The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

A general discussion re: the (secret?) consortium which seems to have influenced the life and work of Townsend Brown
natecull
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The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

Post by natecull »

I think I may have stumbled onto something really interesting in terms of the roots of the 'Caroline Group' which I don't see any references to so far. A search of the word 'Balfour' returns no hits.

Has anyone heard of a thing called 'The Cross-Correspondences'? It's legendary in the Society for Psychical Research as one of the most well-proven cases of spirit communication and links directly with Arthur Balfour - Prime Minister of Britain from 1902 to 1905 and Lord of the Admiralty just after Winston Churchill from 1915-1916 and Foreign Secretary from 1917-1919.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Balfour

http://www.prairieghosts.com/cross_corr.html

Was Balfour the one who formed the Caroline Group?
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natecull
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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

Post by natecull »

Some more links about the Cross-Correspondences:

http://www.montaguekeen.com/articles/montague/note.htm
http://redpill.dailygrail.com/wiki/Cros ... spondences
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eager-Dead-Arch ... 1846241839
http://www.philipcoppens.com/eagerdead.html

In 1930 the great Conservative statesman Arthur James Balfour lay dying at Fishers Hill, the Surrey home of his brother, Gerald Balfour. Among those who visited him was the medium 'Mrs Willett' - Winfred Coombe-Tennant - whose powerful vision of a young woman watching lovingly over the ailing politician she subsequently recorded. For a group of psychical researchers, the death of Arthur Balfour marked the culmination of one of the most famous incidents in the history of mediumship - the so-called Palm Sunday Case. In his youth, Arthur Balfour had fallen in love with the vivacious Mary Catherine Lyttelton, only for her to die of typhus on Palm Sunday, 1876, soon after he had decided to propose when next they met. Then, in the early 1900s, a number of mediums began to produce automatic scripts that purported to be dictated by 'entities' from beyond the grave, including Mary Lyttelton. Through a rich skein of poetic and Classical allusions, the souls spoke of survival after death, of Mary's undying love for Balfour and, most mysteriously of all, of a coming saviour who would, they claimed, save the world. In this powerful, meticulously researched study, Archie E Roy explores the personalities of the psychical researchers who devoted their lives to interpreting the Scripts. Using previously unpublished materials from the archives of Jean, Countess of Balfour, he also takes the story forward, examining the continuing resonance of the Scripts and the fate of the men and women whose lives were haunted by their legacy.
Arthur Balfour never married. He was known for being a very private individual. Very few people knew that Arthur had once been in love, but the love of his life Mary Lyttleton had died. Mary was one of the intelligences that contacted the living through the mediums – and would provide some clear evidence that the Intelligence passed on information which the mediums could never have known themselves.
It was Mrs. Willett who channelled her and it was in 1916 that the Script Intelligence implored Arthur to sit with Willett, which he reluctantly did. The Intelligence passed on certain information, which Arthur – the private individual he was – refused to confirm or comment upon at the time. It was only a long time after the session that Arthur sat down with his brother Gerald and told him about the action he had taken after Mary’s death four decades ago. All of sudden, some of the enigmatic references in the automatic scripts became clear, and both men knew something of Mary had survived death
Specifically, the SPR had labelled the references “The Palm Sunday Maiden”. It was a reference to how, on Palm Sunday, 1875, Mary Lyttelton had died of typhus. At the time of her death, Arthur and Mary’s sister Lavinia had decided to remember Mary in a very special and most intimate way – a secret rendez-vous, each Palm Sunday, to remember Mary, involving e.g. a lock of hair in a special reliquary that only the two of them knew about. But the Script Intelligence knew about it too.
Indeed, throughout his very public life, Arthur would keep Palm Sunday as a special day of remembrance, passing it in seclusion with Lavinia. For him, Mary’s death had been devastating, and he never married.
natecull
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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

Post by natecull »

This is a quote from a book 'Vanishing Night' by medium Juliet Goodenow ( http://www.spiritwritings.com/Vanishing ... odenow.pdf ), purporting to be communications in 1917 from Frederick Myers (one of the founders of the Society for Psychical Research, and at the centre of the 'Cross-Correspondences' which ran from 1901-1930). To me, this book is typical of the whole Cross-Correspondences - many of the more interesting and readable SpiritWritings.com automatic-writing books seem to be from this period - and, if true, suggests that around this time there did exist a dedicated 'project' on The Other Side to establish literal, physical communication between the living and the dead. (Plausible, I mean, if you buy into the existence of survival and mediumistic phenomena at all. And 'sets' that can communicate between dimensions. Heck of a big rabbit hole but...)

This scene jumped out at me when I read it, a few years ago. It gives me goosebumps today thinking in terms of an interwar and 'inter-world' US-UK 'Caroline Group':

Page 141 of the PDF if you want to read the whole thing.
THE DRAMA OF WORLDS
NEW YORK CITY,
March 19, 1917.

