The literature of psychic phenomena has many colorful types of mediumship
manifestations, of mediums with amplified human skills. These were
the ancient wizards of primordial times, the prophets of the Biblical
past. All types of human manifestations are, in fact, possible through
mediumship including highly specialized abilities such as music composition,
poetry and painting (rarely called psychopictography).
The most notorious example of music composition was Mrs.
Rosemay Brown
(1916-2001). In English speaking countries the poetic mediumship of
Patience Worth (Braude, 2003) became very notorious. However, painting
is also a registered feature of mediumshp phenomenology. Although
both kinds of 'artistic mediumship' are extremely rare, when they
occur, they offer us many clues about how the process of 'spirit interaction'
with the medium takes place. A good example is the mediumship of
Coral
Polge.
First we must understand that everything that is psychically produced
makes use of
what is on the medium's mind. Except perhaps
for the case of Rosemary Brown (who said to receive music by dictation),
all kinds of 'mental mediumship', depend to a high degree on the medium's
skills and abilities. Everything happens as if the medium were a chisel,
a brush, a pen or whatever tool that the spirit's mind uses to compose,
write or paint. In this sense, if the medium is 'imperfect', no matter
how much genius there is in the spirit, the final result will not
resemble the work of a genius. Therefore, the quality of art produced
by such mental mediums is a direct function of the training or previous
ability that the medium has shown.
L. Gasparetto in trace delivering a message
(in Portuguese with a strong French accent) by Toulouse Lautrec
on April 1981 during a painting seance.
Some scenes of psychic painting are also shown. English subtitles
were added.
Besides Coral Polge, another recent
example is in the book 'Is that you, Renoir ?' by E. Dubugras.
Luiz Antônio Gasparetto was born in 1949 in S. Paulo, Brazil.
Today, Luiz Antônio no longer works as a medium, but his story
is worth reading. According to Elsie Dubugras:
A new phase in his life started
when (...) during one of these (Spiritist) meetings Luiz
Antônio began to feel quiver and pains and suddenly his
arms became paralyzed. He was unable to move them until after
the meeting was over...After this, he was possessed by an uncontrollable
urge do draw. (Dubugras, 1979, 'The
start of mediumship', p. 93)
Luiz Antônio attended then
another Spiritist meeting among well trained mediums when 'strange
things began to happen':
A medium began speaking in
a language unknown to her, while Luiz Antônio, in trance,
drew rapidly and answered in the same language...He only came
out of his trance two hours later. (Dubugras,
1979, 'The start of mediumship', p. 94)
It soon became a common feature
of his mediumship the production of a large variety of drawings
including people, landscapes and abstract compositions with no authorship
identification. During a short period of time, Luiz Antônio
produced more than 5000 paintings. Then, in 1971 his parents took
to Uberaba to attend a meeting with the Brazilian medium Francisco
Cândido Xavier:
Once there, he was asked by
the person in charge of running the meeting to sit at the medium's
table. Luiz Antônio took out the sheets of paper and crayons
he had brought along and during the sessions drew the pictures
that came through. At the end of the session, fifteen pictures
were ready and Chico Xavier, much to Luiz' surprise, said that
some were the work of Rembrandt. From then on, other spirits of
famous painter started to draw through him, signing their works.
(Dubugras, 1979, 'The start of mediumship',
p. 96)
Some features of Gasparetto's mediumship
We reproduce below the main points summarized by Mrs. Dubugras about
Gasparetto's mediumship (Dubugras, 1979, 'Researchers
study the phenomenon', p. 100-102):
-
He works in trance. In other
words, in an altered state of consciousness;
-
The pictures are done at an
unusually high speed. The average for simple drawings was 4
minutes, more elaborate pictures took from 10 to 20 minutes.
Some were done in 30 seconds. Not even a trained artist could
produce work of such good quality so swiftly. And Luiz Antônio
is not a trained artist.
-
The absence of light during
sessions, except when they are held for scientific purposes.
Bright lights and flashlights cause the medium great discomfort.
This has also been found in the case of physical effect mediums
when producing materialisation or similar phenomena;
-
He paints portraits of discarnates.
