| SPIRITUALISM & SCEPTICS |

MENTION of valuable first edition books that were disputed in a will featured in survival evidence when medium Craig Hamilton-Parker -demonstrated at an Orthodox-owned college.

Craig was asked to appear at Winchester's King Alfred's College. This university sector college - it has over 5,500 students - was founded by the Church of England in 1840 to train teachers for church elementary schools.

Its undergraduate and masters' programs now span the humanities, arts, performing arts, social sciences, teacher education, business, health and applied social studies.

The college is one of the UK's largest providers of primary initial teacher training.

Craig was invited by. Prof Elizabeth Stuart to speak and demonstrate to her colleagues and theology students.

"They are specialising in studying `Deaths, myths and culture surrounding death,' or something like that!" Craig told PN last week.

"The students were of mixed belief from traditional Christians to humanists and atheists.

"First, I gave a talk about 'Spiritualism followed by questions and answers. After a break, concluded with an hour's demonstration. In all, my visit was probably about three hours."

Craig told students how leading medium Doris Stokes "turned my sister's life around and how it inspired me to leave a very highly paid job as the MD of an advertising agency to become a writer and medium."

After describing how mediums perceive, Craig "spoke about how many religions are anti-Spiritualist and why, and also about mediumship in early Christianity, Buddhism and Hinduism.

After speaking about the aura, Craig pointed out that mediums cannot summon spirit entities to order or prove there is a God, but can offer evidence "that the human personality survives death."

He commented "that you do not necessarily need to believe in God to accept that there is an afterlife as it is a natural extension of this world and will probably be proven one day."

Some of the questions fired at Craig were: "Do people need to believe in an afterlife? Is it perhaps a refusal to accept the inevitability and angst associated with the annihilation of the personality?"

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Other questioners wanted to know "Was the rise of Spiritualism a response to- the suffering of the first world war?" and "Are near-death experiences the brain's response to the firing of the temporal lobes?"

Another point raised was "Is Spiritualism as cheap entertainment on TV doing harm to the religion?"

Craig said that the students and academics were "nice about how many religions are people, but very sceptical. It was anti-Spiritualist and why, and a tremendously hard audience also about mediumship in early to work with.

"The first person I linked to refused to speak to me as he didn't want to give any voice clues.

"Throughout the evening, they all took a similar attitude and mostly nodded or grunted! Only afterwards was I able to know if what I had said was right or not."

Craig told PN that like many mediums, he tends to forget everything after demonstrating, but recalled some of the spirit messages he delivered.

To one of the lecturers present - he lectures on atheism - Craig "gave a verified link from his father.

"I told another student- how he gave up business to study. He is known by other colleagues to be very sceptical."

Tuning in, Craig said that in the family "there had been a huge problem because some very, very valuable first edition books bound in leather and gold were disputed in a will.

"In particular, I said that these books were by a famous poet." After the demonstration, the student verified "that his. father (I think) had owned first editions by Robert Burns. The dispute split the family in half."

Recalling the evening, Craig added that a different student "would not take a link circumstances.

"I said I had a man in the ordnance corps who went to Africa and India, and died of throat cancer.

"I gave the name, but forget now. He denied it all, but afterwards admitted I was right:"

Summarising the evening, Craig ended: "It is interesting that colleges are prepared to give Spiritualism a fair hearing.

"I believe many were very shocked at the accuracy of what I said, perhaps more so because it challenged their beliefs.

"A number of the students afterwards asked me for the address of their local Spiritualist church so they could see more."

Explaining why she decided to invite Craig, Prof Stuart said: "We run an MA in religion - 'The rituals and rhetoric of death.'

"It has been our custom to invite a medium to come and address the group and offer a demonstration if they feel able.

"We believe that religion is a lived reality and therefore do all we can to introduce students to practitioners of particular belief systems."

Prof Stuart added: "There was one contact that stood out. Mr Hamilton-Parker approached one of my postgraduate students with a contact who had been at sea, had a bad leg and been involved in some family dispute over a book.

"He also made contact with someone who could have been an aunt of mine who left me a silver teapot, but not all the details matched."

Asked for her stand on survival after death, Prof Stuart replied: "I am a bishop in the Open Episcopal Church and take a broadly catholic approach.

"I believe in the communion of saints. Therefore, I believe that the dead and the living are
in relationship.

"I accept heaven and purgatory, though believe hell was destroyed when Jesus descended among the dead."

So what was the general reaction from those who attended?

"I think the sceptics remained sceptical, though none doubted Mr Hamilton-Parker's sincerity," said Prof Stuart. "All were impressed with his evident sincerity.

"Most were on the MA in religion, but some were postgraduate research students. There was a handful reading for the BA in theology and religious studies."

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