Betty Greene:

Hello everybody. This is Mrs. Greene speaking.

 

Mr. Woods and I thought it would be a good idea that, if before you heard any of these tapes, we gave you an introductory talk. Because, although there may be one or two of you who may know about psychic phenomena, there will be a number of you who have no knowledge whatsoever of this subject, especially of direct voice.

 

Now, as in all séances, there is a medium, but in the case of direct voice the mediumship is physical and not mental. Mental mediumship consists primarily of clairvoyance, clairaudience (hearing a spirit voice), impressions and inspirational writing.

 

Physical mediumship is responsible for direct voice, transfiguration (a spirit will overshadow the medium and his face will change), spirit photography, materialisation and telekinesis; the latter being the movement of objects without physical contact.

 

In everybody there is a substance known as ectoplasm. This substance is a life-force and a physical medium has a great deal of it and therefore, is the chief power-station. From this ectoplasmic substance, we are told, chemists on the ‘other side’ fashion a replica of the vocal organs and reproduce what is known as the voice-box, or in some cases, we have heard it referred to as a mask. Perhaps in this modern age we might refer to it as the etheric microphone.

 

If you were to take an infra-red photograph during a direct voice séance, you would see cords of ectoplasm emanating from the solar plexus of each sitter and the medium. The emanation from the latter, of course, being the greatest. And all these cords joining up to form what looks like a ball of mist, or the voice-box.

 

The spirit communicator transmits his or her thoughts through this voice-box and, by so doing, a vibration is created which reaches us as sound or the voice. In other words, the spirit communicators have to lower their vibration so that they may enter the Earth's vibration.

 

This explains why the voice may not sound quite like the Earth voice - it may be a little distorted. It is rather like when we telephone somebody; we often say we did not recognise so-and-so’s voice. Our voices are being transmitted artificially by the means of an instrument, which at times can distort them. Therefore, how very complicated our spirit friends must find it, when they have to reproduce their voice by thought, and also through an artificially made voice-box. They cannot be expected to reproduce their Earth voice exactly, although I am afraid some sitters do expect it.

 

Also, if a spirit has been on the other side for a number of years, they forget what their Earth voice sounded like, as they communicate with each other by thought. I ask those of you who are listening to this to try and produce your voice by thought. It's difficult is it not? Especially if have never heard what your voice sounds like to others.

 

Now when you listen to these tapes, there is one very important fact. And that is, that the voice of the spirit communicator does not come through the medium. I'm going to repeat that: the voice of the spirit does not come through the medium, but in mid-air about three feet away from him - or wherever the voice-box has been constructed. So many people have the erroneous idea that the voice comes through the medium; through his own lips. But in direct voice this is not the case. The voice is completely independent of the medium, that is why the phenomenon is called 'direct voice' or 'independent voice'.

 

Some direct voice mediums go into trance, but this particular medium does not do so, and is conscious the whole time. He often laughs or makes comments when we do. Also, when you listen to the tapes you may hear the spirit breathing rather heavily, just as they are trying to get through, and you may hear them taking breaths between sentences.

 

Now, this business of breathing has puzzled some people quite a lot, and it is a question that is often put to us. First of all, you must remember that our friends on the other side are people, just as much as we are on this side. They are spirits. And we are spirits, here and now, but on a lower vibration.

 

Now, when we talk to people we breathe between sentences. The difference is this: when our spirit friends are in their own environment, communication between each other is done by thought. The same process takes place when they communicate with us via the voice-box. The subtle difference being, that they have lowered their vibrations to Earth conditions, and therefore have brought down their memories of those conditions and they will use all its facilities as they did on Earth, except that they are doing it by thought. It has been known for a person who stuttered while on Earth, to stutter while communicating in direct voice; they were back in their old Earth conditions.

 

May I try and explain it another way? One often carries on a lecture or a conversation in one's mind. Without realising it we are mentally taking breaths between sentences. But when we are able to use our normal larynx etc., and speak our thoughts aloud, our breathing is apparent to others. That is exactly what is going on with our spirit friends - they are communicating with us by thought, and when those thoughts are lowered to the Earth vibration and we can hear them in sound, those breaths becomes apparent to us.

