Beatrice Rose Stella Patrick Campbell
February 1865 - April 1940
The Mrs. Stella 'Patrick' Campbell séance
Recorded: May 26th 1972
In this unique recording, The Edwardian stage actress
Mrs Beatrice Rose Stella 'Patrick' Campbell
speaks to Ida Cook and Louise Cook about her love of animals
and her relief in finding that animals survive death.
She explains her efforts to reproduce her Earthly voice, for those who would doubt her identity - as recommended to her by George Bernard Shaw.
Then she shares her own philosophy and gives lots of advice to the Cook sisters on their own efforts to develop Spirit communication, adding that their group
is like an 'oasis in the desert' for people on both sides of life.
Present: Ida Cook, Louise Cook, Leslie Flint.
Communicators:
Mrs Stella Campbell, Mickey.
Mrs
Campbell:
I do not know if
you can hear?
Cook:
Oh
yes, marvellous...
Cook:
Oh
yes...You've got wonderful projection.
Mickey:
Hold
on...
Mrs Campbell:
I
have wanted to come to talk to you...
Cook:
Yes?
Mrs Campbell:
...for
quite a long time.
Cook:
We
are very pleased...
Mickey:
Hold
on...
[The Cook sisters talk between themselves]
Mrs
Campbell:
Extraordinary
business coming to
talk to you in this fashion. Can you hear me?
Cook:
Perfectly.
Cook:
We can.
Cook:
You're very good
indeed.
Cook:
Bless
you and thank you for coming.
Cook:
Yes.
Mrs
Campbell:
Extraordinary. If
anyone had told me that I could come and speak to you in this fashion
I would not have believed it.
Cook:
No?
Cook:
We understand, yes.
Mrs
Campbell:
Although I had
several friends who were Spiritualists.
Cook:
Yes...
Mrs Campbell:
I
was interested to a point...
Cook:
Were
you?
Mrs Campbell:
...but
I never myself had any practical experience and as far as my memory
serves me I have no recollection of ever having sat in a séance.
Cook:
No,
no...
Mrs Campbell:
And
some of my not so kind friends, in my latter years, said that I would
have made a very good medium.
[Laughter]
Mrs
Campbell:
But I don’t think
somehow, I looked anything like a medium.
Cook:
No
I don't believe you did.
Mrs Campbell:
Not,
certainly like some of the mediums that I have visited since I've
been, so-called, 'dead.'
Cook:
Oh
yes...?
Mrs Campbell:
...and
frankly some of those that I visited out of curiosity more than
anything else, I wouldn’t be seen dead in their company...
[Laughter]
Mrs Campbell:
But
I am quite sure that they don’t see very much or hear very much and
certainly they haven’t seen me, thank goodness. I have been able to
avoid them.
[Laughter]
Cook:
You
still have a very trenchant way of speaking.
Mrs Campbell:
I
have a strong sense of humour and being dead, it's very essential,
otherwise you would never cope.
[Laughter]
Ida Cook:
No,
no...
Mrs Campbell:
The
greatest joy that I have had since coming over here is to know that
animals...
Cook:
Ah...ah...
Mrs
Campbell:
...exist.
Ida Cook:
Yes.
Mrs Campbell:
To
me there would be no paradise, no happiness, no joy without my Pekes.
Cook:
Oh
of course, I remember...
Cook:
Oh,
how right you are.
Mrs Campbell:
Many
a time on Earth, I refused to stay with friends or even in hotels,
because they wouldn’t allow the Pekinese or at least they showed
some resentment towards them. And how any human being could show
resentment to a poor, dumb creature I don’t know.
Cook:
No,
no quite.
Mrs Campbell:
You
write books I’m told.
Cook:
I
do.
Mrs Campbell:
I
understand from Shaw, that you are a writer of sorts.
Cook:
Of
sorts, yes. Novels.
Mrs
Campbell:
Novels?
Cook:
Yes.
Mrs Campbell:
Well,
a novel can be a work of art.
Cook:
I
don’t think I'd say they're works of art.
Mrs Campbell:
Well,
shall we assume that they are?
Cook:
Oh that’s nice.
Mrs
Campbell:
...make the whole
situation so much more pleasant.
Cook:
Yes
alright.
[Laughter]
Cook:
We
will, we will...very much.
Mrs
Campbell:
[Whispering] May I
confide in you?
Cook:
Yes. Yes you can.
