Hayden Walles: That's the spirit(ualist), Auckland!

Down here in the south, where every day is a fight for survival against the elements, city councils occupy themselves with mundane activities such as digging up roads and desecrating historic buildings.

North of the Bombay Hills you clearly have more metaphysical concerns. This is the only way I can explain the Auckland City Council's financial support for spiritualists.

Various politicians have convinced me that the smooth running of the City of Sails is essential to my own economic well-being; when Auckland sneezes, the rest of us have to deal with the ectoplasm.

So you can understand my concern when I discovered that among the community group assistance funding grants made by the council's community development and equity committee was $2500 to the Foundation of Spiritualist Mediums to obtain Qualifications Authority accreditation for its training scheme. That does not fit my definition of smooth running at all.

This is a free country, and one is free to believe what one likes. Spiritualists happen to believe that once we pass to the other side (use of "dead" is discouraged in such circles) life goes on in a hazily pleasant manner on some ethereal plane.

Occasionally, such spirits communicate with the rest of us through mediums, those gifted few who are attuned to the ether, and pass on bland platitudes.

These are the people who brought us table-rapping, ouija boards and other paranormal paraphernalia. Since its beginnings in 1848 the movement has had its ups and downs, but continues to attract supporters around the world.

Desperation born of grief ensures demand, sometimes from unexpected quarters. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes, was typical of many trying to cope with loss in the wake of the World War I. His support for spiritualism was so unwavering and irrational that American arch-sceptic Martin Gardner once suggested that some other hand must have been behind the ruthlessly logical detective.

There have always been sceptics of spiritualism.

Some attack its pagan elements, but most disbelieve simply because there is not a single scrap of evidence of communication with the dead, while plenty of mediums have been exposed as deluded or fraudulent.

Sceptics put considerable effort into investigating such paranormal phenomena. Houdini, as well as an expert illusionist, was an avid debunker. Today, professional illusionists are still among the most vociferous opponents of all kinds of hocus-pocus, using their expertise to detect and expose scams.

Time and again they have recreated the effects of mediums, from the art of cold reading ("I'm getting a message for a J----. Is there a J here?") to the eerie appearance of disembodied hands. They have caught prominent mediums in the act of cheating. None of this proves that all spiritualists are fakes, of course, but it does leave the entire movement with a gaping credibility gap.

The Foundation of Spiritualists hopes that Qualifications Authority accreditation will improve the credibility of its courses in spirit communication and healing (although given the ructions within the authority, it is hard to understand why).

The foundation's president, Natalie Huggard, told the Herald on Sunday that many people who heard voices in their heads were not schizophrenic but had "problems communicating with the spirit world and don't know how to deal with it".

Telecom and other private companies have shown unseemly lethargy in exploiting this untapped corner of the telecommunications market, but not the Auckland City Council.

Dr Cathy Casey, the chairwoman of the community development and equity committee, reports that some members expressed concern, resulting in a reduction of the foundation's grant from the requested $4500 to $2500.

You might think this is making a mountain out of a molehill, but consider that this year the committee doled out just $410,000 to 131 organisations. There were applications for $800,000, and 39 groups went away empty-handed. The largest grant, to the Auckland Refugee Council, was only $12,000.

Perhaps the committee sees little reason to give additional funding to Youthline to stop teen suicides when you can simply talk to them after the event?

Dr Casey defends the grant, claiming the group contributes to the city's vision of "a vibrant, colourful community". Well, vibrations are certainly involved.

Except when used to frighten or exploit the gullible, spiritualism is fairly harmless - but there is no evidence it does any good, either. It is wildly reckless of a public body to give money for the promotion of such views.

I'm worried, Auckland. Can I now expect to hear that the transport and urban linkages committee has been consulting eastern gurus for advice on using levitation to ease traffic congestion?

If you want vibrancy and colour, pick up a guitar or a paintbrush - and leave the spirits to the breweries.

* Hayden Walles is a Dunedin freelance writer.