The history of an Italian medium: part 7
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Communications by the guide Luciano
Silvio Ravaldini was admitted to attend the séances in 1939, when this control entity was already present, and he remembered well Luciano's deep voice, tending to the bass, which gave the impression of belonging to an elderly and profoundly good person. Luciano gave some clues on his earthly life. According to Ravaldini, Luciano also said his surname, but he did not remember it, and it was not recorded in the minutes. Luciano, who always expressed himself in a coherent and sensible way, also provided some information about the transition and the state of the spirit. This entity was introduced for the first time by Amato in the séance of November 9, 1938, referring to the passing of Boris Chiti (the biker): Amato says about this: "He has light, and I would not advise him to reincarnate. He has as his guide an entity whose body was called Luciano, who is also the guide of another person who has been dead for two days due to injuries received from his hunting rifle; he is from Certaldo. These two entities who have just passed away see each other because they have the same vibrations. Luciano is indeed a good guide.
In the following sitting, November 14: Luciano makes voice wishing light to everyone, then he says: "Boris, who has just passed away, is with you: he says he has already realized his passing and burns with joy. Tell his parents not to cry, but to think of him. You can not feel God as we feel him; your light is imprisoned in your body and you can not imagine the truth when you have not seen. I passed away about one hundred years ago in Certaldo; I believed in my own way, but I believed a lot; I was a carpenter and also repaired the barrels. It is the first time that I materialize the voice, I made myself heard other times, but doing only air blows, that is raps. When I had a body, I did not think I could communicate so well. I had a younger brother who passed away before me, and some cousins sons of a brother of my mother: now I have no one in Certaldo. We can sometimes communicate with your spirit and influence it, but only when the law of the Infinite allows it. I will be able to return here when I will be allowed; there is no man who prevents it, but it is the law of the Infinite. The law of man is false. I have a great burning of desire to see the vibrations of those who are higher than me; I feel them only by intuition, but I can not see them; my vibrations do not even see the formation of matter". We hear some small blows and ask Luciano who tries to communicate. We are told that it is an entity that has light and that passed away when his body was still very young; he does not want to do any communication. Luciano still says: "Everybody has some mediumship, and those who develop it are mediums. In the name of God, I am Luciano. Do the sitting when you want. Light to everybody".
(November 20, 1938) Luciano (referring to the medium): "Tonight this guy's nerves are a bit shaky, he had some displeasure ". Luciano comes back: "Mario, your newly arrived cousin is here and says that now he lives, and that the real thought is to imagine him as a light. He tells you that he is very sorry to have been a bit against these séances, and he repeats light. Our language is to always say light, both as a greeting and as to thank. These interruptions of entities that greet you and immediately disappear, depend on the fact that these same entities think of their home and their loved ones, and at once they find themselves there, because there are no distances for the thought. Things to be astonished, but the spirit is never surprised. There are some people who say they do not believe, but their spirit believes because it came from God and knows that God exists. I leave, now I remove the fluids; if you want to stay, you may remain, but open the curtains because closed curtains favor low level entities".
(November 24, 1938) Luciano communicates by small raps, and we ask him if his voice can be heard tonight. He responds affirmatively, and then makes voice saying: "Light to all, God exists. These blows that you do not understand are made by entities who passed away when they were still very young. Tonight I see that there are many vibrations wishing to communicate; I will tell you who they are, so not to consume too much force: Nina Pollari, Sussi Giuseppe, Chesi Giuseppe, Augustus' father, Leontina's father, Martini, Guglielmo, Boris who tells you: «It's nice to live like this; I got to the moon and now I want to explore the universe». There is one who was Mario's mate, one who says: «I think it's a dream to see you with this faith», Libero, Renzo Campigli's grandfather. Everyone wishes you the most beautiful light. Many do not communicate because they do not want to know about Earth anymore. You do very badly to have ambitions; I remove the fluids. Light". (But then) ... Luciano, who says that the fluids have not been taken away well, makes us focus our thought on a flower, and the medium wakes up completely".
