BY-PRODUCTS OF SPIRITUALISM
It has come to my attention in talking to numbers of laymen that
the general public thinks of Spiritualism only in terms of mediums
and seances and that the average man does not seem to realize the
suffering, losses, misfortunes, crimes and atrocities of which it
is the underlying cause and must bear the primary responsibility.
During the more than thirty years in which I have been investigating
Spiritualism I have industriously collected all possible data on the
subject and in the thousands of clippings, dating from 1854 to the
present time, which are filed away in my library, there are hundreds
which tell of crimes attributable to Spiritualism. In my great
collection of books there are many by world-renowned writers, men of
science, physicians, and philosophers, each dealing with the curse of
Spiritualism. It touches every phase of human affairs and emotions,
leaving in its wake a crowd of victims whose plight is frequently
pathetic, sometimes ludicrous, oftener miserable and unfortunate, and
who are always deluded. It is to these effects of Spiritualism which
are seldom considered that I wish to call the reader’s attention in
this chapter.
The _New York Herald_ on June 16, 1923, told under a Syracuse date line
the following incident:
“William H. Burr of Rochester, speaking to-day at the business session
of the New York State Assembly of Spiritualists, of which he is
President, said he could prove scientifically and conclusively the
fact of communication with the Spirit world. Mr. Burr appealed for the
abolition of capital punishment. He explained that he had communicated
with Spirits from the bodies of murderers and realized their
sufferings, as those skeptical of psychic communication never can.”
The _New York Evening World_ of March 8, 1922, reports that:
“Thurs Bergen Vigelius, a student in chemistry, of Brooklyn, N. Y.,
with faith that a Spiritual ‘glimpse’ of the hereafter and power to
write a book thereof would be a distinct contribution to science and
literature if he could ‘project himself into a comatose condition
simulating death,’ drugged himself frequently into experimental sleep,
but on his last experiment his consciousness not only deserted him, but
breath and life accompanied it. He was regarded as an exceptionally
bright student with every prospect of a promising career, had he not
been susceptible to a fallacious belief.”
One of the saddest cases of modern times is that of the young Barnard
College student, Miss Marie Bloomfield, who declared herself in love
with a Spirit and finally was driven to suicide in order to join him.
The young lady had been an ardent student of Spiritualism and very
active in its cause. All the newspapers of February 9, 1923, carried an
account of her death, which attracted so much attention that a law was
proposed in the New York Assembly to prevent seances but it failed of
being passed.
The _Washington Times_ (D. C.) of January 14, 1923, tells of an Earl L.
Clark who secured a divorce on the grounds that his wife claimed that
she had a “Spirit affinity” named Alfred and that this Alfred through
Clark’s wife made his life unbearable, even predicting his death so
that she might marry some man who would “accept Alfred’s Spiritual
guidance.”
According to an account in the _New York World_, John Slater, chief
medium of the National Spiritualists Association, claims that there
were over five hundred Spiritualists who served with the American
Expeditionary Force, none of which were wounded or afflicted with
“cooties.” The freedom from wounds he attributed to the influence of
Spirits.
The _New York Times_ on April 27, 1922, told of a John Cornyn, in San
Francisco, who shot and killed two of his boys, one seven and the other
eight, because, according to the police, he had been in “communication”
with his wife who had been dead a year and she “had asked him to send
all of their five children to her.”
The following story in the _New York Times_ of April 22, 1887, comes
from Philadelphia:
“The jury in the case of Mrs. Sarah Patterson, an alleged medium,
charged by the County Medical Society with practising medicine and
surgery without being registered as a physician, this afternoon
returned a verdict of guilty. The defence set up by the defendant’s
counsel was that Mrs. Patterson was a medium and under the control
of Spirits, and was not therefore responsible for what she did in a
trance. The defendant’s counsel are both Spiritualists and the case has
attracted considerable interest, the court room being crowded since the
trial began.”
