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Imperator and Rector

THE MEDIUMSHIP of Rev. William Stainton Moses, an Anglican minister, began in 1872. According to his biographer, Charlton Speer, who often sat with Moses during his séances, it started with a variety of raps and progressed to the direct voice, direct writing, the trance voice, and automatic writing. Speer wrote that direct voice, in which voices came through in the air above them, was not clear or distinct, while direct writing, in which a pencil untouched by human hands gave short messages, such as that received from the distinguished musician, was rare. Speer further reported that the trance voice, in which the Spirits used Moses’ entranced body, came through in a dignified, temperate, clear and convincing tone. Moreover, it was always apparent that the personality addressing the group was not that of the medium. The voices were different and the ideas expressed were often contrary to Moses’. While different Spirits came through, the chief communicator in the early days called himself Imperator. Mrs. Speer, Charlton’s mother, did the recording of the trance messages, but she said it was impossible for her to capture the beauty and refinement of the manifestations or the power and dignity of Imperator’s influence.
“I, myself, Imperator Servus Dei, am the chief of a band of forty-nine Spirits, the presiding and controlling spirit, under whose guidance and direction the others work,” Mrs. Speer recorded. “I am come from the seventh sphere to work out the will of the Almighty; and, when my work is complete, I shall return to those spheres of bliss from which none returns again to earth. But this will not be till the Medium’s work on earth is finished, and his mission on earth exchanged for a wider one in the spheres.”
Imperator added that Spirits named Rector and Doctor were his immediate assistants. He had come, he said, to explain the Spirit World, how it is controlled, and the way in which information is conveyed to humans. “The ladder between Heaven and earth has always been,” Imperator voiced through Moses, “but man’s unbelief cut him off from the ministry of angels.”

When Imperator was speaking through Moses, the sitters observed a large, bright cross of light behind Moses’ head and rays surrounding it. The lights seemed to culminate in a beautiful line of light of great brilliancy several feet high and moving from side to side. One of the sitters asked Imperator to explain the lights. He responded that the pillar of light was himself, the bright light behind him his attendants, and the numerous lights seen in the room belonged to the band of 49. In all, there were seven Circles of seven Spirits each. Each Circle composed one presiding Spirit with a particular mission and six ministers.

On March 30, 1873, Spirit messages started coming through Moses’ hand by means of “automatic writing.” This method was adopted, Moses was informed, for convenience purposes and so that he could preserve a connected body of teaching. Initially, the writing was very small and irregular, and it was necessary for Moses to write slowly and cautiously. However, the writing quickly became more regular and more legible. Most of the early messages came from Doctor, but after a time others started using Moses’ hand. Each was distinguished by a different handwriting as well as peculiarities of style and expression. When some Spirits found that they could not influence Moses’ hand, they called upon Rector for assistance. Rector even acted as an amanuensis for Imperator. In 1883, Moses compiled his writing into a book entitled Spirit Teachings.

Moses wondered how he could be sure that Imperator and his band were not evil Spirits - wolves in sheep’s clothing - attempting to lead him astray. He was continually concerned that much of what they had to say was contrary to Christian dogma and doctrine. Imperator responded, commending Moses for his questioning frame of mind and pointing out that this was one of the reasons he was chosen as their vehicle. “We hail your doubts as the best evidence of our successful dealing with you,” he said, going on to mention that there is a point beyond which it is impossible to provide evidence. He called for Moses to use the standards of Jesus, “By their fruits shall ye know them” and “Men do not gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles,” further telling him that he must consider the whole tenor of their teachings for proof that it is Divine. For definite proof, Imperator continued, Moses must be content to wait until he too stood in their company. The most they could hope for is the gradual establishment of conviction. “We desire that you should apply to us the same law by which the Master judged - the Divine law of judging others as you would yourself be judged.”

Moses continually asked for the earthly identifications of Imperator and the others. Imperator initially resisted, informing Moses that revealing their earthly names would result in casting additional doubt on the validity of the messages. However, Imperator later revealed their names, advising Moses that they should not be mentioned in the book he would write. It was not until after Moses’ death that the identities were made public by A. W. Trethewy in a book, The Controls of Stainton Moses. Imperator was Malachias, the Old Testament prophet. Rector was Hippolytus and Doctor was Athenodorus. Imperator took directions from Preceptor, who was Elijah. Preceptor, in turn, communed directly with Jesus. Other communicators included Daniel, Ezekiel, John the Baptist, Solon, Plato, Aristotle, Seneca, Plotinus, Alexander Achillini, Algazzali, Kabbila, Chom, Said, Roophal, and Magus.

