One of the most stunningly evidential recent
examples of trance mediumship was the partnership of George
Chapman with deceased doctor William Lang (1852-1937) who
had been an eye specialist at London's Middlesex Hospital
up until 1914.
For sixty years Chapman's body, while in a trance, would
be used by Dr. Lang to facilitate "spirit operations"
on the etheric bodies of his patients, which would then
result in healing of their physical bodies. He performed
these operations with either no physical contact or a very
light touch.
William Lang the doctor who worked through George Chapman
had been an eye surgeon at the famous Moorfields Eye Hospital
in London between 1880 and 1914.
When the news spread that he was said to
be operating through George Chapman, many of Lang's former
colleagues came to Chapman to expose this phoney medium
but went away when Lang recognised them and greeted them
by name.
A group of doctors set up a trust so that Chapman could
work for them without any financial worries which he did
for many years treating the patients they sent him and achieving
remarkable results.
A dental surgeon, Dr. Sydney Gerald Miron, was so impressed
with the fact that his wife had been cured by George Chapman/
Dr. Lang that he wrote a book The
Return of Dr. Lang(Lang publishing Co.Aylesbury 1958) detailing some of
his remarkable cures. These included cataracts, glaucoma,
arthritis, kidney disorders, brain tumours, heart trouble,
cancer and other ailments.
Numerous celebrities consulted the Chapman/Lang partnership,
including the actors Laurence Harvey and Stanley Holloway;
the writers Barbara Cartland and Roald Dahl, also Lady Barbirolli,
and the exiled King and Queen of Romania.
Clinics were set up in Paris, Lausanne and New York.
Although physical healing was an important aspect of Chapman's
work, he stated that the main purpose of Dr. Lang's manifestation
was to convince people of the reality of life after death.
He also stressed the importance of testing the spirit to
ensure its authenticity, and cross-checking any claims made
with information available from physical sources.
Patients and medical colleagues who had actually known Dr.
Lang in real life claimed that he recognised them and shared
information with them that only they knew.
Dr. Lang's daughter, Marie Lyndon Lang, was initially skeptical
that her father was manifesting through George Chapman but
after hearing his voice, observing his mannerisms and asking
personal questions concerning events which only she and
her father knew about, she made this declaration:
"The person who speaks through George Chapman and
claims to be William Lang is, without a doubt, my father."
For thirty-one years until her death at the age of ninety-four
in May,1977, Marie Lyndon spoke regularly with her deceased
father. At her request, however, both her intimate connection
to the increasingly popular Dr. Lang and her consultations
with him were kept secret until
her death.
Dr. Lang's granddaughter, Mrs. Susan Fairtlough, reacted
with anger when she heard that a healer was "pretending"
to be her grandfather.But after meeting George Chapman and
Dr. Lang, Mrs Fairtlough had this to say:
"To my great horror, or rather, stupefaction, the man
who was in this room was indisputably my grandfather. It
was not him physically, but it was his voice, his behavior.
It was unquestionable. He spoke to me and evoked precise
events of my childhood. And I was so impressed that all
I could say was, 'Yes, grandpapa. No, grandpapa.'"
(Fisher)
Testimonials to Dr. Lang's brilliance have
been furnished by a host of living doctors, few of whom
wished to be named for fear of professional censure. After
meeting Dr. Lang for the first time in December, 1969, Dr.
Robert Laidlaw of New York told how he discussed in a professional
manner certain ophthalmological conditions and techniques,
and added: "I fully believed them, and I believe now,
that I was conversing with the surviving spirit of a doctor
who had died
some thirty years ago."
George Chapman’s trance mediumship
met his own criteria of evidence:
* The spirit communicator should speak as near as possible
to the way
he spoke on earth,
* He should use the same phrases and mannerisms
* He should manifest other personal characteristics
* He should be able to give dates, names and details of
his earthly
experiences that can be verified
* He should be able to discuss intimate matters with relatives
and
colleagues still on earth.
In 1975 he was awarded "Spiritualist of
1975", the award being presented by Harry Edwards.
