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When Gladys Osborne Leonard entered hypnotic trances, she was taken over by a “control” personality named “Feda,” who spoke in a childlike, lisping, high-pitched tone. Occasionally, the individuals in spirit would speak directly through Leonard.
For over forty years Mrs. Leonard’s mediumship was studied exhaustively by members of the Society for Psychical Research. She was able to satisfy every test she was subjected to, and the researchers were convinced Mrs. Leonard was indeed speaking with living individuals who were simply no longer using a body.
Rev. Charles Drayton Thomas
The Rev. Charles Drayton Thomas, a Wesleyan minister and member of the British Society for Psychical Research (SPR), sat with Mrs. Leonard over one hundred times to test her abilities.
Thomas’s deceased father instructed him, through Mrs. Leonard, to go to the lowest shelf in his extensive library and extract the sixth book from the left. On page 149, three-quarters of the way down, he was told, he would find a word that meant “falling back or stumbling.” Once home, Thomas located the book and on page 149, three-quarters of the way down, were these words: “… to whom a crucified Messiah was a stumbling-block.”
In eighteen months of experiments, Thomas’s father was able to cite ever more words and numbers with increasing accuracy, both in Thomas’s library and in a friend’s. All were accurate.
Thomas decided to try asking his father for information from newspapers and magazines not yet printed. On January 16, 1920, Thomas’s father in spirit told him to examine the Daily Telegraph the following day and to notice, near the top of the second column of the first page, the name of the place Thomas was born, Victoria Terrace on Victoria Street, Taunton. When Thomas checked the paper the next day, the word “Victoria” was in that exact spot, demonstrating that his father was alive contemporaneously and capable of researching the text and conveying it through the medium.
Proof of Life After Death; Deceased Lawyer Communicates through a Medium
Leonora Piper
Leonora Piper was a nineteenth-century trance medium who allowed communicators to speak through her vocal organs or through automatic writing. Piper was tested repeatedly by a wide range of skeptical observers. The Society for Psychical Research conducted several thousand sittings over two decades with carefully controlled environments to preclude fraud. The messages during the sittings were remarkably accurate. The unmistakable content and detail convinced the sitters their loved ones had spoken using Piper’s vocal mechanism.
Dr. James Hyslop, a professor of logic and ethics at Columbia University and initially a skeptic, accepted the reality of the life after this life as a result of his studies of Piper, who repeatedly produced high-quality evidence.
Dr. James Hyslop
After sitting frequently with Piper, he concluded,
The existence of discarnate spirits is scientifically proven. I no longer refer to the skeptic as having any right to speak on the subject. Any man who does not accept the existence of discarnate spirits and the proof of it is either ignorant or a moral coward. I give him short shrift, and do not propose any longer to argue with him on the supposition that he knows anything about the subject.[i]
Richard Hodgson
Richard Hodgson
Richard Hodgson was a researcher into mediumship in the nineteenth century who was a leading member of the Society of Psychical Research and the American Society for Psychical Research. Hodgson had a Doctor of Law degree. Joseph McCabe, an English writer called “one of the great mouthpieces of freethought in England”[ii] praised Hodgson’s work in debunking fraudulent mediums. He studied extensively the mediumship of the Italian medium Eusapia Palladino and Piper. The source of the account described here is an article in the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research.[iii]
Evidence Confirming Proof of Life After Death
George Pelham, Lawyer
George Pelham, a lawyer and acquaintance of Hodgson, followed Hodgson’s work with Leonora Piper and was skeptical about life after this life, calling it inconceivable. Nevertheless, he told Hodgson that if he died he would try to contact him. At age thirty-two, Pelham died in an accidental fall. Five weeks later Piper sat in a séance with Hodgson and John Hart, Pelham’s close friend. She announced that Pelham was there to speak.
Pelham’s spirit provided a long list of details about himself, his early life, his friends, and his family that could be verified to prove he was indeed George Pelham, still alive in the life after this life. All the details were verified as being true. For example, at the séance John Hart wore the shirt studs Pelham’s father had given him as a memento after his friend’s death. Pelham identified the studs as formerly his and explained how his mother had chosen them and his father had delivered them to Hart.[iv]
In a different sitting, Pelham told Hodgson he had seen his father take a photograph of him to an artist to have it copied. After the séance Hodgson contacted Pelham’s mother, who verified that, in fact, her husband had taken a photograph of their son to an artist to be copied.