Moses died in 1892, but the Imperator band began communicating again in 1895 through the mediumship of Leonore Piper of Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Until then, Piper had been controlled by Phinuit and “George Pelham” (a pseudonym for George Pellew). The quality of the messages coming through Piper had begun to deteriorate and there were indications that devious earthbound spirits were able to control Piper’s organism. Deceased writers Sir Walter Scott and George Eliot supposedly communicated directly through Piper’s hand, but the nature of the communication suggested impostors.

Pellew and Phinuit gradually gave way to “Rector,” who told them that Piper’s organism was weakening and needed a rest. While Rector and the band of 49 continued to use Piper’s organism, it was with more care than Pellew and Phinuit could provide. Rector said they were substituting a “softer melody” for the rough, inharmonious and uncultivated dialect, referring primarily to Phinuit. While not “earth earthy,” Rector said that Phinuit was too bound by the attractions of earthly minds. He further cautioned Dr. Richard Hodgson, the chief investigator for the Piper phenomena, not to rely too much on Pellew as he was “too far away,” i.e., too advanced, to be effective. “His Spirit is pure, his mind sincere, his whole life here is one of honor and one to be respected by us all,” Rector wrote through Piper’s hand. “Yet, we would speak the truth and say his work in your field is done.”

Some researchers questioned whether Piper’s Rector was the same as Moses’ Rector, even though her Imperator group claimed to be the same one that controlled Moses.
“It is a rather puzzle to me why Mrs. Piper’s personalities should have assumed the same set of names,” wrote Sir Oliver Lodge, the distinguished British physicist and psychical researcher. “In general characters they are similar, but I see no very close resemblance in detail. And hitherto the Piper ‘Imperator’ has not given us the same old earth name as the original ‘Imperator’ to Stainton Moses. So it would appear as if they did not very seriously pretend to be identical.”
Soon after his death in 1905, Hodgson began communicating through Piper. During a 1906 sitting with Piper, researcher George Dorr asked Hodgson about Rector. Hodgson explained that Rector was in complete control and that Rector spoke for him. Hodgson went on to say that Rector reported for everyone, i.e., he reported in the first person for all communicating spirits. He further explained that Rector understood the conditions of spirit better than any individual Spirit and that Rector was constantly under the direction of Imperator.

References:

Barrett, Sir William, On the Threshold of the Unseen (New York: E.F. Dutton & Co., 1917).
Holt, Henry, On the Cosmic Relations (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1914).
Lodge, Sir Oliver, The Survival of Man (London: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1909)
Moses, William Stainton, Spirit Teachings (New York: Arno Press, New York, 1976, reprinted from 1924 edition published by London Spiritualist Alliance)
Moses, William Stainton, More Spirit Teachings
Myers, F. W. H., Human Personality and its Survival of Bodily Death (2 vols) (London: Longmans & Green, 1903; reprint, New Hyde Park, NY: University Books, Inc., 1961).
Source with some minor addtionsMichael E. Tymn, vice-president of The Academy of Religion and Psychical Research.

Source with some minor addtions htsurvivalafterdeath.com

John King

THE MOST romantic Spirit control. He claimed to have been Henry Owen Morgan, the buccaneer, who was knighted by Charles II. and was appointed Governor of Jamaica. He first appeared with the Davenport Brothers in 1850, and was first seen in the flash of a pistol fired by Ira Davenport in the dark. He remained as spirit manager with the Davenports throughout their career and in typtology or direct voice gave them sound advice in difficult positions. His activity was multifarious. While faithfully serving the Davenport Brothers he took charge of the performances in the Koon loghouse in the wilds of Ohio. Here he assumed an august mien. As the head of a band of 160 Spirits he claimed descent from a race of men known by the generic title Adam, and having as leaders "the most ancient angels." They signed their communications as King No. 1, No. 2., etc., and sometimes: Servant and Scholar of God. In his last incarnation he strayed from the path of virtue and became a redoubtable pirate. He communicated in direct voice through a trumpet, his own invention, and through direct scripts. The tone of these writings was sanctimonious and upbraiding, i.e.: "We know that our work will be rejected by many, and condemned as the production of their King Devil, whom they profess to repudiate, but do so constantly serve by crucifying truth and rejecting all that is contrary to their own narrow pride and vain imaginings."

