A Helen Duncan seance according to Ivy Northage

While I Remember by Ivy Northage - Recollections of Helen Duncan

It was usual for physical mediums to work in a cabinet and one had been rigged up in this room with black curtains hung across a corner, closed for except for a gap of about eight inches through which we could see Mrs Duncan. She was a big woman, we could not see all of her, but there was a clear view of her body and we saw ectoplasm streaming out of it in billowing folds. These then appeared to give a shiver, whereupon we saw the figure of a very tall man in white robes - a somewhat arabic effect. His head, too, was swathed in white. I think that was to conserve ectoplasmic substance. In contrast, his face was extremely clear with well-defined features; sharp nose, thin mouth and high cheekbones, very dark, deeply-set-eyes, moustache and Van Dyke beard.

Albert was fully materialised; you felt you could have put out your hand and touched him, though of course that was never allowed. He excuded an air of distinction. When he spoke it was in a cultured voice, utterly different from the very rough Scottish accent of Mrs Duncan. From his great height you got the feeling that he was not exactly bending over to us but talking down to us.

Among the sitters was Alfred Scarfe who invited me to attend Ronald Strong's demonstration after I took the service at Woodbridge church some two years previously. Albert turned to him and declared somewhat caustically, 'I have been called many things in my time but never have I been referred to as a long, thin streak.'

Alfred, who had entirely forgotten the incident, was taken aback and completely at loss until I whispered, 'Woodbridge - Ronald Strong and the direct voice,' when, in considerable embarrassment, he said, 'Oh, yes. I am so sorry.'

'No need to be sorry,' said the autocratic voice. 'That was what you saw and it was perfectly in order for you to speak about what you saw. I just wanted you and the lady with you to know that you are the only person who has referred to me in that way. Unless I had been there I could not have told you about it, could I?

I was afraid that Albert would morify me by addng 'And you did not believe it was I'. That was quite true, but to my relief he did not say anything to me at all. He continued talking to Alfred. 'You are sitting for direct voice?' After Alfred confirmed this he asked, 'Would you recognise the trumpets that you use in Woodbridge?'

'Certainly I would,' replied Alfred. 'They have my own special mark on them.'

Again there was a whoosh and a clatter (one always heard this peculiar whooshig sound before a physical manifestation) and there were two trumpets, one longer than the other. 'Pick them up,' said Albert. Alfred picked up each trumpet in turn, looked around it and saw the unobtrusive identifying signs with which he had marked his own trumpets and which no-one in the room would have known. This was striking enough but then Albert said they would try to bring them his mother.

Albert then disappeared. It was a very fast thing, this appearing and disappearing. Materialisations do not dissolve or go behind the curtian; it was as if one second they are there and the next they are gone. Then came a rustling of the curtain as if it was being moved gently by breezes - there were always little shakes and shivers - and there was Albert's mother, a short figure with a rather lined face. 'I have come all the way from Woodford to see you,' she said. Now this was not quite accurate. Alfred lived in Woodbridge, but he obviously recognised her and a great deal of personal and family information further identified her, as I myself could see. At the end of their talk she seemed to lose height, then there was this peculiar shudder and she was gone.

In the course of the seance various people materialised, relatives and friends of the sitters. Some of the manifestations were so extraordinary that I could not have believed them unless I had seen them myself. One lady came with a rabbit on her arm, a perfect miniature rabbit no more than three inches long. As it turned its head, looking round with bright little eyes, Albert addressed one of the sitters. 'This is one of your pets, isn't it?' 'Oh, yes,' she replied, 'We used to call her Minnie.'

Most sensational of all was a miniature baby materialised for a sitter who had only that week lost a baby of a few months.

My father said hello to me but nothing else. I never saw him materialise, I only heard his voice behind the curtain.

Thanks Azur

Admin wrote:Thanks Azur

Your welcome as always Jim.

I hope you enjoyed, I thought it was a lovely story.

Yes I did its a great story

Jim