Séance at the Edgefield - Finally, an honest to goodness Victorian séance at the Edgefield! This is a real séance lead by local occult mystic Yitzhak Schlomi - a serious, straight up attempt to contact the spirits that linger about at the Edgefield. We will not be trying to contact your dead relatives, so don't ask...unless your deceased relative happens to be a resident of the Edgefield. You will want to leave your humour at the door, as this will be a serious séance. Please come with an open mind. If you have a moral objection to communicating with spirits, please do not sign up for this event.
I can report that the marathon seance was an unqualified success. On a scale of 1 to 10, I give it an 15.
There are a few important aspects to this seance...
- it was held in a well-known, well-documented haunted venue.
- those attending had knowledge of the history of the venue to varying degrees.
- all had open minds, two of the three sitters were believers in spirits.
- there were 6 people who accepted invitations, only actually four attended.
Sitters were asked to please put aside any Edgefield ghost stories or accounts of encounters until after the séance. We will have time to discuss this during and after spirit contact,” I mentioned.
As the participants ambled in, we naturally began talking about our own backgrounds. Soon, we were talking about ghost and spirit contact and relating our experiences. More than an hour went by quickly just chatting. I did ask then to please put aside any Edgefield ghost stories or encounters until after the seance. Quickly we developed a camaraderie.
We will have set up various detectors to sense the presence of a spirit.
Explain that the ancient art of speaking with ghosts relies on everyone acting as mediums by using their paranormal abilities.
Jewish (and other) views on spirits of the dead.
Induction: spiritually wakening ourselves, elevating our spiritual awareness.
Exercises to awaken & strengthen our paranormal abilities
Activities to sense the spirits inhabiting Edgefield.
Contact a spirit or spirits
Denouement – Bid farewell to the spirit(s) and bring ourselves down to a normal state.
I interjected, "We will take
several 10 minute breaks to you can stretch, run for a pint, glass of
wine, or other refreshments."
I need to know if it is okay if I and the other participants touch you during this evening. Touch is important in elevating your own spirits and those, living and dead, around you. Touch should be limited to arms, hands, and shoulders. Are we agreed this is acceptable?
Also, some or all of you, may participate in being induced into a trance state. I need who of you would be willing to enter into a trance later in the evening.
Please be sure your phones and all other electronic devices are completely powered off and put away.
In the next segment we will explore the history of the Edgefield, discuss how we are to sense spirits and make contact with them. When we return, we will begin in earnest.
I passed out photographs as I told the story (see the link with the full history). You can see the photos I used here, but in a random order:
http://www.ravyitzhak.com/private/Edgefield/
The history of the Edgefield from Poor Farm, Nursing Facility for the Aged, Home for Troubled Children, to Resort was briefly reviewed. One thing we discussed was how life was not always pleasant in any of these incarnations until the McMenamin brothers bought and renovated the Edgefield and turned it into a place of relaxation and entertainment. Now the lodge includes a winery, brewery, pub, movie theatre, hotel rooms, speciality bars, a fine dining restaurant, and inventive event spaces.
With this much history, with such a diversity of people living and working here, and so many deaths here on the Edgefield grounds, it is obvious that there are lingering spirits; shades of the lives people lingering here.
“Although
the history of the seance within the Spiritualism movement only dates
back 200 years, the concept of speaking with the spirits of the dead
goes back to ancient times. Modern seances include singing, sitting
in a circle holding hands, and asking questions of a medium who would
be in contact with the spirit world. Tonight, however, will will go
back to the ancient roots and attempt to get messages collectively
and directly from the ghosts that inhabit Edgefield. To do this, we
will elevate our spirits – the spirits we all have within us.”
I explained various ways of sensing spirits and communicating with them, passing them around as I went. There is the mercury thermometer for observing changes temperature, various pendulums, dowsing rods (the L-rods) for discovering spirits, The electro-luminarygraph, spirit bells (I set one up in the corner hanging from a string), spirit telegraphs (which I demonstrated it briefly), school slates, and reminded them that “with you might call “psychic ability” – I call it heightened spiritual sensitivities – the best form of communication is direct mediumship”.
“We are all aware that Edgefield is haunted by many spirits,” I declared. “Please take a moment of quiet contemplation. Close your eyes if it helps and breath long, deep, slow breaths. Imagine what it was like to live here when Edgefield. was a poor farm, an old folks home, a home for troubled children. If you could travel back in time and talk with one of the residents of the Edgefield, what questions would you ask them? Please think at least one deep question to ask a resident spirit. When you are ready, write it down. Please keep this paper to yourself and tell no one your question until we are concluding the seance.
