From Earthquakes to Horoscopes ~ Silver Birch
The power of the Spirit is in our everyday lives,
and with it there comes not only reality, but also certainty. It
illuminates the whole of our minds, fills our souls with peace and our
hearts with love. It is the greatest gift of The Great Spirit.
The Great Spirit is actually in everything, for
nothing exists apart from the Great Spirit. That the earthquake
is part of god's perfect plan, the earth is evolving as those who live
there, this doesn't mean that the Law or the Great Spirit are evolving,
simply because they are perfect, but that only the part of the Great
Spirit which is manifested in our physical world is subject to the
evolution of it.
Our world was born in fire
and tempest as the scientists now say, and is gradually evolving towards
perfection.
We cannot say that the Great Spirit is responsible
for the beauty of the sunset and the sunrise, for the myriads of
glittering stars in the firmament, for all the delightful songs of
birds, and then turn around and say that He is not responsible
for the storm and the lightning, the thunder and the rain. They are all
part of the Great Law.
In that
sense, we might say that the Great Spirit is responsible for those who
act against others, but those people are only unenlightened, because to
each one of us here is given that amount of free will, which, as we
evolve, we learn to exercise. We make our own limitations by forming our
own characters, but exactly because we are part of the Great
Spirit, we can conquer all the difficulties and obstacles in our
world.
Silver Birch says that spirit is superior
to matter. Spirit is the king, and matter is the servant. Spirit reigns
supreme. It is the essence out of which all life is made, for spirit is
life and life is spirit.
Horoscopes.
When Silver Birch was asked whether free
will was limited in the sense that the horoscope seems to influence
peoples ‘doings', he replied that there are tendencies,
vibrations but these are easily overcome. We are surrounded by
radiations and influences, much of which can affect our destiny, but the
Great Spirit has provided us with part of Himself, a part of His spirit
which, when our free will is properly used according to our evolution,
it can enable us to conquer all that stands in the way of the fullest
expression of that [part of] the Great Spirit within us.
When asked about
Spiritualism being said by some to be against some law or other, Silver
Birch replied that he loved to hear the sound of our earthly voices, and
it gave him much happiness. And he knew that we like to hear from him
too, for we have much to learn from each other. He went on to say that there is a
great work for all of us to do - and work to which many of those
spirits who live in the other realms have dedicated their whole lives.
He believes that the work abroad will grow as a power of the Spirit
grows here in this country.
He advised us to just go
on with our faithful
service and know that not one moment which is dedicated to the service
of others is in vain, for the coming together of spirits always brings a
rich blessing upon we who are in the world of matter and also those
spirits who are released from the world's limitations. He added that the
blessings come because our aim is not for ourselves but only for the
service of others.
The Master Silver Birch once
said
that the power of the Spirit is in our everyday lives, and with it
there comes not only reality, but also certainty. It illumines the whole
of our minds, fills our souls with peace and our hearts with love. It
is the greatest manifestation of The Great Spirit.
He goes on to
tell us that the Great Spirit is actually in everything, for nothing
exists apart
from the Great Spirit. That the earthquake is part of god's perfect
plan, the earth is evolving as those who dwell there, this does not
mean that the Law or the Great Spirit are evolving [because they are
perfect,] it means that only the part of the Great Spirit which is
manifested in our physical world is subject to the evolution of it.
Our world was
born in fire and tempest and is gradually evolving towards perfection.
We cannot say
that the Great Spirit is responsible
for the beauty of the sunset and the sunrise, for the myriads of
glittering stars in the firmament, for all the delightful songs of
birds, and then turn around and say that the Great Spirit is not
responsible for the storm and the lightning, the thunder and the
rain. They are all part of the great law of the Great Spirit.
In
that sense, we might say that the Great Spirit is responsible for those
who act against others, but those people are unenlightened, because to
each one of you there is given that amount of free will, which, as you
evolve, you learn to exercise. We make our own limitations by forming
our own characters, but exactly because we are part of the
Great Spirit, we can conquer all the difficulties and obstacles
in our world.
Silver
Birch says that spirit is superior to matter. Spirit is the king and
matter is the servant. Spirit reigns supreme. It is the essence out of
which all life is made, for spirit is life and life is spirit.
