Transcendental Communications from 'Abduhl Latif'

 

Trance Medium Eileen Garrett (1893-1970)

In the nonfiction book written and compiled by R. H. Saunders, Healing Through Spirit Agency (1928), Saunders described how he "first heard of Abdul Latif from the spirit side."

For some time we had formed a little circle sitting to obtain that phase of psychic phenomena called the "Direct Voice."  We had been told by spirit friends that with patience we should  develop sufficient power to secure what is undoubtedly the highest expression of psychic phenomena, the Spirit Voices.

To help us in this quest, Mrs. Etta Wriedt of Detroit, the well-known American medium, and our two best known English Direct Voice Mediums, Mrs. Roberts Johnson and Mrs. Blanche Cooper all kindly gave us sittings, and at the private residence of one of our group, and through Mrs. Wriedt's mediumship, Abduhl, for the first time in all the centuries since his passing out, manifested.  About midway through the sitting, a steely blue light in the form of a ball, some three inches in diameter, shot at an angle across the room, coming from the ceiling furthest from the Medium (and apparently far beyond the ceiling), and alighting on the floor near her, and a voice addressed us.  It had a curiously foreign accent, unlike any European accent I've heard; was deep, clear, deliberate, and rather laboured, as though there were difficulty in selecting or pronouncing the words.  As is customary with me, I took down the words as the Spirit spoke.  And this is what we heard:

"Friends, I am here to take part in the development of the power which is being generated in this circle.  I am permitted to help in all work that is good—working and thinking.  I am the guide of your circle, and I am empowered to help you, and I am learning your ways and manner of life and language with that object.  Our power though great at times is limited at others.  We draw from you to the extent of your strength.  We dare not deprive you of all.  We take what the sitters throw off, and mould it to our purpose."

This was said in the "Direct Voice," that is outside, and not through the Trumpet, which had been used by previous spirits during the sitting, and was delivered in a most impressive voice tinged with a curious accent, but during the many communications since Abduhl's English has improved.  On many occasions Abduhl would break into rapid French or Italian, but he soon mastered our tongue until it became just as fluent and correct as any educated Englishman's.

I asked: "Would you please tell us who is speaking, and when did you pass over?"  The reply was: "Long years ago—I am Abduhl Latif."  "How do you spell it?" I queried.  The spirit spelled out the name letter by letter, and added: "You will find my life and work in your British Museum."

I asked: "have you ever manifested before?" and the reply was: "Not in this form.  I have often impressed both spirits and mortals in communications to Earth, but I have never previously divulged my name."

Much has been written of the subliminal, and usually by those who know least of it, and it is one of the problems critics of spiritualism have to face when they attribute what they cannot account for to the subconscious mind.  Not one of us had the faintest idea who this Spirit was—we had never heard or read of him—and it is not to be wondered at, in the light of subsequent research, for some of the greatest Encyclopædias do not even mention his name.

The next morning, I went to the Reading Room of the British Museum and consulted six of the best Encyclopædias in the world in the English language.  The Encyclopædia Americana had not a single word, and even the Encyclopædia Britannica had only a few short paragraphs, and others dismissed Abduhl with a few curt sentences.  Yet columns and columns were devoted to Abduhls in plenty whose lives were of little use to humanity.  I was disappointed at the result and came away.  At the very door something struck me that I ought to ask the Librarian (I learned afterwards I had been impressed to do so) if he had heard of Abduhl Latif.  The Librarian, a learned Orientalist, thought he had, and kindly took me to the Oriental section, and there turned up copious references to Abduhl occupying many quarto pages but they were in Arabic and other languages.

The name of Abduhl Latif ibn Yusef, to the majority of the English-speaking peoples, is unfamiliar and conveys little, but to a limited and thankful few it is associated with gratitude and heartfelt blessings and a return to health and happiness, as will be related in due course.

R. H. Saunders later published a follow-up book featuring transcripts of twelve lectures delivered through trance medium Eileen Garrett.  Health: Its Recovery and Maintenance (1929) may now be read online without charge at the Universal Library Project website.  Saunders explained that Garrett's mind "sunk into the most profound oblivion, permits spirit entities to assume control of her voice organs, and offers a clear passage for messages."

Here are some excerpts from the book's introduction written by Saunders.

I obtained a sitting with this lady and found her mediumship was of the highest order, and the evidence I secured overwhelming in character and volume.  Her spirit control is a Persian who passed away over a century ago, and it occurred to me to ask him if he knew Abduhl Latif.  His reply was: "Abduhl Latif has honoured my medium by speaking through her."  As this was at the end of a sitting when the "power" had waned, I said, "I will arrange for another sitting and perhaps you will kindly tell Abduhl I should like the privilege of speaking with him."  The guide simply replied: "That shall be."

At the next sitting Abduhl manifested at once.  "This is the opportunity," he said, "I foretold would be ours, and I am pleased to say this vehicle is admirably adapted for the work I propose undertaking with your co-operation.  I would wish to give to the world knowledge it does not at present possess.  From my position in the Spheres, I view the functions of the body in a way no earth doctor can, and I will tell you of the action of the heart, of the lungs, of the liver and of the other organs of the body, how they are affected by the emotions, and how the subconscious and conscious minds act and react upon each other.  I should be grateful if you would organize séances to enable me to do this."    

A few words as to the sittings themselves.  They were held in daylight at the London Spiritualist Alliance, Queensberry Place, S.W.  The medium in a few minutes would enter the trance state and her guide, or Abduhl Latif, would then take charge.  Normally, Mrs. Garrett has a soft and pleasant voice, speaks deliberately without any special emphasis, and does not gesticulate, but when controlled by Abduhl the transformation is quite remarkable.  Her features assume a masculine appearance, the voice becomes stronger, and Abduhl plays upon the vocal chords as a master musician would upon an instrument.  In his day Abduhl was one of Persia's greatest orators, and he utilizes her voice in true oratorical manner.

The research by Saunders enabled him to report that Abduhl Latif ibn Yussuf was born at Baghdad in 1162 and passed away in 1231 at the age of 69.  

In the book's preface, Arthur Conan Doyle wrote:

One of the most remarkable and convincing stories in the whole wonderful annals of psychic experience is that which is given in Mr. R. H. Saunders' previous book: "Healing Through Spirit Agency," which tells of the return of the Great Persian Philosopher, Abduhl Latif, to that earth sphere which he quitted some seven hundred years ago.  The narrative is absolutely convincing to anyone who knows, as I know, the scrupulous integrity of the narrator.

Since then I have been brought in contact more than once with Abduhl, and was privileged once to sit for more than an hour listening to his own account of his life, with anecdotes of ancient Cairo, Saladin, the Crusaders, and many other events which occurred under his own eyes.  It was a unique experience to partake of the ripe, gentle wisdom of this great sage, never bitter, never sarcastic, eminently reasonable and courteous, answering through the lips of an unconscious woman every kind of difficult, historical, ethnological, or philosophic question.

It is these mental tests of Spiritualism, not the physical, which impress me most.

Here is the concluding paragraph from the "First Address":

It has been a privilege to talk with you, and I thank you.  I look forward to many talks when we may be able to understand not only ourselves, but all those other human souls who are in brotherhood with you.  When we understand the brotherhood and our relationship one to the other, then we can begin to understand the great scheme of things.  I thank you, and I leave you with the blessing of the Great Infinite always about you.