Being a medium is not an easy destiny. Communication with the subtle world, communication with the souls of the dead, materialization of ectoplasm - all this is only part of the load. The fight against critics, stubbornly unwilling to believe in paranormal abilities, takes much more energy. One of the greatest mediums of the last century, Leslie Flint, claimed that he constantly collaborated with scientists and was never convicted of fraud. But was it really so?
HE HEARED DEAD PEOPLE
What can be said about Leslie Flint for sure - he always achieved everything himself. Born in 1911, in St Albans, one of the most disadvantaged areas of London. His childhood could not be called even remotely happy - he grew up in poverty, abandoned by his parents and raised by his grandmother. A connection with the otherworldly was formed in the boy from about seven years old - either an uncle who died in the war appears, then just someone's voices whisper strange things in his ear. Leslie did not understand whether his contacts with the dead were real, or whether he was simply going crazy. He closed in on himself, began to miss classes at school and became distant from his few relatives. At the age of thirteen he dropped out of school to start earning at least somehow.
Where can a person who hears spirits go? In the cemetery, of course. True, he was not entrusted with digging graves - he did not come out of age. Leslie became a cemetery gardener, tending the vegetation around the graves and at the same time attentively … listening. Later, however, he was madly carried away by ballroom dancing - at first he danced himself, then started teaching. At that time, he sincerely believed that he had finally found his calling, and could forget about the call from another world. It is easy to guess that he did not succeed.
MEDIUM UNWILLED
Leslie Flint spent his first seance at seventeen, more as a joke than in earnest. He did not like the atmosphere, or the reaction of the public, or his fellow mediums, in many of whom he immediately recognized greedy charlatans. The young man vowed not to participate in such events anymore, but to come to grips with dancing. And for six years he was quite successful … until he fell in love.
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Fortunately or unfortunately, the object of his passion was Edith Mundine, a big fan of spiritualism. At first she became close to Leslie as a dance student, then became his mistress, and finally persuaded to plunge into the secrets of the other world again. Evil tongues say that Mundine deliberately tracked down Flint from that very first Ouija session in order to use him for her own purposes. It is not known whether this was really so, but to the credit of Edith it is worth noting that she married Leslie Flynt and lived with him all her life, never doubting the correctness of her choice. Edith Mundine did not possess the talents of her husband, but acted as a muse, inspiring a medium to his work.
And so, at twenty-four years old, Leslie Flint announced publicly that he was again engaged in spiritistic activities and was ready to begin seances. And he will call from the world of the dead not only ordinary spirits. The best people of the past will speak through Leslie Flint! Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sir Winston Churchill, Archimedes and Queen Victoria, Mahatma Gandhi and Merlin Monroe. And, of course, the unsurpassed Rudolph Valentino!
After such loud words, crowds of people rushed to Flint's sessions. He immediately acquired both numerous fans and equally numerous enemies. Leslie Flint has repeatedly stated that he does his business not for fame or money … but in truth, he just drowned in both.
GHOST DANCER
It is worth making a small digression here in order to explain the significance of the personality of Rudolph Valentino, and his role in the life of the famous medium. Nowadays, not so many people can remember this name. Well, there was such an Italian-American actor at the beginning and middle of the last century. Charming, successful. He starred in a dozen good silent films. So what?
The fact is that Rudolph Valentino was not just a good actor, but a real sex symbol of his generation. His appearance, manners and style won the hearts of tens of thousands of female fans around the world. Plus, he danced like a young god. The more terrible was the news of the tragic death of the shining star. At the age of thirty-one, Rudolph Valentino died of blood poisoning due to a failed stomach operation. His grave for thirty years (!) Every day (!!) was visited by crowds of fans. Now, imagine how popular a medium could have gained by declaring that he would have the spirit of a deceased idol “in touch on the air”? The correct answer is absolutely overwhelming. Women, dreaming of hearing the voice of their favorite, almost fought for the right to attend seances.
In his interviews, Leslie Flint said that Rudolph Valentino regularly visited him even before the first high-profile performances, and persuaded him to become his guide to the world of the living. Flint did not seem to know who Valentino was and described him simply as "a man in an Arab suit." Valentino did play an Arab prince in one of his most famous films, The Sheikh. Only here it is strange that the genius of dancing, whose fame thundered all over the planet, went unnoticed by Leslie Flint, who also dreamed of a career as a dancer. Naturally, Flint's critics did not hesitate to declare that he simply decided to go out into the light of the back of the late actor. On the other hand, it was not possible to provide evidence of this, and how is it possible to prove such a thing?
HIDDEN IN THE BLACK
The problem with evidence is a key point in the entire career of a famous medium, a stumbling block for his admirers and haters. Leslie Flint displayed a unique gift - the ghosts of the dead spoke through him when his own mouth was closed. In that era, there was a great fashion for exposing fake mediums depicting the voices of the dead. You can guess that this trick did not work with Leslie Flint. He loved to invite skeptics to his sessions, who covered his mouth with plaster, tied his hands, connected wires, and even forced him to fill his mouth with illuminated water. In most situations, all these experiments could not stop Leslie's talent - and speeches from the afterlife continued to sound around him. This gave rise to rumors that the medium is invulnerable to any checks. But his opponents also had something to object. First of all, they reproached Flint for the fact that all his sessions took place in the dark. The medium stubbornly refused to speak in the light - according to him, the spirits did not want to speak in the light. The next point is the discrepancy between celebrity voices and their real voices. Gandhi's speeches, recorded on tape during his lifetime, did not coincide with the voice heard during the seances. And many other personalities suddenly acquired or lost accents, intonations and rubbish words unusual for their speech. And many other personalities suddenly acquired or lost accents, intonations and rubbish words unusual for their speech. And many other personalities suddenly acquired or lost accents, intonations and rubbish words unusual for their speech.
Perhaps the most poignant accusation against Leslie Flint was as follows. He communicated with hundreds of spirits, some of whom were great writers, politicians, philosophers, who according to their own words continued to live and work in the afterlife … but none of them could confirm this. Couldn't Oscar Wilde or Arthur Conan Doyle dictate at least a piece of their new works? Not to mention, to slightly reveal the unimaginable mystery of life after death. Leslie Flint had no answer to that.
Leslie Flint was remembered by some as a brilliant medium, others regarded him as a crook. But at the same time, all the same - also brilliant. Even if we assume that all his sessions were just sleight of hand, carefully hidden tape recorders and a talent for ventriloquism and hypnosis, no one was able to prove it. Leslie Flint passed away after a fifty-year career, retaining an enchanting aura of mysticism around his name. And this is not given to everyone.
Sergey Evtushenko