MEDIUMSHIP—SPIRITUAL HEALING.
When we make use of external language as a means of communication,
our reception of truth does not depend so much upon who speaks, as
upon ourselves; for it matters not who uses language, before it
can awaken the idea in our minds, it must first be communicated to
our understanding. Therefore though the communication may convey
established truth, our understanding is quite liable to err as to the
meaning of the communication. Though the communication were made by
God himself, it might not convey the truth, because each man or woman
would understand it according to his or her plane of development. The
character of a communication is determined by the plane from which it
is translated. The caution is, “Take heed how ye hear.”
However credible and truthful an individual may be, he may be mistaken,
and falsify in respect to facts and principles communicated; so that
unless we have an absolute perception of the truth of that which is
communicated, we can not affirm that we have the truth upon the subject
in question. In holding communication with our neighbor, we find that
A or B or C has always told the truth, and therefore when he tells us
a particular event has taken place, we rely upon his word. Yet we know
that he is liable to be mistaken, and to be under influences which
may lead him to falsify, so that after all we can not know, upon the
report of an individual, that a thing is true. It does not address
that department of our being by which we are made as certain of it as
we are that we exist. Hence we always make a difference between what
we know and what we hear—between a report and our consciousness. One
we say we _know_ to be true, and the other we say we _believe_ to be
true. The difference is that between knowledge and belief. So if a
Spirit should communicate to me ten thousand facts concerning my absent
friends, every one of which I should find in every respect true on
investigation; and if, again, that Spirit should come and communicate
still other facts, I can not know that such other facts are true. The
fact that that Spirit has before told the truth is not a positive proof
that it will continue to do so. I can believe the statement to be true,
but, nevertheless, my belief can not amount to positive knowledge. So
that the questions often arise when Spirits communicate with external
language, How are we to know that they tell the truth, How are we to
know that they are the ones they purport to be? When a Spirit raps out
on the table, or speaks or writes through a medium, that he is such a
Spirit, and that such and such things are transpiring at some distant
place, how are we to know that he tells the truth? We are not to know
it, and can not know it. If we are to be accurately informed on that
subject, that which is addressed to our understanding must come more
interiorly into our consciousness than it can come through the ear,
the eye, or the sense of feeling. It may be true; and give me time
enough to investigate, and I can determine whether it be true or not.
But if I am to act upon it without investigation, I can not know. I do
not care if all the Spirits in Christendom testify to it, still I can
not know; for that means of communication can not, in the nature of
things, bring certainty—can not produce interior conviction in the mind.
I may be persuaded that a thing is so, and shape my course as though it
were so; still I am liable to be mistaken. Therefore I affirm again,
that this outward method of communication can not be relied upon for
the communication of absolute or positive truth. You can not make
it the basis of action as you can when you have clear and positive
information; and even if it should become as reliable as the ordinary
communications passing between man and man, still it will not bring
sufficient certainty to make it the basis of action. I might give
many other reasons why this external means of communication can not
be relied upon as sufficient to give us the necessary information
respecting our connection with the Spirit-world. It may give facts or
tests which may prove to be sufficient to satisfy the mind of every
inquirer that Spirits do exist and communicate. This is no unusual
thing; but the point is to make them the instruments of communicating
to us such information as from day to day we need, and upon which we
must rely. Those who do thus rely upon their communications, and yield
implicit confidence to them, nine times in ten show themselves to
be complete dupes, and make themselves the laughing-stock of every
sensible man and woman.
You will find in all parts of the country those who, if they can get
a rap, say “Spirits, is it so?” and act according to the responses
they receive. Nothing can be further from the true use and design of
these manifestations. My position is simply this: so far as these
outward means of communication are concerned, they are designed for
those who can not get a more interior view of their relations with the
Spirit-world. If an individual is living in his exterior or sensuous
nature, so that what comes to his understanding must come through his
senses, then these outward manifestations are useful and necessary to
satisfy him of the fact that Spiritual beings do exist, and have the
means of communicating with us. But when he is fully satisfied on that
point, he has received about all the benefit he can from these exterior
communications.
