Channeling 'Silver Birch' (In Comparison with Other Cases)

   

In 'his own obituary' that Maurice Barbanell wrote prior to his transition to the ascended realm in 1981, he reported about the beginning of his trance mediumship for the transcendental communicator known as 'Silver Birch.'  The article is included in Light From Silver Birch (1984) compiled by Pam Riva.  During Maurice's youth at a meeting of his social and literary club, a guest lecturer elicited the promise from him to seriously research the subject of Spiritualism.  Maurice began his research by going to observe a medium at a local 'home circle.'

The medium, a middle-aged woman, Mrs. Blaustein, was said to go into trance.  In that state, I was told, entities belonging to differing nationalities would control and speak through her.

This happened, but did not impress me.  So far as I could tell, there was no evidence which would satisfy me that these indeed were "dead" foreigners speaking through her lips.

Nevertheless in view of my promise I presented myself at the second sitting where a similar demonstration by her was given.  It seemed to me that at one stage of the proceedings I fell asleep, either through boredom or being tired.  When I awoke I apologised.  I was told to my surprise, "You have been a Red Indian."

It was my first mediumistic trance, but what happened was a complete blank to me.  Nevertheless the guide known as Silver Birch had broken formidable earth barriers and spoke a few words . . .

Maurice soon thereafter formed his own home circle.  After speaking about Spiritualism at public meetings with Hannen Swaffer during weekends for three years, their association found a new path when they with Arthur Findlay launched the weekly newspaper Psychic News in 1932.  It was decided to include Silver Birch's teachings in Psychic News without revealing the identity of the medium (the newspaper's editor).  When the transcendental communicator was asked to choose a name suitable for publication, 'Silver Birch' was selected.

The next morning, in my office, the mail included a postcard from Scotland with no name or address of the sender, but with a splendid photograph of Silver Birch trees on it.

The teachings of what was called, as it still is, Hannen Swaffer's home circle regularly appeared in Psychic News.  Curiosity was constantly aroused as to the medium's identity which for long was kept secret.

Swaff, however, brought so many visitors from among his famous friends that I felt the stage was reached when the mystery should be ended.  I wrote an article announcing that I was Silver Birch's medium.


In my working life I use words every day.  I have never yet written or dictated an article with which I was satisfied when I read it.  Inevitably I find, when looking at the typed material, that I can improve it by altering words, phrases and sentences.

No such problem arises with the guide's teachings.  These flow perfectly, requiring usually only commas, semi-colons or full stops.

Published in 1938, Teachings of Silver Birch is a compilation of Silver Birch transcripts edited by A. W. Austen.  Since then, there is a long list of books published that present transcripts of Silver Birch orations.  A chapter of Teachings of Silver Birch is entitled "Silver Birch's Own Story," wherein "Silver Birch tells in his own words of the long struggle he had before he was able to transmit his message."  The following passage is the beginning of this chapter.

When I was asked, many long years ago, whether I would return to the world of matter and find on earth a band who would work with me to deliver the message of the spirit, I said I would, as did many others, and my task was given me.

I was told that I would have to search and find an instrument and so attach myself to this instrument that I would be able to express through him the message that I was charged to deliver.  So I searched our records and found my medium.

I watched from the time that he was conceived, and from the moment that the spirit began to express itself—albeit as a little flicker—I brought my influence to bear and started there and then this association which has lasted all these years.

I helped to mould the spirit and the tiny little mind and throughout every phase of that life I watched his every experience, learned how to get a close association and I accustomed myself throughout the days of boyhood days to all the mental processes, to all the physical habits.  I studied my instrument from every aspect—mind, spirit and physical body.

And then I had to guide his footsteps towards an understanding of these spirit truths.

Silver Birch also explained:

Because of the work that others have done—the same work that we do—there is more light in your world of matter, there is more happiness, there is less sorrow, less tears.


We have inspired many to let their higher selves rise in their lives.  We have driven out many of the falsehoods of the past that have blinded men's eyes to justice and truth.


I am only the mouthpiece of those who sent me, and I seek no glory for myself and no reward.  I have no desire to aggrandize myself or my personality.  I rejoice to be a vehicle for expressing these truths, lost for many centuries and now restored to the world of matter, stamped with the seal of divine truth.

Readers familiar with transcendental communication sources are aware of the necessity at times for the use of metaphorical descriptions due to the limited knowledge of the audience.  As often seen in transcendental communication transcripts, the pronouns "I" and "we" are found to be alternately used. 

These excerpts are found to be similar in many ways with what has been stated in a comparable manner by contemporary manifesting entities speaking through their channelers, one example being the Ray Brown/'Paul' case.    The transcendental communicator known as Paul is quoted in the Ray Brown autobiography A Mere Grain of Sand (2004) concerning Earth life and the choice of Ray as channel:

I am often asked how Raymond was chosen to work with me.  We had to get the right person.  It is so involved, getting the right person to do the right job.


