Medium George Valiantine    USA

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 George Valiantine Medium

 

The mediumship of George Valiantine, from Williamsport, New York, is an occasion of dispute and uncertainty.

Valiantine did not become aware of his mediumship until he was forty-three. After hearing noises for which he could not account, he spoke to a Spiritualist who invited him to participate in a seance; he did so and raps were made that stated his brother-in-law was communicating. Valiantine then developed his mediumship, and although having a number of guides, the principal one was his brother-in-law. Although Valiantine was able to produce a materialization of his guide, he principally became known as a Direct Voice Physical Medium in America during the 1920s. He travelled to Britain several times (1924, 1925, 1927, 1929 and 1931), and other countries in Europe, to give sittings.

One of the principal figures in the reporting of Valiantine's mediumship was H. Dennis Bradley who met the medium in America in 1923. Unfortunately, he heaped vitriol on any person who chose to have a different opinion from his own, and his lengthy record in Towards the Stars has many irrelevancies and often lacks important detail. His subsequent book, The Wisdom of the Gods, is much the same. Nonetheless, they contain valuable information concerning Valiantine's mediumship despite the shortcomings.

His record of the first seance related how after luminous bands were placed around Valiantine's wrists to monitor any movement, 'the phenomenal happened'. He sensed another person in the room who called out to him and said that she was his sister (who had died ten years earlier). At this point he said that, 'we talked, not in whispers, but in clear, audible tones...Every word was heard by the other three men in the room'. Bradley asserted that the other sitters could not have known of his sister, or the family matters that were discussed with her for some fifteen minutes.

He also observed that, 'she said sayings in her own characteristic manner. Every syllable was perfectly enunciated and every little peculiarity of intonation was reproduced'. After his sister departed, five more communicators spoke to those present, and 'each spirit was distinct and each spoke with an accent unlike the other'. Bradley also witnessed how the trumpet 'floated in the air and careered around the room'. In later sittings, he confirmed that he heard the voices of communicators and Valiantine simultaneously: 'Valiantine, the medium, often speaks and can be spoken to at the same moment that the spirits are speaking'. During these seances, sitters were touched and there were partial materializations: 'A...hand rested for a second on my right hand...it was surrounded by astral light'. Bradley also recorded how 'luminous lights floated about the room'.(1)

In addition to sittings with Valiantine, Bradley had sittings with the medium, Mrs Gladys Leonard that were, not surprisingly, evidential. Most interesting, was that Bradley' sister, communicating through Mrs Leonard, confirmed that she had communicated at the Valiantine seances and also referred to what had been said during these. In view of the sittings with Mrs Leonard and another Medium, and the references to the sittings with Valiantine, Bradley believed that he had obtained 'incontestable proof of the triple link'.(2) It is an interesting point that Feda, Mrs Leonard's control, also communicated through Valiantine on numerous occasions; Bradley stated that he had 'a remarkable accumulation of cross evidence' that it was the same personality who communicated through the two mediums, in addition to others who had obtained cross- evidence confirming this view.(3)

In one Valiantine seance, Bradley noted that 'some brilliant silvery stars appeared near the ceiling; later similar lights appeared in other parts of the room', and the trumpet 'moved around the room and touched each of the sitters'. Although the seance was to be held in darkness, light did penetrate the room and Valiantine was seen to be in a trance, and at the same time the sitters 'saw a trumpet suspended without visible support...in mid-air'. Furthermore, after the seance ended, Valiantine was found to be covered in ectoplasm.(4) Bradley also recorded the many instances of not only when he, but other sitters, including those of a sceptical persuasion, were supplied with evidence. One sitter was addressed by an aunt who gave personal details and family names relating to his mother, even though he had referred to her by forename rather than 'mother' to avoid giving information.(5)

At the beginning of 1924, Bradley attended a seance at the British College of Psychic Science, with Valiantine as the medium, and nine other persons, five of whom Valiantine had never seen before. One of these was spoken to by her son who referred to his own children for whom the sitter was caring. Another sitter heard from someone who had been a close friend before he had died, and an Austrian sitter heard from her mother who spoke to her in German.

