1933
Mar 29 - Apr 28
L. H.: "You know, we have a little French blood in our veins."
Sterge: "Yes, I know. You have French taste, regulated by the British desire for order. We French are disorderly. Where there is concord with the British there is discord with us. The Scotch and the French mix well; they have for centuries, but I do not know how the English corpuscles mix. One of your Scotch writers says that England is really ruled by Scotchmen, paradox though it may seem."
Arthur steps in for a minute, says hello to us and asks after the boys.
Walter makes a brief appearance: "Hello, Margaret. Hello, Lillian! That's me, Walter Stinson! There, my voice is good. It's vitalized, vitalized with myself. Don't tell me old Ham's gone! Say, could you arrange a meeting to take place every week for him?"
"You had lots of fun last week; would you like some more? Oh. I can get him so far, but no farther. Oh, damn! damn! damn!"
M. L. H.: "Ssh! Ssh!"
Walter: "Oh, shut up, Walter Stinson! You're in the presence of ladies. You've said a bad word!"
M. H. remarks that his mouth will have to be washed out with soap, to which Walters replies that he likes "Lifebouy."
Walter "vocalizes", calls himself the "psychic Prima Donna", imitates a siren, etc.
Death
"... We are all one family, and when we go out of one wee house we go into a bigger house; we are all one family still. We are not separated at all ... All in different periods of going up. Death is not a purging draught; it is the commencement of a treatment for the ills of our soul. The Great Physician gi'es us a systematic purging. Death is the commencement ..."
R. L. Stevenson.
The Spirit Ship
In the passing o' the years
Find beauty dear to thee
Ne'er a flower wi' head that rears
Such sweetness to y'r e'e.
And when from out of turbid time
The great ship comes for thee
Ah, rek (?) it not, in moments ...
E'en flowers from your mast tree.
No voice within that silent ship
No charts save spirits call ( fall?)
In waves of time its bowsprit dips
It sails beyond recall."
Robert now speaks: "The spirit ship. I did no' bad on that. It's wrong a bit here and there, but I'll edit it for you at a later time if you'll dictate it to me. There's a wee bit of redundancy that I'd no' intended, but ye can perhaps edit it for yourself. That's about life's death-ship that sails toward that far morning. It sails out of port just at twilight, just at night, and a bright ruddy day is killed by the night of darkness and stains the sky ruddy red with its blood. It's fiery Rose Garden streams across the sky and dark hands clutch at the rosy clouds, and like a magician, turns them to gray. There is a faint mist on the river and a low echo on the hill. And the wind droops and there's moaning in the tide, and a sigh on the sands. There is a stirring in the treetops and the wavelets splash. There is a hurrying of feet, the feet of the little people, and you hear them moan across the sandy bar, and the ship sails to the dying sun. It sails towards the morning with its rosy tipped clouds, with its sparkle of gem, and it's nodding lily heads, just the faintest memory of the breeze as it whispers from flower to flower. The gentle wind touches with a touch of love the budding rose which will fall from its stem ere the day is done, for the wind grows rough and boisterous and harsh ..."
8:55 p.m. Robert converses of his work for a moment or two, then there is silence, after which the following beautiful prayer is given:
"Peace be unto you. May God in his mercy find a blessing for thee. May he, in thy lives, find work in His cause, in His honor, towards the blessing of others, towards our own salvation.
"Oh God, we whose little minds ask of you that our vision may be enlarged, that our capacity for work in Thy name, for Thy people, may be extended, grant that we may find our hands turn to that which should be done; maybe leave not a thing undone which should not be left undone.
"Grant, O God, that we who have poetry in our lives may translate it into the lives of other people so that their living may be a paeonic poem to Thee."
Silence for a moment, then in a deep, rather gutterall voice comes:
"Fourteen men on a dead man's chest!
Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest,
Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum!
Sing, mates, sing!
Drink and the devil had done for the rest,
Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum! Yo, ho!"
Pause for half a minute. Then the following is softly and quietly given:
"Since wandering on a foreign strand,
I ween (?) ............................
Sojers all, sojers o' the queen!
"Grant that we who speak to many people may speak to them of Thee, may listen for Thy voice and Thy inspiration. May we give ourselves up to Thy gentle will and may we teach others submission. Keep our minds bright and clean, our spirits rich, seeking and soaring, our hands busy and our feet firm.
"Deliver us, O God, from self-conceit, from that hypocrisy by which we hide ourselves from ourselves, by which we treat ourselves into unjustified self esteem. Grant, O God, open minds and full hearts, and a deep desire to empty ourselves as a vessel in Thy cause. Grant us, above all, friends, so that we may, by contact with them, make them more like Thee. Grant us to know Thy Son as our friend, and knowing Him, to know Thee and love Thee.
"Through Jesus Christ we ask Thy blessing. May we keep the Faith. Amen."
9:05 p.m.
Sterge, in answer to L. H.'s question, says: "Yes, that was Stevenson who gave that prayer. I only hope he got it through as he wished."
Another brief pause, and an apparently different control takes charge: "To him that hath shall more be given ... to him that doeth shall more be done ... Service in God's name is truly divine service ... church doing, not church wooing. "C" stands for Church, Christianity, Christ, Character ... To ensure is a great thing; to bear, a better ... Life is not your life, but other people's lives; make what you can of them; you live not through yourself, but others ... God's ambassadors are his workers ..."
9:11 p.m.. Pause. Medium is quiet, only breathing a little heavier. Speaks: "Stay with me. I call to others. Oh, if I could only control him better. 'O, Love That Will Not Let Me Go'. Can you sing it?"
We do so, the control singing strongly and powerfully with us. So also, following his lead, we sing "Jesus, The Very Thought of Thee" and "Nearer, My God to Thee." After this last one, the medium falls on his knees with bowed head and repeats a Latin prayer."
L. H. asks who it is, and the medium replies in a strong voice, almost shouting: "It is Spurgeon! Oh, I wish, I wish I could control the boy! I have to go. Good night."
9:20 p.m.
Again the medium is silent, seemingly resting. He says, half to himself: "We are such stuff as dreams are made of ...Our little life is rounded with a sleep ..."