These are the sort of things for which Spiritualism is responsible that
are being told of in the papers frequently. To these few examples I
could add hundreds from my files and they are constantly growing.
A hoax which usually creates a sensation, but which is apt, ultimately,
to have a decidedly bad effect on believers’ nerves, consists in
allowing some person to touch or even fondle a materialized Spirit.
One such demonstration occurred in a Southern city, where there lived
a medium known as Mrs. M----. Her seances were always well attended
and largely made up of the elite of the town. On one particular night
a Spirit came forth and called for Andrew, saying in the most austere
tones:
“I am the Spirit of ‘Josie’ and I want to see my beloved whom I left
twenty years ago. I know that he is present and that he wants to hear
from me, and more important, I know he still loves me, for in those
twenty years he has never married.”
With trembling knees and shaking hands the man climbed to the stage
and in the midst of sobs recognized and embraced his sweetheart. It
was a very touching and pathetic scene and the believers were greatly
affected, and at some one’s suggestion an ex-minister and editor of a
Spiritualistic magazine, who was present, married the Spirit bride to
the live groom. It was a sensational proof of mediumship and Mrs. M----
was headlined in all the local papers. Unfortunately, however, for the
cause of Spiritualism, my old friend, Professor Harry Cook, happened to
be in the neighborhood and on hearing about it hired a hall, challenged
the medium to a test, and with a lady assistant performed and exposed
the miracle.
I recall another instance where one of my friends was investigating a
materialization seance. It was claimed that the Spirit of his deceased
wife was manifesting and he asked permission to kiss her. This was
graciously granted and he told me later that she must have forgotten to
shave for she had a stubble beard. Incidentally I might add that while
he attended the seance his real wife waited for him at a nearby theatre.
Such an eminent scientist as Sir William Crookes evidently fell for
the materialization hoax, judging from what he tells us about his
experience at a seance where Florence Cook was the medium and Katie
King the phantom. I will quote the story in his own words as he tells
it in his book “Researches in Spiritualism.”
“Several times she took my arm and the impression I received that it
was a living woman at my side and not a visitor from the other world
was so strong that the temptation to repeat a recent and curious
experiment became almost irresistible.
“Realizing then that if it were not a Spirit beside me it was in any
case a lady, I asked her permission to take her in my arms in order
to verify the interesting observation that a bold experimenter had
recently made known. This permission was graciously given, and I took
advantage of it respectfully, as any gentleman would have done in the
same circumstances. The ‘ghost,’ which made no resistance, was a being
as material as Miss Cook herself.
“Katie then declared that on this occasion she felt able to show
herself at the same time as Miss Cook. I lowered the gas and with my
phosphorus lamp entered the room which served as a cabinet. It was
dark and I groped for Miss Cook, finding her crouched upon the floor.
Kneeling down, I let the air enter my lamp and by its light saw the
young woman dressed in black velvet, as she had been at the beginning
of the seance, and appearing completely insensible.
“She did not stir when I took her hand and held the lamp near her
face, but she continued to breathe quietly. Raising my lamp, I looked
around me and saw Katie, who was standing close behind Miss Cook. She
was clad in flowing white drapery, as we had already seen her in the
seance. Holding one of Miss Cook’s hands in mine, and still kneeling,
I raised and lowered the lamp, as much to illuminate the whole figure
of Katie as to convince myself fully that I really saw the true Katie,
whom I had held in my arms a few moments ago, and not the phantom of a
disordered brain.
“She did not speak but nodded her head in recognition. Three different
times I carefully examined Miss Cook, crouching before me, to assure
myself that the hand I held was indeed that of a living woman, and
thrice turned my lamp toward Katie to scrutinize her with sustained
attention, until I had not the slightest doubt that she was really
there before me.”
Another instance of this sort is told of by Florence Marryat in her
book “There Is No Death.”
