Mystic Experiences of a Primadonna

CHAPTER ONE

My Initiation Into Spiritualism

At the age of sixteen I was introduced into the mysterious world of Spiritualism by a famous medium, Grace von Reuter, the mother of the American violinist Florizel von Reuter. Whenever the von Reuter family came to Germany where we lived, they would stay with us. My parents originally came from Seattle where Dad had practiced dentistry. Hearing American dentists were needed in Germany, he decided to move to the town where he had studied violin as a young man Dresden. My parents stayed there through two world wars, financial collapse, revolutions and hardships as well as happiness (being deeply in love). In fact, they spread love to all whom they came in contact with.

When Florizel arrived one day from a trip to England where he had been visiting his friend, Sir Conan Doyle, an ardent spiritualist, his suitcase bulged with psychic photographs, pamphlets, and psychic evidence. He had also brought a trumpet along, used in seances, that would levitate and serve as a megaphone for spirit voices. Fascinated, I begged for a demonstration. Florizel and his mother agreed to have a seance. I shall never forget that evening. It has influenced my entire life.

A balmy day in May, flowers were awakening after winter’s sleep. It signified also my awakening to the miracle of being able to communicate with our loved ones in the spirit world. Only my parents, the von Reuters and I were present.

We began the seance with the Lord’s Prayer and then sang a hymn. We sat in a circle holding hands. The trumpet was on the table. We conversed quietly until, to my amazement, the trumpet rose towards the ceiling, then descended gently. A whisper came from it as "Patsy" announced himself. It was Mrs. von Reuter’s guide. The whisper grew stronger so we could all hear him. He greeted us and thanked my parents for inviting him into our home. He said there was a lady who wanted to speak to Elinor. Almost immediately a woman’s voice said, "This is Jenny Lind; you know me as the Swedish Nightingale. I know you have a beautiful voice and are studying to be an opera singer. I shall help you. Never be discouraged. You will succeed and have a brilliant career, my sweet beloved child. To remember me, I am giving you a blue bead."

The trumpet leaned forward and we heard a click on the table. I reached for the bead, but the heat of it caused me to draw back my hand. Florizel explained that anything the spirit friends bring us has to be dematerialized and put together again. This involves tremendous heat.

That night, we also received fresh violets from the trumpet. Then, I felt fingers take a string of beads from around my neck, and place them around Mrs. von Reuter’s. Mother’s glasses were removed and placed on Dad’s nose. Then someone played a few chords on the piano and a man’s voice asked for my father, speaking in Norwegian.

"It’s my father," cried my dad. His father, Kristofer Janson, and he spoke together a long time about things only they knew about each other. Then a doctor came and looked us over to see if we were in good health. Many spirits came, speaking in various languages, relatives, friends, strangers . . . eager to make contact with us. Then someone strummed Florizel’s violin lying far from us on a shelf. The seance took about one and a half hours and proved most convincing.

What happened that memorable night would have been impossible to fake. From that night on, I promised myself to pursue psychic phenomena and it has always been a vital important part of my life.

My singing career took me to many countries where I tried to find people interested in spiritualism. Italy and South America proved to be very lucky for me in this respect, for I met some of the finest mediums who strengthened me in my quest for the truth of man’s survival. Italy steeped in Catholical Mysticism fascinated me. In Florence, in one of the churches is a statue of the bleeding Christ that was supposed to perform miracles . . . AND IT DID! I witnessed it myself through people kneeling there in a quest for help, which they received. The Italians are devout. The climate, romantic surrounding, art and beauty certainly contribute to the influx of mystical phenomena.

Surprisingly, I found the Argentine people receptive to psychic phenomena. Perhaps this is true due to the influence of the large British Colony, especially in Buenos Aires. We had a nice Psychic Centre and library there, run by Britishers. Since I, too, had become a medium doing psychometry and automatic writing since my teen years in Dresden, I devoted much time in Buenos Aires giving lectures and seances. In a friend’s house in the suburb of Belgranmo we had weekly sessions.

My main guide was John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, who gave us some wonderful insight about life in the beyond. He said he was shocked in passing over to find that many of his beliefs were wrong. "I thought I had built a church, but coming to the other side, I found it was only an empty vault I had built. As our existence in heaven is gaged on the way we live our lives on earth we have to go through a process of spiritual progress every soul is subjected to. So there are seven spheres of development. Every soul aspires through good unselfish deeds to cleanse the soul and prepare it for as high as development as we can achieve. John Wesley emphasized this by saying that he could not go to a higher plane before he had told earth dwellers the truth he had learned since his passing. After three years of weekly extensive messages, he came one day in an excited emotional manner, saying, "I have given you the wisdom and truth I have acquired since coming here and have been allowed to ascend to a higher plane." Then he gave us the most moving prayer I have ever heard that brought tears to our eyes.

I have collected John Wesley’s material faithfully, until it has become quite a volume. I am having it published under the name, "John Wesley Speaks Again." Here is his prayer: "Heavenly and mysterious are the wonders floating through the ether Oh God beloved Father why can you not give unto your earth children the wisdom of second sight so they too may see the wonders I behold My Father, thou who art ALL IN ALL give unto them, my brothers and sisters the power to relieve pain, coming from the neglect of keeping in constant touch with you.

It is a great, urgent request, almost too much to ask for, but see, I am kneeling before you, my hands raised in anguish toward you. My eyes are streaming with tears that fall towards the earth, the earth you created in a loving moment. Forsake them not now but give them a reason to live through trials and troubles, and the joy of true understanding of your divine laws.

Oh, do not look away, or hide your countenance behind a cloud separating mankind from you.

I remember when I came to the world of Spirit and saw the beauty, harmony and love, reflecting your comforting presence. I accepted all of the suffering and pain of earth life worthwhile.

Give them faith so they may seek and find you. Hear their anguished cry for help and salvation.

They are way down in the valley, as mere specks on the horizon. But with your guidance they can overcome their plight and begin the ascent towards the hill of wisdom surrounded by eternal light.

I have joined, my friends on Mother Earth to