Curious Coincidences, Brain Readings or Encounters of a Spiritual Nature?

In June 1873, Florence Marryat and a number of friends formed “a home circle” and began “to sit together” every evening, sometimes until three o’clock in the morning. The results were startling. In There Is No Death (1891), she states that memoranda of these sittings extend over a period of years and that she only relates a few “verified” incidents. 

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The means by which the Marryat home circle communicated with the “influences”, was the usual one. They sat round the table, laid their hands upon it, and someone spelled over the alphabet. Raps or tilts occurred when the desired letter was pronounced, and once used to it, they got through vast amounts of conversations in just a few hours. Moreover, a good medium was soon able to guess the word that was intended to be spelt.

I have sinned much… But I am not a devil!

A certain spirit who listened to the name of “Valerie” came to their table on several occasions. Valerie only mentioned her name and refused to say anything more, so they all thought she was an idle and somehow “frivolous” spirit. But one evening, when Mr. Henry Stacke joined the circle, the name “Valerie” immediately came through.

“Who is this?” Mr. Stacke asked.

“O! She’s a little devil!” Florence replied carelessly.  “She never has anything to say!”

The table rocked violently and the taps answered in French: “Je ne suis pas un diable.” – What means: “I am not a devil!”

“So you can talk now, Valerie? Please tell us… who are you coming for?”

“Monsieur Stacke.”

Florence asked Valerie where she met him and the spirit answered: “On the Continent. In France. Between Dijon and Macon. In a railway carriage.”

“What where you doing there?” Florence asked, but now Valerie relapsed into French again, and she said that it was impossible for her to answer this question.

At this point Mr. Stacke observed that he had been only once in his life in a train between Dijon and Macon. If Valerie had been with him then, she sure would remember what was the matter with their fellow-passenger.

“O yes I do!” Valerie replied promptly. “He was crazy!”

“That’s correct,” Mr. Stacke said. He  also remembered that two ladies in the same carriage had been very frightened for some unknown reason. He had assisted them to get into another.