“I opened the curtains of the cabinet and there stood John Powles
himself, stalwart and living. He stepped up brusquely and took me in
his arms and kissed me, four or five times, as a long departed brother
might have done; and strange to say, I did not feel the least surprised
at it, but clung to him like a sister. John Powles had never once
kissed me during his life time. Although we had lived for four years in
the closest intimacy, often under the same roof, we had never indulged
in any familiarity.”
Unfortunately mere deception is not the only or the worst evil in these
Spiritualistic materializations. Frequently they are made the means of
accomplishing criminal designs. There came to my attention a case of a
very peculiar nature in which a widow was robbed of a large fortune. It
appears that there was a wealthy old widower, a devoted Spiritualist,
who was easily influenced by certain mediums. These same mediums also
had among their clients a rather weak-minded widow. At a seance they
got the old man to propose marriage to this widow who, in turn, was
being advised through them by the Spirit of her husband to marry the
old man. The old man did not live very long after the wedding and on
his death bed promised the woman that he would come back to aid her and
give her financial advice. He had previously made a will giving her
absolute control of his estate.
The body was taken to an undertaking establishment to be cared for
until the funeral and on the day before the service the widow attended
a seance at which her husband told her:
“You go to my coffin to-morrow morning before the ceremony and I will
speak to you, giving you my final instructions from my mortal body.”
The next morning, accompanied by a nurse, the woman went to the
undertaker’s and was taken to the room where the body lay in its
casket. She spoke and to her astonishment the corpse opened its eyes
and said:
“I want you to give half of the fortune I willed you to B---- and
M----, the mediums. They have helped me for years and I would like to
show them my appreciation. Farewell, I will speak to you at seances but
never again from the body.”
The astounded widow threw herself on the body crying:
“I promise! I will! I promise!”
“Promise?” asked the corpse.
“I promise faithfully,” she replied.
True to her word, the widow divided the fortune with the mediums, who
are now in foreign countries living a peaceful life unless troubled by
their consciences.
The deception was worked as follows: the mediums, taking advantage of
the undertaker’s weakness, kept him intoxicated and were thus free to
do whatever they cared to around his establishment. The casket was
arranged with a false bottom which ran in and out on ball bearings
and one end was made to open. Just before the widow’s visit to the
undertaking establishment this false bottom with the old man’s body was
run out of the casket and hidden in an adjoining room and one of the
mediums, made up to represent the dead man, was placed in the casket.
As soon as the act was over the corpse was put back in its proper place.
This is not the only instance of this sort by any means. I have known
of two other instances in which corpses have been used for purposes
of fraud. In one a man was dying. A lawyer was sent for and the nurse
gotten out of the way on some plausible excuse. After the man died,
but before the lawyer arrived, his body was hidden under the bed. One
of the gang took his place in the bed and dictated a will with gasping
breath and afterwards made his mark in the presence of a perfectly
honest attorney and witness. Before the nurse got back the corpse had
been placed in the bed and there was nothing to show that a fraud had
been committed.
To show that such things are possible and that exchanging bodies in a
coffin can be accomplished, I want to call attention to the coffin act
which I did for the Boston Athletic Association. A solid oak coffin
was furnished by the National Casket Company and delivered to the
Association. Six-inch screws were used to fasten down the lid but I
managed to escape nevertheless, leaving no traces.
It is not generally known that Charles J. Guiteau, the assassin of
President Garfield, was a pronounced Spiritualist. He claimed that he
was inspired by the Spirits four times. Once in connection with his
entering the Oneida community. Once preceding his attempt to establish
a newspaper called “The Theocrat.” Again when writing his book “The
Truth a Companion to the Bible,” and still again when he was inspired
to kill the President.
Another case in which Spirits were claimed to have been responsible for
diverting funds is told in “The Fallacies of Spiritualism.”
“In September, 1920, an action was brought in the New York Courts
against a medium named Mrs. Mabelle Hirons, for the recovery of twelve
thousand four hundred dollars, alleged to have been obtained by
‘Spiritualistic’ means from Dr. J. B. Hubbell, of Rockville, Maryland.
