In
parapsychological research perhaps no phenomenon is more elusive, and
most highly debated, than the actual manifestation of a ghost or
spirit. While reading through my recently acquired copy of Brad
Steiger's Real Ghosts, Restless Spirits, and Haunted Places I
came across a fascinating account of a materialization of a child's
ghost that was witnessed and investigated by famed British author and
Psychic researcher Harry Price. Price wrote about the events that led
up to his coming into contact with Rosalie in his 1939 book Fifty years of Psychical Research. The
story that follows is interesting but, like most of the paranormal,
is highly controversial. I'll leave it for you to decide what
happened that night. Steiger tells us the following:
On
December 8, 1937, Harry Price had just concluded a radio broadcast
regarding psychic phenomena when a listener contacted him with an
interesting revelation. Price was informed that the listener
regularly participates in a family séance that was held every
Wednesday evening, at which the family materialized the spirit of a
child. (pg 234)
Harry Price, Psychical Researcher |
Price
was offered the opportunity to come and witness one of these weekly
investigations on some conditions; according to Price in Fifty
years in Psychical Research:
Of
course, there were conditions, which I anticipated. But I was
genuinely astonished at the simple rules to which I was asked to
adhere. In the first place, if I accepted the invitation to attend a
séance, I was to promise not to reveal the identity of any of the
sitters, or the locality where the séance was held. I could write an
account of the séance giving my candid views of it, provided I
mentioned no names.
If
I were impressed with the proceedings, I was 'not to seek a
scientific inquiry', as the mother of 'Rosalie,' who attended each
sitting, was 'terrified that her girl might be frightened away.'
These Wednesday meetings were in the nature of a sacred communion
with the spirit of her daughter, and would be maintained as such.
I
was not to bring to the séance any light (such as a torch); I was
not to speak to or touch the materialization without permission, and
I was not to do anything, or make any experiment, without the
sitters' consent. I would not be asked to sign any document embodying
these arrangements: it was to be a 'gentlemen's agreement.'
As
a part of the conditions, Price would be allowed to fully search the
room and home where the séance was to be held. In his own words
Price says:
I
would be allowed full control of the room and the sitters up
to the beginning of the séance.
I could search the house from top to bottom, seal all external
windows and doors, search the séance room (the drawing-room), all
doors and windows of which I could lock and seal,
I
could move - or remove - any furniture, ornaments, etc., from the
séance room which I thought fit, I could control the room to the
extent of sprinkling powdered starch or other substance round doors
or windows, or place electrical contacts there (she admitted that she
had gathered that this was what I did, from my broadcast from the
'haunted house'),
I
could search the sitters or any person in the house immediately
before or after the séance.
Price
agreed and set a date in which to come see the events of the séance
firsthand. When he arrived at the location, Price was given a little
more background information about the child's spirit that was going
to be manifested. Apparently the child was a little girl named
Rosalie. Rosalie had died in 1920 from a case of diphtheria. In his
notes, Price simply referred to the mother as a 'Madame Z'. In
addition to the background on the child, Price was given some
information detailing the circumstances by which the weekly séance
began. Price notes:
In
the spring of 1925 - according to my hostess - Madame Z. was awakened
during the night by the sound of her dead girl's voice crying
'mother.' This occurred so frequently that Madame Z. got into the
habit of lying awake at night, waiting for the 'voice.' Gradually,
she thought she could see (in the dark) the dim outline of 'Rosalie'
and hear her footsteps in the room. Finally, the mother declared, one
night she put her arm out of bed and her hand was clasped by that of
her little girl.
The
séance began sometime after dinner. However it wasn't until around
10 pm that something started to happen. Madame Z suddenly said that
she felt the presence of Rosalie that she was here. Rosalie's mother
began weeping and sobbing. Price, meanwhile, relates that he heard
nor saw anything though he did report smelling something. In fact
Price says:
At
the same moment I, too, realized that there was something quite close
to me. I neither heard nor saw anything, but the sensation was an
olfactory one - I seemed to smell
something that was not there previously. It was a strange,
not unpleasant smell.
Smells
aside, Price seemed to infer that Rosalie had made her appearance.
Finally curiosity perhaps getting the best of him, Price requested
permission to touch Rosalie. According to Price:
Permission
was given, and I stretched out my left arm and, to my amazement, it
came in contact with, apparently, the nude figure of a little girl,
aged about six years. I slowly passed my hand across her chest up to
her chin and cheeks. Her flesh felt warm, though (and this may have
been imagination) not so warm as one would expect to find normal
human flesh. I laid the back of my left hand on her right cheek: it
felt soft and warm and I could distinctly hear her breathing. I then
placed my hand on her chest again and could feel the respiratory
movements.
