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Word Gems exploring self-realization, sacred personhood, and full humanity
Estelle Roberts
from https://www.the-voicebox.com/robertsmrsestel
The Mediumship of Estelle Roberts The medium Estelle Roberts was born May Estelle Wills, in Kensington, London, on 10 May 1889: Barbanell referred to her as 'one of the world's greatest mediums and the possessor of nearly every psychic faculty'.(1) She recalled that her childhood was 'ordinary, unremarkable', except for the fact that she heard voices that other family members did not.(2) In time, her experiences became a problem and she was told that such matters were evil and suffered chastisement from her father's leather belt. Nonetheless, the attempted suppression was unsuccessful and she frequently spoke with her brother Lionel in the years following his death. After leaving school, when she was fourteen years old, she took up employment as a nursemaid, caring for the children of a family in Turnham Green. She then married Hugh Warren Miles who was sympathetic to her psychic experiences; three children, Ivy, Eveline and Iris were born to the couple. In this period, there was considerable hardship as her husband earned only a meager wage; matters were not helped by his charitable nature, e.g. giving his wages away to those in need. Eight years after being married, Hugh became ill and was unable to work, and Estelle therefore had to take up employment as a cleaner to support him and their three children. After moving to Hastings, Hugh's condition continued to worsen and he died in May 1919. At the moment before his death, Barbanell referred to how Estelle 'saw two spirit forms sharing her vigil. They were her husband's parents';(3) she recorded that she saw his spirit departing and that it 'gradually moulded itself into an exact replica of his earthly body'.(4) There were also physical phenomena elsewhere in the house at this time, surely indicating something of the events to follow in Estelle's life. Following his death, Estelle saw Hugh on a number of occasions and heard him say: 'Here, all live on and cannot die. It is quite wonderful'. Estelle's response to these experiences was: 'You live, and others live. It is the message I must tell the world'.(5) However, much needed to be done before she would be able to demonstrate this. the table followed her Estelle moved to Hampton-on-Thames and shortly afterwards, married again. She was then able to devote more time to her children, but also to communing with her 'spirit people'. Her neighbour, Mrs. Slade, invited her to a Spiritualist church at Hampton Hill, and she was able to discuss her own experiences there with Mrs. Elizabeth Craddock, whom she described as 'a very good medium'. Mrs. Craddock told Estelle that she possessed mediumistic abilities and she therefore attempted table-tipping, but after a complete absence of activity, she gave up in disgust and walked away - only to see the table rising which then hit her on the back. the table chased her She attempted a hasty exit whereupon she saw that 'the table pursued me'. Realizing that this is what she was seeking, she stopped and thanked whoever was responsible: a voice was heard, in stilted English, saying that his name was 'Red Cloud', and she then saw the speaker. In view of these events, Estelle decided to conduct a séance with Arthur her husband, and she reported: 'We had not long to wait. Almost at once a brilliant golden light shone'; at this point, Arthur was alarmed to note that he could no longer see Estelle in her chair.(6) This was the beginning of spectacular phenomena that would accompany Estelle for many years afterwards. no immediate make-over upon transition Following this, Estelle began to demonstrate her clairvoyance and clairaudience in churches in South London and North Surrey. At this stage important information was being relayed to her: one instance was when Red Cloud advised Estelle that in some cases people were unable to communicate due to the beliefs they endorsed before they died. Another example was Estelle realizing that on death people do not change: 'By passing over they do not suddenly become paragons of all the virtues as some people seem to think...To all intents and purposes [they] are the same people they were on earth'.