In respect of this seance, Bradley made the important point that further information would have been forthcoming if the sitters had been more able to hold a purposeful and engaging conversation rather than simply asking for 'a message', as conversation does assist the communicators in their activity.(6)

Another seance, held less than a week later, included Mrs Gladys Leonard, her husband, and Hannen Swaffer as sitters; this was a further occasion of evidential communications being received when personal information was supplied by next-world visitors. In a seance at a later date, Raymond, the son of Sir Oliver Lodge communicated with his father; after Raymond had called to his father, 'the luminous trumpet was lifted, and taken close to Sir Oliver, who was touched on the head and on the body. A conversation ensued between Sir Oliver and Raymond on family matters...Names were volunteered by the spirit'.(7)

Although it has been argued that communications in foreign languages were piecemeal, thereby diminishing the evidential quality of Valiantine's mediumship, it is difficult to envisage the medium being wholly responsible for all such instances. During a seance on 27 February 1924, the novelist Caradoc Evans, one of the sitters, heard the voice of his father that he 'described as struggling through the floor and coming up between his feet'. After the introduction, Evans said that if the communicator was his father, he should speak in his own (Cardiganshire Welsh) language, which he then did, including such statements as 'Uch ben yr avon. Mae steps - lower lawn - rhwng y ty ar rheol. Pa beth yr ydych yn gofyn? Y chwi yn mynd i weled a ty bob tro yr rydych yn y dre' (this being the father's reply to Evans' question about the family home, which he described).(8) It is up to the reader to decide what would be involved in being able to speak in such a way, and in the case just cited, not knowing what questions would be asked, with of course, the necessary pronunciations; this is apart from the production of the other different languages (e.g. Russian, Spanish, German, Italian) spoken in various Valiantine seances, if these did not arise from genuine communicators.

In the preface to his book, Northcliffe's Return, Hannen Swaffer records how, at a seance with Valiantine on 25 February 1925, one sitter, a Chinese Countess heard from her father; this was followed by Lord Northcliffe communicating and telling Swaffer what the intended book should be called. Swaffer confirms: 'I have heard Northcliffe's voice speak to me on, at least, eight occasions at Valiantine sittings. Once he spoke to me in daylight, in a way which precluded any chance of fraud or trickery'.(9)

One of the more unusual instances of Valiantine's mediumship occurred in 1927. A sitter possessed an ancient Chinese shell that was used as a horn, although none of the sitters could produce any note from it, no matter how hard they tried. However, in the seance when the shell was brought along, it was heard to be blown from high up, and furthermore, the notes produced were in the appropriate Chinese mode.

An article by Mrs W. H. Salter was included in the SPR's Proceedings in 1932, in which there was a negative appraisal of George Valiantine. After mentioning the unsatisfactory testing of Valiantine by The Scientific American in 1923, she referred to Bradley's later charges of fraud being carried out by Valiantine.

Bradley had already made reference in Towards the Stars to the suspicions of Dr Wyckoff about direct writing produced, although Wyckoff admitted that he was not convinced that Valiantine was a fraud and believed, 'that unquestionably he has mediumistic powers'. But, 'perhaps not all the time or at will'.(10) Nonetheless, Bradley subsequently changed his opinion about Valiantine, and recorded this in his book, And After: his change of opinion is startling, particularly in view of his positive reports and the vociferous criticisms of those who challenged Valiantine. Bradley recorded that when imprints of spirit-hands in wax and smoked paper were obtained, he believed these to be fraudulent; nonetheless, he was careful to disconnect this from the occurrence of spirit voices that he believed were genuine. Mrs Salter made the interesting observation that when the book was reviewed on 22 October 1931, by the Times Literary Supplement (hardly a publication known for a pro-Spiritualist stance), the reviewer believed there was 'evidence of Valiantine's supernormal faculties which no sceptic, as it seems to us, can reasonably call in question'.(11) Indeed, by virtue of the testimony of sitters, there really could be little doubt about Valiantine's mediumistic abilities.

When dealing with Valiantine's mediumship in her report, Mrs Salter referred to a number of different seances when events indicated fraud, and suspicious features were noted by sitters, some of whom who were certainly not of a sceptical persuasion. Despite what is included in Mrs Salter's writing, the reader is often confronted by the common custom of raising objections simply through certain details not being supplied, or possibilities that are really only conjecture, when the phenomena are not easily explained away. For example, in one seance when Valiantine was tied to his chair and the sitters were tied to each other, a complete list of whom the sitters were was not available and by virtue of this, Mrs Salter raised the question of whether the sitters might have colluded. When foreign languages were heard, she believed that the sitter's own expectations may have influenced what they believed they had heard. In a seance during which Italian was spoken, she suggested that it was possible a sitter may have pretended to have been the communicator, although she admitted that she had no grounds for doubting the integrity of the sitters present. When a communicator spoke to one sitter, and gave good evidence, Mrs Salter said this only 'constitutes a case for further enquiry and nothing more'.(12) It is difficult not to gain the impression that Mrs Salter sought to give any explanation to account for the phenomena, no matter how unsubstantiated, if it would preclude genuine mediumistic phenomena.