Again silence, then the control asks M. H. to stop writing and join hands with the other two. Whoever the control was then gave a very beautiful and fitting description of communication, likening it to people tunneling through a mountain, sometimes hearing the sounds of those on the other side tunneling to meet them, sometimes hearing only the echoing of their own shouts and cries, but always carrying on in the light of their great faith.
Sterge and Arthur come back for a moment to say good night and to tell us that they are all very happy. Medium comes out of trance at 9:26 p.m.
The medium seems to be very dazed and shaken. He says he sensed a Presence beside him, neither man nor woman, but a great Presence, and that he saw before him an object like a silver chalice, full of something glowing, a chalice something like what one would imagine the Holy Grail to be ...
9:30 p.m. Sitting concluded.
1933.
Cross-correspondence with Cook group in London and large and small group in Winnipeg in March, 1933.
List of Walter's predictions re each phenomenon, his descriptions, and their fulfillments.
April 2, 1933.
T. G. H.; Ewan; Mrs. Poole; Mr. Reed; Dr. and Mrs. Chown; L. H.; Ada Turner; Dawn; J. A. Hamilton.
Statement:
Walter/Mercedes
Automatic writing by Dawn in darkness will be found to be signed "Mary Lodge."
Usual E.M. communications.
Following these, Dawn passes into trance and moves to the writing table in the center of the room. She is heard writing. As usual, the room is in darkness, except when T. G. H. flashes on his red flashlight intermittently. Mercedes also entranced, spoke and said we would find the script signed "Mary Lodge".
After the sitting, the script was found to read:
This extract was signed "Mary Lodge", said to be Lady Lodge, wife of Sir Oliver Lodge. She died in the late 1920's. The script here was received on April 2, 1933.
Script of April 2, 1933.
"... The first clear recollection I have, after my mortal eyes watched the anxious looks of my dear husband and children, was that of being borne upward by heavenly sweet music of welcome; and when the last song died away I felt myself being placed upon a soft downy couch of flowers and carried into a white temple; I have since learned it is called the Temple of Repose
"I awoke in the arms of my living mother, and our own dear children and our friends who had made the heavenly journey before me, and oh! the joy of the meeting! If only I could describe the beauty of everything!
"After a little, a lady came to us, all in white, and said "All is ready," and then our mother told me that we would proceed to the Temple of Prayer. We then marched in a procession, I walking by the side of our noble son. We passed through beautiful gardens and groves, and beautiful fringed walls entwined with lovely snow-white lilies. Then we came to an arch of white glittering stone, pure as Crystal, and in letters of gold written across it were these words: IN THIS LAND THERE IS NO DEATH ..."
Mary Lodge."
[The months of April and May, 1933, were months that saw a number of unique and profoundly impressive events come to light in the Hamilton experimental room.
On April 2, the Mary Lodge scripts; on April 9, a supernormal pencil sketch, done by the hand of the entranced automatist, Mary M., in complete darkness: a drawing which depicted Christ forgiving a kneeling woman. This sketch was pronounced by artists to be nothing short of a miracle.
On April 23 was given and photographed a major materialization; and on May 17, the last of the scripts of the 1931 - 1933 series. Brief as this script is, it yet contains ideas clothed in phraseology lying far beyond the ability of the entrance medium in her normal state.]
April 3, 1933
[Letter from Mrs. J. A. Fisher of Hazelridge - denouncing Dr. Hamilton's views on spirit life as expressed in the Winnipeg Free Press.]
"Hoping you will understand that it is with the sincere desire to bring the truth to your attention and save you and the many influenced by your teaching from coming under the control of the 'father of lies'".
April 5, 1933.
Dawn; Mercedes; Ada Turner (Faith); T. G. H.; L. H.; J. A. Hamilton; Mr. Reed;
Sealed envelope experiment begins. "H. H. and lights."
Walter/Dawn: "There are a few of your friends to whom I have given permission to write just a little. They will be of great help to us when they have their little message through. It is the head and the hand we must control in the writing; and the contact of other sitters with a medium immediately sends a current which interferes seriously with the control of the medium. Hence, for the writing we have to move Dawn into the center of the group."
Walter also claimed that the writer laid his hand on the medium's hand, and that someday it might be visible to the cameras. He added: "You must keep these writings, for they are to be placed in a special department of the book, either at the beginning or at the end."
Inquiry is also made as to whether we have on hand paper that is not too thick, not deeply lined, and good for drawing. We assure him that we have, and that it will be placed on the table.
The control (Walter or unknown, we cannot tell ) again speaks of the writings. One guiding hand is transmitting the writings. All the scripts are to be put in the book."
[See Sylvia Barber picture of Walter's hand, 1950)]
April 6, 1933
Letter from Indian Head, Saskatchewan - from Dan King - letter attempting to renew an acquaintance with a namesake of Dr. Hamilton who was a school principal in the Stonewall area.
April 7, 1933
[Letter from Dr. Hamilton to Mrs. J. A. Fisher - Hazelridge - Manitoba:]
"... I have your letter of the 3rd inst., with book accompanying, all of which is very interesting.
"... In the first place, understand that I am not a Spiritualist any more or less than you may be, for all Christianity professes a belief in survival and in the continued existence of the soul. The very foundation of Christianity, as you well know, depends to a large extent upon the reappearances of Christ after his death. You will recall also, numerous visions which came to others, such as Peter and Paul and St. John in Revelation, who were all Christians.
"... You will know from history that Spiritualism originated about 1847. It was founded on a very imperfect understanding of somewhat similar but very meager phenomena. Personally I have no patience with Spiritualism.
"... While your book is one with which I am not unacquainted, it is a book based largely on certain Biblical extracts together with a large number of fanciful teachings, many of which are very misleading and also unscientific. You will notice that it is published in Tennessee. It is the sort of thing that one finds very prevalent in the Southern States where the anthropomorphic idea of God is so prevalent. I would urge you, in the interests of that higher type of Christianity which it is our privilege to enjoy, you must not allow teachings of this kind to get a strong grip on you.
"... We must realize that creation as a whole is good and that it was so pronounced by the Creator and that he is not going to cast a large percentage of his work which was good, into hell fire; but, on the other hand, he is anxious, willing and able to help mankind work out the problems of life to a successful issue.