There is another important point to which I wish to call your
attention, and one which, if properly understood by those who
investigate the Spiritual phenomena, will save them a great deal of
embarrassment. It is this: that that class of Spirits who usually
manifest themselves through public mediums, either by sounds, by moving
physical objects, or by any other means before promiscuous objects,
or by any other means before promiscuous public assemblies, can not
generally be relied upon; and the reason is very obvious. It is well
understood that an individual who is excessively sensitive to all moral
influences—whose sensibilities are such that they can not endure the
presence of that which is vulgar—are repelled by, or driven from,
promiscuous circles or society; and, consequently, those who can
endure the common influences of a public circle can not be of a very
sensitive class. Take a medium who is exceedingly sensitive to external
influences; who must be in just such a condition in order that the
Spirits may communicate, and who requires that every mind in the circle
shall be in a peculiar condition; and place that medium in a public
circle, and you can get no manifestations at all, for the required
conditions are foreclosed at once. This kind of mediums will not answer
for the purposes of public circles; but if you get one that will
answer for such purposes, that medium will be one who is excessively
positive—one who can resist influences of ever so positive a character.
As that medium is required to sit for all classes, as a matter of
course he must be in a condition to respond to the kind of influences
which are brought to bear upon him, or manifestations can not occur
while such influences are present.
When communications are received through public mediums, the
probabilities are that the communicator belongs to a very low plane
of development, and that the communications can not be relied upon,
whatever may be the professions of that communicator.
There is almost always an influence which belongs peculiarly to each
public medium—an influence which seems to be a presiding Spirit, which
that medium will usually recognize, answering to the name of “Jim” or
“John.” It is generally the case that this Spirit will be found on hand
first, and is the one to do whatever is to be done; and he becomes the
father, mother, brother, sister, or friend of everybody. I speak from
experience on this subject. If this Spirit wants to be very accurate
in telling you a name, he gets you to write down a list of names, and
as your finger runs down the list, he raps when you come to the right
one. If he knows the name, why does he not spell it out? This is a
very reasonable question. Permit me to explain how these questions are
often answered. In mesmerism there is at times a certain relation of
the operator to the subject called _rapport_, in which condition the
operator can transmit his mental motions to the subject. In case a
Spirit comes into _rapport_ with yourself, he answers all the questions
you ask, even mental questions, and you come to the conclusion that
you are really conversing with the one who purports to answer. If
you ask whether you have a father, mother, brother, or sister in the
Spirit-land, he will answer according to your perceptions; and the
tests seem to be very good, though the Spirit is constantly answering
directly from your own mind. This often occurs in public circles.
Another individual, sitting next to you, who is very anxious to get
equally good tests from his Spirit-friends, gets no correct answers
unless he hands his written questions to one who has been found to be
in _rapport_ with the Spirit. I once knew an instance of this kind. A
doctor came into a circle with about thirty mental questions, to which
he desired to get responses; but he could get no answers, it seeming
impossible for the Spirits to get the questions from his mind; but
upon his writing them out, and handing them to a lady, who shortly
before had succeeded in getting answers, they were all replied to
without difficulty. The simple explanation of this fact is, that the
lady was in _rapport_ with the Spirit, and consequently her thoughts
could be seen by the Spirit, while he could not perceive the thoughts
of the physician, who was not in _rapport_ with him. If you ask
questions orally, it may be that the Spirit does not hear them, except
through the medium’s ears, so to speak. I might go on thus to great
extent, showing the liability there is to be deceived in these public
communications.
The circumstances of a public circle are exceedingly unfavorable to
getting communications from Spirits of a high degree of refinement.