Pelham’s father eventually wrote to Hodgson, “The letters you have written to my wife giving such extraordinary evidence of the intelligence exercised by George in some incomprehensible manner over the actions of his friends on earth have given food for constant reflection and wonder. (My) preconceived notions about the future state have received a severe shock.”[v]
The details provided by Pelham in spirit were of details unknown to the medium that occurred after his body had died.
Proof of life after death; Richard Hodgson Communicates with a Good Friend
Hodgson had made a pact with his good friend George Pellow that whoever transitioned first would communicate with the other if communication were possible. Pellow was the first to transition from this life. Hodgson set up circumstances in which to test the mediumship of Leonora Piper while attempting to communicate with his friend in spirit.
Posthumous Communication: Séances and the life after death
George Pellow was an academic who was the author of Jane Austen’s Novels, the first dissertation written about Austin’s work. Pellow died at the age thirty-two in mysterious circumstances.
Over several months Hodgson introduced over 150 sitters at séances to the entranced Piper. Thirty of these had known Pellew while he was alive; the others had never met him. Pellew was able to correctly identify all the sitters he had known. Most of them talked and reminisced with Pellew, speaking through Piper as if he himself were there in the flesh. These meetings were so impressive that Hodgson wrote in his report that he was wrong in his earlier reports and that now he had irretrievably accepted the existence of the afterlife. He claimed that he had communicated with intelligences from the afterlife, and he couldn’t wait to get there himself![vi]
These communications demonstrated that Pellew was alive, with his personality, memories, and mental capacities intact.
Family Members Verified Communication with Their Daughter Whose Body Had Died
In another sitting Piper was asked by the Rev. and Mrs. S.W. Sutton if she could communicate with their deceased little girl, Katherine, whose body had died six weeks before. The account of the séance is now in the archives of the Society for Psychical Research.
Piper was able to establish contact between the Suttons and their very much-loved little girl from the afterlife. The information left no doubt whatsoever that the little girl was actually communicating from the afterlife with her mother and father still living on the earth plane.
She said she used to bite buttons and described her Uncle Frank and a friend who had died from cancer. She referred to her brother by his pet name. She referred to her sore throat, her paralyzed tongue, and that her head became hot before her death. She referred to a doll named Dinah, her sister named Maggie, and her little toy horse. She also sang two songs, the same songs she had sung immediately before she died. The Suttons had no doubt that they had made contact with their little girl and were especially happy when she reassured them: “I am happy… cry for me no more.”[vii]
Their daughter’s accurate communication demonstrated she was alive after her body had died.
Flight Lieutenant H. C. Irwin Communicates to the British Air Ministry through Medium Eileen Garrett
Medium Eileen Garrett
Medium Eileen Garrett held a séance on October 7, 1939, during which a flight lieutenant killed in an airship crash came through. The officer described the airship’s destruction in great detail. The account was presented to Air Ministry Intelligence, who were impressed by the accuracy and by details they had not known. Representatives of the ministry met with Garrett and interviewed the officer through her, discovering important, technical information Garrett could not have known. The accounts that follow are taken from psychical researcher Harry Price’s records.[viii]
Eileen Garrett
Eileen J. Garrett was a twentieth-century psychic and trance medium. From 1932 to 1933 she toured the United States, holding sittings with a number of organizations, including Johns Hopkins University and the New York Psychiatric Institute. She was actively involved in experimentation and study of the fundamentals of mediumship and psychic activity to evaluate and understand the actions and processes involved.
Garrett Communicates with Flight Lieutenant Irwin
Flight Lieutenant Herbert Carmichael Irwin commanded non-rigid airships during World War I. He and forty-five other crew members were killed when Airship R101 crashed in a storm in Northern France on a flight from Britain to India.[ix]
One of Garret’s séances was interrupted by a man who identified himself as Flight Lieutenant H. C. Irwin of Airship R101. The sitters later learned that the airship had crashed three days before, but the government had not revealed the tragedy.