The Telegraph Papers of 1856 published a psychometric reading of the writing of John King by Mrs. Kellog and Miss Jay of New York to whom the paper was handed in a sealed envelope. Mrs. Kellog became entranced and said:
"A person of great might and power appears before me - a power unknown. I cannot compare him to anyone on earth. He wields a mighty weapon. I can neither describe nor explain the influence that emanates from him. I can only compare it to one of whom we read in the Bible. It seems like unto one who 'rules the world.' It does not seem to have been done by any human being. It does not seem to me that a mortal could have been employed even as the instrument for this writing. This is beyond human effort."
Miss Jay had given similar reading:
"It must be a power so far exalted in the scale of development as to grasp the great laws that govern all material combinations. He does not seem to be of the earth, but to belong to another race of beings, whose spiritual growth has continued for ages."
In the early years of British Spiritualism it was the aspiration of many mediums to secure his influence. Mrs. Marshall was the first, Mrs. Guppy, Miss Georgina Houghton, Mrs. Firman, Charles Williams, William Eglinton and Husk followed, whilst in America he was claimed by the Holmeses and Mme. Blavatsky in her early career as a Spiritualist. Solovyoff even suggests that Mahatma Koot Hoomi was John King transformed by the addition of an Eastern garb.

On March 20, 1873, in a daylight séance of Williams, John King manifested so successfully that a sketch was made of him by an artist. A week later he appeared again in solid and material form. He was usually seen in the light of a peculiar lamp which he carried and which illuminated his face and sometimes the room. In Paris, on May 14, 1874, a young man tried to seize him. John King eluded his grasp and left a piece of drapery behind. The Medium was found entranced. On being searched no paraphernalia for a make-up was discovered.

In comparatively recent times* John King took charge of the physical phenomena of Mrs. Wriedt in London. He greeted the sitters of Williams' and Cecil Husk's Circle by their names. W. T. Stead once found a mislaid manuscript through communication in automatic writing from John King. Quite recently* Feda, the control of Mrs. Leonard, informed H. Dennis Bradley during a seance of his own that John King often helped with the voices and that the volume of his own voice is enormous.
* This biographical sketch was written in 1934.

Of all the public activities of John King, his association with Eusapia Paladino was the most memorable. Scientists all over the world made his acquaintance and found him ever anxious to produce good and convincing phenomena. He said in many messages that Eusapia Paladino was his reincarnated daughter but he seldom spoke, if so only in Italian and through the entranced Medium.

A curious story of his appearance in strong light was told by Chevalier Francesco Graus, an Italian engineer, in a letter to Vincent Cavalli, the letter being published in Luce e Ombra in April, 1907. At the time of the narrative Eusapia worried herself ill over the theft of her jewels. She was so affected by the reproaches of the police inspector that she fainted. The table began to move and rapped out: "Save my daughter, she is mad."
"A minute later" - writes Graus - "in full light, a phenomenon occurred which I shall never forget. On my left, in the space separating me from Mme. Paladino, appeared the form of an old man, tall, rather thin, with an abundant beard who, without speaking, laid the full palm of his right hand on my head, which he squeezed between his fingers as if to draw from it some vital fluid, and when he saw fit he raised his hand and spread over Eusapia's head the fluid he had withdrawn from my brain. He repeated this operation three times in succession, then the figure dissolved. Mme Paladino immediately returned to her normal state. I remained for three consecutive days in such a condition of cerebral prostration, on account of the fluid that had been drawn from me, that I could not carry on the smallest intellectual work."
The identity of John King with Henry Owen Morgan, the pirate, has never been satisfactorily established. Conan Doyle had in his possession a contemporary picture of the buccaneer king but it bore no resemblance to the tall, swarthy man with a noble head and full black beard, who presented himself in materialised form. But he adds in a remark that a daughter of a recent governor of Jamaica was confronted in a séance in London with John King. He said to her: "You have brought back from Jamaica something which was mine." She asked: "What was it?" He answered: "My will." It was a fact. Her father brought back this document.

To Admiral Moore, in a sitting with Cecil Husk on March 28, 1905, John King said that he had been hunting up old records and found that he succeeded Lynch as Governor of Jamaica. There was a Richard Morgan who came before him as Governor and the names were sometimes confused. He believes that he was governor three separate times - not consecutively - but he would make further inquiries.

A correspondent to Light (June 29, 1912) looked up the official handbook of the island and found that he succeeded Sir Thomas Lynch in 1673, Lord Vaughan in 1677 and the Earl of Carlisle in 1680. The other Morgan to whom he referred was Colonel Edward (not Richard) Morgan and he was Deputy Governor in 1664.

Through Mrs. Wriedt in Julia's bureau in London John King gave many particulars in regard to his earth life in Jamaica and made beautiful bugle calls through the trumpet, saying that was how he used to call his men together, in the old buccaneering days, one most terrific blast illustrating his signal to fight.

In February, 1930, John King manifested in Dr. Glen Hamilton's Circle in Winnipeg and carried on a dialogue with "Walter" who controlled another Medium, feigning that they were aboard the pirate ship amongst a crew of ruffians. This play-acting had a psychological purpose: the recovery of past memories and the imagining of a sailing ship which was afterwards objectively built out of ectoplasm.