The most that can be obtained under such conditions is some external
evidence of Spiritual existence. The point to which I wish to call
your attention is the almost universal fact that mediums devoted to
external manifestations, while under the influence of this presiding
Spirit, are under an influences to deceive, to cheat, which is almost
irresistible. It does not matter particularly how good manifestations
they get. I have seen this deceptive disposition manifested in mediums
who could get very remarkable manifestations, such as the movement in
the open light of a table with several men standing upon it. Not that
they themselves wished to deceive, but they were almost irresistibly
controlled by the influence surrounding them, and which must generally
be present in a large circle. I have seen this many times when I knew
the manifestations to be genuine. A skeptic, however, notwithstanding
their genuineness, would, upon detecting the slightest thing like
cheating, pronounce them all a humbug. There are but few mediums who
could resist this influence which comes over them at times, inciting
them to help the manifestations along a little, or to give them a
little start, with the hope that they will thereafter get along without
assistance. I refer to this to call attention to the influence to which
mediums are at times subjected, not to condemn the mediums, nor to
convey the impression that all these public manifestations are cheats.
I have seen many which were not of this character. This cheating
influence is attributable to the incongruous mental condition of a
large circle, where no care is taken to secure harmony.
I offer these remarks as a caution not to get discouraged. You will
meet with these things; and if the enemy can once catch you cheating,
no matter how many good demonstrations you have given for months
before, he has no hesitation in publishing to the world that it is all
a cheat. He requires the medium to be very truthful, but he has no
hesitation in lying himself. Being judged out of his own mouth, the
enemy who takes advantage of the least deception on the part of the
medium is as bad as the medium, and if he gets communications he must
expect them to be marked by his character.
Permit me now to call your attention to the subject of healing
mediumship. Man, as we have seen, possesses within himself the
elements of all prior existence—in fact, of all existence, from
dead matter to the self-living Jehovah. These elements exist in
him in an individualized condition. He has composing his form
individualized matter of various kinds, as electricity, magnetism,
nerve-aura, which are connected with matter of a like character
which is unindividualized. I need but say that all matter this side
the Divine is of itself dead—that all life and consciousness flows
directly and indirectly from the Divine Being, and that there can be
no manifestation except as connected with the Divine Being. The idea
that magnetism, electricity, or nerve-force has power of itself, is
altogether false. They are only connecting parts in the universe,
uniting the Divine on one hand with matter on the other. They are mere
media of communication between the Fountain of all power on the one
hand, and the recipient of power on the other. Let us for illustration
observe a manufacturing establishment. One part of the machinery is
perhaps concerned in scouring and cleansing wool; another part cards
it into rolls; another part spins them into yarn; another part weaves
the yarn into cloth; and another part dresses the cloth. Each of these
parts seems to be disconnected from the other parts, and each seems to
be accomplishing a specific end; but you will find that all parts are
connected one with the other, and all connected with the primary power
in the basement. In the water-wheel or steam-engine there is a power
which puts them all in motion. The parts next to it are negative to it,
and receptive of its power; and these parts, though negative to the
principal power, are positive to those parts more remote. All parts are
in motion, all moving as the primary wheel moves. Break the connection
anywhere between the parts, and those parts beyond the connection cease
to move. But establish the connection, and they will again commence
their motion. Every part is negative to the primary power, but positive
to all more remote from it than itself. No one of the parts has a
power to move itself, and unless there is a connection maintained
between the primary power and the several parts, they will cease to
move. So with all media through which potential manifestations are
made. Electricity has no power of itself. It is only by its connection
with that which is nearer to the great self-existent Being that it
derives all its power to act. Next comes magnetism, which derives all
the power it possesses from the power which precedes it. Next is the
life-force, which is negative to all nearer to God than itself, and
receives its power from them, but is positive to all others. Next comes
the nerve-force; and next the spirit, which derives all its power
from the Divine Fountain. It is the medium through which all power is
imparted to all that is more exterior than itself. I have the power to
move my arm—by my will to make potential manifestations through this
arm. If, however, by any means, you break any of the links out of the
chain which unites the divine in me, through my spirit, with the matter
of my arm—abstract the electricity, the magnetism, or nerve-force—I
lose all power over my arm. Bisect the motor-nerve, which connects my
arm with my brain, and my arm will hang lifeless by my side. There are
all of the media there, but they are not continuously connected with
my brain, and through that with the Divine Fountain. But if you will
throw a current of electricity down the nerves of my arm, you will
produce an extension of it. So you may withdraw the nerve-force, or the
vital force from my arm, and it will cease to exist. My arm will be no
longer subject to sensation, because you have broken the link between
sensation and matter.