Mrs Campbell:
I'm
really asserting myself more for your sakes than anything else,
because I can quite appreciate that people on your side of
life...quite rightly and naturally would be very critical when they
come to listen to this...recording, or whatever it is you call it and
say 'well is that so and so or isn’t it?'
Cook:
Yes.
Mrs Campbell:
And
if I assert myself...and try to reproduce, as memory serves me,
something of my old self and personality...then it would be more
acceptable to them...
Cook:
Yes.
Mrs Campbell:
...but
I have changed.
Cook:
Ah
yes, I am sure we all do...
Mrs Campbell:
I
do this deliberately because Shaw told me to...You know Shaw has
told, not only me, but other souls how important it is, when you
communicate, to try to assert yourself so that as far as it is
possible, you can be recognisable to those on Earth...as the
personality that once you were, even though you may have changed
since then.
So
if I am doing this in this way it is not just for your benefit, but
for the benefit of any soul on your side who is seeking truth and
seeking evidence of survival of personality - but I am endeavouring
to assert mine. From this point of view only I can assure you that I
have changed, as indeed must we all change eventually for the
better.
Cook:
Yes, of course.
Mrs
Campbell:
Although I must say
I know that I could have been and was considered a very difficult
person, but nevertheless, I had my good points.
Cook:
I’m
sure...
Mrs Campbell:
And
my love for animals was the key that unlocked the door for me...
Cook:
Really?
Mrs Campbell:
...and
I think that if people in your world were to realise this truth,
which is an aspect of many truths...that that which we do, not only
unto others, but particularly to those who are in no position to
defend themselves and who depend so much on our kindliness and
consideration.
If we consider the dumb creatures...the so called 'less fortunate' creatures, then surely this is a key that will unlock many doors. The doors of love...of tolerance and well-being, making our path more sure, and more towards that goal which we all aspire.
Cook:
Yes. Yes.
Mrs Campbell:
...the
oneness with the eternal. I cannot bear cruelty to poor dumb
creatures.
Cook:
No.
It does happen so much.
Mrs Campbell:
So
many people do not give them credit, for the wonderful intelligence
that they have and the sensitivity. You know, animals can see and
hear far more than the human being when on Earth.
Cook:
I
believe that.
Mrs Campbell:
My
little dogs were very sensitive and they suffered, in their own
fashion, as we suffer. That is why we must, at all times, care for
them...Man has lost to some extent the path because he has gone too
far in the opposite direction away from nature, away from the
sensitivity that the animal kingdom still has.
Cook:
Yes.
Cook:
How very right you are.
Mrs Campbell:
I
have been to your séances.
Cook:
Have
you really?
Mrs Campbell:
I
have not spoken of course, but I have been brought there by various
souls at different times and your little group is quite...an oasis in
the desert of your world...
Cook:
Oh,
how lovely to hear.
Mrs
Campbell:
...from both sides
of life.
Perhaps there are times when you may feel
disheartened or if not exactly discontented, wondering how you are
progressing. Sometimes it is human and natural to feel like this that
you sit, as you call it, week in and week out...year in and year
out...and very little seems to be happening.
It is true there
is one young man there who has a remarkable, what you call
mediumship, which is beginning to show excellent signs of
development. But you know, Shaw and others who have been to your
group, have great hope that one day we shall be able to come and
speak to you as I am speaking now.
Cook:
How wonderful !
Mrs Campbell:
This
is, I understand, the real purpose and intent of your group.
Cook:
We
hope...
Mrs Campbell:
Your
hope for it and they are convinced that, eventually it shall come.
But of course, evidently, these things do take often many years.
Cook:
Yes, and we all only
want to serve, certainly.
Mrs
Campbell:
Service, real
service, is the key or one of the many keys that unlock doors that
lead to spiritual awareness and consciousness and unfoldment. There
are many of aspects of this great truth, and it’s only now that I’m
beginning to realise the greatness possibility - not only for myself
but for untold numbers of other souls. If only we could break down
the barriers between your world and ours...we could bring into your
world a great revelation of truth.
Man would change in
consequence and the world would find harmony and peace and love and
tranquillity and brotherhood. We have such faith, but we do realise
how much we need suitable instruments...who will make this possible.
That is why your group is so important that it can open the door for
many. Don’t lose heart.
Cook:
Oh no we wont dear, we won't.
Mrs Campbell:
You
know sometimes when we come to you, we stand there, waiting
patiently...and we hope for so much and we too have a sense sometimes
of disappointment just as you must. In a sense perhaps it is more
difficult for us than for you.