Irwin described the crash in detail, and one of the sitters chronicled his narrative in shorthand. The notes were presented to Air Ministry Intelligence, who were startled and impressed by the accuracy as well as by details they had not known. They were sufficiently convinced of the authenticity that Major Oliver Villiers arranged seven more séances with Garrett to hear more details from Irwin. He discussed technical subjects Garrett could not have understood, such as “cruising speed,” “gross lift,” “disposable lift,” “useful lift of the airship,” “trim,” “fuel injection,” “volume of structure,” and others.
Irwin also discussed a top-secret, classified experiment the ministry had been engaged in: attempts to use a mixture of hydrogen and oil in airships. Ministry officials agreed that the information that came from Irwin through Garrett was completely accurate, even the town the airship passed over before it crashed and the locations of hidden diaries crew members had kept that revealed their fears about the secret project.[x]
Garrett’s lack of technical knowledge, and an account so accurate that Air Ministry Intelligence arranged to interview Irwin through her, demonstrate that Flight Lieutenant Irwin was alive, had intact memories, and was articulate and capable of explaining technical information clearly.
Raymond Lodge Communicates through Two Trance Mediums
Through mediums, Raymond Lodge communicated many messages to his father, Sir Oliver Lodge, including information about his life that only intimate family members would know.
Sir Oliver Lodge
Sir Oliver Lodge
Sir Oliver Lodge was a British physicist who described electromagnetic radiation and held key patents for radio devices.
Raymond Lodge
Raymond Lodge
Raymond Lodge was the youngest surviving son of Sir Oliver. Raymond Lodge became an electrical and mechanical engineer and worked in his brothers’ business. In September 1914 Raymond volunteered for World War I military service and was a Second Lieutenant in the South Lancashire Fusiliers. He was killed in action in September 1915 at the age of twenty-six.
Evidence Demonstrating People Transition but Do Not Die
Through mediums, Raymond communicated many messages to his father, including information about his life that only intimate family members would know. Sir Oliver stated absolutely that they showed beyond reasonable doubt he and his family were receiving communications from Raymond.[xi]
On September 27, 1915, at a séance with materialization medium A. Vout Peters, attended by an anonymous person known only as M. F. A. L., Peters’ control “Moonstone” spoke through Peters:
You have several portraits of this boy [Raymond]. Before he went away you had got a good portrait of him—two—no, three. Two where he is alone and one where he is in a group of other men. He is particular that I should tell you of this. In one you see his walking-stick.[xii]
After reading M. F. A. L.’s account of the séance, Sir Oliver said he had photographs of Raymond alone, but no group photo.
On November 29 Mrs. Lodge received a letter from the mother of a captain who had known Raymond. She wrote about the nature of Raymond’s fatal wound and said she had a photo of a group of officers, including Raymond, taken in August. She offered to send a copy.[xiii]
On December 3 Sir Oliver was a sitter in a séance with trance medium Gladys Osborne Leonard. Feda, Leonard’s control, was relaying messages from Raymond in spirit to Sir Oliver when Sir Oliver asked about the unknown group photograph. Raymond, through Feda, replied that the photograph was of a group of a dozen or more soldiers who were arranged close together in rows, with a seated front row and a back row. Feda went on to describe the photograph as having been taken outdoors but with a shelter and a black background with lines on its surface. One of the soldiers was leaning on Raymond’s shoulder or trying to do so. Feda wanted Sir Oliver to note in particular that Raymond’s walking stick was in the photograph.[xiv]
On December 7 the nine-by-twelve photo arrived at Sir Oliver’s home. It shows a group of soldiers: five in the front row seated on grass, including Raymond, who has his walking stick; seven in the second row seated on chairs; and nine in the back row standing against the outside of a temporary wooden shed. The background is dark with notable vertical lines. Clearly, one of the soldiers sitting behind Raymond is leaning or resting a hand on Raymond’s shoulder. Raymond appears annoyed by it. [xv]
In the following photograph, an arrow points to Raymond in the front row, second from the right, seated on the ground.
