Edna’s Blog 1: Secret Research

Edna Dargie was the Head Researcher for all 89 episodes of Rescue Mediums. As a retired school principal, she brought her professionalism and love for historic accuracy and detail to the show. Edna’s blog is about her experiences behind-the-scenes researching for the show.

January 13, 2016

Each episode still leaves me in awe when I think of how all the information came together for The Reveal or “Show and Tell”, as we fondly called it. Let me begin at the beginning…

My job was to provide the historical evidence and facts needed to support whatever the ladies might predict and encounter on their visit to the home. Between the time of the actual rescue and the sharing of information with the homeowners, I had to have all the information ready to be filmed on camera. That’s fine if you have a few weeks, but I had about 36 hours to pull it together!

I had to begin gathering as much information as I could ahead of time, just in case it might be what the ladies would discover. In some cases, I had stacks of data that wasn’t even close to what actually happened, but in others, wow, pretty well on!

Nothing I researched was EVER shared with the ladies until after the rescue was completed. I wore a good poker face when the ladies made a connection. It was part of the fun!

I’ll walk you through the research for a typical episode. First of all, a location would be found, or it would find us. There are some interesting stories about that, and I can share some of those later.

Michael Lamport, one of our producers, would usually visit the homeowners first to ensure that they were genuine, and to get an idea of what was happening in their home. Once they were confirmed, I would contact them and make a personal visit. I needed their legal address, their stories of activity, and their family history if possible.

The legal address enabled me to go to the land registry and research the ownership of their home and/or land back to crown, about 1800. This information was useful in case the paranormal activity was connected with the land and the home. I would also check the directories and get a list of the previous occupants. Owners didn’t necessarily live there. Once these lists were compiled, I then explored each family connected with the place and created a family tree for each. Death certificates indicating how they passed were one of the most useful tools. I can’t tell you how many thousands of death certificates I have perused!

A general history of the area was also required, as well as any significant local incidents. These could be a fire, a tragic accident, or another event.

A dialogue with the homeowners was important to get their stories. This could give me some direction of where I might best look to get information. I needed their stories so that I could share them with the ladies after the rescue, when we prepared for The Reveal. This list was also important to match with what the ladies found in their premonitions and in their walk-arounds.

The homeowners’ family history was important as sometimes a family member could be contributing to, or helping the homeowners with their paranormal experiences. Often the ladies would encounter family members in their premonitions or during the show and I could check them off on my list.

From Rescue Mediums S7:E13 “Penetanguishene”

The ladies would also make psychic drawings before they had any idea of where they were going. They would send copies of these to me ahead of time, so I could then look for matches in photographs of the family, or the history of the home or land.

And so, before the filming begins, I had visited archives, libraries, and land registry offices, and was armed with paranormal stories, family trees, documents, maps, photographs, historical data, land registry documents, all this work just in case any of it matched something the ladies would discover, then I could provide the evidence or proof.

Day One of Filming

The ladies have their premonitions and psychic drawings ready to be filmed that they have prepared over the previous days with the help of their guides. I am always on the set during filming with earphones and pencil in hand to take notes of everything they say. I start checking off any matches that I can see already with the homeowners and/or the history. The excitement begins, and I keep on my poker face so the ladies don’t have any idea of where they may have made a connection.

Now the crew is ready to travel to the actual home and interview the homeowners on camera. They will get their stories of why they called in the mediums and what is going on in their home. I usually stay with the ladies and bring them to the location when the filming is complete. This is always exciting because the ladies have no idea of where they are going, except the length of the journey. They do have to know when we can eat or make a pit stop if needed, after all! On the way many, premonitions are revealed in physical objects like a red truck with black lettering… it seems that their guides enjoy entertaining us throughout the process, before the serious work begins!

Driving up to the home is fun… did they sketch it? Do any of their premonitions match? They have such a good time seeing their premonitions confirmed, and I enjoy it as I have prior knowledge of what they will encounter, too.

From Rescue Mediums S7:E13 “Penetanguishene”

At the home, the ladies meet the homeowners for the first time, and their greeting is filmed. It is often hard at this stage for the homeowners to keep quiet about what is happening. But they will have to wait ’til The Reveal to say too much!

Now the ladies share their premonitions and psychic drawings with the homeowners on camera. They ask that the homeowners react to what they hear and see, but not to give any additional information unless asked. This, too, is really difficult for some!

While this is being filmed, I continue to write down everything being said. I continue to check off the premonitions that have been found. I might indicate to the ladies that they are getting a lot of hits, as this supports the accuracy of the information that their guides have given them.

Now we ask the homeowners to leave their home, and the ladies do their first walk-around inside and outside. They do not fully open up and connect with spirit as they have to delay the rescue for one more day because of the filming schedule. In real life, they would likely open up fully all seven of their chakras and go straight through to the rescue. At this time, though, they are psychically picking up on what is going on and looking for more clues that match their premonitions. The matches can help to indicate where the energy is strongest and where the rescue might take place. For example, they might have mentioned a grandfather clock or a sword on the wall. This room might then be significant.

In the meantime, I am doing what I do: following them out of the camera line, writing down everything being said. They will identify a lot at this time, maybe the gender and age of the spirit, the nature of his/her demise, what the problems are in the house, whether there are multiple spirits, and as many details as possible that could identify the spirit.

This part is invaluable, because when I go home to my research piles that night, I can start to cull the materials that I have already found.

It is likely quite late now, and I will drive the ladies home. There is always talk about what they found, and speculation about how it might unfold. I listen with my poker face on, making a mental note about significant matches with what I have researched.

And so, Day One draws to a close. Sometimes I have a lot of matches with the history, and I can see how it might possibly unfold. At other times, I am just shaking my head and wondering how this will all come together.

Which it always does! Especially with the help of Doris, a special spirit guide. But more about her later…

Edna