THE MATERIALISATION OF "GHOSTS"
If much of the physical phenomena just described be well within the
scope of natural possibility, it is somewhat otherwise with the class of
manifestations I shall now touch upon. It is one thing to exert
consciously or unconsciously, as Home, Cook, Paladino, Moses and other
mediums have done, in the presence of scientifically trained witnesses,
unknown and supernormal muscular power. Table rapping, levitation,
"apports," may all be genuine enough and accounted for in a manner
which, if not wholly satisfying, is at least not unreasonable. But when
those assisting at a _seance_ actually behold with their eyes and touch
with their hands, and even photograph with a camera, the materialised
objects of the spirits with whom the medium is in communion, the pulse
of the inquirer quickens. He is now indeed approaching the crucial
problem, the crowning achievement of spiritualism. For although in a
former chapter we have the testimony of people who saw "ghosts," these
ghosts might, to my mind, clearly be the result of telepathy. They
appear on special occasions at important and significant crises, but the
claim of the spiritualistic medium is that he can casually, and on the
demand of one of the circle, produce a visible, tangible figure of a
deceased husband, wife, parent, or friend.
This materialisation is wholly a recent species of manifestation. One of
the first to testify to having seen a materialised figure at a _seance_
was the well-known S. C. Hall, who recognised during one of Home's
_seances_ the figure of his deceased sister. Other mediums repeated the
feat, and shadowy forms and faces began to appear and move about during
their dark _seances_. It is a suspicious fact that in some cases these
forms, made visible by a faintly luminous vapour, were accompanied by an
odour of phosphorus. Sceptics naturally took great advantage of the
alleged circumstance. Soon, however, a new medium, Florence Cook, was
rumoured to have produced materialised forms in a good light which
baffled all the sceptics. Miss Cook claimed to be "controlled" by a
spirit known under the name of "Katie."
We have this account from a writer who early attended to examine the
mystery fairly:
"In a short time, however, Katie--as the familiar of Miss B.
was termed--thought she would be able to 'materialise' herself
so far as to present the whole form, if we arranged the corner
cupboard so as to admit of her doing so. Accordingly we opened
the door, and from it suspended a rug or two opening in the
centre, after the fashion of a Bedouin Arab's tent; formed a
semicircle; sat and sang Longfellow's 'Footsteps of Angels.'
Therein occurs the passage, 'Then the forms of the departed
enter at the open door.' And, lo and behold! though we had left
Miss B. tied and sealed to her chair and clad in an ordinary
black dress somewhat voluminous as to the skirts, a tall,
female figure, draped classically in white, with bare arms and
feet, did enter at the open door, or rather down the centre
from between the two rugs, and stood statuelike before us,
spoke a few words, and retired; after which we entered the
Bedouin tent and found pretty Miss B. with her dress as before,
knots and seals secure, and her boots on! This was Form No. 1,
the first I had ever seen. It looked as material as myself; and
on a subsequent occasion--for I have seen it several times--we
took four very good photographic portraits of it by magnesium
light. The difficulty I still felt, with the form as with the
faces, was that it seemed so thoroughly material and
flesh-and-blood-like."
It is not my intention to speak of the multitude of early
materialisations. As Mr Podmore points out, at these manifestations
practically no precautions were taken against trickery. There was
nothing, so far as can be discovered, to throw any hindrance in the way
of the medium, if she chose, impersonating the spirit by exhibiting a
mask through the opening of the curtain or by dressing herself up and
walking about the room. Nor were there any collateral circumstances to
justify belief in the genuineness of the manifestations.
Nevertheless, Miss Cook's claims attracted the attention of Sir William
Crookes. He attended several _seances_--one, once, at the house of Mr
Luxmoor, when "Katie" was standing before him in the room. He had
distinctly heard from behind the curtain the sobbing and moaning
habitually made by Miss Cook during such _seances_. At another _seance_,
held at his own house, 12th March 1874, "Katie," robed in white, came to
the opening of the curtain and summoned him to the assistance of her
medium. The man of science instantly obeyed the call, and found Miss
Cook, attired in her ordinary black velvet dress, prone on the sofa. On
another occasion he declares he saw two forms together in a good light;
more than this, he actually procured a photograph of "Katie." But of
this I will speak later, when I come to discuss spirit photography.
One of the most noted materialising mediums of to-day is Charles Miller,
of San Francisco, of whom a certain Professor Reichel has recently
written a lengthy account.
Miller's _seances_ are described as very conclusive. At the first one,
after Miller had retired into the cabinet, "the curtain was pulled
aside, showing the medium asleep, and six fully developed phantoms
standing beside him. Two spoke German to friends from their native
land," and one discussed matters of a private nature with Professor
Reichel. Similar occurrences were many times repeated, and
dematerialisations were often "made before the curtain, in full view of
the sitters" and "in ample light to observe everything." Professor
Reichel says:
"In the _seances_ with Mr Miller I heard the spirits speak in
English, French, and German, but I have been assured repeatedly
that in a _seance_ of seventy-five persons, representing many
of the various nationalities in San Francisco, twenty-seven
languages were spoken by materialised spirits, addressing
different sitters."