"... The work I have been doing has been very extensive, having covered fifteen years. But it is not work that I would advise people in general to engage in. On the other hand there are great truths in Nature which all should know are established by it. The center of these truths is probably also the center of religious truths as contained in Christianity, and that is survival under certain conditions. This is truth arrived at by science substantiating (words missing here) same and arrived at through Christian teachings. What harm can there be in scientifically establishing Christian teachings?"
April 7, 1933.
Jack MacDonald; Lillian Hamilton; Margaret Hamilton (recorder).
Trance state manifests almost at once. Medium whispers: "They say I'm a ghostie, a big, bad, bold ghosie. A flimsy, frothy, filthy ghostie; a faded, phantasmal ghostie; a deep, dark, delightful ghostie. That's me! I'm a ghostie, a dirty, low down ghostie, a fierce, frightened, (ha, ha!) Ghostie.
"Hush thee, hush thee, little ghostie,
Scientific Hamilton will not get thee.
To preserve you for a better fate,
We'll send you through the pearly gate.
Tinkle, tinkle, little bell,
How you answer calls so well.
"Seems to me," says Dr. Ham,
"This ectoplasmic bell's ----"
"My simple faith is enough. Character is the direct result of personal striving toward better things, and the anchoring of the mind on definitely established ideals. Faith is something that is born with us. It is a vine beside the Tree of Life."
Control changes. Arthur: "Hello, mother; hello, Margaret. It is Arthur. I am helping tonight. Oh, I'm fine and so are all of you ... Tonight Sterge is doing a lot of helping. He's behind me now. "There are some very powerful people of great literary repute here tonight, but Sterge does not want them to come, and so he's hovering around the medium like a mother hen clucking over her brood. So you'll find the personalities and speech all colored with Sterge. Sterge is awfully slick the way he slips in, considering he has lived such a full life. Well, that's all for now. Goodnight."
Control changes.
Walter: "Napoleon, when he went to Elba
Sat down up on his coat;
He said, "Although I feel a bit sheepish,
I think I've been made the goat."
L. H.: "Pretty good, Walter."
Walter: "That's it.! You're darn right! Oh, it's getting worse every minute. It is my own devilish makeup ..."
"Georgie had a little axe
He took it out to play;
He played up on a cherry tree;
Now Georgie stands all day.
Why does Georgie stand all day?
You ask of us, fond reader,
We think we hear you say;
To tell the truth, we cannot say,
Unless he could not lie."
[He had to stand because he could not lie.]
"Pharaoh's daughter came to swim,
It was Egypt's Saturday night;
She saw young Moses' embarrassed grin,
And took him out of sight.
"Joseph was a canny boy,
With multi-colored vest.
He was his doting daddy's joy
Over all the dozen rest.
"Joey was a saving lad
So this follows in its train,
When he knew the crops were coming bad
He started saving grain.
"Potiphar's wife was a wily vamp,
She cast her eyes at Joe.
Joe wanted then to be a scamp,
But thought he'd better go.
"Discretion is the better part
Of love, as much said he.
So if I'd rule this Egyptian throne,
I'd better stick to me.
"So endeth now this lesson one;
I know you'll all agree
The Bible clearer has become
P'raps to you than me."
"Oh, that's damnable! Those are my jingles, you know, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Most of them are dumb bells but that's alright."
"Sing a song of sixpence
A stomach full of rye;
Four-and-twenty blackbirds
Started out to fly.
When the plane was moving ..."
"I think we'd better stop that; they felt a little upset. There, I'm all right! Hello, Queen of Sheba; and Princess Shebesha!"
Here followed nonsense talk for about five minutes between Walter and M. L. H., after which Walter said: "There. That's better now. That was fun and helped me. I can talk better now!"
"I've done my spring cleaning. The storm windows have been taken off. The window pane has been removed. Now we'll bring Harry here in three weeks from today. Harry's better now and I'm not so mad at him, and don't worry about me here. I may have to come back, but after I've been mad at him through Dawn I set up a condition that stays there. No condition to set up here. There, I've set up a condition. Harry is here now and thanks you for helping him. I don't agree with his past attitude, but I understand it. His motive was affected by his personal contact with fraud. I'm not going to blame him from now on."
"Those jingles are my jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. I'll make up some jingles for the Door Mat, and you can ship them to him freight. You can edit them for me. Keep the idea but change the rhythm if you have to."
"Lie still, lie flat, darling little door mat."
"Something like that would make him laugh. The jingles have a purpose; I may refer to them. There are important people here. And have uncle Dudley come home and bring the bacon. He could, He's the whole hog."
"Lie still, lie flat, funny looking door mat.
Before the house he looks so neat,
Down the narrow old Lime Street."
"Cancel that; it's not what I want."
"Tinkle, tinkle, little bell,
How you answer calls so well;
Up above the cabinet high
(Yes, and up above the Dawn so high - ha, ha!)"
"There was an old man
Called scientific Ham
Who took pictures by the dozens
And wrote as he can
Dumb articles for the news
Which the critics knew
Would hang him by the neck."
"Old Ham's going to hang by his own news (noose). I can just see him! Some day I'll picture him in ectoplasm. Enter Ham the phantasm! Phantasmal Ham, that picture man!"
Sterge now speaks, telling us that it was Walter, just playing. Converses with us on general topics for a moment or two and a new control takes charge. This is Robert.
Robert: "Oh, glory, glory, glory! Glory to God in the highest! Mercy on me! Forgive us, teach us, dissolve, O God, the scales from our eyes. Teach us the truest aims of life. Guide us to walk Thy way with firm footsteps. Fix our eyes upon the shining light. Make bright our countenance, and give sound to our tongues that they may glory and magnify Thy Name. Grant the little act of service it is possible for us to do; grant that we may be given the privilege of doing it and so make us worthy for Thy greater service. Let us worship Thee in humility and service, and worship with joy and sound Thy glory and above all Thy love. Let us love Thee; help us to love our fellow-men, that by so loving them, we may learn to love Thee. At the end of each day, grant us that sweet silence that sings. Help us to partake of that all-permeating strength. Give us, O God, friends, swift-loving natures, and steadfast busy desires. Help us, O God, to help ourselves. Amen."
