Psychic Mediums: Famous Psychic People

By Russel Steward

Famous Psychic People

History is full of people with psychic gifts. Some have later proved to be fraudulent, but others have confounded investigators and continue to be a source of mystery. Here you can read brief accounts of famous psychic people, from as far back as the 1800's to modern times.

Helen Duncan (Born in Scotland, 1898 - 1956) Physical Medium

The story of Helen Duncan is as tragic as it is fantastic. Born in Scotland in 1898, her psychic skills were most in demand during 1930's and 1940's. She would hold séances in both people's homes and Spiritualist churches, and using her special gift of physical mediumship, she would produce physical manifestations of departed loved ones.

Helen was accused of faking in 1933 when a policewoman successfully grabbed a vest that was purported to be Helen's spirit child helper. She was found guilty of fraud and fined £10. Despite the setback, she continued her mediumship until 1944 when one her séances was raided by police. A police officer made a grab at the ectoplasm emanating from the medium, thinking it was nothing more than a white sheet, but was unable to retain it. No sheet was found when other officers inspected the room. Despite no immediate evidence of fraud being discovered, Helen along with three others were ordered to appear at Portsmouth magistrates' court and were charged with conspiracy.

Bail was refused, and the medium spent four days in prison. The case was transferred to the central criminal court at the Old Baily, where various charges were brought against her including vagrancy and conspiracy, and amazingly, the Witchcraft Act of 1735, which caused an uproar with Spiritualists. The trial lasted seven days, during which many people testified to Helen's gift, recalling many impossible feats. Helen had been able to tell one of her visitors that a family member had just died, and later it was confirmed that the passing had happened just two hours prior to the meeting. Many other claims were made to the authenticity of Helen's gifts.

Despite many attempts to prove Helen's ability, she was finally sentenced to nine months imprisonment. After serving her sentence, Helen once again returned to her spiritual work. Many are the accounts of her outstanding work in physical mediumship, such as reports claiming materializations of those who had passed on.

In 1951, the Witchcraft Act of 1735 was repealed and substituted with the Fraudulent Mediums Act. In 1956, a police raid took place at one of Helen's séances in Nottingham. Claiming to be searching for props, they interrupted a séance in full progress. This interruption caused great discomfort to Helen, and it's believed it was caused by the shock of ectoplasm returning to the body too quickly. A doctor had to be called, and she was so ill that she returned to Scotland to be with her family. Just over five weeks after the raid, she was dead.

This tragic story has no definite conclusions. If she was the talented medium that many claimed she was, then she did herself an injustice to bolster her abilities with fraud. We may never know if she was just a con artist and a great deceiver. Mediumship is a gift from God, and given honestly, will always come up with the proof when necessary.

Daniel Dunglas Home (Born in Scotland, 1833 - 1886) Physical Medium

Born on March 20, 1833, in Edinburgh, Scotland, Daniel Dunglas Home was perhaps one of the most amazing physical mediums of the nineteenth century. Daniel and his family moved to America in 1842. After losing his mother in 1850, he went to stay with his aunt.

It was while still in his teens that the strange phenomena started. Furniture moved and noises were heard in the house. His aunt called in ministers to rid him of the "curse," but they instead informed him he was gifted by God to do this work. He then turned his hand to giving séances. Most were held in broad daylight so as not to feed any skeptics. At these meetings knocking noises were heard, and the table would vibrate, tilt or rise from the floor. This was followed by any number of unexplainable phenomena such as furniture or people levitating, or musical instruments materializing and playing by themselves. Hands would appear and begin writing on pieces of paper.

In 1852, Home first began to levitate himself, and this is something he was to become renowned for. In 1855 he returned to England. His reputation preceded him, and Home once again began to demonstrate his extraordinary gifts. Many accused of him fraud because of the many unbelievable events that occurred at his séances, but he was never found guilty. Reports of tables lifting so high that he was able to walk under them and other such accounts were also documented.

Home was also tested by noted scientist Sir William Crookes, who after conducting a series laboratory condition tests concluded that his gifts were genuine. Home eventually retired from séance work in 1873, as his health was failing. He died of tuberculosis in June of 1886.

Skeptics might argue that any of Home's gifts were simply the work of a superb illusionist. It should be noted, however, that he was never found guilty of any fraudulent act. Indeed, even Harry Houdini, who had explained away many fraudulent mediums' claims, could not replicate any of Home's more amazing feats.

José Arigo (Born in Brazil, 1918 - 1971) Psychic Surgery

José Arigo first became aware of his healing gift when confronted with a dying relative in his hometown. As the last rites were being read because there was no hope or knowledge of a cure, Jose' grabbed a knife from the kitchen and promptly removed a huge tumor from the women. The woman recovered, and a new life began for José.

News of this miracle cure spread quickly, and soon Arigo was treating many people. Arigo claimed that he was working with a German spirit doctor named Adolphus Fritz, who would effectively take control of José's body to perform these incredible cures. Arigo continued with his spirit helper to cure many people before being arrested in 1956 for illegally practicing medicine. Following the announcement of an eight-month sentence and fine, the Brazilian president issued a pardon. However, he served a custodial sentence in 1964. Despite impressing a visiting judge with his talents, he was to continue his sentence on the basis that he had broken the law.

Many favorable reports of his amazing surgery were written. He was often described performing surgery on patients with the most basic of instruments, often just using whatever was at hand. The judge who presided over Arigo, Judge Filippe Immesi, wrote the following report after his visit to Jose in prison. (José was permitted to continue to treat people while in prison!)

"I saw him pick up ...a pair of nail scissors. He wiped them on his shirt and used no disinfectant. I saw him then cut straight into the cornea of the patient's eye. She did not flinch, although perfectly conscious. The cataract was out in seconds...Arigo said a prayer and a few drops of liquid appeared on the cotton in his hand. He wiped the women's eye with it and she was cured."

Gerard Croiset (Born in Holland, 1909 - 1980) Psychometry

Gerald Croiset began his psychic work while still a child. He was able to tell people their life histories by just holding an object that belonged to them. This recognized psychic skill is known as psychometry.

After an unhappy childhood and trying a number of jobs, he married. Not long after, he suffered a nervous breakdown caused by stress. It was during his recovery period that he visited a watchmaker's workshop, where he picked up a ruler. At once a series of pictures ran through his mind of the watchmaker's youth. These images were confirmed, and this turned out to be the start of Croiset's psychic career.

After surviving the war, Croiset attended a lecture on parapsychology given by Professor Tenhaeff of Utrecht University. Croiset demonstrated his gift and the two became friends and together undertook a study of psychometry.

It was in 1949 that Croiset first demonstrated his wonderful gift to the police. They asked him to describe any impressions he got from a sealed box. He correctly informed them that it contained a blood stained shoe belonging to a girl that had been killed. Even more impressive, he described the scene of the crime, including details of how she was killed and a surname of "Stevens." The police were more than impressed with Croiset's ability and confirmed that they were holding someone by the name of "Stevenson."

Croiset went on to aid the police in many other cases including those of missing persons. The accuracy of his descriptions of various locations was amazing as was other information he was able to offer. He became well known for his gift, and was even interviewed by the BBC.

Today the police still occasionally seek the services of psychics who use psychometry, though often in an unofficial capacity. Psychometry is also special for me, as it was my first step into the psychic realms.

The author, Russel Steward, is serving as a medium and can be found at http://freespace.virgin.net/russel.steward.