(7) a repeated one-word message, but the precisely important word Estelle's mediumship continued to develop, supplying excellent evidence of survival; she recalled the occasion when a woman attended a sitting and Estelle only received one, rather odd, word over and over again. With considerable reservation, Estelle told the woman what she had heard and the woman responded: 'But that is the very word my husband and I agreed upon as evidence of identification';(8) additionally, she achieved successes in the work of healing in which she was very active. Estelle works as a psychic crime-detective There can be little doubt that one of the most remarkable features of Estelle's mediumship was the wide range of abilities that she possessed. In addition to those already mentioned, she was also involved in the investigation of haunted properties. In this, her mediumship would often determine the cause of the disturbances and she would be able to advise the person involved concerning matters about which she could not have known by normal means. It is not surprising that Estelle was often requested to become involved in cases where people were frantic with worry, although she attempted to avoid instances where it would be thought that she was seeking media attention. However, on the occasion when she was asked by Douglas Sladen, a friend, to help in tracing Mona Tinsley, a ten-year old child who had gone missing in Newark in 1937, she agreed to assist: however, she stressed the need to avoid her involvement becoming publicized. Estelle then obtained an item of the girl's clothing from the Chief Constable of the area concerned and she recorded: 'As I took it from its wrapping...I knew at once that Mona was dead. Just then, my old dog, who had been sleeping... suddenly leapt to his feet and began to career madly around the room'.(9) Estelle then spoke with Mona through Red Cloud's help and the girl described how she had been taken to a small house and strangled, and gave a clear image of the area. The Newark police were contacted and Estelle was told that the description coincided with the area where the girl had disappeared. Estelle travelled to Newark and was collected by the police and they drove until Estelle recognized the house that Mona had described. They entered into it and here, Estelle felt the child's presence and was able to give the police information about certain items in the property, and what had happened, e.g. the place and cause of death. The police were obviously startled as the girl's body had not even been found. They asked Estelle where the body was and she told them that they should look in the nearby river. The police later charged the owner of the house for abduction, and subsequently, when Mona's body was found in the river, as Estelle had told them, he was duly convicted for murder. Estelle admitted that she did not enjoy dealing with such cases because of the strain effected, although she was nevertheless willing to assist people who had been bereaved through their loved ones being murdered. One such case when she was able to provide excellent evidence was detailed in the Sunday Pictorial. An occasion of when Estelle was able to bring comfort to a Mr Proctor, whose wife had committed suicide, was fully reported in The People. packed auditoriums In addition to the mediumistic work described above, Estelle demonstrated her clairvoyance at many of the public halls in this country, e.g. the Royal Albert, Victoria, Caxton, etc. In these demonstrations, many people received convincing evidence, and on some occasions, so many attended, that two halls had to be linked together by microphone. Fodor remarked on how her demonstrations at the Albert Hall were before up to six thousand people.(10) In the case of Estelle's work as a physical medium, she recorded the time when Red Cloud made himself visible. The séance began with the trumpet 'becoming most lively', with a conversation taking place between one of the sitters and her father. After a period of silence, one of those present noticed 'a billowing cloud that was becoming slowly more visible as it grew in volume': it was realized that a face was present and this was recognized. It swiftly disappeared upon which the trumpet and two luminous plaques began to move; Red Cloud asked for a torch to be given to him and after a sitter had held this out, 'the next instant it was high over the heads of the circle, flashing on and off as though being tested'. It remained on and moved across to where ectoplasm had formed in the room and a face became visible. Estelle detailed how: 'This time it was the strong, cleanly-etched features of Red Cloud. The materialisation remained there clearly visible to all'.