Good. Now during the course of the evening, if you feel that your question has been answered, please feel free to share your question and the answer from the spirit or spirits.”
“In the next segment,” I explained, “we will perform a protection and cleansing rituals. We will create a space apart from the busy everyday, secular, world. One that will allow us to be closer to the spirits. In Hebrew we call this sort of separation Havdalah. In Hebrew, the term for seance is Havdalah Chaim V'Metim. A separation between the everyday live and the world containing only the spirits of the living and the dead.” This was the only real break we took.
I imparted, “Now, as we begin, please understand that elevating your own spirit and communicating with spirits of the dead is not a science, it is more likely that we will get nothing, but I hope we will all have an interesting experience in trying.
I will need your patience during the evening. Spirits are notoriously shy and it takes time for them to trust us and begin to communicate – if they even do. There will be times we will sit quietly for as long as 10 minutes or do some activity waiting many minutes until we get something – anything.
Tonight we may feel sensations of chills or cold. Watch for sudden temperature changes, tactical sensations such as something brushing against your skin. You may even feel an itching or crawling sensation. Some hear a strange sound somewhat like music. This is normal; it means the spirits are aware that we are listening – are acknowledging their presence. Please let us know if you feel one of these odd sensations.”
I mentioned that, “According to Jewish Mysticism, the physical world we live in is only a tiny bit to an inconceivably vast system of worlds. These worlds are mostly spiritual in nature and cannot normally be detected. However, we teach that there are five aspects to the human spirit, Divinely-derived, and that if one elevated one of these five aspects of our own spirit, we can sense these other dimensions, including the Halls of Sheol, the dimension that nearly departed spirits dwell, even if for only a short time.” I told my own Story of the Chevrah Kedesha. That is, my experiences sitting with the recently dead, guarding and keeping them company between the moment of death and burial.
Placing my box containing items of protection and cleansing, I continued, “These are mezzuzot. They are little squares of parchment in with excerpts of Torah are written by scribes with great deliberation and piety. They contain the four letter name of the Divine on them four separate times. They are very powerful forms of protection. I will place one here, near the windows and one here, at the door.”
As I was placing the mezzuzot on the corners of the room, my wife told her story of the bad mezzuzah:
“Once we lived in an apartment in downtown Portland. Once, when Yitzhak was out of town, in the middle of the night, I awoke from sleep and felt this dark, evil presence in the hallway near our door. I could feel it hovering there. It paused, as if it was thinking about going though the door, but it hesitated. It wanted to pass though, but did not. Yitzhak was home the next day, I told him the story, and the inspected the mezzuzah that hung form the door frame. He found a tiny flaw, just a bit of smudged ink on one letter. The mezzuzah, even flawed, kept that dark spirit out of our apartment. Needless to say, we replaced the parchment and had no further problems.”
Continuing to remove items from a box, I explained, “This is a laver is used to ritually wash the hands. Here are some linen drying cloths to dry our hands – they are called magevet; the root word for magevet is Nun-Gimmel-Vav the same root for Negev (i.e., the Negev Desert). These cloths dry you off, making you as dry as the Negev!” Karrin got the joke and the two of us said the punchline in unison.
I continued, “We will ritually wash our hands before we begin in earnest. The washing and drying of the hands; it is act of cleansing and creating a space apart from the busy everyday, secular world. In Hebrew we call this sort of separation Havdalah. Tonight we will experience Havdalah Chaim V'Metim – a moment in which life and death are not longer separate.”
I pulled out a cloth and demonstrated how to do in the ritual washing. I explained that “this cleansing may remove spirits attached to you or bad spheres of your own spirit may be wiped clean, therefore these cloths are very personal. I wish you to put these away when we are done in your purse, bag, or pocket. Take them home with you as a memento of this evening.”
I opened up the kvittle – a medium-sized scroll, laying out across the table and explained, “Here is the kvittle. This small scroll contain written requests for spiritual guidance and healing.
Karrin asked about some of the odd, repeated markings on one section of the scroll. A discussion ensued about how important the letters of the Hebrew alphabet are in Jewish mysticism and that these letters, repeated many times, were written by my students during an exercise in contemplation during one of my workshops.