Equally good results were obtained in a room taken at the Palace Hotel,
for a special testsetting, the results of which were communicated to
Colonel de Rochas, and again when Mr Miller visited the Professor at Los
Angeles. The following incidents are of special interest, as throwing
light on the forces made use of in the production of the phenomena, and
in reference to allegations of fraud or personation:--
"A sitting took place at noon. Before it began, and while
Miller was standing in front of the cabinet, I heard 'Betsy's'
voice whisper: 'Go out for a moment into the sun with the
professor.' Accordingly I took Mr Miller by the arm, and
together we went out into the sunshine. After a few moments we
returned, and at the moment we entered the dark room the
writer, as well as everyone else present, saw Mr Miller
completely strewn with a shining, white, glittering, snowlike
mass, that entirely covered his dark cheviot suit. This
singular occurrence had been witnessed repeatedly--even when
the medium had not previously been in the sun. At such times it
appeared gradually after the room had been darkened."
This snowlike mass the author regards as "the white element of
magnetism, which the phantoms use in their development." He also says:
"In another _seance_ held by Miller, 'Betsy' told me that she
would show me something that often happened in _seances_ with
other materialisation mediums--namely, that the medium himself
frequently appeared disguised as a spirit. She asked me to come
to the curtain, where she told me that the medium himself would
come out draped in white muslin, and the muslin would then
suddenly disappear. This was verified. When the medium came out
in his disguise, I grasped him by the hand, and like a flash of
lightning the white veiling vanished."
Reichel quotes Kiesewetter to the effect that in these cases "there is a
kind of pseudo-materialisation, in which the medium, in hypnosis, walks
in a somnambulistic condition, playing the part of the spirit, in which
case the mysterious vanishing of the spiritual veilings points to an
incipient magical activity on the part of the _psyche_."
Large numbers of Miller's materialisations were photographed, showing,
besides the fully materialised forms, "several spirits who could not be
seen with the physical eyes, one of whom was immediately recognised."
* * * * *
The experiments of Sir William Crookes and others by Mr Cromwell Varley,
with various mediums, supply us with the best proof we have that medium
and spirit possess separate identities. Of course there were, and are
still, numerous so-called exposures of mediums in the act of
materialisation. On other occasions the materialised form has been
seized and found to be the medium himself.
A typical incident of this kind was the exposure of the mediums William
and Rita, which took place in Amsterdam, under circumstances which made
it difficult for the most hardened believer to lay all the blame upon
the spirits. The incident took place in the rooms of a spiritualist; the
members of the circle were spiritualists; and it was aggrieved and
indignant spiritualists who made the facts public. Suspicion had been
aroused; one of the sitters clutched at the spirit form of "Charlie,"
and grasped Rita by the coat collar. Up to this point, no doubt, the
spiritualist theories already referred to were elastic enough to cover
the facts. But when the mediums were searched there were found in their
pockets or hidden in various parts of their clothing--on Rita a nearly
new beard, six handkerchiefs, assorted, and a small, round scent bottle,
containing phosphorised oil, bearing a resemblance all too convincing to
"Charlie's" spirit lamp; on Williams a dirty black beard, with brown
silk ribbon, and several yards of very dirty muslin--the simple
ingredients which represented the spiritual make-up of the repentant
pirate, John King--together with another bottle of phosphorised oil, a
bottle of scent, and other "properties."
But we have not to deal here with the obviously fraudulent features of
modern spiritualism. Years ago Mr H. W. Harrison summed up the position.
He pointed out that there were two classes of so-called
materialisations: (1) forms with flexible features, commonly bearing a
strong resemblance to the medium, which move and speak. These are the
forms which come out when the medium is in the cabinet; (2) Forms with
features which are inflexible and masklike (the epithet is not Mr
Harrison's) and which do not move about or speak. Such inflexible faces
are seen chiefly when the medium is held by the sitters, or is in full
view of the circle. Mr Harrison then continues: "We have patiently
watched for years for a living, flexible face, in a good light, which
face bore no resemblance to that of the medium, and was not produced on
his or her own premises. Hitherto this search has been prosecuted
without success. Mr A. R. Wallace and Mr Crookes have witnessed a great
number of form manifestations, without once recording that off the
premises of the medium they have seen a living, flexible, materialised
spirit-form bearing no resemblance to the sensitive. Neither has Mr
Varley made any such record."
* * * * *
The presumption must be one of fraud, especially when conditions are
laid down which serve to prevent full investigation. I have before me
the printed conditions of a North London Spiritualistic society:
"As a member of the society you must bear in mind that you will
be bound _in honour_ to accept all the rules laid down by our
Spirit controls, and by the leader of the meeting, as to the
conditions under which the meetings are held, such as the
darkened room, the holding of hands so as to form a strongly
magnetic ring in front of the medium, etc.--and it is
interesting to note that the great Mesmer, when he was
conducting his experiments in magnetism more than one hundred
years ago, had discovered the advantage of 'a circle' formed in
this way, for he writes: 'The power of magnetism is augmented
by establishing a direct communication between several persons.