When
Silver Birch was asked whether free will was limited in the sense that
the horoscope seems to influence peoples ‘doings'.
He
replied that there are tendencies, vibrations but these are easily
overcome. We are surrounded by radiations and influences, much of which
can affect our destiny, but the Great Spirit has provided us with part
of Himself, a part of His spirit which, when our free will is properly
used according to our evolution, it can enable us to conquer all that
stands in the way of the fullest expression of that [part of] the Great
Spirit within us.
When asked about Spiritualism being said
by some to be against some law or other,
Silver
Birch replied that he loved to hear the sound of our earthly voices,
and it gave him much happiness. And he knew that we like to hear from
him too, for we have much to learn from each other.
He went on to
say that out of these talks there will come much work, for there is a
great work for all of us
to do - and work to which many of us who live in the realms of spirit
have dedicated their whole lives. He believes that the work abroad will
grow as a power of the Spirit grows here in this country.
He
advised us to just go on with our faithful service and know that not
one moment which is dedicated to our service is in vain, for the coming
together of spirits always brings a rich blessing upon you who are in
the world of matter and they who are released from the world's
limitations. He added that the blessings come because our aim is not
for ourselves but only for the service of others.
Teachings ...
Do you think all of God can be put into a
few pages
in one book? Do you think that when that book was finished, He had no
more
inspiration for His children? Do you think you have come to the end of
His
power when you have turned the last page of your Bible?
It
is a mockery of divine justice to think that a death-bed repentance will
wipe
away all the wrongs you have done.
Life is always a polarity. If there were
no darkness
there would be no light. If there were no trouble there could never be
any
peace. If the sun always shone you would not appreciate it. You have to
learn
sometimes through conditions that seem a nuisance. One day you will look
back
and say, "We learned our best lessons not when the sun was shining, but
when the storm was at its greatest, when the thunder roared, the
lightning
flashed, the clouds obscured the sun and all seemed dark and hopeless".
It
is only when the soul is in adversity that some of its greatest
possibilities
can be realised.
If you knock on a door and it does not
open, do not
push. If you push the door gently and it opens, that is for you. You
cannot go
through a closed door. Too many people in your world waste time and
effort
banging at closed doors.
Disease is, in a large number of cases
primarily due
to the wrongful alignment of mind, body and spirit There is no religion
higher
than service
Pain and suffering are regarded as
miseries; they are
not. They have divine parts to play in the evolution of the individual
The higher you seek to rise, the more
difficult it
must become
It is easy to love those you love. There
is no
virtue, no saintliness in that. But to love those you do not love, that
is the
attribute of an evolved soul.
The test is not what you believe, but
what you have
done, otherwise there would be a complete mockery of divine justice.
There is an infinite storehouse of
knowledge which is
placed at the disposal of all who desire to have it, but it must be
earned by
growth and struggle, by evolution and progress.
A spiritual dwarf cannot pretend to be a
spiritual
giant. There is no death-bed repentance.
You may do all things that men regard as
religious,
but unless they inspire you to lead better lives, unless they enable the
spirit
within you to find greater expression, then you are not religious as we
see it.
Creeds, dogmas, doctrines, rituals,
ceremonies,
stained glass, altars, mitre, cope -- what have these to do with
religion?
Religion is in the spirit, the spirit that belongs to all Creation,
which
expresses itself in every rhythm and manifestation of life, that is
revealed in
every aspect of Nature and in the striving of all idealists and
reformers who
wish to serve. What has that to do with creeds?
Learn to be free. Do not imprison
yourself. Do not
hedge yourself around and refuse to allow new inspiration to come to
you. Truth
is a constant search. Its boundaries are ever widening, for as the soul
evolves
the mind responds.
You are indeed mighty atoms -- infinite,
yet
expressing yourselves in a finite manner. Within you there is a power
that one
day bursts all its bonds and insists that it shall express itself in a
body
more fitting to its reality.
The power that fashioned the universe is
not
impressed because you build a great cathedral and fill it with beautiful
music
and have stained glass windows and impressive processions. You cannot
imprison
the Great Spirit in a building.
