MATERIALIZED FORMS--HOW SHALL WE MEET THEM?
Years ago I had a friend who was generous to a fault. He freely gave
wherever he thought there was need. With all his liberality, he was
singularly successful in business, and when he passed to the other life
left a large fortune, which was mainly distributed to charitable
institutions.
Walking with him one day, we passed some beggars sitting on the
sidewalk,--pitiful specimens of humanity, with large placards in front
of them, detailing the misfortunes that had befallen them. One, not over
thirty years old, had lost a leg in the battle of Waterloo; another had
lost his eyes by an eruption of Vesuvius which must have occurred
twenty years before he was born. The cards must have been heirlooms,
handed down at least one generation. These little discrepancies
apparently made no impression on my friend, who emptied his pockets of
his spare change, giving something to each of them. As we passed on, I
said to him, "Do you know that these poor fellows were up before the
police court a few days ago for being engaged in a drunken brawl?" I
shall never forget the expression of his face as he turned to me and
said, "It is my duty as well as my pleasure to give; the responsibility
of using it is theirs, not mine."
Many years had come and gone, and the memory of my friend had almost
faded from my mind. I was engaged in studying materialization. As my
custom is to take one thing at a time, I did not trouble myself about
the quality. I did not even propose to myself what I might do afterward;
but did propose, if there was any truth in it, to so clearly demonstrate
it that no doubts should come up as a disturbing element in any
subsequent investigations I might make.
When I had finished my investigations on this point, I found that I
stood on the shore of a boundless sea of speculation and uncertainty. I
could not help asking myself the question, "What are these forms that,
for a few minutes only, clothe themselves in objective reality, bearing
the semblance of my friends, blended with the likeness of the medium?
Are these my father, my mother, my wife, my brother? Is this the
rollicking boy who made the hills echo with his laughter, now whispering
in my ear so low that I can scarcely hear him?"
In the midst of this perplexity, this whirl of unanswered questions,
the voice of my old friend came to me: "Don't stare these sensitive
beings out of countenance, but give to them all that you can of your
better nature, and you shall have your reward. If there is a possibility
of mistake as to identity, if you are in any way deceived, the
responsibility is theirs, not yours. In all true seances, if the forms
are not what they are supposed to be, they are, at least, beings from
another life, seeking strength and comfort from association with you,
else they would not come. Let not a shadow of doubt or distrust bar
their approach. Have no awe, no reserve, no fear as to what they are,
and they will blend into your soul, become a part of your life. In the
true relations which you hold to them will be the fulness of what they
bring to you."
With a nature naturally skeptical, and a mind long trained to a close
comparison of objects, it was not easy to accept this advice. What,
then, was to be done? It was plain that I must move on, or abandon all
that I had so successfully demonstrated.
I could not launch out into the endless speculation of "psychical
research;" I had not time for that; so I decided to follow the course
which had been suggested to me. I would lay aside all reserve, and greet
these forms as dear departed friends, who had come from afar, and had
struggled hard to reach me.
From that moment the forms, which had seemed to lack vitality, became
animated with marvellous strength. They sprang forward to greet me;
tender arms were clasped around me; forms that had been almost dumb
during my investigations now talked freely; faces that had worn more the
character of a mask than of real life now glowed with beauty. What
claimed to be my niece, ever pleasant and earnest in aiding me to obtain
the knowledge I was seeking, overwhelmed me with demonstrations of
regard. Throwing her arms around me, and laying her head upon my
shoulder, she looked up and said, "Now we can all come so near you!" Her
wonderful spontaneity of character at once asserted itself, and has ever
since been the delight of all who have come in contact with her.
My association with these forms is of the most simple character; it is
that of children with each other: we realize the full force of the
Master's words, "Except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter
the kingdom of heaven." Science may wrangle over the supposed movements
of molecules and atoms, and the correlation of forces; may dissect the
bird to find its song; but love alone shall set the boundaries of
knowledge. The key that unlocks the glories of another life is pure
affection, simple and confiding as that which prompts the child to throw
its arms around its mother's neck.
To those who pride themselves upon their intellectual attainments, this
may seem to be a surrender of the exercise of what they call the higher
faculties. So far from this being the case, I can truly say that until I
adopted this course, sincerely and without reservation, I learned
nothing about these things. Instead of clouding my reason and judgment,
it opened my mind to a clearer and more intelligent perception of what
was passing before me. That spirit of gentleness, of loving kindness,
which, more than anything else, crowns with eternal beauty the teachings
of the Christ, should find its full expression in our association with
these beings.
PART II.
OPINIONS AND THEORIES.
The credulous have their weak points, but the belief of
unbelievers surpasses all credulity.
There is no position a man can assume so weak as that of extreme
skepticism in the face of fair evidence.
* * * * *
Heat, light, electricity, and force are common things. We accept
them as matters of everyday life; our familiarity with them
prevents surprise. In our attempts to discover or learn what
they are we have utterly failed. All that we have found is how
they act under certain conditions. They are the elements
necessary to the existence of physical life, and by cultivating
their acquaintance we have made friends with them. They walk
beside us, lending a helping hand in everything; still they are
our masters--we know them not. For the moment we comprehend a
thing we are greater than the thing we comprehend: it is behind
us, not in front.
