Precipitated Spirit Painting of Azur the Helper

Azur the Helper was the Spirit Guide of Allen Campbell and Charles Shrouds, better known as the “Campbell Brothers”, Precipitated Spirit Painting Artists of the late 19^th and early 20^th century. The Campbell Brothers were both committed Spiritualists and held strongly too their religious beliefs of the afterlife and communication with the other side but also were able to take that belief and combine their extraordinary psychic powers and produce materializations on canvas that still exist today.

Azur was one of many Precipitated Spirit Paintings, but why does Azur stand out from other Campbell Brothers Precipitated Spirit Paintings such as Nora, Abraham Lincoln and Napoleon? First: there is an affidavit signed on June 15, 1898 by six prominent community witnesses stating they had witnessed Azur appearing on the canvas. Second: Allen Campbell while still in trance…Azur used Allen’s vocal cords to speak of who he had been and his lineage when he had lived on Earth.

The third reason Azur stands out from all the others happened recently.  I requested Anna Marie Warriner the Iridologist who had done the Iridology assessments in the book Precipitated Spirit Paintings by Ron Nagy, Galde Press to return to Lily Dale and asked if she could photograph and assess other paintings for a Fate Magazine article I wanted to submit. Anna Marie agreed, arrived with her digital camera and I obtained an eight-foot stepladder. In the Maplewood Hotel at the Lily Dale Assembly where the Precipitated Spirit Painting of Azur the Helper graces the wall, I positioned the stepladder and Anna Marie climbed the steps with her digital camera. Anna Marie said, “there is something strange going on here, the eyes seem to keep going out of focus like they are moving”. So I climbed the ladder on the opposite side, now both of us were staring into green eyes that looked so real and human I was getting dizzy. Those eyes were looking thru me…mesmerizing.

A lot of photographs of the eyes were taken finally to Anna Marie’s satisfaction. Then by chance she turned to take photos of Azur’s hand pointing upwards.  What we now observed had never been noticed or recognized before. The index finger pointing up had a fingerprint, as if it was coming from within the finger not reversed as if someone could have put this on superficially. Photographs were taken of the fingerprint, clear digital photographs.

After the hours spent looking into Azur’s eyes and the discovery of the fingerprint Anna Marie went home and I was completely exhausted. Now all I had to do was wait for the photographs and Iridology Assessments, especially the photo of the fingerprint.  The next week I received an e-mail telling me: Sorry Ron, The photos were a washout. I will not be able to do an assessment from them. I tried to forward them to you to show you how they looked but that wasn’t working either…very strange. Anna Marie

Whatever happened or why those photos did not turnout is beyond me. This is not the first time this has occurred when someone has tried to photograph a Precipitated Spirit Painting. The printing of the pictures in the book Precipitated Spirit Paintings has been difficult. Each book seems to have a mind of it’s own. Other images or oddities seem to keep appearing within the Precipitated Spirit Paintings, with no two books images the same. I guess that is why they are called Spirit Paintings?