The story of a medium: record of the second-last séance
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An authentic and objective document
As already mentioned, it was only towards the end of 1951 that the sitters were able to get one of the first recorders that were beginning to diffuse also in Italy, and which at that time still used coils of magnetic wire. However, as they were not wealthy people (who underestimated the documental value of the recordings), they always reused the only two coils in their possession, recording each session, subsequently transcribing the text (albeit in a concise and often inaccurate way), and then erasing the recording when the coil was used again to record a subsequent séance. This is the reason why we have got only the recordings of the second-last and the last séance, which took place respectively on 14 and 28 March 1952. These are documents of extreme interest: the record is sufficiently clear and precise to allow not only an evaluation, but also a strong impact participation in the phenomenon of direct voice.
The direct voice is a voice that springs from a point in the air – sometimes still, sometimes moving – and shows timbric, tonal and volume features immediately recognizable, different from entity to entity. In this recording we recognize three distinct voices. The first is that of the guide Mariòl, with a feminine – even if not human – timbre, that communicates almost exclusively throughout all the séance, also transmitting the thoughts and communications of other entities. The second one, belonging to the so-called spirit invading the field, is masculine and deep, with shades tending to the bass. The third belongs to an unknown entity that manifests itself at the end of the sitting and is probably can be identified with an elderly person («mi chiamo Cenci», my name is Cenci). This voice too has a masculine timbre, with a marked Tuscan accent.
The technical features of Mariòl's voice and of her way of expressing herselves are remarkable, and pose a series of questions to which it is currently impossible for us to give satisfactory answers (about this, you can read what is written in the page on the last session). Mariòl said that, in order not to further damage the medium, she had created a particular field, a sort of energetic vibration to which only she could access («not for selfishness but for love» she stated, referring to the fact that she was forced to operate in this way, in order to be able to use the medium as a means of communication between the two dimensions). Mariòl then acted as interpreter of the other spirits who wanted to communicate, reporting their thoughts. Mariòl's expedient proved effective, if we consider that the séances with her as a guide lasted from 1946 to 1952.
The importance of technical details regarding the voice of the spirit invading the field
In my opinion the most interesting phenomenon is that of the spirit invading the field. In the background of Mariòl's clarion voice, one often hears a grave and deep voice, baritone, that pronounces in a strongly rhythmic and repeated way some indecipherable words and phrases. Mariòl explained to the sitters that in the field she created there was a loss, due to a part of the medium's energy she could not control, through which a spirit tried to communicate with obstinacy, invading her field. But this energy was not enough, and the spirit could not tune in properly, so his voice usually remained at an indistinct level. She also said that this field invasion was not due to hostile intentions, since the spirit invading the field was of good level: it was a kind of love invasion. In the dimension of Mariòl, in fact, everything appeared as if permeated of love, joy, harmony: therefore that spirit wished to communicate his thoughts to the sitters, and so he used the loss of the field created by the guide, which however he was not able to control accurately. However, sometimes he could tune in for a few seconds, and then his words became clear and well understandable. Listening to the recording (better if with stereo earphones) one can perceive this extraordinary phenomenon well: Mariòl acts as interpreter for the spirit invading the field, transmitting his thought through the field created by her, but at times that spirit manages to tune in directly. Then we hear his clear words, which are then repeated by Mariòl, who seems not to be able to perceive if the tuning of the spirit's communication is accurate or not.
Phonation, distortions and uncertainties
It is advisable to follow the recording of the séances through the attached pdf text, otherwise – especially at first listening – you can not fully understand everything that is communicated. Listening to the audio several times, the phenomena become clearer. In Mariòl's communication, there are occasional phonations or distortions, and a typical phonation is often recorded – transcribed as vao?, but audible rather like waou? – possibly a distorted contraction of the «vado?» (can I go on?) with which Mariòl asked if she could go on with the transmission and the translation into words of the thoughts of other entities. Still from a technical point of view, the difficulty and effort with which Mariòl carries out his task as interpreter and, so to speak, as a switchboard operator, is evident. Except for some more or less standardized and repeated sentences with few variations (such as the manifestations of love and affection, or the wishes of light) that flow away without encountering obstacles, Mariòl often stops, with waiting or interpretative pauses, which seem necessary to enable her to understand the thought to be transmitted or to find (most likely in the medium's mind) the most suitable words. However, even the search for the proper terms is rather strange, because every now and then Mariòl syllables a word, before repeating it in full without interruption, as if repeating something that is transmitted to her (syllable after syllable) by another entity; or she reports a word with the wrong tonic accent, as if she were not able to check the correctness of the term used to express the thought she received. From this point of view, we may have the impression that sometimes Mariòl acts as a passive switchboard operator, who relays what she hears in her headphones, rather than as an intelligently active interpreter. At the same time, when Mariòl asks for confirmation of the correctness of the terms used to an entity with which she is in contact («il vostro caro? pensiero?» – your dear? thought?), her words are clearly audible in the recording: it is as if she could not turn off the audio.
Also interesting is another frequent way of saying by Mariòl: «rivolto? verso di loro?» (addressed? towards them?), as if the guide needed to verify whether, in the intention of the entity she is speaking for, she should transfer or not to the sitters the thought she has received. In this case too, while we would have no doubt in interpreting an intention that appears very evident, Mariòl shows an insecurity due perhaps to her role as a passive operator. We also find that the perception of time, in Mariòl's dimension, is completely anomalous compared to ours, also in relation to the chronology of the interventions. It so happens that an entity that has just spoken through Mariòl (as for example Angelo), speaks again shortly after – according to our chronological order – repeating phrases more or less similar to those previously expressed, without however being identified by Mariòl as the entity that has communicated just before: «ancora un altro mi dà pensiero» (yet another gives me thought), says the guide. Another characteristic that can be found in these recordings is that sometimes Mariòl has some difficulty in receiving the observations or questions of the sitters, and goes on in her communication without taking them into account, as if the contact were one-way.
However, beyond any technical observation and any unresolved question, the value of these recordings concerns the following two aspects: the first is the objectivity of the phenomenon, recorded by a technical device, which rules out any hypothesis of collective hallucination by of the sitters; the second is the complexity of the phenomenon, which leads to rule out as unsustainable not only any insinuation of trickery or deception by the medium or by (non-existent) accomplices, but also any interpretations attributable exclusively to the (conscious or unconscious) psychism of the medium. I will return to this last point, to clarify it better, in the page on the importance of facts.