Every life can add its quota. And the
higher the
life, the more altruistic, the more unselfish, the more does it add
beauty to
the varied manifestations of creation. Not only does the artist, the
musician
and the poet adds his contribution of lustre, but every life can bring
an
inflection of beauty if it chooses.
To appreciate prayer, you must realise
its purpose. The
mere mouthing of words, the mere repetition of a formula achieves
nothing.
If you have faced honestly, fairly and
squarely all
the problems and difficulties that beset you; if you have tried within
the
limits of your own power to find a solution and you have failed, then
you have
a perfect right to ask that some higher power, some greater soul, should
give
you the light in your hour of perplexity.
I know of one religion; it is service. We
judge by
action, by life, by motive. All evils are wrong because they are an
attempt to
frustrate the expression of the Great Spirit within you. When the pupil
is
ready the master appears
The law of cause and effect is basic,
fundamental and
unalterable because you can reap only what you have sown. Effect must
follow
cause with mathematical accuracy; it cannot be otherwise. In turn the
effect
becomes the cause by which another effect is set into motion, producing
another
cause. The process is a constant one.
When you had those experiences you may
have thought
that life was bitter and harsh and unkind, that you were forgotten, or
lonely
or neglected, and fate had dealt you a very hard blow. But the soul
grows
through adversity and the pure gold emerges after the processes of
crushing and
refining have taken place.
The marriage service performed in your
churches
refers to the existence of the marriage until death parts the man and
his wife.
If spiritually they are not united they are parted before death comes.
If there
is love, there is nothing that will ever separate them.
The greed of your world must be replaced
by love
because love is an expression of the spirit. Love has many aspects,
compassion,
service, friendship, co-operation. You are all parts of one another,
whatever
you are, whoever you are and wherever you may be.
Every race, every nation and every
culture has its
contribution to make in your world. It is like a mighty orchestra in
which
every instrument contributes its part to achieve harmony of music which
produces the greatest beauty. What are considered the uncivilized and
the
lowliest have their parts to play in the great unfolding scheme.
We can never promise that your life will
be free from
problems, perplexity, or even pain. We can promise that within yourself
you
will find the means to overcome all handicaps and disabilities. As you
strive
to express the highest, the deepest, the greatest within yourself, so
you will
attract to your aid those beings from our world who love you, who desire
to
help you, and through you help others.
Men and women devote all their efforts to
gain
baubles and possessions far beyond what they need and sacrifice the
eternal
realities, which are the greatest assets the human being can have.
Grief, sorrow, sickness and suffering are
part of the
means by which the children of earth are taught the greatest lessons. If
truth
were to be found with ease, it would not be appreciated. It is because
truth
comes in the hour of greatest sorrow or suffering that value is placed
upon it
by the one who is ready to receive. Trite though is may sound, you
cannot
obtain truth until you are spiritually ready.
Sometimes the worst answer to your prayer
would be to
give you that for which you asked. No harm can come to any soul whose
honest
motive is to do the best. Every soul who desires to serve will find the
opportunity provided.
The whole purpose of earthly life is to
awaken the
dormant slumbering souls to the reality of their existence. Your world
is full
of living sleepwalkers who go through the days activities in a dream.
When all is said and done there is no
higher
privilege, no higher religion, than service to the Great Spirit through
serving
all His creatures, human, animal, or whatever form they take.
As long as man ignores natural methods of
healing and
persists in using animals, who were not placed on earth for that
purpose, he
will fail to promote health and well-being.
Spirituality is the burgeoning of
divinity within the
individual.
Silver Birch prays:
Oh Great White Spirit, Thou who art the infinite architect, the King of
Kings,
the divine intelligence which has devised the whole universal scheme,
whose
wisdom sustains it and whose love guides it, we seek to draw closer to
Thee, to
garner from Thy infinite storehouse of knowledge some gleanings that
will aid
us on our eternal quest. We recognise that we cannot understand Thee in
Thy
fullness because Thou art infinite and our conception must of necessity
be
finite ones. We see the panorama of natural laws unfolding in the
immensity of
their gigantic scope, controlling all facets of life in a boundless
universe.
