Book: Experiments in Movement from afar

Chapter: Further recordings from scientifically interested session participants

Page 151: “Due to the kindness of Dr. Baron von Schrenck-Notzing I was granted the privilege of attending more than 49 experimental sessions with the medium Willi Sch. They were held in the private laboratory of Dr. v.Schrenck as well as in the rooms of the psychological institute of the University in Munich. More than thirty times I took control of the medium myself during the experiments. Therefore, I can now be emboldened to pass judgement with as much certainty as an experimenter can have concerning his own perception.

When handing over control, the medium puts himself completely in the hands of the controller. I held Willis’ wrists with both of my hands or took both of his hands into mine. His two feet were either constrained by mine or pressed against the chair legs in such way, that I could always secure them. The medium’s head was either lying on my lap or against my shoulder. This position ensured a close contact and controlling the medium was easy, because one could sense every twitch and every slight movement of his body. On the contrary, he never tried to escape this control with any limb of his body. Shortly before the phenomena appeared or during its presence, he always sought close contact with the controller, as if he was looking for protection or help. He literarily pressed himself against him by – for example – squeezing my hands until it hurt. His behaviour proved in every way that the physical contact was a source of power for him. He has never found the control to be a strain. During the appearances – especially of the telekinetic phenomena – I always watched the position of his feet and could never detect any suspicious movement from them. He would never move his feet at all. Even when Count Klinckowstroen believed to have felt one, I was sure that the feet never left their place. It would have been impossible for Willi to make an unobserved movement due to the position I had adopted. It was especially interesting to be able to exercise this kind of control and not only because it was a very impressive experience, to virtually imprison the medium and at the same time to be able to see objects moving in a remote place (approx. 1,20 metres). In fact, to see a movement which had truly nothing to do with the natural limbs of the medium. But what makes it especially interesting is the fact that only in this way does one have the occasion to observe the materialisation of the phenomena at close range.

Compared to others sitting in the distance and only able to observe the result, for example the movement of an object from afar, I could often see a fluid-like shape exiting the body of the medium and accomplishing the performance. Often this entity could only be sensed as resistance as it passed my arm or my leg or bumped them accidentally. One day I could see against the light of the lamp a shadowy prolongation coming from the medium moving towards a table that was standing in the middle approx. 1,20 metres away. This was followed by table movements which could be seen by everyone. Sometimes these “limbs” looked bright and sometimes dark, depending on whether the light fell directly upon them or if you saw them against the light. However, the colour seemed to be in proportion to the density of the object. The efflorescences seemed to emerge from totally different parts of the medium’s body. I saw a dark arm coming from the medium’s neck, moving past my eyes to Dr. Osbourne who was sitting next to me. At this very same moment he cried out that he was being touched. On another occasion, I could see a kind of arm in the shape of a yellowish-green gas column rising from the medium’s back while he had his head in my lap. The end of this column clearly consolidated into a hand and everyone could see that it was waving. In most cases the emerging of this fluid seemed to happen in a diffused kind of way. In any case, it was often only possible to see a bright cloud which then disappeared, reappeared, intensified and disappeared again. For a while this game went back and forth until a more solid form could be discerned. Of course, the cloud was always noticeable at the corresponding height of the leg, arm or neck, there where the limb would later form. Temporarily it would float into the room, especially towards the curtain, but always stayed in some kind of mysterious end contact with the medium’s body. It seems as if the first act was the emission of the matter and the shaping into a limb or a phantom took place only in the second act. If by accident the body area preparing to be the exit place was touched the medium suffered from pain. This could be seen by the reflective reaction which could not have been simulated because nothing could be seen yet. This was a sign that a real organic reshaping was taking place. The next sign was a “cold breeze” which was always stated individually by all participants. As the controller, one could clearly feel it emanating from a certain spot. From there on one knew where the “limb” would develop. A very popular place for the emanations was, apart from the ones described above, the lateral rib cage. This place of origin seemed to offer the best possibility to the fluorescence to perform on the ground as well as on the table. Apparently, it was always very difficult for a fluorescence emerging from a hip to rise upwards and also the limb emerging from the shoulder had difficulties to achieve anything on the ground. 

I could often see synchronous movements of Wills’ limbs taking place parallel to the performance of the limb. When a music box was made to play (by the fluorescence) his hands would rhythmically move back and forth. If the music box was meant to stop he would raise his arm into the air imperiously. If he should a raise a table situated to his left body side, he would lean his body far to the left as if to make the performance easier for his emanating limp to act by using leverage. Generally, his whole behaviour during the phenomena indicated that his organism was under high tension therefore immediate deep slackness and fatigue followed the ending of the phenomena.”

(Source: Experiments with movement from afar (telekinesis) – in the psychological institute of the University of Munich and in the laboratory of the writer. Author: Dr. med. Albert Baron von Schrenck-Notzing, publishing house: Union Deutsche Verlagsgesellschaft Stuttgart/Berlin/Leipzig, 1924)