Those who are seeking to know how these spirit-forms are created
will seek in vain, for there is no language by which the process
can be conveyed to our understanding. When it is said that they
come out of invisible space, and depart in the same way, all is
said that can be in explanation of their advent among us.
OPINIONS AND THEORIES.
CHAPTER I.
A GLANCE BEHIND THE CURTAIN.
The nature of man is, to a certain extent, dual. The brain is divided
into two parts; there are two sets of nerves crossing each other, so
that an injury received on the left side of the brain affects the right
side of the body, and _vice versa_. While the duplicated organs are
capable of separate action, anatomically suggesting two distinct beings,
they are united so as to form a complete union of both. There is,
however, a preponderance of brain or will-force in the left side of the
head, giving a more complete control over the right side of the body,
and, in some instances, a manifestation of character, which would
indicate that each side of the brain might act in alternation, and
somewhat independently of the other.
The force which the brain exerts over its own organism and that of
others is not understood. Could it be explained, all the phenomena of
the material and spiritual would, probably, lie within reach. A person
with a strong will may possess a magnetic power enabling him to throw
another, of a peculiar temperament, into a trance, in which that person
is physically insensible to everything except what comes through the
sensibility of the magnetizer.
The material bodies are brought _en rapport_ with each other, or under
the law of individual control, and the magnetizer can direct the
physical movements of the other very much as he would his own, leaving
the spirit of the entranced person free to act, for the time being,
independently of its own body. If it has the strength or power to
control other sensitives, it may manifest itself in remote places,
either clairvoyantly or by materialization more or less tangible. It
can, however, do this much more perfectly in close proximity to its own
body. Such a materialization is a counterpart of the entranced person;
is, in fact, the spirit of that person clothed in a body not strictly
its own, but composed of material largely drawn from it. The existence
of this phenomenon has been more or less known through all ages, and is
probably the origin of that mythical story of the creation of woman,
where the Lord is said to have caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam.
Among all nations, traditions of what is known as "the double" exist.
Though often classed as a vulgar superstition, it nevertheless finds
expression in the works of some of the best intellects. It plays an
important part in the progress and development of all physical seances,
since it is the first indication of true materialization. Furthermore,
the substance composing this counterpart is, to a certain extent, the
nucleus around which all spirits materializing are developed or clothed.
The form appears to issue from the left side, but in reality it comes
from the whole circumference of the body, in a rapidly-moving luminous
vapor, which quickly consolidates into a separate individualized form,
complete in its organization, and capable, for the time, of physical and
mental action. Such manifestations are what is understood to be the
production of living forms by means of living matter given off from the
body of the medium. The process is more or less affected by the
surroundings, and is ever the result of more intelligent beings
cooperating with the spirit of the entranced person.
The spirit occupying this temporary body can, when proper relations have
been established with it, surrender it into the control of other
spirits, the same as it surrendered its other body into the control of
the magnetizer, and from its peculiar structure they can contract,
expand, or change it to suit his or her requirements. So long as it
remains in the possession of the spirit of the entranced person, the
likeness to it is maintained; but the moment it passes into the
possession of another, the resemblance will depend entirely upon the
strength of the control, and the knowledge the spirit has in shaping the
form like to that borne in earth-life. From these conditions
materialization may broaden into more complex forms, always depending
upon the currents of magnetic thought, and that central will-force that
sweeps into its vortex all atoms necessary to its use.
Until the spirits acquire more than ordinary strength by frequent
manifestations, or by favorable surroundings, this will probably be
found to be the usual way in which they make themselves visible to us.
These conditions necessitate more or less resemblance to the medium,
both in form and intonations of voice.
I have seen hundreds and thousands of materialized forms; have seen, in
a few instances, personation, where the medium was taken possession of,
brought out, and controlled as in trance-mediumship; I have seen what
appeared to be the double of the medium, so thoroughly like, that I
should have testified that it was the medium had I not seen it
dematerialize, or been taken into the cabinet by the form and found the
entranced medium there; but I have never seen a single instance of
transfiguration, unless the double of the medium be considered as such.
The fact that Mrs. Fairchild stands outside, by the cabinet, during the
seance, in full view of the audience; that at the Berry Sisters', and at
Mrs. Sawyer's, the spirits lead the medium out of the cabinet; that at
Mrs. Fay's the forms often take the visitors into the cabinet and show
them not only the medium but the materialized control,--are things which
the skeptic will find very hard to explain. If they are not evidence of
the existence of these phenomena, it is difficult to understand what
evidence is.
To a sensitive person, with even a limited experience, the character of
a seance is easily determined. There is always in the true materialized
forms a decided lack of some of the elements that make up the magnetism
of what we call real life; something not easily described, but readily
perceived by a person thus constituted. To such a one, neither a
confederate nor a personation by the medium can pass undetected.
CHAPTER II.
EXPOSURES OF MEDIUMS.
There have often been sensational reports circulated claiming to be
"exposures" of materialization, but when traced to their origin they
have generally been found to be unreliable, and never the result of
careful study or scientific investigation. The ungentlemanly and in some
instances brutal conduct of the parties engaged in the "exposures" has
been such as to discredit their statements, and in no case have they
produced evidence that would be considered valid in any court.