(11) It was several years before Estelle's guide was seen again, this time in the presence of twenty people. Maurice Barbanell recorded the sequence of events in Psychic News. He explained that Red Cloud had requested in advance that two luminous plaques and a red torch be made available at a forthcoming séance; by this it was known that materializations would be joining the sitters. When the time came for the séance, Barbanell remarked on the humour and absence of any tenseness in those who were there: this was in response to Red Cloud's wishes. Estelle took her place in a hastily-made cabinet, or 'Wendy house' as one of her daughters jokingly referred to it. After the area was examined, the séance began and within a short time the two plaques rose up and Red Cloud's silhouette could be seen. He called Barbanell forward and asked for his hand and then requested that Barbanell feel his hair; Barbanell noted the hand was masculine and the hair was long, silky and shoulder-length; he was close enough to see Red Cloud's face that included a short beard and that 'it was a handsome face, with eloquent eyes'. Each sitter was then invited to come up and inspect the guide's features. Following this, 'an extraordinary spectacle' took place. This was when the cabinet curtains were parted and one materialized person held the torch to illuminate another. After this, the trumpets moved and apports were produced through them. Each sitter received one, and most were given a jewel. Barbanell asked Red Cloud where they came from and 'laughingly, he replied, "The Land of Anywhere"'. In fact, while the apports were being dropped out of the trumpet, Red Cloud was laughing and 'treating it all as a huge joke'.(12) Barbanell wrote that the guide 'always welcomed controversial discussion [and] he never showed the slightest sign of irritation to any who disagreed with his viewpoints. Frequently, his humour was displayed in masterly repartee'.(13) After this séance, further marvels occurred only a short time later when Red Cloud materialized with Archael, another guide, who was present for an hour with some sixty sitters. lost articles materialized, from the bottom of the sea As the séances of Estelle Roberts were often accompanied by apports, Estelle wondered whether, by their production, it might be thought this was through somebody else's loss. However, Red Cloud assured her that they were all items previously lost or abandoned, with a number of them being drawn up from the sea. One of the more remarkable incidents of this type was when a sitter asked that a budgerigar from the bottom of the garden be brought to the séance. Estelle recorded that Red Cloud declared that it would be done, and 'as he finished speaking, one of the two luminous plaques on the floor took flight and darted quickly about the room. Then it returned...its glowing phosphorus background showing the clear-cut silhouette of a budgerigar'.(14) Having been assured by Red Cloud that the bird had been entranced and was wholly unaware of the events taking place, each of the sitters came up to the bird and touched it. In the case of facilitating direct voice, Estelle stated that while entranced, 'the spirit forms I see clairvoyantly and the spirit voices I hear clairaudiently...are suddenly no more', and likened the state to being in 'a drugged sleep'.(15) It was only after nearly four years of her trance work that a circle was formed to develop her direct voice mediumship. Nearly a year passed without any progress being noticeable. However, after some patient waiting, phenomena did occur: 'Once our ten-month initiation period was over, the voices started to come in, and keep coming in, almost without break'. One sitter, who saw the moving trumpet when some light had been allowed to enter the room, described it as being 'supported by a pillar of smoke'.(16) In addition to the sitters, a shorthand writer joined the group and was placed outside the circle in an alcove where light was provided to enable her to write. As Estelle pointed out, the direct voice phenomenon was particularly evidential as communicators could be recognized by the phraseology and verbal expression that they used. In some cases, the communicator's native tongue was heard; this occurred in the case of a Dutch communicator who spoke with his brother; the brother confirmed 'that the voice spoke in excellent, idiomatic Dutch without any trace of accent'. Other similar occasions arose when communicators spoke in Finnish, Swedish, and Hindustani.(17) One palpable instance of evidence through Estelle's direct voice mediumship was when Lady Segrave attended a séance: her husband, Sir Henry Segrave had died as a racing motorist, and coincidentally, had taken up an interest in Spiritualism some time beforehand after attending a séance with the circle of Hannen Swaffer. Shortly after the séance with Estelle began, the trumpet moved towards Lady Segrave and other sitters with short spells of conversation taking place. The trumpet returned to Lady Segrave and her husband called using his pet name for her; but she 'was so overcome at being addressed by the pet name which only her husband used and was unknown to anyone present'.