I recently reviewed an old episode of Unsolved Mysteries about this subject and since my use of the 'search' link on this website produced no mention of it I thought I would share what I've learned. Feel free to skip this post if you're familiar with the story.

On July 8, 1913 a St. Louis, Mo. housewife, by the name of Pearl Curran, was using a Ouija board with a friend when they received a message from a person calling herself Patience Worth.

Subsequent uses of the Ouija board indicated that Patience Worth was communicating through Pearl Curran. Patience Worth described herself as a woman who had been born in England over 260 years before, had moved to America, where she was eventually killed by Indians.

Pearl Curran was the unexceptional wife of a middle class businessman. She quit school during her first year of high school at the age of 13. Her home had few books and she read little more than the daily newspaper.

Mrs. Curran recorded the messages from Patience Worth averaging between 500 to 3,000 words per session. As time progressed Mrs. Curran didn't need to use the Ouija board, she could hear Patience's voice in her head and see a mental picture of what was being communicated. At this point what she practiced could be described as automatic writing.

Eventually the Spirit of Patience Worth used the the vocal chords of Mrs. Curran and she merely dictated the information being relayed through her. Unlike Edgar Cayce, Mrs. Curran never went into a trance state during any of the sessions.

This case is similar to others of the time as the U.S. was being swept by a tide of interest in spiritualism and the like. What makes this case so unique is what was produced from those sessions.

Her first novel entitled 'The Sorry Tale', was a story set in Palestine during the time of Jesus. A notable St. Louis historian, who reviewed the book, stated that it was 'unquestionably the greatest book written about Jesus since the Gospels!' The New York Times gave it a rousing review, stating that it was 'written with the precision and accuracy of a Master hand!'

There were other celebrated novels, plays and hundreds of poems, many of which found their way into the most prestigious poetry books and magazines of the time. Altogether Mrs. Curran transcribed over 4 million words, filling some 30 volumes over the 24 years of contact with the Spirit of Patience Worth.

After being continuously interrogated with questions from an disbelieving skeptic Patience Worth shot back "If you're so sure this is a trick, let's see you do it!'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patience_Worth

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"A critic is like a legless man who teaches running." Channing Pollock

I always find this tale so interesting. I will have to go back and reread about her some more.

LOVE'IN THE QUOTE. Very cool.My sister and I are MEDIUMS and have experince with contacting spirits mostly in my profession.My sis does channeling and doesn't go in to a trance.To those whos loved ones she connects with it is very real and they don't need proof beyond that.Can't wait to find that book.Thanks!