The writtings of Silver Birch are through
the Mediumship of Maurice
Barbanell.
For more information go to ...
http://members.tripod.com/Synergy_2/silverb/contensb.html
End.
SILVER BIRCH is the name chosen by a guide who has given
many years service through his medium Maurice Barbanell, who sat with friends in the home
circle of Hannen Swaffer. These devoted people recorded the teachings of Silver Birch,
as he was known, and published them in numerous volumes for many years.
I recently came across one of these called the
"Silver Birch
Companion", which is based upon two much earlier books, "Wisdom of
Silver
Birch" and "More Teachings of Silver Birch", the latter compiled by Mr
Barbanell's wife Sylvia. These were published in 1941 and 1944
respectively, but
they lose none of their value over the years, because Silver Birch's
teachings are
eternal. I am writing here just some of the things discussed in the
first chapters, and I hope this will encourage you to seek out his books
and teachings perhaps through the 'Alibris' or other websites.
Question: How do we apply
these teachings to our lives today in the 21st century?
Answer: Throughout all,
the theme is service. Service to our fellow travellers on the road of
progression, this includes those we like and also those we don't like! Isn't it
easy to talk about our spiritual selves to anyone who will put up no
opposition? And isn't it easy to imagine what the rest of the world will say?
Well, I've got news for you, it doesn't matter what ‘they'
say, [or you imagine they will say] because Silver Birch teaches that no matter
how small the seed of learning is, it will grow when it's ready. But with never
a mention the truth cannot do its work.
So take heart my friends, "speak the truth and shame the
devil" as my granny used to say, because all the spirits that arrive back
beyond the ‘veil' who have no truthful knowledge of any spiritual existence are
at a definite disadvantage, and it is that little bit harder for them to adjust
to their new life and the spirit guides to work with them towards the light.
Silver birch says that knowledge always brings responsibility, and the spirit
guides do not come back to just gladden our hearts, they come to give us
opportunity to serve also. Not everyone is called upon to speak from platforms,
to demonstrate the gifts of the spirit to multitudes.
To some in the privacy of their homes comes the call to
service, at the workplace, or the bus stop to a stranger is given a smile of
hope, a lift of heart, a hand of helpfulness. These in the everyday
hum-drumness are gifts that we all can give.
Question: What are the
basic truths that Silver Birch speaks of?
Answer: There is no
death.
Death spells freedom, of course it can be a painful
experience even to those blessed with the knowledge of the afterlife.
Silver Birch compares this process to the changing of the
seasons, snow in winter when all life sleeps; the herald of spring, when life
awakens; the fullness of summer, when life is revealed in all its beauty;
autumn, when the voice of nature is hushed and preparation is made for sleep as
the period of refreshment comes upon it.
Death is liberation, says Silver Birch in another part of
his teachings, like the caterpillar who has become a beauteous butterfly. We
must not weep that the cage has been opened and the bird is set free! Death is
but a stepping-stone, a door that we enter into the larger freedom of the
realms of the spirit.
We can take from this message and be assured that the laws,
which have never failed, will continue to operate in our case and in the case
of every human life.
Question: What happens to our pets after so called death?
Answer: It depends on the love factor; if there is no love
the animal goes back to its source, its soul group, because it is necessary
that someone should take care of them, as it was before the human came to be
‘master' of any animal.
Love determines the survival of animals; it is the love that
exists between the animal and the person that enables it to obtain that
temporary consciousness that exists beyond the grave of matter, the physical.
Should the animal arrive in the spirit world before the human, it goes to be
taken care of by those specially trained for this work, just as it would on
earth while we are away on holiday, and waits to be reunited!
When asked what it is that an animal obtains from human
contact that makes it survive, Silver Birch replied that an animal is a living
soul, conscious, aware of its own existence, later dawned the reasoning and
intelligence bloomed. It still required the breath of the Great Spirit to
awaken it as we did too. So as our divine spark became a flame so we by love
transfer that process to the animal who lives within the shelter of our
affection.
How long do they stay with us? Was another
question. Silver Birch explained that at some stage the human and animal
evolution inevitably must part, as we progress and the pets do not have
the same ability, so we move beyond the material and the desire to
progress comes stronger and stronger, and so the love that kindled for a
while a flame that burned beyond death gradually becomes attenuated.
