Last Witch
Helen Duncan, Psychic Medium.
The Last Witch One of the best documented cases in the history of documented paranormal events and personalities, and the one which still excites public intrigue, is the British government’s harassment and imprisonment of Helen Duncan, Scottish Psychic and Medium. She has been dubbed, the last witch.
Helen Duncan has been mistakenly and inaccurately labled in the media as the last witch because hers was the last witch trial in England and really not so very long ago either! As with so many cases of this nature, her life story is now mixed with fact, fiction and legend. She was never a witch nor was she ever associated with Witchcraft she was allegedly a Christian and a spectacularly good medium as far as anyone can surmise!
There are several key events in Helen’s mystery that need to be understood, as each are as important events in this scandal, as well as in the history of personal freedom and of the religious freedom in the UK today. It is now quite amazing to think that religious freedom is afforded to many of us, although the US government recently denied a soldier the right to be buried in a military cemetery, and have a pentangle marked on his grave. (They accept the symbol for anarchy for atheist, Jewish, Muslim and just about any other belief systems symbols, but not anything deemed as a pagan or Wiccan symbol!
However, Pagans and Wiccans are more than welcome to sign up and perhaps even be killed in the service of their country!)
Helen Duncan was tried in the courts for being a medium on three separate occasions that we know of, and she died while yet another court proceeding was pending. Many believe the last arrest and her mistreatment caused her mysterious death. In wartime, psychics were employed as dowsers over maps (Much like todays Remote Viewers) and to astral project over strategic sites, Astrologers over the best times for an attack, and mediums for contacting the dead for information, some of these like, the top celebrity palmist of the day were paid in cases of wine to keep their names off payrolls thus, allowing the government to easily hide their occult dabbling. The chief of wartime naval intelligence, Barry Domville was documented to have spilt the Beans on the use of psychics in wartime on many an occasion.
Churchill was known to joke very publicly about his Intuition regarding the war and events, and he was heard to remark, but not explain-that he had a secret weapon that helped him .A team of Psychics perhaps? The use of psychics during wartime, is no longer a mere musing, there is ample evidence now in the public domain to prove this fact beyond doubt and is no longer considered a fictitious event. It is believed it was Helen Duncan’s refusal to be part of the Churchill/Lord Dowding’s psychic group that prompted the prosecution of Helen Duncan, but it came to light just twenty years ago, that she had in fact innocently advised the British governments occult experts, know as the black team and was mentioned by Louis De Who who led the Astrological section, and occult researcher Dennis Wheatley, who also spoke of the government, secretly looking into some of the most respected mediums of the day.
It is important to understand that, Helen Duncan was prosecuted for fraud, if this was true that she was indeed a fraud, then the prosecutions case, that she was jeopardizing Allied ships by telling the truth, breaking the official secrets act must be incorrect, which is a bit of a dilemma for those wanting to refute conspiracy theories. I also have to point out that the British government who lied about ships not being sunk to improve moral was her prosecutor. It is believed that Helen Duncan had correctly told a select few accurately just which ships were sunk; this had got back to high up ears and quite frankly bugged the hell out of them!
Born – Victoria Helen Macfarlane on Nov. 25 1897 in Callander, Scotland in to a strict Presbyterian home.
She was by all accounts a simple and hard working uneducated woman. Who would have guessed how her life would unfold and the controversy that would surround her? While working in a Jute factory bleaching the flax it is said, she foretold co workers she would marry a man who was currently in France. Her friends and coworkers were stunned as she did not have a boy friend. Some time later she was introduced to Henry Duncan, who had indeed at the time of her revelation been serving during the First World War in France. While serving in the trenches, Henry had contracted rheumatic fever and heat disease. He would work some, but it fell to Helen to support the family.
Now of course this event can be seen as mere coincidence, but it is one of many if that is the case. Folklorist have told that the years of exposure to the bleach left Helen’s throat harsh and scratchy which occasionally made talking difficult and would have made the act of pre swallowing any cheesecloth to be regurgitated during her seances impossible. Those who never investigated the full story of her seances or life often make this accusation.
