12 photos and 2 drawings documenting materializations and other paranormal phenomena that manifested at seances with mediums Jack Webber and Arnold Clare—and 'the Guides'—from the two Medium biographies by Harry Edwards
(Article 14 of the Current Series of Posts that Commenced with the May 17 article)
Left: (from book about Jack Webber 1907-1940) "ECTOPLASMIC VOICE BOXES Plate 19 Voicebox with source of emergence at nostril." (photo taken by Harry Edwards) Right: a "band of energy" and "central sphere of activity" (Plate 3 from the book about Arnold Clare)
from The Mediumship of Jack Webber
In The Mediumship of Jack Webber (1940) by Harry Edwards, there are 20 "infra-red" photos of ectoplasm seen in a variety of formations. Webber and the subject of the subsequent book by Edwards entitled The Mediumship of Arnold Clare (1942) were each known to be men in whose presence manifested materialized people and physical objects. This paranormal phenomena became known as 'physical mediumship.' Edwards wrote in the latter book: "Before any medium is able to demonstrate in public as a physical medium, a wealth of labour and sacrifice has been necessary. As a rule a number of years (in Jack Webber's case ten years, in Mr. Clare's twenty years) are devoted to developing the psychic faculties."
Edwards reported that the photographs of "supernormal activity" were secured "from November, 1938, to December, 1939 . . . In 1939, over four thousand persons witnessed the phenomena, from small home circles to mass seances of five hundred people." The photographers included "official press photographers representing national newspapers who have provided their own cameras and plates and undertaken all process work in their own studios."
In 1938 Edwards began attending circles with Jack Webber (1907-1940). Webber had been born at Loughor, South Wales. His education was "neglected during the war years." At age 14, he went to work in a coal mine and continued in the job for 15 years before concentrating on mediumship. This came about after Webber married in 1930. The parents of his wife Rhoda were Spiritualists and he began attending the home circle with evidential messages being tapped out on the table that they used. After two years, he began going into "a trance-like sleep."
"THE DEVELOPING CIRCLE" In Plate 2 Harry Edwards and his wife are seen at left and Mr. and Mrs. Jack Webber at center.
When communicators began manifesting through his body during seances, the 'guide' identified as "being in control" of Webber during seances is 'Black Cloud' — a Mohawk who "could not speak English" when he first "made his presence known." Price wrote about Black Cloud: "In the early days he asked for toys, musical instruments, etc., to be placed near to Mr. Webber in the circle — trumpets, too, were soon added. First of all slight movements and rappings were noted, then development came quickly and levitation of the trumpets and objects followed soon after."
Webber was seated in the circle with the others during seances and it became customary for him to be secured to his chair with ropes. Edwards divulged "it was only after visiting other circles in the district, when the same phenomena occurred, and were testified to by independent sitters, that Mr. Webber came to accept as actual fact his own [so-called] psychic powers." Other 'spirit-controls' that manifested through Webber include: 'Malodar,' a young Egyptian who became known as a healing control; and 'Paddy,' a boy control — "He is one of the most active workers in the seance, and is in control of the 'inner' circle. He acts as instructor to the spirit people . . . telling them the way to use the ectoplasmic voice mechanism. He has an exceedingly humorous turn of mind, but can be very serious . . ."; 'Reuben,' a South American who had been a schoolmaster; 'Reverend John Boaden,' the medium's great-uncle; 'Dr. Millar' and 'Professor Dale,' "whose earthly existences have been verified from the data they have supplied"; and 'Talgar.'
Most remarkable, was the manner in which healing oils would be produced from the medium's hands. Mr. Webber would stand by his patient in an entranced state and thick oil would ooze on to his hands. So thick were these oils that his hands presented the appearance of having been immersed in a large can of vaseline. The patient would then be massaged with the oil.
Gradually, as the years passed by, the powers developed, voices in the trumpet, and independent of the trumpet, became stronger. Heads and hands materialized, and eventually the medium was prevailed upon to give demonstrations before strangers, visiting on a friendly basis the homes of neighbouring spiritualists.