SILVER BIRCH ON MARRIAGE.
Like
baptism, the Church - and rightly - places great emphasis on the
importance of marriage, but how does the spirit world view it? Silver
Birch gave his opinion when addressing Vernon Moore, a circle member and
his fiancée, Frances, who for many years took down the guide's words in
shorthand so they could be recorded, printed and sent out all over the
world.
"I want you
both to realize that you begin now the greatest adventure of all, for
two lives that have pursued separate courses are now come together to
begin a united life," the guide began. "Even as love has brought you to
this place, even as love emanating from a world higher than yours
guided your footsteps on paths of knowledge and truth, so has that same
power brought you two together. Soon ‘a man of God' will read a few
words from a book and, according to your world of matter, you will be
joined in the bonds of holy matrimony. But I say to you there are no
bonds unless you bind one another with love and affection. There are no
ties unless you wish to tie one another with love and affection.�?
"Do not think only in terms of two sharing one
life from the physical
aspect. Remember that you are two spiritual beings, both portions of the
Great Spirit, now coming together with pledges to cherish, to love and
to serve one another even as a great love from this world strives to
serve you both. Remember that you are uniting two souls to adventure
together and that we look not so much upon the material aspect by the
spiritual, which to us is the enduring reality."
"Do not expect that you will escape occasional sadness and sorrow,
difficulty, trial and test, for these are parts of your evolution. When
they arise, as arise they inevitably must, face them with honesty and
know that they help to quicken your character and to bring you closer
together. There are many here who look forward with joy to a celebration
which will duplicate the one you have in your church, but which will be
sanctified in our world by ties we regard as more enduring, for the
promises uttered audibly by word of mouth are as nothing compared with
the unspoken pledges of the soul.�?
"You are
richly blessed, for you have knowledge. I wish you, on behalf of many
here who stand beside me, a safe journey through life's seas, happiness
and joy abounding, but always ask you to remember that you continue to
serve with the added fortification of love around you in the earthly
world. Look up, not down, and realize that your strength cometh from
above and from within your beings. Fortified by that knowledge, face the
future knowing that all will be well and that where love dwells no harm
can befall you. And I pray that the blessing of the Great Spirit rest
with you and inspire you always in all aspects for your new life, and
that you both shall forever be conscious of the love that is round and
about you."
The couple were members of
Silver Birch's circle until 1981 when his medium passed on. Frequently
the guide spoke of the natural law. Once Vernon, a former Methodist
missionary, asked, "How are we to learn from natural law?"
"You learn
through the evolution of your own spirit" replied the guide. "You learn
first of all to discard all that which is false, all that which makes
your reason revolt, all that which is not in consonance with the love
and the wisdom of the Great Spirit.
Before you learn, you must unlearn. You must discard all that which
hinders your minds from thinking as they should. Thus your soul and your
spirit grow and you are ready for higher knowledge.
When you meet here, your soul is developing and you are becoming more
accessible to the infinite wisdom of the Great Spirit. You are learning
about the operation of laws that control spiritual phenomena.
You are being taught about the operation of natural laws in relationship
to the life that you live. As you fit yourself by progress so greater
knowledge comes to you."
whom you call Silver Birch, represent only a
small portion of the
knowledge that belongs to the infinity of the spheres. As you grow,
other teachers greater than I can use me to impart knowledge and wisdom
to you."
"To save the world, must we
broadcast this teaching to everybody?" asked Vernon.
"To save the world?" questioned Silver Birch. "The world must learn to
perform its own salvation. There is no ready-made plan. There is no
prepared, cut-and-dried system.
Your world has to learn that, behind what it regards as the
manifestation of life, there is the eternal reality of the spirit, that
the children of matter are not only worldly beings but spiritual beings
expressing themselves through bodies of matter.
The bodies of matter must be as perfect as they can be made through
having all the necessities of life freely at their disposal, as the
Great Spirit would have them.