If it be true that the garments used to clothe the forms are
materialized and dematerialized in the cabinet, any sudden disturbance
of the magnetic conditions of the circle might arrest the process of
dematerialization, leaving the draperies intact. Persons not
understanding this would naturally charge fraud upon the medium, on
rushing into the cabinet and finding them there. This has led some
mediums to submit to a thorough examination of their clothes before
entering the cabinet, going so far, at times, as to allow themselves to
be dressed entirely in dark clothing, without a particle of white upon
them, and giving every opportunity to prove that there were no concealed
draperies in the room. These arrangements, while taking up valuable time
that otherwise would have been devoted to the seance, have never
interfered with the manifestations.
The most serious and perhaps the most generally believed charges made
against these seances is that confederates are used to personate the
forms. Passing by the many knotty questions which cannot possibly be
explained on the theory of confederates, and considering it in a
business point of view, there are difficulties connected with such an
arrangement that might in the end prove disastrous.
A employs B to personate, at one dollar a seance. B finds that A is
making money, and, being rascally enough to engage in such work, would
have no scruples in demanding, under threats of exposure, the lion's
share of the proceeds.
A is completely in his power, and has no alternative but to submit.
This, and the outside pressure which would be likely to be brought to
bear upon B to make public the fraud, would render it almost impossible
to carry on the deception for any great length of time.
Again, there are often from fifty to sixty distinct individual forms
appearing at each seance, requiring as many confederates to represent
them. As the circle is rarely composed of more than twenty-five persons,
would it pay to keep so many actors for so small an audience? If people
who listen to these accusations would reflect for a moment, they would
see that the theory of confederates is not a very plausible one, and it
might do much toward relieving mediums from the unjust suspicions to
which, through lack of understanding on the part of the public, they are
more or less obliged to submit.
All honest mediums will cheerfully do all they can to satisfy the public
that there is no deception, and that the cabinet and its surroundings
are such as to preclude the possibility of confederates. Any other
arrangements are unnecessary, and, to say the least, suspicious. These
things are new and strange to most people, and they very naturally
expect strong evidence; and they are right, provided their desire is
expressed in a kindly and gentlemanly manner.
Any one at all familiar with these seances cannot help seeing that there
are some mediums and their controls who are largely responsible for the
feeling of distrust more or less manifested toward the subject. When the
question of a confederate is fairly settled (and no one can be certain
of his position until it is done), and two forms appear at the same
time; or when you can be taken into the cabinet by a form, and shown the
entranced medium, it is self-evident that one of them is a materialized
form, and not a personation by the medium. It needs no argument to
settle this, no matter how much it may conflict with pre-conceived
notions.
I have quoted from Chief Justice Jacolliot's work on Occult Science in
India, to prove that there is no connection between these manifestations
and what is called sleight-of-hand.
There is, however, a more important fact conveyed in his statements,
corroborated by other writers upon this subject, showing the perfect
fairness with which these mediums, or Fakirs, submit to tests, courting
the most thorough and exhaustive investigation, even trusting
themselves, while in a trance, without any protection, to the honor and
good faith of those around them, repeating at request the experiments,
again and again, to satisfy that there is no deception about them.
This is strangely in contrast with our mediums, who as a rule shrink
from anything of the kind, and are disposed to regard any request of
that nature as a direct imputation upon their honesty.
If materialization means anything besides dollars and cents--if it has a
mission to perform--it is to enlighten and educate the people upon one
of the most important subjects that has ever engrossed the mind.
The lack of openness and confidence on the part of many of the mediums,
or their managers, creates a feeling of distrust which sometimes finds
an expression in rudeness on the part of skeptics, and leads those who
are confident of the genuineness of a part of the seance to be impressed
with the idea that there are things connected with it that are
dishonest.
There is no difficulty in tracing the source of this feeling. Everywhere
like begets like, and as long as this state of feeling exists there
will be a lack of harmony in the circle, with more or less disturbance.
It may be that these things are inseparable from the newness of the
manifestations among us, and will disappear when mediums are more freely
developed in our homes, and the seances assume less of a commercial
character.
While no apology should be made for fraud in these seances, we have no
right to make charges that cannot be sustained. Every medium is bound,
in justice to the audience, to see that the cabinet and its surroundings
are so arranged that the appearance of fraud is, as far as possible,
avoided.
Lack of experience, want of perception, or ignorance of a subject, gives
no authority to assume that it is a fraud. The eagerness with which the
press circulates reports of imposture finds its excuse, not in a manly
defence of the truth, but in a morbid disposition to cater to the whims
and caprices of the public. Those who accept such statements without
investigation may possibly become victims of a worse delusion than that
which they fancy they are condemning in others--a delusion born of
ignorance and self-conceit.
CHAPTER III.
PUBLIC SEANCES.
No comparison can justly be made between different mediums. All are
excellent in their way. The preference that is given to one over others
is mainly due to personal feeling, to likes and dislikes, which must
always find an expression among individuals of different tastes.
In some seances the strength of the manifestations is largely exhausted
in the production of forms. In others, the social and affectionate
element predominates. Where there are from fifty to sixty materialized
forms appearing at a sitting, it is hardly to be expected that much time
can be given to the interchange of thought or the expression of
feeling. Such seances are, as a rule, mere touch-and-go occasions.