"My name is not of the great nor is it of the lowly. May I, in this working life, help others to know my Savior as I know him. Help me to serve, serve, serve. When there is work to do, let my foot be the first to move in that direction; let my hand turn the first sod. May I work from dawn to the downing of dusk and may I sing with joy as I work. May my spirits sing with me and the spirit of others. Goodnight."
Sterge returns. L. H. remarks that Robert did awfully well. The medium again speaks, at first with a Scottish accent we have come to associate with Robert; soon, merging into the characteristic French accent of Sterge:
"Hush ye, hush ye, ye little mat, ye
The Black public not get ye.
Uncle Dudley's coming home
With his bacon and his poem."
"No, I didn't get it quite right; I was going to get something to make the Door Matt laugh his slats out. Uncle Dudley's going to bring home the bacon because he's the whole hog. Uncle Dudley's taken up his pen and he's going the whole hog so he can bring home the bacon. Oh, that's a 'pig ear-mark'."
Control changes and speaks in quite clear French, with a good pronunciation. The medium has studied some French but not for a period of five or six years. Cannot speak French.
"Monsieur le docteur, Mme Hamilton, Mlle Hamilton, mes colleagues, je vous addresse sur le sujet de recherche metapsychique. Je vous rendes mes felicitations. Je desire vous parler de temps en temps de las science metapsychique; je veux vous parler de mes experiences. Gustave Geley."
("I wish to speak to you on the subject of meta-psychic research. I congratulate you. I wish to speak to you from time to time of metapsychic science; I would like to tell you of my experiences.")
L. H. remarked on how easily the different controls manifest through this instrument.
Control: "Yes, your three temperaments are alike. It's easier when you are all alike. There is very little difference between your vibrations. Your auras are very similar. Yes, this is Walter."
"Oh, look who's here! If it isn't my old friend! Well, Stead, what are you doing here? Oh, he's going to speak, I bet you a dud nickel!"
Stead: "Good evening, my charming hostess. I am happy and gratified at being able to come and visit you. My presence is continually with your group just as my heart and efforts are in your work. Believe me, I am your friend, your fellow worker and earnest contributor whenever possible. My efforts are largely in the form of an executive, directing capacity. I work with the pictures. Your control, Walter, cooperates with me and is most kind to give me the advantage of his high technical knowledge. He is an excellent technician. His work is well worthy of commendation, just as yours is. Your work as recorded is undoubtedly the finest, the most coherent and established work to date. It has never been surpassed in detail or in scope. The specialization of the teleplasmic pictures is doubtless the outstanding feature, yet they do not submerge but balance that purely mental phenomena and trance evidence you have recorded. To expand this sentiment further would be futile since it is impossible for me to encompass the scope of your work in a few words. Undoubtedly you will do it better on the well weighed and printed page. Only so will the import of such records be manifest and become part of the worthwhile human knowledge. Workers in any great and significant cause must fight pride, prejudice, slander and misunderstanding and in a work so delicate and so closely allied to the human element, one must fight fraud. I feel you have stood foursquare in your attitude. Your position is wholly desirable scientifically and otherwise. Goodnight and thank you."
Sterge, Robert and Arthur made a very brief appearances before Sterge closed the sitting. Enter the séance room at 8:05 p.m. and concluded at 9:50 p.m., approximately.
April 9, 1933.
T. G. H.; JH; L. H.; Ewan; Mr. Reed; Dr. and Mrs. Chown; Dawn; Dr. Chown, Secretary.
Lead, kindly light
Original deep trance drawing done in complete darkness by
Mary M. Marshall (Dawn)
On reverse side
A deep trance script also written in complete darkness by Mary Marshall.
[On a crumpled sheet of newsprint - handwriting - placed at 90 degree to fit on image.]
"When living in the world I recalled a place called Strood in England. I have been in the spirit world upward of one hundred years in the process of dying I felt no feeling only it seemed that I went to sleep it was very late at night I know for as I felt my self going I heard the old grandfather clock in the hall striking the hour of twelve.
"As I left my earthly form I could see old doctor standing by my bed side.
"I tryed to tell him I was all right but could not make him understand.
"My darling wife was standing weeping by my bed side by profession I was an Episcopalian believing in the literal resurrection of the physical body believing that the righteous went to paradise and the wicked to predation.
"When full conscious came to me it seemed the morning every thing was bright.
"I found my little sister by my side and said to her you must be morning I hear the singing then I became afraid and I saw great white birds and sylph-like forms were flying around me. Forgetting my fear and tyredness I sank down ... beautiful bank of flowers and fell asleep."
8:45 p.m. Circle commences.
Present: All Circle except Miss. Turner, Mercedes, and Mrs. Poole.
Mr. Reed introduces a radio into the room before the sitting. Circle being seated; there is much joking.
After some minutes Dawn describes a tall man with black wavy hair, well-built, dressed in dark material, dark eyebrows and very dark eyes, straight long nose, face broad in the forehead but long. He seemed to come beside Mrs. Chown and then moved over towards Mr. Reed. He looks as if he had been a business or professional man.
Circle sing a little longer, and then the radio is turned on, producing an Advertisement for Bayer's Aspirin. There is much static on the radio. Then follows a good orchestra number. It is then announced that the organ recital is to follow, and an inspirational address by Reverend Bonnell. Dawn is now entranced and speaks:
Dawn (asks to be taken to table, and T. G. H. moves her forward).
"I like your music very much."
T. G. H.: "Is it suited for your work?"
Dawn: "I don't play any music or sing. My good friend Lucy could sing for you. She is very disappointed that her medium is not here and would like to know why."
T. G. H.: "She is ill."
Dawn: "She says she understands and that she is disappointed that her medium is unable to come."
T. G. H.: "It is a music box, a radio phone." A series of hymns now comes over the radio and as each one is announced Dawn says that she knows the words of it. She sings an accompaniment with the radio, but very much off key.
Ewan: "I got quite a lot done. I have got to keep quiet, though, when these long beards come around." The radio continues on.
10:20 p.m. Time is called.
T. G. H. : "Should the circle close?
Dawn control: "Sing 'Lead Kindly Light' and then go."
10:22 p.m. Circle closes.