Source with some minor addtionsMichael E. Tymn, vice-president of The Academy of Religion and Psychical Research.

Source with some minor addtions htsurvivalafterdeath.com

Annie Owen Morgan

THE FAMOUS Spirit control of Miss Florence Cook. She claimed to be the daughter of John King, but of her identity even less proof is available than of her father's. She began to manifest in the Cook house when Florence was a girl of 15. She was seen almost daily, the first time in April, 1872, showing a death-like face between the curtains. Later her materialisations became more perfect, but it was only after a year of experimental work that she could walk out of the cabinet and show herself in full figure to the sitters. She was a nearly permanent inhabitant of the Cook household, walked about the house, appeared at unexpected moments, and went to bed with the Medium, much to her annoyance. When Florence married, complications arose. According to Florence Marryat, Capt. Corner used to feel at first as if he had married two women, and was not quite sure which of the two was his wife.

According to all accounts she was a beautiful girl. William Crookes had forty flashlight photographs of Katie. In most of them she noticeably resembles Miss Cook, but Crookes had no doubt of her independent identity.
"Photography was inadequate," he wrote in Researches into the Phenomena of Modern Spiritualism, "to depict the perfect beauty of Katie's face, as words are powerless to describe her charm of manner. Photography may, indeed, give a map of her countenance; but how can it reproduce the brilliant purity of her complexion, or the ever varying expression of her most mobile features, now overshadowed with sadness when relating some of the bitter experiences of her past life, now smiling with all the innocence of happy girlhood when she had collected my children round her, and was amusing them by recounting anecdotes of her adventures in India?"
Her name was Annie Owen Morgan. She was about twelve years old when Charles I. was beheaded. She married, had two children and committed many crimes, murdering them with her own hands. She died quite young, at the age of 22 or 23. Her attachment to Florence Cook served the purpose of convincing the world of the truth of Spiritualism. This work was given her on the other side as a service to expiate her earthly sins. On her farewell appearance, after three years of constant manifestations, she declared that her years of suffering were now over, she would ascend to a higher sphere from where she could only correspond with her Medium through automatic writing at long intervals, though clairvoyantly Florence would be able to see her.

In her early manifestations in the Davenport seances Katie King was apparently far less spiritual than at the time of the Crookes records. Robert Cooper, describing a direct voice consultation of the spirits by the Davenports, writes:
"The next minute a shrill female voice was heard immediately in front of us. It was like that of a person of the lower walks of life and talked away, like many persons do, for the mere sake of talking. It was intimated that it was 'Kate' who was speaking. There was a great attempt on her part at being witty, but according to my ideas on such matters, most of what was said would come under the category of small - very small - wit."
In another passage he writes:
"Unlike John, Kate will talk any length of time, as long in fact as she can find anything to talk about, even if it be the most frivolous nonsense; but I must do her the justice to say that she talks sensibly enough at times, and I have heard great wisdom in her utterances, and satisfactory answers given to profound philosophical questions."
The "Katie" who assisted "John King" in the seances of Frank Herne and Charles Williams is apparently not identifiable with Katie King, as the former, after the materialisation of a negro hand, was described as a descendant of that race. Her voice was like a whisper but perfectly distinct. The transportation of Mrs. Guppy to the room of Williams was put down to her achievement.

A rather dubious Katie King manifested through the mediumship of Mr. and Mrs. Holmes of Philadelphia. Dr. Henry T. Child and Robert Dale Owen have seen her materialise on May 121 1874. Robert Dale Owen believed that she was identical with the control of Miss Cook, though her features differed from those in the photograph of the London Katie. The nose was straight, not aquiline and the expression was more intellectual. Crookes, who had seen a photograph of the Philadelphia Katie, had no hesitation in declaring her as a fraud. To justify her appearance in America the Philadelphia Katie King declared:
"Some of my English friends misinterpreted my parting words. I took final leave not of your earth, but of dear Florrie Cook, because my continuance with her would have injured her health."
A rather limp explanation which was further disproved by the circumstance that Florence Cook, under the control of another spirit, Marie, continued her materialisation séances without injury to her health.

In October, 1930, Katie King unexpectedly manifested in Dr. Glen Hamilton's Circle in Winnipeg. Photographs were taken. According to Dr. Glen Hamilton:
"Obviously it is wholly impossible to say whether or not this Mary M-Mercedes-Katie King is the same being as the entity appearing in the experiments of Crookes and others. We have the word of the controls in this case that it is so and we have seen how, so far, these controls have repeatedly established the fact that they know whereof they speak... While there are, I may say, some points of similarity to be traced between Katie as photographed by Crookes and Katie as photographed in the Winnipeg experiments, both faces for instance being rather long in formation, the eyes in both being large and luminous, the angle of the jaw in both being rather pronounced, the later Katie is so much younger in appearance, her beauty so much more apparent that it is evident that we cannot use the earlier record of her presence in any way as conclusive proof that there is any connection between the two."