The strength of the circle is often exhausted in combating the ignorance
and prejudice of the audience, and the higher and more delicate phase of
materialization is lost sight of.
Many condemn public seances on account of the mixed audience and the
conflicting elements that surround the medium. These things are, at
present, a necessity, being the only means of educating the masses.
The time has not yet come when, through a more general acceptance of the
truth of materialization, it can be transferred to the domestic circle,
where it properly belongs, and where its best results will be obtained.
Not until the flush of excitement necessarily arising from the
strangeness of the phenomena has subsided, and the investigator has
settled in his mind the facts of materialization, is he capable of
forming an intelligent opinion on the subject.
Thousands of persons, through their experience, have reached that point.
Whether they advance beyond this will depend upon the character of the
seance, the strength of the manifestations, and the purely affectional
bearing toward these beings.
Seances should be classified: the first, for primary education, for
facts and evidence to convince skeptics; the second, for the more
advanced investigator. Into this latter class no skeptic should be
admitted. Such an arrangement could not interfere with the patronage of
mediums, but on the contrary would enhance it, for there comes a period
in the progress of the investigator when, finding that he cannot
advance, he will retreat or seek some other field for investigation. The
public seance, as now constituted, must, from the nature of its
surroundings, remain more or less stationary.
There are seances that are pitched on so low a key that when the
investigator passes from a state of doubt into a full knowledge of the
truth of materialization, he will instinctively leave them for a more
genial atmosphere; for it is in vain to expect that coarse, mercenary,
untruthful mediums can avoid impressing more or less of their natures
upon the spirits who come through their organisms, or that mainly
spirits like themselves will be attracted to them. The more intelligent
investigators are beginning to realize this, and those mediums who have
lost the sense of their high calling, and degraded the seance to a mere
show, will, under the inevitable law of progress, find themselves
supplanted by a better element. Mediums are being developed everywhere,
and in the near future there will be no lack of noble men and women who
will gladly come to the front with their divine gifts.
If we accept the idea that passing to the other life does not
essentially change the character of the man, that his peculiarities
remain the same, we can account for many things in the seance-room that
appear to be simply acting,--performances which have no other object
than to attract the audience, to show what power the spirits can acquire
under conditions which seem impossible to us.
Considering the state of feeling with which many persons enter the
seance-room, it is not singular that they are sometimes treated to what
seems to be deception. The spirits, perceiving the condition of the
minds around them, act very much as they would if they were still on
this side of life. Thoughts are things, which appear to them very much
as solid substances do to us. If, instead of attempting to remove them,
they can accomplish their object by going round them, they feel
themselves justified in doing so. They act very much, at times, as
children would under similar circumstances; and, until they obtain
complete control over the form that encases them, they cannot express
themselves with much force. They are as children learning to walk, to
think, and talk through a medium that is new to them.
A simple, childlike bearing, blended with the warmest affection, is the
only element that enables them to progress and meet us upon the highest
plane of thought.
CHAPTER IV.
THE ATTITUDE OF SCIENTISTS.
The world is indebted to scientists for their clear arrangement of and
deductions from what others have discovered; for, as a rule, they are
not inventive. Hasty in condemning everything new, their timidity and
lack of generous bearing toward what seems to conflict with their
materialistic theories are conspicuous.
Nothing can be more unscientific than the attitude of most of them
toward this subject. Obliged in the past to antagonize the despotism of
the old Theology, they have themselves become despotic. Condemning
dogmatism, they assume a dogmatic bearing toward everything that does
not square with their pre-conceived notions. Walking with faces toward
the ground, they refuse to look up, or admit the existence of anything
beyond matter; denying the possibility of spirit, and claiming that the
earth contains within itself the "promise and potency" of everything
that is or has been.
Against this sweeping claim may be opposed the fact that, in the light
of a purely scientific analysis, the earth gives no promise of the
living beings that cover its surface; that it creates nothing, furnishes
nothing except the environments or clothing of the beings that for the
time find their abiding-place here.
When scientists are confronted with materialization, they deny it
without investigation, or refuse to examine it unless they can dictate
their own conditions, and yet no class of men understand better than
they do the necessity of adhering closely to the laws governing any
operation in nature, if it is to be fairly studied. The course that has
been and is now being pursued by the two scientific bodies supposed to
be investigating this subject must necessarily lead to failure.
Individual members may be more or less impressed with the reality of the
phenomena, but no report worthy of the subject will ever be made by
either society. The ridiculous farce enacted by the French Academy of
Science in their report on Mesmerism, will probably be repeated here.
It has been charged upon me that I am not a scientist, and that my
methods are not scientific,--all of which, if their implied definition
of science is correct, I admit. I have had the fairness, notwithstanding
my skepticism, to lay aside my prejudices and study this subject purely
in relation to itself, and not in connection with pre-conceived ideas.
The facts which I have presented have been attested by competent
witnesses; and until scientists have made themselves familiar with them,
their allegations amount to nothing. The course which I have pursued in
studying this subject is far more sensible and scientific than a denial
without investigation.
The editor of one of the ablest scientific journals has well said,
"Science having no methods by which it can experimentally determine that
man has a spiritual nature distinct from the material, it follows that
it must be incompetent to throw light upon the nature of that which is
unrecognized or unknown."