Some were of relations or friends of people present at the session
and recognized by them. Others have been of famous people of
different countries - Queen Elizabeth I, of England; Allan Kardec,
founder of Spiritism; W. B. Yeats, modern Irish poet; Lawrence
of Arabia and many others;
-
The total absence of models,
yet the figures are anatomically correct;
-
The variety of styles, each
picture corresponding in style with that of the artist signing
the work;
-
The ambidextrous techniques,
although the medium is not ambidextrous when not in trance;
-
The simultaneous use of both
hands, each working on a different part of the same picture,
i. e., the strokes done at the same time are not symmetrical;
-
The drawing of two heads at
the same time, both hands working simultaneously. At times one
of the heads is painted upside down;
-
When drawing two heads simultaneously,
each hand will sign the name of the discarnate artist responsible
for that picture. When one of the heads is done upside down,
the signature is also done upside down and back to front. This
happens at the same time that the other hand is signing the
portrait which was done right side up;
-
Painting with his feet or with
his feet one of the hand simultaneously;
-
While painting, the discarnate
artist often talks with the person helping to hold the paper
down. See the case of Portinari who describe what he was doing
and the meaning of the picture.
Who were the painters?
At the time, several distinct personalities
had manifested themselves through him, some occasionally and other
more frequently:
The group of discarnates who paint through
Luiz Antônio include Renoir, Degas, Toulouse Lautrec, Delacroix,
Portinari, 'Aleijadinho' who was a famous Brazilian painter and
sculptor....Also Lasar Segall, Modigliani, Anita Malfatti, Raphael,
Rembrandt, Botticelli, Van Gogh, Matisse, Manet, Monet and other
who paint occasionally. (Dubugras,
1979, 'Who are the painter, p. 108)
Some posing ballerinas (drawing) by Degas
through L. Gasparetto.
The musical project carried out by Rosemay
Brown (Brown, 1971) had a discarnate manager in the figure of the
Mrs. Brown's spirit guide, Franz Liszt. In the case of Gasparetto,
the rule was taken by Toulouse Lautrec. As in the case of Mrs. Brown,
Gasparetto was able to describe several aspects of the painter's
personalities:
When she controls Luiz Antônio,
he paints calmly and speaks to those nearby in a gentle way.
(about Tarsila do Amaral, Dubugras,
1979, p. 103)
Picasso gets the most easily upset when observers move or
whispers. There have been instance where, despite repeated requests
for silence, the people walk about and talk in low tones. The
painter, without further warning, has crumpled the paper on which
he was drawing and put a stop to the work and to the session!
(on Pablo Picasso, Dubugras, 1979,
p. 104)
When Portinari, the Brazilian painter, is present, Luiz Antônio
feels the problems of the impoverished Brazilian peasant which
the artist still depicts in his own unimitable style. (on
Cândido Portinari, Dubugras, 1979, p. 104)
Toulouse Lautrec... is always concerned about the pictures
he produces through him and once, feeling that the anatomy of
the figures was inadequate, he decided to practice during a session.
(on T. Lautrec, Dubugras, 1979, p.
105)
Degas seems to have less difficulty in drawing through Luiz
Antônio as he paints ballerinas in the most difficult poses
imaginable, even though Luiz Antônio's knowledge of anatomy
is slight. (on E. Degas, Dubugras,
1979, p. 106)
'Woman with a glowing head' (*), by A. Modigliani
through L. Gasparetto (1983).
What is the message?
At the end of the book 'Is that you, Renoir?'
we can find the following passage by Mrs. Dubugras:
Through his mediumship, 5000 psi paintings were
produced during the past 8 years and these were in the styles
similar to those the discarnate artists used during their lifetime.
However, a number of these artists are now adopting different
styles, possibly feeling that they came to do through Luiz Antônio,
that is, show that life continues after death and that the discarnates
can communicate with us through adequate channels such as our
young medium, Rosemary Brown, Chico Xavier, Coral Polge and many
others in different parts of the world. These changes in style
also show that life after death is not static, that man's spirit
evolves; by speaking of their previous lives, they prove that
reincarnation is a fact. (E. Dubugras, 1979,
p. 112)
Although the phenomenon is poorly understood (least
to say, accepted) by mainstream science, it can not be denied nor
invalidated by words. Rhetoric is incapable of 'erasing' such facts
which will continue to exist, in spite of any academic disdain.