THE ASTRAL HEAD
(photo description by Harry Edwards)
This photograph [below] is one of the most remarkable yet secured, for here has been photographed for the first time, and physically, an astral or spirit head.tThe photographer (Mr. W. J. Clayton) was not a spiritualist, and the only reason he was present at the seance was that he possessed a camera. This camera was of the box type and fixed to an ordinary though somewhat rickety tripod.This photograph is so important that consideration is given to the possibility of error of the photographer or complicity on the part of the medium.The question of a double exposure is ruled out by the precision of the sitters and as well as the body of the medium. It should be borne in mind that a period of several minutes, with the white light on, occurred between each exposure (the flash bulb had to be changed and plates withdrawn and new plates inserted). The rickety state of the photographer's stand was also an item that would have prevented such precision if it had been a double photograph. It is not credible that a sitter could so precisely retain a posture so photographically exact.The photograph was taken at an exposure speed of one-fiftieth of a second, by sashalite flash. Knowledge of the number of exposures made and the recording on the other plates in the camera, prevents the theory of double exposure remaining tenable.If it were possible for the medium to register these two distinct impressions, he would have to have done so within a fraction of the fiftieth of a second exposure without movement, leaving each image to register precisely on the plate. Also he would have had to have judged the changing of his expression to coincide with the precise fiftieth part of a second during which the flash occurred — an impossible feat.
Thus, there can only be no other conclusion than that the two faces were in physical being simultaneously during the exposure.
The Guide has said that the outer face is "the spirit face."
It is impossible to suggest any other reasoned statement as to what the outer face can be, and is therefore remains that this must be the astral or spirit counterpart of the medium. Further examination of the photograph supports this view.
The inner face is not Mr. Webber's normal face but shows a transfiguration by the Guide, a tenable thesis when the astral body is outside the physical body and the Guide is in control.
The outer face is a perfect face, devoid of expression. It should be noted how the chin of the astral face stops short where it meets the lapel of the coat, showing the harmony of density between the dematerialized coat and the astral face.
The alignment of the two faces is precise, but whilst it can be seen that the eyes and mouth are in line, the ears are not, which indicates that a rotary motion is necessary for one head to join the other. This rotary movement provides evidence that the two heads are three dimensional, that is, it is not one face superimposed over the other, and is further evidence that the picture is not the result of a double exposure.
There is not a physical head in existence.
The rear part of the inner head is in a state of partial dematerilization, as is seen by its transparency. The darker part within the two heads is where the two heads merge, bringing the total density of the two heads to normality.
The astral head possesses breadth, as evidenced where the strand of hair on the astral head is shown over the hair of the inner head. This may be more readily understood if the rotary motion of the merging of one head over the other is taken into account.
This photograph was obtained primarily in order to illustrate the dematerialized condition of the coat when being removed or restored to the medium's body. (See chapter VIII: "The Removal and Replacing of the Coat.")
It provides proof of the thesis held by spiritualists that each person possesses, while in the physical condition, an astral body, which leaves the flesh at the time of the physical death, to continue in a "spirit" sphere of activity.
Since this photograph was taken, there have been further incidents in Mr. Webber's developing circle that bear out the ability of the Guides to dematerialize the physical body. The first incident occurred in a good red light, when the medium's head, hands, and arms were seen to have vanished. The sitters nearby were able to look down into the cavity formed by the neck part of the clothing and only a black void was to be observed. Mrs. Webber, who sat near to the medium on this occasion, was rather alarmed at the condition of the medium.
On a subsequent evening, in a duller red light, one not sufficient to see the medium as clearly as on the above occasion, the Rev. Maurice Elliott and Mr. Byerley of The Link, who were present, were invited by the Guide to feel the space where the medium's hands and arms should be roped to the chair. They were not there and the Rev. Maurice Elliott slide his hand up inside one of the medium's coat-sleeves, but could feel no arm there. Then the medium's hands and arms returned almost instantaneously.