Source (with minor modifications): An Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science by Nandor Fodor (1934).

Source with some minor addtions htsurvivalafterdeath.com

George Pelham

SOON AFTER Dr. Richard Hodgson moved to the United States from England and began investigating the mediumship of Leonore Piper he met George Pellew, an associate of the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR), of which Hodgson served as executive secretary. A member of a prominent New York family and a Harvard graduate with a law degree, Pellew was a writer and poet. He authored at least six books, including biographies of statesmen John Jay and Henry Addington and one on poetry. In February 1892, at the age of 32, Pellew died accidentally in a fall.

Hodgson later recalled having had several long philosophical discussions about the possibility of a “future life’ with Pellew, who told him that he could not conceive of an afterlife. However, he was open-minded on the subject and told Hodgson that if he should die before Hodgson and found himself “still existing,” he would attempt to let Hodgson know.

On March 22, 1892, a little over a month after Pellew’s death, Hodgson arranged a sitting for one of Pellew’s friends, John Hart, with Piper. Pellew’s actual name was not made public until many years later and Hodgson gave him the pseudonym “George Pelham.” Early in the sitting, Phinuit, Piper’s primary control, announced that “George” was there. Pellew’s real name was given as were the names of several close friends, including the sitter. Hodgson recorded that many personal references were made by Pellew and that Hart was very impressed, mentioning that various words of greetings and speech mannerisms were very characteristic of Pellew.

Some three weeks later, Jim and Mary Howard had a sitting with Piper. Apparently, they did not believe in such things, but were so bewildered by Hart’s account of his sitting that they decided to attend. As was the procedure, Hodgson did not tell Piper their names or give her any clue as to their connection with Pellew. Yet, Pellew communicated. However, rather than Phinuit speaking through Piper and relaying messages from Pellew, Pellew spoke directly to his friends.
“Jim is that you?” Hodgson recorded. “Speak to me quick. I am not dead. Don’t think me dead. I’m awfully glad to see you. Can’t you see me? Don’t you hear me? Give my love to my father and tell him I want to see him. I am happy here, and more so since I can communicate with you. I pity those people who can’t speak…”
Pellew went on to tell his friends that he was very limited in what he could do as he had just “awakened to the reality of life after death,” adding that he was greatly surprised as he did not believe in a future life. He told them it was all darkness at first and that he was puzzled and confused. He said that he could see Jim, but that his voice sounded like a big bass drum.

Over time it became evident that Pellew had become a “control” himself and did not require Phinuit’s help. It was not until Pellew began using her organism that Piper fully developed the ability of automatic writing. Hodgson reported that there were many times when Pellew would be communicating through Piper’s hand while Phinuit would be transmitting through her voice - each relaying information from different Spirits on different subjects.

Until Pellew began communicating, Hodgson subscribed to the secondary personality and telepathy theories. That is, Phinuit, her control, was a fragmented personality buried away in her subconscious and this fragmented personality could, unknown to Piper’s primary personality, read the minds of the sitters. When information was transmitted that was unknown to the sitter, that theory began to fall apart. But, the Spirit theory was apparently too simplistic for intelligent researchers to accept, and so a theory called “teloteropathy” developed. This theory held that it is possible to pick up thoughts from a person anywhere in the world. It was later expanded to suggest that there is some kind of cosmic reservoir where every thought or utterance ever made is recorded. It is now generally referred to as “super psi” or “super ESP.”

But the communication with Pellew caused Hodgson to abandon all other theories in favour of the spirit one. While the existence of Phinuit could not be verified, there was no doubt that Pellew had lived in the flesh. Moreover, there was too much individuality, too much purpose and persistence, expressed by Pellew to attribute it to telepathy of a limited or expanded nature. It was one thing for a Medium to tap into another mind or cosmic reservoir for information, quite another for that other mind or reservoir to come back with the fullness of a personality rather than just fragmentary bits of information.

Hodgson noted that when someone Pellew had known when he was alive happened to be sitting, he (Pellew) would greet him or her by name. When someone unknown to him was sitting, he didn’t address the person by name. The non-recognition went against any telepathy theory.

Gradually, Pellew took over from Phinuit as Piper’s primary control and most of the information communicated came by way of automatic writing rather than through Piper’s voice. Phinuit continued as a secondary control and would sometimes complain that Pellew was too domineering.

Beginning in 1895, the quality of the messages began to deteriorate and there were indications that devious earthbound Spirits were able to control Piper’s organism. Deceased writers Sir Walter Scott and George Eliot supposedly communicated directly through Piper’s hand, but the nature of the communication suggested impostors.