(18) He called the name again, and made further attempts to engage in conversation, but overcome with what was happening she was unable to respond. Eventually, Henry Segrave had no further power and the trumpet dropped to the floor. Despite the disappointment of this occasion, at the next séance, he and his wife did manage to speak with each other. He admitted that he had difficulty on the earlier occasion with manipulating the trumpet and dryly added: 'I knew how to drive a boat or a car, but I'm hanged if I can get the run of this yet'.(19) In the following months he and his wife held long personal conversations between themselves. She later brought friends along to séances who also received excellent evidence. In view of what she had experienced, a year after her first visit, she publicly told of the evidence that she had received. She admitted that she had been forced to do this as: 'I feel it is my duty to help others who have been through the sorrow of bereavement, so that they can become happy again as I am'.(20) Another case of remarkable evidence was when Bessy Manning communicated. This has already been detailed in an earlier NAS Newsletter; briefly, the events of this case began when Maurice Barbanell attended a séance with Estelle, and Red Cloud advised him there was a girl who wished to communicate with regard to her mother. The trumpet then moved towards Barbanell and a young girl 'very slowly, but distinctly' said that her name was Bessy Manning, and she had died during the previous Easter from tuberculosis. She then added that Tommy, her brother, was with her; he had been killed in a road accident. Barbanell immediately sent a telegram to a Mrs. Manning at the address informing her of what had taken place. As there was no reply to this, Barbanell therefore dispatched a further one. A few days later, he received two letters from Mrs. Manning; the first expressed her joy on having received the first telegram and in her second letter, she apologized that Barbanell had needed to send another telegram but she explained that she lacked the funds to reply by anything other than letter. She advised him that Bessy had died the previous Easter and her son had been killed nine years earlier. At this stage, Barbanell viewed Bessy's séance communication: 'as flawless evidence for the after-life. No theories of telepathy or the subconscious mind can explain it away...Mrs. Manning had never met Estelle Roberts, or corresponded with her or any member of her family'. Barbanell arranged for Mrs. Manning to travel to London and attend a séance with Estelle. It was not long before Bessy was speaking with her mother. After Bessy had told her mother that Tommy was with her, Mrs. Manning asked whether she ever returned home. Bessy replied that she did and commented on how she saw her mother pick up her photograph and she would speak to, and kiss it. Barbanell reported that Mrs. Manning later told him this was absolutely correct. Bessy continued by telling her mother that she had seen her talking with her father that same morning and referred to the subject of their conversation; this was followed by yet further evidence, all of which was correct. Before Mrs. Manning returned to Blackburn, Estelle Roberts gave her another sitting, when, once again, Bessy 'continued to prove her identity with detail after detail, none of which the medium could have known'. A short time later, Mrs. Manning wrote to Barbanell thanking him for his involvement and confirming: 'I heard my own daughter speak in me, in the same old loving way, and with the self- same peculiarities of speech. She spoke of incidents that I know for a positive fact no other person could know'.(22) Estelle's mediumship also brought her into contact with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, one of Spiritualism's most tireless advocates. After he died, he successfully communicated through Estelle's mediumship. At one séance, one of Doyle's friends was present and decided to gain personal evidence by asking the communicating Doyle a personal question. He decided to ask where they had last met and, 'Instantly the voice replied they had last met by accident in a doorway in Victoria Street'. The sitter recalled that this was so.(23) the Guides cannot see the future but make predictions based upon assessment of probabilities Estelle admitted that Red Cloud, as a number of prominent guides of other mediums, made a mistake in 1939 when he predicted there would be no war. Estelle explained that wrong predictions were caused through looking at the current circumstances and making a judgment from these, i.e. a 'forecast only on probabilities, on a knowledge of the facts and a careful weighing of them'.