We then, as individuals, possessing in ourselves all these different
media, which become receptive of influences, must come into connection
with the Divine Fountain itself, if we would receive power from it; for
we can impart nothing which we do not receive.
As spiritual beings we become receptive of this influence through our
spiritual nature, but impart it through our lower nature. To become
a medium of potential action or manifestation, I must have the power
to impart to that medium through which the power is to be manifested.
To affect you nervously to relieve you from pain, I must be able to
impart through my nervous system that power which I received through my
spiritual nature. To be able to operate psychologically, I must receive
through my interior being and impart through my outward being—must
first have the powers of receptivity, and, secondly, must possess the
powers of impartability. It becomes just as necessary to have a good,
healthful physical development to be able to impart, as to have a good
spiritual development to receive the power. The individual becomes
stronger as a medium in proportion to his development in receptivity
and impartability.
That Jesus was so much more powerful than others was owing to the
perfectly harmonic development of his different natures. Our power to
exert healing influences depends upon our development. The higher we
are developed—the nearer we come to the great absolute Fountain of all
power—the more largely will we be receptive of that power.
Jesus being fully developed in his religious and spiritual being, was
in conscious communion with the Father and with Spirits of the most
exalted character, and received largely of the Divine power. He was
always aware whether he had the necessary power to perform any work.
Being so fully unfolded as to perceive the causes of the disease to
be cured, he knew beforehand whether it was worth while to make the
experiment. He knew what was to be done to bring the individual into a
condition to receive that which he needed to restore him. Therefore,
when called upon to perform a cure, if the individual was not in the
right condition, he commenced to bring him into it, requiring them to
come into a certain condition called faith or belief. That he might
perform the desired work, he required the assistance of those around
him. When he went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and where
he was looked upon as an ordinary man, his right to teach was called
in question, and his learning doubted. What was his success there?
Mark says he did not succeed, because of their unbelief. He could not
command the conditions which were necessary to impart his power, and he
could do no mighty work there, except to lay his hands on a few sick
folks. Another writer referring to it, says, “He did not many mighty
works there, because of unbelief.” We all know that Jesus said, “A
prophet is not without honor save in his own country.” He had to keep
away from Nazareth simply because the state of mind was such that he
could not control the conditions necessary to produce his mighty works.
Within three weeks before his crucifixion, when going to Jerusalem to
attend one of the feasts, his brethren called upon him and said, “If
you do these things, show yourself openly, for no man doeth these
things in secret, and yet seeketh to be known openly; for,” says John,
“his brethren did not believe on him.” Christ, even with his high
degree of receptivity, found it necessary at times to call to his aid
surrounding minds; and he could not always perform his work without
faith being reposed in him. The question was very often asked by him,
“Believe ye that I am able to do this?” When he had performed the cure,
he immediately said “It is faith that did it.” They had no faith in him
as the Son of God, as supposed by some, but simply in his power to work
a cure.