After the circle is dismissed, T. G. H. remained in the room with Ewan and Dawn, and the recorder and Ewan stated that at the next sitting a materialization would be obtained if Mercedes were there.
When the paper was examined, which Dawn had written upon, there were several pages of writing purporting to come from different individuals, and on the back of one of these was drawn a picture titled "Lead Kindly Light." This picture was certified by the recorder and Mr. H. Reed immediately after the sitting.
[This is an important event]
[The actual drawing with caption "Lead, Kindly Light"- done on foolscap with pen or pencil. Drawn in complete darkness by Mary M. on April 9, 1933, and attested to by Dr. Bruce Chown and Mr. H.A. Reed with their signatures.]
[The drawing is of the Master Jesus and there is a supplicant before him, kneeling. He is holding a light in his right hand while extending his left to supplicant. There are two others observing.]
[This drawing is on the reverse side of the automatic writing given in IMG(501/0108)
[ Photo of Lead Kindly Light drawing in complete darkness ]
[ Photo ]
April 14, 1933.
Jack MacDonald(medium); T. G. Hamilton; Lillian Hamilton;
Margaret Hamilton (recorder).
[Sitting held before dinner - commences at 5:05 p.m., concludes at 6:05 p.m.]
Sterge comes at once, greets us all, and says everything is in readiness to go on with the work. He at once gives place to Walter, who speaks:
Walter: "So you've got Harry Houdini, eh? Ha, ha! That's a hell of a fine joke on you! You didn't think it possible, you old sopping, skinflint, scintillating, self-satisfied scientist! How is
that for "S's"? A whole series of 'S's". Here's an "ess"! (Pointing to T. G. H.).
M. L. H.: "That's a good chance for a pun, Walter!"
Walter: "Ha, ha! He doesn't see it yet! Only one saw it! Yes, he's an ass!"
"Now, two weeks from now Harry Houdini will come back here. Put that on your shirt front, Ham. Put it down beside the soup spot, and it'll be there two weeks from now. Remember when you got the soup spot? It was when you had a cold, and your mother said there was nothing like soup for a cold. That was before you started to shave. But I didn't say Harry Houdini wouldn't come before two weeks."
Control changes, and at first has a little difficulty in speaking clearly. Calls himself Harry Houdini.
H. H.(Harry Houdini): "Hello, hello. Good ... day. Perhaps you'll bear with me a minute. (Clearer and firmer voice). Rose was my secretary. She's written a lot! Too bad! Much could be done with writings well applied, but not that! Not that! (Shouting) She has my information! Oh! I'm sorry (calmer and quieter). Your control's helping me. I didn't mean to shout. Rose wrote articles for the newspapers for money, after I came over. Money, curse it! (More softly). I beg your pardon. Rose shouldn't have written unless she qualified why she did it. (Shouting and getting more frenzied). She makes money! Oh! Money! Money! I hate it! I hate it! I hate money!"
L. H. and T. G. H.: "Don't get excited. Be calm; take plenty of time and it will be all right."
H. H.: "I hate money! It's sinking people! It's dust that gets into the wheels of your soul and wears it away. It's devilish and horrible and it's a loathsome thing! No, not money itself, but the desire for it for itself. Take it from me, it's a ghoul - greed is a ghoul that will haunt you to your grave and beyond it. It handcuffs you and you can't get out. There's no escape unless it wears away!
My father was a rabbi, a teacher of the faith. My mother was the most wonderful woman God ever made. She was my inspiration for my success. I sought her after her death (at this point there is a noticeable accent, almost a slurring of words) in the earth, in the skies, in religion, in the séance room, and I found deceit and loathsome lies for money. I resolved to brand these liars with the brand of Cain. It absorbed my whole life. It developed from a reason for hate into an unreasoning hate. Only do I regret the unreason that brought the hate. Goodbye. Thank you for listening. I belong more where I am now. Give me time and I will deliver myself. You have the gift of understanding. It makes me whole again."
Medium drops forward, head down. After a moment of rest another control speaks
Arthur: "Hello mother, hello Margaret, hello Dad. Dad, you haven't been here for a long time."
T. G. H.: "Well, you see, I've been busy."
Arthur: "Yes, I know, I've been with you. We see you often. It's quite a job to clean up after that man came through (Harry Houdini), but he's going now. He's awfully mercurial; yes, mother, awfully excitable."
"Golly, maybe Jimmy's going to pass in his examinations! He's really studying more. If he could only get those German words around his head he'd be all right. Say, mother, have you got the little blue suit yet?"
L. H.: "Yes, son, it's put away in a bag upstairs."
Arthur: "I thought you had. Oh, ho! Dad's asleep!"
T. G. H.: "No, I'm not!"
Arthur: "You're tired, Dad, aren't you? Won't you talk to me?"
T. G. H.: "Do you ever get tired?"
Arthur: "Oh, no, and I'm not even a bit tired now."
We talk a moment longer and control changes again, this time we feel a very strong personality, who speak slowly with a deep guttural voice and a marked accent.
New control: "Protect the medium! ... Doctor! Me! I, Dr. Baron! Big, long name! Speak not good English. Baron (shouted) Das ist gut! So big, big business. Flammarion, a colleague of mine, is with me, my friend of psychic research in phantasms. He deals with the haunts of the departed spirits. He has another haunt-work ready ... for the good ... twenty stories. He collected different ... living phantasms on our side of people who come over here ... he collects work for the records of material visitations to the astral. A combination of mediumship and apport. (Coughs). Oh, my stomach! My stomach! (Presses hand to right side) Goodbye!"
Brief pause. Robert comes.
Robert: "I'm here. It's a wee bit harder the night. I held back because I think the first Laddie who came is more important to collaborate with the work in the other circle - the lad with all the H's in his name."
"Now, we'll get down to business. My friend, David Livingstone of Ballantrae, is here with a company of Zulu warriors."
L. H.: "May I interrupt to ask if those black men are really there, or if they are just a thought picture?"
Robert: "Oh, these pictures are no' real, they're mental things. There is no' are real black man around him; they're a thing of the visual mind ..."
