25th May 2008        Direct Spirit Contact Evening         New York, USA

The venue was a room in a healing centre. There was nothing special about it. It was about 30-15 ft with a small stage area at the end separated by a curtain. The ceiling was about 10 ft high. There was one door at the front.

We all got to work preparing the room. The windows had to be boarded up and sealed so no light could come in. The room was empty apart from some furniture piled in the corner. Folding chairs were brought in and lined up in 4 rows of 6.facing the curtained area.

Ken brought a chair, a heavy solid arm chair with wooden arms and legs, and buckles screwed to the arms and legs. It was placed behind the curtained area. This was the chair that David would sit in.

We all sat down and Chris gave a prep talk. He explained the protocol of the evening. He explained that before entering the séance (Direct Spirit Contact meeting) we would all be searched by hand and with metal detectors and no jewellery or any items would be allowed in the room.

David’s gift is that he produces large amounts of ectoplasm while in deep trance. This means discarnate beings can use the ectoplasm to form a voice box and manifest in his presence. The limitations of this are that it can only happen in complete darkness. Ectoplasm to light is like boiling water to snow and if during a séance (DSC) light is bought into the room or even sharp movement that would upset the energy, the ectoplasm shoots into the body like stretched elastic band being released from its tension. The effect of this can be catastrophic for the medium. At best the ectoplasm shooting back into the body could bruise and damage the medium, at worst; it has been known to kill them.

The problem with producing phenomena in darkness is it gives the sceptic a reason to accuse the medium of fraud. The reason for the strict protocol is, A to protect the medium from someone bringing in a torch, and B to demonstrate to the sitters that there is no fraud involved.

At 7.30pm the searches began and we filed one by one into the room. The search was stricter than an airport search in that apart from the metal detectors, the body search, and the shoe search, no belongings were allowed in the room.

Once everyone was in the room the doors were locked from the inside. The chairs were now arranged in a horse shoe facing the curtain area and the chair where David would sit. The floor was carpeted but two pieces of ply wood were taped to the centre of the floor to create a “solid floor”

As we filed in David greeted us and told us where to sit. I was seated three seats in from the left side of the horse shoe. To my left was a lady called Mary and next to her was Chris, the circle leader. He had the only equipment in the room, this being a pair of wire cutters, plastic fasteners, a cd recorder/player, a cardboard trumpet, a harmonica, and a cardboard square. The square and the trumpet/megaphone were covered in luminous tape.

David gave a pre séance (DSC) talk and explained to us about his journey so far, his frustrations, and his hopes. He seems like a straightforward guy and I had a good feeling about him.

Then it was time to secure him. He put on a cardigan with six buttons down the front over his tee shirt and fastened the buttons.

He sat in the chair and two volunteers fastened the straps round his wrists and ankles.

Then plastic straps, the sort police use as hand cuffs were inserted through the buckles and round his wrists and ankles. Then the bands were also looped through the button holes of the cardigan so the cardigan could not be taken off easily without cutting the fasteners off. Once they were fastened another volunteer was invited to cut the fasteners short so they could not be used again.

The volunteer, Richard, then put the cutters in his right hand front pocket.

Once David was firmly secured, he was gagged tightly with a red handkerchief, he tried talking and he sounded like man who had been gagged.

Then the curtain was closed, we were all seated and the lights went out.

It was completely black. I couldn’t see anything. I couldn’t see the person sitting next to me. Chris then informed us that he would turn the music on and asked that we sing along or hum in order to raise the energy in the room.

The music began (I don’t remember what the tune was)

We sang for a few minutes, I felt good. The room felt good. Suddenly there was a whoosh, it sounded like a loud intake of breath but that description doesn’t really explain it or compare it to anything I have heard before.

 

Then I heard footsteps walking in front of me, firm sold heavy foot steps. Then William introduced himself. William is David’s Guide and he died many years ago. He has an old fashioned English clipped BBC kind of voice. He invited people to ask questions on spiritual or philosophical matters and he answered them all without hesitation. His voice came from the centre of the room.

He then approached Mary who was seated to my left and offered her some healing. His voice had been in the centre of the room and was now to my left right in front of Mary. He then moved back to the centre of the room and answered more questions.

