 Report
on Physical Mediumship Seance 03/04/2015 at the Banyan Retreat
Centre Kent England with medium Scott
Milligan.
By Rae Kelcou.
Duration: 2hrs 15 mins
Those who have attended demonstrations of Physical
Mediumship or, at the very least, have read about them, will
be familiar with the types of phenomena that are produced.
Items being moved, trumpets being levitated, instruments being
played and the suchlike. Whilst these are very important elements
exploring, as they do, the manipulation of energies, I’m
not actually going to say much about them except where absolutely
necessary.
Fear not, for I sense your disappointment. But there are,
actually, many other things happening within the séance
room that richly deserve their own recognition. Areas of information
which, I suspect, many of us sitters hear, acknowledge, nod
sagely to, and then promptly forget as we lollop away in search
of the type of restorative sustenance generally found in chocolatey
comestibles.
One of these areas certainly has to be communication. We know
that an ectoplasmic voicebox is created, that spirits cometh
and that spirits talketh. Which, for the majority of us, is
pretty much about it. However, it would seem that it’s
not as simple as it sounds.
One of Scott’s Spirit Team, a youthful urchin by the
name of Daniel, gave out further details regarding this as
he went about his business. His primary job appears to be
that of Master of Ceremonies, marshalling those in the next
phase of life who wish to communicate, advising when singing
is required to help build the energy in the room and generally
ensuring the sitters are relaxed. He has a likeable personality,
a good sense of humour and a pleasing touch of all-too-human
frustration when things don’t go quite according to
plan.
He gave a small insight into how those in spirit perceive
us. During a brief spell ensuring everyone was relaxed, he
said “… ‘Course, you sit funny, you know.
You’re all sitting there in the dark. But we sit in
the light.”
When asked by a sitter if he could see us, he replied “I
see the true you. I see your soul’s emanation, your
colours.” This is something others in spirit have termed
‘auric resonance’, where everything about you
is laid bare within the fluctuating colours of energy that
surround each individual.
The first point of interest, in the communication sense, is
that Daniel sometimes appears to be working in the way we
would normally associate with a Mental Medium on this side
of life. When he is talking with a person in spirit who is
looking to make contact with a sitter, he is often receiving
and verifying information from them in images. This can sometimes
be as exasperating for him as it can be for the physical equivalent.
“Keys? Keys?” he asked “Is that surname
for keys? You can’t dangle something and not tell me.”
A short while later, he states “That’s strange,
‘cos he showed me shortbread and he kept waving his
finger around about it.” He also uses, for lack of a
better phrase, his psychic intuition. He observes, at one
point, that “I sense this old fella, he used to box.”
On another occasion he mentions to a sitter “…
it’s just, as I heard your voice, I wanted to talk about
your ankles.”
Clearly, we’re witnessing a first line of communication
between the next phase of life and this one. People in spirit
who have probably never spoken with people here before in
this manner. All too often we fall for the myth that such
speaking is easy, anyone can communicate. A fallacy forged
in the false fires of internet based quasi-knowledge. In reality,
like any other skill, it has to be learnt, practised, and
honed. Those on the other side who aren’t adept in such
matters still need to find a Medium, in the same way that
those of us on this side must do likewise.
This is underlined when we move on to the second line of communication:
the ectoplasmic voicebox. It takes a little while for the
box to be created and tested – “We have to build
it first, so you’ll hear some gasping and hear a wobbling.”
During its construction, Frances, who is also a member of
the Spirit Team and has a strong musical background, used
her operatic skills to help stretch it. It has to be said
that, if you’re into that sort of thing, she was in
fine fettle. Providing a further reason why taking a wine
glass into a séance room may not be the wisest of moves.
When the time was right for someone to talk through it, it
was quite apparent that this is a task not without effort.
The voice, a sitter’s Father in this case, was initially
quite quiet and indistinct. The trouble he was taking was,
at times, quite palpable and not without some determination.
Indeed, his first ‘hello’ was so weak and wispy
– almost ethereal – that it was missed completely
by all present forcing him to repeat the salutation with an
edge of puzzled inquisitiveness. Once the conversation got
going, however, confidence and practice seemed to improve
both the connection and the clarity of speech.
Daniel gave us some clues as to how the voicebox is accessed
by those waiting to speak from the next phase of life. There
appears to be, on their side, a solidity to it. A physicality,
if you will excuse that as a descriptor. He exhorts the person
in spirit to get close up to it, often with rather prosaic
phrasing such as “go on, girl, shove your face in.”