Vailima ... they called me the Chief. And I was the chief of the island. There was one dark-skinned lad in particular who was my friend. (Here the medium mutters something in a tongue we do not recognize.) '(Melikom?)'. And that was what they would say to me. That meant the gentle teacher, or ruler, which is the translation from their language. Now there was a very high part on this island and that had a great attraction for me. It was hundreds of feet higher than all the rest. You could look down on the whole view. It was not exactly a mountain. There is a path leading up through the forest, a path that had been cut out."
"There he lies where he longed to be.
Home is the hunter, home from the hill.
"Under the wide and starry sky
Dig my grave and let me lie.
Here I lived, gladly I die,
And I laid me down with a will.
"This be the verse ye grave for me:
Home is the sailor, home from the sea
Home is the hunter, home from the hill
Where he longed to be ..."
John Stevenson, James Stevenson, Thomas Stevenson ... just some of the forefathers of the race. Now, ye ken, John was a builder, a designer, accomplished for finding the places for lighthouses ..."
"I can think I'm at sea the night. The old ship's leaking. I can feel the disease creeping up on me. It's a pretty frail bark, and I'm thinking it'll no' weather the storm. I'm afraid it's going to be a stroke. That'll do for that."
The medium sits back, then rises, and a new control manifests, speaking in a gentle calm voice.
"My friends, I am come to speak only a few words. As I mentioned to you on the occasion of my last verbal contact with you, we will endeavor to allow and aid the gentleman who first came through tonight, and by releasing him to where he is, deliver him to higher things. My personal supervision is constant and complete. Have no fear that any influence commencing with him will affect your work in any way in these sittings. I am making it my personal responsibility to assure that my guardianship is complete, and my interest is wholly with you. My name I have given you, and I give it again in token of friendship - Frederick Myers."
Robert: "I am here now. It's no' very easy to get him tonight, and so I gave him to somebody who can help him."
"I hope that the Easter season will be fine and happy for you. It is the time of the risen Lord, and it should be the time of the risen spirit. Let God rise up through your hearts and spirits and let Him show himself to the world again. Let Christ roll aside the stone and come out and show His people the glorious Life after death. Believe me, on this Good Friday, I pray for a blessing on us all. Good night."
Sterge: "Here I am back again. There is a minister here who wanted to preach an Easter sermon; but there is too much light in your room for him as he is very excitable, and so I told him to put his sermon under his pillow and that he could give it next week. It will be better for the sermon ... Your friend Walter is coming for a minute."
Walter: "Ham, didn't I do what you told me to? I got rid of them, didn't I? And didn't I fix up that mess about the other photographs? Only I don't take any credit for that. I don't want you to worry about anything now. Now I'll be helping my late enemy to get through. I told you I'd try to bring him to the other group, and I did. I told you there might be trouble due to the previous influence I had felt against him. When I set up any influence through her it often stays. When he comes you may find certain antipathies. Well, expect them! There will be an antipathy to Harry Houdini in the whole group. Not you, but some of the others will feel that way. Got me? Good stuff! I don't know whether Queen (Lillian Hamilton) told you what I said the other night, but I thought I'd just tell you now. So long!"
Sterge: "We will close now. Au revoir!"
April 20, 1933.
Dawn; Mrs. Poole; J. A. Hamilton; Ada Turner; Mercedes; Mr. Reed; H. Green; May Walker, guest.
Victor absent. The controls appear to be working toward the production of the materialization phenomena.
April 21, 1933
Teachings.
"... My simple faith is enough. Character is the direct result of personal striving toward better things, and the anchoring of the mind on definitely established ideals. Faith is something that is born with us; it is a vine beside the tree of life ..."
Gloria.
"... Oh, glory, glory, glory! Glory to God in the highest! Forgive us! Teach us! Dissolve, O God, the scales from our eyes! Teach us the truest aims of life! Guide us to walk Thy way with firm footsteps. Fix our eyes upon the shining light. Make bright our countenance and give sound to our tongues that they may glorify and magnify Thy name!"
"Grant the little act of service it is possible for us to do, grant that we may be given the privilege of doing it and so make us worthy for Thy greater service. Let us worship Thee in humility and service, and worship with joy, and sound, Thy glory, and above all, Thy love! Help us to love our fellow-men that by so loving them we may learn to love Thee."
"At the end of each day grant us that sweet silence that sings. Help us to partake of that all-permeating strength."
"Give us, O God, friends, swift-loving natures, and steadfast busy desires. Help us, O God, to help ourselves! Amen ..."
Prayer for peace.
"... Beside the still waters he restoreth my soul!
"Father, O Lord, Healer of those living, Keeper of those who are in Thy House, lead us to that place where we find food for our souls! To the active mind, O God, grant work to do, and in doing it let them exercise their power in Thy name and for Thy service. And for us more tranquil beings, may we gather our sustenance at the fountains of the spirit.
"Peace, peace, flowing gentle peace, Peace of God, peace that passeth all understanding, peace that takes you by the hand, through the dark ways and over the rocky ranges, down to the valley below, peace that leads you through the mists and then baptizes you in the fountain of the spirit - peace, peace, peace be unto you - peace that passeth all understanding, peace that passeth into understanding that we may be one with God. Grant it!..."
Sitting:
Jack MacDonald (medium); James Hamilton; Lillian Hamilton;
Margaret Hamilton (recorder).
6:05 p.m. sitting commences.
Medium in trance at once. First control to manifest is Arthur Hamilton who stays only a minute to say "Hello". Next comes Sterge, who speaks with marked French accent. "We are going to have something more from the man we are coaching. This will be important later."
Control changes.
Harry Houdini: "Oh, I'm struck! The stomach! Come and give me water! No, no, can't give me water? No water? No, no water! Mother, I am coming! I am ... there! I'm all right now. Don't forget that. No, they wouldn't give me water ... throat so dry ... no water for poison. No liquid they said. No water for peritonitis."(Coughs).
[Note - these are references to the death of Harry Houdini.]
