Patience Worth

Patience Worth is the name given to an alleged author and communicator claimed by Pearl Lenore Curran (February 15, 1883 – December 4, 1937), an American housewife from St. Louis, Missouri.

According to Curran, she first experienced the presence of Patience Worth in 1913, when she and a friend, Emily Grant Hutchings, were using a Ouija board.

Patience Worth was attributed with producing a large amount of poetry, prose, novels, and plays, most of it in archaic English. She claimed to have lived in Dorsetshire, England, in the latter half of the 17th century.

Initially met with skepticism, Patience Worth's writings gained recognition and acclaim over time. Notable figures, such as Mark Twain and Sir Oliver Lodge, expressed interest and admiration for her work. There were also many critics who claimed that Curran herself was the true originator of the writings.

The significance of Patience Worth's work lies in the debate surrounding its origin. Whether it was the result of Curran tapping into a past life, her subconscious mind, or if she was consciously creating the writings, the story of Patience Worth continues to intrigue and captivate researchers in the fields of literature, psychology, and parapsychology.