(24) In fact, indicating the peril of accepting predictions as unfailing, it is worthwhile noting that the forecast of there being no war from various communicators was one of the principal reasons for the decline in Spiritualism after the Second World War: 'The outbreak of war in September hit Spiritualism with devastating force...a section of the movement...had explicitly accepted certain predictions made by the spirits through their mediums about the possibility of war...The movement has never recovered its pre-war position'.(25) In view of the consequences, this aspect in communications is something that should be constantly kept in mind. Despite the problems faced in these dark years, it was during this time that Estelle fulfilled the important task of bringing comfort and reassurance to those who had been bereaved, and allow those who had been killed to confirm their survival. One example was Mrs. Stevens, whose husband, Flt. Lt. Richard Stevens had been killed in action; when she attended sittings, 'her husband...identified himself by recalling trivial incidents in their domestic lives'; he also spoke about the children and events taking place in their lives at that very time.(26) Numerous cases such as this occurred when the sitters were left in no doubt that their associates, friends and loved ones had not only survived death, but were able to communicate the reality of this fact. Estelle died in May 1970, and in the years up to this time when she worked as a medium, she surely demonstrated a truly remarkable degree of mediumistic ability. This included many different forms that provided an unmistakable amount of evidence to the many thousands who witnessed her at work. It is no wonder that Barbanell said that, 'though I have read all the worth-while literature in Spiritualism in the last hundred years, I have not come across any accounts to excel the proofs received in the séance-room of Estelle Roberts', whom he believed to be 'perhaps the most versatile of all mediums'.(27) NB. This article appeared in the Noah’s Ark Society, Ark Review of April/May and June/July 1999, And on their website thereafter, and reproduced here by their kind permission.
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from the Flint archives recordings:  The Cook Sisters Collection: Recorded: March 9th 1972 Renowned Spirit Medium Estelle Roberts who died in 1970, returns here to speak to Ida and Louise Cook. ? With over 50 years of experience and abilities encompassing ? She often demonstrated her clairvoyance and trance speaking
Here, she returns to speak - but in only a whisper - and shares her philosophy on the great responsibility of being a medium and the importance of the home circle.
Note: This recording has been restored from the vintage original. Despite enhancement, minutes 17 to 19 are the least clear.
see page https://www.leslieflint.com/estelle-roberts for the recording
Read the full transcript below
Estelle communicates via "direct voice" mediumship of Leslie Flint
Present: Leslie Flint, Ida Cook, Louise Cook Communicator: Estelle Roberts Roberts: Estelle…
Cook: I knew you were here…
Roberts: Hello…
Cook: Hello.
Roberts: Ida…
Cook: Yes dear.
Roberts: Louise…
Cook: Yes dear…
Roberts: I’m so much calmer now.
Cook: Are you?
Roberts: I think I can speak to you much better than I did a long time back.
Cook: Yes.
Roberts: There’s such a crowd of us here today. Many of the old workers - and guides… You know I sometimes come to your little circle.
Cook: Yes, I thought so.
Roberts: It means a great deal to us. ? Cook: I’m so pleased to hear that.
Roberts: I only wish there were more circles such as yours. You know, it’s the circle - the home circle - that is the backbone of this work.
Cook: Of course.
Roberts: I only wish people would realise this. We all sat - most of us - for many years in home circles. It’s only in the home circle that you can find the peace and the harmony and the tranquility that makes communication a reality.
Cook: Yes. That’s true.
Roberts: Mediums may be born - invariably there are - but it takes time to develop and you must supply the right atmosphere and condition. And yet I do know of course, in my own case, at times in the early years, it wasn’t always possible to get the ideal conditions, but nevertheless, we ‘stuck it out’ and we developed. You know, there is such a tendency today for people to take the platform before they’re ready, before they’re developed. And so few of them nowadays seem to have the patience to sit in a good circle - or even to find perhaps a good circle is more difficult than it used to be. But it’s such a tragedy.
Over here we are so anxious, if we can, to do something about this. I only wish there was some organisation like there used to be, that would encourage people to sit in circles and gather together occasionally, to meet and discuss this whole subject intelligently.