INCIDENTS OF THE MEDIUMSHIP
The following selected extracts are taken from the Psychic Press and other publications.
"At Birmingham, twenty-six roses were apported into the circle through closed doors and windows and were distributed to the twenty-six sitters. (The number of people sitting was not determined until the very last moment.)"Psychic News, July 8th 1939.""At Birkbeck, there was a novel experiment. A bowl of water on a gramophone cabinet. Despite the fact that both instruments were well beyond the medium's reach, Webber's Guides managed to place a record on the gramophone turntable and play it, and also to play the piano."Psychic News, July 8th, 1939."
"Several deceased friends addressed sitters by name and in every case correctly defined their exact degree of relationship."At the second seance I took my mother. Mr. Webber did not know my mother was present, yet my father spoke and addressed her with a favourite expression of hers. The tone and inflexion was undoubtedly my father's, so much so, that my mother, who is extremely sceptical, instantly recognized it
*The roping was carried out by a post-office engineer. . . . My little son spoke to me, with and without the trumpet, he afterwards materialized within five inches of my face . . . my little boy asked for his Mummy and spoke about a bottle. Asked, 'What bottle?' He said: 'Don't you remember? You put it in my hand when I was in the coffin.' His mother broke down on hearing his voice. I asked him: 'Where were yo when that happened?' He said: 'Standing by Mummy's side.' Now I knew nothing of this incident, but on questioning my wife, I found she had put a small bottle of perfume in his hand the day before the funeral.*". . . there is no possible doubt that the voice which addressed me through a trumpet floating at some distance from Webber's chair was my dead father's voice . . . my father's voice was very distinctive and unmistakable. He was a man of three Universities, a member of the professional class, and a man of culture. His speech, voice, enunciation, and intonation were typical. Mr. Webber's voice is that of a working man and a provincial."Two Worlds, March 3rd, 1939.""The Guide said he would dematerialize the medium, and before our eyes, in good red light, we saw the head, hands, and wrists vanish, leaving just the medium's clothes in the chair. It remained so for approximately a minute. We all then saw the rapid emergence of the medium."Two Worlds, March 3rd, 1919."
*
Harry Edwards noted:
Mr. Webber tells of an experience he had as a miner. He was engaged on repair work, by himself, in a mine some two miles away from the main shaft, when his lamp failed. In the low tortuous windings of the mine passages it was almost impossible for any person in the dark to find his way out. Mr. Webber tells how a small blue light appeared in front of his face and guided him through the passages to the main shaft, where his workmates would not believe his story. The event occurred some time before Mr. Webber had any knowledge of his psychic powers.
The author was walking home one evening heavily laden with awkward parcels, and unthinkingly crossed a main road immediately on turning a corner, walking across the road obliquely. When half-way across he received a sudden impetuous urge to gain the pavement at all costs. No sooner had he achieved this than a coal motor lorry travelling at speed came round the corner. Without any doubt, the writer would have been in serious difficulties had he not felt impelled to take quick action to get off the roadway.
(Blog article resumes)
On rare occasions, objects were apported at the seances. These 'apports' included a "mosaic ornament" that was found on a female sitter's dress, an "Egyptian ornament," a small stone Buddha, "a coin commemorating the year 1915 in an American state," and a crucifix.
"APPORTS PLATE 36. All these were apported at Webber seances": brass bird, stone Buddha, mosaic ornament, "Egyptian ornament"
In February, 1940, the Guide asked for the floor to be covered with white powder. This was done. In the red light the medium and the white floor was clearly seen. Materialized forms were seen more easily against the white background. After the seance it was seen that the powder had not been disturbed, proving that the physical materialized forms did not touch the floor, but "floated." This peculiar gliding movement of materialized people has often been commented on with other materialized mediums, and the above experiment tends to confirm that they do not contact the floor. This raises an interesting point, for the materialized individuals are definitely physical for the time being, they do not obey the law of gravity.
