Mme. d'Esperance
Encyclopedia
Mme. d'Esperance was a British spiritualist
medium
who, according to Nandor Fodor
, exemplified "the quality evidence available through physical mediumship
, but also, the problems that occurred in respect of female mediums in Victorian England".
) adopted the pseudonym "Mme. d'Esperance" and as such travelled through many European countries, giving performances in Denmark
, France
, Norway
, Belgium
, Sweden
and Germany
.
In Sweden Mme. d'Esperance produced her first materializations, her control Walter Stacey being the first one to appear - initially as a "smiling face", later in flesh. A couple of so much more spectacular spirit-guides arrived later: Yolande, a young Arab
girl, and Nepenthes, an Egypt
ian beauty. It was the first of the two who demonstrated (according to some investigators, including William Oxley, Alexandr N. Aksakov
, professors Butleroff
and Fiedler) extraordinary abilities to produce flower apports, the most spectacular of them being a 7 feet (2.1 m) Golden Lily. This immense flower appeared during the seance on 28 June 1890, stayed in darkness for a week (due to medium’s alleged inability to produce enough energy for its dematerialization) and "vanished in an instant, filling the room with an overpowering perfume". It was Yolanda’s habit to wander freely among guests and flirt with men, though, that (according to Doctor Fodor again) gave Mme. d'Esperance some grave physical traumas, the worst of which (in 1883) caused the rupture of her lung due to the so-called "ectoplasm
ic impact".
The fact that Mme. d'Esperance’s female controls were looking strangely similar to herself made sceptics smell fraud. According to one of the believers, Alexander N. Aksakoff, though, what actually happened was dematerialization of the medium’s physical body and its total merging with the phantom’s one. This theory has been advanced in full detail in his book A Case of Partial Dematerialization, where he claimed to have "had an experience which strongly suggested that, in some cases at least, the body of the medium is entirely absorbed for the production of apparitions outside the cabinet". In March 1890 Mme. d'Esperance's materialized figures' first photographs were produced and later included in the book Mediums and Daybreak.
Later Mme. d'Esperance stopped using cabinets and allegedly proved her ability to demonstrate herself and her "phantoms" simultaneously. In 1897 she published the acclaimed book Shadow Land (or: Light from the Other Side, London, Redway, 1897) (with preface by Aksakoff again) in which she gave full account of her troubled life and highlighted the "outrages" to which young female mediums in Victorian England were subjected by middle-aged, middle-class male academics. "My blood boils within me when I hear of sensitive mediums... being subjected to the indignities and insults of these 'investigators'", she wrote.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Mme. d'Esperance found herself in Germany, where she was interned and searched. All of her papers collected for Shadow Land’s second volume were confiscated and never resurfaced again.
Her Last mediumistic seance was held on May 1, 1919, in (Østerbro) Copenhagen, Denmark. She died shortly after that, on July 20, 1919.
Spiritualism
Spiritualism is a belief system or religion, postulating the belief that spirits of the dead residing in the spirit world have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living...
medium
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
who, according to Nandor Fodor
Nandor Fodor
Nandor Fodor was a British and American parapsychologist, psychologist, author and journalist of Hungarian birth, one of the leading authorities on poltergeists, haunting and all kinds of paranormal phenomena usually associated with mediumship...
, exemplified "the quality evidence available through physical mediumship
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
, but also, the problems that occurred in respect of female mediums in Victorian England".
Biography
Having spent rather troubled childhood full of weird visions, mother’s scolding and doctors’ harassment, Elizabeth discovered spiritualism and in the early 1870s experienced her first mediumistic powers, expressed first in table-tipping and automatic writing. According to many witnesses she also demonstrated abilities in clairvoyance. Elizabeth (who by this time married a Mr. Reid and was based in NewcastleNewcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
) adopted the pseudonym "Mme. d'Esperance" and as such travelled through many European countries, giving performances in Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
In Sweden Mme. d'Esperance produced her first materializations, her control Walter Stacey being the first one to appear - initially as a "smiling face", later in flesh. A couple of so much more spectacular spirit-guides arrived later: Yolande, a young Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
girl, and Nepenthes, an Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian beauty. It was the first of the two who demonstrated (according to some investigators, including William Oxley, Alexandr N. Aksakov
Alexandr Aksakov
Alexandr Nikolayevich Aksakov was a Russian author, translator, journalist, editor, and psychic researcher....
, professors Butleroff
Aleksandr Butlerov
Aleksandr Mikhailovich Butlerov was a Russian chemist, one of the principal creators of the theory of chemical structure , the first to incorporate double bonds into structural formulas, the discoverer of hexamine , and the discoverer of the formose reaction.The...
and Fiedler) extraordinary abilities to produce flower apports, the most spectacular of them being a 7 feet (2.1 m) Golden Lily. This immense flower appeared during the seance on 28 June 1890, stayed in darkness for a week (due to medium’s alleged inability to produce enough energy for its dematerialization) and "vanished in an instant, filling the room with an overpowering perfume". It was Yolanda’s habit to wander freely among guests and flirt with men, though, that (according to Doctor Fodor again) gave Mme. d'Esperance some grave physical traumas, the worst of which (in 1883) caused the rupture of her lung due to the so-called "ectoplasm
Ectoplasm (paranormal)
Ectoplasm is a term coined by Charles Richet to denote a substance or spiritual energy "exteriorized" by physical mediums...
ic impact".
The fact that Mme. d'Esperance’s female controls were looking strangely similar to herself made sceptics smell fraud. According to one of the believers, Alexander N. Aksakoff, though, what actually happened was dematerialization of the medium’s physical body and its total merging with the phantom’s one. This theory has been advanced in full detail in his book A Case of Partial Dematerialization, where he claimed to have "had an experience which strongly suggested that, in some cases at least, the body of the medium is entirely absorbed for the production of apparitions outside the cabinet". In March 1890 Mme. d'Esperance's materialized figures' first photographs were produced and later included in the book Mediums and Daybreak.
Later Mme. d'Esperance stopped using cabinets and allegedly proved her ability to demonstrate herself and her "phantoms" simultaneously. In 1897 she published the acclaimed book Shadow Land (or: Light from the Other Side, London, Redway, 1897) (with preface by Aksakoff again) in which she gave full account of her troubled life and highlighted the "outrages" to which young female mediums in Victorian England were subjected by middle-aged, middle-class male academics. "My blood boils within me when I hear of sensitive mediums... being subjected to the indignities and insults of these 'investigators'", she wrote.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Mme. d'Esperance found herself in Germany, where she was interned and searched. All of her papers collected for Shadow Land’s second volume were confiscated and never resurfaced again.
Her Last mediumistic seance was held on May 1, 1919, in (Østerbro) Copenhagen, Denmark. She died shortly after that, on July 20, 1919.
Literature
- B. Inglis, Natural and Supernatural (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1977)
- W. L. Curnow, The Physical Phenomena of Spiritualism (Manchester: Two Worlds Publishing, 1925)
- S. Muldoon and H. Carrington, The Phenomena of Astral Projection (London: Rider and Co, 1951)
- A. Owen, The Darkened Room (London: Virago, 1989)
- H. Boddington, The University of Spiritualism (London: Spiritualist Press, 1947)
- H. E Bonne, Livet og åndeverdenen - Psykiske oplevelser gennem 25 år (Denmark (1. oplag 1924), (2. oplag 1983, Strubbes forlag))