The testimony of scientists in such matters cannot be considered of any
more value than that of any other careful investigator; and if we take
into consideration their materialistic views, it is dealing liberally
with them to concede that much.
Science accepts the theory of molecules and atoms, and declares matter
to be indestructible. These little molecules set in motion produce the
phenomena of life. When they get tired and refuse to climb one above
another, like acrobats in a circus, then there is death. It is all very
simple, and any one can understand it,--a little alkali thrown into some
acid,--a rapid effervescence,--the atoms are disturbed and seek to
hurriedly arrange themselves into a different position,--they have
performed the fantastical dance of life, and all is over!
Upon this theory scientists have endeavored to account for the creation
of everything. If they have found anything else they have not declared
it. The trinity of Molecules, Atoms, and Motion is the keystone of the
whole structure which for centuries they have been trying to build up.
As science takes nothing for granted, it would be interesting to learn
when and where they found these little atoms, which no microscope,
however powerful, has ever revealed. Before scientists insist upon the
denial of the existence of that spiritual force which organizes and
individualizes all forms of life, it might be as well for them to settle
the question, What is matter?
I do not assert positively that these beings are spirits; for it may be
said, in a scientific point of view, I have no right to do so; but I do
assert that the facts warrant beyond a question the conclusion that they
do not belong to what we call the earth-side of life,--that they are not
automatons, lay figures, or effigies, but are living, breathing,
intelligent beings, with thoughts, feelings, and passions strictly
human; that they come out of invisible space, and depart in the same
way. In the language of Professor Crookes, "Nothing is more certain than
the reality of these facts. I do not say that they are possible, but I
say that they _are_."
CHAPTER V.
PUBLIC OPINION.
When Mesmer appeared in Paris, exhibiting his claims to Magnetism, he
was ridiculed, and treated as a humbug. The French Academy of Science,
after due consideration, pronounced Mesmerism a fraud. This was the more
remarkable from the fact that many of the experiments in Mesmerism are
so simple that a child can demonstrate them to the entire satisfaction
of an unprejudiced person. Many years afterward, in 1831, the French
Academy of Medicine, through a report of its Committee, reversed this
decision.
So far as we know, these are the only efforts that have been made, until
within a few years, by any scientific association, to investigate this
class of phenomena. Both in Europe and this country it has been treated
with contempt, and for more than a hundred years condemned by
pseudo-Science as nothing more than a hallucination produced by a
diseased condition of body or mind.
I was present at the Massachusetts Hospital, many years ago, when the
elder Warren, knife in hand, made mock passes over his patient,
ridiculing to his students the idea that any one could be entranced or
rendered insensible to pain by what was called Mesmerism; and yet the
existence of the Mesmeric force or fluid is one of the most remarkable
discoveries ever made. It has been known for thousands of years, by the
Hindoo philosophers, as "the pure Agassa Fluid" that penetrates and
permeates all objects, whether animate or inanimate. It controls the
social relations; is the secret of that influence which one person
exerts over another; and is the connecting link between the seen and the
unseen worlds, enabling spirits, whether in or out of the flesh, to
produce all the phenomena known as "spirit-manifestations."
If we except the writings of Deleuze, Townshend, Gregory, Dr. Elliotson,
and a few lesser lights, Mesmerism has been kept before the public
mainly by a class of itinerant lecturers who, despairing of a more
considerate hearing, have, in order to retain their hold on their
audience, degraded it to a mere burlesque.
The history of Mesmerism forms no exception to all discoveries that have
marked the progress of man from a state of barbarism to the present
time. The old stubble chokes and prevents the new crop of grain, unless
it has been turned under. The acceptance of anything with which we are
not familiar depends more upon the mental condition produced by
pre-conceived ideas than upon any evidence necessary to sustain it. The
progress of public opinion is like the march of a great army; it camps
at night upon ground occupied by its videttes in the morning. When
Spiritualism began to attract attention, the opponents of Mesmerism, not
understanding its true character, abandoned their hostility to it, and
accepted it as an explanation of the new phenomena. Mind-reading,
Telepathy, everything possible, was brought forward to explain away this
supposed evidence of another life. And, in a somewhat different form,
the same thing is taking place in regard to Materialization.
If we eliminate from it the idea of spirits, and attribute to man alone
this wonderful power, we disarm scientific as well as sectarian
opposition, and the possibilities of man, the influence of mind over
matter, become a legitimate subject for study. But no matter how
exhaustive your investigations of Materialization may have been, the
moment you suggest that spirits may have something to do with it, it
becomes unscientific, and, in the judgment of certain persons who have
assumed the right to control public opinion, you are instantly
transformed from an honest student into a "crank"!
In view of the obstacles that Conservatism is always throwing in the way
of Progress, one may be pardoned for a certain kind of admiration for
cranks. They have, at least, the courage of their convictions, and in
this respect, if for nothing more, may become popular, for the crowd
always throw up their hats, whether right or wrong, to the plucky man.
Is courage, then, so rare a thing that we are forced to applaud it even
in the bulldog?
Public opinion is the despotism of a republic. It is astonishing what
cowards it makes of decent men; the fear of being laughed at is the
terror of society; the assertion of manhood, the expression of an honest
opinion, the love of truth,--everything goes down before it.
