Thursday 19 January 2012

Spirit Activity Seminar... A Series of Workshops... “What Is Your Religion?”... Gordon Higginson...




The 4th and 5th I was taking part in a Paranormal Research Seminar which was limited to those who wish to go further than just seeking out Spirit activity, but to why that activity is taking place.  It turned out to be a really interesting two days and I have being asked to speak at the seminar again next year.

Three late Christmas cards, all from abroad and all delivered on the same day in the second week of the New Year. Two from pen friends of many years – but now contact is down to one letter/card a year – and the other from a journalist who attend one of my talks in London, and we have kept in touch since.  All cards brought sad news as well as belated Christmas Greetings.  My three friends had been widowed in the past few months.  Then the following day a letter arrived from a lady to tell us that her husband had also passed in 2011.  We had teamed up with this couple to get back home from Italy when the dust cloud from Icelandic volcano was grounding all flights in Northern Europe.  Once we arrived back in the UK they kindly let us stay with them for a night before we continued our journey north. 

On a brighter note as far as Christmas cards are concerned.  A friend was over the moon when she received a very special Christmas card.   She has put this card in a frame and it is hanging on a wall of her study.  Why is this card so special?  The card was from a neighbour and close friend who passed away early in December. Even though Stephanie’s friend was in great pain and knowing that the end was near, she took time to write out Christmas cards for her friends and asked her son not to deliver them till a few days before Christmas.  A Christmas card from the Spirit World.

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 I will be doing a series of workshops at the Glasgow Association starting next month.  The workshops are designed for mixed levels of development including beginners. 

First three dates are

11th February 2012

17th March 2012

5th May 201211th February 2012
17th March 2012
5th May 2012

The workshops start at 10am and finish at 4pm.

Tickets can only available from the church office and priced £15 for each workshop. Places are limited so it may be advisable to get your tickets as soon as they become available.  If you register with our web site you will receive details when they are available.If you register with the church website you will receive details when the tickets are available.




Participants are advised to bring a packed lunch. 

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John sent this email...

I have been attending a Spiritualist church for a few years now but the other day when I was at the reception desk of the local A&E Unit I took cold feet, and when I was asked my religion, I gave the religion I was born into, not Spiritualist in case the receptionist queried it or laughed”.

John you are not the only person to have been in this position I assure you.  These days the receptionist would not have batted an eyelid because she would have heard Spiritualism mentioned many a time.

John’s email brought back a memory...

About fifteen years ago I attended our church when a well known English Medium was on the platform.  Her address shocked us all that night.  She said that she had suffered poor health for years and had been in and out of hospital on a regular basis.  Yet every time asked her religion she had answered COE.  She finally decided to put that right on her latest visit and when she said “Spiritualist” she did not receive any strange looks from the receptionist which she had expected.  But the young girl in front of her was having difficulty with her computer and after a few minutes said to the medium “There are too many letters in Spiritualism to fit on here, could you pick another religion?  Thank goodness today the NHS have got a better system up and running today.

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Gordon Higginson was one of the finest mediums of the last century and an excellent medium, speaker and teacher.  He was known as "Mr Mediumship" since his gifts of mediumship were wide ranging and he was a man of great charisma.  Gordon said that "Spiritual giants have always moved among the nations of the world" and Gordon himself can rightly be called a "Spiritual Giant" owing to his accomplishments, his influence and his dedicated work for Spirit.

Gordon's birth was pre-ordained by Spirit when his mother was just 14 years old and she was given a remarkable message at Longton Spiritualist Church.  The medium told Fanny Higginson that since leaving home and coming to the church, her mother had passed to spirit and that Fanny would herself serve as a medium, as would her son, and together their name would be linked with Longton church for over 100 years.  Fanny remained a medium at Longton church for 70 years until her passing in 1978.

 Her son, Gordon Mons Higginson was born on 17th November 1918 in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent.  He began developing his spiritual gifts at a very early age under the careful supervision of his mother Fanny, who was also an excellent medium.  Gordon began sitting in his mother's circle from the tender age of 3 but was only permitted to pass on spirit communications to other members of the circle when he was 10 years old.  He first publicly demonstrated his mediumship at Longton Spiritualist Church on his twelfth birthday at which point he embarked on his career as a medium known as the "the boy wonder".   He continued to work the platform for another 63 years until the day before he passed to spirit.