Cook:
Oh...yes
I’m sure...
Mrs Campbell:
All
that you can do is to sit patiently, in reverence and in harmony,
hoping and praying that the time is not far distant when we shall
succeed in that which we have undertaken together. But at the same
time, it is we on this side who have so much to do.
Cook:
Yes...So complex.
Mrs Campbell:
There
are those whose task it is to work in a scientific, I suppose kind of
way, to make it possible. There are those whose task it is to build,
as they term it, from the ectoplasm or the substance which is used,
which is taken from the instrument or the medium and indeed from the
rest of the circle...
Cook:
Yes...
Mrs Campbell:
...we
can all make a contribution - and utilising this power, as they say,
so that it can be used, moulded...manufacturing I suppose is not the
word, but it's the only word that I can think of to make what is a
replica of the vocal organs necessary for speech. So that we can
eventually speak to you, vibrating your atmosphere, speaking to you
as best we may and endeavouring to reassert our true selves so that
we shall be heard and recognised...to bring conviction and evidence
into your world. This is our hope and our prayer, as it is yours.
Cook:
Yes,
my
dear.
Mrs Campbell:
But
you know, if it were possible for you to visualise, to see with a
clarity of vision, innumerable souls; souls without number, who come
who stand around bringing such love, such tremendous love to you.
Many of them you know not, others you know well - old friends,
relations, guides, a number...a number of souls who you know
not...who are attracted by the beauty of the radiance of the spirit
that emanates, that glows in the darkness of your world; a creation
of your own thoughts and personalities.
You see when you sit together it is as if you are blended, as indeed you are; your auras becoming interwoven as one - and it is if it were a light encompasses you...and it is an attraction to many souls on this side.
And
of course, although there are those who have a prior claim, there are
many who are drawn and attracted. Some who perhaps are very near the
Earth, but they stand around in wonderment. They are not permitted to
communicate, it is true, but nevertheless they are helped by being
present and though you may not perhaps realise this, in your own way,
though you have no real knowledge of it, you are helping them.
Because your guides and your friends, seeing them there, help them
and when they depart they go with them and they are helped and
uplifted and brought out of the darkness of their own souls, into a
greater realisation of the purpose of life.
They’re taken, as it were, out of the astral into the light of the true spirit.
Cook:
Oh
yes.
Mrs Campbell:
...and
so...so you see, you are doing more than you know. Whether [either of
you] are sitting there with the object or the desire of communicating
with souls who will come to uplift, to instruct, to guide...but also
you are, to some extent, encouraging others less fortunate, who are
blessed by your thoughts and your prayers; who are shown the path and
guidance out of the darkness into the light. Remember this too
[unintelligible].
I
think...I think it must be extremely difficult for people on your
side to grasp the true meaning and the true reality of spirit. Even
those who claim to be [unintelligible] and have some knowledge and
experience through communication, do not - many of them I’m sure -
grasp the full purpose and meaning and intent of our communing
together. There are so many who are contented to stay on the plane
which is not very far removed from Earth itself...
Cook:
No,
quite.
Mrs Campbell:
and
this is the tragedy of Spiritualism I understand. Whether you go to
this society, or church or meeting house or even to this or that circle, it is
extraordinary the number of peoples who should know better. They are
contented together to scratch at the surface and not delve deeply for
that which is hidden underneath. Many are content with a façade and
[do] not look for the substance.
Cook:
No.
Mrs Campbell:
You
are thinking of substance of spirit; the reality of spirit, the
strength and the power of the spirit and this is what is so
important. I know and I have listened to many over here who have
discussed this at great length, who have made a habit and a point of
going to this and that medium and this and that church, in the hope
that they could in some measure, uplift and inspire - and give them a
greater realisation of the meaning and purpose of the work of the
spirit. But often it has been impossible to [unintelligible]
people.
That is why it is so vital, so important, that the
higher aspirations of your circle - and any circle - it must be to
contact the realms of spirit in all their beauty and all their glory,
but only those who come with the true message of spirit, who can give
the truth and the upliftment and give this glorious realisation of
what it means to be a real Spiritualist...with the accent on the
'spiritual' - there's so little accent, in the Spiritualist Movement,
on the spiritual.
