Hooray for Harold Sharp!

Harold Sharp (1890-1980)

Today the originator of the auragraph (a psychic art reading of a person’s aura), the English medium Harold Sharp, was born. He was to die one month after his goal of reaching his 90th birthday in March 1980.

The Pioneer, Vol. 1, No.5 Oct. 2014

I’ve become quite fond of Harold during my research of him for my online class Auragraphs and You!

Sadly, there is not much biographical information about this modern pioneer on the internet, but I’ve gathered some lovely bits of information about Harold from books, articles, and newspaper notices.

At seventeen, Harold Sharp moved to London following the death of his father, a Roman Catholic farmer in Leicestershire. 

According to an article published in the Psychic News (Spring, 1980), Harold left for the city with a request from a farm worker named Sam Redding to “find out whether there is anything to this Spiritualism.” 

Sam’s daughter “Sis” had passed some time before and he longed to hear from her.

Although Harold would not raise his hopes, Sam’s plea was not forgotten. A journalist, Harold was adept at gaining information. Without devolving his identity, he obtained the names of several mediums with whom he had sittings, and suspecting that he may be followed, went immediately to the medium closest in location on the list. 

The first medium he visited not only greeted Harold by name but gave him evidence of his father and a message to Sam Redding from Sis. Intrigued, Harold visited the other mediums. 

Still skeptical, for Harold’s visit to the medium Hester Dowden, he gave her a pseudonym. The medium, in turn, gave Harold evidence of his mother’s full name.

It didn’t take long for Harold to subscribe to the Spiritualist belief. The earliest newspaper announcement I could find of Harold as a speaker in a Spiritualist church is 28 August 1931 at the Golden Green Spiritualist Society in London. 

When Harold was twenty, a medium predicted that he would be known for his inspired drawings. Not an artist, Harold did not think much of the prediction. But years later in 1945, Harold was lecturing on auragraphs.

This Sunday, February 25 at 10 a.m. Central time, I look forward to speaking about how Harold Sharp was inspired to create auragraphs, how he interpreted one, and I’ll show three from a private collection as well. 

Every participant will be encouraged to create an auragraph, and at least a couple will have time to present them to their recipient. If you’d like to join me for this online event, please email me for the meeting link.