(To L. H.). "Thank you, my friend. Now I have a message for you, but not wholly for you. Part of my resolve and work is to mitigate any unwarranted harm I may have done to just persons. I have resolved, in doing so, that I shall provide them with my personal evidence and my personal apology as a satisfactory amendment. I am not trying to forget that which I have done: it is present with me. I wish you to know I shall endeavor in the near future to gain entrance, if at all possible, to the Crandon Circle in Boston, Massachusetts, and I shall present, if allowed, through their instrument, evidence of my survival, coherent and abject apology for my misconstruction of their work, and as a token of my respect and faith, I will endeavor to compensate them by giving them my locked message through their medium. By so doing I should mitigate any harm I have done to them, or the major part of it, and give them complete satisfaction. One thing may bar me and that is themselves. I do not know precisely what their attitude is towards myself. If it be still definitely opposed to me it will be difficult to work. If, on the other hand, they can be shown that my attitude was built up entirely by what I, earnestly seeking, had found ... I found trickery and duplicity everywhere. I had reached the state where I could see no reason that their's were not fraudulent phenomena. Such was my mental condition when I, as a member of the investigating committee, sat with them. My past experience had taught me that to catch a fraud you should encourage it. I thought to do that with them. I know now that I was exceedingly fortunate in being allowed to witness genuine supernormal phenomena and not, as I thought, shameless duplicity. I apologize, and believe that they, who have met up with improper mediumship, can perhaps understand my position at that time. Besides, I have had to be shown a great deal before I was going to part with hard earned money. My attitude, though wrong absolutely, was not unwarranted by past experience. I regret exceedingly any slight I may have thrown on such splendid, honest work. Perhaps, if they can cooperate, I will mitigate the evil I did, by giving them the evidence the world requires."
"Thank you for listening to me. I am deeply affected by your kindness and consideration for a person you ought to have occasion to dislike. Your personal sympathy is the strongest bond in helping me, and you yourself have been generous in your sympathy, and it moves me deeply to see it. Goodnight."
Control changes. Arthur returns and says that the last person who spoke has been weeping; and like most of his race, he is of a sensitive and mercurial temperament.
Control changes. Robert speaks.
Robert: "(Using Scotch accent). Now I'm coming back tonight wi' all the kilties. Ye've a grand lass there. Ye're both grand lasses."
"Ye'd like to come wi' me to Vailima. It's nice and warm there. Mah ...mahut ...mah ... mah ... No! That's not it! I was trying to give the word for chief that they called me. The other laddie who spoke got him down better than I. He had to get a good grip on him. (Robert tries to speak the Samoan word again but cannot get it.) Never mind, we'll keep at it all night until we do!"
'He leadeth me beside the still waters."
"I crave to be led out of a life of work, hustle and anxiety, along the pleasant places, over the hedge, across a pleasant plain, and down by a shady river where the sedges are, and the waters are still at even. I want my mind, wherever my body may be, to be led beside the still waters, the waters of the spirit, the cleansing, quiet, cool waters, the waters from that fountain which is within. Deep and delicate are its hues, sweet and fresh is its taste, quiet and deep is its span, and pleasant and pure its shores. Lead me, O great father, beside the silent waters, the deep-welling waters of the spirit! Let me bathe my soul within them. In their depths let me see myself, naked and soiled, and let me be plunged therein, laved by the deep-rolling ripples that well from the fountains that flow from the depths below, and let me emerge from the crystalline depths, fresh, fervent and responsive to Thy will, which is the embodiment of the deepest and highest concepts. Lead me, O God, beside the still waters, beside the deep-flowing fountains of the spirit. Amen."
"That's all right. That's no' bad. There's a wee bit of redundancy but you can strike it out. But I did and I can, see that you are moved by my prayer, and it has moved me. Ye're a grand lassie (to L. H.). Do ye ken that? Of course, ye do. Bless ye.!"
"There's a depth in the soul of man which betokens the depths in the soul of God. There is unplumbed wonder within man's spiritual house that serves as a landmark for the undiscovered wonders of the House of God, the true house of God."
"Blessed be those whose faith is great, for theirs is the flower that flourishes."
"Blessed be those whose efforts are real, for theirs is enduring work."
"Blessed are those whose thoughts are winged with song, for they are of universal structure."
"Thank you, lass. I am glad to work with you. You are a splendid collaborator. Our work comes from you and from me. You open the way; I only go where the way is opened. 'Tis you who are opening the way: you are my guide and recorder, and I'm just the one who follows after. Perhaps I am the prophet, but you are my forerunner, my John the Baptist. Do ye ken the words of John, the beloved disciple?"
"'In the beginning was God and the Word was with God'? That is somewhat, not speaking sacrilegiously, is the way with my work. You've got faith and a guiding light and truth comes to you."
"That's all for now. Thank you for being here and helping me and bless you all. Good night."
Arthur, after Sterge, make a brief re-appearances and the sitting is brought to a close at 7:05 p.m.
April 22, 1933.
Usual preliminary events. Dawn passes into trance. Also Ewan and Mercedes.
Ewan (as the Priest) "Be heedful that you give due meed to all things beautiful. Regard them as Emblems of those ambassadors of God who most nearly approach your world. These are their insignia, their symbols and seals which they place on the documents which come to you. Give heed also to the poet's words which seem to take you to some realm of thought where reason cannot grasp these things and where you are borne aloft as on the plumes of restless wings. And the vision of the painter! He takes his colored clays and makes you see those unseen things that lack material forms as they present themselves to unaccustomed eyes. The beauty of color in the bark of a tree, the beauty in the rhythm of a grove of trees; and sweet music, in the playing of naked boys, in the leopards leaping, in the flowers that adorn the earth - all these and more take heed of: Treasure them in your hearts because they are the emblems of those ambassadors who come to you from God. I, who was a vassal of the sun, give you greeting. Fare thee well."
Naida (through Mercedes) says they have come from 'The Master.'
[Claimed to be a Priest (of?) Zoroaster.]
April 23, 1933.
Statement:
Lucy/Mercedes
Thinks that the "shell" of Katie has appeared. ("Form" resembling a woman's face and body draped with a veil)
Statement:
Lucy/Mercedes
Thinks "form" in the center of the cabinet. (That this form was to the right of the center of the cabinet.)
Katie "Shell"
The materialization appears.
[It is apparently lifeless. Said to be the shell or form used to make Katie and Lucy visible in our world.
Later said to have been produced by Crookes and other discarnate scientists.]