 

The heavy breathing, which is sometimes heard as the spirit is trying to get through, are the conditions just before they passed from their Earth life into the spirit world. And as they try to get through, they are entering those conditions again. The same idea applies to accents. A spirit communicator who had an accent whilst on Earth - say, for argument's sake, a Scots accent - when he vibrates to Earth conditions, this accent will be apparent because his memory has drawn him back to Earth conditions.

 

Most physical mediums have a young [spirit] person attached to them. They help to raise the vibrations, and in direct voice, assist the spirit communicators in getting through. This particular medium has a young boy attached to him who, when on Earth, was a paper-boy and was killed in a road accident. He is usually the first one to come through, and gives us a cheery word of greeting, often calling us ‘Woody’ and ‘Auntie Greenie’. But quite often he will call us by our christian names, and at the end of the sitting he always pops back to say goodbye.

 

The medium has been through every scientific test, and the genuineness of his mediumship and his integrity have been proved beyond all doubt. Mr Woods has had a great deal of experience in psychic phenomena. In fact, for over 40 years he has been studying it. He has even had the experience of walking around the room with a materialised spirit at a materialisation séance.

 

I have had about 11 years experience and have been attending direct voice seances with Mr Woods. But approximately 8 or 9 years ago, a spirit communicator came through to us and said that if just the two of us would sit with the medium at regular intervals, but that we must sit without any personal motive - in other words, not for ourselves or wishing to get any of our relatives through - they, on the other side would try and bring through people from all walks of life, who would tell how they passed over, what they experienced, their reactions on finding themselves on the other side, and their life and work in the spirit world.

 

Well, we have made every effort to sit at regular intervals with the medium and gradually, we have collected these tapes. Please do not think that every time that we attend a direct voice séance we record a good tape. Because there have been times when we have had nothing at all - a blank sitting. We never know who, or if anybody at all, will come through.

 

People do not understand that a successful séance depends on the conditions; not only of the medium, physically and mentally; the atmospheric conditions; but above all, on the conditions, mentally and physically, given out by the sitters.

 

For those of you who are becoming really interested in this subject and would really like to study it and eventually attend séances, I wish to lay great stress upon this point - because so many people will blame the medium for a bad sitting, whether it be for clairvoyance or direct voice; but more often than not, the sitters themselves are to blame, because of the conditions they have introduced into the séance room: one must always attend a séance with the highest motives and not just for entertainment.

 

It is useless attending a séance having just been into a public house for a drink, or having looked at a rather nasty play on television, or read something disturbing in a newspaper, or worse still, having just had a row with somebody. Because these thought conditions will go with you into the séance room and will attract a very low order. One sitter with perhaps a nasty or wrong mental attitude, can wreck a séance or bring it down to a very low level. I would like newcomers to this subject to bear this in mind; that your studies and any psychic work you may eventually do, should be carried out with the highest motives and not just for entertainment or material gain.

 

Spirits from all walks of life, when on Earth, have come through to talk to us. Some have been cultured, some not so. But they have all given us, in their own way, an interesting description of themselves, their reactions on finding themselves in the spirit world, and their new life. But however humble or however eloquent the spirit communicators have been, throughout all our tapes runs the golden thread of truth and the right way of life. We leave you to judge for yourselves.

 

We must apologise for any noises-off you may hear on the tapes; such as a dog barking, a car revving up or an aeroplane going over. The microphone being such a sensitive instrument, will pick up these outside noises and I am sure you will understand that any noise outside the séance room is quite beyond our control. There are times, however, when you may hear the medium coughing or sniffing. This is due to the ectoplasm which sometimes gets in his nose and throat.

 

[Break in recording]

 

There is one other thing we should like to mention, which is also very important, and that is; that a physical medium feels very tired after a séance. They have had a great deal taken out of them. So that sitters, after a séance, should leave as quickly as possible and not hang around the medium and keep him talking. As it is essential that all physical mediums, whether for direct voice or materialisation or any physical phenomena, should rest immediately after a sitting.

 

​

END OF RECORDING

​

This transcript was created for the Trust by K.Jackson-Barnes - January 2019