Rosemary Brown: Fraud or Medium for the World's Greatest Composers?

Possession. Say the word and people's minds often go to the sight of actress Linda Blair's head turning 360 degrees in the movie "The Exorcist." Loosely based on a true story, it is doubtful that the campy movie did much to convince people that demonic possession is possible. The two camps of believers and non-believers remains basically unchanged.

I have to admit that I don't have a firm stance on this subject one way or the other. I believe that demons exist but I find it hard to believe that they can somehow merge with human beings. I'm not denying the possibility, I'm just not certain at this point in my life.

Having said that, I'm not at all sure of my stance on the issue of mediums - - individuals who claim that they can somehow channel the dead. Is that a form of possession? I prefer to think not. I look it at it more as an open line of communication between the living and the dead.

I do not believe that everyone has the kind of open mind necessary to accept communication from the other side. I think it takes a person with a unique understanding and openness. That would certainly explain why only a handful of people could really act in this capacity.

Now don't get me wrong. I don't believe that everyone who claims to be a medium really is one. There are always tricksters out there who simply want to fleece people out of their money. I just don't believe that we can lump them all into a single category.

With that in mind, I thought it might be fun to explore some of these supposed gifted people with an eye to sharing information about their various claims. Then, you - - the reader - - can decide for yourself whether or not you choose to believe. At the very least, it opens up controversy and get all of us thinking.

Rather than starting with an obvious choice for my first article, I decided to go with someone a bit more obscure. The subject of this article is Rosemary Brown. Brown, who is now deceased, claimed to have produced more than 400 musical compositions in her lifetime. These pieces of music, ranging from piano pieces to full-blown symphonies - - supposedly came to her via long dead music masters.