It was the instance of archaic Chinese being spoken to Dr Neville Whymant, a highly qualified Oriental scholar, involved in the translation of languages, that seems to have caused Mrs Salter some difficulty. It is this case where she suggested that the explanation might lay in the sitter's suggestibility. To arrive at a conclusion about this particular matter, the reader can review Whymant's own record of his experiences in Psychic Adventures in New York. At a Valiantine seance, a communicator spoke in Chinese mandarin 'correct in intonation and pronunciation', despite the immense difficulty of which Whymant was only too aware through his own teaching of the language.

The communicator said that he was Confucius, and Whymant asked him various questions, e.g. about the meaning of certain Chinese words and an item of textual criticism that had prevailed for many centuries; the communicator then supplied Whymant with two renderings, including the one which was correct, as the communicator knew and pointed out.(13) Despite her critical stance, Mrs Salter obviously had difficulties in attributing fraud or a this-worldly explanation for all of Valiantine's mediumship; when suggestions, often lacking substantiation would not suffice, she had to agree that there were events that could not be accounted for, e.g. in the case of Valiantine being found to be covered in ectoplasm, she said that without further data, 'this incident is likely to remain unexplained'.(14)

Other examples of Valiantine's mediumship can be easily found: when Dr Vivian was present, 'while two voices were speaking, Valiantine was simultaneously heard to draw the attention of the sitters to the two voices'. When Amiral Nimmo had daylight sittings, 'the voice which he heard to come distinctly from within the trumpet gave intelligent and evidential communication.'(15)

A report by Lord Hope concerning his sittings with Valiantine, in the same Proceedings, essentially follows the overall style of Mrs Salter, offering telepathy or the medium possibly overhearing casual mention of certain facts beforehand as possible explanations. However, he related the positive instances that were witnessed together with those that were debateable. He referred to the lack of evidential material by communicators, apart from supposed communications from people who were in fact still alive, others who were fictitious and suggested by sitters in desperation to stimulate activity, and information given in earlier sittings being given back in later ones. Nonetheless, this was not always the case, e.g. Valiantine gave him the names of guides, two of which had been given at sittings with other mediums, and on one occasion, a communicator referred to a girl that Lord Hope knew, and correctly relayed specific information about her.

Another sitter, unknown to the medium, was given the full name of 'a likely communicator' and Hope admitted 'there seemed no likely normal means by which the medium could have learnt this name'.(16) One communicator said that he was Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, and Hope agreed 'the accent showed no trace of American [Valiantine's accent], and was indeed quite unlike the medium's ordinary voice and also unlike the guide "voices"'. Hope asked the communicator to speak in German, the language of Martin Luther, and he did so; one sitter confirmed that 'it was good German of an old- fashioned type'. A Japanese sitter was spoken to by a communicator and 'was undoubtedly favourably impressed with what he had heard'.(17)

Of trumpet movement, Hope said this was sometimes 'very impressive', and on one occasion a trumpet appeared to rise very high and strike something sounding like the ceiling, that was over eleven feet from the floor. Furthermore, two trumpets were sometimes in the air at the same time. In the case of the movement of other objects in the seance room, Hope noted that gramophone slowed down several times when it was 'a considerable distance from the medium's chair' and the table moved from 'where it would have been very difficult for the medium to have reached it'.(18)

In the case of direct writing, on the occasion when Oriental characters were supplied, Hope suggested how Valiantine could have produced this fraudulently, but nevertheless conceded that the characters 'were probably written in complete darkness during the sitting'. On asking an expert about the writing, Hope recorded how he 'told me he did not think he could have done it himself in the dark'.(19)

