Hester Dowden
Encyclopedia
Hester Dowden or Hester Travers Smith, was an Irish spiritualist medium
who is most notable for having claimed to contact the spirits of Oscar Wilde
, William Shakespeare
and other writers. Dowden's spirit-communications were published by various authors. She wrote Voices from the Void (1919), an account of her life as a medium, and Psychic Messages from Oscar Wilde (1923).
Dowden was the daughter of the Irish literary scholar Edward Dowden
. She used both her maiden name and her married name Hester Travers Smith. Her husband was a prominent Dublin physician. Dowden was closely linked to the Irish literary world through her father, knowing, among others W.B. Yeats and Bram Stoker
. She was probably the model for the medium in Yeats's play, The Words upon the Window Pane. Her daughter married the playwright Lennox Robinson
. Though she wrote only two books under her own name, her spirit-communications provided the basis for approximately twelve books published by other authors.
She was closely associated with William Fletcher Barrett
, the psychical researcher. She was also responsible for introducing Geraldine Cummins to mediumship.
Dowden set up as a professional medium after she became convinced of her powers. In Voices from the Void she claimed that the spirit of Hugh Lane
, who had drowned in the sinking of the Lusitania
spoke to her before she knew of his death in the disaster. Her son-in-law Lennox Robinson and a vicar were present when the communication came through. However, Lane's death had been reported in the papers that very day. Dowden claimed not to have read them.
, of whom Wilde said "I have a very great respect for his work. After all, he is my fellow-countryman. We share the same misfortune in that matter. I think Shaw may be called the true type of pleb. He is so anxious to prove himself honest and outspoken that he utters a great deal more than he is able to think. He is ever ready to call upon his audience to admire his work, and his audience admires it from sheer sympathy with his delight." He opined that John Galsworthy
was the best modern dramatist. He dismissed Thomas Hardy
as a "harmless rustic" but admired George Meredith
for his appreciation of beauty. He loathed James Joyce
's novel Ulysses, which was a "great bulk of filth" and "heated vomit".
Wilde also demonstrated that he had no homosexual inclinations, but instead revealed his utter adoration of womankind, "My sensations were so varied with regard to your sex, dear lady, that you would find painted on my heart - that internal organ so often quoted by the vulgar - you would find every shade of desire there, and even more... Women were ever to me a cluster of stars. They contained for me all, and more than all, that God has created." Dowden also received a new play, entitled Is it a Forgery?, from Wilde, which was written in the spirit world.
James Joyce read the book and parodied the conversations with Wilde in Finnegans Wake
, in which Wilde spouts gibberish to a medium, "Tell the woyld I have lived true thousand hells. Pity, please, lady, for poor O.W. in this profundust snobbing I have caught. Nine dirty years mine age, hairs hoar, mummeries failend, snowdrift to my elpow, deff as Adder. I askt you, dear lady, to judge on my tree by our fruits. I gave you of the tree."
was the true author of the works attributed to William Shakespeare
. Dowden communicated with Bacon via her spirit-guide "Johannes". The spirits confirmed Dodd's theory, which he published in 1943. However, Dowden was later contacted by Percy Allen
, who also wanted to prove that Shakespeare's works were written by another individual. Allen favoured Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, not Bacon. On this occasion the spirits confirmed Allen's views. It was revealed that Oxford was the leader of a collaborative effort among poets and scholars to create the works. It was also revealed that Oberon
in A Midsummer Night's Dream
was a portrait of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
, who was in fact the illegitimate son of Oxford and Queen Elizabeth I. The spirit of Bacon told Allen that he had been misquoted when Dowden had received the messages she passed on to Dodd; but Dowden was not to blame because another spirit had garbled the message on that occasion. Dowden's biographer Edmund Bentley later confirmed that Allen's was the final and true revelation. Indeed from his teenage years Allen had been destined to be the bearer of the ultimate truth: "a plan had been worked out by spirit people interested in his earthly life that he should be the means of finally unravelling the great mystery of Shakespeare's origin and work." These events forced Allen to stand down as president of the Oxfordian organisation the Shakespeare Fellowship.
at the time, received messages from "Johannes" commenting on the personalities of the international leaders during World War II
. These were conveyed to the writer Peter Fripp as analyses of the motives and actions of Hitler and Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt. Seen from the spirit-world, Hitler was not evil but rather "a man whose stars threw him into the world with vast disadvantages, with overwhelming ambition sweltering in his soul, and with an infinite capacity for receiving influences and suggestions from our side." Open to spirit-influence Hitler was a passive recipient of dangerous spirits working on his "colossal egotism" so that he became a conduit for evil. Stalin, in contrast, is "crafty and careful" rather than egotistic. Churchill "can be hot-headed, full of zeal and enthusiasm, and, at the same time, never lose his balance in the least." Roosevelt is an "intricate personality" who is "affectionate, and has a genuine love for the human race. He is not fond of adventure, as Churchill is, but he would not shirk risks if he felt they might set things in the right direction."
