The Belfast Church.... The Fear Surrounding 2012....

From the 10^th to the 19^th I enjoyed the wonderful hospitality of the Belfast Spiritualist Church. (SNU)

What a wonderful atmosphere that meets all who step through the door of this church. The link with Spirit is already there and it makes it so easy for the medium to connect with Spirit.

I took the Divine Service on both Sundays, the development circle on Monday, and Wednesday evening’s clairvoyance.  It was privileged to take part in the Healing Service on the Thursday evening. There were also private sittings Monday to Friday.

 As last year I was greatly impressed by the enthusiasm of the committee and members to further their knowledge of Spiritualism. It reminded me of ASK Stewarton in the 90’s.

Shellie Nicholl, Robert Lewis, Dorothy Byrne, Collette Diamond, Pat James, , Debbie Griffin, Michelle Mc IIhatton, Samantha Dodds and Healing Leader Joanne Maguire are all part of a hard working committee that make this church so vibrant and successful. I apologise if I have missed out any committee members.

 A great loss to the church earlier this year was the passing of Artie Hannah. He was long serving and hard working member of this church. Artie was I believe in Spiritualism for quarter of a century and inspired many in the movement.

Spiritualism in Northern Ireland started in 1912. An interesting insight into Spiritualism in Northern Ireland can be found on

http://belfastspiritualistchuch.co.uk/pages/history.html

It was nice to see several young children at the services, the youngest being only ten days old. I was a bit envious of this young lad as I wish I had been introduced to Spiritualism at that age.

The church is considering starting a Lyceum, like a Sunday school.

 The Belfast Church is having a special charity night on 5^th October and I am sure there will be a big turnout.   I asked President Shellie Nicholl to explain about the evening.

“This event has been organised to raise money for Cold Cots for all maternity Wards in hospitals through N.I. My little nephew Marcus was born sleeping on 27th May & thankfully the Ulster had a cold cot, which meant our little angel could stay with his mummy for the duration of her time in hospital, but not all hospitals have them. When we raise enough for the first cold cot, we will be giving it to the Ulster.”

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I was a little taken aback earlier this month when I was asked to talk to a lady about the Mayan prediction that the world will end on 21/12/12.  She was being treated for depression and her son said the cause of this was her belief that the world will end next year, cutting her children and grandchildren down before they have really had a life.  I had to say to her family that I was a Spiritual Medium and that this gift given to me did not include predictions, but the family still wanted me to talk to the lady in question.  It is not just one individual that many would say is overreacting, there have been reports from many countries around the world of people, especially the young being deeply upset at the approach of 2012.  I did my best with the old soul but the only thing that will convince her is when the bells herald in 2013.

 There have been countless predictions of the end of the world and yet Planet Earth still has an abundance of life.  The most well know prediction that the world will end in 2012 is said to come from the ancient Mayan civilization.  But on looking closer was this Mayan prediction, or Western interpretation of the Mayan long count calendar, that time will run out next year?   What is less well known is that in other ancient Mayan sites long-count calendars have been found that go far beyond 2012, in fact roughly to the year 4772

2012 was also the chosen year for the end of the world by Nostradamus in the mid 1550s.  But Nostradamus’s predictions are not clear cut, he writes symbolically and it is up to each reader as how to interpret his predictions.

There is also a theory that Christ was born in 4BC so the Mayan’s and Nostradamus’s 2012 was actually 2008AD.  So another end of the world prediction has come and gone.

We have a media these days that needs sensationalism in every story.  Nothing will sell more newspapers or get more people watching TV than articles and programmes about the end of the world.  This causes panic among vulnerable people.  Only the other day standing in a newsagent I heard several old people comment with concern about the headline in a national daily newspaper. They were worried about heating their homes as in bold print we were told to expect snow next month.  Then on reading further down that heavy or moderate falls COULD be with us as early as October OR November.

The world’s climate has always been changing with man and beast having to adapt to survive.  So far many species have managed this with success.    In recent years we have seen climate change speeding up because of man’s abuse of the planet.  .  But even the most negative warnings about climate change do not predict the end of life as we know it in 2012.  Hopefully governments will speed up their plans for cutting pollution and the global warming will have a lesser impact that was once feared. 

Next year there will natural disasters like we have every year and let’s hope the media will not go overboard in sensationalising that this is the start of the end of the world as we know it.  

My week...Spirit work in many ways.... The healing hymn.....

The three services at Glasgow Central Spiritualist Church, Berkley Street, Glasgow on the 28^th, 29, th and 30^th August were all well attended.  All those attending this church are always assured of a friendly smile and a genuine greeting from Betty Hutton as they step through the door.

The first of the new month saw me taking a much shorter journey than usual to the Toryglen Spiritualist Church.  The new part of the M74 cutting about fifteen minutes each way off my journey.  Helen McEwen who was president of this church for many years and passed over to the Spirit World in January will be proud of the way the church is continuing with Bobbie at the helm.

On Sunday it was a pleasure to serve the busy .Love and Friendship Spiritualist Church in Langside Halls. Glasgow... President Maureen Land was wearing her other hat that evening as she was the Medium taking the service at another church.  I must give a lot of praise a young gentleman called Scott who volunteered to chair for the first time and was so professional at it that if no one had told me I would have thought he had been chairing for years.  I waited on for the Healing Service, Maureen had returned by this and it was great to see how many waited on from the Divine Service to take part in the Healing Service.

The following evening it was another full house at the Lighthouse Spiritualist Church in the Argyle Centre Saltcoats.  Again a large % of the congregation from the first service waiting on for the healing Service.