In addition to Bradley's record, Mrs Salter referred to seances in 1925, when Lady Troubridge and Miss Radclyffe Hall, representing the SPR, were present, and how their report was 'refreshingly free from the obscurity and superficiality of most reports on Valiantine'.(20) In their report, supplied by Dr V. J. Woolley, they raised a number of justified questions together with criticisms concerning some aspects of Valiantine's mediumship and the communications provided through him. However, they noted that Valiantine 'asked no questions that could be interpreted as fishing for information', and while they believed that it was impossible to arrive at any definite opinions, they felt that in the first seance, 'that the total phenomena produced at this sitting were beyond what could have been obtained by the fraudulent efforts of the medium unaided'.(21)

In the first seance on 13 March, there was trumpet movement, and Miss Radclyffe-Hall heard from a communicator who was recognized as someone who had died eighteen years earlier, and on being asked to supply the name of a mutual acquaintance, did so, with this being audible to all present. Later, a communicator gave a name to the same sitter that was recognized and complied when requested to supply a further name that was relevant: this being an unusual forename. Further evidence was supplied, to the sitter again, when her father communicated. He gave his name as 'Radclyffe' and Valiantine said that he probably did not have sufficient power to add '-Hall' to his surname; in fact, her father was actually called Radclyffe Radclyffe-Hall. This was obviously evidential as a father would hardly introduce himself by his surname, but the medium was unaware of the duplicate name. In the record of the second seance on 16 March, the two researchers noted their reservations and concerns about the content of some of the communications, but agreed that the behaviour of one communicator was 'characteristic of him and his manner'. The report also said there was 'some opportunity of ascertaining that the medium...remained seated in his chair when voices were wandering round the circle', and that the voice of a guide was heard at the same time that Valiantine was speaking.(22)

The third seance on 21 March was not evidential, and had to be prematurely concluded due to the events, and the disruptive behaviour of Bradley who was present. These seances were followed by a daylight sitting on 23 March; in this, taps were heard inside the trumpet and Lady Troubridge and another sitter 'were satisfied that the medium's hands made no movement'. Later that day, a seance was held in a red light; Lady Troubridge carefully monitored the medium and said that she 'could easily discern every feature and movement of his face...I could also also see with absolute certainty whether or not his mouth was closed'. She then went on to say that taps were heard in the trumpet, and one at the far end of the room, furthest from Valiantine, followed by a a voice giving his name and greeting the sitter who had her 'eyes fixed on the medium's mouth' which was closed; this was followed by other voices speaking to her.(23)

In Miss Radclyffe-Hall's daylight sitting on the same day, taps and a voice were heard in the trumpet, and she reported that she 'could not detect the least suspicious movement' by Valiantine, and 'during the whole time that the voice was going on, his mouth remained closed' and his lips 'remained without movement'. The communicator said that he was her father and named his wife, asking that she be told that he was 'all right'.(24) After the seance, both Lady Troubridge and Miss Radclyffe-Hall attempted to reproduce the taps and speech by normal means, but were unsuccessful.

When considering Valiantine's mediumship, I believe it is fair to argue that it unfortunate that Lady Troubridge and Miss Radclyffe-Hall did not have more opportunity to attend seances with Valiantine. A reading of the available material certainly suggests that far more information about Valiantine's mediumship would have been forthcoming from them as they were clearly concerned with evidence of survival with an objective approach. Regrettably, Bradley occupies a prominent role and the value of his contribution is highly questionable; as Inglis noted of him, 'He had put in a great deal of work... investigating mediums, and had little positive to show for it'.(25)

The full status of George Valiantine's mediumship is really one of some uncertainty; in view of the events that took place, I would suggest that Stewart's view cited at the beginning concerning 'a grey area', is the most appropriate in Valiantine's case. Nonetheless, some light is shed on the matter in view of those who attended Valiantine's seances, holding very diverse opinions, and were unable to account for what was witnessed, or believed they had obtained evidence of survival. Even in his book, And After, when Bradley modified his opinion concerning Valiantine, he admitted: 'He is semi-illiterate. He possesses no scholastic education whatsoever...I mention these facts because many of the communications which have be in direct voice under his mediumship have been brilliant in their expression and culture'.(26)

 

References

(1)H. D. Bradley, Towards the Stars (London: Werner Laurie, 1924), pp.8,9,10,14,15,179,187,208.

(2)Towards the Stars, p.105.

(3)H. D. Bradley, The Wisdom of the Gods (London: Werner Laurie, 1925), p.311.

(4)Towards the Stars, pp.168,169.

(5)Towards the Stars, pp.187-188.

(6)Towards the Stars, pp.192-193.

(7)The Wisdom of the Gods, p.226.

