Fifty Years a Medium – Chapter 10, 2/7 by Estelle Roberts
A typical example occurred many years ago in Holland when at the request of Estelle Stead, the daughter of W. T. Stead, the famous journalist and spiritualist who ended his earthly life in the Titanic, I gave a demonstration of clairvoyance in The Hague. It was beyond my capacity to repeat the strange Dutch sounds spoken by the spirit communicators, and so for my benefit the messages had to be translated into English by a spirit interpreter.
I then repeated them aloud in English and, because few of the audience understood the English language, the messages were translated back into Dutch by an interpreter standing by my side on the platform. All this sounds, and was, a very roundabout performance, but it was necessary because at that time there was no alternative method.
Given a similar situation today, however, I should manage very much better. From experience my ear has become better attuned to picking up the sounds of a foreign language, and my tongue is more practiced in reproducing them. Even so, it is still not easy, and it is a very laborious process since each word has to be spoken slowly and every syllable carefully enunciated.
A trance communication that remains clearly in my mind took place in the middle thirties when I was visited by Chief Oske-non-Ton, a Mohawk Indian, who was delighted to converse in his own language with Red Cloud.
He had come to London for the stage production of Hiawatha in which he played the part of a medicine man and, according to his own account, he was spirit controlled throughout his performance. He claimed that his face changed completely and assumed the tired and wrinkled features of a man of ninety.
A memorable séance because of the variety of languages it produced took place in 1937. The International Spiritualist Federation was holding a congress in London. With Red Cloud’s approval, Hannen Swaffer invited some of the overseas delegates to a direct voice sitting at my center.
Among those present was Mrs. Helmi Krohn of Finland who afterwards published an account of her moving experience. She wrote: “A spirit voice clearly called my name – Helmi. I replied in Finnish, ‘Is that Mother?’ Back came the reply in the same language,
‘Yes, it is your mother.’ I then asked if my father was with her and she replied that he was. I could hear every word quite clearly. It was the first time I could recall listening to my dear mother’s voice, for I was a small child when she passed over.”
In view of the fact that Mrs. Krohn had no recollection of her mother’s voice, it may seem that her claim to have identified her spirit visitor was impetuous. Perhaps it was, but it does not alter the fact that somebody spoke to her in Finnish, and that the only person in the room with any knowledge of that language was Mrs. Krohn herself.
Mr. T. Biginelli of Switzerland was another of the delegates to receive a spirit communication which made a deep impression on him. He was addressed by his daughter, who spoke to him in clear, ringing tones. After the sitting, he confessed: “It was really wonderful.
Not only were they the words of my little girl, but it was also her voice.” The child told her father that he had brought her photograph and that it was in his pocket. At the end of the sitting he passed it around for us to see.