It is apparent that the girl in question is completely unused
to what is expected of her. “Go in. Put your face in.
Think real loud and take a deep breath, you’ll be alright”
he continues, “You see those two there? Miss Frances
and the other one? You’ve got to stand with them, they’ll
push you in”.
Another important aspect seems to be our own voiceboxes or
rather, I’m assuming, the individual vibrational resonation
created when we speak. It’s not unusual (in a séance)
to be advised that, should someone in spirit talk to you,
ensure you talk back in order to both strengthen and maintain
the link. At one point it was proving difficult to match a
person in spirit with a particular sitter. Darren, acting
as control for our group, requested that everyone “…
talk to the person next to you for just a minute, to keep
the voices going.” The hope being that the person on
the other side would be able to recognise the voice energy.
On more than one occasion Daniel would also ask a specific
sitter “Here, can I have your voice for a moment, duck?”
Or “Here, talk to me a little bit, if that’s alright.”
Like all things in life, it isn’t guaranteed to be 100%
successful. The girl mentioned earlier, once she’d,
erm, shoved her face in, failed to recognise the voice of
the sitter. “She’s not mine” she managed
to say albeit quite faintly, “I thought she [her daughter]
was going to be here.” She went on to add “Strange,
this building looks different.”
It transpired that the poor lass had turned up to the wrong
séance on the wrong date and in the wrong location.
Thereby, at least, proving that we remain all too human on
crossing. Whilst tinged with pathos, the incident also gave
lie to the strange notion that we suddenly become all knowing
once over there.
Apart from his other tasks, Daniel also has a hand in the
physical phenomena. He explained how and why he became involved
with it “When I came over, I saw someone who shined
brighter than myself and they said I could be of service.
Because I used to shake beds and scare a few people here and
there. … I used to scare them [spoilt children]. And
those I scared, what did they do? They run to their Mothers
and Fathers [for love]. That costs nothing. I thought I was
doing a service, you know. Until the person who’s brighter
than myself said no, you have a purpose. Because I was able
to move things. Move things and, they said, you can concentrate.”
He is instrumental in controlling at least one of the trumpets
as they manoeuvre through the air. This is quite a skill which
involves moving them under the direction of thought whilst
they are, in turn, attached to the Medium via ectoplasmic
rods. Quite a skill to acquire and it is clear why he was
given a heads up for the job.
This control was ably demonstrated when Scott was brought
out of trance whilst the trumpets were still elevated. Physical
Mediums aren’t placed into a deep trance simply for
convenience. All concerned know and understand how volatile
ectoplasm can be and, as it is extruded from the Medium’s
own body, how much discomfort it can cause whilst being manipulated.
It is exceptionally rare to bring somebody out of trance when
the phenomena display is in full swing. It takes a lot of
expertise and trust to do so. For a tadge over seven minutes,
Daniel and his cohorts kept the trumpets airborne but either
moving carefully, slowly, or even remaining stationary as
the slightest wobble would have delivered quite an unpleasant
feeling to Scott. That feat certainly tested Daniel’s
ability to concentrate.
This period provided quite an insight into what effects this
type of work has on the body. Scott reported that the voicebox
was being formed just behind his right ear and that “every
time he goes to try to talk it makes me lose my breath.”
He also stated that the voices sounded quite muffled, like
they were under water. When the trumpets did move he reported
a feeling like cramp in the solar plexus, similar to doing
too many sit-ups. He also felt like his nose was running profusely.
This would be the ectoplasm which generally travels in a downward
direction and would have joined the rods from his solar plexus
region. He also reported being immensely thirsty.
It can’t be underestimated how incredible and how rare
it is to witness a Physical Medium out of trance, communications
coming through the voicebox, two trumpets levitated and moving,
conversing with the sitters – all at the same time.
It wasn’t, of course, entirely without mishap. On one
occasion the ectoplasmic rods were moved, ending up a little
lower than anticipated and in, shall we say, an area that
a gentleman would prefer them not to be.
I trust that I’ve proved my earlier assertion that a
lot more goes on in the séance room, a lot of information
can be gleaned, and that it’s not all just the whizzing
of trumpets and the banging of drums. There’s a lot
of evidence tucked away waiting to be uncovered.
I can’t help but to think that a careful ear will go
much further than any number of infra-red video cameras or
high tech wizadry in substantiating what we already know happens
in a Physical séance for those who harbour unsupported
doubts.
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