 Gordon was renowned for the accuracy of his platform mediumship and his evidence often included full names, addresses and telephone numbers.  Gordon was also an excellent physical medium and produced the rare phenomena of materialisation and direct voice.  He was one of the few physical mediums to demonstrate these unique and precious gifts publicly to audiences of up to 300 people.

Gordon was appointed as the President of Longton Spiritualist Church in 1946 at the young age of 28 and he continued to hold this position for the next 47 years until his passing.  Longton remained his spiritual home throughout his life and, together with his mother, the prophecy of 100 years of combined service to the church as mediums came true. 

 Gordon became President of the Spiritualist's National Union (SNU) in 1970 at a time when the Union was in severe financial difficulties and had been given less than two years to survive.  In addition, the crippling debt owing on Stansted Hall meant that the Union had no option but to sell it unless a miracle could be performed.  Under Gordon's energetic and determined Presidency, the Union was saved from bankruptcy and the debt owed by Stansted Hall was cleared.  We have so much to thank Gordon for in saving the SNU and the Arthur Findlay College and preserving them for future generations.

 Gordon remains the longest serving President of the Spiritualists National Union, serving for an exceptional 23 years from 1970 until his passing in 1993.  He was also a Minister of the SNU and officiated at many namings, weddings and funerals.
Gordon had a detailed understanding of mediumship and he was a fine teacher, much in demand across the country.  He taught on the very first Summer School at the Arthur Findlay College at Stansted Hall in 1965 and continued to teach there for a period of 28 years.  Gordon was the Principal of the College from 1979 to 1993.  Stansted Hall was always very dear to his heart and a place where many came from far and wide to hear his lectures and see his demonstrations, and for a special few to witness his demonstrations of physical mediumship in the college Library.

Above all else, Gordon was a dedicated spiritualist, an outstanding servant of the Spirit and devoted his entire life to the movement.  He routinely travelled the length and breadth of the country demonstrating his wonderful gifts of mediumship as well as undertaking presidential engagements.  He gave so much of himself and expected such little in return since he did not even charge fees for his spiritual work.  His unrelenting workload often affected his health and in one year he undertook some 300 large public meetings.  Few have worked so tirelessly in promoting Spiritualism.
Gordon suffered a couple of strokes during 1990 following the SNU Centenary celebrations at Wembley.  Following his strokes, he feared he had lost his remarkable gift of mediumship but he did recover and continued his unrelenting work for spirit until the day before his passing.  He took his transition to spirit at his home on 18th January 1993 after returning home from serving Blackpool Spiritualist Church, one of his favourite churches.

 Gordon Higginson was not only an exceptional medium and teacher, but a man of great warmth, humour and charisma and he is still very much missed by many today despite it being some 16 years since his passing.  Men of his spiritual stature and charisma are few and far between and we are only graced with a few every century.


 I only hope that this website can give an insight into his abilities, his teachings, his personality, his love of the spirit and all that makes him special.

You can read more about Gordon's life story in the biography "On the Side of Angels" compiled by Jean Bassett.  It is available from the Psychic News Bookshop, the Arthur Findlay College Shop or it can be purchased from Amazon by clicking on the links below:




Tuesday 3 January 2012

My Hopes for Spiritualism in 2012 ...My Hopes for the Wider World in 2012... Website One-Year-Old… Kirsty’s comments for the year ahead… Careless Talk Causes So Much Distress… Wise words from Professor Carl Sagan…



Both Isobel and I wish everyone good health and happiness for 2012...

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My Hopes for Spiritualism in 2012; -

That Spiritualist organizations and churches stands to thwart the entertainment and celebrity elements that are encroaching on our religion.
I don’t hear in 2012 “We are dropping the address as most people only attend for the clairvoyance”.
That our churches and spiritualist mediums pay more attention to the pastoral side of our religion.
And hopefully I will not hear in the coming year someone say in a Spiritualist Church “I am only a Healer”... Forget the word “only” we are all equal...

