The Esoteric Experience
Spirit Rescue Circle
During the years 2002 to 2005 I took part as a participant/observer in a small group which was originally set up to study the phenomena of table-tiliting and the ouija board. This was an experimental sub-group affiliated to Chesterfield Psychic Study Group. After numerous sessions with no results the table-tilting was abandoned in favour of a homemade ouija board comprising of an up-turned glass, the numbers 0-9, the letters A-Z, and YES and NO. I was the only skeptic in the group and took turns at participating in the circle with my own finger on the glass and sitting out to take notes of what occurred.At first the glass would not move but after persisting for a few sessions it began to move slowly an errtically around the board. The first communications were meaningless jumbles of letters but over the course of further sessions the glass would spell out coherent words and eventually full sentences. At this point we wrote a script of questions to ask a) about the spirit world and b) to try to verify the communicator's identity. It also became apparent that movement of the glass was dependent on one particular member of the circle although he was unaware of conscsiously moving the glass. A report on this aspect of the group's activities, The Talking Glass, was written by Bill Eyre and can be found on the articles page of this site. Please note that Bill's conclusions differ from my own. Whilst Bill accepts the material as evidence for paranormal phenomena I favour a psychological explanation.
However, what happened next changed the nature of the group from being an investigation of the ouija board to a 'spirit rescue circle'. One of the group members was observed to slip into an altered state of conscisouness (ASC). In spiritualistic circles this is known as trance mediumship. At first nothing much woud happen until he regained normal consciousness again but after more practice he began to manifest different personalities. It is important to note that this individual was, and still is, well known to the group with no reason to fake or hoax the phenomena. At first we continued to try to acquire verifiable data, as with the ouija communications. However, it became apparent that many of the personalities that manifested themselves were in some distress and unware that they were deceased. At this point the objective of the group became that of spirit rescue. This involves contacting deceased but 'earth-bound' spirits and encouraging them to move on to the spirit world.
The procedure used was generally as follows:
Most, but not all, of these spirit rescues appeared to be successful.
However, the question remains: should we take these events at face value or is there another explanation?
However, what happened next changed the nature of the group from being an investigation of the ouija board to a 'spirit rescue circle'. One of the group members was observed to slip into an altered state of conscisouness (ASC). In spiritualistic circles this is known as trance mediumship. At first nothing much woud happen until he regained normal consciousness again but after more practice he began to manifest different personalities. It is important to note that this individual was, and still is, well known to the group with no reason to fake or hoax the phenomena. At first we continued to try to acquire verifiable data, as with the ouija communications. However, it became apparent that many of the personalities that manifested themselves were in some distress and unware that they were deceased. At this point the objective of the group became that of spirit rescue. This involves contacting deceased but 'earth-bound' spirits and encouraging them to move on to the spirit world.
The procedure used was generally as follows:
- The spirit's personal details and situation were ascertained by questioning,
- The plight of the spirit was revealed to it,
- The spirit was encouraged to expect a figure coming to greet them or a light, door or path to move towards.
Most, but not all, of these spirit rescues appeared to be successful.
However, the question remains: should we take these events at face value or is there another explanation?
