Ethel Post-Parrish (died 1960) was an American Spiritualist medium.
Biography In 1932 Parrish founded Camp Silver Belle, a Spiritualist summer camp at Mountain Springs Hotel in Ephrata, Pennsylvania.Roy Stemman. (1976). The Supernatural. Danbury Press. p. 82 In her séances Parrish claimed to materialize her spirit guide, an Indian girl known as Silver Belle.Victoria Barnes. (1948). Centennial Book of Modern Spiritualism in America. National Spiritualist Association. p. 218
In a séance at Ephrata, Pennsylvania, in 1953, Parrish materialized Silver Belle whilst sitting in a curtained cabinet. The pictures, claimed to be taken at 50 second intervals in infra-red light by photographer Jack Edwards, show Silver Belle growing from a cloud of "ectoplasm".John Fairley, Simon Welfare. (1984). Arthur C. Clarke's World of Strange Powers. Putnam. p. 192.
Fraud A related spiritualist camp known as Camp Chesterfield in Anderson, Indiana was managed by Mabel Riffle, a cousin of Parrish. The camp was exposed in 1960: infra red film had revealed that the materialized figures were all human and had entered the séance room through a side door.Joe Nickell. 2002. Undercover Among the Spirits. Skeptical Inquirer. 26:2 (March/April). pp. 22-25Terence Hines. (2003). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. Prometheus Books. p. 53.
Camp Silver Belle was also practicing fraudulent mediumship, and had been exposed in various newspapers. Before exposures the camp took in up to a million dollars a year.Raymond Buckland. (1993). Doors to Other Worlds: A Practical Guide to Communicating With Spirits. Llewellyn. p. 227.
The photographs taken by Jack Edwards of Silver Belle materializing were discovered to be a hoax. A photograph was taken of smoke and by a double exposure a cardboard figure was superimposed onto it. The woman standing outside the cabinet curtain was also an accomplice involved in the deception.M. Lamar Keene. (1997). The Psychic Mafia. Prometheus Books.
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