Dr. Hubbell declared that after the death of Clara Barton,[104]
founder of the American Red Cross, to whom he had been secretary, it
was intended to erect a memorial to that lady, to which he proposed
contributing twelve thousand four hundred dollars of his own money,
including nine hundred dollars bequeathed him by Clara Barton herself.
In 1914 he visited Mrs. Hirons, who, he said, went into a trance and
gave him a ‘message’ that was supposed to come from Clara Barton
and which directed him to give all the money to Mrs. Hirons for the
memorial. Dr. Hubbell believed the ‘message’ to be genuine and gave her
the money, but the memorial was never erected--hence the action.”
A few years ago the papers told of the case of a woman in the Middle
West who was sensationally and cruelly deceived by a medium. When she
lost her little girl it was feared that she would not recover from the
intense grief with which she was overcome. On the woman’s farm was a
hired man whose wife was a medium. He talked sympathetically with her
and got her to allow him to send for his wife, who was in Chicago.
She began preaching Spiritualism as soon as she arrived, finding the
woman a willing listener. When it was apparent to the medium that
the woman thoroughly believed her doctrine she began to advise her to
pray nightly for the restoration of her child and finally one night
she announced to the credulous woman that at midnight four days later
her child would be restored to her. She cautioned her that she must
fast that day, dress her room and bed in white, and sleep alone that
night. The instructions were followed to the letter. At midnight she
heard the stairs creak. Then suddenly her door was pushed open and she
saw something luminous approaching her bed. It carried a bundle and a
voice announced that her daughter was coming back to her. After the
apparition left the woman found a baby girl in the bed with her. Soon
after the medium persuaded the woman and her husband to dispose of
their property and go to a Spirit Colony in California. After nearly
three years they came back to their home with practically no means but
with the knowledge that the baby girl came from a foundling society in
Chicago.
Not the least of the evils of Spiritualism is the insanity which it
causes. A mental specialist of high standing in Birmingham, England,
issued a warning in 1922 quoting numerous cases which came under his
observation and were the result of Spiritualistic teaching. An English
doctor has estimated the number of such cases at a million. It is
a well-established fact that the human reason gives way under the
exciting strain of Spiritualism. The list is not limited to European
countries; we have a goodly share of baneful results right at home. Not
long ago Dr. Curry, Medical Director of the State Insane Asylum of New
Jersey, issued a warning concerning the “Ouija-board” in which he said:
“The ‘Ouija-board’ is especially serious because it is adopted mainly
by persons of high-strung neurotic tendency who become victims of
actual illusions of sight, hearing and touch at Spiritualistic seances.”
He predicted that the insane asylums would be flooded with patients if
popular taste did not swing to more wholesome diversions.
In March, 1920, it was reported in the papers that the craze for the
Ouija-boards, with which it was thought spirit messages could be
received, had reached such a pitch in the little village of Carrito,
across San Francisco Bay, that five people had been driven mad.
The available amount of evidence of this sort is almost unbelievable,
but enough has been given to show the extent of the evil. The average
medium works only for the money he or she can extract from the public;
money obtained by moving the deepest sentiments in the human soul.
Is it right to legally sanction the medium, to allow him to prey on
the public--not only allowing him to take the earthly possessions
of his victims, but their soul, and oftentimes their mind as well?
Spiritualism is nothing more or less than mental intoxication, the
intoxication of words, of feelings and suggested beliefs. Intoxication
of any sort when it becomes a habit is injurious to the body but
intoxication of the mind is always fatal to the mind. We have
prohibition of alcohol, we have prohibition of drugs, but we have no
law to prevent these human leeches from sucking every bit of reason
and common sense from their victims. It ought to be stopped, it must
be stopped, and it would seem that the multiplicity of exposures and
the multitude of prosecutions that have followed rational investigation
should be sufficient to justify, yes, demand legislation for the
complete annihilation of a cult built on false pretence, flimsy
hear-say evidence, and the absurdity of accepting an optical _illusion_
as a fact.