Report on David Thompson's New York Materializations

In Early April of this year (2008) I received an e-mail advising me that physical, materialization medium David Thompson would be coming to New York. I was advised that David would do a private séance for a small group of Zerdin members, myself included. I was thrilled, knowing that I would be able to sit with this extraordinarily gifted medium once again. David would be accompanied by his circle leader Chris and his circle coordinator Rosheen.

Having sat with this amazingly gifted medium twice before in the UK, I was thrilled beyond words to learn that he would be coming to my country and my hometown. I had previously sat with David approximately seven months ago after traveling all the way to the United Kingdom, specifically to experience physical, materialization mediumship first hand. Upon returning to the US, I realized that this was, without a doubt, the most amazing, and life changing experience that I ever could and would experience in my lifetime, regardless of how long I lived.

Since I live in New York, I was asked if I could find a suitable venue for these demonstrations and prepare it, and make it safe and suitable for ectoplasmic materializations to take place. Not an easy assignment, considering I only had about six weeks to find and prepare a venue. For the next several weeks, my small circle of likeminded friends and I eagerly and enthusiastically searched the greater New York metropolitan tri-state area for a suitable location, within a sixty mile radius of New York City.

After much frustration and much searching, we finally decided on a suitable venue at Subtle Energies in Warwick, New York – a holistic health centre that is located in a quiet, rural setting, and is owned by a dear friend of mine. We were allowed to use her classroom which is about twelve by twenty four feet with one door and two windows.

We painstakingly worked over the next few weeks to prepare the venue, making sure that any and all sources of light were eliminated. The safety of David was paramount to us as we were all aware that if ectoplasm is exposed to light, it shoots back into the body of the medium at such a high rate of speed that if can severely injure or even kill the medium. Historically, we know that this has happened in the past and were not taking any chances. We utilized plywood, very heavy black pool liner, nails, blinds and curtains to literally seal the windows, the door, making it totally impervious to light, thus creating the perfect atmosphere required for ectoplasmic materializations to take place, while at the same time, affording the medium total protection. The vents were even sealed with heavy black tape. We also bought large pieces of plywood to place on the carpeted floor directly in front of the mediums chair in order to hear footsteps when the materializations took place, for further verification.

Having been to this health center previously on several occasions, I was totally familiar with the layout and felt very comfortable in knowing that we were in charge of preparing this venue. I also borrowed a suitable wood and leather chair from a friend for David (the medium) to sit in during the seance. We were in charge of the room preparation, and we were all vigilant and constantly looking out for anything that might even remotely indicate any semblance of fraud. We made sure that any attempt at fraud would be impossible.

The seating began at approximately 8pm and the usual precautions were taken prior to the sitters being seated. Everyone was frisked, patted down, and wanded with an electronic, battery operated metal detector. This is performed routinely, mostly for the safety of the medium, in order to make sure that no one comes in with matches or a small flashlight. They also want to make sure that absolutely nothing else is brought into the séance room – I mean nothing. It only takes one ignorant and self-centered sitter to jeopardize the life of the medium. This is why security procedures are prudent and necessary with any medium that utilizes ectoplasm to perform materializations. They also want everyone in the room to know that nothing is allowed to be brought in that could possibly be used by the medium or a confederate to engage in fraud. I feel that this is a good and necessary practice because what takes place, and is witnessed during that séance, is so incredibly amazing and life altering, that the sitters will naturally be in a state of disbelief and think to themselves that it has to be a trick of some kind.

After everyone was seated in a horseshoe semi circle, David and his circle leader Chris entered the room. They had with them, a small bag containing plastic cable ties, a pair of wire cutters, and a black cardigan sweater with five buttons and five button holes – nothing else. I watched very carefully to make sure that nothing else was brought into the room. I examined the plastic cable ties, the cardigan, and the wire cutters myself to make sure that everything was what it was supposed to be, and that nothing else was brought into the room. Prior to the commencement of the séance, Chris the circle leader, gave a short talk about physical mediumship, David Thompson, and the do’s and don’ts of séance protocol.

I found this to be valuable and informative. Most importantly though, it gave everyone in the room who did not know Chris, an opportunity to see the honesty, sincerity, and dedication of this man. He then introduced David Thompson, the medium. David gave a more extensive and heartfelt talk about himself, his gift and mediumship. Again this allowed everyone who never met David before a chance to look directly into his eyes and his soul and feel the sincerity and conviction of his character. I am sure that everyone was moved by his talk, as I was, and felt comfortable in knowing that what they were about to experience was going to be genuine.