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My Hopes for the Wider World in 2012; -

The authorities think more about the rights of the victim before the rights of the criminal...
Any honors handed out this year to go to care workers and those who work in hospices, forget those of stage, screen, music industry and sport.
Sentencing for those ill-treating animals to be increased.
Unemployment to drop dramatically.
Retail workers will not have to work on public holidays.
More is done to help the homeless.
That the dark clouds of oppression that have hung ever heavy over the
peoples of Tibet, Burma, and North Korea for decades start to lift.
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Website One-Year-Old…
This website has now been online for a year and has had over 1,400 hits, much more than I expected in the first year.  Part of the site goes out in different formats each month so that will increase numbers even more.  But numbers are not important, if the site has helped only a few understand “Spiritualism the Religion” that little bit better then it will have achieved its aim.
I have also been surprised at the number of people that have contacted me via the site and for many different reasons.  Some of these I have commented on regularly on my blog but others I have got back to privately. 
There have been those who have had spiritual experiences but because of the laws of their country they could not speak openly to family and friends about what they have witnessed.    Not only that, they decided not to seek help on the Internet when they were at home, but waited till they were abroad on holiday or business before searching the Internet for answers.
Some have been interested in what they call ‘my unusual choice of music’ to use for meditation and ask if I can suggest any other similar music.  Remember we all have our own personal key to relax our mind so we can meditate, what helps one will not help another.  I suggest that if music helps experiment yourself but this week another piece of music that I have used in meditation and I have had good feedback from others on it. See ‘Recommended’ page.

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Last month I printed Kirsty’s “A Time for Celebration, Reflection or Doing?” 
Here is Kirsty’s comment for the year ahead.

What kind of a year did you have?  Has it been a year full of wonderful things or has it been very challenging?  Remember that each situation we face can be a positive or negative experience depending on how we chose to react to it. Every situation has a lesson in it if we are prepared to look for it and learn from it. Often a difficult experience can be turned into a positive one.  It can be used by us to help someone in the future, as we will have gained greater wisdom from it. 
We can thank God for bringing us through another year safely and as we leave 2011 and its challenges behind, it is time to ask God for the guidance and strength we will need to take those brave steps forward into the challenges that 2012 will hold for us.
Have a good new year.
Kirsty…

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 Careless Talk Causes So Much Distress

My research work ended as it began, a couple being frightened out of their wits by unfounded and unsubstantiated nonsense.
I have mentioned a similar case in an earlier blog and this is the seventh case of its kind I have been asked to deal with.  The latest goes as follows; -
A Couple moves into an old building and renovate it.  They are proud of their new home until the morning after their house warming party.  One of their guests of the previous evening phones to say; -
I did not want to say anything last night – but your house is full of ghosts – I felt so uncomfortable all night.  You’d better get that seen too before the trouble starts”.
Many would laugh off such comments and get on with their lives but not this couple, the bubble had burst on the love they felt for their new home.  They had been planning to start a family but now felt they could not bring a baby into the house till they got this ‘ghost situation’ sorted out.
When I visited the house I felt the atmosphere in the house was pleasant, as pleasant as the new décor.  I soon found out the pair were perfectly happy staying in the house for the six months they were renovation it, and it was only after the comment from their friend (?) that they felt nasty vibes around the house.  Every cushion out of place and every little noise made them feel uncomfortable.
But the couple was not happy with my comments, that I detected no spirit or anything untoward in the building.  I tried to point out to them that they were so in love with their new home, felt nothing out of place, till the phone call from their so-called friend but they believed more in their friends comments than mine.  Our friend definitely sensed ghosts and she is experienced in this sort of thing”.  I left as a failure in the couple’s eyes.  They went on to contact a ‘ghost hunter’ and someone who does ‘house clearances’ as far as ghosts are concerned. 
In the past in similar circumstances I have arranged through a third-party to get another medium to visit, one who would not know me or anything surrounding their visit.  But this couple would not allow me to set this in motion.
Why should a house because it is centuries old have any nasty happenings going on?  TV has a lot to answer for and so does those who speak out of turn as in this case.

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“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar” , every “supreme leader “, every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”



Professor Carl Sagan.