On November 28,there is a reference to a spirit that is about to reincarnate: Luciano makes voice saying: "These air blows that you hear, it is a spirit that passed away when his body was still small, he is from your country. Many do not want to communicate. Now there's one from your country, he's Martini Mario; close the curtains a little to help the fluids. When I had a body I said thank you, now I say light. Many, whom you call spirits, are amazed by your faith; they would also have liked very much to practice this faith when they had a body. Here is one who says he is Panzani Giuseppe, and one who is going to reincarnate just now who asks that you pray so much light for him; he was from your contry, a certain Montagnani, and is going to reincarnate in your town... Think that matter must not be wasted, because weakening the body you do badly, but you have to thank God for the wonderful machine he gave you. This owl that you hear singing does not bring misfortune; this is a superstition taught to you since you were children; even the owl is a small animal of God".
(November 30, 1938) Luciano makes voice: "Beautiful light to you. I do not know why there are only two spirits tonight; one is Martini Mario and the other has just passed away. Now I feel like I have to go, I have like a presentiment that one has just passed away and I will be his guide; it's like a duty to go where I'm attracted. I feel a fluid higher than me; oh! If I could see it, I would try to reincarnate myself to see if I can improve, but sometimes you go back, and I'm afraid of this, so I'm content and I prefer to be like that".
(December 4, 1938) Now Luciano makes voice: "The nours on the left side are low, I pray for you. Pray for me; my relatives do not think about me, I no longer have anybody. Here is one of your country that has just passed away, and there is another whose guide am I, he is Boris. Remember that God exists. When I had a body, I thought a lot and it helped me a lot; I liked to leave my friends and just stay alone to better think and reflect. These blows that you hear now is one who passed away when he was a child; but the spirits are all equal, and the difference is only given by the more or less vibrations than one has. This is the son of Baragatti, and says that he lost light while seeing his father suffer because of the illness he had in his leg. Think of your loved ones, your thought is very useful to them. The scientists who believe in pure faith will reveal a lot, but only to a certain extent; where we are not allowed, no one can arrive. I burn from the desire to see where this light comes from, which we never can reach. When we are strong, we do not believe and nothing is feared; we seem to be eternal on Earth. God always forgives, as Marzo says. I like to hear him very much; when he speaks to you, I too hear him with the help of this medium. When I hear Amato I suffer because I wish to see his light, but I feel only by intuition. There are many guides; the higher spirits help the lower. Here, everything is Love that is not among men. There are so many beautiful things to see in the Infinite"...
Luciano resumes his communication: "At the moment that one has passed away he tries to console his loved ones and realizes that they do not hear him; he tries to do things according to his old habits, but he can not. Then he is forced to pray, and he prays so much so that the guide comes and tells him that he has passed away, and to pray to God, and that one day he will be able to see so many beauties; sometimes the guide advises him to reincarnate. We do not speak with our mouths, but with fluids. The transformation of matter is a great beauty, much more beautiful than your fireworks. We never get to God; if we were to reach him, that would be the end, and the end does not exist. Believing is very necessary the the moment of passing away. Your loved ones need your thought, it relieves them a lot. When one thinks that he/she is dying, one is born. When a spirit reincarnates, and the law of the Infinite allows it, we guides help to choose a suitable body for him. When a child begins to stutter, he tries to remember the warnings that the guide gave him. When you have to do something, and you think before deciding to do it, it is the spirit that thinks and always tries to prevail over the matter; at that moment it is like a struggle, and sometimes the matter wins. I do not reincarnate; I wait for the evolution with this beautiful light; evolution will be slow, but now I am free, and by reincarnating I could go back. We do not see with our eyes, but like thinking of a distant place with closed eyes. We can not answer all the questions... When bad deeds have been committed, the passing is bad. All impressions hurt the nours. Do not be afraid; fear does not exist but it is all effect of nerves".
