Friday 28 October 2011

Seeking the Truth... Harrowing Viewing...SNU Changes….From the Past…The Horror of Drugs…Book Review…

Diary...

9th October.... It was a pleasure as always to take the Service at Largs Spiritualist Church.  This is the only church that I serve which has a Sunday afternoon service.  Always a busy church with a dedicated committee. 
10th.... No churches but a busy time seeing three families who had contacted Spiritualist Churches.  This is an area where I feel is neglected and something we should be looking into.
11th October... I attended the Falkirk Spiritualist Church (SNU) a church as I have mentioned before with its own premises which is in use most days of the week.
12th October... Heading west this time to the White Rose Spiritualist Church in Gourock.  It always seems to be raining when I am in Gourock.
16th saw me at the Ayr Spiritualist Centre.  Lovely decor and always such a loving and friendly atmosphere. 
17th... A break from Spiritualism and my research I attended Airdrie library for a talk by ex MP/MSP Dennis Canavan about his first venture into writing “let The People Decide”.
19th... Taking a meditation class.
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       Seeking the Truth...


One of the first emails I got on this website was from a lady asking the following; -

“What advice do you give to anyone going into a Spiritualist Church for the first time?”... Mavis...

“I replied; -

“Have an open mind, common sense and maybe do a little bit of research
afterwards”.

Back came the comment; -

“I thought you would have said a massive amount of active imagine HA HA”... Mavis

I thought that would be the end of that contact but Mavis did reply a few months later and I was really interested in her comments.

“Did eventually go to a Spiritualist Church and I got a message from the medium.  It was only 10% accurate and if it had not been for the connection with the three parts I could accept I would have dismissed it all as a load of nonsense.

The medium mentioned two names at the same time, John and Gilbert.  John is a common name but the same cannot be said about Gilbert.  I had two uncles who were very close called John and Gilbert and they passed when I was young

Also from the platform I was given that one of these men was born with some form of deformity, my Uncle Gilbert was born with one leg shorter than the other. 

Probably just a coincidence as  I could not accept the other 90% of the message I suppose the John, Gilbert and the deformity was really only three coincidences one after another”.

I suggested that even though she was confident that she could not accept any more of what she had been given, she should do a little bit research into her two uncles and what was going on around the family where they were here.  She did and this is where a few interesting facts started to unfold. 

“Connections with a gamekeeper”... No gamekeeper in the family that she could find.   ...But... these two uncles along with their brothers and other children of the area acted as beaters in the local estate during the shooting season.  Even a few comments from older members of the family about poaching but we will not venture there.

“Connections with Australia and New Zealand”... She thought she had heard of a family member who had immigrated to Canada. But no living family member had heard of the “Canadian connection”.  But in the back of their minds they had heard of family connections in New Zealand and Australia. Mavis was beginning to enjoy this investigation and on facebook she has traced a member of her family in New Zealand.

So do we have to research every message?  No, but when one gets a message they should think it over for few days.  What they could not accept, something might come to mind that later on other parts of the message could be accepted. 

Also with a message you can accept at the time, think it over for a few days as there may be much more you can take out of it than you originally thought.

Back to Mavis for a moment...

Would the two uncles have come forward and gave the information that they gave if Mavis was not the type of person who does not like to let things lie?  Mavis has always wanted to look into the family tree and spend time doing a little research into things that interested her, the message finally kick-started her into action.

In the past two weeks I have received another email from Mavis.

“A knee problem that I have had for many years is getting worse and it has started to curtail some of my activities.  I wonder if this is another reason Gilbert came forward as he had a leg problem since birth and yet he never lay down to it, he worked hard all his working life?”

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Harrowing Viewing...          