MUCH INTEREST attaches to this book, and a few desire to express briefly some sentiment in regard to Truth.

I have invited a few of my friends to participate in a discussion involving world movements at this time. In so doing we hope to prove first, individuality; and second, power to impress the subject matter in the mind of each individual present on the conscious, normal mind of our correspondent—inviting her to explain how she is able to differentiate speakers, how she is able to know various attitudes or gestures made by those who are only present in thought.
We have talked this event over and the consensus of opinion is that we assemble on the Westminster campus near the church. London is a favorite spot, for some of us are English by birth.
The gentlemen assembled here are: William Ewart Gladstone, William Shakespeare, Patrick Henry, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Ellery Channing, Henry Ward Beecher, Disraeli, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and William James.
The dictator of this paper has been elected chairman of the informal gathering, and invokes Divine Aid in the success of the experiment which he hopes will add indubitable proof to the fact of life beyond. . . Turning to the assembled meeting, he speaks:
"Gentlemen, to me this is a solemn occasion. We are to be witnesses of a law hitherto untested by science. A pact made between two worlds, a combine of minds—ten minds assembled here under the shadow of Westminster in the tenuous atmosphere of space, against one mind on the other side of life, and dwelling on another continent."
William Gladstone moves to a space near the Chairman and extends his arms toward the sea while one hand is lifted as in reverent meditation:
"The event is unparalleled in the world's history. I observe a faint ray of light traversing the air as I think of the words I should utter on such occasion as this— my thoughts travel through space on this spiral air-route, I notice that circles are described. There are no towers of observation or visible means of converting or assembling thought waves. They circle as thin puffs of light, blown as thistledown. If words and intelligible sentences may be carried across the dark waters to America and record made of them in human consciousness, and legibly transcribed, then indeed may we understand, for the God-made man stands fully revealed to the world."
"Here in my beloved England I wish to say, Peace be unto thee; that righteous peace justified by right doing.
"To the Premier:
"As suddenly as war came—as suddenly it goes, leaving the fields white with the harvest for the reaping."
The author and Mr. Gladstone turn and walk toward the rear of the church, while a white-robed figure advances and I hear the name of William Shakespeare.
Mr. Shakespeare does not commit his voice to speech. He holds in one hand a branch—it looks like a willow-bough, the tiny green leaves tremble in the breeze. He turns his face smiling toward America; he studies the waters, lifts his face upward and watches the flight of a seagull.
The Drama of Worlds imparts, an impetus to thought;
Time, winged with spears takes flight
Beneath the shadow of the night,
Strolling in heavy-hearted ease,
To see whate'er there be of light
Beyond this vale of tears,
In star-dimmed, fever-rimmed spheres.
The rest of a poem by 'Shakespeare' follows, along with the rest of the 'group' supposedly adding their comments.

Ok, this is from a 'channelled' document, so it's not evidential in the least... but it is, to me, highly suggestive, especially when you take this material into the context of the Cross-Correspondences, with Myers, James and the SPR on the one hand and Arthur Balfour on the other. All high-society British people with military and intelligence and occult links smack in the inter-war period when William Stephenson is building his network... and then later suggesting that his network includes people who are not quite 'of this world'...
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twigsnapper
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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

Post by twigsnapper »

Nate,

There is such a thing as what is called the " Balfour manner" which I have to admit adopting on more than one occasion. Actually it is simply the ability to keep ones private life devestatingly private and also maintain a sense of detatchment from the rest of the world and its trials. Whether that might be called a " Caroline Group" trait I would not really know but there is a certain similarity to that. Especially when you know the expanse of history and have a good idea of where it is going again. You detach yourself because there are certain things you know that you will have no bearing on, cannot have a bearing on. In essence you have to learn to do what you can do, when you can do it and then step back to see what people will do under their own steam. Sometimes, as with Eldridge Johnson it leads to severe melancholy because after a life of service, if you see a wrong turn being taken ... there is still nothing you can do and no one you may speak with about it. Except others of course who are in the same boat.

Oh, speaking of the "same boat" . Remember that the Caroline carried onboard a special first copy. And of the few things that Balfour was finally noted for there is this piece .... drawn from the below http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Balfour

"Theism and Humanism (1915), based on his first series of Gifford Lectures given in 1914 and is still in print. In 1962, Oxford writer C. S. Lewis told Christian Century that Theism and Humanism was one of the ten books that most influenced his thought."

Ah.... you see, a gentle thread indeed. twigsnapper
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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

Post by Griffin »

All part of the mix, IMO. A lot of persuasive evidence if you only look. Affinity again. It might remind you of the phrase, "a hand on the shoulder."

Keep digging, there's gold. The existence of the counterfeit only proves the existence of the genuine article.