David then took a seat in the chair that was brought in by me and was thoroughly examined by several sitters prior to the start of the séance. The cable ties were fastened around David's wrists and ankles very firmly. Any tighter and it certainly would have restricted his circulation. They also put a cable fastener through each of the five button holes, to show the sitters that the sweater could not possibly be removed without first cutting the cable ties with the wire cutters. A gag was then placed over his mouth tightly so talking would be impossible or at least extremely difficult. Two of the sitters (one male and one female) were then asked to come up to the front of the room and carefully examine the chair, the sweater, and the cable fasteners in front of the entire group. Both of these people have never sat in a physical materialization circle before and both have never met David Thompson before. Both of them checked everything and the male sitter especially was extremely thorough, proclaiming to everyone that David was indeed tied very securely to the chair.

The lights were turned off and the circle leader Chris, turned on the music to build up the energy, and asked that we all hold hands so that everyone in the room knew where everyone else was. After a couple of songs, the music was turned off and you could immediately hear the voice of William Cadwell, David's spirit control and guide. From what I have read on the Circle of the Silver Cord website, William died (crossed over to the spirit world, in 1897). William's voice came through loud and clear. He purposefully stamped his feet on the plywood in the front of the room to let people know that he was indeed fully materialized. He also clapped his hands several times.

As he continued to speak, you could clearly hear the location of his voice change as he walked around the room. This was an absolute thrill for me because he walked right past me as he was speaking and actually came within just a few feet of my chair. He stopped along the way to speak with some of the sitters that he was familiar with. Eventually, he returned to the front of the room and asked if anyone had any questions for him.

I asked the third question and upon finishing my question, William immediately responded saying “ah, Mr. ___– I’d know that voice anywhere” Needless to say, I was flabbergasted. After asking him one question in England, back on October 3, 2007, he remembered my voice. William answered six questions from the sitters and was easy to understand – at least I was able to understand every word completely.

The next entity to materialize was Timothy, a ten year old boy who, I am told, passed in 1905 from a respiratory ailment. Timothy’s job is to work with the ectoplasm. I am told that because of what he does with the ectoplasm, the materializations are able to take place. Technically, I am not sure what that means. Timothy asked if anyone had any questions regarding ectoplasm. One person did have a question and Timothy answered it honestly and competently. Timothy then walked around the room with what appeared to be an illuminated plaque, showing his hand and fingers to all. I believe that everyone in the room got a clear view of this. They were obviously the fingers of a child.

He then levitated an illuminated trumpet and had this trumpet flying around the room at such a high rate of speed that it would be virtually impossible for anyone to be able to move any object like that with such speed and such precision, aerobatic maneuvers. This was very convincing to me and to all that witnessed it. At one point, the trumpet flew across the room at an incredibly high rate of speed and landed on the front of my head. The trumpet felt like it was dancing around on my head for about ten second. I had to share this with everyone so I loudly verbalized to everyone in the room what was happening. This was amazing beyond anything that I have ever experienced.

Timothy then spoke some more and eventually brought through the next spirit entity: The legendary musician Louis Armstrong. He greeted us all in his very distinctive raspy Louis Armstrong voice and we all sang Wonderful World with him as circle leader Chris put on the music. I had sung with him back in October in England and was so enthralled at the time that I couldn’t really enjoy it. This time, I was totally able to enjoy this experience.

The next three spirit entities that came through were all personal in nature. They were all relatives of some of the sitters present in the room. The first one was the father of a 40 year old female sitting at the very front. As they spoke, you could feel everyone in the room get very emotional. The second one was the grandfather of a girl on the contra lateral side of the room. This was most interesting because this spirit spoke in Russian to his grand daughter. My son, who speaks Russian and was seated in close proximity to this girl, confirmed afterwards that it was definitely Russian that he was speaking. I also asked the girl afterwards if she thought it really was her grandfather that was speaking to her and she responded absolutely she was sure that it was him.

The third entity that materialized was the father of my dear friend Howie. It was such an emotional experience for Howie, he was so happy, that it brought him to tears. Afterwards, I spoke to Howie and he too confirmed that he felt it was definitely his father that was speaking to him. All three of the aforementioned individuals were so incredibly moved by this experience that they were almost rendered completely speechless.

