PARANORMAL VOICES

The INDEPENDENT DIRECT-VOICE-PHENOMENON

In history

All through history there have been reports of voices and sounds manifesting at a distance from the person(s) who heard them. St.Paul on his way to Damascus was taken aback when he heard a voice saying "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?...And the men that journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no man."(Acts 9:4-7).
But also in less dramatic circumstances voices were heard, often in the vicinity of children - the so-called poltergeistphenomena.

Spiritualism/channeling

Finally such voices have been heard in the seance-rooms of mediums in the past 150 years in the wake of modern Spiritualism.

Impressive was the direct voice phenomenon of the late Leslie Flint (1911-1994). This British medium has been tested many times. The voices manifesting in space in his vicinity could be heard by everyone present and were recorded on tape by some of them. The late sitters, Betty Greene and George Woods, made it their lifetime work to copy their tape-recordings of communications in direct voice at Leslie Flint's seance-room and make them available for everyone who asked for it. On the cassettes voices are heard of persons who tell of their passing into another world. Quite normal people, who left no imprint on history. But there are also voices of passed celebrities such as Gandhi, Tagore, George Bernard Shaw, Valentino and Oscar Wilde. Former "Queen of the stage" Ellen Terry, speaks in a beautiful diction and intonation without any hesitance or pausing. Sound-clips of the direct voices of British actress Ellen Terry, Mahatma Gandhi, Oscar Wilde, as well as a conversation between a mother and her dead son may be heard on page Death no End (click)
In his best-seller "Life after Death" Neville Randall gave excerpts of what the voices told of their experience of dying and waking up in a hereafter they had never dreamt of. In "Dood geen Einde"(in Dutch, alas) the background in history and genuineness of the voices are explored. It contains a 33 rpm gramophone-record with paranormal voices.
Copies of these communications on cassettee may still be made on request. Ask for details.

For further information on the Woods/Greene collection of direct voice recordings click here

Explanations

Various explanations have been put forward. One of them is that an artificial larynx or voice-box is being built up from ectoplasm drawn from the medium and the sitters. It should be noted that ectoplasmic materialiations are known to have taken place simultaneously. The entity could be seen in the reflected light of fluorescent plagues.

Although Leslie Flint did not use them anymore, in former days "trumpets" were being used. These floated around unsupported in the seance-room and approached a person for whom a message was intended. The trumpet amplified the faint voice and was said to facilitate the phenomenon. Photographs exist of such floating trumpets (medium: Jack Webber). In the case of Leslie Flint, an infra-red photo shows a ball of ectoplasm resting on his shoulder.

The seances were usually conducted in absolute darkness. No wonder that fraud is one of the first explanations that come to mind. In the case of Mrs. Gladys Osborne Leonard, who was a well-known mental medium in the thirties, voices coming from her mouth mingled with whispers in her vicinity. Her sittings usually took place in semi-darkness so that the half-lit room could still be seen. Gramophone-records were made of these whispers by the rev. Charles Drayton Thomas.

Many instances have been recorded of sounds and music being heard by more than one person. In the case of the famous medium Douglas Home during a seance at the court of the French emporor Napoleon III an accordion floated unsupported in mid-air, playing a melody. From afar the emperor and his entourage heard choir music - first faintly - but becoming louder and louder, until the voices filled the room.

What makes the phenomenon noteworthy is that the circumstances in which it manifests bear great resemblance, yet, are recorded independently without the witnesses having had access to each others' reports.
In 1852, for instance, a choir of voices were heard at seances of farmers' family Koons. It is the first instance recorded that a trumpet was being used to amplify the voices. He is also credited with constructing the first machine to produce the voices. One may expect it to have worked only in the presence of a physical medium.