I looked at his brother first but decided he was not the one I wanted.  Then, I found out that his mother was carrying Raymond, so we chose him.  I needed someone who would not interfere with my views and my work.

Of course we had to wait, because training Raymond took many, many years.  We also had to have the right environment, so that we could start work.


I went back to Spirit and asked them to look for someone for Raymond, who would help to get him on the right pathway.  It was suggested that Gillian [now Ray's wife] would be the right person.


Gillian's guides already knew what they wanted for her.  She had her life with her previous husband, but it was gradually being steered towards meeting Raymond.  My contact with Gillian was with her Spirit guides who worked through her.  She was like a voice crying in the wilderness and was really asking for a change.  There was no better person for us to choose.  She is good in every respect of her work.  It was meant to be.

Paul is quoted answering the question "Why do people decide to reincarnate?"

Because they cannot shed their ties with the Earth plane.  Once you have dealt with your karma, the question is do you want to progress in Spirit?  If you decide to reincarnate then you do not reach Level 2. 

Here are some of the questions and answers about reincarnation from the Silver Birch transcripts presented in the 1938 Teachings —

Does the soul know when it is about to reincarnate?

The soul knows, but cannot express itself through the mind.  The soul, which is the Great Spirit, expresses itself through all eternity, gradually, step by step, and at any stage there is a vast portion still not expressed.

(concerning the question of coming back to the same nationality)

It will choose that country and that race which is necessary for its new unfoldment.

Does the same thing apply in matters of sex?

Yes.  It does not necessarily come back to the same sex that it had before.

(concerning being 'punished for our sins' and 'atonement')

It is not always a question of punishment, but of evolution, of a task to be learned, of another link to be forged in the chain of the soul's education and upliftment.


When you have an understanding of the Law you will marvel at its perfection, for it cannot be unevenly weighted on one side. 

In his memoir Power of the Spirit, Maurice Barbanell recalled a seance in his youth where difficulties in his life were discussed with 'Red Cloud' speaking through the entranced Estelle Roberts.  Red Cloud informed him that nothing would continue to go right until he redeemed a promise made in a past life that he would devote the major portion of his career to psychic activities.  Maurice also attended Direct Voice seances where Red Cloud's voice was heard and on one occasion even witnessed and touched the materialized form of Red Cloud.  The following excerpts of the transcendental communication of Red Cloud are from the Foreword of Red Cloud Speaks (Trance teachings through Estelle Roberts 1938).

From the four corners of the heavenly spheres there gathered together the Council of the higher worlds in space, and it was agreed that some of us should descend into the lower and heavier vibrations of earthly man.


My first thought upon contacting the earth was to find an instrument that would have sufficient strength of purpose to enable me to use her in the fulfillment of my mission.  This I have accomplished.


Remember, "To know God is to love your fellow men; to worship God is to serve them; to believe in God is to succour them; and to see God is to bring peace amongst the nations."

In comparison, the following are quotations from 'channeled entities' among two other of the best-known contemporary channeling cases.

'Lazaris' through Jach Pursel (from Lazaris Interviews Book 1 published in 1988):

As we say, we officially began communicating through Jach, the one we call the Channel, on October 3rd, 1974.  We had made contact with him much earlier in that year through his own meditative approaches — and indeed much to his surprise!  Our initial message to him (as he quite accurately reports it) was: "We will call you . . . not for you to call us."  Through that period of time we rather made the initial adjustments — and completed the final adjustments — such as to make possible our communication without creating any distress or harm to the physical, mental or psychological form of the one who is the Channel.

Prior to that timing (according to your particular schedules it would be during several of his previous lifetimes) we had made contact with the Channel to nudge, to gently nudge and suggest (much without his knowing) certain evolutionary developments in preparation for this timing of October, 1974.  During his current lifetime, in his childhood and early adolescence, again we were ever so gently, ever so subtly nudging.  For above all we did not want to create any distress.  We wanted only to create the opportunity for his growth, for our interaction, and for the growth and evolution for those with whom we would be speaking.


We also enjoy talking with people about their past lives.  We hesitate as we say the term, for it is a misnomer since all lifetimes are concurrent.  All lifetimes are simultaneous and are only labeled "past" for the convenience of categorizing them.

'John' through Kevin Ryerson (from Spirit Communication: The Soul's Path by Kevin Ryerson and Stephanie Harolde 1989):

The phenomenon that you call "spirit communication" is little more than a dialogue with entities identical to yourself.  As your progress, so in turn do the spirit guides and teachers about you progress.  Above all else, you promote one another's well-being.  They are usually members of your soul group, but in the discarnate state.


Perhaps you knew them in past lives, or when you were discarnate and they incarnate, for there have been lifetimes when you have been discarnate and have given guidance from the other side through the trance state.  That is, you have been spirit guides in your own past lives.  In this way, the relationship parallels your relationships upon this plane.