My TV viewing last week was gruesome to say the least....
Three BBC’s Panorama programmes “The Secret Lives of Britain's Child Beggars”, “The Rise in Child Sacrifice in Uganda” and “Atrocities in Libya”…  These three programmes did not paint a good picture of what goes on in our plane in 2011   The use and abuse of children and the abuse of power are still as prevalent today as it was several hundred years ago.
The difference between the past and today is that today we have so many organizations trying to right the wrongs and it is time we gave them more support. It is time that governments make it a No-1 priority to target all areas where there is the abuse of children.
After watching those three programmes I felt that I had to cheer myself up so I tuned into a TV channel where a comedy was advertised.  But as usual with so much of modern-day so called comedy where the scriptwriters seem to think that the only way to get laughter is with foul mouth obscenities.  Thank goodness another channel was showing an episode of “Dad’s Army”.

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                                SNU Changes….
From 1st October 2011 there will no longer be Classes A, B, C or D membership classifications within the SNU.  The new classifications are as follows:
Class A changes to – Church Representative.
Class B changes to – Individual Member.
Provisional Class B changes to – Provisional Individual Member.
Class C changes to – Kindred Body Representative
Class D changes to – Affiliated Member.

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From the Past… 
1934 – First broadcast on behalf of Spiritualism through BBC by Ernest Oaten.

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Just as I was about to end this blog I watch another TV programme were the topic is anything but cheery.

On the Jeremy Kyle show I see what drugs had done to a young lady.  This was a repeat of a show two years ago and things have got better for the young lass but it is unlikely she will fully get over mentally or physically the ravages of the particular nasty drug she took.
It makes my blood boil where I hear people say that they take drugs for recreational purposes and it does them no harm.  Maybe such comments should be treated like racists comments and anyone who says such a thing could be taken to court.

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Friday 14 October 2011

Psychic or Spiritual Supper? / Dowsing / help for the racehorse,,,


Sunday the 2nd I was at the Coatbridge Church where there was a good turnout considering the rain and high winds there was earlier in the day.
The 3rd was I was giving a talk on the ways spirit make themselves known to us.
Tuesday afternoon it was as always a pleasure to take the service at Glasgow Central Spiritualist Church, Berkley Street...  Anyone entering this church is always assured of a warm and genuine welcome from Betty Hutton. 
Then on Wednesday I headed south down the A77.  Not the best of roads to drive on when there is torrential rain and gale force winds.  But the welcome that one gets from the committee and members of the Stranaer Spiritualist church makes the journey worthwhile. 




A friend was looking forward to a ‘psychic supper’ but was disappointed with the evening.  She enjoyed the company and got a laugh but, she had not expected a Tarot reading.  She had hoped to get communication from a close family member, a spiritual reading.
Here once again we have the confusion between ‘psychic’ and ‘spiritual’ The evening was advertised as a ‘psychic supper’ and the word ‘psychic’ can cover a whole host of things.
Twenty years or so ago ‘psychic suppers’ used to be common in Scotland, in our churches, but in recent years they have fallen away dramatically.  I was always happy to take part in such evenings but I heard many mediums say that they were not too keen on them.  So, this is just my view, I feel that it was the mediums’ being not too keen to take part in such nights that was the reason for them fizzling out in this area.
I am happy to say that this year two of our prominent churches have held such evenings recently and they were very successful.  I was really impressed with one of the churches deciding not to call their evening a ‘Psychic Supper’ and used the title a ‘Supper Evening’ to avoid confusion between the ‘psychic’ and the ‘spiritual...  This was the Glasgow Central Spiritualist Church, Berkley Street...And in the words of someone who attended the evening
I was pleased the church decided to call it a supper evening as there was no physic about it. It was truly a spiritual evening with a social twist.  After readings there supper and then a game of bingo... It was designed as a social evening for members and was not all about raising money either but to give something back to the people who support the church paying for readings buying raffles etc all year round.. Some people don’t get out often and their social life is the church having a coffee and blether and a place to meet”.
Whether it be a ‘Psychic Supper’ or a ‘Supper Evening’ if it is held in the premises of  a Spiritualist Church or the night run by a Spiritualist Church I would expect only Spiritual Mediums to be giving ‘messages’, .   and Tarot readings would not play any part of the evening.



