The Patience Worth Record

Book excerpt: Patience Worth, a disembodied spirit, communicated through the mediumship of Pearl Curran from June 1913 to December 1937. At first, Patience communicated through Pearl by actuating Pearl's movements (i.e. having Pearl spell out words) while she was using an Ouija board. Later, Patience was able to communicate through Pearl more directly by activating Pearl's repertoir of mental images and thoughts. Over the course of this extraordinary relationship, Patience, through Pearl, dictated six books and engaged in lively conversations with hundreds of individuals from all walks of life. Scattered throughout Patience's conversations were numerous poems, essays, short stories, witticisms, and parables - all of a high literary and spiritual quality. These conversations, which consist of some four million words, were carefully recorded. They fill eleven bound volumes, which are kept at the Missouri Historical Society. This book contains the text of Patience's conversations found in volume one.