Post, 4 July 1866
"Robertson v. Robertson and Sothern," The Glasgow Daily Herald, 6 July 1866
"Lord Dundreary and his Persecutors," The Era, 8 July 1866
"Mr Sothern in the Divorce Court," The Taunton Courier, 18 July 1866

Martian for Beginners

In France, March 1894, a woman named Mme Mirbel went to see a medium to try and contact her deceased son. A circle of several people sat, contact was made, and the usual assurances of peace in the afterlife were given by the son, as well as a spirit of a doctor called Raspail who gave Mme Mirbel medical advice on the eye condition she had.

Some months later, in November, she went back for a second seance. This time there was no Dr Raspail (perhaps sulking since Mme Mirbel had not followed his advice) and to everyone's great surprise it was revealed that the son had been reincarnated, and now lived on Mars and spoke no French. Instead, he spoke through the medium in a stream of intelligible noises which, apparently, was the Martian language.

Writing about this in "From India to the Planet Mars", Theodore Flournoy describes the events because he knew the medium well and had been present at both seances, as well as seances that followed. The language uttered by the medium, Hélène Smith (a pseudonym given by Flournoy. Her real name was Catherine-Élise Müller) appeared to be consistent, with the same words, prefixes and suffixes being used.

Over time, it became more sophisticated until some Martian handwriting was produced by the medium in August 1897. Despite his friendship with the medium and his belief in telepathy, he had doubts about this case.

A sample of Martian handwriting

It soon became clear that, despite the different vocabulary, Martian followed the rules of French grammar almost exactly. Flournoy writes of his examination of written Martian:

"It is not always easy to represent a language and its pronunciation by means of the typographical characters of another. Happily the Martian, in spite of its strange appearance and the fifty millions of leagues which separate us from the red planet, is in reality so near neighbor to French that there is scarcely any difficulty in this case." (p 210)

A translation of the same handwriting shown above

Also, the spirits from Mars seemed quite ignorant of those subjects that people asked of them, such as the canals on Mars, and about the snow seen at the poles. Instead, they preferred to talk about the social structure of Martian life.

Müller was born in Switzerland, and although she professed a dislike of learning languages she had studied German. Flournoy notes that she had a multi-lingual father and posits that her talent for languages may have been hereditary, subliminally rising to the surface when in a trance.

In October 1898, having convinced himself that Martian was just French in fancy clothes, he told Müller about his findings (oddly, he had first told one of Müller's spirit guides about his doubts during a seance when the medium was in a trance. The spirit guide insisted that Martian was genuine). She refused to accept his reasoning, saying that science was not infallible and since no one had been to Mars, she couldn't be disproved.

But shortly after this, a new identity from Mars appeared in her seances, this time with the promise of a new language. Additionally, Fournoy noticed a slight change in Martian that focused on those aspects that he had discussed with her earlier. But by now Fournoy had grown quite tired of Martian, and he closes the chapter before any example of this new language had been given.


References
Flournoy, T., (1900) "From India to The Planet Mars, a Study of a Case of Somnambulism with Glossolalia", translated by D.B. Vermilye, Harper and Brothers Publishers
Engles, H., (2008) "Understanding The Glossolalia Of Hélène Smith, The Famous Spiritist Medium", Psychiatries dans l’histoire, J. Arveiller (dir.), Caen, PUC, p. 141-148

A ghost story for Christmas

The early publications of the Society for Psychical Research would frequently contain accounts of peculiar and paranormal events (usually with at least one statement from another witness corroborating the story) and this is a particular favourite of mine since it has a sort of M.R.James style about it, and I'm a big fan of his ghost stories.

The first time it was published, in 1890, all the names of people and places were replaced by initials, but a later report in the JSPR identifies these initials, so I've taken the original account and dropped in the names etc. as and when necessary.

In 1880 I succeeded a Mr. Sternberg as librarian of the Leeds Library. I had never seen Mr. Sternberg, nor any photograph or likeness of him, when the following incidents occurred. I may, of course, have heard the library assistants describe his appearance, though I have no recollection of this. I was sitting alone in the library one evening late in March, 1884, finishing some work after hours, when it suddenly occurred to me that I should miss the last train to Harrogate, where I was then living, if I did not make haste. It was then 10.55, and the last train left Leeds at 11.5.

