Gordon
Higginson's authorised biography, On the Side
of Angels, is written by Jean
Bassett.
In it, Gordon recounts that his mother received
predictions from the spirit world about his birth
and his mediumistic abilities. His gifts included
not only trance and clairvoyance, but also the
faculty of materialisation when the so-called
dead appear in the seance-room; though his
materialisations were not as developed as those
of Helen Duncan
or Alec Harris.
Gordon began his mediumsitic training when he was
twelve years old, coached by his mother, Fanny
Higginson, herself a medium.
In the course of his
lifetime of service to the spirit world he
travelled throughout the United Kingdom appearing
before thousands who witnessed his clairvoyance
not only in Spiritualist churches, but also in
halls and theatres, including London's Royal
Albert Hall. His impressive messages sometimes
contained the names and addresses of his
recipients.
A dedicated Spiritualist Minister, Gordon held on
to the Presidency of the Spiritualists' National
Union (SNU) for over 20 consecutive years, and in
addition to being the Principal of the Arthur
Findlay College (right), which he thought of as
his 'second home', he was also the long-standing
President of Longton Spiritualist Church in
Staffordshire, England.
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In his bigraphy he
recalls a wartime, spirit-world intervention:
"One
time we became trapped behind the enemy lines.
Our escape route, a bridge, had been blown up.
There seemed to be no way out; there was a river,
but we knew it was treacherous and very deep in
places. I had been taught how to swim in full
kit, but not everyone could do so. I was in
charge and wondered what I could do to save these
men and get back to our lines.
"I
went aside and spoke with my spirit friends,
desperately asking for help. Cuckoo [a black
child spirit guide] was there, and she said
I was to trust her. She promised to show me the
way, and said, 'Remember the bouncing ball!'
Cuckoo reminded me of the first game we used to
play together; now she would use that to bring us
all to safety. Approaching the water, I saw the
ball. I knew that I must follow it, and I must
trust. We crossed that river with the water
sometimes up to our chins.
"We
all got through, even the shortest men. How
pleased we were to be safe on the right side of
that river. It is little wonder that the platoon
loved my little black guide. Some of them
collected pictures of black children and named
them Cuckoo."
_________________
Following
a series of mini-strokes, Gordon passed over from
a heart attack at his home in Longton, in 1993.
Stansted
Hall in Essex, England, the former home of Arthur Findlay, and now the
headquarters of The Spiritualists' National Union
and The Arthur Findlay College of Psychic
Science.
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