In his second medium biography The Mediumship of Arnold Clare, Edwards developed his understanding of 'Guides' and 'Controls' through his discussions with Arnold Clare's guide 'Peter.'
On the hundred and more occasions when I sat with Jack Webber, I was able to observe the variation of the quality of the phenomena, the facility or difficulty of their production according to the nature of the sitters, the general atmosphere; and the health or disposition of the medium. When the general conditions at a seance were co-operative and easy, the phenomena would flow freely from act to act without pause. The movements would be strong and sustained and, at times, so strong that the Guide would express himself through the medium asking for caution. The closing of the sitting was often the levitation of the medium into the air, bound to his chair, where he travelled around and above the heads of the sitters, finally alighting on the far side of the circle or, at times, on the outside of the circle. The Controls responsible for this act were often impatient, and did not want to wait, so that on occasion one heard the Guide admonishing the Control, especially when the medium had been slightly levitated in the middle of the seance. At times, when after admonition the Control persisted in levitating the medium, the Guide would ask imperatively for the light to be put on — thus breaking down the conditions in which the Control could act. On other occasions, when sitters were non-cooperative, or some new restriction had been imposed on the medium, or the medium had himself been upset, there appeared difficulty in producing phenomena; movement or activity would be short, snappy and with long time-pauses between each movement. Then would be heard the voice of the Guide speaking through the medium saying, "Do your best now," "Do this" or "Do that," clearly indicating that it was outside his own province to perform the act.
medium Arnold Clare (1901-1991)
Plate 2 is a photograph by R. F. Bounsall;
Plate 4 (below) is by O. MacKinnon Charles, B.Sc.
This second case study book was written by Edwards during World War II years 1940-41.
Arnold Clare had been born in 1901 at Felixstowe, Suffolk, where his father owned a hand-made basket business. At the age of 12, Arnold left school and was employed at a grocery establishment. Three years later, he "went to sea under sail" and after several months joined the Royal Navy during World War I. In 1917 he was assigned duties at a wireless station in Greece. Clare became acquainted with a Greek Father named John at a monastery at Mount Athos before a new assignment sent him to a Russian ship, the Emile Nobel. He became friends with the ship's captain and participated in the evening seances of the captain's family, not fully understanding what was happening as the captain's entranced wife spoke Russian. There were times when the wife spoke English with an intonation that was recognizably John's as the Greek Father prepared Clare for his future work as a medium. "Mr. Clare says today, that not knowing of the meaning of survival, he did not realize the meaning of John's words or even that he had passed on since he had left Mount Athos. So natural was the conversation that he did not think he could be 'dead.'"
In 1919 Clare returned home and was engaged in post-war wireless work. Edwards described a turning point in Clare's life when he read a magazine article describing an Egyptian bronze vase with inscribed figures around the edges that might have once been used for divination with a pendulum. "So taking a sheet of paper he wrote the letters of the alphabet around the edges; and tying his collar stud on to a short length of thread, held it over his letter chart. The stud moved as if propelled by a persistent force and spelt out the word 'John.'" Edwards reported: "Mr. Clare tried automatic writing for a time and found that information was given to him on topics he knew nothing about."
A diagnosis of tuberculosis was the motivation for Clare to "pray as he had never prayed before and continued doing so nightly. As the nights passed so he became conscious of the presence and personality of John. He received the impression that he was not to be unduly alarmed, that he would be made well, and that he had work to do."
Arnold Clare had been born in 1901 at Felixstowe, Suffolk, where his father owned a hand-made basket business. At the age of 12, Arnold left school and was employed at a grocery establishment. Three years later, he "went to sea under sail" and after several months joined the Royal Navy during World War I. In 1917 he was assigned duties at a wireless station in Greece. Clare became acquainted with a Greek Father named John at a monastery at Mount Athos before a new assignment sent him to a Russian ship, the Emile Nobel. He became friends with the ship's captain and participated in the evening seances of the captain's family, not fully understanding what was happening as the captain's entranced wife spoke Russian. There were times when the wife spoke English with an intonation that was recognizably John's as the Greek Father prepared Clare for his future work as a medium. "Mr. Clare says today, that not knowing of the meaning of survival, he did not realize the meaning of John's words or even that he had passed on since he had left Mount Athos. So natural was the conversation that he did not think he could be 'dead.'"