I gathered up some books in one hand, took the lamp in the other, and prepared to leave the librarian's room, which communicated by a passage with the main room of the library. As my lamp illumined this passage, I saw apparently at the further end of it a man's face. I instantly thought a thief had got into the library. This was by no means impossible, and the probability of it had occurred to me before. I turned back into my room, put down the books, and took a revolver from the safe, and, holding the lamp cautiously behind me, I made my way along the passage – which had a corner, behind which I thought my thief might be lying in wait – into the main room.

Here I saw no one, but the room was large and encumbered with bookcases. I called out loudly to the intruder to show himself several times, more with the hope of attracting a passing policeman than of drawing the intruder. Then I saw a face looking round one of the bookcases. I say looking round, but it had an odd appearance as if the body were in the bookcase, as the face came so closely to the edge and I could see no body. The face was pallid and hairless, and the orbits of the eyes were very deep. I advanced towards it, and as I did so I saw an old man with high shoulders seem to rotate out of the end of the bookcase, and with his back towards me and with a shuffling gait walk rather quickly from the bookcase to the door of a small lavatory, which opened from the library and had no other access.

I heard no noise. I followed the man at once into the lavatory; and to my extreme surprise found no one there. I examined the window (about 14in. x 12in.), and found it closed and fastened. I opened it and looked out. It opened into a well, the bottom of which, 10 feet below, was a sky-light, and the top open to the sky some 20 feet above. It was in the middle of the building and no one could have dropped into it without smashing the glass nor climbed out of it without a ladder – but no one was there. Nor had there been anything like time for a man to get out of the window, as I followed the intruder instantly.

Completely mystified, I even looked into the little cupboard under the fixed basin. There was nowhere hiding for a child, and I confess I began to experience for the first time what novelists describe as an 'eerie' feeling.

I left the library, and found I had missed my train.

Next morning I mentioned what I had seen to a local clergyman, who, on hearing my description, said, "Why that's old Sternberg!" Soon after I saw a photograph (from a drawing) of Sternberg, and the resemblance was certainly striking. Sternberg had lost all his hair, eyebrows and all, from (I believe) a gunpowder accident. His walk was a peculiar, rapid, high-shouldered shuffle.

This story is actually quite famous, and searching for Ghost of Leeds Library will bring up more information. However, what really struck me on reading this was that librarians were armed in those days! It really was a different world back then.

References
Lambert, G.W. (1969), "Stranger Things: Some Reflections", Journal of the Society for Psychical Research Vol. 45, No. 740, p50

Myers, F.W.H., (1889-90), "On Recognised Apparitions Occurring More Than A Year After Death," Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research Vol 6, P57-95

No Wedding for the Dead

I've been writing a lot about Spiritualism recently, since I find these reports fascinating. Whenever possible, I try to avoid second or third hand reports written decades after the event, and stick to contemporary writings.

Nevertheless, I'm aware that I have to read any newspaper articles with half an eye on a journalist's desire to please his audience/make a good story. For example, I've seen the following story in several papers (and in a few websites too, proving that you can't keep a good story down).

The story, titled “Most Shocking Affair in Bordentown” (or in other papers recounting the same story “Married With A Corpse”) describes a Spiritualist ceremony in which a woman is wed to her recently deceased fiancée. The story explains how the young lady “acted at the grave like one really possessed with an evil spirit; she raved and flung herself into the grave and was with difficulty borne from the spot to the residence of the madman whom she regards as her father-in-law.” It adds that at the dinner afterwards, a place was set at the table for him.

However, a couple of months later, a letter appeared in the Daily News explaining that the event was entirely fictional. While there had been a deceased young man and a bereaved fiancée, there was no marriage, no boy medium, no raving and no meal. Just a simple funeral service. And it was a bit of luck that I found this article, since no other newspaper published anything like a retraction of the original story that I can find.

As the letter-writer, John Jones, says “it is a sad pity that the astounding phenomena of spirit manifestations, so general in America and not scarce in England, cannot be opposed by a keener weapon than that of "false witness against thy neighbour".” As it is, I am often doubtful of some of the more colourful descriptions of Spiritualist meetings published in newspapers of the day.

