The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-02-19
MEDIUMS EXPERIENCE
Mrs. Richings Tells the Spiritual
lists How She Developed HerGift.
She Says Unseen Powers Enable Her to
Do Many Things Which She Can
not Explain.

Helen Stuart Richings said spiteful things
about the newspapers last night. She de-
ivered a lecture, highly entertaining, be-
fore a large gathering of the Indianapolis
Society of Spiritualists at Lorraine Hall.
She thinks that the press has not treated
those Of the spiritualistic faith with fair
ness. 1t has been sarcastic and vindictive,
and has held the doctrine up to ridicule.
All these charges Mrs. Richirgs made dur
ing the course of her remarks on the topic,
How 1 Became a Spiritualist.& The lee
turer was formerly an actress of the emo
tional school. Her stage name was Stuart
She left the profession 10 take up the work
of a medium" The story of her life is
full OF interest, and is well told. From
childhood Mrs. Richings asserts that she
has been endowed with certain powers
which to her are inexplicable. At an early
age she entered a convent. where she was
educated. During her school days there
were constantly recurring attacks OF
strange emotions and peculiar manifesta-
tons. During her last year at the convent
she was under the necessity or writing
many essays. These productions, she
AYERS, were never from her own hand. 1t
was only necessary to prepare the blank
pages before retiring at night, and in the
morning she found her essays carefully
constructed. To the unseen she attributes
these kind favors. She adopted the stage
as a profession, and found il peculiarly
adapted to her nature. In the emotional
role of Isabelle in East Lynne she found
herself so perfectly in sympathy with the
part that she was able to shed involun-
tarily the most profuse tears. She cried
and was not aware of 1t
The first knowledge Mrs. Richings had
that she had been selected by the fates as
a medium came eight years ago in an
Ohio town, where her company was per-
forming. She was a scoffer then. One
evening at dusk she was seated at the
window of her room looking out across
the hills. TIL scene was one of pastoral
beauty. The actress felt a strange. sense
of peacefulness about her. Suddenly she
felt a peculiar pricking sensation in one
of her hands. It assembled to the wrist,
numb and dead, and the victim grew fright
ened. She believed that these symptoms
meant paralysis, and she was terror
stricken. She attempted to raise the af-
flicted arm, but it was heavy and felt like
dead flesh. Suddenly her arm began TO
draw up; She m to prevent the
arm raised almost to a level with her
shoulder. and then the curious and painful
strange and incomprehensible to her until
shortly afterward when she took up a
residenee with a family of spiritualists.
terialiZing medium" and began the study
Of spiritualism. She was consumed with
and spent much money in solving the per-
picking problems for herself. The develop
ment was rapid, and she soon accepted
could not be disputed.
During her earlier years as a medium
s& Nrs n EaG Of Symptoms %aS I II Was her co cust eTa
to lock herself in her room when commun
ing with the departed, and on these. occa-
sleep. During these SAUNDERS she would in
dulge in strange language. entirely incom-
but which she has since learned was the
Sioux dialect. On one occasion her husband
was present and was mystiied by talk that
he pronounced the most 0utlandlSh glDDer-
ish. When about TO go into one OF these
Seances, Mrs. Ricnings would be afflicted
with an u~naccountable sensations. First her
feet would grow heavy. then her ankles
and finally the sensation would reach her
waist. When it reached her mouth she
would be unable TO speak,, and when the
feeling came in contact with her eyes she
was unable to see. Finally her entire body
would be permeated with the deadly heavi-
ness and she would become unconscious.
On these occasions she would. before wooing
this strange insensibility of body and mind,
place on the table a sheet of paper; On her
recovery she invariably. found the page
covered with writings of an ineligible ma
ture. During her first season as a lecturer
she was accustomed to use manuscript, but
abandoned it when she found that prepared
speeches were of no avail. The power Of
expressing herself came as mysteriously as
the other manifestations with which she
had been favored.
Mrs. Richings asserts that she is able
TO quiet any pain, no matter how severe,
to which she may fall victim. One night
recently she awoke with a severe neuralgia
in the knee. The pain was intense, but she
abated it by fixing her mind intently upon
one of her fingers for a few moments. She
holds that the state Of mediumship does no
deteriorate or weaken the possessor of the
gift, either intellectually or physically. but
on the contrary, builds up and strengthens
the mind and body. At the conclusion OF
her discourse last night Mrs. Richings re-
cited n poem entitled, Deeds Are Better
than CreedS."