4 thoughts on “Helen Duncan”

1. Thomas Judson Brooks MBE, JP. 7 July 1880 – 15 February 1958. The name Tom Brooks
   may not be instantly recognised, but in the 1940s – early 1950s he substantially helped to
   achieve religious and legal freedom for all Spiritualist mediums especially by the passing
   of the Fraudulent Mediums Act in 1951. Brooks, a Labour M.P. was a devoted Spiritualist;
   for some years he was connected with and president of the Castleford National Spiritualist
   Church, which he opened in May 1912.
   Spiritualist mediums, since the early days of the Spiritualist movement, had been plagued
   by unfair outdated laws that made it almost impossible to legally defend them, even if
   arrested for merely demonstrating mediumship.1 Spiritualist societies and individuals
   utilised various freedom funds and
   lobbied Parliament for a change in the
   law, so that genuine mediumship could
   be recognized and demonstrated
   without fear of prosecution. The long
   battle started in 1876, with little effect
   until victory in 1951.
   The history of the Witchcraft and
   http://www.woodlandway.org/
   This is a great site for information and is food for thought

   Vagrancy Acts, as affecting the
   Spiritualist movement will be given in
   a separate paper titled: The Law
   Against Mediumship:—Vagrancy Act,
   1824 – Witchcraft Act, 1735, which is
   nearing completion.

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2. http://homepage.ntlworld.com/annetts/ark/mediums/helen_duncan_physical_medium.htm
   Please look at this site which is kept on line by a benevolent person from the now defunct NAS
   The primary interest in Helen Duncan’s mediumship invariably gravitates towards her trial in 1944 and subsequent imprisonment. While these events are obviously of considerable importance, the concentration given to them may be somewhat disproportionate and consequently, Helen’s actual mediumship is possibly only seen as an accompaniment to the period. Therefore, in writing the following, I will concentrate on the subject of Helen Duncan, her mediumship, and its development: in doing so, I am particularly grateful to Gena Brealey, one of Helen’s daughters, and Kay Hunter for their excellent work, The Two Worlds of Helen Duncan. Helen was born Victoria Helen McCrae MacFarlane on 25 November 1897. As a child there were signs of what was to follow in later years, i.e. her reference to people, by name, who had died years before, and her statements that she could both see and hear them: as so often happens in such cases, she was chided and rebuked. When her schooling finished, she went to Dundee to work in the mills, although at the outbreak of the First World War, Helen volunteered for work that would assist the war effort, but already overweight and in poor health, she was rejected. Nonetheless, possibly through suffering poor health herself and thereby realizing its effect on people’s lives, she took up work in nursing. It was during this time that Helen met Henry Duncan, a soldier who had been injured. Henry had a strong belief in post-mortem survival and he became aware that the young Helen possessed mediumistic abilities; he explained to her the meaning of some of the things she had experienced in her life. Their friendship led to marriage on 27 May 1916, and the young medium became “Helen Duncan”: a name that would be later firmly inscribed in Spiritualism’s history. Shortly after moving to Edinburgh, Helen once again suffered from the blight of poor health. As Henry also had difficulty finding work, the young couple returned to Dundee where Henry was able to find employment. At this stage Henry became determined to develop his wife’s mediumistic abilities and the couple began testing these using objects to psychometrise. It was not long before Helen became entranced and a communicator, calling himself Dr Williams, spoke independently of Helen

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3. http://www.snppbooks.com/mrs-millers-gift.html
   Description
   For 75 years the Edinburgh College of Parapsychology has given its services to the people of Edinburgh. A registered charity, constitutionally dedicated to its independence, the College is the only foundation of its type in Scotland. Once over 20 such psychical societies flourished in the UK. but only a few have survived to the present.

   Founded by Mrs Ethel Miller, in 1932, as a memorial to her husband, Robert, every major speaker and medium in the field of Spiritualism and Psychical Research was invited to serve the College in those early years. Despite the move from Heriot Row to Melville Street, a rich legacy has come down to the present in the form of long forgotten accounts and photographs, including some of medium Helen Duncan who gave séances there for 18 years.

   With stories of other mediums, college workers and supporters, woven together in an easy to read account, of the College’s past and present, the authors, Gerald O’Hara and Ann Harrison have created a snapshot of what would have been experienced there, over the years. But this is not just a local tale, for it represents what other Psychic Research facilities were providing across the UK in the 20th century.