You know, all the great mediums of the past who were so dedicated, sat for years to develop their powers. They didn’t suddenly happen you know. And it’s the guides that develop them - no one else can do it. If I hadn’t have had Red Cloud and if other mediums hadn’t had their particular guide or helper, to guide them and instruct them and develop them, there would not have been the mediumship that we used to know.
Sometimes I wonder what the future holds for Spiritualism. I know there are, here and there, some good mediums, but there’s so many mediocre ones… ? Cook: Yes there are.
Roberts: …which does such a lot of harm to the movement.
Cook: Yes.
Roberts: I don’t know why, in a sense, I am talking to you like this because you understand it. You know. But I feel as if I would like to reach out to the movement, and I do want everyone in the movement to know that I haven’t ‘shut the door’. I’m still, at times, very much around and about... ? iCook: How marvellous.
Roberts: …trying to help as far as I can. I shall never really ever lose, I suppose, my hold. What I mean of course by this, is that I shall always be anxious to help wherever I can. I would like very much to help young mediums, to encourage them. But I do feel that there’s a sad lack today of good mediumship and I think this is often due to the fact that there are not many people, unfortunately, who have the dedication that we had. And we had to fight such battles you know. I don’t think people today realise what we had to put up with, what we had to go through. People today, I suppose since mediumship has become a little more respectable - accepted, you know - people have no idea what some of the pioneers had to contend with.
But you know, the basis, the basis of true Spiritualism is the home circle. I would like to see more interest aroused in the development of mediumship in the privacy of the home circle. You know, there’s no doubt about it, that Spiritualism came to the fore through the agency of people who sat and developed their powers in their homes. I know that times are different and perhaps more difficult, but I think there must be a return to the home circle, where people have faith and trust in souls who come to them from our side of life, who will develop them and use them and make it possible for them, after a period of training in the right environment, for them later to go out and ‘spread the gospel’.
But you know, the tendency today seems to me, that people sit for a few months in some circle or other, not necessarily a private home circle where love exists and harmony, but in these promiscuous groups of people where all sorts of entities can come, and do come. You know not necessarily always good ones, I regret to say. Because you know, unless you are protected and you are creating the right conditions then you are opening up the door to trouble.
Cook: Yes indeed.
Roberts: I’m very perturbed about this and I know a lot of the guides on this side are very concerned.
You know, in the old days, we may not have been very well educated, but when we took the platform it wasn’t us who spoke - the mediums - it was the guides who took us over and used us and spoke through us, and this was the impact that we had upon the audience, this was the thing that mattered. People may have heard someone perhaps give an invocation in not very good English, in their normal state, but after they had sat down and perhaps a hymn was sung and they stood up again in the trance state, some wonderful soul would give a great oration.
You know, I remember those wonderful days when some of the mediums were, to some extent - I think I should say rather like myself - not particularly well educated and indeed, life was a great struggle, trying to bring up a family, trying to, sort of, do the things that one had to do in the daily routine of life. And yet, the point was, that when we had developed, we could go on the platform knowing that it would not be us, it would be the guides. And it didn’t matter perhaps, if someone gave not a very good prayer or in not very good English, if afterwards the guide who spoke gave wonderful oration and wonderful power, and also gave through the medium wonderful clairvoyance. You know, perhaps this sounds like nostalgia, but you know, it’s so true. ? Cook: Yes.
Roberts: The world has changed I know, but there is this tendency today for people to take the platform before they are ready, before the guides have had an opportunity to, really, to know them. And indeed, often the guides are not even given the opportunity to develop them. I find all this very distressing. I’m very concerned about the movement today. I feel that although we’ve gained respectability to some extent, and it’s all become very lawful, a great deal of the true spirit has gone out of it. Certainly, when I think back to those struggling years of my own, and I know this applies to many of the old mediums, it’s very sad to us you know.
Cook: Yes.