On December 11, 1938, the sitting begins in an unusual way: While we are arranging to start the sitting, the medium falls into complete trance despite the room being in full light. We are a bit surprised, but immediately Luciano's voice is heard to tell us that it was Marzo to give the fluids without much preparation because he had been evoked elsewhere. Luciano continues: "God exists, light... God is beautiful, when we have body we do not give importance to the beauties that speak of God. You look at the stars and other beautiful things, and everything goes unnoticed, by saying that these are things that have always been there, and so we do not think that it is the work of God. As it took a hand to build a great and beautiful palace, so it took a maker for all of Infinity. To me too many things went unnoticed, and only when I was old did I think that I had to die and I prayed a lot; even when I polished a piece of wood I prayed. That's why we must care to stay on Earth as much as possible, because with experience we are always in time to repent. He who does not believe, but does good works and acts well, must be sympathized; even he will have light. We do not see the beauties of God with our eyes, we perceive them as fluids; there are certain very beautiful and harmonious vibrations that you can never imagine while on Earth. The more beauties we feel, the closer we are to God. We always think of God and we pray to him a lot. If men believed more in God, much less mistakes would have been made. Sometimes you are cheated by certain spirits; but poor things! They like so much to communicate, and often they want to explain things they do not know; afterwards, however, they repent a lot".
"At my passing I was taken by dizzyness and I heard nothing more; my spirit could no longer be in a matter that was no longer suitable. Some women who were there said: his wrist is still pulsing, he will recover. So they put my body lying on the bed, and I was sitting instead; I had the idea of going out, and immediately I found myself outside; I think of my shop, and I find myself there; I'm going to get the key, and I do not find it. So I think I have it at home, and I immediately found myself there. Then I see those women praying near my body; I try to get it up, but I can not do it. So I said to them: What are you doing? But they did not answer me; I tried to scream, but they did not answer me anyway. I did not know how to understand it; after a while I saw the priest coming and splashing my body. I said: Oh, what are you doing? I am here. But nobody paid me attention. I began to pray so much, and then I felt some vibrations telling me that I had passed away and to pray to God; it was my guide, and I'm sorry not being in his light. If you could see this force we emit to the voice we had once heard, you would see a great beauty; other than your machines!! Dreams, sometimes they are true and sometimes not. Here is a vibration that says that he is glad that you are in the truth, he is Boris who tells you light. He also says that his father is in doubt about what you tell him, but tell him that his son is safe and happy. He wishes spiritual peace and says that his brother-in-law thought... There are those who no longer want earthly thoughts. When you say: I have invented, I have done, think that it is always God who does everything, it is his merit; even the knowledge you have is God. Do the sitting when you want. Light to everybody".
(December 15, 1938) Luciano: "Light to everybody; it was Marzo who gave the fluids. There is a vibration here, it is Boris who wants to reincarnate to believe more and do so much good, that it is the shortest way to acquire more light, because to improve here it takes thousands of years; but I would not advise him to take a body again because sometimes it gets worse"... Luciano, addressing one of the sitters whose teeth are aching, says: "How are you? What do you have? When I had body and my teeth ached, I rinsed my mouth with ashes and warm water and the pain went away; it's not dirty stuff and it does not go into the body... You can open the curtains; I am sorry that you suffer, Gino, but you know, when we have a body we are subjected to suffer. Do you know what the body is for? To hold the spirit so that it can improve. Now I remove my contact. Marzo told me that it is the laws of the Infinite that forbid him to be here; this is a just, beautiful and satisfying law that rules us. You know, my friend, I can reach the Sun; from there I can go further on, but I can not see. You should see what beauties are there! In comparison, the Earth is in darkness, for you, but I see that it has light and that inside it there are things that certainly not have not been done by your hands. I pray for you, but when you have matter you have evil, and pains are not lacking. Boris wishes you light and touches you, and reminds you that by saying light you say everything. Here is one you have asked for, Tinti; he has light and does not want to reincarnate, but it will take him centuries to improve. I leave you. Quiet sleeps and light".
On December 22 Luciano asks again on Gino Franchi's health: "How are you, my friend? When one has body there is evil; I, too, when I had a body, suffered a lot of pain on a finger of my left hand. Keep your thoughts focused; tonight there are some elements that make noise... The vibrations are wavy; with this heavy rainfall, the medium is right near the windows, and it annoys him". Meanwhile Luciano ends up consuming the energy left by Amato, and says: "How much I wish to have light as he has! I see and I hear him only when he is here. Remember that God exists. Light". In this sitting Luciano referred to the fact that outside it was bucketing down, and the water, beating on the roof tiles, produced a continuous noise that disturbed the medium's trance.