Good to hear from you, Mr. Twigsnapper. Good day.

As ever (literally),

Griffin
natecull
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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

Post by natecull »

twigsnapper wrote: Oh, speaking of the "same boat" . Remember that the Caroline carried onboard a special first copy. And of the few things that Balfour was finally noted for there is this piece .... drawn from the below http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Balfour

"Theism and Humanism (1915), based on his first series of Gifford Lectures given in 1914 and is still in print. In 1962, Oxford writer C. S. Lewis told Christian Century that Theism and Humanism was one of the ten books that most influenced his thought."

Ah.... you see, a gentle thread indeed. twigsnapper
The Caroline carried a first copy of Theism and Humanism? Interesting.

Here it is online, by the way:

http://www.archive.org/details/theismhu ... 00balfuoft
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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

Post by AM2 »

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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

Post by twigsnapper »

Lets see, Mr. AM ....... no ..... counting my fingers and then my toes. My brain still seems to be functioning well enough thank you, and you assume incorrectly. The Caroline had a fine library with more than one book on board. twigsnapper
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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

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twigsnapper
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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

Post by twigsnapper »

Not to worry over slammed doors. I should have been more specific.

I would quote a line from Gene Hackman in " The French Connection" ..." So I see that you are still picking your toes in Poukipsie" but as you can see plainly, I don't know how to spell it! We all have things that we count on and having someone nearby who can generally spell well is one of needs. And youngsters who think and pick their nose at the same time is probably one of them. (Now don't go into a fluster over being considered a "youngster". Anyone a day shy of 70 is a youngster to me.) twigsnapper
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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

Post by twigsnapper »

Thankyou Mr. AM. I shall.

All I meant to point out was that the period during and slightly after World War I was a span of great heartache and loss. Thousands of families had been ripped apart and there was a sense that couldn't possibly stand. That somehow and in some way those souls could be reached. Perhaps the "veil" became thinner, ( usually more available through the women involved).

Some of those involved in the everyday workings of the military and politics ( whatever they might have been called at that point, pre Caroline) were also manifesting what came to be called the " Balfour Manner".
Difficult to understand that sort of "hands off attitude" unless you are involved in it. But the women especially reached out. As they always will. And the age overflowed with mediums and all manner of spiritualism, well founded and and some not so much. The owner of the Caroline kept up with all of this and understood the situation of Alice and her looking glass far better than most. twigsnapper
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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

Post by Trickfox »

Hi there to our fellow forum members and "Caroliners".
'The Cross-Correspondences'? It's legendary in the Society for Psychical Research
in light of the above post and the appearance of the new "Hellboy 2" movie just comming out would you say that the Caroline group was a bit like the organization that hellboy works for?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DA87Y0WugIU

I think the "school" where young x-men graduate is a more noble looking image for the Caroline group members.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqbLLYh- ... re=related


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natecull
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Re: The Balfour Cross-Correspondences

Post by natecull »

twigsnapper wrote: All I meant to point out was that the period during and slightly after World War I was a span of great heartache and loss. Thousands of families had been ripped apart and there was a sense that couldn't possibly stand. That somehow and in some way those souls could be reached. Perhaps the "veil" became thinner, ( usually more available through the women involved).
That's very interesting to me to hear you mention that, Twigsnapper. I was about to mention it myself but held back thinking it irrelevant.

I'm somewhat new to the investigation of spiritualism and mediumistic phenomena (only been looking at it a couple of years), and as a newbie one of the things that jumped out at me was how prominent and very well-documented the phenomenon seems to be during the WWI era, and for exactly the reasons (it seemed to me) that you state: families ripped apart, longing to know what this unprecedented war was about. An upwelling of grief mixed with extraordinary hope in a sense almost now lost to us.

Against this backdrop suddenly the cynical words of Yeats made sense to me: "Surely some revelation must be at hand? Surely the Second Coming must be at hand?" Because this flood of 'contact' material around the WWI era, all intertwined with the Socialist and Peace movements, certainly looks like something startling. Even as a whole old world was crumbling.

But then... in WWII... not so much. Hardly a peep from the mediums. Except for deep underground stories like that of the Caroline Group. Plenty of anecdotal WW2 ghost stories, yes. But not the documents, not the automatic writing and recorded seances.

What changed, I wonder, to make the two wars so oddly different in this regard? Any clues? The idea of extra-dimensional 'contact' certainly didn't go away, it resurfaced via UFO contactees and then the New Age movement's 'channelers'. But it seems on the whole much darker and stranger after WW2. I can't pinpoint why.

(And yes, I'm struck by how mostly the WWI (and the whole Cross-Correspondence era, 1901-1930) mediums seemed to be women. Often reluctant or accidental rather than making a career out of it, which makes them seem more genuine to me.)
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