Mediumship
Mediumship is described as a form of communication with spirits. It is a practice in religious beliefs such as Spiritualism, Spiritism, Espiritismo, Candomblé, Voodoo and Umbanda.- Concept :...
who is most notable for having claimed to contact the spirits of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
, William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and other writers. Dowden's spirit-communications were published by various authors. She wrote Voices from the Void (1919), an account of her life as a medium, and Psychic Messages from Oscar Wilde (1923).
Dowden was the daughter of the Irish literary scholar Edward Dowden
Edward Dowden
Edward Dowden , was an Irish critic and poet.He was the son of John Wheeler Dowden, a merchant and landowner, and was born at Cork, three years after his brother John, who became Bishop of Edinburgh in 1886. Edward's literary tastes emerged early, in a series of essays written at the age of twelve...
. She used both her maiden name and her married name Hester Travers Smith. Her husband was a prominent Dublin physician. Dowden was closely linked to the Irish literary world through her father, knowing, among others W.B. Yeats and Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker
Abraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula...
. She was probably the model for the medium in Yeats's play, The Words upon the Window Pane. Her daughter married the playwright Lennox Robinson
Lennox Robinson
Esmé Stuart Lennox Robinson was an Irish dramatist, poet and theatre producer and director who was involved with the Abbey Theatre....
. Though she wrote only two books under her own name, her spirit-communications provided the basis for approximately twelve books published by other authors.
Mediumship
Dowden claimed to communicate via various spirit guides, "Peter" (an Irish-American rogue), "Eyen" (an ancient Egyptian priest), "Astor" (also another medium's guide), "Shamar" (a Hindu), and finally "Johannes." The last was an ancient Jewish neo-Platonist who lived 200 years before Jesus.She was closely associated with William Fletcher Barrett
William Fletcher Barrett
Sir William Fletcher Barrett was an English physicist and psychical researcher.-Life:He was born in Jamaica where his father, William Garland Barrett, who was an amateur naturalist, Congregationalist minister and a member of the London Missionary Society, ran a station for saving the souls of...
, the psychical researcher. She was also responsible for introducing Geraldine Cummins to mediumship.
Dowden set up as a professional medium after she became convinced of her powers. In Voices from the Void she claimed that the spirit of Hugh Lane
Hugh Lane
Sir Hugh Percy Lane is best known for establishing Dublin's Municipal Gallery of Modern Art and for his remarkable contribution to the visual arts in Ireland...
, who had drowned in the sinking of the Lusitania
RMS Lusitania
RMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
spoke to her before she knew of his death in the disaster. Her son-in-law Lennox Robinson and a vicar were present when the communication came through. However, Lane's death had been reported in the papers that very day. Dowden claimed not to have read them.
Conversations with Oscar Wilde
Dowden published her conversations with Oscar Wilde in 1923. Wilde revealed that he was unable to read in the spirit world and had to see through the eyes of living people, "Over the whole world have I wandered, looking for eyes by which I might see. . . . Through the eyes out of the dusky face of a Tamal girl I have looked on the tea fields of Ceylon, and through the eyes of a wandering Kurd I have seen Ararat and the Yezedes. . . . It may surprise you to learn that in this way I have dipped into the works of some of your modern novelists." He also gave his views on the work of these recent writers, including George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
, of whom Wilde said "I have a very great respect for his work. After all, he is my fellow-countryman. We share the same misfortune in that matter. I think Shaw may be called the true type of pleb. He is so anxious to prove himself honest and outspoken that he utters a great deal more than he is able to think. He is ever ready to call upon his audience to admire his work, and his audience admires it from sheer sympathy with his delight." He opined that John Galsworthy
John Galsworthy
John Galsworthy OM was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include The Forsyte Saga and its sequels, A Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter...
was the best modern dramatist. He dismissed Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
as a "harmless rustic" but admired George Meredith
George Meredith
George Meredith, OM was an English novelist and poet of the Victorian era.- Life :Meredith was born in Portsmouth, England, a son and grandson of naval outfitters. His mother died when he was five. At the age of 14 he was sent to a Moravian School in Neuwied, Germany, where he remained for two...
for his appreciation of beauty. He loathed James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...