(8)Towards the Stars, pp.209-210.

(9)H. Swaffer, Northcliffe's Return (London: Psychic Book Club, 1925), pp.vii,viii.

(10)Towards the Stars, pp.111-113.

(11)Mrs W. H. Salter, 'The History of George Valiantine', PSPR, 40 (1932), pp.389-390.

(12)Salter, Ibid., p.408.

(13)H. Boddington, The University of Spiritualism (London: Spiritualist Press, 1947), pp.377-379.

(14)Salter, Op. Cit., p.398.

(15)N. Fodor, Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science, (London: Arthurs Press, 1934), p.399.

(16)Lord Hope, 'Report on Some Sittings with Valiantine and Phoenix in 1927', PSPR, 40 (1932), p.413.

(17)Hope, Ibid., p.415.

(18)Hope, Op. Cit., p.416.

(19)Hope, Op. Cit., p.418.

(20)Salter, Op. Cit., p.397.

(21)V. J. Woolley, 'Sittings with George Valiantine, PSPR, 36 (1928), pp.55,56.

(22)Woolley, Ibid., p.61.

(23)Woolley, Op. Cit., pp.67,69,70.

(24)Woolley, Op. Cit., p.73.

(25)B. Inglis, Science and Parascience (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1984), p.243.

(26)Ct., Fodor, Op. Cit., p.399.

 

NB. This article appeared in the February and March 1996 NAS Newsletter, and on their website thereafter.     It is reproduced here by their kind permission.

 

 

 Controversial direct voice medium of Williamsport, New York. He was a small manufacturer when at the age of 43 his mediumship was discovered by accident. At a hotel where he was staying he heard distinct raps on the door. No physical agency could be detected and he was deeply puzzled. A lady acquaintance who was familiar with Spiritualism later persuaded him to hold a seance.

The result was surprising. His deceased brother-in-law, Bert Everett, claimed to be present and rapped out that the spirits for a long time had been trying to attract Valiantine's attention. "Everett" then instructed Valiantine to make a cabinet. One evening, the medium went into trance and "Bert Everett" appeared in a materialized form. But direct voice communications became the chief feature of the seances as Valiantine's organism appeared to lend itself to this manifestation. "Bert Everett" found assistants in other controls: "Dr. Barnett," who often gave medical prescriptions, "Hawk Chief" and "Kokum," two Native Americans with booming voices and "Black Foot," another Native American, the last usually speaking in deep tones from the center of the floor.

In 1923 The Scientific American of New York offered a prize of $2,500 for the production of genuine physical phenomena. Valiantine was one of the mediums tested. Gardner Murphy of Columbia University and Kenneth Andrews of the New York World visited him at Wilkes-Barre for two preliminary sittings. Both sittings were successful and they returned with an initial favorable impression. Thereupon Valiantine came to New York.

During his first two seances before the committee of The Scientific American, eight distinct spirits manifested and spoke to the sitters. For the third seance, an electrical control apparatus had been secretly fixed to the medium's chair. It was meant to disclose to observers in another room whether the medium left his chair during the seance, under the cover of darkness, to reach for the trumpet. The apparatus did not register the medium's full weight for fifteen seconds on one occasion and from 1-14 seconds on other occasions.

For this reason, although the voices admittedly came from high in the air and carried on prolonged conversations, the result, in the report published in the July 1923 issue of The Scientific American, was ruled out as evidence. Over the construction of the report, which conveyed the impression that Valiantine was actually caught in fraud, a controversy arose between psychical researcher J. Malcolm Bird and British author H. Dennis Bradley, who pointed out the weaknesses of the report and its important admissions, which, however, were not sufficiently emphasized.

On several occasions, Bradley vigorously defended Valiantine. He met him at Arlena Towers, Ramsey, New York, in the home of Joseph de Wyckoff, a wealthy American financier who had been in close association with Valiantine for some years.

In November 1923, Wyckoff received long scripts from Valiantine which Valiantine said he had obtained through direct writing in his home. They were signed by "Everett" and "Dr. Barnett," and referred to a project involving an expedition to Guiana. Wyckoff discovered by chance that Valiantine's handwriting showed striking resemblance to the spirit scripts and took them to a handwriting expert who pronounced them identical. Wyckoff showed the report to Valiantine. He insisted that he did not do the writings. A test seance was arranged at his own house at Williamsport. Valiantine, at his request, was tied up. The seance was a failure. Wyckoff thereupon broke off his relations with Valiantine.

