Mediumship and the Betty Books

The Betty Books

Stewart Edward White, Author, (1873-1946)

Mediumship, or channeling, as it is now most commonly referred to, takes on many forms and may be expressed in many ways. It has common bonds with various other psychic expressions which run the full range from deep hypnotic trance to inspiration and other subtle nuances. One must consider automatic writing, Ouija boards, clairvoyance, clairaudience and clairsentience, physical "possession" by an otherworldly entity during trance states, dreams, physical manifestations, teleportation and levitation, mental telepathy and hypnosis, dowsing and pendulumology, meditation and visualization, visions and precognition, spirit guides and high teachers, psychic healing and other spiritual encounters.

In my latest e-book, How Thin the Veil! 150 Years of Spiritualism, I wrote about the New Mystics, those mediums of the 20th century such as Edgar Cayce, Eileen J. Garrett, Jane Roberts, and several others, including the medium known as Betty.

Some of the most widely read channeled books of the 20th century were written by Stewart Edward White, a very successful novelist of adventure and Western tales, relating material channeled from the other side by his wife, Elizabeth Calvert Grant White, who was initially identified only as "Betty".

The White’s experiences with the spiritual world began casually in 1919 when some friends visited their home with the Ouija board, considering it a mere toy and hoping only to entertain them with it. One thing led to another, though, and the board began taking on a mind of its own, repeatedly spelling "Betty" even though Betty had become bored with the game and had gone to sit beside the fireplace. At the repeated insistence of the board, she finally rejoined the others. At this point, the board became highly active and repeatedly spelled out, "Get a pencil–Get a pencil." But it was not until some days later that Betty did privately pick up a pencil at home and this launched her first experience with automatic writing which was to last for several months before experimenting with hypnotic trance. This produced the best results and Betty was soon a fully functioning trance medium.

The Betty Book (1) was published in 1937, the third of a series that began in 1925, followed in 1938 by Across the Unknown. Betty died in 1939 and that launched a whole new chapter in this amazing story; Betty began communicating with her husband from the Other Side, through a family friend, psychic Joan Darby (a pseudonym for Ruth Finley, who later, after her death came through Arthur Ford). The Unobstructed Universe (2) is Stewart Edward White's report of the messages from Betty as channeled through Joan.

(1.) Stewart Edward White, 1937, E.P. Dutton & Co.; Ariel Press, Columbus, Ohio, 1988.
(2.) Stewart Edward White, 1940, E.P. Dutton & Co.; Dell Publishing Co., 1970.

I quoted Steward Edward White in my book A Walk Through Grief, which I wrote shortly after my husband Don Pendleton's death, because I identified with what White had written following his wife’s death in regards to the connection and what he called a Presence of his wife after she passed. I also experienced that with Don, and am still aware of him years later.

~Linda