Finally, the last entity to materialize was a man known as Dr. Henry Slade. He came through to speak to a Reverend who apparently has a spiritualist church someplace in Florida. They spoke for a while and Dr. Slade ended his conversation by telling the Reverend that he should continue with the good work that he is doing and that he will always be close by.

A short time later, everyone in the room nearly jumped out of their chairs as a very loud noise was heard in the middle of the room, akin to a refrigerator falling over on its side. This noise undoubtedly startled everyone. When the lights were subsequently turned on, lo and behold, the medium's chair was now situated directly in the middle of the room.

Apparently, the chair, with David still strapped to it, was levitated through the air approximately fifteen to twenty feet and then dropped right in the middle of the room. There is no other possible explanation for this most remarkable occurrence. It would have taken four very strong people to lift that chair in the air, carry it twenty feet and then drop it – an impossibility because all of the sitters were holding hands, and just before it dropped someone in the room would certainly have heard some commotion near the cabinet.

Upon further examination of the medium, everyone could see that the cable ties still had the mediums arms and legs tied securely to the chair. Furthermore, the black cardigan sweater that David was wearing, was reversed with the five cable ties still locked securely through the button holes - remarkable indeed.

So the end of a most exciting, thought provoking, and life changing demonstration of physical, materialization mediumship. Every person that left that séance room had their life changed profoundly in some way from this most astounding experience. I, myself, think about it every single day - absolute, concrete proof of survival. Their primary message to everyone is that they are not dead. They convey to us that we are indeed accountable (responsible) for our behavior. This experience is so life altering that I can understand why the vast majority of people who hear about this phenomenon do not accept it as real.

This is my fifth materialization séance and I can say with irrevocable certainty that I never, at any time, even remotely suspected the possibility of any fraud taking place and any of these seances. The people involved with this type of mediumship are of the very highest caliber. They all possess the very highest level of integrity and they are all dedicated to trying to enlighten the world to the fact that we all survive physical death, and that our loved ones want to and, albeit difficult, can communicate with us.

If anyone reading this is not convinced that this phenomenon is real, I would suggest that you borrow or purchase a book on the subject of life after death or simply go on line and type in on google or any search engine: “afterlife research”. The amount of information available is almost unlimited. The links go on and on ad infinitum. Do not formulate any decisions about survival of death without first reviewing the evidence. Once you have reviewed the evidence, you will likely accept it and know in your heart with absolute certainty that it is all true. Only a foolhardy person would accept or reject something without first looking for evidence and then reviewing it thoroughly. We formulate opinions and beliefs based on biased and prejudicial personal conceptualizations that are merely a culmination of all of our previous personal experiences, including extensive media indoctrination over a lifetime, instead of contemporary hardcore evidence.

For anyone who is skeptical, just consider the possibility - what if it IS true? Look at what is at stake here. Would you want to jeopardize your future, possibly for eternity? Is it not better to err on the side of caution? Look what one would miss out on by not looking into this most critical information, and finding out for yourself one way or another. Is this not worth looking into? One does not need to sit in a physical séance in order to know the truth that we all survive death. I accepted the evidence for survival long before I ever sat in a materialization circle and witnessed it first hand. My advice would be to read about it wherever you can, be it in books or on the internet.

There are several good web sights with an abundance of information, and the links on these sites are almost endless. I would highly recommend: silvercordcircle.com and victorzammit.com for starters. Click on the links and you will encounter an endless supply of information that will certainly change your life forever. Any book written by Arthur Findlay should certainly convince even the most hard core skeptics. Bookstores throughout the world all carry many books written by popular American mediums like John Edwards, James Van Prague, Sylvia Brown, Lisa Williams and many, many others.

Nothing has changed my life for the better more than acquisition of this information, this truth that we all survive physical death and that we are indeed responsible and accountable for our behavior. My personal mission in life now is to read more, study more, and learn as much as possible about the afterlife so as to enlighten as many people as possible about this discovery of survival, undoubtedly the greatest discovery in the history of mankind. The world desperately needs to know about this. So much suffering could be alleviated or eliminated and it could easily change the course of human history – for the better.

Dr K.
New York
USA

To learn more about David Thompson go to the Circle of the Silver Cord website.

To learn more about Zerdin Phenomenal, a UK based organization devoted to physical mediumship go to
http://www.zerdinphenomenal.co.uk/