An interview “from the other side”
06/11/2006
Jayne Warren talks to Gordon Smith
Maybe it’s the Sean Connery purr, the easy humour - or just the sheer down-to-earth comments. But talking to Gordon Smith makes you feel as though you've just curled up on a big warm, comfy sofa in front of a log fire.
Odd, really, given that Gordon is one of the world's most famous mediums, has appeared in several documentaries, and been regularly tested by scientists, historians and parapsychologists - all of whom remain baffled by his unusual abilities.
Gordon was born into a large family on a rough estate in Glasgow. His only “religion” was “Rangers and Celtic” and he became a hairdresser. He had no idea about mediums, or “spiritual stuff” until his twenties. And that was twenty years ago. So I ask him about his childhood, skeptics, his advice on life and death, his new book - and well - hairdressing.
So what was his first memory of anything “unusual” in his life? "I was about sevenish I suppose. I could hear voices and see people, but I kept it all quiet. I kept thinking 'I wish this would stop'. I didn't know it was anything unusual, really, because I just assumed everyone else had the same experiences - like you do as a kid.
“Then when I was about 21, my friend's brother died. I didn't know. I was asleep, it was about 5am, and he suddenly appeared in my bedroom, wearing blue jeans and a tartan shirt. He kind of 'pulsed' for a bit and then vanished. The next thing I knew there was a knock on the door and it was the police with some keys to his shop, and they said he'd died. I put the radio on, and heard the news. I was a bit confused by it all, really."
"Anyway at the funeral, I said to my friend - the one whose brother had died - 'Is there anything I can do?' It’s the sort of thing you say at funerals, isn't it? And she said; 'Yes, take me to a spiritualist church'.
“That floored me. A what church? I'd never heard of anything like it. But I asked around, found somewhere, and we went along. The 'medium' there was lovely woman, but she said to my friend 'you've got a medium with you' - meaning me. I said, 'I'm not a medium'. She said that in five years’ time it would be me up there where she was."
"Well, that threw me. I sort of panicked. I mean, I was a hairdresser. Anyway, I thought the people at the church weren't too bad, so I went to meetings, and it went from there really. And here I am today."
Under fire
Inevitably, Gordon has been under fire from skeptics for years, and had all sorts of tests. What does he make of all that?
"Well, frankly, I'm just as surprised at the results of these tests they get as they are. I just do what I do, that's all. But I think skeptics are often people who are afraid of death. It's like they are afraid to take responsibility for life, you know, because if there is something after death, then you are more than just a person, a body, you're a spirit, and that alters your view of everything, doesn't it? I just do what I do for the people who need and ask for it.
Many people tend to start thinking about death and the chances of an afterlife as they reach middle age and beyond. And some people are very anxious about this. What advice would you give them?
“There's a wonderful book by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross called 'Death and Dying', which really helps people look at death. And it's only by looking at death that you can really live! Life and death aren't opposites, they're part of the same thing. And when you can look at death you can appreciate the period of time you have in your life. Death is inevitable, it's not a choice. I always tell parents to buy their children a hamster, so they can understand and see death when they are young.
“I've found that a lot of people get depressed from grief, it builds into multi-layers, like regret, and they get stuck. People hold onto things for years, like: 'Why did I leave the room just then?'. I can say to them, that your relative, wife, husband, friend, child, whatever, wanted you to leave the room at precisely that time so they could die. Just forgive yourself - they do.
Real grief...is about disconnection
Tellingly, Gordon's favourite song is 'The Rose'. One line in it goes: "It's the soul afraid of dying, that never learns to live".
"You see real grief, is about disconnection. Disconnection from a person, from a life. You can't 'cure' grief, but you can put it back to grief proper, not layers of depression. And people should allow themselves to grieve. It's normal. I remember in the USA once a woman came to me and said that she had been thinking about her mother's death for nine years. I said to her 'why don't you look at her life instead? It lasted a long time!' She was shocked."
“Lets face it, I'm not trying to start a cult, or form any group - far from it! And if 'crazies' tell me I do the 'Devil's work', then I say that he must have changed his spots a bit because he seems to be helping a lot of people.
So is he pleased with his new book? "Yes, I am. I worked with Chris Hutchins on it. He travelled around with me all the way. He was a trenchant skeptic. His thoughts were, initially, 'How does he plant people in the audience?'. His attitude slowly changed - well, his whole belief system actually. He came to me in tears one night after an event and said: 'I see you are saving people's lives'. I said, 'I always told you just to watch and see, and use your common sense, that’s all.' Its that simple.
And does he ever miss the hairdressing? "Not really. But, old habits die hard - I always notice people's hair when they come and see me. I think 'you need a perm or a good cut'. But don't write that!"
To find out about Gordon's book “Stories From The Other Side”, go to our book review section.