My ministerial neighbor throws theological brickbats at me because I
choose to study a subject which he has not the courage to face, and
which, if not a reality, he lied about in his last funeral sermon, when
he told the mourners that their "dear friend is not dead, but still
living and hovering around them."
Shall we allow these attacks, and not remind him that, if he knows
anything, he must know that the Christian religion is an outgrowth of
paganism; that there is not a cardinal point in his theology that is not
as old as the Hindoo Pagodas; that the idea of another life, imperfectly
outlined in the Bible, was taken from a religion founded upon occult
manifestations; that He whom he calls Lord and Master not only taught
healing by laying on of hands, but exemplified Materialization in the
transfiguration on the Mount, and in his bodily appearance to his
disciples, after his death, in a room with closed doors?
At every seance there are more or less clandestine visitors, who shrink
from letting their best friends know anything about it. At one, I met an
old acquaintance, who was surprised to find me there, and begged me not
to give him away. He had obtained a seat under an assumed name,
partially as a test, he said, but mainly on account of his position in
society; he did not care to be known to visit such places. In the course
of the seance, a beautiful female form came briskly out into the middle
of the room, and, stretching her arms toward him, said, "Father!" As he
did not respond, the controlling spirit, calling him by name, said,
"that lady is for you!" He stepped forward, and, to his astonishment,
found that it was his daughter. He said afterward that the recognition
was perfect. This was his first seance, and, unless Materialization
becomes popular, it may be his last. That he told his wife about it
there seems to be no doubt, as she has been a frequent visitor ever
since. I fancy him in his dressing-gown and slippers, reclining in his
armchair, smoking his cigarette, anxiously awaiting her return, that she
may relate to him the touching manifestations of affection she has
received.
Traces of these phenomena have always, in one form or another, been
present in the world. In India, for thousands of years, they have
furnished the foundation of a religious belief, which, like all other
religions, has been perverted and used as a means to blind and control
the common people.
The danger of its being accepted as authority through a blind reverence
for what is supposed to be supernatural, instead of affectionate and
intelligent companionship, is sufficient reason why its true import
should be thoroughly understood. Whether it be a power in man, the laws
of which are unknown, or a direct emanation from another life, it
requires the most serious consideration. Shall it receive the attention
it deserves, or shall we turn our backs on it, till, like a rising
tide, it overwhelms us with a flood of ignorance and superstition? It
will not do to ignore it; already its influence is sweeping far and
wide.
Scientists may sit supinely on the summit of their intellectual conceit,
insisting that it "will not be much of a shower;" still it swells and
rolls on, sapping and undermining the whole system of social and
religious thought. Sects and creeds crumble in its pathway. All hopes of
a scientific evidence of a life after death are centred in these
manifestations.
The issue is a plain one; there can be no middle ground. Either
Spiritualism or Materialism triumphs. Deal with it as you may; if it is
from the other side of life, it cannot be overthrown. In some form or
other it must be met.
Shall we not, in the interest of humanity and of what purports to be an
important truth, lay aside our pre-conceived notions and prejudices,
and treat this subject as we would any of the common things of life,
earnestly endeavoring to get at its true meaning?
Millions of honest people have witnessed these things in their own
homes, by their own firesides. Against what they have seen and know
there is no argument.
Time will show whether the public have sufficiently advanced to grapple
healthily with Materialization and its spiritual surroundings.
CHAPTER VI.
CONCLUSION.
It has been heretofore stated that everything known as Spiritualism is
due to pure Magnetism.
Magnetism may be classed under three heads: Terrestrial, Aerial, and
Ethereal or Spiritual Magnetism. These are only different modes or
grades of expression of the same thing; and may be compared, in their
order, to earth, air and ether;--heat, force, and light;--or root,
stock, and flower in plants.
Ethereal Magnetism is the medium of thought, as is clearly proved by
what is sometimes called telepathy, or mind-reading, and by well
attested facts of communication between persons widely separated. It is
also known to Mesmerizers that, when they have established magnetic
relations between themselves and their subjects, they can often control
them without reference to distance.
Outside of the domain of this subtle fluid, there can be no connection
between the seen and the unseen worlds, or between any of the individual
forms of life. More attenuated than Electricity, it holds the same
relation to life that Terrestrial Magnetism holds to the grosser
particles of matter. It enables what we call intellectual force to
command and control all forms.
Through it, Thought, which is the Principle of everything, builds and
unbuilds; clothing itself in material garments, and filling the earth
with countless millions of individual beings, made visible to our
outward senses.
The process by which this is accomplished is the same, whether done
instantaneously or extending through a series of years. Materialization,
then, is only the manifestation of a law everywhere acknowledged, with
this difference: the external forms, under a superior force and
intelligence, are more quickly wrought.
It is the question of time, more than anything else, that challenges our
skepticism. That which we call progress, or evolution, is only so many
steps by which mind exerts itself, with increasing force, over matter.
We are in the habit of regarding matter as a solid substance; whereas,
in its primitive state, it is invisible. It is only by different
combinations, in its aerial form, that it becomes solid. In a fluidic
state, it probably pervades all space. In this condition, spirits, it
would seem, have power to condense it and shape it at pleasure.
Existing as individual beings, complete in their organization, many of
them are able, under certain conditions, to draw from their surroundings
sufficient matter to clothe themselves in garments, for the time being,
as substantial as any forms in life.
