THE
BEGINNING OF THE END
In 1875, Katie sadly announced that she would soon be leaving Florence
and that her time on Earth would soon be at an end. Crookes later wrote
of a scene that he witnessed when Florence and Katie said their final
goodbyes. According to his account, Katie made one last appearance in
the séance room and then walked over to where Florrie was lying
on the floor. She touched the medium on the shoulder and implored her
to wake up, explaining that she had to leave. They talked for a few
moments until "Miss Cook's tears prevented her from speaking".
Crookes was asked to come over and hold Florence in his arms, as she
was falling to the floor and sobbing hysterically, and when he looked
around, the white-robed figure of Katie was gone.
With Katie now gone, there was no point in Florrie staying
on for further investigations. In fact, she told Crookes for the first
time, she had married about two months before to Edward Corner. Florence
went into a sort of retirement for six years but then returned to the
Spiritualist scene manifesting a new spirit, this one named Marie. This
new spirit partner managed to provide even more entertainment that Katie
had, singing and dancing for the sitters at her séances. There
was something about "Marie" that was beginning to bother people
though...
At a séance in 1880, Sir George Sitwell noticed
that Marie’s spirit robes covered corset stays, so he reached out and
grabbed hold of her. He held on tightly to her and when he pulled aside
Florrie's curtain, he found that the medium's chair was empty. He was
not surprised to discover that he was holding onto Florence, clad only
in her underwear.
After that, Florence would only perform if someone were
tied up in the cabinet with her. On at least one occasion, a woman named
Florence Marryat participated and she later testified that during Marie’s
appearance, she was firmly tied to Florence in the cabinet. This wasn't
enough to keep her audience though and Florence vanished into relative
obscurity as a housewife in Monmouthshire. She gave her last séance
in 1899 and passed away in 1904.
William Crookes was stunned by the overwhelming criticism
from his fellow scientists over his investigations of Florence Cook
and he soon gave up active investigations, although he remained a staunch
supporter of psychical research until his death. He was knighted some
20 years after his work with Florence for during his long and distinguished
career he discovered the element thallium and his experiments with vacuums
led tot he discovery of the cathode ray tube and x-rays.
As for Katie, well -- who can say? Whether or not Katie
King ever really lived and died on earth, she refuses to go away. In
1903, she appeared at a séance conducted by Dr. Glen Hamilton
in Canada and appeared again in Rome in 1974. It's likely that she will
be back again someday too, just as she has always been, bearing a striking
resemblance to her medium, slipping out of the hands of her audience
and appearing strangely elusive in photographs. Her story has not yet
come to an end!
Katie King era o pseudónimo adoptado pelo espírito
de Annie Owen organ. Ela era o «espírito guia» de
Florence Cook. Dizia ter sido filha de Henry Owen Morgan, famoso pirata
que foi protegido por Charles II e feito governador da Jamaica. O espírito
de H. O. Morgan adoptou o pseudónimo de John King, tendo-se manifestado,
pela primeira vez, em 1850, com os irmãos Davenport.Katie King
colaborou de maneira notável com William Crookes. Vamos transcrever
os relatos de algumas sessões controladas por Crookes e reportadas
pessoalmente por ele.