Not long afterwards, Wyckoff went to Europe. He met Bradley, who convinced him, by showing indirect evidence that he obtained in sittings with Gladys Osborne Leonard, that his evaluation of the Valiantine communications was unjust. Thereupon Wyckoff cabled to Valiantine from Europe and invited him to come and join him. Valiantine arrived in February 1924 and gave seances almost daily for five weeks in Bradley's home.

In the presence of more than fifty prominent people, over one hundred different spirit voices manifested and carried on long conversations in Russian, German, Spanish and even in idiomatic Welsh. Caradoc Evans, the Welsh novelist, spoke with his father's spirit in Cardiganshire Welsh.

But the seeds of suspicion had been sown. Wyckoff soon levelled a second charge against Valiantine, which grew out of a sitting in the St. Regis Hotel in New York on April 19, 1924. When the sitting was closed by the address of "Dr Barnett," it was revealed that the trumpet had fallen sideways between Valiantine's legs, with the small end against the edge of the chair. As the medium was setting it upright, Wyckoff struck a match and scolded him for his action. Moreover, as Malcolm Bird pointed out in a letter to Light, "examination of the trumpet developed the facts that it was quite warm at the point where a human hand would naturally and conveniently grasp it, and that the mouthpiece was damp."

Bradley answered that this is exactly what would happen with independent voice phenomena. In his own seances, in which a luminous trumpet was seen sailing about the room, at the finish the inside was found moist, according to Bradley, for the simple reason that it is necessary for a spirit to materialize the vocal organs and breathe in order to produce its voice.

The following year, Valiantine paid another visit to England. In March 1925, he gave two test sittings before the Society for Psychical Research at Tavistock Square. Five words were spoken at the first, none at the second. They were considered blank.

Following this failure, Una, Lady Troubridge and Miss Radcliffe Hall of the society attended some sittings in Bradley's house. Later they were joined by Dr. V. J. Woolley, research officer of the society. Eleven distinct and individual voices were heard. Woolley agreed that he heard them and could not account for them. He was also satisfied that the movement of the luminous trumpet in the air was supernormal. Shortly afterward E. J. Dingwall, in company with Dr. Woolley, the other research officer of the society, obtained voices in daylight inside Valiantine's trumpet.

In his reports published in the Journal of the SPR (vol. 26, pp. 70-71; vol. 27, p. 170) and the Proceedings (vol. 36, pp. 52-53), Woolley wrote of these experiences and stated: "Both of us heard raps which seemed similar to those she [Lady Troubridge] has described, but as I wish only to deal in this account with evidential utterances I do not propose to consider them in further detail. Both of us also heard whispering sounds, apparently in the trumpet, at times when we were convinced that Mr. Valiantine's lips were entirely closed, and I was able also to distinguish the words 'Father Woolley,' but nothing further."

The Coming of Confucius

But the most important phase of Valiantine's mediumship was yet to come. Strange languages were heard in seances in New York, and it was decided to test their nature by inviting a scholar. Dr. Neville Whymant, an authority on Chinese history, philosophy, and ancient literature, who happened to be in New York, was requested by Judge and Mrs. Cannon to come to a seance. He was slightly amused, but accepted. To quote from his notes: "Suddenly, out of the darkness was heard a weird, crackling, broken little sound, which at once carried my mind straight back to China. It was the sound of a flute, rather poorly played, such as can be heard in the streets of the Celestial Land but nowhere else. Then followed in a low, but very audible voice the words 'K'ung-fu T'Zu.' Few persons, except Chinese, could pronounce the name correctly as the sounds cannot be represented in English letters. The idea that it might be Confucius himself never occurred to me. I had imagined that it might be somebody desirous of discussing the life and philosophy of the great Chinese teacher."

When, however, correct personal information was given, Whymant decided to test the matter. He said: "There is among your writings a passage written wrongly; should it not read thus?" At this point, Whymant began to quote as far as he knew, that is to say, to about the end of the first line. At once the words were taken out of his mouth, and the whole passage was recited in Chinese, exactly as it is recorded in the standard works of reference. After a pause of about fifteen seconds, the passage was again repeated, this time with certain alterations which gave it a new meaning. "Thus read," said the voice, "does not its meaning become plain?" Previous to the voice of "Confucius," Whymant heard a Sicilian chant and conversed with one of the controls, "Cristo d'Angelo," in Italian.

