Two powerful bodies are opposed to the idea that survival of death is a natural phenomenon. The Christian Church holds as its central belief that the death of Jesus redeemed humanity and gave eternal life to those who follow him. The simple fact that this is totally in opposition to the evidence derived from the communications, that we all survive physical death, eluded me for years. Of course orthodox Christianity cannot accept the fact that everyone, everything, cats and dogs included, continue in some form after death.

Another reason for its dismissal of psychic phenomena and its warnings against all those who use psychic gifts (‘Spiritism’) is that the power of the priesthood can be seriously threatened by the power of a medium. The role of a priest as teacher and minister is not actually at odds with the role of a medium as a link with the next world, and should not be. But one can understand that difficulties could arise particularly if a medium were fraudulent!

Despite the Church’s official denunciation of psychic phenomena, many of its clergy have acknowledged their own psychic gifts. One in particular, an Anglican clergyman, the Revd. Stainton Moses (born in 1839), was a powerful medium who wrote several books on the subject. Conan Doyle says of him: "He is generally accepted by Spiritualists as being the best modern exponent of their views." Several pages of the "History of Spiritualism" (vol ii) are devoted to a description of his life.

In 1953 The Churches’ Fellowship for Psychical and Spiritual Studies was inaugurated. It is an ecumenical body and its introductory leaflet states that it exists to "promote the study of psychical and religious experience within a Christian context. … The Fellowship takes a positive view of psychic sensitivity which many people seem to experience quite naturally in their lives….". It holds branch and group meetings, residential and day conferences, and publishes two journals the "Christian Parapsychologist" and the "Quarterly Review".

I understand that there are a number of Quaker members.

Scientists seek to prove hypotheses by conducting experiments which are repeatable. The link with a communicator in the next world cannot necessarily be repeated under test conditions. As already stated, scepticism is an obstruction to communication so the sceptical sitter often fails to get results and his or her scepticism is reinforced! However, when scientists have been invited to witness physical phenomena and to take measurements, photographs, etc, they have frequently become less than scientific! They have either refused to investigate at all, which does not seem to be acting in accordance with a true spirit of inquiry, or, if they have investigated and witnessed events which they found inexplicable, they have refused to alter their belief systems to accommodate these new experiences and have preferred to deny the evidence of their own senses.

Spiritualism and psychic studies of any kind, therefore, have always encountered opposition from these two powerful voices. The media have also tended to ridicule, probably out of deference to scientists and the Church, and because in a materialistic society that which is not understood in terms of the five senses is easily mocked.

The study of psychic phenomena and everything relating to it has been linked with witchcraft and this has proved a serious matter from the point of view of acceptance by society and also from a legal standpoint. Until the passing of the Fraudulent Mediums Act in 1951, for which the movement worked over many years, mediums were actually in danger of breaking the law pertaining to witchcraft and vagrancy.

Since the earliest days the alleged practice of witchcraft was regarded as an offence punishable both in the ecclesiastical and civil courts. A succession of Statutes exists dating from the seventh century, each replacing the previous one.

The Act of 1735 replaced that of 1604 enacted in the reign of James 1, and this in turn replaced an Act of 1563 enacted in the reign of Elizabeth 1, and so on. Conviction under the Act could result in a prison sentence.

The Act of 1735, together with Section 4 of the Vagrancy Act of 1824 were serious threats to the practice of mediumship. (The Vagrancy Act makes punishable as a rogue and a vagabond "every person ….. using any subtle craft by palmistry or otherwise to deceive and impose on any of his Majesty’s subjects" and it was held that mediums were persons who used a "subtle craft".) Conviction under the Vagrancy Act resulted in a fine.

Mediums had to be very careful indeed not to fall foul of the law. If this sounds like an exaggeration, the case of Helen Duncan sadly proved the point. We will briefly consider it and at the same time meet another of the well-known characters of the Spiritualist movement.

Helen was born in Callander in Perthshire in 1898. She came from a poor family and had little education but was psychic from childhood and developed into an incredibly powerful materialisation medium. As an adult she worked professionally as a medium, managed by her husband, Henry, with whom she had nine children.

Helen was very successful and had many devoted followers whose loved ones had communicated at her séances. However, she was not above trickery at times and on one occasion was detected in a crude and clumsy fraud. When the lights were turned on she was caught trying to conceal some white material. There was a struggle to gain possession of a stockinette vest during which the police were called at Helen’s request. The vest was later produced in evidence at Court.

This incident resulted in her first trial in Edinburgh in 1933 at which she had a conviction for "pretending" to be a medium and was fined £10. However, worse was to follow. In 1944 Helen was indicted at the Central Criminal Court, in London, under the Witchcraft Act, "that on the 19th January 1944 she pretended to exercise or use a kind of conjuration, namely, that spirits of deceased persons should be present in fact in the place where she then was."

She was not allowed to demonstrate her mediumship to the jury and the evidence of a group of experienced investigators who had examined her was disallowed. However, 50 or so of her faithful followers leapt to her defence and their evidence makes impressive reading. Her Barrister, C.E. Loseby, himself a Spiritualist, conducted a strenuous defence but, on 4th April, Helen was sentenced to 9 months in prison.

There was more to all this than might at first appear. The authorities were inclined to turn a blind eye to mediums but Helen had attracted attention to herself in the sensitive area of wartime security. At a séance in Edinburgh her guide, Albert, told of the sinking of HMS Hood. This information was in fact correct and 1400 lives had been lost, but the Admiralty was keeping the news from the public.

Then at a séance in Portsmouth a young seaman communicated who had been killed when his ship, HMS Barham, was sunk. Again, news of the disaster was being kept from the public, so this revelation was very unwelcome. Preparations for "D Day" were under way and the authorities acted. At her next séance Helen was arrested and detained in Holloway for five days.

The charges which led to her trial were made under the Witchcraft Act rather than the Vagrancy Act because the authorities wanted Helen in prison and unable to practise her mediumship.

To follow the story of Helen Duncan to its tragic conclusion: her work seriously deteriorated after her imprisonment and the Spiritualist National Union withdrew her diploma, stating that they hoped this would be temporary. Helen did recover her former faculties and despite bad health started to travel again, conducting séances.

At the time of the Suez Crisis in 1956, the interruption of a séance by the police when Helen was in trance caused her such injuries that she was hospitalised for a month. She never fully recovered and died later that year.

It is suggested that Winston Churchill took an interest in psychic phenomena and had visited Helen at least once. This visit was confirmed by Helen’s granddaughters in a recent Radio 4 programme about her.

Physical mediumship is very rare nowadays. Ivy Northage explains:

"Intensely exhausting, often ignorantly handled, it can be a hazardous form of mediumship. I do not believe that the power is any less today, but enlightened sensitives, aware of the risks, are justifiably reluctant to trust the Philistines…"