“Here is a bottle of ink, a blotter, and a feather pen,” I noted as I removed the pen from a feather pen case. I could not help but to point out the feather pen holder saying, “really, who has a feather pen holder these days?” You have to admit, it is pretty stylish. I continued, “It is the custom – the minhog – in the community I grew up in, for everyone participating to write the kvittle. Please think of something to write in the scroll. What you write should include three aspects: (1) your hope that everyone in this room will come together in peace and harmony, (2) an invitation for a spirit (or spirits) to please visit us this evening in peace and goodwill, and (3) to offer well wishes for the spirit(s) who visits.”
“Before we begin our Havdalah Chaim V'Metim, we will each write in the kvittle a request for clear, focused minds and an invitation for a spirit – a Nefesh in Hebrew (I said, connecting the concept to the previous discussions and my story of – to please visit us this evening so that we may offer a song of comfort and reassurance. It is our hope that our Nefesh visitor will write a message in the scroll if he or she makes a visit.”
First I demonstrated writing a message in the kvittle, dipping the feather pen in the ink bottle, writing, and blotting the ink. Of course, my message was in written in Hebrew. I reminded them that this is a solemn act.
We took turns as we wrote a message with the feather pen in the scroll. I suggested a canned message in case someone was stumped on thinking of their own message.
Pulling a little scroll out of my box I declared, “This miniature scroll is contains the Ana B'koah - an acrostic prayer made from the 72 letter name of the Divine. We will use this during our invocation to invite the spirits and provide protection.”
This is a Shofar. It is used to say farewell to our spirits when it is time for them to leave. Upon hearing the shofar, spirits are compelled to retreat back to the spirit world and we return completely to our physical one. The sound of the shofar awakens the spirits, living and dead, and exudes hope.
This B'Samim contains fragrant spices to entice the spirits to linger with us here, briefly.” Reciting the blessing in Hebrew, I passed the spices around for all to smell.
After these rituals, I felt that a connection had clearly been formed between the sitters.
I spoke about Jewish beliefs of spiritual dimensions, that beings including the Meta'im reside there, but these beings sometimes straddle their dimension and our physical world. They can be detected by “awakening one's Spirit”. And, I talked about Jewish (and other) views on spirits of the dead and gave examples from Torah, Talmud, Tanach, and secular Jewish literature. [It is amusing to me that despite the ban on speaking with the dead in Deut. 18, there are these fairly detailed descriptions of it how it has been done elsewhere.]
“In the ancient art of speaking with the dead, a great deal of mental and spiritual preparations were made. Preparations often took days or weeks (citations given). We do not have this luxury. I would like to introduce two short cuts.”
I pulled out enough identical items, one for each sitter. “These are used to help immerse you in the induction we are about to do by removing outside distractions and promoting your ability to clear your minds.
NOTE: This short cut is proprietary at this time. You will have to attend one of my seances to experience it.
After we had initiated the short cut, I guided the sitters in elevating one of the five aspects of the human spirit, the Nefesh. This was done using an ancient guided meditation called the Hototyiot. The Nefesh elevation tied in with my previous Story of the Chevrah Kedesha.
To verify that the Nefesh elevated, I had the participants see their own spirit.
Next, I handed each participant a small box with an unknown item, asking them to preform remote viewing. We had mixed results, but some qualities described strongly matched the objects contained with the boxes. Some of the items in the box were some dirt and a very old worn bronze coin with some of the rich patina rubbed off and which has seen many owners. Another box contained a tiny glass bottle of water which I got form the Spring of Gihon on one of my trips to Israel. Yet another contains a trombone mouthpiece given to my in college by my horn teacher.
After the remove viewing, still with their eyes closed, I removed the objects from the boxes, placing them in their hands, and asked them to sense anything thing they could about the original owners of the object. We took some to feel the object and compare it to what they had sensed in the remote viewing. From this psychometry exercise we got two very strong hints. The trombone mouthpiece exuded the details of the music building I had my lessons in so many years ago. Another object was first owned be me and they did had an apt description of myself.
We ensured the telegraph was operating and ready. One sitter prepared the slates by coating a consistent layer of chalk on it – it is easier to remove chalk than write, after all. Another sitter verified that the Electro-Lluminarygraph was functioning, whilst another assembled the acoustic spirit amplifier. I demonstrated that the spirit bell was ready to be rung.
We asked the spirits to show a sign. We waited in silence for about three minutes with no response.
Addressing the sitters I continued, "As we proceed with the seance, it is our hope that the spirits will leave us a sign or a message. We have previously set up the bell, the telegraph, and the light meter. I would like to add this old mercury thermometer to the mix. We will leave it here on the table. Please monitor it. If there is a sudden rise or fall of temperature, it may well be evidence that a spirit is nearby.