Mary asks what my opinion on “dowsing”. 

I am very impressed by the art of dowsing and seen some remarkable demonstrations from experienced dowsers.  There are many who think of searching for water when the word “dowsing” is mentioned.  But dowsing can also be used in connection in health and well being, home and garden, for water divining, archaeological searches, earth mysteries including ley lines and much more.

I was taking part in a controlled experiment along with others with expertise in the psychic arena a few years ago, and I was most impressed by the results of the lone dowser in the group.  I also was present when a dowser was asked to find the leak in an underground water pipe.  Two houses in the country were suffering from loss of water pressure and after fifteen minutes the dowser marked a spot a good distance from the houses.  A few hours later a couple of workmen appeared to trace and repair the leak.  Their detector agreed exactly with the dowsing rods that were used a short time before.

Anyone interested in dowsing should check out the Internet for a local group.




For many years I have been campaigning for better treatment for the racehorse and at one stage I felt it was like banging my head against a brick wall.  It is only in the past few years that little cracks started to appear in this wall and the 10th of October 2011 was momentous day for those who have been fighting for a better deal for the racehorse, and of course the animal it’s self. 

New stricter rules on the use of the whip were introduced.  Stronger penalties for the misuse of the whip, and the really important part in my opinion, forfeiture of riding fee and prize money percentage for a jockey who incurs a whip suspension of three days or more.  Prior to Monday a jockey could be suspended for misuse of the whip and yet still benefit from his riding fee and percentage of the prize money.   This year’s Grand National saw the winning jockey being banned for five days  for being too harsh on his mount with the whip after the final fence.  Yet he gained financially and was treated like a hero by the racing fraternity.

Even among those who protest about the use of the whip, most would not ban it completely.  The use of the whip can straighten a horse out when travelling at speed so preventing an accident to horse and rider.  I can still see loopholes in these new rules where the guilty will still benefit and we must go further and disqualify any horse and place it last when its rider is found guilty of breaking the rules on the use of the whip during a race.  That will eventually come.

** Just as I am writing this I hear that there is a proposed strike by jockeys on Monday because of the new whip regulations.  The very people who tell us they love the horse.

If you feel strongly about something, never give up, even if you feel the odds are stacked against you

I thought it appropriate the spiritual message this week should be about the racehorse.













Monday 3 October 2011

Amsterdam / Anne Franks / Begging in the Streets / No Healing Service...

September saw me away from home fifteen of the thirty nights in that month.  After my visit to Belfast it was home for a few days then off to Amsterdam for  break, and then on returning I was staying overnight at the Arbroath Spirualist Centre (SNU). September saw me away from home fifteen of the thirty nights in that month.  After my visit to Belfast it was home for a few days then off to Amsterdam for  break, and then on returning I was staying overnight at the Arbroath Spirualist Centre (SNU).

The most powerful memory of Amsterdam is not of the many canals that crisscross the city but our visit to the Anne Frank’s Museum.

It is ironical that Anne Frank’s father had to move from the country of his birth, a country in which he had served as an officer during WWI, to seek safety for his family.  Then after only a few years in his adopted country where he worked hard to set up a successful business, the trouble that he had escaped from was back to haunt him as Germany invaded Holland. 

The harrowing memories that will stay with me for a long time to come are;-

The Yellow Star on display, that Jews in Holland was forced to wear during the WWII occupation.  The star, a badge, a means of identification and intended to humiliate those who wore it..  It certainly worked as far as humiliation was concerned.  On looking at photographs of the time the humillatiation was plain to see on the faces of those wearing this hideous yellow star. 

The other harrowing memory was that Anne Franks passed away as the result of typhus and some say also of a broken heart only a month before liberation.  Anne thought that all her family were gone and it is said she lost the will to live, but her father survived the war.