In 1919 Clare returned home and was engaged in post-war wireless work. Edwards described a turning point in Clare's life when he read a magazine article describing an Egyptian bronze vase with inscribed figures around the edges that might have once been used for divination with a pendulum. "So taking a sheet of paper he wrote the letters of the alphabet around the edges; and tying his collar stud on to a short length of thread, held it over his letter chart. The stud moved as if propelled by a persistent force and spelt out the word 'John.'" Edwards reported: "Mr. Clare tried automatic writing for a time and found that information was given to him on topics he knew nothing about."
A diagnosis of tuberculosis was the motivation for Clare to "pray as he had never prayed before and continued doing so nightly. As the nights passed so he became conscious of the presence and personality of John. He received the impression that he was not to be unduly alarmed, that he would be made well, and that he had work to do."
After his spiritual gifts were further developed, he began to be associated with Spiritualist churches and healing circles. He moved to London in 1933. Edwards mentioned that Clare was averse to allowing himself to be a trance subject during this period and occasionally lectured about astrology. Between 1937 and 1939 he conducted healing circles in the Balham Spiritualist Church "giving addresses, clairvoyance, psychometry as well as healing." At a home circle of church members on New Year's Eve, 1940, Clare's mediumship commenced with apports and his guides making themselves known. Clare and his wife opened their own church in 1941.
There were prominent, recurring 'guides' when Clare entered into a trance state. During the first appearance of Brother Paul, he said that he had impressed the Clares' son Tony to draw a picture of him. The drawing provided "a reasonable likeness" and was unlike anything else ever made by Tony.
There were prominent, recurring 'guides' when Clare entered into a trance state. During the first appearance of Brother Paul, he said that he had impressed the Clares' son Tony to draw a picture of him. The drawing provided "a reasonable likeness" and was unlike anything else ever made by Tony.
This was the perspective offered by Edwards of Brother Paul:
The chief spiritual leader of the circle is Brother Paul, a monk, who one evening gave an account of the many years he had spent when on earth at Beaulieu Abbey. Many of the details we afterwards verified on a visit to Beaulieu in 1939. Paul finds much difficulty in coming into the earth conditions and it is only when conditions are exceptionally good that he speaks for any length of time.He has on occasion materialized and sometimes given a blessing at the close of a circle in direct voice (through the trumpet).
Edwards wrote that most of the talking was left to Peter:
Peter is a most interesting personality and I have never known him to avoid a question; his replies are usually given without the least hesitation and always to the point. He has materialized many times and usually appears at least once in a physical circle and always makes a point of showing his short pointed beard. I have never heard him speak much of his earth life, but he has stated he passed over a hundred years ago.
Edwards commented about the 'guide' John:
I have always liked the personality of John, it has a certain similarity to that of Peter and yet there is a subtle difference. He has a keen sense of humour and is quick at repartee; and whilst he will talk on general things, can seldom be drawn into a deep discussion.
Edwards further explained: "These three Guides are the only ones I have ever known to control the medium, and each one seems to give the impression of acting as a medium for the other."
Peter instanced that "John" . . . could change with him instantly and with ease. On being asked how this was effected, he said:
"It is following on the present question. The idea of the system of which I have tried to tell you, is that we do not take control of the physical body of the medium in the way that direct control can be ours. The control is not of the body. It is a control as from a distance — that is to say, we do not control the physical economy of the medium, but do so simply by a method of 'plugging in.' The trance state is induced by the medium. For a change over, all I have to do is remove my thought concentration and John to exert his."
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