Most remarkably, the existence of the photograph had come through two mediums independently.
In other communications, Raymond showed he was aware of what was going on in his father’s life.
He referred to “a Roland for your Oliver,” meaning that there had been a recent marriage resulting in a son-in-law named Roland.[xvi]
He came through in a séance with Gladys Osborne Leonard attended by his father on September 15, 1915, explaining what he meant in a September 27 séance with A. Vout Peters when he misspelled a location.[xvii]
In another séance with Leonard, Raymond through Feda described being with his father when his father was writing:
“I am often with you, very often.” [Raymond takes] Feda into a room with a desk in it; too big for a desk, it must be a table. A sort of a desk, a pretty big one. In front of it is a high up chair, more wooden, not plushy; and the light is falling onto the desk; and you are sitting there with a pen or pencil in your hand; you aren’t writing much, but you are looking through writing, and making bits of writing on it; you are not doing all the writing yourself, but only bits on it. Raymond is standing at the back of you; he isn’t looking at what you are doing.
Oliver Lodge remarked, “The description is correct.”[xviii]
In the same séance with Leonard, Raymond responded to Oliver Lodge’s question about the “big bird” and “Mr. Jackson” by responding, “a fine bird” and “put him on a pedestal.” Mr. Jackson was the name of Lady Lodge’s peacock, which had just died. They were considering having a taxidermist stuff the bird. The peacock was to be mounted on a wooden pedestal.[xix]
Proof of Life After Death; Evidence from Trance Mediumship
The details communicated about people’s lives and current events verify that trance mediums are communicating with people living in the life after this life whose bodies have died. The communications demonstrate that people in spirit are aware of current efforts to prove the validity of their communications. In the examples cited, the people in spirit maintained regular, consistent communication about the locations of words and gave technical specifications of an airship. All the factual details conveyed articulately and without hesitation show that mediums communicated with people in the life after this life.
Evidence from communications through trance mediums with people whose bodies have died but are recognized by those who knew them proves you will never die.
[i] James H. Hyslop, Life After Death: Problems of the Future Life and Its Nature (Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 1918).
[ii] Ronan Crowley and Geert Lernout, “Joseph MacCabe in Ulysses,” Genetic Joyce Studies 12 (Spring 2012).
[iii] Richard Hodgson, “A further record of observations of certain phenomena of a trance,” Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research 13 (1897-1898): 297.
[iv] Michael Schmicker, Best Evidence (Lincoln, NE: Writers Club Press, 2002), 249-250.
[v] Schmicker, Best Evidence, 251.
[vi] Zammit, A Lawyer Presents, 119.
[vii] Victor Zammit, A Lawyer Presents the Case for the Afterlife (Sydney, Australia: Ganmell Pty. Ltd., 2006): 116-117.
[viii] Harry Price, Leaves from a Psychist’s Case-Book (London: Victor Gollancz, 1933), Chapter VI.
[ix] “Herbert Carmichael Irwin,” This Day in Aviation, https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/tag/herbert-carmichael-irwin/.
[x] Schmicker, Best Evidence, 252-253.
[xi] Sir Oliver Lodge, Raymond or Life and Death (New York: George H. Doran, 1916), 106.
[xii] Lodge, Raymond or Life and Death, 106.
[xiii] Lodge, Raymond or Life and Death, 106-107.
[xiv] Lodge, Raymond or Life and Death, 107-109.
[xv] Lodge, Raymond or Life and Death, 111-112.
[xvi] Lodge, Raymond or Life and Death, 140 and 152.
[xvii] Lodge, Raymond or Life and Death, 140 and 152.
[xviii] Lodge, Raymond or Life and Death, 260.
[xix] Lodge, Raymond or Life and Death, 140 and 152.
When Gladys Osborne Leonard entered hypnotic trances, she was taken over by a “control” personality named “Feda,” who spoke in a childlike, lisping, high-pitched tone. Occasionally, the individuals in spirit would speak directly through Leonard.
The Rev. Charles Drayton Thomas, a Wesleyan minister and member of the British Society for Psychical Research (SPR), sat with Mrs. Leonard over one hundred times to test her abilities.
Raymond Lodge