I have witnessed the processes of materialization and of
dematerialization in the middle of the room, several feet from the
cabinet,--have taken hold of the hands of these beings, and gone down
with them to the floor, until the last things that disappeared were the
hands that were in mine.
I have been taken into the cabinet by one of these forms, and, with my
left arm around the form (to all appearance as solid as my own), have
put my right hand on the entranced medium, and while in this position
have seen a white, luminous cloud rise slowly from the side of the
medium until it reached the height of nearly six feet. I could have
passed my hand through it without resistance. In a few seconds it
condensed into a human form that cordially greeted and shook hands with
me, having a hand as substantial as my own. It was the form of "Auntie,"
the control, who greeted me with "How do you do? What do you think of
this?" At the same time, there were many hands patting me on the head
and shoulders.
All this occurred in a cabinet where a confederate was impossible. Was I
deceived,--laboring under a state of hallucination? Not if I now have or
ever had any knowledge of myself.
I have studied these things as quietly as I would have studied a statue
or a picture; have not been satisfied with witnessing them once, but
have had them repeated many times, that I might feel certain that I had
given them a thorough investigation. If I have been mistaken, those who
come after me will have small chance of better success. I have stated
some things positively, because I know that they are true, and can be
scientifically demonstrated.
We may discover and accept the conditions that best enable these beings
to reach and communicate with us, thereby extending our knowledge and
our association with them, but neither our observation nor what they may
tell us will enable us to comprehend what our experience has not fitted
us to understand.
At best we have only established our pickets on the other side of the
river. The problem of life still remains unsolved.
The erroneous ideas so generally entertained regarding beings of another
life render it important that we should fully understand that no one,
whether on this or the other side of life, can set aside the laws
necessary to our individual growth.
The assimilation of thought; the gestation of ideas, the mental
digestion which is analogous to the process of physical growth, must
ever remain the source of a healthy development. To abandon this to the
dictation of authority, whether real or supposed, or to accept anything
in violation of these laws, only leads to disorder and mental dyspepsia.
What we most desire does not always come; but in its place, often,
something unexpected and surprising. The power which operates suffers no
dictation or control; and, like the reflection of an object in water,
the phenomena become distorted the moment the magnetic currents are
disturbed.
Forced, by the accumulation of facts that cannot be set aside, to
acknowledge the existence of these beings, they are, nevertheless,
shrouded in mystery. That they are from the other life is more than
probable; no other theory will, in the long run, be found tenable.
Whether they are our departed friends and relatives must be determined
by the exercise of those faculties which enable us to settle the
relations of objects in this life. While they exhibit no feelings of
selfishness or jealousy in their associations with us, the same cannot
always be said of "the control." For some reason which we do not
understand, but which may be a necessity, the controlling spirit of the
seance exercises a more or less despotic power over the manifestations;
sometimes denying the privilege of manifestation, and forcing back
spirits who have been accustomed to appear at other seances. In other
words, there seems to be a good deal of human nature in their make-up,
and the likes and dislikes of the medium or manager, are often shared by
"the control."
While the theory is correct that the medium is nothing but the
instrument through which the spirits are evoked, there can be no
question that his or her mental and moral atmosphere affects the quality
of the manifestations.
Your personal relations with the medium are known to the controlling
spirit, and if the medium is prejudiced against you, you are, in most
cases, debarred from any satisfactory results. On the other hand, your
relations to these beings are known to "the control," but not
necessarily to the medium,--never unless the controlling spirit thinks
best to communicate them.
What you learn of the character of these beings depends upon your
personality,--the magnetic atmosphere that surrounds you. Many of them,
if they are able to penetrate your atmosphere, are so exhausted by the
effort that they cannot talk much with you; while others, overcoming
all obstacles, are able to throw themselves around you with all the
abandon of childhood, talking freely, and often so fast that it requires
the closest attention to follow them. In such cases, however strong the
resemblance may be to the medium in the outward form, the mental
characteristics are as different as it is possible to be between any two
individuals.
I have refrained from saying much about the quality of these
manifestations. It is a matter upon which there must always be a wide
difference of opinion. Every one will find _himself_ more or less
reflected in them. It is the inevitable law of association. "You are a
cheat and a scoundrel!" said an enraged man to my friend. "I know it,"
was the prompt reply; "it is the rascality and cussedness in you that
have called it out. I never was conscious of it until I met you."
No selfishness, deceit, or diplomacy avails with these beings; what you
truly think and feel, your moral atmosphere, makes or mars your
relations with them. Until you can learn to meet them in perfect
confidence, you can know nothing of the beauty which emanates from them.
Materialization is denounced by the learned and the ignorant, and in
both cases the denial springs from the same cause. It is a fair
illustration of high life with the bottom turned up; both classes meet
on the same plane. It is also bitterly condemned by a class of
Spiritualists whose brains are saturated with trance and inspirational
communications. In their conceit, the little they know is the whole
world to them.
As a rule, all nations and tribes hold in some form or another to a
belief in the continued existence of man after death. However desirable
such a belief may be, it is generally admitted that it rests entirely on
faith, there being no substantial evidence by which it can be
scientifically demonstrated. In both the Old and New Testaments are
records of occult manifestations similar to what has been related here,
but the materialistic tendency of science has long since caused them to
be regarded as Oriental fictions.