Pellew and Phinuit gradually gave way to “Rector” of the Imperator band of 49. Rector told them that Piper’s organism was weakening and needed a rest. Pellew remained and worked with Rector until April 1897. At that time, Rector cautioned Hodgson not to rely too much on Pellew as he was “too far away,” i.e., too advanced, to be effective.
“His spirit is pure, his mind sincere, his whole life here is one of honour and one to be respected by us all,” Rector wrote through Piper’s hand. Yet, we would speak the truth and say his work in your field is done.”
On June 8, 1897, Pellew warned Hodgson not to accept anything further as coming from him, implying that it might be an earthbound spirit posing as him. He added that he might not have the pleasure of seeing him for a long time. Rector cautioned Hodgson not to rely too much on Pellew as he was “too far away,” i.e., too advanced, to be effective. “His Spirit is pure, his mind sincere, his whole life here is one of honour and one to be respected by us all,” Rector wrote through Piper’s hand. “Yet, we would speak the truth and say his work in your field is done.” However, Pellew apparently continued as an assistant to Rector for a number of years, at least until 1904.

References:

Holt, Henry, On the Cosmic Relations (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1914).
Lodge, Sir Oliver, The Survival of Man (London: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1909).
Myers, F. W. H., Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death (2 vols) (London: Longmans & Green, 1903; reprint, New Hyde Park, NY: University Books, Inc., 1961).
Proceedings of the Society of Psychical Research, December 1915.
Source: Michael E. Tymn, vice-president of The Academy of Religion and Psychical Research

Source (with minor modifications): An Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science by Nandor Fodor (1934).

Source with some minor addtions htsurvivalafterdeath.com

Dr Phinuit

LEONORE PIPER, the celebrated American Medium, is said to have discovered her mediumistic ability in 1884, after being persuaded by her husband’s parents to sit with Mr. J. R. Cocke, a blind healing Medium, because of a tumour. Cocke claimed to be controlled by a French physician named “Finny.” During her second sitting with Cocke, Piper, then 27, lost consciousness and was controlled by the spirit of a young Indian girl who gave the name “Chlorine.” Apparently, Finny was the same control later identifying himself as Doctor Phinuit, who replaced Chlorine. Whether Phinuit left Cocke for Piper or decided to use two organisms - Cocke for healing and Piper primarily for communication - is unknown.

Phinuit told Dr. Richard Hodgson, who was investigating Piper in the United States, that his full name while in the flesh was Jean Phinuit Sclivellee but that he was known as Doctor Phinuit. He said he had died at the age 70 “about” 1860. He gave his wife’s name as Marie Latimer. However, he later told Professor Oliver Lodge (later Sir Oliver), who sat with Piper in England, that his name was John Phinuit Schelevelle and his wife’s name was Mary. While Jean/John and Marie/Mary have the same meaning, it was never determined why he gave different versions of the name or different spellings of his last name. He told both Hodgson and Lodge that he had studied medicine at “Metz” in Germany. An attempt to find some documented evidence of Phinuit’s existence was unsuccessful.

According to William James, the distinguished Harvard professor who discovered Piper, Phinuit would often introduce other Spirits and at times would give long lectures about things he (James) was certain were well beyond Piper’s intellect.
“The most remarkable thing about the Phinuit personality seems to me the extraordinary tenacity and minuteness of his memory,” James wrote. “The Medium has been visited by many hundreds of sitters, half of them, perhaps, being strangers who have come but once. To each, Phinuit gives an hour full of disconnected fragments of talk about persons living, dead, or imaginary, and events past, future, or unreal. What normal waking memory could keep this chaotic mass of stuff together? Yet Phinuit does so… So far as I can discover, Mrs. Piper’s waking memory is not remarkable, and the whole constitution of her trance-memory is something which I am at a loss to understand.”
On September 6, 1888, J. Rogers Rich, an artist, had a sitting with Piper. He observed a remarkable change in Piper’s voice as it became unmistakably male and “rather husky.” He was at once addressed in French and he responded in French. Dr. Phinuit diagnosed Rich’s physical ailments for him and prescribed various herbs, giving the manner of preparing them. Phinuit told him that his mother was beside him and accurately described her. In a second sitting, a month later, Phinuit told Rich that his deceased niece was at his side. To test him, Rich asked the niece, who had lived all her life in France, for his name in French, to which Phinuit accurately relayed “Thames Rowghearce Reach” entirely in the French alphabet.

In another sitting, Phinuit’s foreign accent gave way to a pure English accent and Rich was greeted by his old friend, “Newell.” Rich noted that the entranced Piper was twiddling her fingers as if twirling a moustache, a habit very characteristic of Newell. Rich was later told by Phinuit that his sister was often in his surroundings and had much influence over him. Rich replied that he had never had a sister. Phinuit corrected him, saying that he had a sister who died in infancy before he was born. Rich questioned an aunt about this and was informed that it was true.