On December 26, Luciano speaks again of his life and passing: Luciano makes voice: "Light to everybody. The main fluid has been given by another entity. Someone is missing tonight. Thought runs and it is our joy. There are many Lucianos, but when you think of me, your thought is mine; vibrations are endless. Man studies a lot, but many things go unnoticed. When we think of you, what do you feel? You hear a whistle in your ear, or feel some unexpected shiver. Your body is a God's thought, and man will never come to build equals. In my Certaldo there were few houses down in the low part one hundred years ago. Also Boccacci lived there; he comes here too, but he does not see me. I do not remember everything about my life, because now I no longer think about matter; I remember one of my friends, a certain Bartalucci whom I have not seen anymore; I also remember that I was going to work at a farm above Poggibonsi. Of Castelfiorentino I have little memory. To find ourselves as vibrations after the passing is like a dream where we dream of falling, and when we are awake we see that it is not true and we rejoice. When the entities want to communicate with mortals, they remember their own voice, depending on whether they were old or young, and so, either by themselves or helped by a guide, they can make their voices heard as when they had a body. Do not pay attention to those who mock you or who hurt you: you approach God, because he exists, and one day he will show you his works".
(December 30, 1938) Luciano makes voice, saying: "Light to everybody. Tonight there is noise and I take the fluid badly because they are waving. I thank for your thoughts. Friend, do me the usual favor of closing the curtains a little, because the artificial light annoys a lot the fluids of the medium. You know friends, I see even without the medium; I see how maybe you see a distant place, imagining it. I can not see the higher entities; I see them when they show up, and when they speak to you, I hear them too. Think that God exists. I willingly listen to what your guide says when he talks about those beauties I do not see, but I have a great desire to see. Many vibrations tell you light, including: Edovic, Fontanelli, Boris, Rosa. I loved music so much". Luciano, complaining about the noise, was probably referring to the fact that the room where the séances were held was situated above a bar in which the customers, drinking and playing cards, shouted in such a way that the noise also reached the séance room. Luciano's mention to «your guide» refers to Amato, who had intervened shortly before.
(January 4, 1939) Luciano says by raps: "Wake up the medium". The medium is awakened and immediately falls into a trance again, and Luciano makes voice saying: "Now the medium sleeps with the fluids, but before he had fallen asleep by himself. Too often, his nerves get tired. We do not overwork him; and then, if I would harm him, the guide would not have given the fluids"… (The sitting goes on, then at the end Luciano says) "Now I consume this little bit of force left. Don't you feel when I think of you? Light to everybody, and thanks for your thoughts. Now talk to each other; the medium is waking up slowly. Light". It is interesting Luciano's reference to the fact that the medium had fallen asleep naturally, without going into a trance. Luciano then considered himself almost like a substitute of the true guides who, according to him, were always Amato and Marzo (it seems that the latter was the one who gave the fluids).
On January 11, there was another communication full of details: Luciano makes voice: "Light to everybody; I did not expect you. Remember that God exists. I pray for you. Close the curtains, but not all. I feel your thought, but I try not to take advantage of this boy's force because I love him very much... There is another vibration, it is Boris; he tells you light. He marvels and regrets that you did not try to make him believe when he had a body, and he asks how his sister was able to believe. There is another vibration, he says he is Ammannati. Another vibration is count Paolo; another is Boccacci and tells you light. Noises during the sitting distract your thought. In your life, think of God and act well. When you have to do something, think of God first; and if what you have to do is not bad, you will not feel your conscience reproaching you... We speak to each other without a mouth, only with our thought, and we think to God even more than you do. Our desire is to see more and feel closer and closer to God. Sometimes we want to communicate with your spirit, but it does not listen to us because is like imprisoned and held in a body. Everything is vibration, but I see only the vibrations that my light can catch".