References
“Most Shocking Affair in Bordentown”, New York Times, August 9, 1856
“Married with a corpse”, Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper (London, England), Sunday, August 31, 1856
“Spiritualsim: to the editor of the Daily News”, Daily News (London, England), Tuesday, September 2, 1856

Spiritualist search for balloonist

In my random wanderings through newspaper archives, I recently saw a report about a missing balloonist whose body had recently been discovered, and it mentioned that spiritualists had also contributed to the search.

The story begins in the state of Michigan on the 16th of September 1858 when, during a Sunday School celebration, a hot-air balloon was being packed away after a successful flight, when it broke free and ascended into the air taking one of the pilots, Mr Thurston, with it.

“In this perfectly hapless condition, the ill-fated man sped straight into the sky in full sight of companions more helpless than himself. So far as is known, there was no possible means for him to secure his descent, whether safe or otherwise. The part of the balloon filled with gas was full twelve feet above him, so that there was no chance for him to cut its sides and allow the gas to escape. He could only cling to his precarious hold and go withsoever the currents of air should take him.”
New York Times, Thursday 23rd September 1858

Eyewitness accounts said it began by going south-east, but it was later seen over the town of Blissfield to the north-west, and later still in Catham much further north.

Riga (B), the point of ascent and Chatham (A), the last sighting of the balloon

Nothing more is seen of either the balloon or the balloonist, but in January 1859 a band of local Spiritualists set out from Riga under the guidance of the spirit of Mr Thurston. Their attempts at digging into marsh land was thwarted by the ice, but they drove a pole into the ground and recovered what was apparently human hair.

Their choice of swamp land is interesting because in November 1858 a news report explains that previous searches of swamps recovered two bodies, neither of which were Mr Thurston.

In the end, the body was discovered in March 1859, in a disused lot about a mile north of Sylvania. The state of the body was such that it was the clothing that gave away his identity, and he must've fallen quite soon after the balloon took off, and he ended up in quite the opposite direction that the Spiritualists predicted.

In the above map Riga is marked with a B (Blissfield is visible to its north-west) and A marks the approximate location where the Spritualists said that Thurston's body lay. The red cross marks the approximate location where the body of Mr Thurston was found.

References
“Terrible Adventure of an Aeronaut”, New York Times, Thursday September 23, 1858
“The Lost Aeronaut of Canada”, Liverpool Mercury, Saturday, November 13, 1858
“Spiritualist search for a lost Balloonist”, Cheshire Observer and General Advertiser, Saturday, January 15, 1859
“Lost balloonist discovered”, Manchester Times, Saturday, April 2, 1859

Prediction of the fate of John Franklin 1855

Leading on from my last post about a psychic prediction regarding John Franklin, I have found another example from the pages of Scientific American.

John Franklin was an explorer searching for the North West Passage in the Canadian Arctic, but had not been seen since 1845. In the issue of Scientific American dated 28th August 1855 is a letter from someone who witnessed a seance on the 23rd June concerning the fates of John Franklin and Dr Kane, whose own expedition to the Arctic had gone missing two years previously.

"Sir John Franklin is not in the Spiritual world, he still lives upon the earth with seven more of his original party [...] Dr Kane has lost about thirty of his men and is at present near Sir John Franklin."

In a further session, the psychic describes a terrible storm and informs us that John Franklin and Dr Kane are within site of each other. The Scientific American points out that Dr Kane set out with a crew of twelve and concludes "After losing thirteen more men than comprised the whole expedition, according to the spiritual letter, it is really refreshing to find that Dr Kane has still some more left."

The article further adds that the New Spiritualist journal records a communication dated the 30th June that states that Dr Kane has recently passed away, while John Franklin remains alive.

In the issue dated 20th October 1855, the Scientific American ran an article that describes Dr Kane's return from the Artic, and it ends with "In connection with this gratifying announcement of Dr Kane's return we will make a dash at that superlative humbug of the 19th century called "Spiritualism"," and it reminds its readers of the previous article describing the sad loss of Dr Kane.