I desire to enforce the idea, that if we wish to be mediums of high and
exalted powers for the removal of diseases, it becomes necessary that
we should be highly developed, not only physically, but spiritually
and religiously. A high order of the absolute religious development is
very essential to great power as a healing medium, because this highest
nature, this absolute nature, in man, much more than any other, serves
to unite him with the absolute Fountain of all power. The highest
development of this religious nature in man is necessary to give him
a clear perception of the nature of disease and the means for its
removal. The man who has this religious faculty highly developed, needs
not that any man should say anything to him of man, for he knows what
is within him. Clairvoyant mediums know very well that that condition
which enables them to see most clearly the state of the individual is
that which is high and exalted; for when their thoughts and aspirations
seem to be ascending—like the odor from the flower—there is a sort of
conscious exhalation going forth permeating every thing around the
individual, and he sees and feels clearly the condition of everything
by which he is surrounded.
There is nothing in the world which summons the human being to such a
degree of activity as that which we call the religious nature—there is
nothing which takes hold of him so deeply. What other influence in the
world could cause a mother to destroy her babe, but the stimulating
influence of this religious nature, coming up as it does from the
deepest fountain of the soul? Make a man believe that his religious
nature requires sacrifice, and he will make that sacrifice, cost what
it may, simply because his religious nature wells up so strong when it
is moved, that there is nothing outward which can resist it. When the
individual’s religious nature is highly developed, it is more powerful
than all his other natures.
We will become healing mediums just in proportion as we are developed
in this religious nature, so that we shall become more receptive
and perceptive, and be enabled to exercise stronger mental power to
accomplish our results. But a healthy physical development is quite
as essential to good mediumship as is a high and healthy spiritual
development. Good organs of impartability are required. Secure a good
harmonic physical with a good harmonic spiritual development, knowing
that you are receptive on the Spiritual side, and impartive on the
physical side.
There is much folly connected with mediumship. That such should be the
case with people so profoundly ignorant as the majority of mankind are
with reference even to their having souls, is by no means surprising.
Many people suppose that if their hands are touched, a Spirit has got
hold of them, and is about to make something great of them, and they
set themselves up as something wonderful. If they can perceive any
influence coming upon them, it is attributed to a Spiritual agency.
It may be so and it may not, because there are other than Spiritual
agencies. I once witnessed the curing in five minutes of an individual
who had been blind for three years. This, told to the world as an
instance of Spiritual healing, would appear marvelous; and if I had
happened to do it on the platform, before the people of New York, they
would have thought I had almost performed a miracle. It is probable
that not a particle of Spiritual influence was exerted in the case.
The individual performing the cure did not suppose that he was a
medium, though some would not hesitate to publish it to the world as
a remarkable instance of healing by Spiritual aid. The blindness was
doubtless caused by a paralysis of the optic nerve, and required only a
little action to restore the sight. The individual proceeded according
to the usual modes of mesmerism. The cure was not half as difficult as
it would be to get a sliver from under the nail, nor was it half as
mysterious.
A case of the restoration of hearing, by placing the fingers in the
ears and taking them out suddenly, is also within my knowledge. Such
cases are frequently circulated as evidence that Spirits do cure. The
cure in this case was doubtless effected by a strong mesmeric current
passing from the fingers of the operator over the nerve of the ear.
As honest men and women, we should be careful about publishing these
things as instances of Spirit-healing. We have abundant _genuine_
evidence of what Spirits do. Attributing to Spirits that which is
not produced by them, tends to make us dishonest with ourselves and
our neighbors. Were due caution exercised in this matter, we should
not need _half_ the evidence which is now required to convince the
world that Spirits do exist and communicate. When it is observed that
everything is attributed to Spirits, the world will not believe us even
when we tell them facts.
I know that Spirits _do_ communicate—_do exist_. It is not with me
a matter of conjecture at all—I KNOW it; but there is no occasion
to make persons believe that every thing comes from Spirits. I
ask Spiritualists to be more careful, more dignified in their
investigations in these matters, and they will find that there
are facts enough before the world to convince it of the truths of
Spiritualism, when you can convince the world that you are duly
cautious and not easily misled. I do not wish to lie for Spirits, nor
do I wish them to lie for me.