   Product Details

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4. The Mediumship of Helen Duncan
   Helen Duncan by Maurice Barbanell
   I shall always contend that my friend, Helen Duncan, the materialisation medium, was
   the victim of a gross miscarriage of justice. When, during the war, she was charged at
   the Old Bailey under the archaic Witchcraft Act of 1735, some newspapers called it
   “The trial of the century.” Obviously an Act which became law more than a century
   before Spiritualism began was not intended to apply to modern mediums.
   Her conviction, and subsequent imprisonment, led Spiritualists to campaign,
   successfully, for the repeal of this Act, which, by being resurrected, implied that all
   séances were illegal, and thus jeopardised our religious freedom. In his war memoirs,
   Sir Winston Churchill has recorded that he sent a note to the Home Secretary
   complaining of the fact that in a time of urgency and peril so much time and money
   should be wasted on a “witchcraft” trial.
   Counsel’s defence that Mrs Duncan was a genuine medium, and his offer to
   demonstrate her powers of materialisation within the precincts of the court, were not
   regarded as legally admissible. The “offence” under the Witchcraft Act was
   pretending that she could conjure up spirits. Whether she was genuine or not was
   beside the point so far as this Act was concerned. Counsel for the defence was
   satisfied of her ability to demonstrate her materialisation powers at the trial, for she
   gave us evidence just before it opened that she was capable of doing so. Despite the
   strain of her ordeal, she willingly offered us an
   experimental séance which was remarkable in its results. Yards and yards of
   ectoplasm streamed from her, and billowed and flowed in swirling masses until even
   experienced Spiritualists like myself gazed with astonishment at the spectacle.
   With Helen Duncan I have been privileged to see the growth of a materialisation
   inside the cabinet. Outside, I have observed the ectoplasmic forms as they gradually
   dwindled in size until they resembled small globes of light, and then finally
   disappeared as if sinking through the floor.
   Inside the cabinet, I have watched ectoplasm exude from the medium’s nostrils,
   mouth and ears in waving billows of luminosity that gradually solidified into the sixfoot
   figure of her guide.
   Harry Price, a researcher who thrived on publicity, propounded the extraordinary
   theory that, instead of being a genuine materialisation medium, Helen Duncan
   swallowed yards of cheesecloth which she later regurgitated. To show how
   nonsensical this theory was, Mrs Duncan gladly submitted herself to X-ray
   examination. Price’s “explanation” was that she had a secondary stomach, like a cow.
   The X-ray examination proved that both her stomach and her oesophagus were
   normal.
   Counsel for the defence at the Old Bailey tried to introduce the X-ray photographs as
   evidence, but these too were legally inadmissible.
   More than once at Helen Duncan’s séances, I was invited to handle some of the
   ectoplasm immediately after it had been produced. It was always bone-dry, and had a
   curious stiff “feel”, proving that it could not have been regurgitated.
   I conducted an experiment that was conclusive in its result. At my suggestion, Helen
   Duncan, and every sitter at one séance, swallowed tablets of methylene blue. These
   had the effect of dying into a bluish colour the contents of all our stomachs. Yet when
   the materialisations appeared, they were their usual white colour.
   Having given these examples of materialisation, I should like, in contrast, to furnish
   one that is exactly
   opposite – dematerialisation.
   Helen Duncan had a psychic gift which enabled her to read written questions placed
   in sealed envelopes, and to supply the answers. I tested this ability many times.
   Once I wrote a question concerning a woman with a most unusual hyphenated name,
   Bayley-Worthington. Naturally, I made sure that the medium did not see what I wrote,
   but she was able to repeat my question, including this uncommon name, and to give
   me a reply.
   I happened to mention this phenomenon to Estelle Roberts, who, never having seen
   it demonstrated, expressed the desire to participate in such a séance. I arranged a
   meeting between the two mediums. I handed Estelle Roberts a sheet of paper on
   which she wrote a question which nobody else could see. She folded the paper and
   placed it in an envelope. This was sealed by her and handed to Helen Duncan.
   Before attempting to “read” the question, Mrs Duncan followed her usual procedure.
   Slowly she rubbed the sealed envelope on her temple, and then at the base of her
   spine. She said it was always necessary to do that before she could repeat the
   wording on the folded paper. Then slowly she exclaimed: “When—will—I—hear—
   from—my—…
   Here, a puzzled expression came over Mrs Duncan’s face. “It’s gone!” she
   announced.
   Estelle Roberts commented: “That is very good.
   You have read my question, all except the last two words.” Still looking puzzled,
   Helen Duncan repeated: “It’s gone!”
   Estelle Roberts assured Mrs Duncan that she was accurate as far as she had gone
   and, to confirm her statement, opened the envelope with the intention of showing the
   question she had written. Then we were all surprised, for the paper was gone! The
   envelope was empty. And the paper has never reappeared.
   Estelle Roberts told me that she understood the significance of this strange
   happening. She had asked a question concerning someone who had passed on, and
   recalled that Red Cloud had said she should not seek information concerning this
   individual until a certain time had elapsed, and that had not yet occurred.
   Mrs Duncan’s power of materialisation had another curious facet, in which a slate
   pencil would write without any seeming visible means of support. This was a
   phenomenon she never took seriously, and always had to be cajoled into
   demonstrating it.
   The requirements were two slates, such as school children use, and a pencil. First I
   washed the slates clean and wrote a question with a pencil, making sure that the
   medium could not see what I was doing. Then I put the pencil horizontally between
   the two slates and tied them round with string.
   Helen Duncan placed them beneath a table. She held one hand below the slates to
   keep them wedged and to prevent them falling.
   I heard the pencil make its usual scratching sound as an answer to my question was
   written. When the reply was completed, three distinct taps were heard coming from
   beneath the table. This was the signal for Mrs Duncan to produce the slates. When I
   opened them, there was a spirit answer written below my question.
   posted on http://www.the-voicebox.com/index.htm

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