1975b, pp. 247–248).
In June 1941, Asmundur Gestsson went to Eskifjordur and confirmed details about Gudni Magnusson, such as the fact he had blond hair, thinning on the top of his head. Later, Erlendur Haraldsson interviewed Gudni’s brother Otto and sister Rosa, who also confirmed the details of the reports from the séance. Haraldsson also, with some difficulty, obtained a copy of Gudni’s death certificate, which listed the cause of death as “intestinal perforation” (Haraldsson and Stevenson 1975b, p. 249).
On November 7, 1940, an Icelandic newspaper published a brief obituary of Gudni, but it did not give many details, and would not in itself have been of much help to the medium Hafsteinn in manufacturing the communications from Gudni. Neither the medium nor any of the sitters had any connection with Gudni or his family. Haraldsson and Stevenson (1975b, pp. 260–261) concluded: “Despite extensive inquiries we have not been able to find any channel for normal communication to the medium of the correct information he had about Gudni Magnusson and expressed at the séance under consideration.”
Possession by Departed Humans
The mediumistic communications we have just examined help establish that personalities of humans who existed on earth are still existing in some other, apparently nearby, dimension of the universe and are capable of interacting with us here through special channels. Frederick Myers, one of the principal researchers in this field, wrote that “the evidence for communication with the spirits of identified deceased persons through the trance-utterances and writings of sensitives apparently controlled by those spirits is established beyond serious attack” (Myers
1903, v. 1, p. 29). Some of the communications gave information of even higher levels or dimensions of the universe, inhabited by higher beings.
We shall now consider another category of evidence that conscious entities exist at some other level of the cosmos—reports of terrestrial humans possessed by departed human personalities. Mediumistic communications also represent a kind of possession, because the medium appears to be temporarily possessed by the communicating spirit. The possession cases that follow are, however, different in that they involve longer and more intense periods of possession. It also seems that the motivation of the possessing spirit to enter a terrestrial human body plays a larger role than in the mediumistic communication cases.
Psychologist William James was willing to consider the reality of spirit possession. The theory that a demonic spirit might take control of a living human body could explain some mental illnesses. In fact, up to the nineteenth century, many physicians in Europe and America did accept this theory. “That the demon theory will have its innings again is to my mind absolutely certain,” said James (Murphy and Ballou 1960, p. 207).
I found the case of the “Watseka Wonder” (Stevens 1887; Myers 1903, v. 1, pp. 361–367) especially interesting because of its detailed documentation of a possession. Watseka, a town of five or six thousand people, is the capital of Iroquois County in the state of Illinois. The Watseka Wonder was a girl named Lurancy Vennum. The daughter of Thomas J. and Lurinda J. Vennum, she was born on April 16, 1864 near Watseka. One night in early July of 1877, Lurancy felt the presence of persons in her room at night. They called her by her nickname, Rancy, and she felt them breathing on her face. The next day, she told her parents about this. On the evening of July 11, 1877, Lurancy was sewing. At six o’clock, her mother asked her to help make dinner. Lurancy said, “Ma, I feel bad: I feel so queer” (Stevens 1887, p. 3). She then fell upon the floor, and lay there, her body quite rigid. After five hours, she regained consciousness but reported she still felt “very strange and queer” (Stevens 1887, p. 3). She then rested for the night.
The next day, her body again became rigid, and during this state she was apparently aware of both her present physical surroundings and another dimension—a world of spirits. Among the spirits she saw a sister and brother who had died and called out, “Oh, mother! can’t you see little Laura and Bertie? They are so beautiful!” (Stevens 1887, p. 3) Lurancy’s visions of spirits and angels continued for several weeks, ending in September. On November 27, 1877, Lurancy suffered severe pains in her stomach, and these attacks continued for two weeks. On December 11, in the middle of these attacks, she entered into a trancelike state and again began speaking of spirits and angels she could see in a place she called heaven (Stevens 1887, p. 4).
On the advice of relatives and friends, Lurancy’s parents considered sending her to an asylum. Asa B. Roff and his wife Ann, on hearing of this, tried to persuade the Vennums not to do it and asked for permission to see Lurancy. Mr. Vennum finally agreed, and on January 31, 1878, Mr. Roff came, along with Dr. E. W. Stevens of Janesville, Wisconsin. Stevens was a medical doctor with spiritualist leanings. When he saw Lurancy, she was sitting on a chair near the stove, having adopted the bodily expressions and voice of an “old hag.” She refused to speak to anyone except Dr. Stevens. She said that only he could understand her, because he was a spiritualist. Stevens asked her name, and she answered without hesitation, “Katrina Hogan.” Further questions revealed the personality of an old woman from Germany, sixty-three years old, controlling Lurancy’s body from the spirit world. After some time, Lurancy’s personality changed. She was now Willie Canning, the delinquent son of a man named Peter Canning. He had run away from home and lost his life (Stevens 1887, pp. 5–6).
When Dr. Stevens and Mr. Roff were getting ready to leave, Lurancy rose up and then fell flat on the floor, her body rigid. Stevens ministered to her, using mesmeric and spiritualist techniques, and soon Lurancy was manifesting her own personality, although she was still in a trance state. She said she was in heaven. Stevens convinced her that she should not allow herself to be controlled by bad spirits such as Katrina and Willie. She should find a nicer spirit. Lurancy agreed and after searching announced she had found one who desired to make use of her. Lurancy said, “Her name is Mary Roff.” Mr. Roff recognized Mary as his daughter, who had died twelve years previously, when Lurancy was one year old. During her life, Mary Roff had displayed clairvoyant and other psychic powers, and these were tested and verified by leading citizens of Watseka. Mr. Roff advised Lurancy that Mary was a good spirit and that she should let Mary communicate through her. Lurancy accepted this suggestion (Stevens 1887, pp. 6–8).