At the next seance at which Whymant was present, after having been absent through illness, "Confucius" again manifested and, omitting all ceremonious expressions, referred to Whymant's indisposition, saying "the weed of sickness was growing beside thy door." This metaphor was used in ancient Chinese literature but it is no longer current in the language. Nor was the dialect in which "Confucius" spoke any longer used in the Chinese Empire.

There are only about twelve Chinese sounds of which it can be definitely said that it was known how the Chinese of Confucius' time would have pronounced them. The voice which claimed to be that of Confucius used these archaic sounds correctly. Moreover, there were at that time only about six Chinese scholars in the world whose knowledge would have been equal to the one displayed by the direct voice. None of them was in America at the time.

In 1927, when Valiantine paid a third visit to England further tests of importance took place. Countess Ahlefeldt-Laurvig brought an ancient Chinese shell to a sitting in the apartment of Lord Charles Hope. At the top of the shell, circular folds ended in a small hollow mouthpiece. In China the shell was used as a horn and blown on occasion. The sitters tried it but could produce no sound whatsoever. Yet at one period during the sitting, from high up in the room, the shell horn was blown, and the peculiar notes were rendered in the correct Chinese fashion.

But the most important Chinese test tried was in making a phonograph record of the voice of "Confucius." The attempt was successful. The voice of "Confucius," (who died in 479 B.C.E.) was recorded in 1927 in London. It has curious flute-like tones, which rise and fall, and sometimes break into a peculiar sing-song tone. Whymant could only interpret a few sentences because the voice was faint and became blurred in the recording. But he recognized a number of the peculiar intonations. He could gather the meaning of the recorded speech by the tonal values. The voice was identical with the one he heard in America.

From H. Dennis Bradley's summary of this strange occur-rence it is interesting to quote: "I have heard the K'ung-fu T'ze voice speaking on two or three occasions in archaic Chinese. I have also heard the same voice with its peculiar intonation, speaking to me personally in English. The voice has spoken slowly, but with quite beautiful cadences. It possessed an extraordinary dignity."

New Controversies

In his books Towards the Stars (1942) and The Wisdom of the Gods (1925), Bradley published many important accounts of sittings with Valiantine. On several occasions he heard Valiantine speak simultaneously with the voices. He listened to the voices of the controls of Valiantine in seances with other mediums and heard "Feda," the control of Gladys Osborne Leonard, and "Cristo d'Angelo," who later associated himself with the Marquis Centurione Scotto, speak through Valiantine.

Including the 1927 period, Bradley conducted over a hundred experiments of which he deemed 95 percent successful. This high percentage of success was undoubtedly partly due to the powerful direct voice mediumship which Bradley and his wife themselves developed after the first sittings with Valiantine in New York. But the physical manifestation was only part of the evidence. Bradley observed of Valiantine in his book … And After (1931), "He is a man of instinctive good manners but it is essential to state that he is semi-illiterate. He possesses no scholastic education whatever, beyond the ordinary simplicities; he is illversed in general conversation and ideas. I mention these facts because many of the communications which have been made in the direct voice under his mediumship have been brilliant in their expressions and culture."

On April 26, 1929, Valiantine arrived for the fourth time in England from America. He spent one day with Bradley and then left with the Bradleys for Berlin. The sittings were held in a Ms. von Dirksen's house. Bradley considered them comparatively poor in result. Some members of the Berlin Occult Society, for which the seances had been arranged, subsequently claimed imposture and supported their assertions by referring to Bradley's and Valiantine's refusal to permit strict control. These charges were published five months afterward by Dr. Kroner in the Zeitschrift für Parapsychologie. Kroner attended only three of the sittings. Two lady sitters made direct allegations of fraudulent movements on Valiantine's part. However, no definite proof of having caught Valiantine in fraud was brought forward.

In May 1929, Valiantine gave a series of seances at the house of the Marquis Centurione Scotto in Genoa. One of the sittings, held in the presence of psychical researcher Ernesto Bozzano, was rigorously controlled. Valiantine was fastened to his chair and an adhesive bandage secured over his mouth. The knots were sealed, the doors were locked.

