Review of RESEARCH NOTE: ONE WOMAN’S EXTRAORDINARY SET OF COMMUNICATIONS THROUGH MEDIUMS CAN BE INTERPRETED AS COMPELLING EVIDENCE OF LIFE AFTER DEATH: BUT SHOULD A NON-SURVIVALIST EXPLANATION BE CONSIDERED?, by Charman, R. A.
Until recently, very little was known about a 1973 report describing a unique case of mediumship. David Kennedy, an industrial engineer and religious man, wrote an autobiographical book about the various communications received through mediums following the death of Ann, his wife.
After suffering severe cardiovascular failure, David heard a mysterious voice one morning saying that “Ann was going to recover,” which indeed happened, until years later when she eventually passed away in 1970.
The incident of the mysterious voice predicting his wife’s recovery led David and Ann to develop an interest in psychic phenomena. They promised one another that whichever of them died first would attempt to communicate with the other. Thus, after Ann’s death, David contacted several mediums in hopes of receiving messages from her from beyond.
David recorded the sessions to avoid false memories or subjective interpretations. However, what ultimately convinced him that Ann truly was communicating through the mediums was a series of unsolicited messages.
Below are seven examples that Charman, the investigator of the case, considers illustrative of the remarkable quality of the alleged communication between Ann and her husband David:
- David was a reverend and often fell asleep on the sofa before church services. A medium called him after receiving a communication from Ann because, once again, he had fallen asleep on the sofa.
- David stained his yellow sweater and, while washing it, used too much soap. Medium Best called him and asked: “Are you washing with shampoo? Not your hair, but something woolen. I see foam, bubbles overflowing, and wool in the sink. Your wife says she was watching you do it.” David explained what he was doing, and Best added: “Your wife says, ‘Since you’re at it, wash the black sweater too — the one with egg stains. It needs a good cleaning,’ and ‘please set an alarm clock and don’t fall asleep again at the end of the week.’”
- Best called David to tell him that Ann was mentioning a joke about ballet slippers and said that he should ask because he did not yet know what it meant. Twenty minutes later, David’s sister-in-law called him about an unrelated matter and asked him about ballet slippers. She confirmed it was a childhood joke because Ann’s ballet slippers had always been too small for her. Best later called again to ask if David had received the phone call, since Ann kept insisting about it.
- David had taken a patient with severe arthritis to the sanctuary where Best practiced healing. Suddenly, Best stopped and said: “Your wife says you called Kilmarnock.” David replied: “Yes, the Gemmells.” Best continued: “And you cleaned the windows, fixed the curtain hem, and your wife says you went out today and realized you forgot your handkerchief.” Everything was correct. Best then added: “This is only so you know how much your wife loves you.”
- On another occasion, while healing the same patient, Best turned to David and said: “Your wife is here again. She says you just lost the filling in your lower right tooth. It’s a large filling and it’s bothering you.” David had indeed lost the filling two days earlier. She also reminded him to collect his special Dunlopillow pillow from the hospital and mentioned that he had recently gifted the Gemmells a framed color photograph of her, and that they had recently dined at a restaurant on the main street. Best appeared increasingly irritated by these interruptions, saying: “I really need to continue my work. This must be the last message.” Yet moments later he interrupted himself again and told David: “Your wife simply won’t leave. She asks me to add this final proof. She was with you last night when you tried to sew the middle button onto your jacket.” Once again, everything proved true.
- On another day, David was preparing for a funeral and could not find his clerical collars. Best immediately called him to tell him exactly where they were, that there were 23 left, and whose funeral he was about to officiate.
- During a séance with Mrs. Constable, whom David did not know and who lived in Aberdeen, she told him that Ann said: “Tell him things will move; he will wonder whether his eyes and ears are deceiving him.” Three days later, while dressing to officiate a funeral, David heard a loud noise coming from a large ceramic vase Ann had made, which rested on a solid oak cabinet. He watched as the heavy vase began moving in a circular orbit, its top swaying “within a radius of about six inches, as if an invisible hand were slowly moving it in a circular motion.” The vase continued moving for some time, gradually slowing until it finally became still again.
Naturally, the credibility of the entire case depends on how much trust we place in David’s testimony. The data collection appears methodical and, if the reverend was truthful, the success of the communications through mediums is extraordinary.
Charman, however, argues that it is necessary to consider whether the entire case could instead be explained through telepathic or telekinetic activity originating from living humans. Yet such an explanation would require assuming that these abilities only appeared in connection with deceased individuals, that none of the participants demonstrated such powers outside Ann’s alleged intervention, and that somehow information unknown even to David — such as the ballet slippers incident — could still be obtained. All of these conditions are far more easily resolved if one accepts that it was indeed Ann, already deceased, who provided the information.
Òscar Llorens i Garcia