In the materializing seance come, for the time being, living, breathing,
intelligent, human forms, that are not confederates or personations by
the medium. If not beings from another life, what are they? The
probability, or even possibility, they offer of scientific evidence of
the existence of man after death, commends them to the serious
consideration of every intelligent person.
It is not a difficult task, nor one requiring a great amount of labor,
to determine that these forms are distinct embodiments. To settle this
is, however, only the A B C of the matter. To learn what these beings
are, and their relations to us, requires the most patient investigation
and the most delicate and far-reaching exercise of the mind. Facts, in
themselves, unless they suggest something higher, are of little
consequence. They derive their importance solely from their connection
with some general law around which they are grouped.
While I have stated positively that at Mrs. Fay's no confederates are
used, and that the forms that have come to me are not personations by
the medium, yet, in the _legal_ definition of the word, I do not _know_
who or what they are. I have my convictions, based upon what is
satisfactory evidence to me. I do not ask any one to accept my theories,
but upon what have been stated as facts there need be no controversy,
since any one who will give the matter the same attention can verify all
that has been said.
To deny the facts without an investigation, on the ground that they are
impossible, can have no weight, for it has been truly said by Arago that
"outside the domain of pure mathematics, the word impossible has no
meaning."
I have imperfectly related only a few of the many hundred strange things
that have come under my observation, selecting them at random without
any special regard to order. The same may be said of the thoughts
expressed; their value, if they have any, will be found in the closeness
with which I have pursued the investigation. My experience has extended
over more than a hundred seances, and to have given them in detail would
have exceeded my time.
These things are open to any who will approach them honestly. Let us
hope that some fair-minded specialist, whose brain is not lumbered with
the debris of old ideas, will yet be able to lift the veil that
surrounds them.
I feel confident that I have exhausted almost every conceivable test
necessary to establish the reality of these wonderful apparitions. Some
of these tests, in the light of a more extended experience, now seem
very absurd. Ridiculous as they must have appeared to these beings, they
were never vexed, nor showed any impatience with my ignorant and
unreasonable demands, but either met them squarely or playfully turned
them aside. My investigations have been confined mostly to Mrs. Fay's
seances, for the simple reason that here the cabinet and surroundings
were known to me to be above suspicion, and from the beginning greater
facilities for study were granted me than elsewhere. Such is the
skeptical nature of my mind that if I had been obliged to conform to the
role of an ordinary visitor, I should, in all probability, have never
been fully convinced of the truth of materialization.
In dealing with a subject so new to the mass of people, it is hardly to
be expected that it will be accepted on the testimony of any one. Facts,
however clearly stated, will have but little weight with those who have
had no practical experience. Fortunately, the rapid increase in the
number of mediums, both public and private, is bringing these things
within the reach of every one.
If what I have stated be true,--if the experience of others shall prove
that I have not been deceived,--then the whole system of ethics must
undergo a complete revolution. Man will no longer be regarded as an
animal, confined to earth, but a direct emanation from a superior
intelligence, holding in his nature a dual existence, connecting him at
one and the same time with both the seen and unseen worlds.
There is no estimating the influence which a realization of these
things, rightly understood, would have upon the moral and social
condition of society. What has been held in the past as a vague and
uncertain belief, would be supplanted by knowledge; and the skeptical
tendency of modern thought would be checked by a fuller sense of the
inspirational and spiritual nature of man.
The dread of death, throwing a gloom over the domestic circle, would
glide away as the darkness of night disappears before the coming morn.
The parting of friends and relatives would find its compensation in
renewed companionship and the perfect consciousness that there is no
real separation.
For the fullness and tenderness with which these beings have overwhelmed
me with demonstrations of regard, promptly responding to every
reasonable request, I am under the deepest obligations. As I go back in
my mind over the various seances which it has been my privilege to
enjoy, I linger fondly over the stately form and affectionate bearing of
what claimed to be my wife; the rich girlish nature of Bertha, with her
marvellous beauty of expression; and the tender pleadings of one who
must be nameless here, begging that I would bring those she loved nearer
to her.
All along the pathway of my investigations glow a thousand things never
to be forgotten. Who shall say the gates are not ajar, and that our
loved but not lost ones are not passing to and fro?
Poor in spirit and weak in affection must they be who can meet these
beings as I have met them, and not feel that there comes, from the
association with them, a richer and fuller life.
Transcriber's Note:
Punctuation has been standardised. Changes to the original have been
made as follows:
Contents
PERSONIFICATION BY THE MEDIUM OF MATERIALIZED FORMS _changed to_
PERSONIFICATION BY THE MEDIUM, OR MATERIALIZED FORMs
SEANCE AT THE BERRY SISTERS IN BOSTON _changed to_
SEANCE AT THE BERRY SISTERS' IN BOSTON
Page 98
With outstreched arms they beckoned me _changed to_
With outstretched arms they beckoned me
Page 136
may conflict with preconceived _changed to_
may conflict with pre-conceived
Page 170
ever remain the source of a a healthy development _changed to_
ever remain the source of a healthy development
Page 171
exercises a more or less depotic power _changed to_
exercises a more or less despotic power
Page 171
the magnetic atmostphere that surrounds _changed to_
the magnetic atmosphere that surrounds