The results were excellent. The enthusiasm, however, was soon marred by a charge made by Rossi and Scotto. Rossi claimed to have distinctly felt Valiantine in one of their sittings lean forward and speak into the trumpet. He also said that Castellani caught hold of Mrs. Bradley's hand which was touching the back of his (Castellani's) head. Both of them were furiously indignant and left immediately. Castellani later withdrew his allegation against Mrs. Bradley and Rossi also became wavering. (These allegations charged the Bradleys with being Valiantine's accomplices. Evidence that such was the case would be forthcoming.)

As Bradley pointed out there was a truly bizarre aspect in the situation: "The Marquis Centurione Scotto, Mr. Rossi and Madame Rossi, unknown before to me or to Valiantine, visit me in England in 1927. The Marquis, to his astonishment, speaks to his [dead] son in Italian. The Marquis and Mrs. Rossi then develop voice mediumship entirely from, and because of, their meeting and initiation with Valiantine. Valiantine then, in 1929, visits them in Italy and is accused of being a fraud. The poet is right when he declares 'It is a mad world."'

In 1931, Valiantine was again invited to England. This visit ended on a tragic note. Bradley asked him to devote six evenings to experiments for psychic imprints (molds or moulds). Striking previous successes were recorded in the book The Wisdom of the Gods. Since then, famous people whom Bradley knew had died and their original left and right hand imprints were in the possession of palmistry authority Noel Jaquin. Scientifically, therefore, the experiments held potential promise. The claimed spirits of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Dewar, and Sir Henry Segrave all apparently complied with Bradley's eager request, but the plastic substance used in the seances, unknown to Valiantine, was chemically prepared. A stain was found on Valiantine's elbow and expert examination disclosed that the spirit thumbprint of "Sir Arthur Conan Doyle" was exactly similar to the print of Valiantine's big toe on his right foot, a spirit thumbprint of "Lord Dewar" to that of Valiantine's left big toe, a spirit fingerprint of "Sir Henry Segrave" to the print of Valiantine's middle finger and another spirit impression to that of Valiantine's elbow.

Ex-Chief Detective Inspector Bell, the head of the fingerprint department at New Scotland Yard, declared that in a court of law the resemblance would be sufficient to hang a man charged with murder. According to Bradley, when Valiantine was confronted with this evidence, he broke down completely and sobbed. He would not, however, admit fraud. His only answer to questions was: "I cannot understand it."

Bradley believed that the rapid accumulation of money and fame as a professional medium did not have a beneficial effect upon Valiantine's character. He found that he had progressively changed, becoming a conceited and arrogant man. Yet "his reason for attempting these imprint frauds will remain incomprehensible. He received no money from me, and for him to imagine that in the presence of imprint experts he could commit palpable fraud and escape detection was a sign of sheer lunacy."

Besides Valiantine, his controls were also compromised, as on the night, just near the end of the sitting, when "Bert Everett" spoke in his usual shrill tones, announcing that an imprint had been made which was excellent. Mr. X., with whom Valiantine stayed during the visit, obtained the fingerprint of "Walter Stinson," control of the American medium Mina Crandon (known as "Margery"). This print was identified by Noel Jacquin as identical to that of the middle finger of Valiantine's left hand.

After the exposure, Valiantine gave twelve seances to Dr. Vivian. The report stated that while two voices were speaking, Valiantine was simultaneously heard to draw the attention of the sitters to the two voices. Surgeon Admiral Nimmo had two sittings in daylight. The voice that he heard to come distinctly from within the trumpet gave intelligent and evidential communication. In the presence of a second doctor, the voices were heard again, speaking distinctly and intelligently. During the phenomena, the doctors kept Valiantine's face under acute observation but they did not discover any movement whatever on it.

The experiences of Whymant with the voice of "Confucius" came before the Society for Psychical Research in 1927. Whymant delivered a lecture, played the phonograph record of the voice, and submitted his account of twelve seances. No action was taken. Thereupon the records were the subject of a book by Whymant, published in 1931 under the title Psychic Adventures in New York. In Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research (vol. 40, pt. 125), the report of Lord Charles Hope on his sittings in 1927 concluded: "I was disappointed at the lack of evidence for survival which the voices had given me. I was left uncertain whether Valiantine was a genuine medium or not."

Sources:

Bradley, H. Dennis. … And After. London: T. Werner Laurie, 1931.

Towards the Stars. London: T. Werner Laurie, 1924.

The Wisdom of the Gods. London: T. Werner Laurie, 1925.

Whymant, Neville. Psychic Adventures in New York. London: Morley & Mitchell, 1931.

From the Gale encyclopeadia of Occultism and Parapsychology