Norina Matchabelli's Channeling of Meher Baba

Norina Matchabelli 

In the 1940s some followers of Meher Baba in New York believed that Baba channeled "thought-transmissions" through a disciple named Norina Matchabelli, famous for the perfume brand as well as her time in the early 20th century as a famous stage and silent screen actress who went by the name Maria Carmi. During stage performances, including in Carnegie Hall, Matchabelli would enter a trance-like state, and the voice that spoke through her relayed Baba's messages, she said. But, according to fellow disciples Kitty Davy, Margaret Craske and Rano Gayley, Baba at one point remarked that Norina's claim that he was speaking through her in these public lectures were not his way of working, but that her talks did help his work anyhow. (Donkin's diary, 30 April 1943.)

 Lord Meher, online edition, Page 2410 - Footnote (retrieved May 19, 2026)

Maria Carmi in her silent screen days