Being in two places at once

This article presents the extraordinary experience of Mary C. Viasek, a medium who, during a spiritual séance in 1942, allegedly attempted to materialize in Los Angeles, even though she was traveling by train through Utah at the time. Using out-of-body travel techniques, Viasek described her observations of vibrations and interactions with "spiritual chemists" who assisted in creating the form of material spirits. These events illuminate materialization phenomena in the context of spiritual and psychic research.In his 1942 book, Life Now and Forever, Dr. Arthur J. Willis, President of the American College of Psychical Sciences and Research, describes his experiments with out-of-body travel and tells the story of an experiment conducted by Mary C. Viasek and Mrs. Z.J. Allyn, a materialization medium.

Mrs. Viasek, who had learned out-of-body travel, told Mrs. Allyn she would like to attempt to appear in her district on September 28th, when she traveled by train from California to Toledo, Ohio. At the time of the séance in Los Angeles, the train was in Utah. Having left her body, Viasek wanted to travel to Los Angeles. The séance was already in progress when Viasek entered the materialization room, where she found Mrs. Allyn sitting in a chair, in a trance, and a group of spirits waiting to materialize. The "office guide" told her she could observe everything but could not participate because she was mortal.

Viasek then noticed three "spiritual chemists" gathering something. Looking closer, she saw a ribbon of light—bluish-gray vibrations resembling heat waves—surrounding the circle and the entire office. "The stream of vibrations flowed from the medium's husband, Mr. Allyn, who was sitting on the right side of the office, and gradually grew as various members of the circle added their vibrations to it," Willis quoted from the report, explaining that the stream was about 2 inches wide and 6 inches deep, and it grew larger as it encircled the circle and entered the office, becoming about 1 foot wide and 18 inches deep. It was later noted that everyone in the office was connected to the stream, even though it only circled a few people.

As soon as the stream appeared in the chamber, the spirit chemist seized it and seemed to direct it to the back of the medium's head and neck. At the same time, as light composed of bluish-gray vibrations was being poured into the medium, a white substance (unnamed, presumably ectoplasm) began to flow from the medium's chin, throat, and chest. This emanation was intercepted by the second spirit chemist and began to envelop another spirit. As the chemist poured the substance over the spirit, he said in a strong, positive voice, "Think of your features! Think of your face and eyes! Think of your form! Think positively! Think of yourself as you were on earth! Think of your hands!" As the spirit thought about these things, a form gradually formed above it.Throughout the entire process, the people in the circle chanted to establish and control harmonious vibrations. Each time they finished singing one hymn and began another, the materialization failed because "the substance would escape the spirit." The spiritual chemist then attempted to embody a different spirit and failed again when the hymn was suddenly changed. Viasek noticed that the vibrations changed as the chant changed and as it overlapped with the manifestation.

While these problems were occurring, Viasek was in her office, but she couldn't put her feet on the floor. As the séance participants began singing "Shall we gather at the river," her feet touched the floor, which was then standing in front of one of the chemists. He said, "You are mortal, and therefore you cannot pass," but she persisted until he finally agreed. Then the chemist turned her back to him and began pouring the substance flowing from the medium over her, saying, "Think positively about your features, about who you are! Think about your hair, your eyes! Think about your form! Think about your arms, your hands, your feet!"

The chemist then placed some of the substance over her to form her garment—a garment of white lace. "It was an act of creation performed by the chemist, not by her thoughts," Willis wrote.

As Viasek stepped through the curtain into the circle, she felt blind for a few seconds, but then her sight returned. However, she couldn't speak. When one of the sisters looked at her, Viasek received "strengthening vibrations" and was able to speak. As she began to speak with the group, something raised the vibration in the circle, and Viasek felt as if her breathing were blocked by a blow to her solar plexus. She retreated further into the office and seemed to lose consciousness, but after a moment she regained it and observed other materialization successes and failures. She couldn't tell exactly when the forms began to materialize, but she noticed them disintegrating outside the office. A small amount of substance escaped as the disintegrating materialization flowed along a stream of light—bluish-gray vibrations.

Those sitting in the circle who attended the séance confirmed Viasek's materialization, and it was noted that her "breathing" problems began when one of the people sitting in the circle, Dr. H.H. Turner, turned on the light in the room so that he could note the time and write down Mrs. Viasek's words.