UNITED KINGDOM. Prime Minister Tony Blair?s website makes it possible for the British public to express their feelings by posting and signing petitions electronically.
The latest subject is Scottish materialisation medium Helen Duncan who was tried and found guilty under the Witchcraft Act (since repealed) ? making her technically one of the country?s last ?witches?. There have been unsuccessful attempts in the past to have her pardoned. Now, on the 50th anniversary of her death, the occupant of No. 10 Downing Street is giving those who share that view a chance to make their feelings known.
We recently told the story of Helen Duncan, who has already received a pardon (along with 81 other individuals from Prestonpans, near Edinburgh) from the Baron of Prestoungranage ? in 2004 [see Helen Duncan remembered ? but no pardon in sight].
The medium?s grand-daughter Mary Martin has been leading the campaign, pointing out that Helen was not a witch but a Spiritualist.
Electronic petitions were introduced in November 2006 and have already proved very popular ? 1,000 were received in the first week. Each is given a closing date and on 20 February, when the road pricing petition closed, 1,791,942 people had registered their disapproval of that particular proposal by signing it.
The Helen Duncan petition was created by ?Gordon of Downing? ? which seems to be an amusing reference to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who is Scottish. It reads: ?I would like to see Helen Duncan, the last woman to be tried as a witch in the UK, being pardoned, as this is the 50th anniversary of her death.?
If you are a British citizen or resident and would like to give your support to this petition, click here. Incidentally, the website link contains a spelling error. It seems that someone at No. 10 believes witchcraft is spelt ?withcraft?.
Many believe that the main reason for prosecuting Helen Duncan during the Second World War was that dead sailors were materialising at her s?ances and revealing that the vessels on which they served had been sunk by German torpedoes ? weeks before the government was prepared to release the information. There is also a view that psychical researcher Harry Price (left), who ?exposed? her, unfairly contributed to her downfall.
Richard Morris, whose book Harry Price, the Psychic Detective has just been published, tells www.ParanormalReview.com:
?People tend to think of Harry Price as a great psychic scientist and sceptic. He wasn?t. A paper I found when researching for my biography shows he truly believed in Helen Duncan.
?In 1931 he wrote a pseudo-scientific paper concerning the ectoplasm he'd collected from her during a seance. He truly believed that from this he would be able to recreate a ghost and go on to perhaps create life itself. He thought he was a whisker away from a Nobel prize.
?Then, when everything went sour with Helen, he despised her and did everything he could to make her life a misery. Although he didn?t testify at her 1944 trial he had links with the Admiralty and what he said was passed through to the Crown?s prosecution team.
?Price was such a great illusionist and magician that people believed what he reported happening was the truth. In reality the ?psychic detective?? was the inventor, designer and creative brain behind some of the most remarkable phenomena ever seen in the British Isles.?
Closing date for the Helen Duncan petition is 22 April 2007.
As of today?s date (26 February) the petition has 136 signatories.
http://www.paranormalreview.co.uk/News/ ... fault.aspx
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