Then their spirits must be freed from all dogmatic and creedal trammels,
so that they do not give allegiance to things that have no real or
spiritual value, so that they work only for that which is true, so that
the warring and the quarrelling and the strife over creeds and dogmas,
which have held your world in chains for thousands of years, can be
abolished.
We preach the gospel of the spiritual brotherhood of all peoples, with
the Great White Spirit as the common Father.
What stands in the way is the earthly conception, the churches built on
error, the usurping of privilege, the pride and the power of tyrants,
petty tyrants who hold the whip hand."
When someone said "Thank
you," Silver Birch, as usual, reminded those gathered that he must not
be thanked, but that it was the Great Spirit to whom gratitude should be
expressed.
"We
use the earth phrase out of habit," someone explained.
"I know my son,2 replied the guide. "But if I did not always correct
you and always draw attention to the laws of the Great Spirit, some
would begin to pay us praise and to worship us, and then the same
troubles would start once more. "
End
Link To "Silver Birch Anthology"
On-Line Book.
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We encourage you to share them with your family and friends.
....................................
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BOOKS ON THE ALIBRIS WEBSITE START VERY CHEAP!
SILVER
BIRCH SPEAKS.
"No
time that is spent in the desire for spiritual attainment is ever
wasted. You wait very patiently, I know, but I want you to realize that
great progress continues all the time. The bonds of unity between us are
being strengthened and there is a quickening in the perceptions of your
own soul powers. Growth, unfoldment and evolution are taking place all
the time.
The greater manifestations of the spirit are not in
their outward expression, but in the quickening of the inner response,
in the closer union between the unfolding spirit and the powers which
seek to use it.
Whether manifestation of the spirit is seen or
heard does not matter very much. What is more important is the unfolding
of your souls' power, for, as you sit here week after week, so you are
attuning yourselves to higher vibrations and becoming more accessible to
the wisdom of your ages, which is always waiting to pour itself down
into your world of matter, to obey the law of service. But it must find
instruments attuned to its vibrations.
And, as your souls unfold
and you rise higher and higher in the scale of vibrations, so you come
into closer touch with higher and greater spiritual forces, that are not
seen or heard but which belong to the eternal realities of the spirit.
That is the reality of your lives. So much of your time is spent in
chasing the shadows, in trying to capture the illusion, in trying to
secure the ephemeral. In silence, in harmony and in love, your souls
unfold all the time. Though it may be slow, it is sure and certain."
"When
Nothing Happens", taken from the
"Teachings of Silver Birch" edited by A W Austen.
###########################################################
SILVER
BIRCH ON THE IMPORTANCE
OF OVERCOMING SUPERSTITION
"People
who die are - in the early stages- just the same as
those who live. They have shed a physical body, that
is all.
They have not changed their individuality; their character
is not altered. Their habits and traits and idiosyncrasies
and characteristics remain just as they were; the selfish
still selfish, the greedy still greedy, the ignorant
still ignorant, the deluded still deluded, until the
process of spiritual awakening takes place."
"This
happened so many times that
in our world there came the determination to fill the
earth with some knowledge of reality. And so, for many
years, people like myself have been entrusted with the
task of trying to tell the truth about the spiritual
life, not in the mystical sense as the phrase so often
conveys, but what it is in reality.
We have
to undo generations and generations of misrepresentations,
ignorance, prejudice, lies, deception, superstition,
all the forces which have held millions of people in
the darkness of subjection."
(from S. Birch THE SEED OF TRUTH , 126).
Miracles
are a retelling in small letters
of the very same story which is written across the whole world in
letters too large for some of us to see.
-
C.S.Lewis
About Silver Birch - from the website - just google the name - or copy the 'Url' at the bottom of the page
There
are a number of possible reasons why you have visited this website. The first
and most likely is that you are already a 'follower' of Silver Birch and have
found his great wisdom and spiritual insights of benefit in your life. In this
case you will welcome the reprints of the classic books of his teachings.
Whatever the
reason, the chances are that Silver Birch's wisdom will remain with you
forever. Long after you have forgotten his precise words, his guidance will
still be a very real influence whenever you need it. Silver Birch's words are
so accessible and meaningful that you will never tire of reading them.
