Fifty Years a Medium – Chapter 10, 6/7 by Estelle Roberts

“With regard to the writing itself, the character is not Dutch. It strikes us rather as English and is not my brother’s at all. This might be explained by the fact that the actual act of writing was not done by my brother alone, but with the help of a more experienced spirit, just as a small child writes its first letters with the help of one of its parents. In our opinion, however, this is a small point compared with the rest of the evidence.

The signature is undeniable. My brother’s name was Albert, which the family shortened to Ap, which is not the customary Dutch abbreviation for the name. Furthermore, as I have already pointed out, this was the first and only time his name was ever mentioned throughout the whole series of sittings. Further comment is surely unnecessary.”

Another instance of the ease with which mediumship overcomes the problems of language occurred a few years ago when I gave a sitting to an Indian visitor named Dass. Within a few minutes, his wife manifested to me, speaking in Hindustani. A soon as I heard her speak,

I decided to ask the assistance of a spirit interpreter because for me to have relayed the unfamiliar sounds of this language would have made communication extremely slow and difficult. I asked Red Cloud for help. He agreed, but insisted that the wife must first give the essential evidence of identification to the husband in her own language.

This she did by slowly enunciating several Hindustani words and names which, to the best of my ability, I repeated to the husband. Mr. Dass readily acknowledged his understanding of them and their significance to him.

Then, Red Cloud interpreting, the wife spoke of her three sons on earth. She gave me the letter `B,’ which Mr. Dass said was the initial of their eldest son’s name, and she told me the boy’s birthday, July 13th. She then spoke of Mr. Dass’ concern for the welfare of their second son, who was touring in the U.S.A. Mr. Dass confirmed he had been worried about the boy’s well-being.

The wife next mentioned some unspecific object in her husband’s pocket which he took to refer to a photograph he was carrying. But in this he was at fault. Later in the sitting the wife spoke of the object again, saying it was something she had worn. I asked Red Cloud for more specific information, and as I did so the wife interrupted with the single word “ainak.”

I repeated the word and immediately Mr. Dass took from his pocket a pair of spectacles. Apparently “ainak” is Hindustani for spectacles. Smiling, he explained that his wife had just reminded him of something he had forgotten, that after her death he had had his own lenses fitted to the frames of her spectacles.