Note: The Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research vol 7, p.51 includes a paragraph which also describes a psychic attempt to locate John Franklin. Apparently, this account was published in the Aberdeen Herald on May 18th 1850, but I do not have access to that paper to check for myself. The excerpt reads:

"On the evening of April 22nd I put John Park, tailor, aged 22, into a state of clairvoyance, in presence of twelve respectable inhabitants of this town. ' (Here follows a description of certain statements regarding the fate of J Franklin's expedition and the ships Erebus and Terror, which the light of information subsequently received proved to have been inaccurate.) 'He {the clairvoyant) then visited Old Greenland, as was desired, and having gone on board the Hamilton Ross, a whale-ship belonging to this port, saw David Cardno, second mate, getting his hand bandaged up by the doctor in the cabin, having got it injured while sealing. He was then told by the captain that they had upwards of 100 tons of oil. I again, on the evening of the 23rd, put him into a clairvoyant state.' (Here follow some further particulars regarding Sir John Franklin's expedition, which also are proved to have been inaccurate.) Ί again directed him to Old Greenland, and he again visited the Hamilton Ross, and found Captain Gray, of the Eclipse, conversing with the captain about the seal fishing being up."
(Signed) 'WILLIAM REID.' "


References
Scientific American, "Sir John Franklin and Dr Kane - A Spiritual Communication", 28th August 1855
Scientific American, "Return of the Kane Artcic Expeditions", 20th October 1855
Sidgwick, H., "On the Evidence for Clairvoyance", The Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research vol 7, 1891-92, p.51

The Gate of Remembrance

Further to my blog entry about subconsciously remembering, this may be another (slightly more famous) example.

In 1907 the current owner of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey sold the land in an auction. The eventual winner was Mr Jardine, a Conservative MP, who planned to sell it on to the Church of England once they had raised the money (which they couldn't possibly have done in time for the auction).

Until that time, it had passed from owner to owner with varying amounts of care lavished upon it. Despite it's high standing in English culture, the ruins had not always been carefully preserved. A letter in the 1794 volume of The Gentleman's Magazine complains that stone from the ruins was being taken in order to repair the roads.

Once Mr Jardine had completed the purchase and it looked like only a matter of time before it passed into the hands of the CoE, a new series of archaeological digs was arranged for the site, and the architect Frederick Bligh Bond was put in charge. It was, by all accounts, very successful and in the Times in 1912 they list the findings of the dig.

What was most impressive were the discoveries of three chapels: Edgar's, Dunstan's and the Loretto Chapel (discovered in 1919, so not listed above) whose locations had eluded antiquarians until that date.

In 1919, just as the first traces of the Loretto Chapel had recently come to light, Frederick Bligh Bond held a public lecture in which he confirmed that the source of his information came from a series of psychic experiments, as detailed in his 1918 publication “The Gates of Remembrance” which describes a series of communications with deceased monks who'd lived in the Abbey. In these seances, he was assisted by Mr Bartlett, and their chosen method of communication was automatic writing. In this, the receiver holds a pen lightly on a piece of paper and, in a trance-like state, writes down messages from the departed.

But Messers Bond and Bartlett had both fully researched the history of Glastonbury Abbey, and H.J. Wilkins puts forth the theory that their communications were the result of subconsciously extrapolating guesses and theories based on the information they already knew. Wilkin's points out several obvious clues in previous texts placing the Edgar Chapel at the East end of the Abbey, which is where it was found.

Even the Loretto Chapel, which was barely mentioned in previous literature and is in some ways Bond's most impressive finding, was found in a place illustrated in an old sketch (and also the gardener of the Abbey grounds swore that a previous owner had taken stonework from the ground in that area for building work). Additionally, the spirits only suggested digging in this area after extensive digging along the whole north wall had found nothing. Basically, they said to look in the one place Bond hadn't looked yet.

Given the extensive research that both men had undertaken, and considering the fact that the psychic communications continued after the dig had begun and findings were coming to light, I do wonder if their knowledge of the subject matter was being subconsciously fed back to them through the medium (pardon the pun) of automatic writing.

References:
Gentleman's Magazine, 1794, p305
"Glastonbury Abbey", The Times (London, England), Friday, Nov 22, 1912; pg. 10
Wilkins, H.J., “A Further Criticism of the Psychical Claims concerning Glastonbury Abbey and of the Recent Excavations”, J.W.Arrowsmith Ltd, Bristol, 1923
Bond, F.B., “The Gate of Remembrance”, B.H.Blackwell, Oxford, 1918

Prediction of the fate of John Franklin 1851

In 1851, a short article appeared in the New York Times describing how an unnamed woman was able to psychically visit ships and accurately read their instruments and thus give an account of their position on a given day.

