Thyrza Grey and Sybil Stamfordis

Thyrza Grey and Sybil Stamfordis are partners in the séances, but not equals: Sybil’s genuine mediumistic gift makes the performances possible, while Thyrza supplies their structure and exercises control over what happens. Their relationship turns on the gap between Sybil’s apparent spiritual authority and Thyrza’s practical command, a gap that Mark Easterbrook gradually recognizes as central to the Pale Horse’s methods.

Different Roles Behind a Shared Performance

At supper, the contrast between the women is already visible. Thyrza Grey keeps conversation moving with brisk, ordinary comments about local events, presenting herself as an efficient country hostess. Sybil Stamfordis, by contrast, wears a striking peacock-coloured dress and heavy gold bracelets, eats only a little omelette, and speaks scarcely at all. Her distant, elevated manner is meant to suggest access to higher things, but to Mark Easterbrook it seems theatrical and unreal. Their public images differ, yet both are part of the atmosphere Thyrza constructs around the house and its proceedings.

That atmosphere changes when Thyrza leads Mark from the house to the converted barn. The route passes through darkness into a room prepared with indirect, cold light, a raised divan, a purple cloth marked with cabalistic signs, and ritual objects arranged around the space. Sybil arrives in a black cloak, which she dramatically casts aside over her vivid dress. She asks Mark not to be sceptical, saying that disbelief can hinder the proceedings. Her words reinforce the impression that she is the séance’s principal medium; Thyrza, however, is the one who announces when they are ready and directs the next stages.

Thyrza’s Direction of the Séance

During the séance, Sybil Stamfordis enters a trance and speaks in a deep, foreign-accented male voice unlike her ordinary manner of speaking. Thyrza addresses the voice as Macandal, then draws back the canopy over the divan. Sybil lies apparently asleep, her face relaxed and transformed in repose. The scene lends visible force to the claim that the medium has passed beyond her ordinary self, but it also leaves her physically still and exposed while Thyrza remains active around her.

Thyrza’s authority becomes especially clear as she prepares the equipment and gives instructions. She puts on protective clothing and gauntlets, explaining that precautions are necessary, then handles a glove and the apparatus Mark had mistaken for a radio cabinet. She wheels the electrical contrivance beside the divan, adjusts its controls, and switches on a violet light. These are deliberate, technical actions, distinct from Sybil’s trance. Thyrza then speaks to the apparently inert woman, framing death as the resolution of human problems and invoking literary and operatic associations. The machine hums and its bulbs glow as her words are repeated through the room. In this sequence, Sybil is the focus of the ritual, but Thyrza sets its pace, selects its language, and operates its equipment.

Belief, Vulnerability, and Control

The ritual also incorporates the work of Bella Webb, who brings in a live bird and draws signs around the brazier and copper basin. Her chanting adds another layer of occult display, while Thyrza’s explanation to Mark gives the proceedings a different rationale: ritual, she argues, can affect the human spirit through its established patterns of words and usage. The séance thus combines theatrical signs, repeated actions, and an appeal to psychological influence. Sybil’s trance is not merely a costume or a spoken part; it is the condition that makes her susceptible to Thyrza’s direction.

Mark Easterbrook’s later assessment distinguishes the women’s beliefs from their roles in the operation. He judges that Sybil has a genuine mediumistic gift, enters a trance, and does not know what happens while she is in it. Sybil believes what Thyrza tells her. This makes the partnership more complicated than a simple arrangement between two knowing performers: the means of control belong to Thyrza, while Sybil’s sincere belief and altered state make her both an indispensable participant and a person being used. Mark similarly considers Bella’s belief in witchcraft genuine, contrasting the women’s conviction with his conclusion that the elaborate occult presentation is a diversion.

Significance of the Partnership

The séances initially encourage observers to see Sybil’s extraordinary state as the source of power. The practical balance is the reverse. Sybil provides the trance and the striking vocal transformation, but Thyrza directs the occasion, controls the apparatus, and supplies the language that turns the performance toward death. The scene’s division of labour allows the supernatural appearance to command attention while concealing the human authority operating behind it.

For Mark, this distinction changes the meaning of what he has witnessed. He is no longer able to dismiss the séance as empty spectacle, because Sybil’s trance and its effects appear real; yet he also sees that the ritual’s apparent supernatural force does not establish that its claims are true. The relationship therefore embodies the Pale Horse’s double character: sincere mediumistic experience on one side, deliberate direction and manipulation on the other. Thyrza’s command over Sybil, rather than any independent authority exercised by the medium, is the decisive fact Mark takes from their collaboration.