[Nothing like this ever before photographed in Psychical Research
investigations.]
8:50 p.m. Circle commences.
Ewan and Dawn joke. Mrs. Poole (E.M. ) goes into trance and reports her communicators present.
9:32 p.m. Ewan: "Have you got everything ready?"
T. G. H.: "Yes."
Ewan: "Are the cameras all set?"
T. G. H.: "Yes."
Ewan: "Is the flash ready?"
T. G. H.: "Yes."
Ewan: "Shutters all open?"
T. G. H.: "Yes."
Ewan: "Well, you can go ahead with a complete feeling of confidence that something I haven't mentioned will go wrong. I have got the old girl (Dawn) again where I want her."
Mercedes: "He has Dawn almost where he wants her and will give the signal through Dawn."
After some confusion about the signal, Dawn shouts "Fire!"
The flash is taken.
9:55 p.m. Sitting closes.
T. G. H. and Ewan (who is in trance on the floor), Mercedes, and recorder (Mr. Bruce Chown) remain in room. Also a guest, Miss May Walker from England.
Sitting continues with smaller numbers.
T. G. H. questions Mercedes about the materialization.
Mercedes (Lucy, apparently): "I think you have what Walter intended to give you at the last sitting, which was the 'shell' of Katie. I don't know whether he was quite ready or not."
T. G. H. asks further questions re position.
Mercedes: "I think it is in the center of the cabinet. I hope it is not out of focus."
T. G. H. now questions Ewan. He reports that Ewan is very limp and pulse rapid.
"Splendid pre-description by Ewan. Hundred percent correct."
[This face is important addition to supernormality of whole Mary M. output. - L. H."]
T. G. H.: "Did we get a materialization?"
Ewan control: "It was just a tryout."
T. G. H.: "The signal was not explicit."
Ewan: "It was plain enough."
T. G. H.: "What is the materialization like?"
Ewan: "It is a complete form that is going to be converted into Katie. It is completely in the cabinet. It was behind Mercedes' right shoulder. It is a figure without details."
Miss Walker: "Can you tell us how you take the power from Dawn?"
Ewan: "A lot of the power comes from Dawn; but for Katie the final power comes from Mercedes. She is the link with Katie. These three are in attunement. That is how we are able to use them together. Dawn is for the physical; Mercedes for the etherealization, and Ewan supplies the final uniter vibration."
T. G. H.: "Vibratory cords?"
Mercedes: "Yes. They all connect with the medium. It is a long process connecting three mediums, and that is why, when Ewan is not here, we are helpless."
T. G. H.: "Did the flash light destroy your structure?"
Mercedes: "No, it is not destroyed - we will try to use the elements again. But there is nothing here now in your material world."
[This promise not fulfilled - no doubt a failure partly due to T. G. H.'s failing health. He was beginning to be very tired. - L. H.]
[T. G. H. shines light on and behind Mercedes to show Miss Walker that there is nothing there.]
10:15 p.m. Second sitting closes.
[Victor's pre-description five months before. Victor absent when materialization of "shell" appears.]
Face shows no sign of life and personality.
Features in line with Victor's pre-vision picture - "Whiteness of hair; veil up around face."
Further evidence for objective life of so-called dead.
[Photo with upper caption: The "Shell" or "box", April 23, 1933. See forecasts re Crookes' work.]
[Lower caption: "The marvelous "Shell" or "box", a psycho-mechanical form which was used, it was claimed, to project 'Katie' (and likenesses of other spiritual beings) into our world - in reverse order - that is, in "reflected" form.]
[Upper caption: "Materialization of April 23, 1933. It is apparently lifeless. Said to be the "Shell" or "Form" used to make Katie and Lucy visible in our world. Said to have been produced by Crookes and other disembodied scientists. Nothing like this has ever photographed before, in psychical research. The mechanical, experimental aspect of this formation beyond doubt a scientific fact.]
Wonderful enlargement of "Shell" mechanism made by Eastman's January, 1950.
[ Photo ]
[ Photo ]
[ Photo ]
[ Photo ]
[ Photo ]
April 28, 1933
Letter from Dr. Hamilton to Rev. W. R. Wood - Austin - Manitoba:
"... Your letter just received with inquiries about the Westminster Church affair. There were over nine hundred present at 50 cents a head, which was a good showing under present financial conditions. I enclose herewith a copy of Mr. Bonnell's questions.
"... The attitude of the cold shoulder is gradually but certainly improving, as our first meeting in this city, held in 1925 I think, refused us lecture Theatre A of the University for Dr. Crandon, and I have now spoken in at least a dozen churches.
" ... The Free Press articles appear to have been received with real interest but I think it is well to leave people hungry rather than overfeed them and develop a greater intolerance than otherwise.
"... I am sorry that your publication has not been accepted, but I understand that Findlay's book "On the Edge of the Etheric", which ran such a marvelously successful series of editions, was also turned down by the first publisher and he had considerable trouble in getting it started. One doesn't therefore feel you are to lose heart over the matter. Publishers are generally cold commercialists and the subject may not appeal to them. I think Rider and Rider of London publish more books along this line than perhaps any other firm.
" ... Our work all winter was held at practically a standstill largely through the importunity of a couple of old English people who came from London here with the deliberate plan of showing us all about it. We did not ask them, nor did we want them, but they came and matters are just that much delayed to say nothing of the fact that they have finally been dislocated but in a very bad temper about it. "Since that time, three weeks ago, we have taken a considerable amount of automatic writing and two photographs, the last of which I will enclose a copy, being the shell, it is said, of a Katie King materialization.
" ... Mr. Bonnell is very friendly to the subject. His questions, you will notice, are disposed to bring in the religious bearings; and these, as you know, are the last things that I wish to deal with. One has to very emphatically establish many facts before applying the religious implications. There are so many who look upon the foundation of religion as having been laid in centuries long past and who think it practically sacrilege that anything in modern life might be considered as contributory to interpreting such truths. However, the world will move slowly forward in due time. At least we shall see a small measure of progress.
"... On the evening of the 21st I visited Brandon, speaking to the several clubs. We had a very nice meeting in the hotel dining room at which about one hundred or more were present and I think it was enjoyed by most of them ..."
