Helen Duncan: The Medium Tried for Witchcraft in Wartime

In 1944, as D-Day loomed, a Scottish mother of six stood trial at the Old Bailey under the Witchcraft Act of 1735. This deep dive unpacks the extraordinary collision of eras in the case of Helen Duncan, a physical medium who, armed with cheesecloth, egg whites, and a papier-mache mask, became a genuine concern for British national security.We trace her journey from industrial poverty to a lucrative family grift, following the years-long cat-and-mouse game with investigators who exposed her ectoplasm as swallowed fabric and regurgitated props. Her story is ultimately a testament to the staggering vulnerability of human grief.Her escalation from clairvoyance to physical mediumship and the demanding, dangerous methods behind itHarry Price's laboratory tests and the chaotic street scene when he demanded an X-rayThe Portsmouth seance where she announced the secret sinking of HMS BarhamWhy prosecutors chose the archaic Witchcraft Act, and Winston Churchill's furious objectionThe myth of the lethal light switch versus her documented history of heart disease