's novel Ulysses, which was a "great bulk of filth" and "heated vomit".
Wilde also demonstrated that he had no homosexual inclinations, but instead revealed his utter adoration of womankind, "My sensations were so varied with regard to your sex, dear lady, that you would find painted on my heart - that internal organ so often quoted by the vulgar - you would find every shade of desire there, and even more... Women were ever to me a cluster of stars. They contained for me all, and more than all, that God has created." Dowden also received a new play, entitled Is it a Forgery?, from Wilde, which was written in the spirit world.
James Joyce read the book and parodied the conversations with Wilde in Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake
Finnegans Wake is a novel by Irish author James Joyce, significant for its experimental style and resulting reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the English language. Written in Paris over a period of seventeen years, and published in 1939, two years before the author's...
, in which Wilde spouts gibberish to a medium, "Tell the woyld I have lived true thousand hells. Pity, please, lady, for poor O.W. in this profundust snobbing I have caught. Nine dirty years mine age, hairs hoar, mummeries failend, snowdrift to my elpow, deff as Adder. I askt you, dear lady, to judge on my tree by our fruits. I gave you of the tree."
Shakespeare conversations
Dowden was consulted by Alfred Dodd, a writer who wanted to prove that Francis BaconFrancis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
was the true author of the works attributed to William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
. Dowden communicated with Bacon via her spirit-guide "Johannes". The spirits confirmed Dodd's theory, which he published in 1943. However, Dowden was later contacted by Percy Allen
Percy Allen (writer)
Percy Allen was an English journalist, writer and lecturer most notable for his advocacy of the Oxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship, and particularly for his creation of Prince Tudor theory, which claimed that the Earl of Oxford fathered a child with Queen Elizabeth I.-Early writings:Allen...
, who also wanted to prove that Shakespeare's works were written by another individual. Allen favoured Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford, not Bacon. On this occasion the spirits confirmed Allen's views. It was revealed that Oxford was the leader of a collaborative effort among poets and scholars to create the works. It was also revealed that Oberon
Oberon
Oberon is a legendary king of the fairies.Oberon may also refer to:-People:* Merle Oberon , British actress* Oberon Zell-Ravenheart , Neopagan activist-Media and entertainment:* Oberon...
in A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
was a portrait of Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
Henry Wriothesley, 3rd Earl of Southampton
Henry Wriothesley , 3rd Earl of Southampton , was the second son of Henry Wriothesley, 2nd Earl of Southampton, and his wife Mary Browne, Countess of Southampton, daughter of the 1st Viscount Montagu...
, who was in fact the illegitimate son of Oxford and Queen Elizabeth I. The spirit of Bacon told Allen that he had been misquoted when Dowden had received the messages she passed on to Dodd; but Dowden was not to blame because another spirit had garbled the message on that occasion. Dowden's biographer Edmund Bentley later confirmed that Allen's was the final and true revelation. Indeed from his teenage years Allen had been destined to be the bearer of the ultimate truth: "a plan had been worked out by spirit people interested in his earthly life that he should be the means of finally unravelling the great mystery of Shakespeare's origin and work." These events forced Allen to stand down as president of the Oxfordian organisation the Shakespeare Fellowship.
World War II leaders
In 1941 Dowden, who was living in Chelsea, LondonChelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...
at the time, received messages from "Johannes" commenting on the personalities of the international leaders during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. These were conveyed to the writer Peter Fripp as analyses of the motives and actions of Hitler and Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt. Seen from the spirit-world, Hitler was not evil but rather "a man whose stars threw him into the world with vast disadvantages, with overwhelming ambition sweltering in his soul, and with an infinite capacity for receiving influences and suggestions from our side." Open to spirit-influence Hitler was a passive recipient of dangerous spirits working on his "colossal egotism" so that he became a conduit for evil. Stalin, in contrast, is "crafty and careful" rather than egotistic. Churchill "can be hot-headed, full of zeal and enthusiasm, and, at the same time, never lose his balance in the least." Roosevelt is an "intricate personality" who is "affectionate, and has a genuine love for the human race. He is not fond of adventure, as Churchill is, but he would not shirk risks if he felt they might set things in the right direction."