Brandon, would you please take these school slates and open them. These were used by children in the past, they used them to practise math and spelling, and they would be familiar to those living fifty or more years ago. So, these slates should be familiar to the spirits residing here. Brandon, in this bag is some chalk, please cover the surface of one of the slates with chalk; a nice even coating. Everyone can see? It is a nice uniform layer. My theory here is that it is easier for a spirit to leave a sign or message by removing or manipulating this uniform layer of chalk. Please tie it back up with the twine and we will set it here in the middle of the table.”
Holding up a keyring with little note pads, I explained where I got them. Those who know the store piped up and agreed what a fun place it is just to browse. We` passed around a keyring with note-sized pads and we each tore off a pad. The first person was asked to “think of the name of a person that who no longer living, some one you that does not give you stress to think of, but that you remember fondly, maybe a family friend or a person who was loved in your community. When you have thought of a name, do not tell anyone the name, instead please tear off a pad, and write the name of that person, fold the paper in half, and put a paper clip on it to hold it closed.”
The keychain, pen, and paper clips passed to the next person. “For the rest of you, please think of the name of a living person; some one that you are grateful they are alive. Again, when you have thought of a name, do not tell anyone the name, please tear off a pad, and write the name of that person, fold the paper in half, and put a paper clip on it to hold it closed.
I continued, “Please mix the papers up so we do not know which papers contain the names of the living or of the dead. What we will do is lay the papers out in a neat line in front of Karrin. Now, Karrin, you found an affinity for this pendulum; I suggest we use that and ask the spirits to identify the name of the person no longer living.”
As I proceeded to lay out the papers, I explained, “the spirits of the dead know the difference between those who are living and those who are dead. I propose that we ask spirits to help us identify the name of the person who is no longer living by moving the pendulum. Gaining the spirits trust and asking them for help is our first real attempt to communicate with them.”
“Karrin, please hold the pendulum under each paper. As she does, please, spirits that are present, help Karrin locate the name of the person no longer living by giving the pendulum an extra nudge.”
I backed away and became part of the “circle” of sitters.
“Wow! That first paper really makes the pendulum swing. Try the next one. Not much. And the next? I see something...maybe...what do you think? Try the last paper. Very little. Could you please go over them again. That first one really seems to get a reaction from Karrin, the spirits, and the pendulum. Excellent!” We all agreed that the pendulum reacted much more when it was over the paper to Karrin's far left.
Karrin, let us thank the spirits. In unison we all said, “Thank you, spirits. Thank you for helping us. We are most grateful.”
“Karrin, could you please open the paper and read the name on the paper.” Karrin obliged and read the name, “Alice Bloom”. Melissa gasped. Melissa, who was asked to write the name of a person no longer living, explained, “Alice Bloom was a family friend. “She like an aunt to me when I was growing up. She had many great stories which I liked to listen to. Alice Bloom has a wonder house and garden I always liked to visit.”
Karrin opened the other papers and read the other names. We confirmed the other names were names of living people. We talked about how the spirits helped Karrin locate the name of the dead person. I mentioned, “We have just seen very slight evidence of the spirits here at Edgefield and that they are willing to be known. What I would like to try now is to see if they are willing to manifest.”
“Brandon, could you please hold out your arm”, I asked the sitter sitting to my right and adjusted his arm so his forearm was parallel to the table, palm down, and about 100 mm above it. “Please hold your arm like this, nice and steadily.”
Addressing the spirits, I pleaded, “Spirits, if you are willing and able, could you please try to touch Brandon's arm...like this”, as I stroked Brandon's arm from elbow to wrist to demonstrate to the spirits what I wanted them to do. “Spirits, please touch Brandon's arm, just as I have done. We want to listen to you, and get to know you. Please?” In an even more hushed tone, “Brandon, do you feel anything? Do you feel the touch of the spirits?” “Yes,” he said, “it is like a tickling...a cold tickling. It is like...vibrating kind of.” He smiled, “Oh, this is very cool. I can feel it.” Suddenly, Brandon shook his arm like it there was something crawling on it and commented, “it is really cold.”
“Oh, oh!,” I interjected, “Melissa, please check the thermometer! What does it read? She replied, “70. It has been staying at 70 since we started.” “Brandon are you sound? Doing well?” Brandon commented, “Yeah, that was freaky. It was like something cold was crawling up my arm. It wasn't bad or anything, but it kinda make me shiver. That was way cool. I'm okay.”