Roberts: I hope you won’t mind my coming to talk to you … but I feel I have a message for Spiritualism. I feel that I want to imbue the old spirit. I want to talk to the young people. I want them to realise the great responsibility that will be placed upon their shoulders to carry on the great work that we created - that we ‘sowed the seed’ long ago. And there are so many of us that sowed wonderful seeds which brought forth great blessings. But you know, there must always be new ‘gardeners’, there must always be new ‘planters’.
And I want the young people to realise that if they want to develop, if they want to be mediums, there is only one place, in my opinion, where they can hope to develop in the way in which they should - and that is in the privacy, in the quietude, in the peace and the tranquility and the harmony of a small group of people of like mind in the home. It can’t be done in any other way - I don’t think so. We sat for years. All the good mediums who did so much sterling work in the past, sat for years, patiently. They didn’t rush onto the platform.
I know that some people may think that I’m being nostalgic. In a kind of way, this is true. But I feel the love that we all have for the work - knowing the struggles that must be and the disillusionment and the disappointments and the heartbreaks - these are part of the work. They are necessary to us, we have to learn our lessons, we have to have our disappointments.
You know, you can’t have instant success. It seems to me as if everybody today who wants to be, more or less, mediums of a kind, well it seems as if - it’s like instant coffee - they haven’t got the time and the patience to brew it, to make it properly and serve it. It must all be done quickly. But this doesn’t do anyone any good, it only gets the movement a bad name.
There’s so many of the old-timers here with me and my old acquaintances and my old friends - my old associates, you know. And many of us do come and see you. I feel your circle is an example and I feel that if only people would have the patience and the realisation that it is the only way in which you can hope to serve and develop and be really worthwhile in this work. It’s in a way as I - like yourselves - as you know, I started your circle and my message is not just for your circle. It’s for all circles. I want you to get this to others. I want you to try and get it published, because I feel, I feel that we have a duty to perform.
I love the work, I love to feel that in some measure I can still serve, that I can still give of myself, of my love, of my sincerity of purpose. You know, we were dedicated. I remember those early years of mine, the struggling years and when I went to Marylebone.* I remember those early formative years. It was not easy, but I learned my ‘trade’, if I can use such a word, the hard way. I had to learn it the hard way and I had to develop and I had to be used in the proper way. I could tell you about so many things, about many people that we all have known. Some, of course, that you would only know by hearsay. But when I think of the dedication of some of those souls and now, when we sometimes look into your work today, the movement - I am not saying there are not dedicated people, of course there are and I know that a great deal of good is done - but we must not forget that the work must go on, in the way in which it was intended.
It is a great thing to heal the sick and the suffering. It is a great thing to be a healer and to be dedicated and this is a wonderful work in itself. In the old days, in the House of Red Cloud, all manner of manifestations of the power of the holy spirit were demonstrated. At the old Marylebone, where I really more or less started, I remember those wonderful years. I remember all those wonderful people that were associated - how dedicated, how we worked together and I know that the work continues in varying degree and in varying ways, in the SAGB and other organisations. [They’re] all doing sterling work, sometimes under great difficulty. But what I feel so anxious to get over is the need for the home circle.
Just recently Mr Zerdin’s wife came to us. She was a sweet soul and I knew her quite well and of course, I knew Noah** very well and Sceptre his guide. And I remember those early years when he started The Link. Now The Link was a wonderful organisation. This was an organisation started to encourage people to sit in their homes to develop their mediumship. And they would be given the opportunity to correspond with other circles and pass on the information, so that they’d learn for each other and meet occasionally in London at big mass-meetings, and they would have big demonstrations of mediumship and help also budding mediums to ‘find their feet’. Now this was a wonderful thing. I think it’s very sad there’s no such organisation today.
[Audio degrades here]
I feel so strongly about this. I helped them start many things, as you probably know, in the past. I always tried my utmost to help and encourage mediums. But I realised then and I realise now, there is only one way in which a medium can be developed, and that is the right way - in the quietude and the privacy and the tranquility and peace and harmony, of a dedicated group of people in a home circle. I want this message to go out. I want people to know that I’m still working for the good of the cause, but I want to see more effort made that would help mediums in the right way, because this is the only way. When you sit together as a group, as a circle, you are sitting there for the common good, not for a personal reason. ? Cook: Of course.