Through all this terror a star shone brightly, not the hideous yellow star but a bright star in the form of Anne Franks.  Anne only had a short life as an innocent child before fear took over, but in her written words, her courage and determination will live on forever hopefully inspiring many of us.



The most powerful memory of Amsterdam is not of the many canals that crisscross the city but our visit to the Anne Frank’s Museum.

It is ironical that Anne Frank’s father had to move from the country of his birth, a country in which he had served as an officer during WWI, to seek safety for his family.  Then after only a few years in his adopted country where he worked hard to set up a successful business, the trouble that he had escaped from was back to haunt him as Germany invaded Holland. 

The harrowing memories that will stay with me for a long time to come are;-

The Yellow Star on display, that Jews in Holland was forced to wear during the WWII occupation.  The star, a badge, a means of identification and intended to humiliate those who wore it...  It certainly worked as far as humiliation was concerned.  On looking at photographs of the time the humillatiation was plain to see on the faces of those wearing this hideous yellow star. 

The other harrowing memory was that Anne Franks passed away as the result of typhus and some say also of a broken heart only a month before liberation.  Anne thought that all her family were gone and it is said she lost the will to live, but her father survived the war.

Through all this terror a star shone brightly, not the hideous yellow star but a bright star in the form of Anne Franks.  Anne only had a short life as an innocent child before fear took over, but in her written words, her courage and determination will live on forever hopefully inspiring many of us.

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On 29th/30th I was at the Arbroath Spiritualist Centre.  It is always a pleasure to serve this Centre.  I enjoyed a walked around the harbour as the sun shone in a cloudless sky.

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More and more people seem to be begging in the streets these days and we cannot give to them all. Many a time I have felt guilty walking past some poor soul sitting on the pavement, but probably already that day I have used up all my spare change in giving to others in the same position.

Two incidents in the past week really riled me.  While in Amsterdam a gentleman approached me saying he was from Morocco and was starving, he needed 2.8 Euros for something to eat.  I had no small change on me at the time and I said I would give him something on my way back down the street, which I would have done if he was still there.  But all I got from him was abuse.  The other occasion was in Scotland when I walked past someone begging and again got abuse.  I must say that in my experience this is rare but it does leave a nasty taste in the mouth when it happens and it will stop people giving to those genuinely down on their luck.   


We constantly hear “O’h they are only begging to get money for drink or drugs”.  Yes, that will be what some will spend the money on, but certainly not by all.  One of my sisters seeing someone really in need will buy them a sandwich and a cup of tea and those on the receiving end have always been grateful.  A friend goes a step further and as well as the tea and coffee he offers to help them get to organizations that will be able to help them.  Only once has he had a negative response to this.

Let us not be put off by the odd one that gives us abuse.

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Harry comments; - “My two local Spiritualist Churches have no Spiritual Healing sessions why is this?

Most Spiritualist churches/centres do have healing services but not all, the latter being in the minority.  Reasons for this could be that these churches have no qualified healers at present, or that the premises they are in are rented and they don’t have the time or the space for a small healing service.  Harry, mention to the committees at both churches that you would like some Healing and see what their reply is.  If one has any problems concerning one of our churches they should first approach a committee member to see if the problem can be ironed out.

Churches with their own premises give more time to the Healing side of Spiritualism, many having Healing only services.

I feel that our churches should put more emphasis on the Healing side of our religion.  In my previous blog I mentioned the wonderful experience I had during the two hour healing Service in Belfast and with two Healers per patient.

I grind my teeth when visiting churches and hear someone say “I am ONLY a Healer”.  I do wish they would miss out that word “ONLY” and be proud to be a Spiritual Healer.  Spiritualism is a religion where we are all supposed to be equal, but as each year passes the spotlight seems to shine brighter on the Medium and the Healer is in the shadows.

Back to Harry.... As I have said, ask at the two churches you attend and if they cannot help you I will put you in touch with other churches in your area which do have Spiritual Healing after their Divine Services.