It has been proved false repeatedly, including under oath. The ectoplasm reportedly seen to be produced by Helen was said to be shiny and gossamer like, not rough dull jute. Although Helen had a life long history of giving messages and knowing things, it was not until the late 1920s that her Psychic Mediumship began to develop to the point of public seances. According to newspaper accounts in the early 1930s, Helen had a following of several thousand individuals. She had become a well-known medium traveling throughout Scotland and England. She was very down to earth, simple and humble, in the opinion of many who made her acquaintance, despite her new found notoriety. Normally, a Psychic Medium is a person who communicates with the spirits of the deceased. Some mediums just give messages, other mediums may have their voices change to bring the voice of the spirit, and the rarest of all the forms of Psychic Mediumship is materialization medium. I have personally never witnessed this, but I can’t see electricity either!
A materialization medium can produce a substance referred to as ectoplasm, a white shiny substance which in some cases takes the shape and form of the body the spirit owned while living. Helen was this type of medium often producing 10 to 15 different images or spirits in an evening it is alleged. Countless witnesses, including some during the trials who were under oath, have recounted memories of family members and loved ones appearing in solid form. The form was clear enough to allow features to be visible. Many times it was the unique features that the spirit demonstrated that gave proof it is said. Before every seance she would strip so a committee of women who could testify to the others that she was not hiding any props, muslin or cheese cloth. Another group of spectators would search the room where the seance were to be conducted. Never is it recorded, did any search produce any prop or fraudulent item. Even the police searched Helen and the seance room and were unable to produce any item which might have been used to fake a spirit. Helen was accused of swallowing cheesecloth then regurgitating it.
There are numerous problems with this accusation. The throat problems caused from working in the jute factory being just one. Often also Helen would eat with some of those taking part in the seance just moments before the seance began. One of her favourite meals to eat just minutes before a seance was ham with cut up potatoes and eggs. She would eat with several members and was never left alone until after the seance was over this is recorded and attested to by many. Helen was known to be a larger lady, weighing over 300lbs and also known to enjoy her food! It is difficult to imagine how she could have eaten several pounds of muslin, ate a large meal and then regurgitated the muslin and some how, transformed it in to the features of the departed!
One of the other areas of proof to the validity of Helen’s seances was the variety of voices she is said to have brought forth. Helen was barely educated or poorly educated with a strong Scottish accent. During the seances the voices were said to be well a full range from an educated and scholarly English accent, to American, Australian and to that of a young children. Interestingly also, Spirits at her seances spoke in many languages ranging from Gaelic, French, German and Spanish. Not only did they speak the various languages but they also spoke and conversed with those present in dialects. Helen did not and could not speak these other languages. Her séances would host as few as five or six people to as many as 30 or even 50 people depending upon the location.
Often she would attend a supporter’s home and do several séances over several days Once people were seated, the only light allowed was a red light, which at the time was believed to help ectoplasm to be seen easier by the naked eye. Most seances began with a prayer and two or three Christian hymns being sung. Dispelling the Wicca theory or accusation completely. It is incredulous to believe a poorly educated Scottish woman in the 1920s could have perpetrated such a fantastic hoax. She was also poor as a church mouse and unable to afford much by way of anything let alone props for a hoax. The only reasonable explanation is that she was a genuine Psychic Medium, a fact many believe was proven in court twice. Besides supporting her family, the meager amount she received from the seances went to several good causes. She lived in a poor area of Scotland. Helen was well-known for paying the local doctors to see her neighbour who could not afford medical care. She also provided food and medicine to those in need. She was considered one of the most giving people that you could ever hope to meet. For years Helen travelled Scotland and England by train giving seances continually to support her family and needy neighbors. By far, nearly every account of her is that she was an honest woman doing what she believed, was a true calling of Spiritualism. Had her life ended with just those accounts, it would have been preferable to the sordid fate she was to suffer and the cover up surrounding her fate and treatment. Many attempts were made and planned by individuals to catch and prove her a fraud-they never succeeded and often completely changed their mind and became firm supporters instead of skeptics. It was during the defense at her first trial when Helen’s true gift came under close, public examination.
It was attested by many and described how Helen was first stripped absolutely naked. She put on black garments specially provided for medical tests. Then she could prove that she had nothing concealed after submitting to this, which she was happy to do by all accounts. The police on arresting Helen, had forced Helen to submit to an internal examination, Nothing was found by attending Doctors. At the time, Spiritualism, Psychics and Mediumship were considered vagrancy by many and illegal under British law. By simply holding a séance, Helen had violated the law. She was found guilty and ordered to pay a ten-pound fine. According to the newspapers, as she walked out the door, she uttered, “May God forgive you all. Apparently, the Judge heard her. Got to part 2