But who is
Silver Birch, the spirit guide whose words are faithfully recorded here? And
who was Maurice Barbanell, the London medium who channelled that wisdom?
Without an answer to these questions, many new readers - however impressed
with these teachings - will be puzzled about their source.
|
Maurice Barbanell
|
Barbanell was the
founder and editor of a weekly Spiritualist newspaper, Psychic News,
and for half a century devoted his life to spreading spiritual knowledge
through its columns and those of other publications with which he was
associated.
|
In
his own obituary, which he wrote before his passing at the age of 79 on July
17th 1981, he revealed that he was told by Estelle Roberts' Red Cloud - a
spirit guide for whom he had the greatest admiration - that in a previous
incarnation he had made a promise to reincarnate and devote his life to
spreading Spiritualism. Though he had no knowledge of that life or promise,
events certainly conspired to make it possible.
|
He
was born to Jewish parents in a poor area of London's East End. His mother
was devoutly religious but his father, a barber was an atheist so Barbanell
heard many arguments about religion during his early years. His father always
won, and his son adopted the same outlook but later changed to agnosticism.
Yet after hearing about Spiritualism from a speaker at a social and literary
club of which he was secretary, Barbanell refused to start the debate by
putting an opposing view - one of his duties - because, he explained, he had
made no personal investigation and therefore his opinions were valueless.
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This
impressed the speaker who invited Barbanell to attend a seance in which a
medium, Mrs Blaustein, was entranced by various spirits of different
nationalities. He was not impressed, and on a second visit fell asleep.
Barbanell apologised, believing that either boredom or tiredness had been
responsible, but the other circle members informed him that he had not been
asleep but had been in a trance and a Red Indian had spoken through him.
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With
the encouragement of a famous Fleet Street journalist Hannen Swaffer,
Barbanell founded Psychic News partly as a vehicle for the guide's teachings.
But, because he knew he would be criticised for publishing his own mediumship
in his own newspaper, Barbanell did not reveal to his readers for many years
who was channelling the wisdom, by which time the guide had a huge following
on his own merits.
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Silver
Birch spoke regularly at Barbanell's home circle and the proceedings were
always recorded shorthand. There were a number of differences in style and
procedure between Barbanell's own journalistic efforts and the way in which
Silver Birch communicated, as Barbanell himself observed:
"In my working life I use words every day. I have never yet written
or dictated an article with which I was satisfied when I read it. Inevitably
I find, when looking at the typed material, that I can improve it by altering
words, phrases and sentences. No such problem arises with the guide's
teachings. These flow perfectly, requiring usually only punctation. Another
interesting aspect is the occasional use of words that I regard as archaic
and do not form part of my normal vocabulary."
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Silver Birch
But who was Silver
Birch? A psychic artist depicts him as a serious-looking native American
Indian with a single feather and compassionate eyes. There is evidence to
suggest that this was simply a convenient persona behind which a far
more spiritually evolved soul hid in order that those who read his words
would judge them not by the name attached to them but by the wisdom that
pervades every sentence.
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Those
who knew them both were well aware of the differences in the way they spoke
and the words they used. They both had spiritual missions and they fulfilled
them admirably, particularly when working together in their unique two-world
partnership. This, as you will discover, has provided inspirational answers to
the questions we all ask, from time to time, about life and its purpose. They
are needed now more than ever before as we prepare for the challenges that
confront us in the 21st century.
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The Spiritual Truth Foundation
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Is
a charity set up by Trust Deed in April 1965 by Maurice Barbanell and a group
of friends for the promotion & advancement of the religion and religious
philosophy of Spiritualism.
The charity
owns the copyright to the Silver Birch Teachings and other titles by Maurice
Barbanell and his wife Sylvia, and publishes these through The Spiritual
Truth Press. It intends to maintain the Teachings in print and also other
titles promoting Spiritualism. This is financed by the sale of the books and
also from legacies received from supporters of Silver Birch and the charity.
Other web sites quote the Teachings of Silver Birch and the charity
encourages this provided the source and publisher is acknowledged.
REGISTERED
CHARITY N0 242568.
http://www.silverbirchpublishing.co.uk/page.asp?pageid=4&pagename=About
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