"God has also given you this way of communicating with the dead, and many would give half of their light to believe in this true faith while incarnate. We came from God; where do we go? To God? To God! And when will we arrive? Never! Infinity is God. God is Love, Beauty, Wisdom and Light, and perhaps one day we may feel very close to the great Light. I had a friend, but I never saw him, and I do not know if he was reincarnated; if he were higher than me, he would have looked for me. If you could see, even when you do not think about it, how many entities come to talk to you and you do not understand! All you need is to see them free, just for a single moment, and you would believe. We never act badly; first of all, there is no matter to put it into action, and to form the matter it is necessary to be at a very high level, but those who are very high are full of wisdom and love. To belive in witches, in pixies and in the singing of the owls, are all superstitions. I communicate to the medium's spirit, and this on his voice organs; the fluid comes from behind the medium and I'm on his right side. When you are afraid, think of us". Meanwhile, the voice moves away from the medium, and we hear it just near the curtains, while we notice some small movement of the curtains. Luciano goes on: "My shop was beyond the arch that goes up to the castle. There is a vibration, it is Boccacci, who says light. Light to all. Light also to this boy who sometimes thinks of me".
(January 16, 1938) Luciano Makes voice: "Light. How are you with your body? You have music tonight; we can hear it with our fluids, even without the medium. There is a vibration, it is Boris, and he says that he is happy and feels joy. I would not recommend him to reincarnate because sometimes it gets worse. Those whom you think of, touch you. On this side there is true love; on Earth there is no man worthy to remember God, as you call him. When I passed away I fell as in a fainting; I screamed at my relatives, but they could not hear me. When one is incarnated, even if he is rich, he incarnates himself to do good... There are some vibrations here, among which there is one that has just passed away; he has light, and his guide is Lauro from Palermo. Joy is life among us, and we help the lower. Every Spirit has its vibrations, because vibrations are infinite. Many people deviate from the truth because they believe that God punishes; but if he punished he would be bad. Instead, God is wisdom and is good, and always puts us to the test again. Here we burn with desire (not in the flames) to get ever closer to Him. Whoever does not listen to music is a low spirit, because it is precisely the spirit that feels music. Now turn on the white lantern, but first close the curtains; then open them again slowly: in the meanwhile, I am consuming this little force left. Light". The music to which Luciano referred was probably played by the gramophone at Franchi home. With the term white lantern the guide referred to the electric lamp in the sitters' room.
(January 19, 1938) Luciano makes voice wishing light, and we tell him that the medium has written some questions on a sheet of paper, eager to be answered by some entity, and that the said sheet is on the table in the dark cabinet. Luciano replies: "The guide gave the fluid short, and I'm sorry: tell it to Marzo. Tonight there are so many vibrations, I pray for them saying: God, set them free from such a desire. There is a woman who has just passed away: she believed, but not as much as she does now. I little believed in pixies, but I believed my way, and it helped me. I remember that I fed a child many times, I was happy when I gave him a plate of soup, but I did not give it to him with my hands, I gave it with my heart. When he came to my shop, even if it was a very cloudy day, I felt like I had the sun. I was delighted with his naivety because, as Marzo says, when we wake up from drowsiness we question the reason of all things. He had bad luck: he took a wife, and after some time he shot himself and left two creatures. When he passed away he felt me, but he could not see me. When we are low, we remember a lot; he reincarnated and suffered a lot; I too lost light". He is asked about someone who has fallen from a chimney, Alberizzi Marco, and Luciano tells us to thinks of him. "Here he is, if he had eyes, he would cry; he does not know how to realize his state. He would like to wake up the medium because he thiks he is sleeping. He always seems to fall; he believes he is dreaming and he would like to wake up. He has not yet a guide; this, by the laws of the Infinite, can go immediately or wait some time. Who must guide him, feels it; I do not feel this desire. When the guide arrives you feel joy, but you can not see him. There is another vibration that his family name was Forti; she is happy and regrets having done what she did; she says that she passed away in a cemetery under the tools of a surgeon, and that her body was still susceptible to life through appropriate medications. She also believed in the truth of séances"... Luciano asks: "Why do you come here?" We ansver: "Because this is truth, and we know that one day we will be with you too". Luciano: "With the body it can be denied, but not with the spirit. God exists. Light".