In trance channeling, that which you term a discarnate personality is able to utilize the physical body for communication from planes beyond the realms of its normal five sensory patterns.  Such communications are for the advancement of the collective consciousness of mankind as a whole.


Mediumship or channeling is but a term for the focusing of spirit through the individual above and beyond the range of his own conscious faculties.  Each of you has this faculty and your meditations shall bring it unto you.  It is your guides and teachers who communicate with you and have dialogue.  But remember to pray only unto God.  Acknowledge the Father who is in heaven so that he may send a messenger unto you for the ministry of the angels.  And if you perceive God as love, this is the master you will serve.

As longtime readers of this blog are aware, there are aspects of transcendental communication cases (including 1, 2, 3, 4) that may be misunderstood or confusing among people with only a superficial knowledge of the circumstances.  The following are some passages from Ramtha's The White Book (1999), one of the anthologies of transcendental communication transcripts documenting the contemporary case of 'Ramtha' channeled through JZ Knight.  Ramtha is quoted:

I have chosen to come back to you through the embodiment of a woman who was my beloved daughter in my times.  [35,000 years ago when 'Ramtha' became "the first conqueror this plane knew"]  When I was upon your plane, I married not any woman.  But on my march many entities gave me their children as a gift of appreciation. 


I came to my daughter [now] in the midst of her life at a time when such unexpected things do not occur.  Because she was prim and proper and innocent, and did not venture into extraordinary beliefs, I chose her for this service and taught her for a long time what I am teaching you.


I have chosen to speak to you in this fashion because you are all prone to worship the images of others and exalt them above yourselves.  So for those who come into my audience, I have no body to worship nor feet to kiss.  And my daughter will not allow you to do it to hers, for they are her feet, after all.


. . . what is being taught here is not to worship me but to wholly worship and love what you are and this wonderful essence that lies latent within you called God Almighty. 


The greater the heaven you create here within your own kingdom of thought and emotion, the greater the heaven you will experience when you leave this plane or, if you choose, when you return here. 


The plane that you are upon is the first plane, the plane of three-dimensional perception.  This is the plane where entities gain the understanding of God in the form called matter. 


The Gods entered into the limitations of matter out of the desire to experience their creativity through the bodily form. 


That marriage of a great immortal being with a mechanism of mass, oriented to the survival of its own structure, greatly altered your ego state of being.  That is when the tree of knowledge, the altered ego, was born.


When you refuse to venture in thought beyond the bounds of social consciousness, portions of your brain are literally closed to the higher frequencies of thought.


So you who are feeling unhappy, dull, morose, fearful, bitter, angry, jealous, hurried, unloved, unwanted, what thought frequencies are you allowing yourself to feel?  Social consciousness.  Where is joy, you ask?  Where is love?  Where is forever?  Where is God?  Only a thought away. 


. . . altered ego cuts God off by refusing to accept all the thought frequencies that God is so it can live safe and secure, out of harm's way.  That is why the altered ego is indeed what is termed the antichrist, because it denies that you are the son of God.

Among the voluminous and at times abstruse teachings presented in numerous books and recordings—including statements that may seem quite outrageous among the uninitiated—Ramtha's advice about the afterlife correlates with that of other prominent channelers.  Concerning a 'new age' for mankind, Ramtha is quoted in Ramtha Intensive: Soulmates (1987):

The "new age" is already here.  It is the age of consumption of knowledge — not the pursuit of, but the allowing of.  And in that age there is no room for limited beliefs. 

In one passage of Silver Birch Anthology (1955) edited by William Naylor, Silver Birch identified the essential spiritual lesson is of "the divine spark, the portion of the Great Spirit resident within all human life."  This metaphor is noticeable in many transcripts of transcendental communication (including 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).  
 
Declarations made many decades ago by Silver Birch about the 'power of the spirit' on Earth may be read in Teachings of Silver Birch.
 

The world must learn to perform its own salvation.  There is no ready-made plan.  There is no prepared, cut-and-dried system.  Your world has to learn that, behind what it regards as the manifestations of life, there is the eternal reality of the spirit, that the children of matter are not only worldly beings but spiritual beings expressing themselves through bodies of matter.
 
 
I tell you these things, so that you can understand part of the great Plan, the part that we who return from the world of spirit play in it, and the part that each of you must play in it before your earthly course is run.
 

This time, we are striving to be certain that the forces of materialism and selfishness shall not prevail, so that your world may learn to save itself from the evil which is ready to overtake it.  Only the application of these truths in their ramifications in your daily lives can avert the fearful catastrophe that looms in front of you.


There will come the Spring of dreams and the Summer of fulfilment.


I, like many others, have come nearer to the vibrations of the earth to help to push forward that great new world which waits just round the corner.

Other contemporary channelers include John of God, Ryuho Okawa and Paul Selig.  For more information about previous blog articles about this subject see "Channeling Cases - Articles and Videos Links Index".