Observations placeholder

Preface to The beginnings of Seership by W T Stead

"At certain times I see a sort of film or ribbon continually moving, as does an endless belt in a cinematograph film. This film is in colour of a very, very pale pinky-heliotrope, and it seems to vibrate with very great velocity. Upon it are numerous little pictures, some of which appear to be engraved on the film itself, whilst others are like pale blue photographs stuck on to the film.

The former I have found to refer to past events, the latter to those about to happen. The locality of the event is judged by the scenery and the climatic heat. I have to estimate dates by the clearness of the pictures.

I foresee more unpleasant than pleasant things. I believe the reason to be that evil, being nearer to matter than to spirit, is more ponderous in the ether than its opposite, and is therefore sensed more easily by a Seer. I not only see, but feel, the density of evil.

His description of his sensations, when seeing through the telephone, is not less precise. He says-

"In most cases I seem to ' see' through a halo, or aura, of bright heliotrope or pale violet-coloured fire, the flashes or sparks of which do not appear to cover all the window, so to speak, but to leave the centre clear and colourless ; and in that centre there appears the person or object that is 'seen.' Another extraordinary phase, which I call genuine phone- voyance, consists in this, that a part of my mentality seems to ooze out of me along the line for a little distance, say for a yard or two; and as 'I ' go, so little pieces of the copper wire that lay together, as A-B, seem to turn over into B-A, i.e. to reverse their relative positions, these pieces appearing to be about four inches in length."

The reference in the foregoing sentence to "I" needs an explanation, which Mr. Turvey gives as follows:-

"In order to avoid such a phrase as, 'My spirit went to London while I remained in Bournemouth,' I use 'I,' in inverted commas, to denote that part of my consciousness, or 'being,' which appears to function at a distance from my body, and use 'Me,' with a capital M and inverted commas, to denote the body which remains at home, and which is apparently fully conscious, normal, and in no way entranced."

"In the mental-body-travelling the ' I' appears to leave the 'Me,' and to fly through space at a velocity that renders the view of the country passed over very indistinct and blurred. The ' I' appears to be about two miles above the earth, and can only barely distinguish water from land, or forest from city; and only then, if the tracts perceived be fairly large in area. Small rivers or villages would not be distinguishable."

Mr. Turvey is able to produce actual physical effects with his mental body, but only when he is able to draw energy from some physical body in the room. He says-

"When, besides hearing-or seeing-with the ' mental 'body-' I 'also moves matter, then 'I' makes use of a medium's 'psychic force,' which 'I' appears to draw from the medium's wrists or knees as a sort of red sticky matter ...... At any rate, that is what appeared to happen when on one occasion 'I ' lifted a bed with two people in it, and spoke to them in the 'direct’ voice. Physically I have not strength in myself to raise a small child."

The people in bed were four miles away from Mr. Turvey's physical body.