Then on Wednesday it was off to the Partick Spiritualist Church in Glasgow.  May I wish John Graham the President a belated Happy Birthday.  John’s birthday was on the 8^th of this month.

Also during that time I was busy with research work taking part in a debate and my usual voluntary work.

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 I am always interested in success stories connected around visits to our churches and as I keep saying it is not always a message from the platform.  Two I have heard recently; -

After losing her husband, father and sister all within an eighteen month period Bella almost became a recluse for a few years apart from her work and once a week shopping which was brief.  After four years of this she was passing a Spiritualist Church on the way home from work one night and she felt the sudden urge to go in, even though she was tired and hungry.  She sat at the back of the church feeling very embarrassed and uncomfortable not really listening what was being said from the platform Then a thought suddenly came into her head “Do you think we would have shut ourselves away if it was you who had passed over?”, Bella slipped out of the church at this and cried all the way home.  The following morning she thought over these words and decided to get away from under the black cloud that had been above her head for the past four years.  Her plan was not to go back to a Spiritualist Church, but going into a fast-food outlet for a meal, going for a coffee the following weekend and then the biggest test of all, going to the cinema, she had never been to the cinema alone in her life before.  On each of these three occasions she met old accquantices of the past and now they keep in touch.  Spirit works in many strange ways but most of it goes unnoticed.

The second was a gentleman whose wife forced him to go to healing services because he was stressed out.  The stress was caused by work, a new working practice and as he was getting older he felt that his brain mind could not grasp the new procedures..    He said that all through the healing Services his mind was on his next week’s work schedule but not in the usual panic, but in a relaxed manner and all went well at work.  Spiritual healing works in many different ways

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Donna asked for the words of the healing hymn as she wants to use it in her prayers each night.... Here it is Donna...

The Healing Hymn

Gracious Spirit, of Thy Goodness,
Hear our anxious prayer!
Take our loved ones who are suffering,
‘Neath Thy tender care.
Loving Father, hear us, hear us!
Gracious Spirit, may Thy Presence
Shed a Healing Ray,
Turning all their night of darkness
Into glorious day.
Loving Father, hear us, hear us!
Gracious Spirit, should’st Thou claim them,
Be their Light and Guide!
Lead them to the Heavenly Kingdom
Safely by Thy side.
Loving Father, hear us, hear us!

.

My week... A grand old gentleman of Spiritualism and Helen Duncan....

Sunday the 21^st saw me take the 120-mile round trip to Dunfermline Spiritualist Church (SNU) . I have been serving this busy church for many years now and as I stepped on the platform on my recent visit I noticed something was different, there was no William Stenhouse sitting in the front row. William is a grand old gentleman of Spiritualism who has been serving Spirit and his church for over 60-years. Such dedication could not go unnoticed, and it was with great pleasure the church hosted an evening in 2009 where William was presented with a long service award to Spiritualism by John Weir Past President of the Spiritualists’ National Union’s Scottish and Irish District Council. At that same ceremony a brass plaque was placed in the church to honour the memory of Elizabeth McDonald and to commemorate the sixty-years of dedication to the church. This church has been blessed to have two such long service and loyal members. William, now ninety-one, rarely missed a service up until recently and was a dedicated healer for a number of years. President Evelyn Izatt and the committee still keep in close contact with William.

The following afternoon I was much closer to home taking a meditation class. A group of people who felt that they had so much stress in their lives, decided to gather once a week to enjoy each other's company and to sit in a relaxing peaceful environment. They soon found that all went well till they came to the thirty minutes set aside for meditation. It was not so easy and some found it impossible. One gentleman commented “I have lost what it takes to relax”. Many will agree they are in the same position and I have been asked several times recently on tips on how to relax. I will go into this in detail in a few weeks.

Wednesday evening it was a pleasure to sit in with Pollock’s Pyramid Spiritualist Church circle. A very talented group who have a great thirst for knowledge about our psychic abilities and our link with Spirit.

Thursday voluntary work...

Friday a day off....

Then on Saturday another 120-mile round trip to ASK Dunfermline for private sittings....

Life for mediums on their long journeys to churches, and for the travelling public in general, in Scotland’s central belt has become a lot easier in recent weeks. With the long overdue completion of the M74, there are now no long hold ups, to get over the Kingston Bridge. The upgrading of the A80/M80 is also cutting down travelling times for drivers. I dread to think the hours I have spent sitting on the Kingston Bridge in traffic jams on my way to churches...

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Joan asks for information on Helen Duncan...

Helen Duncan was born in Callander Perthshire in 1897 and is often referred too as a “Spiritualist martyr”.  In 1944 she was the second last person, not the last as is commonly reported, to be prosecuted under the antiquated Witchcraft Act.  Helen’s alleged crime? She transmitted messages from sailors killed in a naval incident during WWII that the authorities had kept secret.  She was tried at the Old Bailey, and though many prominent people of the day spoke on her behalf, Mrs Duncan spent nine months in prison.   Helen passed away in 1956.

For anyone wanting to know more about Helen’s life there are two books that I would recommend.

Two Worlds of Helen Duncan” by Gena Brealey and Kay Hunter.

“Helen Duncan, My Living Has Not Been In Vain” by Scottish Medium Mary Armour”.

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While on books my friend Susie Mathews has written a book that is selling well.  “Inspirations of The Divine” is inspired philosophy and poetry and it is a lead into Susie’s next book which she is writing at the moment. It is published by authorhouse and the ISBN is 9781456783372.