Indeed, from what I have gathered myself
and experienced, so much is of the material and the astral. And it
was a joy to come to you, because I know from the experience that
I've had in your little group, a new tentative purpose, a reality of
purpose. This is what counts, this is what matters. We must always
aspire to all that is good and within the process of our reaching out
to others, we must remember the less fortunate and give to them all
that we may, of comfort and help...give to them our strength that
they too may become strong, so that they too may lead others out of
the darkness into the light.
Shaw
has very much that he wants to convey to the world...and I am sure
that eventually he will do this.
I am convinced that he has a message, in which - if it can be received and taken down - will be a great inspiration, a great strength, which will help many to build on a sure rock, an edifice.
Cook:
I
wonder ?
Mrs Campbell:
You
know, [unintelligible] one could mention great souls who are waiting
for the opportunity of finding the right instrument or the right
circle, whereby they would be permitted and be able to come and give
forth, not only a great message for the world, but they could give of
themselves in such a way, that they could add to the structure such a
strength and such a power, that there shall be none in your world who
could deny the reality and the truth of communing [with us].
The
door has been opened in various ways...there are those in your world
who shall write the words of the spirit. There are those in your
world who shall hear the music of the spheres - and it shall come
through the instrumentality of individuals who are able to take down
and it shall be recorded. There are those in this world of ours who
can write, in such a way that plays shall be given and be
performed...it shall be an illustration to your world of the reality
of the spirit.
There
are many, many ways in which we can serve. And we shall serve
and each one shall serve, in the way which best for him or for her.
You shall serve, you shall work for the spirit, you [shall] be able
to do many things and your circle shall be greatly blessed
[unintelligible]. So do not...I mean, sometimes it is human to doubt
or perhaps to be disconsolate or to feel that perhaps you are not
achieving very much. These are human frailties and [unintelligible] -
these are things that must happen, even to us.
When we are striving hard, we feel sometimes as you feel, this is partly due of course to the fact that while we are attempting to communicate with Earth, to some extent, obviously working in material thought and conditions.
Cook:
Yes,
quite.
Mrs Campbell:
So
we take upon, temporarily of course, something of the old self,
something of yourself, something of the Earth. But I can assure you
that where there is faith and the power of the holy spirit, all
things are possible. Nothing is impossible to the power of the spirit
and that is why I am confident as I speak to you, not only for
myself, but for untold numbers of souls who stand all around and
about us. But we shall succeed in that which we have undertaken, for
that which we bring you is greater than ourselves.
We
are but the humble instruments of a greater power. Know this and
[unintelligible] know that all things with God are possible. We
cannot and we shall not fail. We see it in your world, the great need
of knowing. We've seen the great travailing in which man
[unintelligible], which he himself in his [unintelligible] and
foolishness has created. But we know that as man creates, to
[unintelligible], so he can create through the power of knowledge and
truth and love.
And in consequence he shall change the world with [unintelligible] on these things that are good, that are eternal, that nothing can wipe away. We shall work together for this common good of man and in some measure we shall have success.
Cook:
Yes.
Mrs Campbell:
We
cannot expect or hope for a great deal, perhaps, too soon, but we
[unintelligible] slowly but surely towards the goal that was set. And
so my friends, we are all playing our part in this great scheme of
life. It may seem to you like a jigsaw puzzle, of which you have a
little piece here...
Cook:
Yes...
Mrs Campbell:
...and
a little piece there, and you cannot see the completed picture. But
your little part [unintelligible] and play a very important part to
the whole. Therefore be patient and know that we are with you, and
that we work with you and for you and for the world. Our love and our
blessings be upon you always and I hope, in attempting to assert
myself in the beginning of my little talk to you, it may have some
meaning or give some proof of some kind to those who may listen.
Cook:
...it's
recorded.
Mrs Campbell:
Yet it matters not in the
face of it. But we are anxious to convince your world...we do what we
can.
My blessings and the blessing of ALL of us here, now and always. Goodbye.
Cook:
Goodbye. Thank you.
Mickey:
'Course
she did her best. She asserted herself...
Cook:
She's wonderful...
Mickey:
...you
know, she has a great intensity, and, well she was an actress and all
that, and she feels very strongly.
Anyway I'll see you girls when...when she comes back won't I?
Cook:
Yes,
indeed...
Mickey:
My
love and blessings and I’ll come and see you occasionally in your
circle...bye-bye and love to all of them, bye-bye.
Cook:
Goodbye
dear.
Flint:
Bye-bye
dear.
Louise Cook:
Goodbye
dear.