Addressing all the sitters, getting a bit excited, I said, “The spirits have responded! This is an amazing development. Usually when I do this there is no response or they are unwilling, but tonight...here at the Edgefield, the spirits are reaching out. This is amazing!” Let us see if they will respond further! They manifested by touch, lets see if they will manifest audibly.”
“Karrin, please take the Acoustic Spirit Amplifier. Hold the mouthpiece up to your ear. You may need to turn it so the horn end points in different directions to 'tune' it,” I bade her. I continued, “Everyone be very quiet. Now, Karrin, I want you to just listen.
Listen to what you hear. Usually this takes patience, it might take several minutes of intense concentration. Use the elevated power of your internal spirit, your Nefesh to really listen. You should hear the spirits; voices”
After a long pause of more than a minute, in a hushed tone, I asked, “what to you hear, Karrin?” Responding, she said, “nothing. I hear nothing. Just noise.” I suggested, “Give it a few more minutes. Listen for differences in the noise, anomalies, sounds that do not sound like just noise; sounds that do no fit. You might hear these anomalies as voices, or singing, or music. Concentrate. Concentrate.”
After a long pause of, perhaps 20 seconds, in a hushed tone, I asked, “what to you hear, Karrin?” “I hear a beat,” responded Karrin.” “It is like 'whum-wah-wah-whump, whum-wah-wah-whump, whum-wah-wah-whump', it keeps repeating.”
“Concentrate on this 'whum-wah-wah-whump' sound,” I bade her, “you begin to hear pitches as you concentrate...” Soon, Karrin was singing a tune. I recognised it as Hayden's 23th symphony and began singing it on “lah-leeh-la-lee, ”lah-leeh-la-lee, lah-leeh-la-lee, (etc.).
I addressed the sitters and the spirits, “So, this particular spirit likes classical music. I have never had such a specific message come from a spirit. We have a really amazing energy here to night between us and the spirits. Thank you. Thank you spirit! I cannot believe how well this night going.”
“We have reached out to the spirits and they are willing to communicate. We thank you, spirits! Since this is going so well, I would like to try something that is extraordinary, something that I am sure will work since the spirits residing at the Edgefield are being so cooperative.
Jumping out of my seat with increased excitement, I set the wooden box used to transport the Spirit Telegraphs on the table; setting it on its side, I placed a scrying mirror on top of the box. We positioned the mirror facing Karrin and at eye level with her. We positioned a (simulated) candle close to her face.
“We are certain the spirits are aware of our attempts to attract them. This practice is called 'scrying' and involves intensely starting and concentrating into one's own eyes via this mirror. The light from this candle will be the only light in the room (I motioned to Melissa to please turn off the room lights completely), helping Karrin to remove other distractions from the room.” I took my place amongst the sitters. “Now, Karrin, as you concentrate and we bid the spirits to manifest, they may enter your mind and may actually manifest in your face and head. This is perfectly safe and is normal. Are you ready? We need you to stare into the mirror at your own eyes. Remember the feeling of elevated Nefesh. Now take a few deep breaths and recall the feeling of warmth and tingling of your activated Nefesh. Concentrate....”
I instructed the other sitters to, “carefully observe Karrin's face, particularly her eyes. If you see anything or feel anything, please say it out loud for all to hear.”
After perhaps a minute of intense staring and encouragement from myself, Karrin said, “I feel something.” Melissa interjected, “your face looks different.” I piped up, “yes, your face seems to be morphing,” turning to Brandon I interjected, “What does it look like?” Brandon mentioned, “you look like an older man.” Karrin reported, “yes, I feel an older presence. Someone who worked hard, a labourer. I was very poor. I came here [to the Edgefield Poor Farm] because I had no where else to go.”
I mentioned, “look, your face is changing again.” Melissa retorted, “I see a woman.” “Yes,” I said, “a woman.” Brandon interjected, “An older woman. She reminds me of my grandmother.” “Karrin, are you sensing this?”, I asked. Karrin answered, “Yes, I feel like a kind person. Someone who is full of love and caring for others. I... Oh, I am feeling another spirit. Oh, I don't like this one.” We all agreed the spirit manifest in a horrible look of death. With a sallow face, like a person who had been dying for a long time - a low slow death, this spirit was waiting for death...wanting death. “It is sad”, said Karrin.”
