Eileen Garrett
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N HER autobiography,
Medium Eileen Garrett recalled her first trance state,
which occurred in London during 1926 as she was sitting with a group of women
during a table-tilting seance. She drifted off into a “sleep,” and upon
awakening was told by the others that she began to speak of seeing the dead
relatives of those at the table. She was informed that an entity calling himself
“Uvani” claimed to be her control and that she would be working in the capacity
of Trance Medium for a number of years.
As later observed by psychical researcher Hereward Carrington, Garrett would
pass into a deep trance and, after a short wait, Uvani would begin speaking
through her mouth, addressing the sitter and inviting questions. Generally,
after a brief conversation with the sitter, Uvani would find or attempt to find
deceased loved ones. Uvani would frequently allow the deceased entities to speak
directly through Garrett (rather than relaying their words as other controls
often do). At the conclusion of the seance, Uvani would again take over her
organism, give a few parting words and say a short closing prayer. A secondary
control, calling himself “Abdul Latif,” would also manifest, primarily for
healing purposes.
Uvani claimed to be the surviving spirit one Yasuf ben Hafik ben Ali, an Arab
who had lived in Basrah during the early 1800s, dying at the age of 48 in a
battle with the Turks. He said he had been a member of a noble merchant family.
Carrington conducted many tests with Garrett, attempting to determine if Uvani
was a secondary personality arising out of Garrett’s subconscious. He noted that
Garrett was not spiritualistically inclined and was “on the fence” as to whether
Uvani was who he claimed to be.
“I have never been able wholly to accept them as the spiritual dwellers on the
threshold, which they seem to believe they are,” Garrett wrote of her controls.
“I rather leaned away from accepting them as such, a fact which is known to them
and troubles them not at all.”
Garrett went on to say that Uvani is nearly always detached, “the doorkeeper
cloaked in the personality of the guardian,” while Abdul Latif was more
universally oriented to outer events and therefore more positive in his
pronouncements and judgments.
Carrington had a number of personality and psychological tests administered to
Garrett and Uvani, believing that if Uvani were a fragmented personality of
Garrett’s subconscious the tests would pretty much be the same. As it turned
out, they were quite different. For example, Garrett scored in only the 21st
percentile on a measure of neurotic tendency, while Uvani scored in the 87th
percentile. On a test designed to measure introversion-extraversion, Garrett
scored 24, indicating a fair amount of extravertive tendency, while Uvani scored
80, very much on the introversion side.
In a test giving an indication of the number of schizoid traits an individual
possesses, Garrett had a normal 15 traits, but Uvani had 36, a score which was
far beyond normal and psychotic individuals, suggesting a tendency to daydream
and withdraw from “reality.” In a test asking them to list their four best and
four worst traits, Garrett listed “generous, honest, forgiving, and
conscientious” as her best traits. Uvani gave “honesty, physique, vigor, and
swordsmanship” as his best. Garrett listed “indifferent, too sensitive,
unsocial, and over-critical” as her worst traits, while Uvani gave “desire to
wander away from responsibility, desire for bloodshed, desire to rule his
household, and inability to forgive and forget easily” as his worst.
Carrington also tested Abdul Latif and deceased entities who were allowed to
take over Garrett’s body and communicate.
“The conclusion to which we seem driven, therefore,” Carrington summed it up,
“…is that ‘Uvani,’ and especially the other alleged entities, represent some
sort of independent entities, with no strong emotional or memory connections
with the normal Mrs. Garrett, or with any get-atable portion of her
subconscious.”
As might be expected, other researchers took issue with Carrington’s finding.
Carrington pointed out to them that even if Uvani is a secondary personality, it
does not explain how others, known to have existed as humans, are able to do the
same thing as Uvani, nor does it explain how they obtain information clearly
outside the scope of Garrett’s knowledge and experience.
Carrington interviewed Uvani as to his nature and methods. Uvani told him that
he had always been in close contact with Garrett during the uncharted years of
her life. He said that the moment he would see the wanderings of her
underconsciousness, he would be drawn to her.
“As the time draws near, I am able to impress upon the underconsciousness not
only my presence, but others, and I control that underconsciousness,” Uvani told
Carrington. “Of the conscious mind I have no control at all, nor would I find it
right.”
Uvani further told Carrington that Garrett’s conscious mind “is permitted to go
into the Cosmos, to renew itself, where it receives strength and is purified,”
just as in the sleep state for everyone, during the time he and others are using
her organism.
When Carrington asked how Uvani influences her brain and body, Uvani responded
that he does not influence either. “I use a ‘figment’ - the fabric of the soul -
which is stimulated by my thoughts; this stimulates the fabric and produces
automatic expression,” he explained, adding that it took him many years (of
earth time) to learn to subdue the conscious mind.
Asked how he knew when Garrett was ready for him to come, Uvani said he gets a
“telegraphed” impression that the “Instrument” is ready, explaining that the
moment that the conscious mind becomes very low, the soul-body becomes more
vibrant and that serves as a “telegram” for him to operate.
As for language, Uvani said he does not speak English. He simply impresses his
thoughts upon that “figment” with which he works and his thoughts are converted
to English automatically.
References:
Carrington, Hereward, The Case for Psychic Survival (New York: The Citadel
Press, 1957).
Garrett, Eileen J., Many Voices (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1968).
Source: Michael E. Tymn, vice-president of The Academy of Religion and Psychical
Research.
Source (with minor modifications): An Encyclopaedia
of Psychic Science by Nandor Fodor (1934).
Source with some minor addtions survivalafterdeath.com