On December 21, 1889, Phinuit told Lodge that “Edmund sends his love.” Then, the personality possessing Piper seemed to change and Edmund Gurney, who along with Frederic Myers and Professors William Barrett and Henry Sidgwick founded the Society of Psychical Research in 1882, began speaking. Gurney had died in 1888 and had been introduced to Lodge by Myers.

Lodge questioned Gurney about both Piper and Phinuit. Gurney told him that Piper was a true Medium. As for Phinuit, he said, “He is not all one would wish, but he is all right.” In another sitting, Gurney described Phinuit as eccentric and quaint but good hearted.
“I wouldn’t do the things he does for anything. He lowers himself sometimes; it’s a great pity. He has very curious ideas about things and people, he receives a great deal about people from themselves … and he gets expressions and phrases that one doesn’t care for, vulgar phrases he picks up by meeting uncanny people through the Medium… A high type of man couldn’t do the work he does.”
None of the many investigators who observed Piper considered her a fraud, but most of them questioned whether Phinuit had ever lived. The early theory held by almost all the researchers was that he was some kind of “second personality” buried away in Piper’s subconscious. In addition to the fact that no record of his name could be found, there were strange inconsistencies, including his inability to speak French to some sitters fluent in French. The fact that he wasn’t sure about the year of his birth or death also went to his credibility, although other communicating Spirits have said they lose a sense of time in the Spirit World.

What seems to have swayed most of the researchers away from the secondary personality theory is the fact that beginning in 1892, Phinuit started turning over his “control” function to “George Pelham,” (a pseudonym for George Pellew), a spirit whose human existence was known to Hodgson and others. If Phinuit’s successor could be confirmed as having been alive in the flesh at one time, then why not Phinuit?

It was not until Pelham began using her organism that Piper fully developed the ability of automatic writing. Hodgson reported that there were many times when Pelham would be communicating through Piper’s hand while Phinuit would be transmitting through her voice - each relaying information from different spirits on different subjects. On one occasion, both of Piper’s hands were writing and a voice speaking from her - apparently three spirits communicating at the same time.

Gradually, Pelham took over from Phinuit as Piper’s primary control while Phinuit continued as a secondary control. Phinuit would sometimes complain that Pelham was too domineering.
“I never saw the like of that fellow George,” Phinuit grumbled to Hodgson. “There’s another here trying to say something but he gave no chance at all. When he gets hold he keeps hold I tell you Hodgson.”
Pelham and Phinuit gradually gave way to “Rector” of the Imperator band of 49, who had earlier controlled Rev. William Stainton Moses. Rector told them that Piper’s organism was weakening and needed more rest and better management. While Rector continued to use Piper’s organism, it was with more care than Pelham and Phinuit could provide. Rector said they were substituting a “softer melody” for the rough, inharmonious and uncultivated dialect, referring primarily to Phinuit. While not “earth earthy,” Rector said that Phinuit was too bound by the attractions of earthly minds. Phinuit made his last appearance on January 26, 1896.

In 1906, when Piper returned to England, Lodge asked Rector about Phinuit and was informed that he had advanced and gone on to other work.

References:

Holt, Henry, On the Cosmic Relations (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1914).
Myers, F. W. H., Human Personality and Its Survival of Bodily Death (University Books, 1961).
Lodge, Sir Oliver, The Survival of Man (London: Methuen & Co., 1909).
Source: Michael E. Tymn, vice-president of The Academy of Religion and Psychical Research.
Source (with minor modifications): An Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science by Nandor Fodor (1934).
Source with some minor addtions survivalafterdeath.com

Uvani

IN HER autobiography, Medium Eileen Garrett recalled her first trance state, which occurred in London during 1926 as she was sitting with a group of women during a table-tilting seance. She drifted off into a “sleep,” and upon awakening was told by the others that she began to speak of seeing the dead relatives of those at the table. She was informed that an entity calling himself “Uvani” claimed to be her control and that she would be working in the capacity of Trance Medium for a number of years.

As later observed by psychical researcher Hereward Carrington, Garrett would pass into a deep trance and, after a short wait, Uvani would begin speaking through her mouth, addressing the sitter and inviting questions. Generally, after a brief conversation with the sitter, Uvani would find or attempt to find deceased loved ones. Uvani would frequently allow the deceased entities to speak directly through Garrett (rather than relaying their words as other controls often do). At the conclusion of the seance, Uvani would again take over her organism, give a few parting words and say a short closing prayer. A secondary control, calling himself “Abdul Latif,” would also manifest, primarily for healing purposes.

