Psychometry

When I was a child, my nan would teach me things without me even realising. She taught me how to read the froth on her beer and the images in the fire as it burned and crackled on a cold winter’s night.

One of the things my nan taught me, was psychometry, or reading energy from someone’s belongings.

Mrs. Hester Drowden, a famous medium, defined psychometry as "a psychic power possessed by certain individuals which enables them to divine the history of, or events connected with, a material object with which they come into close contact.” A good description, because that’s exactly what it is.

Psychometry was first named in the modern age by J. Rhodes Buchanan, an American scientist, in 1842. The word is derived from the Greek words 'psychic' (meaning soul) and 'metron' (meaning measure) so it could be said that psychometry is the "measurement of the human soul."
Buchanan's theory was based on the belief that every thought, action, and event that has ever occurred leaves an impression on ether and the objects we handle. This impression will never be erased. Buchanan also thought the impressions were not only left on ether but on more palpable objects such as trees and stones as well.

Stone Tape Theory

This is the theory that impressions and vibrations are left in the fabric of a building – whether that be stone, wood or other material structures. Under certain conditions (which we really don’t understand at the moment) these echoes are then replayed and the result is a “ghost”. This does not apply only to visible things – sound can also be recorded in this way. Hence, at certain haunted locations, the sounds of ghostly music can be heard at certain times.
Psychometry works in a similar way. The medium or sensitive would hold your ring, watch (or any other belonging) and pick up from that, the vibrations of your aura.

The connection between psychometry and auras is based on the idea that humans radiate an aura in all directions, and that this impresses everything within its orbit. All objects, no matter how solid they appear, are actually made of small vibrating particles which can absorb energy.

Therefore an object which you wear every day is going to hold more energy that one not worn very often. This is why I like to read jewellery when possible, as this seems to contain more information. Also metal is particularly good at absorbing energy (think of how metal conducts heat).

So how can a psychometry reading help? It’s important sometimes to look at the past in order to make changes for the future. Also, when I am holding an object belonging to someone in spirit, it can form a bridge for the person from the spirit world to connect with me. I see psychometry as a spring-board into a reading, providing a connection between me and the sitter, and sometimes a loved one in spirit.

Sue will often tell people that she sees the aura, and I feel it, and this is a good way to describe psychometry. It’s a way of feeling what has happened in a person’s life and hopefully helping them make positive changes for the future.

Case Studies:

The Roman Soldier
Objects can hold on to energy for a long time. A good example of this was when I visited Peterborough Museum some time ago, as part of a Ghost Hunt.
The curator asked me to hold this very old looking sword. I knew it was very old, because I had to wear special gloves to handle it, but I had no idea which period of history it was from. Immediately, I closed my eyes, I saw a Roman Soldier, decked out in full regalia. He said he was from Carpathia. He told me he was the leader of a group of crack soldiers, similar to the SAS, and that he had been preparing for a dangerous mission which none of his men thought they would survive. The night before the mission, his men had killed him and buried him in all his armour so no-one would find him. He said that he also had a miniature statue of the Goddess he worshipped, Bridget, in his bag.

The curator said they had found the sword buried with a man who was in full regalia. This was not the norm, as valuable things such as swords were sent back to the families. They were not sure as to why he had been buried like this. He also said that it was more than possible the man was from Carpathia and that he was indeed buried with a miniature statue of the Goddess Bridget – something which was common-place at the time.

The Mexican Lady
Sometimes, mediums are accused of cold-reading – making sweeping generalised statements and watching people’s body language and responses, then fitting the reading to this. I hope this story would rule out any cold-reading on my part....

A lady living in Mexico sent me her wedding ring to psychometrise (not something I would recommend with our postal system!). I was able to accurately give her facts about her life, such as she had twins, and that she was concerned that her partner was in the military and she was worried about him coming home safely. I also told her that she was thinking of moving house and that this would probably happen in the next 6 months. Although I had not seen her or spoken to her, all this information was contained in the metal.

Famous People!
A few years ago Sue and I were guests on Karl Beattie and Yvette Fielding’s radio show. I was talking about psychometry and Karl said he had an object for me to read.
He produced a man’s over-coat. It wasn’t very large and was just a normal grey coloured, tweedy coat. I held it and immediately I had a bad back. I felt this man was in pain nearly every day and that he had been successful in life, but he had never felt recognised in a way he would have liked. I also felt this was an actor.

Karl was amazed and said the coat had belonged to Boris Karloff, who had played Frankenstein’s Monster in the old movies. He told me that Karloff had suffered immensely with his back and that he was, in fact, a classically trained actor, but was only ever really known for his role as the Monster – which required hardly any real acting.

If you want to try this yourself, sit quietly and relax, maybe by doing some deep breathing – then hold the object you are going to psychometrise in the centre of your brow, where the third eye chakra is. Just go with the flow and see what you get!

See you all next month.

© Michael Treanor-Smith 2011
www.spiritus-uk.com