Automatic Writing

The skills of the psychic have fascinated the public for centuries.  They are many and varied, no two psychics will work in exactly the same fashion or use the same method to pass on information from the spirit world.  Perhaps one of the least known and least used skills in the 21^st Century is that of Automatic Writing, but that was not the case in Victorian times.  The Victorian era was the birthplace of Spiritualism, a faith system which still flourishes in almost every town in Britain. 

Automatic Writing is a method of communication, allegedly from the spirit world, that is conducted by the writer in an altered state of consciousness.  A pen, or more often, pencil is held lightly in the hand and the psychic will trance or simply ‘tune in’.  With practice, the pen or pencil will move of it’s own accord, or sometimes, the messages will come into the psychic’s head seconds after the word is written.  Very often the writing is in a hand completely unlike the writer and even more often, the writer will not know what they have written. 

One of the most famous cases of channelling through automatic writing is that of Pearl Curran.  Pearl was a St. Louis housewife who was not well read and had little education.  In 1913 Pearl started taking tea with her mother and her mother’s friend, Mrs Hutchings.  They had dabbled with the Ouija a few times but with no luck.  One day their luck changed . . .

“Many moons ago I lived. Again I come. Patience Worth is my name."

From this and other sessions on the Ouija ‘Patience’ described herself as a woman who had lived in ‘Dorsetshire, England’ in either 1649 or 1694 (the pointer had marked both those dates).  She spoke using old English, using ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ and ‘ye’.  The more Pearl and her companions used the Ouija the more they learnt about Patience.  They also learnt that it was Pearl that Patience seemed to be attached to, as no matter who sat at the table, as long as Pearl was there the messages would come.

Pearl was fascinated with the messages being received and spent more and more time on the Ouija, until she reached a point where she realised that the messages were coming too fast for anyone to write down, but that she no longer needed the board as the sentences seemed to form in her mind before they came out.  She began to dictate messages from Patience and then to write them herself using either a pencil or a typewriter!

For the next 25 years, Patience dictated a total of around 400,000 words.  They included novels, a play, poems and short works, many of which were published to critical acclaim. 

Pearl attracted the attention of many, and she and her husband graciously entertained strangers in their home allowing them to see her ‘dictating’ and never charging a penny.  Much of the material that came from ‘Patience’ was so archaic and contained words and objects that hadn’t been in use for hundreds of years, that it seems unlikely that Pearl was faking it, with her very limited education.

When Pearl was dictating, words came into her head and images would appear. She would see the details of each scene. Often the perspective of the scene was from above, or to the side, in some cases she felt she was in the scene as an onlooker.  She always felt she was part of it, and became familiar with 17^th Century items she could never have known about.

What is unusual about Pearl is that, unlike many users of Automatic Writing technique, she could carry on taking tea or smoking and still dictate Patience’s words.  She did not seem to need to sink into any kind of trance and was always aware of her surroundings.

Many tried to debunk Pearl’s writings as ‘Patience’ but no one was ever able to prove her a fraud.  Neither could they prove the existence of Patience either.  However, most have agreed that it is extremely unlikely that a woman of little education who was not well travelled or well read could have come up with such a remarkable series of works.

An eminent American classical scholar examined some of the works of ‘Patience’ and found that there weren’t any words used in any of the works after the 17^th Century and that 90% of them were derived from the Anglo Saxon.    As with most cases in the paranormal field, we will never know if the works of Patience Worth were really those of the discarnate spirit of a 17^th Century English woman, or if a housewife in St. Louis was just trying to make a name for herself in literary circles, but without doubt, the story will continue to fascinate.

Do you want to try automatic writing?

1. Say a prayer and/or enhance your aura before you start.
2. Find a place to work where you will not be disturbed or distracted and take the phone off the hook and switch off the mobile.
3. Take a few moments to clear your mind.
4. Put the pen or pencil to the paper.
5. Try not to consciously write anything.  Allow your mind to stay clear and let the pen/pencil move if it will.  It seems to work better if you almost forget it is there!
6. Avoid looking at the paper, or keep your eyes closed.
7. When you feel ‘done’, stop.
8. If you have not had any luck, don’t give up!  Try again at another time.
9. Don’t just look for clear writing but look for numbers, single letters and pictures too.
10. Be aware that this technique, as with the Ouija board, may produce negative results.  If you are not able to deal with this, don’t start.  Protect yourself psychically and if you don’t know how, read up on it or don’t do it.  If you want to try but start to get a negative message . . . stop! 

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