Roberts: You are sitting there to help each other, to unfold the powers of the spirit, whatever they may be…
Cook: Whatever they are.
Roberts: …whatever way they may manifest. And I feel so strongly that if only people would sit together, in harmony and in love, with their minds open to receive. If only they would understand that, here and there, some soul will be developed and they will develop naturally, you cannot force this. No one, really, can develop a medium - a medium can only be developed by his or her guide. No one on Earth can do this.
It’s true that an individual who has some knowledge or experience can help you, to a certain extent. But it still remains for the guides, for the workers on this side who are dedicated, who know what they are doing, who know their instrument, the possibilities of that instrument, the power that that particular person may possess, how best it can be used, how best that power can be developed and how it can be directed into what channel. It’s in the home circle, my dears, where real mediumship is developed. It was true of the past and it is true of the present. I want you to put this message out. I don’t want you to keep it to yourselves.
You are good souls and you sit in harmony and in love for the common good. Your whole idea is to serve and it is in that circle, which I founded, that service will come, it will develop. You will receive what we have long promised you, what the guides have long promised you - manifestations of the power of the spirit, working in various ways; in direct voice, in clairvoyance, in clairaudience, in other manifestations. It does take time, patience is necessary. You understand this.
Cook: Yes.
Roberts: I want you to give my message, so that others may listen, that others may be encouraged. That they shall see in the past, the present - and see the right way in which the movement shall go, towards an expansion of the work, in the highest and best possible sense. Through gradual evolution and development of mediumship in the quietude and peace of the home circle, where good mediumship can be brought into being. It cannot be hurried, it cannot be rushed, it cannot be taught. It can only come through development over a period of time, in complete love and cooperation with others of like mind, on both sides.
Put my message out. This is a time when it is needed. I shall continue to serve and to help wherever possible. I have not come today to give an evidential message, that is not necessary. Although I shall, no doubt, from time to time, because I love both of you very much and because we have known each other over a period of time. And I took to you, as I often did to people, and I knew that you were sincere and dedicated and because I founded your circle and opened your circle and, in a sense, because I feel that I am the mother of your circle... ? Cook: You are.
Roberts: …that I speak to you. I know there will be some who cannot accept fully what I say, but this cannot be helped. One cannot speak the truth without sometimes hurting somebody or other. Truth must be served, whatever the cost.
Cook: Yes darling.
Roberts: You know, I look back on my life and I see I could have done even more perhaps. But I did all that I could. To me, to comfort those who mourn, to strengthen those who are weak, to comfort those whose needs are many and to succour the sick and the suffering, to do the work that I was given to do - and to know that to serve is the greatest thing that a man or woman can do, to give oneself in loving service - this is the thing that is all important.
Cook: Yes.
Roberts: To forget self, in loving service, to work for the common good, to do the work that you are called upon to do by the power of the spirit. I wish I could tell you so much more … I only want both of you to know that I still serve.
Give my love to Sylvia and to Barbie*** and to all my dear, dear friends and co-workers. Carry on the work of the spirit. Carry the banner of truth aloft and know that behind you is a battalion of souls, whose one desire is loving service. Bless you dear friends.
Cook: Bless you.
Roberts: Bless you. Goodbye.
Cook: Thank you Estelle. Goodbye.
Flint: Wasn’t that lovely?
Cook: It was a wonderful address. RECORDING ENDS * Marylebone = The Marylebone Spiritualist Association (now the S.A.G.B.) ** Noah Zerdin = creator of The Link of Home Circles ***Sylvia and Barbie = Sylvia and Maurice Barbanell
This transcript was created for the Trust by K.Jackson-Barnes
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