Quite independently a former high-ranking Dutch government official, J.D. van Herwerden, reported on seances with his Javanese servant. He had discovered that the 14-year old boy was psychic. One of the communicators said that he was a Spanish monk, Paurellus, who had been murdered in The Hague three hundred years before. At his request trumpets were being folded out of cardboard and placed at the table. In December 1858 he wrote to a friend: "Imagine my surprise to hear the spirit producing sound. I have to admit that it made me shiver! .... And then, what sort of a sound! I can hardly describe it. It can best be compared with what young birds, canaries, produce. A soft, musical whistle. A tweeting so fine and melodious as no human voice can imitate...". This is the more interesting as other reports on the direct voice also signal a very faint beginning, like a whistle. The voice became louder and louder. Finally it could dispense with the trumpet and be heard in space by everyone present. It spoke in French, a language the boy-medium was not conversant with.
Other phenomena accompanied the direct voice. An accordion floated over their heads whilst playing; direct writing; a flock of sparkling lights moved sometimes through the room, there were touches by a hand etc.
Before the reader bursts into laughter at such gullibility, may I remind him that van Herwerden was a person of distinction who was not expected to make public fantasies that would endanger his prestige.

Poltergeist phenomena

Another instance of voices being heard is in poltergeist phenomena. In Dutch annals is a report dating back to 1668 regarding strange events occurring in the vicinity of a daughter of the family Westfundt at Nieukerk. Objects were being moved, hurled and even appeared out of nothing. Next a voice started to speak in space, even in the presence of many neighbours and in full daylight. Finally the priest was called in. He submitted the "voice" to an interrogation in front of many parishioners, after having convinced himself that the girl was "God-fearing". The "spirit" affirmed too that he was "van Godt", of God. Yet he was banished from the house.

There are many similar poltergeist incidents. One of them took place in Canada in 1889 and was researched by Percy Woodcock for the Brockville Recorder and Times. A family in Clarendon had adopted an 11-year old orphan. Not long after her arrival at the farm all sorts of puzzling events occurred. The reporter took the girl to a barn behind the house. She said: "Are you there, Sir?". To his amazement he heard a gruffy voice answer at a distance of five feet. Woodcock thoroughly searched the barn but could not find an explanation. Thereupon he asked the girl to fill her mouth with water. Yet, the voice came again. He took the girl to the parlour of the farm where about twenty neighbours had gathered. They all heard the voice in her vicinity uttering foul language for quite some time.

All sorts of sounds including phonecalls from the dead, marching of soldiers, battle-noise (at Waterloo) and (heavenly) music have been reported. Significantly they were heard by more than one person.

Electronic Voice Phenomenon

These voices should not be confused with taperecorder-, or Raudive type registrations on tape. These so-called EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon) voices are part of man's endaevour to establish contact with the other world by means of instruments. The first attempt seems to be of Jonathan Koons in 1852, mentioned above. Blueprints of his "machine" have never been found. Thomas Edison, a Theosophist, predicted the invention of such machine in the twenties. Tesla and Marconi reported having received mysterious signals. The Italian Prof. Cazzamali conducted experiments from the twenties onward until WW2.

A new wave of interest arose when Friedrich Juergenson reported in 1959 to have recorded mysterious voices on tape. These voices are embedded in other sounds on the tape usually. They are very short and require a trained ear to detect and interpret them. Direct voices on the other hand can be heard as any other sound by every one present, be it that they emanate from a point in space. The attraction of the EVP registrations is, however, that they can be received by anyone.
Recently paranormal images on TV-sets have been reported and recorded by Jules and Maggie Harsch-Fischbach of Luxemburg.
For further information please click on one of the links below.

Voices as a psychic disorder

Finally a word of warning that the above voices should not be confused by voices heard mentally by only one person.
In the last decades psychiatric research has charted this phenomenon. It should be considered a mental disorder in some cases. The criterion being whether it effects adversely the life of the individual. This is often the case with voices which take over the person's freedom of choice, being of a compelling nature.
Another explanation, these voices being the result of Tourette's syndrome (click) is without any foundation.


Presentday direct-voice phenomena

Direct voices are part of the phenomena associated with physical mediumship which also includes materialisation. In the nineties this type of mediumship is being revived in Great-Britain principally. The Noah's Ark Society for physical mediumship has been founded to encourage circles established with the object of producing this type of phenomena. Its members have an opportunity to sit occasionally in such circles to witness proceedings. For further details please click on the link provided below.

Literature on direct voice:


Literature on electronic-voice-phenomenon:

Links:


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Last update: 28 August 1996