Going
further:
There
are no words to express how I felt at the appearance of the form
before me - or rather to the left of me. A supreme scientific
interest, with a feeling of absolute incredulity, would best describe
my reactions. I had not bargained for anything so wonderful (or so
clever!) as this.
But
if I had been tricked, so had the mother, and that was unthinkable.
She, at least, was not acting a part. I asked whether I could hold
'Rosalie.' I was told that I could move my chair nearer to the child
and this I did. I was now able to use both hands and again felt every
inch of that little form.
If
it is a spirit - I argued to myself - then there is no difference
between a spirit and a human being. With my right hand, I lifted
'Rosalie's' right arm and felt her pulse. It appeared to be too quick
and I estimated a rate of 90 to the minute. I put my ear to her chest
and could distinctly hear her heart beating.
I
then took both her hands and asked X., his daughter, and Jim to speak
in order to prove their presence in their respective seats. They did
so. I knew that Madame Z. and Mrs. X. were on either side of me, as I
had only to put out my hand to touch them.
After
time spent investigating the fact that the materialized child was, at
least apparently, flesh and blood, Price didn't want to miss the
opportunity to speak with what could very well be an ambassador of
the spirit world. So he set about to ask her some questions that he
felt could give him some more information about where she came from
and what 'life' was like where she resided. Price lists the questions
and answers, or lack thereof, in his book as:
'Where
do you live, Rosalie?' (No answer.)
'What do you do there?' (No answer.)
'Do you play with other children?' (No answer.)
'Have you any toys there?' (No answer.)
'Are there any animal pets?' (No answer.)
'What do you do there?' (No answer.)
'Do you play with other children?' (No answer.)
'Have you any toys there?' (No answer.)
'Are there any animal pets?' (No answer.)
The
only question that Rosalie was willing, or perhaps able, to answer
was whether or not she loved her mother to which she replied in the
affirmative. Not long after the Q & A session had ended, Rosalie
began to slowly dematerialize and finally disappeared back to
whatever realm she had first come from. A mere two hours after
returning home wrote notes on the events that had occurred that
night. He concluded with the following paragraph that shows what his
opinion on the preceding events was. It reads as follows:
I
feel I have not done justice in this report to the amazing events of
last night, and I am still wondering if 'Rosalie' was a genuine
spirit entity, or whether the whole thing was an elaborate hoax. If
the latter, then the 'hoax' has been going on for years and no
actress in the world could simulate Madame Z.'s poignant emotion.
And
where did the 'spirit' come from? These are questions which I shall
have to think about, and answer. If I had witnessed the
materialization of 'Rosalie' in my own laboratory, I should
not hesitate to proclaim to an incredulous world that survival was
proved. It is possible - though very doubtful - that last night's
historic (as far as I am concerned) séance may be repeated under
better conditions in a laboratory. But Madame Z. is convinced that
'Rosalie would be frightened away.'
The
sitting I have just attended is at least distinguished by the
complete absence of blasphemous humbug and hymn-singing, which
characterize so many pseudo-spiritualist séances run by rogues for
profit. Looking at it in retrospect, I can think of several things I
ought to have done that I did not do, and one of these is the taking
of 'Rosalie's' finger-prints.
I
had ample opportunity, but no materials. Another thing I might have
done was to have ascertained who the 'medium' was. Madame Z. herself
denies that she is mediumistic, but I can think of no one else.
Apparently, there was no medium.
I
have to say that, all things considered, Price maintains a fair
amount of skepticism over what he experienced. I'm not so sure that I
would have been able to retain such skepticism after what Price had
witnessed. Steiger notes that after Price refused to divulge the
information about the identities of those involved in the séance,
his already tarnished reputation within the psychical research field
was hurt even more. Investigators not only wanted to know who the
séance members were, they also wished to perform their own
investigations. But Price was nothing if not a man of his word and
so, as far as I've been able to determine, the identities have
remained a mystery. Let me know what you think of this story, and be
sure to follow the links below for more information, including a link
to the entire chapter of Price's book that was devoted to the case of
Rosalie.
Further
Reading:
4 comments:
Nice post!
You may enjoy the work of Trevor Hall on various early ghost reports and research.
I became fascinated by the early spiritualism movement and the (often bungling) efforts of pioneering researchers.
Best,
Lance Moody
Hi,
I loved all of these posts. A lot of these things we have, but I got some really great ideas.
Hey Lance, thanks for the reply and the kind words!
I haven't heard of Trevor Hall, so I'll be doing some research on him today. I'm immensely fascinated by the spiritualism movement and some of it's overlap with the contactee movement. I still want to do a bit of a more in depth post on spiritualism in the future, but I guess we will see if I ever get around to it.
Take care!
LockLizard,
Thanks for the reply! Glad you enjoyed the posts.
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