"The (New York) Evening Post pointed out the other day the exact coincidence between the clairvoyant revelations of a young girl at Bolton, whose disclosures, when in a state of somnambulism, were reported at the time in the newspapers, and since in Dr. William Gregory's Letters on Magnetism, and the actual position of Capt Austin on 17th February, 1851." New York Times, 17th October 1851

This seemed very interesting, since it appeared to be a prediction published in newspaper before the exact latitudes could have been known. I decided to investigate further. While I could not find a newspaper article with the prediction, I found a passage from Dr Gregory's book (published in 1851) that read:

"The last observation of which I have heard, 17th February 1851, gave a longitude of 101° 45' W. At the same time, from Captain Austin's writing, which has also been frequently tried, she gave, for him, the longitude of 95° 45' W. She does not know whose ship it is, that, according to her, has met with Franklin, but she still speaks of three ships together.” Letters to a candid inquirer, on animal magnetism, 1851, p306

The first set of co ordinates belong to a ship captained by Sir John Franklin who was on an expedition to discover the Northwestern Passage. Dr Gregory describes:

"These [J Franklin's] ships she first saw in the winter of 1849-50, I believe She described the dress, mode of life, food, &c. of the crews. She saw and described Sir John, and said that he still hoped to get out, but was much surprised that no vessels had come to assist him. She frequently spoke of his occupations, and when asked the time of day, found it either by looking at a timepiece in the cabin, or by consulting Sir John's watch." Letters to a candid inquirer, on animal magnetism, 1851, p304-305

However, I couldn't find any further confirmation of this prediction, despite the newspaper article talking about the "exact coincidence."

I did a little more searching, and found that Captain Austin was indeed at that longitude (approximately) at that date. The only downside was that he was on Griffith Island, not on a ship. In fact, he hadn't set sail since the previous December which calls into doubt her description of "three ships." Also, Captain Austin failed to meet with John Franklin during his search.

However, perhaps the greatest mistake lies with the fact that John Franklin had actually died in 1847, some two years before she started to psychically locate him and his crew. But this was not discovered until 1859, and Dr Gregory died in 1858, so we do not know what reaction he would have given to the news.

References

New York Times, 17th October 1851

William Gregory, “Letters to a candid inquirer, on animal magnetism”, 1851
http://archive.org/details/letterstocandidi00greg

Fate of J Franklin, The Derby Mercury (Derby, England), Wednesday, September 28, 1859

Arctic miscellanies [microform] : a souvenir of the late polar search (1852)
http://archive.org/details/cihm_27872

Skytree predicted in 19th century Japanese art

Recently I heard about a Japanese art print dating from the 1850s which appears to predict the construction of the Skytree: Tokyo’s newest and tallest building.


The English title of the painting is “Caulking Boats” and it was drawn by Utagawa Kuniyoshi and in the background, a cityscape can be seen. Next to a watchtower, there’s a strange spindly tower rising far above the rest of the buildings. This building looks so odd, that it’s easy to believe that it was never actually there and may have been part of some kind of vision.

The first time I saw it, I found it quite a convincing piece of evidence for a premonition. It was definitely from the 1850s, and I couldn’t even begin to imagine what the purpose of such a building would be.

However, it’s easy to misinterpret images from other cultures and ages, so I tried to find out more to put it in context. I couldn’t find any contemporary reaction to the art work, since what may be mysterious to us, may not be mysterious to someone of that time.

While researching this, I’d often read blog posts with a quote from a professor, stating that this tall tower can’t have existed, since no building was allowed to be taller than the Imperial Palace, giving their articles a touch of academic research.

Before long, I found that this type of structure had been depicted by other artists in other pictures. It appears to be a tower that’s used in the making of a well. It’s an exaggerated version of one, certainly, but that’s what it seems to be.

I’m interested about the stages this picture went through before it became this big mystery. First, the people looking at this at the time, it would’ve been obvious what it was. Then there must have been a time, where no one really paid it much thought. People either knew what it was, or they didn’t find it mysterious. Then finally, the print was reassessed in light of the new structure by which time, most people were unable to identify the structure’s initial purpose.

It’s a fascinating example of how, when faced with gaps in our knowledge, we fill them in with our own ideas of how things ought to be according of our understanding of the current world. Rather than trying to see things through the eyes of a contemporary witness.

References

http://www.ukiyoe-ota-muse.jp/H2405viewfromthesky-E.html