“I see another spirit is coming,” I interjected. Brandon said, “it looks like a young girl.” We agreed she was about 12 or 14 years old.
Karrin got some specific impressions of this young girl; she was profoundly unhappy. “I can feel she didn't like it here [at the Edgefield]”, she added. Someone asked, “Do you think she was mistreated?” Karrin answered in the affirmative. “Oh”, she blurted, “this makes me angry...she was abused. She was too young to stand up for herself.” The session grew so intense that we ended it for Karrin's sake. I eased Karrin out of the intense concentration and back into the circle. We discussed what had happened and the impressions we had further. Karrin was very angry that this young girl was abused by a resident or residents of this place. We all took great sympathy for this spirit and we all felt quite a bit of emotion.
“I would now like to lead you in a more mystical direction. Using ancient practices of Jewish mysticism, I would like to know if one of you would like to experience partial entry of a spirit into your body. This will feel exciting and very weird, very strange indeed, but I assure you it is completely safe. It has been done for centuries amongst my people.”
I told two very short stories from Jewish folklore of how a rabbi spoke with the spirits of the dead; these are uplifting tales.
“Recall at the beginning I told you about the Sepher Yitzerah and how powerful the 22 letters of the sacred Hebrew Alef-Bet are,” I recapped as I pulled out my deck of Hebrew letter cards. Most everyone is fascinated by these cards, as was the case tonight, so I spent a little extra time talking about them. “In fact, each letter has a deep meaning. For instance, here is the letter Resh, it represents being bent over in supplication or in toil, ready to rise up to the Divine or to freedom.”
“Ah, but this is the letter I am looking for. It is the letter Vav. Vav is one of the letters in the 4 letter sacred name of the Divine – the Tetragrammaton. The Vav represents a rising spirit. Its derives its shape from the shape of a fish hook. It catches things: dreams, ideas, ... and spirits living or dead. It is used in sensing other worlds or even travelling to other dimensions.” “Brandon, you agreed to be a partial vessel tonight. Thank you. Which hand is your writing hand? Please put your hand and arm into the shape of the letter Vav,” I bade him as I helped him pose his arm in the shape of the letter Vav. (The exact position of the arm is important. I had to resist my frequent comment that “It looks like a dinosaur arm!” as this was not the place for such a comment.)
“Brandon, I want you to recall that feeling of awakened Nefesh, that feeling of warmth and alertness. Lets take a few deep breaths, slowly... Good. Now, imagine your arm as the letter Vav, as the fish hook – an inviting place for a spirit to curl up in.”
Brandon asked, “Can I relax my arm now?” “No!,” I replied, “the shape of your arm is the letter Vav. It is taking on a spiritual aspect. Can you feel it? Right here,” gesturing to indicate the space between his hand, wrist, and elbow, “this area is forming a separate space, a spiritual cocoon, a safe place for a spirit to curl up in.”
Addressing the spirit Karrin contacted, “Spirit, Little Girl, she who is so unhappy, please come and nestle here in the safe and comfortable spiritual space Brandon is making for you. We are making this space for you. Please come, please allow Brandon to show you how inviting and safe this space is.”
Whispering to the others, “there, can you see? There is a a sort of fuzziness around his arm, Brandon's arm is now transitioning from the physical world to the spirit world.
The letter Vav! It is working!
Now, Brandon, look. Look at your arm, can you see the fuzziness?” (Here, I omit some unimportant conversation, quite honestly, I cannot recall it.) I asked, “Brandon, what are you sensing, what are you feeling?”
Brandon replied: “I feel a weight on my arm, like I am holding up more than just my arm. I feel there is a...an energy there. A presence. Its warm. Oh, now I can feel it entering my arm and spreading to my shoulders. It is a tingling feeling. You... What??? I feel confusion. Not me; the spirit. She doesn't understand. She is scared, I think. Yeah, and she is very unhappy”
I asked Brandon, “Please let her know we are just curious about her, that we bring a message of tranquillity and joy.” Karrin piped up, “Let her know that she is safe here. We are not like the others, we will not hurt you, we will protect you.”
Brandon relayed these messages. I asked him, “Do you think she might communicate with us? Ask her.” He replied in the affirmative. I found some paper and placed it in front of him. I helped him bring is arm down and instructed our spirit to take Brandon's arm and write with the pen I am placing in his hand. “Please, dear spirit, will you give us a sign or, perhaps, a message?”