This can be done in two ways: the more simple is to form a
chain, with a certain number of persons made to hold each
other's hands; it can also be done by means of the 'baquet' (a
mechanical contrivance invented by himself)."
"No one should ever attempt to touch a spirit unless invited to
do so by the spirits themselves, and the circle, once formed,
must never be broken by unloosing of hands. If this becomes
_really_ necessary at any time, permission should first be
asked, when the controlling spirit will give instructions as to
how it is to be carried out."
I cannot forbear from quoting further the following passage addressed to
members of the society:--
"You will greatly assist us in obtaining good results if you
will kindly use a little discretion in the matter of your food,
especially on the day of the meeting, when fish, vegetables,
fruit (especially bananas), and light food of that description
are most helpful, but meat, wine, beer, or spirits (wine and
spirits especially) should be carefully avoided; and we find
that it is better to make a good meal in the middle of the day,
a substantial tea at 5.30, and supper after the meeting, as by
following this plan the members of the circle are able to give
off more of the spiritual _aura_ which is used by the controls
in building up the forms which appear to us, each member of the
circle contributing his or her share unconsciously.
"The use of non-actinic light, such as that obtained from a
small dark lantern, is defended on the grounds that the actinic
rays coming from the violet end of the spectrum are so rapid in
their movements that they immediately break up any combination
of matter produced under such circumstances. Any form of light,
except the red, or perhaps the yellow, rays would have this
effect. That is one reason why the cabinet is employed,
because that would shut off any form of light from the medium
whilst the forms are building up; although on several
occasions, from time to time, when the form has thus been built
up fully, we have been able to use a red light strong enough to
illuminate the whole of the room."
So long as spiritualists, as I have before remarked, maintain this
attitude, so long must they meet with incredulity on the part of
official science. In nearly all these private circles the precautions
taken against trickery are absurdly lacking, and, as we have just seen,
frequently purposely omitted. Thus we have to fall back in considering
the genuine character of the phenomena on the good faith of the medium.
When the medium is known to be a man of blameless life, and has long
been before the public undetected in any deception, the presumption
would certainly appear to be in favour of his bona-fides. But of what
value is this presumption should the medium not be conscious of his
actions when his impersonation of this or that character is wholly
undertaken by his secondary or subliminal self? Here we begin to have
glimmerings of the great truth which may conceivably underlie the
parable of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and investigations into the marvels of
multiple personalities lead us further towards the light.
* * * * *
On the whole, the conclusion I have arrived at is that, where the
element of fraud is eliminated, we might rationally seek for an
explanation in hallucination. Take the famous case of Archdeacon Colley
and Mr Monck. The Archdeacon actually declared that he saw the psychic
or spirit form grow out of his left side:
"First, several faces, one after another, of great beauty
appeared, and in amazement we saw--and as I was standing close
up to the medium, even touching him--I saw most plainly,
several times, a perfect face and form of exquisite womanhood
partially issue from Dr Monck, about the region of the heart.
Then, after several attempts, the full-formed figure, in a
nebulous condition at first, but growing solider as it issued
from the medium, left Dr Monck and stood, a separate
individuality, two or three feet off, bound to him by a slender
attachment, as of gossamer, which, at my request, 'Samuel,' the
control, severed with the medium's left hand, and there stood
embodied a spirit form of unutterable loveliness, robed in
attire spirit-spun--a meshy webwork from no mortal loom, of a
fleeciness inimitable, and of transfiguration whiteness truly
glistening."
Now, as Mr Podmore somewhat satirically points out:
"It is difficult to believe that the exquisite spirit form
which presented itself to Mr Colley's glowing imagination was
merely a confection of masks, stuffed gloves, and muslin,
actuated by a jointed rod, but we cannot help remembering, if
Mr Colley did not, that articles of this kind had, a
twelve-month previously, been found, under compromising
circumstances, in the possession of Dr Monck."
The recognitions which take place at _seances_ are undoubtedly to a
large extent sense deceptions. There is now a professional medium at
whose _seances_ spirit faces are constantly being recognised. Of course
the performance takes place in the dark. A faintly illuminated slate
shows the profiles against the background, and one or other of the
members generally recognises it. The mouth and chin of the female faces
shown at these _seances_ are generally veiled, but this does not appear
to affect the recognition.
On the whole, the testimony for and against the reality of spirits at
the better class of _seance_ is pretty evenly balanced. I hesitate to
disturb it, although remarking, parenthetically, that the believers have
the most, if not the best, of the literature on the subject.
And for those who are deeply perplexed there is always the theory of
hallucination to fall back upon.