On January 22 Luciano describes the look he had in life: Luciano says to wake up the medium because he has to take better the fluids, then he speaks: "That Dainelli, he knows Gino Baronti. There is a vibration that was a woman, she says that she passed away in a cemetery and that she suffered a lot from the separation of her spirit; she has light... Even those who say they do not believe, by observing, loving and doing good, they believe. Much will be known by science, but up to a certain point. Take, for example, a seed, that is a small thing, and tell the scientists to make the same. They will never be able to do it. My voice that you hear is just the same it was when I had a body; it seems impossible! Imagine me with the sleeves always rolled up, round face, mustache, a long skin mole on my chin, hair with a little grease and a finger cut away by a saw. All religions spoil the truth to which it is easy to believe. The love you feel towards one another is God who manifests himself, not man, man is bad. I have light and I do not see it, but I do not deny it, Ah, if I had enough light to see all the vibrations around the medium, what a beauty! This is my wish! Men believe only what they see. Pray alone, on the altar of Nature, it helps a lot. Do not listen to those who say that we suffer to communicate with you, because it is for us a joy as it is for you, and we are sorry when, in other circles, they do not do as you do, but get bored, interrupt or quarrel. I feel the fluid of the guide telling me to do the sitting after a sun. Light to all".
(January 27, 1938) Luciano: "Light. Those air blows that you heard, it was a vibration that had a body as a child. There is a vibration that asks for Carlo; another asks for Beppe; another asks for Beppino Lombardi, and they wish you a lot of light. When you played, before the séance, I was there. There are three vibrations that are always together because they have the same light and they knew each other when they had a body; they have immense joy and continuously touch you. God gives love, God exists, God is a source of love that will never cease, God gives everything, God gives good and takes away evil; but instead (people) always reply with hell. Severino, there is your father's vibration". Chesi Giuseppe: "Light to all of you". Righino: "Oh, Severino, I know you all; light". Luciano: "To feel my vibration is a sign that I am not dead; this is the truth. There are many vibrations: Amneris Baragli, Luigi Buzzoni, a friend of the medium who is often close to him and who had a body as a child; there is Gianni Boccacci who says he is following the laws of the Infinite. It is the same to be incarnated in one or another body, it is enough to do good. Sometimes the guide can help you choose the body. Now I go away. Light to everybody".
(February 2, 1938) Luciano: "Light to this medium too. Tonight there are many vibrations; be very careful, because you weaken, not us, but the vibration we draw from the medium. Prayer is done by ourselves, with our eyes closed, to rise up our spirit, and it is very helpful. There is a vibration whose guide I am; she passed away a little while ago; she committed suicide by poisoning herself. She is from North America; she committed suicide because her beloved married another. She was twenty years old; I must go because my guide gives her joy. Light".
(February 12, 1938) Luciano makes voice: "Light. There are many vibrations to whom I would gladly give my light. One asks for Corrado, another is Paolo de' Paoli, one says he is Maggiorelli, one says he is Baragatti who passed away as a child, another says Tommaso". We ask him about Pope Pio XI (who had died on February 10th), and Luciano says: "Think of him. Now he touched you; now it's gone, here he comes back. He always passes through the door; now he gives me thought, he says that his name was Achille Ratti and now he believes in the truth. He already has a guide, a guide that had a French body; he is amazed, but he already knew, and says he attended some séances. He says that when you have a body there is hatred, but now he is happy. He would like to take this guy's vibration, but he still must not; his spirit detached from the body three minutes before the body exhausted all the senses; he was distressed on facing the Infinite. One from Palermo has passed away and I feel attracted, I have to go to him... "Now I'm happy because I have someone who thinks of me. I think I still have a mole on the left side of my chin; I still remember that when the month March came, I felt a great desire to crush the shavings with my bare feet, and that kid that I fed so many times. Do good without thinking about it; take care of your body that is needed to improve your spirit... God exists; it seems impossible that we can hear our voice. The vibration of the one who was Pope has come back and still passes through the door; God who is so good will also give light to him. There is a vibration that came from your country, and is studying the fluid to communicate; he has light. Being higher spirits is not necessary to communicate; there are those who do not want to know anymore of the Earth... The guide of Pertici's father is one who was a schoolteacher in Ferrara. Light to everybody".