We all waited in anticipation. Brandon's arm lay motionless with the pen to the paper. We all quietly got very excited when his hand trembled, but we were instantly disappointed when his hand stopped moving and came to rest again. Over the next few minutes this happened again and again.
At last after what seemed half-an-hour (it was actually about 5 minutes), his hand began to quiver. Scribbles were appearing on the paper. Curly, swirling marks. Then, has hand shook, leaving more marks on the paper.
Then, slowly, his hand began to move deliberately. It was a waxy motion, struggling to make deliberate, slow motions. Then, a childish-looking 'T' appeared in cursive. It was written as if someone who was right handed was writing with their left hand, or perhaps like the writing of a child.
We could make out that an 'h' was formed. The writing became a little more fluid as the letters “a-n-k” were formed.
We were all on the edges of our seats, watching in amazement. In disbelief we saw his hand move along to form a capitol 'Y', then 'o' and 'u'.
His hand slid down the paper making a line downwards. Then it stopped, paused, and moved some more. Here is a photograph of that paper (taken after the conclusion of the seance).
I helped the spirit back out of Brandon and Brandon completely back into the physical world. We thanked the spirit profusely. Once he had regained his bearings, Brandon said “when it was happening I was relaxed. It was as like I was dreaming, not controlling the pen, but controlling the pen... ...And I never, ever draw a heart,” Brandon emphatically retorted.
After a few moments of silence, we all began to realise the weight of what had just happened. Suddenly, Karrin remarked, “I have the answer to my question...from the beginning? I wrote 'How were you treated?' I can tell now she was mis-treated. Abused.” Brandon piped up too, “The answer to my question is 'I do not like being here'.” We took some time to discuss the message and what exactly it might meant.
“With that solid a communication,” I suggested, “I think we should try for a more concrete message from this spirit.” Please help me clear the table and pull this tablecloth off. Here I have a nice set of alphabet cards with pictures on the them.” We all helped to arrange the letter cards into a large oval. We took the crystal goblet and placed it in the centre of the oval of letters. I mentioned, “I think you know what to do. Just put your fingers on the top of the glass lightly. The spirit will do the rest.” For a few agonising moments the glass remained still. Then, there was a slight movement. The glass made a little spiral and headed off towards a letter.
“C or maybe D,” someone said. Then it was clear the glass paused beside the letter C. “Or maybe 'cage' as the picture for C is a bird cage,” I reminded everyone. We were spellbound.
The glass started moving again, picking up speed, crossing the centre of the table, then shifting directions, faster and faster to the letter L, we all said “L” in unison.
The glass made a sharp turn only to pause at the letter A. We all repeated “A”; “C-L-A”?
I encouraged the spirit, “Thank you spirit, we are getting your message...Oy,, sorry for the rough spot in the table...”
We watched as the glass move steadily, only pausing at the centre of the table for a moment, before continuing on its way.
“I,” we said as the glass stopped. The glass sat there for some time, but then moved in a jerky manner stopping at the letter R.
We repeated, “C-L-A-I-R. Clair! We have a name!”
The glass returned to the centre and paused there. Just when we thought the session was over, the glass moved again, this time back to the letter C. Someone noted, “no it is B. Clair B. How amazing it that?
The little girl's name is Clair B. The glass moved more slowly than before towards the centre, hovered a bit, and stopped. It sat there motionless for a time until we all understood that the spirit was done, the message complete. We were all elated to have a name for our little girl.
We profoundly thanked Clair.
“Seances do not usually yield such specific messages,” I mentioned, “Usually, we get a bit of vague evidence that the spirits are around, but here we have a direct message from a specific spirit. You folks are fantastic! Thank you! And, thank you Clair, thank you so very much. I am totally amazed we have contacted a spirit and Clair is here. Since we have her attention, I suggest we try to make direct contact?”
There was not much debate. We all agreed we should attempt direct contact and see if we can talk with the Clair. Any of you willing be a medium tonight? I can help you into a trance and you can communicate directly with our dear spirit.
Melissa was only willing to watch. Karrin was slightly apprehensive, but Brandon was downright eager to be the medium. We agreed, he would act as medium.
Following the example set by Rav Sira in the 17th century, I led Brandon into deep state of concentration from which he was able to project his own spirit out into the room and transition to the Sheol, the World of the Spirits. Once there, Clair found him and entered his body in the physical world and, as his body woke up, it was clear it was she who we were facing.
Clair looked around the room, then directly at each of us. Disoriented, she croaked out a single word. “Why?”