Then there was another whoosh and William departed.

 

Chris asked us to sing again and the music started. A few minutes later I heard another whoosh. There was a stomping noise as someone stamped on the floor in front of me. Another voice came. It was the voice of an entity calling himself Timothy. Timothy introduced himself as a sort of master of ceremonies. It was his job to bring loved ones through and help them communicate with the sitters.

We had been told by Chris and David that communicating was incredibly difficult for spirits and Timothy helped to do that. He sounded like a boy really, and was very humorous in an old fashioned kind of way. He had a cockney accent.

 

Ectoplasm forms and the spirits manipulate it and use if to form a sort of voice box through which they speak. They say it is like speaking under water. They also say that often they haven’t spoken for so long they have forgotten how they sound. I thought about that. If some one asked me to imitate a little boy I could do it. If someone asked me to imitate how I sounded as a child I wouldn’t have a clue how I sounded.

We can never really know if the entities coming through are who they say they are. What we do know is that they do not appear to be from our physical world and their messages are often personal to the sitter and more importantly beneficial to the sitter and others.

 

Timothy introduced spirits to the sitters and where ever the sitter was seated that is where the voices went.

Tatyana had asked Chris before the séance whether entities ever spoke in a foreign language. Chris had said that it sometimes happened and that they have had words written in Swedish before.

Timothy said there was a lady in the room who spoke a foreign language and would she make herself known. Tatyana was the only one to respond. Timothy asked her if her grandfather was in spirit and what his name was. He explained that the entity was finding it difficult and it was his first time coming through and Timothy suggested Tatyana speak to him in his native language. She did this by speaking Russian, and right in front of where she was sitting I heard a reply in Russian. It was faint, and only a few words but I heard the voice speak Russian. I was very happy for her and for the room. For me this was good evidence.

 

Then Timothy asked Chris to turn on the music and us to start singing to raise the energy in the room. Then we saw the luminous trumpet and square levitate and move to the middle of the room. Suddenly the square rose to around two feet off the ground and started moving round the room as if someone was carrying it. Timothy asked us to look at his fingers on the square and sure enough four child like fingers wiggled in the glow of the luminous card. Timothy cracked jokes and kept the room laughing.

 

Then came the so called trumpet phenomena that I have read so much about. Reading about it doesn’t come close to experiencing it up close. The trumpet levitated to about four feet or head height of the sitters. Then it began to fly around the room at an incredible speed. It is hard to imagine how anyone could do what the trumpet did in broad daylight let alone in pitch black darkness.

It is hard to explain. If you can imagine swinging the trumpet towards someone at the speed of a fast bowler and then stopping it on the end of someone’s nose, touching them but without hurting them. Then try and touch their face four or five times in the space of one or two seconds, and then try and do it in the dark without hurting them and you might get an idea of what happened. I was astounded, it was phenomenal. I can’t describe it with words and do it justice.

 

Then an entity claiming to be Louis Armstrong came through, He spoke and he sung What a Wonderful World, then in darkness he played fantastic harmonica.

 

William then came back on and spoke some more and the sitters asked more questions.

After what seemed like an hour max, William brought the proceedings to an end, he bid us goodbye and the now familiar whoosh ensued.

Suddenly there was a loud thump. It sounded like a large crate had been dropped on the floor in front of us. The lights went up and there in front of us seven or eight feet from the curtain, was David strapped in the chair and looking as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep.

                      

It would have taken at least two strong people to move him that distance and drop him in the centre of the room like that.

What I haven’t mentioned is that at all times there was silence from behind the curtain. You could hear a pin drop and in my view it was impossible for anything to happen without the sitters being aware of it.

Then we noticed David’s cardigan was on back to front with the plastic fasteners still in place, something that seemed impossible to happen in the traditional sense.

Richard, the volunteer was then asked to cut the fasteners but when he put his hand in his pockets the cutters were missing. He then realised they were now in his back pocket, which they were not when the lights went out.

A month later Tatyana and I are still thinking about the evening.

We are indebted to Rosalind & Dennis from Zerdin for organising our visit and to David, Rosheen, Chris and Lily for their hospitality.