The last communication by Luciano recorded in the minutes is on February 19, 1939: "Light. There is a vibration who says he is Boris, another who is Martini, another says Capecchi, another says he was Carlo, another says his name was Lorenzo, another vibration who was Pope says: go on so, you are in the truth. Who is Nello? Your brother is here, he says light".
A séance in Rome
On February 19, 1939, the minutes recorded in hand-written notebooks end. After a few months Silvio Ravaldini (then thirteen) was admitted to attend the sittings, so it was possible to refer to his memories and his direct testimony. The minutes, however, do not interrupt, but continue to record, sometimes with the date but more often without it, the pieces of the novel Gocce di Rugiada that the entity Boccacci began to dictate presumably in the late autumn of 1939, and whose dictation went on – sitting after sitting – for over a year. At the end of 1940 the séances had to be suspended because the medium had been called under the arms, and the dictation of the novel was definitively interrupted. The minutes that we still have, start again on March 24, 1945, and from this date on they are typewritten. We therefore can try to reconstruct some events of the life of Urbino Fontanelli during the war years. At first it was sent to Rome, and it was possible to organize some sporadic séance during his short licenses in Castelfiorentino, then he was sent to the Greek-Albanian front.
Fontanelli himself told this episode related to the war period: «In 1942 I was a soldier in Rome, where I had recently been repatriated from the Albanian front. One evening, at the barracks where I was lodged, a captain of the Bersaglieri came, who asked about my commander. After a brief conversation between the two officers, I was called at their presence and I was ordered by my commander to follow the captain with confidence, about things that concerned me, with the assurance that I would then be sent back to the barracks. It was already night. A military car with a driver was waiting for us. I do not know where they were leading me, because the city was in the dark due to the blackout. Along the way the captain asked me something about my military service, then he told me that he was aware of my mediumistic faculties and that some people wanted me to be their guest that evening for a séance. He told me to be calm, because the place where we would go gave the maximum guarantee of seriousness and confidentiality. We reached the front door of a building, I imagine on the outskirts of the city. The door opened at once: surely we were expected. The captain, after asking me if I needed anything, introduced me into a beautiful hall illuminated with reflected light. The faces of the people who were there seemed very blurred to me. They were conversing in small groups. As soon as I entered, they all withdrew to the walls of the room and I felt their eyes on me. Then the captain introduced me to an elderly gentleman, a professor. He asked me about our sittings and told me that the guide entity would provide for everything, even if the séance was hold in a different environment from the one I was used to. He invited me to relax completely, so that the trance was facilitated. He made me sit in a chair, while those gentlemen sat around me. Shortly thereafter, I lost consciousness... When I woke up, I saw that everyone was standing and talking to each other: someone animatedly. The professor again spoke to me, telling that everything was fine and that we would meet again. He thanked me on behalf of everyone. However, neither he nor any other told me what phenomena had occurred. The captain took me back to the barracks and I remember that when we got there it was almost two o'clock a. m. The thing, however, had no following, because shortly after my company was sent to Yugoslavia and I never knew where I had been that night».
This episode, with its reference to Castelfiorentino's sittings and the guide entity that would have provided for everything, confirms the fact that a Roman spiritualist circle was aware of Fontanelli's mediumistic faculties and of what happened in Castelfiorentino, and had been able to trace the medium in Rome and to request its intervention not directly but by military hierarchy. Unfortunately, there is no other evidence to confirm this episode, apart from Fontanelli testimony, but at that time, in Italy, mediumistic activities were almost always covered with an aura of secrecy, and were not conducted according to objective research criteria. Ravaldini wrote that if the medium interrupted the séances, even if only for a month or two, when these were resumed the first sitting was always unsuccessful, while in the Roman episode, when over a year had already elapsed since the last sitting in Castelfiorentino, one gets the impression that the phenomena occurred without problems. In an article published in the 1997 3rd issue of Luce e Ombra (page 313 et seq.), Ravaldini referred to direct contacts between the Castelfiorentino group and a mediumistic Roman circle organized by Otello Petrignani, who had as a medium a not better identified signora Lidia. In 1946 a séance with this medium lady was also held in Castelfiorentino, at Franchi home. So the information on Fontanelli mediumship had spread in the Roman spirit circles.