After a moment of struggling, she added, “Why? Why would you do this?”
We explained, “We are curious about you, we want to get to know you”. She seemed confused. We explained further, “We want to let you know we care about you and want to hear your story.”
Clair, speaking through Brandon's body, continued “Why? Why would you do this for me? No one has ever been kind to me. Thank you.” Tears began to roll down Brandon's face. Profuse tears.
We reassured her, “Its fine, dear. We are not like those people who hurt you. We are kind and we love you.” More tears poured down his cheeks as she thanked us. We asked “Why did you come here?”.
She responded, “They thought I would be happy here.” We asked, “Why are you sad and unhappy?”
After prolonged interrogation we got nothing but fragments, such as “They only let us out to play every other day.” and “when we are bad they hit us, when we are good they hit us”. By this time everyone was in tears, including myself.
Hearing about Clair's abuse made Karrin very angry and this made her protective maternal instinct kick in, “Tell me who hurt you”, she demanded. After more questions about her abuse and abusers in which we got only some vague descriptions, we changed the subject.
“What was this place like, Clair?”, someone asked. She said, “There are no pretty pictures on the wall. They don't let us open the windows and let the air in.” Clair talked about her unhappiness and how much she disliked being here.
We told her what the Edgefield has now become, saying “this is now a place of fun, of joy, of happiness. People come here to relax and enjoy themselves, to eat good food, and to play. Look around you here, now, and see how much happiness and joy there is here. Can you see the love and joy?”. Clair answered in the affirmative, tears still rolling down Brandon's cheeks.
We continued, “Clair, we want you to be happy too. Can you be in this moment, in this time of joy? Will you understand that you can feel joy and share the joy with the people visiting here now? Can you do this?” She nodded. “That is wonderful, we thank you very much for speaking with us, Clair,” we said.
“Could you be one thing for me?”, Clair asked, “They didn't allow us to play listen music. Could you play music for me?” We responded in the affirmative.
Seeing Brandon was getting very tired, I told Clair, “We can see you are getting weary. May we visit you here again? You know you can reach out to any one of us, just give us a sign if you want to talk.... We love you, remember that.” With that, I helped Clair transition out of Brandon's body and Brandon to fully return to his, awakening him from the trance.
Brandon reported that he felt himself leave his body and move to across the table where he watched the whole thing unfold. He reported it happened rather suddenly; he was surprised by it.
Someone pulled out a smart phone and searched the web for Hayden's 23th symphony. When that particular symphony could not be found, we played Hayden's 24th symphony.
As we listened to the music, we thanked and release, and bid farewell to Clair using ritualistic language. I guided people to return to their normal, awakened states. We spent, perhaps fifteen minutes discussing the evening and about how we did a good deed that night; we made the spirit of a little girl feel better.
One of the sitters recalled that, at the beginning, we had set out some communication devices like the Spirit Telegraphs, the slates, and the kvittle. We never heard the telegraph sound or the bell ring, but we checked that they were still functioning. We opened the kvittle, but found no message. Finally, we opened the slates only to find some indistinct smudges that could hardly be anything like a message.
I concluded, “With the blowing the shofar we conclude the seance. The sound of the shofar brings joy and stirs the spiritual aspects of our beings. It signals farewell to our spirit. Farewell, Clair.” The shofar sounded and thus concluded the four hour, very emotional seance.
During the direct mediumship, it was all very quiet. When I eased Brandon into a trance I spoke in very hushed tones, just above a whisper. After I asked Clair to come forth, you could see Brandon's movement was very noticeably waxy as he looked around at us; it was very creepy looking. We could see odd movements as he struggled to squeak out his first words. Then, when his first word came out, it was weirdly formed and literally a croak. I have to say, it was really creepy.
When Brandon finally got his voice and starting talking about how unhappy Clair was, seeing tears pour down Brandon's eyes was heart-rendering to all watching. By the end of his talking for Clair, we were all in tears hearing such a touching story, including me.
Whilst we were discussing and listening to the music, Karrin and Brandon wanted to know more about Clair and where she might be buried. They vowed to visit her grave if I could find it. I did a search of the records of Multnomah County but, unfortunately, could not find anything that matched.
Comments afterwords were mostly about Clair, who she was, and wondering about her life here. There was some speculation on these subjects. They were pretty proud that they had done a good deed in bringing happiness and joy to a kind spirit. We all hugged and they encouraged me to do this again next year, they said they would definitely be there if so. It was amazing evening and we all acknowledged that.