Uvani claimed to be the surviving spirit one Yasuf ben Hafik ben Ali, an Arab who had lived in Basrah during the early 1800s, dying at the age of 48 in a battle with the Turks. He said he had been a member of a noble merchant family.

Carrington conducted many tests with Garrett, attempting to determine if Uvani was a secondary personality arising out of Garrett’s subconscious. He noted that Garrett was not spiritualistically inclined and was “on the fence” as to whether Uvani was who he claimed to be.
“I have never been able wholly to accept them as the spiritual dwellers on the threshold, which they seem to believe they are,” Garrett wrote of her controls. “I rather leaned away from accepting them as such, a fact which is known to them and troubles them not at all.”
Garrett went on to say that Uvani is nearly always detached, “the doorkeeper cloaked in the personality of the guardian,” while Abdul Latif was more universally oriented to outer events and therefore more positive in his pronouncements and judgments.

Carrington had a number of personality and psychological tests administered to Garrett and Uvani, believing that if Uvani were a fragmented personality of Garrett’s subconscious the tests would pretty much be the same. As it turned out, they were quite different. For example, Garrett scored in only the 21st percentile on a measure of neurotic tendency, while Uvani scored in the 87th percentile. On a test designed to measure introversion-extraversion, Garrett scored 24, indicating a fair amount of extravertive tendency, while Uvani scored 80, very much on the introversion side.

In a test giving an indication of the number of schizoid traits an individual possesses, Garrett had a normal 15 traits, but Uvani had 36, a score which was far beyond normal and psychotic individuals, suggesting a tendency to daydream and withdraw from “reality.” In a test asking them to list their four best and four worst traits, Garrett listed “generous, honest, forgiving, and conscientious” as her best traits. Uvani gave “honesty, physique, vigor, and swordsmanship” as his best. Garrett listed “indifferent, too sensitive, unsocial, and over-critical” as her worst traits, while Uvani gave “desire to wander away from responsibility, desire for bloodshed, desire to rule his household, and inability to forgive and forget easily” as his worst.

Carrington also tested Abdul Latif and deceased entities who were allowed to take over Garrett’s body and communicate.
“The conclusion to which we seem driven, therefore,” Carrington summed it up, “…is that ‘Uvani,’ and especially the other alleged entities, represent some sort of independent entities, with no strong emotional or memory connections with the normal Mrs. Garrett, or with any get-atable portion of her subconscious.”
As might be expected, other researchers took issue with Carrington’s finding. Carrington pointed out to them that even if Uvani is a secondary personality, it does not explain how others, known to have existed as humans, are able to do the same thing as Uvani, nor does it explain how they obtain information clearly outside the scope of Garrett’s knowledge and experience.

Carrington interviewed Uvani as to his nature and methods. Uvani told him that he had always been in close contact with Garrett during the uncharted years of her life. He said that the moment he would see the wanderings of her underconsciousness, he would be drawn to her.
“As the time draws near, I am able to impress upon the underconsciousness not only my presence, but others, and I control that underconsciousness,” Uvani told Carrington. “Of the conscious mind I have no control at all, nor would I find it right.”
Uvani further told Carrington that Garrett’s conscious mind “is permitted to go into the Cosmos, to renew itself, where it receives strength and is purified,” just as in the sleep state for everyone, during the time he and others are using her organism.

When Carrington asked how Uvani influences her brain and body, Uvani responded that he does not influence either. “I use a ‘figment’ - the fabric of the soul - which is stimulated by my thoughts; this stimulates the fabric and produces automatic expression,” he explained, adding that it took him many years (of earth time) to learn to subdue the conscious mind.

Asked how he knew when Garrett was ready for him to come, Uvani said he gets a “telegraphed” impression that the “Instrument” is ready, explaining that the moment that the conscious mind becomes very low, the soul-body becomes more vibrant and that serves as a “telegram” for him to operate.

As for language, Uvani said he does not speak English. He simply impresses his thoughts upon that “figment” with which he works and his thoughts are converted to English automatically.

References:

Carrington, Hereward, The Case for Psychic Survival (New York: The Citadel Press, 1957).
Garrett, Eileen J., Many Voices (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1968).
Source: Michael E. Tymn, vice-president of The Academy of Religion and Psychical Research.

Source (with minor modifications): An Encyclopaedia of Psychic Science by Nandor Fodor (1934).
Source with some minor addtions survivalafterdeath.com

Ada Besinnet had two principal controls, both Indians: "Pansy," a little girl, and "Black Cloud." As a rule Besinnet sat in the dark, unbound; then during the seance, as a feat of her stock performance, her hands and feet were often tied to her chair by invisible hands. The sitters usually did not join hands, but placed them on the table.

Source From Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology