The Leslie Flint Trust
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Promoting the legacy and archive of Independent Direct Voice medium Leslie Flint
Christmas Tree Séance
Recorded: December 16th 1973
Christmas Tree Séance
Recorded: December 16th 1973
This Christmas séance was conducted in the presence of fifty invited sitters,
gathered at Leslie Flint's basement home in Westbourne Terrace, London.
Christmas séances have a decorated tree placed in the séance room
and gifts are left for any spirit children who might wish to enjoy them.
After the séance, the gifts are often donated
to a children's charity or local hospice, along with any money raised.
In this recording the voices of various spirit children can be heard,
also the sounds made as they open gifts and play with toys,
left for them beneath the Christmas tree.
The recording is introduced by Bram Rogers
and a detailed summary of this 97-minute recording is provided below.
A second Christmas séance recording can be found further down the page.
Note: This recording is a composite of various original copies enhanced for clarity.
Sitters include:
Vivian, Jessie Nason, Burt Billinghurst, Renie, Jim Ellis, Bram Rogers, Leslie Flint.
Communicators include:
Mickey, Doris, Martin, Brion, Patricia, Dzabo, Dr Charles Marshall.
Summary:
While some are singing, other sitters point out different sounds heard in the darkened séance room.
Leslie calls out for Mickey and the spirit children to join them.
After a break in the recording the sitters are heard singing Christmas songs
and we hear the toys squeaking and shuffling around.
Mickey greets Jessie Nason and the other sitters and Bram and Leslie share a joke.
While singing to enhance the vibrations, some toys are moved around the floor and the sitters applaud.
Mickey speaks to Jessie again, then he suggests a song for everyone to sing - and he joins in very loudly at the end.
Mickey shares a joke about cars powered by ectoplasm
and Bram points out a luminous toy in the room, which is moving around.
After some whispering, a toy is heard banging and Mickey makes a joke of it.
He advises the sitters begin singing again and a toy horn is heard.
Toys are thrown around and a toy harmonica is played and the sitters share a joke.
Mickey and Jessie discuss physical mediumship, a child’s voice is heard,
then a Christmas cracker is pulled - which shocks Leslie.
The sitters respond to activity and noises around the Christmas tree and whispering voices can be heard.
A young spirit child named Doris begins to communicate.
She talks first about her doll, then tells the sitters that she died together with her parents and the baby.
Doris says her mother has accompanied her today, along with a lady wearing a white dress and tiara -
who Doris thinks looks like a fairy-tale character in a book she once had on Earth.
Doris talks of her continuing education in the spirit world and about her family,
then asks if she can take away a doll or a game for her friends…
Mickey returns and the harmonica is played, the sitters begin to sing and Mickey sings along.
A non-English voice tries to speak, the harmonica and the sound of rustling paper is heard
and Mickey jokes about a toy doll.
A toy xylophone is heard playing and the sitters laugh loudly
as spirit children touch them and move items around the room.
A child is heard laughing, then Mickey hands a doll to one of the sitters.
Much noise is heard as spirit children play with the toys in the room.
A spirit boy named Martin speaks to the sitters about his family and his memories of London.
He talks about his pet dog named ‘sausage’ and says he wants to find a medium so he can work like Mickey.
Mickey jokes about a child communicator named Brion,
who speaks about the donated toys and beautiful Christmas tree.
She recalls her school days and her love of the piano,
then plays the xylophone in time to the sitter’s singing.
After a break in the recording, Mickey responds to a question
about time being an illusion and spiritual progression.
He speaks to one sitter about Scottish bagpipes and tells another that his wife is close to him.
The sitters sing again and are amazed when toffees and chocolates are handed to them in the dark.
After more activity from the spirit children, a child named Patricia asks Mickey for help with the toys.
She speaks to Jim Ellis about her Earth life in Canada and the USA, then reveals she once lived in Arkansas
(pronounced Ar-kan-zas until the 1880s). Patricia’s friend communicates, then the voice of Dzabo is heard briefly.
The familiar voice of Dr Charles Marshall explains how the séance was made possible
by the combined effort of all present - and he describes in detail how the power of the spirit within,
can be called upon to bring forth miracles.
Mickey says farewell to all and the recording ends.
This summary was created for the Trust by K. Jackson-Barnes in December 2018
Christmas Tree Séance
Recorded: December 10th 1972
Christmas Tree Séance
Recorded: December 10th 1972
This is a rare recording of a special Christmas séance,
where gifts and toys are placed beneath a decorated Christmas tree
for any spirit children who might wish to play with them.
A group of twenty-six sitters are in attendance
who join along with the proceedings.
This is more than an ordinary voice séance,
because the sitters are able to experience physical phenomena,
when items in the room are moved around by the spirit children.
The recording begins with the sound of everyone singing old hymns,
until the sitters hear the sound of something hitting a wall in the room.
After some discussion, everyone listens intently
for any other sounds in the darkness...
A brief report of this séance, written by one of the sitters, is shared below.
Note: This vintage recording has been enhanced for clarity.
Christmas séance report - by George Cranley
First published online in December 2013
“One of the most popular events in Spiritualism was the annual Christmas Tree Party for spirit children
held by Leslie Flint at his home in Bayswater, London. I attended on two occasions, the first being on the 10th December 1972.
Over twenty invited guests attended on this occasion. There was a decorated tree with gifts brought by the guests at the séance for the children in spirit. The children would describe and take the etheric counterpart of the toy they wanted.
After the séance was over the actual toys would be taken to the children’s ward at the local hospital.
The séance opened with the singing of ‘Silent Night’, followed by ‘Jingle Bells’. Very quickly the spirit activity began. Fragile decorations from the Christmas tree were bounced off the walls, yet none were broken!
A box of toffees was opened with various people announcing that a toffee had been placed on their lap.
I asked why I hadn’t been given a toffee and immediately, two landed in my lap - even though I was seated four rows back and the room was pitch-black.
Both adult and child spirit communicators spoke during the course of the séance.
Maurice Chevalier, who passed over in 1972, gave a short talk. Nellie Klute, a theatre programme seller who passed in 1917, communicated, and when asked by medium Jessie Nason how she was, Nellie replied,
“I’ll live. And you?”
Among the spirit children who spoke were Doris, Robert, Daisy, Peter, Pat and Ian; each with their own distinctive personality, all interspersed with comments and asides from Mickey, the cockney guide of Leslie Flint.
At the same time as the children were selecting their toys, a little toy piano or drum would be played.
As two children argued over a particular toy Mickey would break in saying “Ere, pack it in you two” so that three voices would be heard simultaneously. Not only were these voices different, but various accents such as Scottish and American were spoken. The spirit children would request us to sing a particular song and [they] would often sing along.
After the séance was over and the lights went on, we found that the Christmas tree had almost been stripped of its decorations, an empty box of toffees lay beside it and the various parcels, although unopened, were in a state of disarray.
It is almost impossible to convey in words the atmosphere of joy, delight, humour, excitement and expectation that was present at these Christmas séances.
My thanks go to Leslie Flint and his spirit helpers who helped to make these such memorable séances.”