Vicissitudes of the medium during the war
To return to the vicissitudes of Urbino Fontanelli during the war period, here is another episode that he himself told Ravaldini (taken from the out of print book I misteri della medianità di Urbino Fontanelli 1942-1946): «I was on the front line of the Albanian-Yugoslavian front, I no longer remember at what altitude. We were at war for a few days. My fellows and I were convinced – according to what we had been told – that the Slavs would surrender without fighting. Instead they began to attack us with a strong artillery fire. Imagine my fear and that of my companions! We were in a kind of small depression of the ground. We were behind some trees not very tall, but with a thick trunk: I do not remember exactly what kind of trees. We threw ourselves at the base of these trunks while the cannonade raged. The grenades, which fully centered our lines, burst near us and there were many deaths. I, crouched together with the others, in those moments turned my thought upward, and my invocation for help tried to climb above the clouds that covered the sky. A hiss stronger than the others really made us shiver. The bomb fell among us with a dull, muffled thud, but did not explode. Another hiss was followed by the sound of a heavy body sinking into the ground. And then another and another... The cannonade ended and the Slavs later retreated. The silence that followed that hell was very profound. It immediately began to snow. Me and my companions got up and were about to move, but at once the captain said: "Look out, boys, do not move! There's an unexploded bomb there and another is here, and another is there and over there...". Of the five or six shells destined to us and fallen among us without striking our bodies, no one had exploded». This episode was also confirmed by Fontanelli in the conversation recorded in 1973.
Another affair relating to this period was recalled by Ravaldini in an article published in issue 1995/4 of Luce e Ombra (page 439): «At this point I open a small parenthesis, to mention one of the many strange episodes that occurred in the life of this exceptional medium: an anecdote in which his extraordinary paranormal faculties seemed to be at work. It is an adventure that he told me many times, and of which I found the notes written many years ago. The fact happened when he was a soldier in Yugoslavia. While he was about to return to Italy after obtaining a short license, the train he was traveling on was attacked by the partisans, who blocked it in the woods. There is no need to know what treatment those partisans reserved for their enemies, because we had proof of it in the recent war between the various republics of that tormented country: they simply slaughtered them. In the confusion that followed the ambush – which can be very well imagined – Urbino at a certain moment was as if he had been alone: ??everything that was happening around him seemed not to concern him any more. When he got off the train, he found himself in front of a gentleman he had never seen before, dressed in black, very elegant, who told him, in an almost authoritarian tone, to follow him and not to be afraid. But what language did he speak? Urbino can not say. The fact is that he followed him in an almost automatic way and both went into the woods, following some unknown paths. Urbino could not remember how much time passed during that march in the forest, but suddenly he realized that the man who preceded him had disappeared. Then he realized that he was near a road that would take him to a known place. He was safe. This is the fact. We must consider that very unlikely an Italian soldier in uniform and a man in black could have escaped the partisans' encirclement without being noticed. But to escape you have to run: instead the medium has always said that he and the stranger just walked».
Here is another episode told by Ravaldini: «I can remember, with regard to Urbino, that when – in 1944 – all of us were evacuated due to aerial bombings, he went to his relatives (cousins) and in the few months that he stayed there a certainly abnormal (in my opinion) event occurred. His cousins ??lived in the countryside and to supply of water they were forced to make a long trip because the source close to them was very dangerous, due to one or more mines which had been placed there by the retreating German soldiers. At a certain moment Urbino (this is his story) felt within him a desire that became more pressing as time went by, so that he could not stop it: that of going to defuse the mine (unconsciously he knew that there was only one mine) that prevented to draw from the source. He spoke about it with his uncle, who asked him if he had got crazy for wanting to do something like that, to put himself into mortal danger without knowing anything about explosives, since there the work of a blaster would have been needed. But Urbino, without saying anything to anyone, went to the source, lay down on the ground and his hands – so he said – began to work, to remove the earth around and bring the mine outside. He had no notion of what he was doing, but, unconsciously, he was fumbling on the device, defusing it. In fact "at a certain moment – he added – I had the certainty that the mine was inoffensive"». This episode too was confirmed by the medium in the conversation of 1973.