THE GATE OF REMEMBRANCE
[Illustration: PLATE I.
GLASTONBURY ABBEY.
View from the site of the north transept, looking towards the Quire.
_Frontispiece to Part I._]
THE GATE OF
REMEMBRANCE
THE STORY OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT
WHICH RESULTED IN THE DISCOVERY OF
THE EDGAR CHAPEL AT GLASTONBURY
BY
FREDERICK BLIGH BOND, F.R.I.B.A.
DIRECTOR OF EXCAVATIONS AT GLASTONBURY ABBEY
AUTHOR OF "THE ARCHITECTURAL HANDBOOK OF GLASTONBURY ABBEY"
THIRD EDITION
WITH A RECORD OF THE FINDING OF THE
LORETTO CHAPEL IN 1919
BOSTON
MARSHALL JONES COMPANY
1920
_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_
ARCHITECTURAL HANDBOOK OF
GLASTONBURY ABBEY. (_Reprinting._)
THE GLASTONBURY PRESS: GLASTONBURY. 4s. Net
THE HILL OF VISION.
A Forecast of the Great War, with
subsequent events, gathered from automatic
writings.
CONSTABLE & CO., 7s. 6d. net, and of all Booksellers.
ROODSCREENS AND ROODLOFTS.
With numerous illustrations of ancient
ecclesiastical woodwork in English
churches.
Two volumes, 4to., 32s. 6d. net.
SIR ISAAC PITMAN & SONS, AMEN CORNER, E.C.
PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION
Two problems in the script have engaged the serious attention of
critics. The first and simpler of the two is that which is involved
in the language and literary form of the messages. This is a curious
patchwork of Low Latin, Middle English of mixed periods, and Modern
English of varied style and diction. It is a mosaic of multi-coloured
fragments cemented together in a strangely random fashion. This
anomaly is the more remarkable from the contrast it presents to the
sustained and consistent burden of the script itself, which, as though
in obedience to some preordained intention and settled plan, seems
to proceed to the presentment, line by line, of a completed whole,
with absolute patience and indifference to interruptions. Lapse of
time seems of no account. After a break of several hours, the thread
is resumed at the point where it had been dropped. The unfinished
communications about the Loretto Chapel in 1911 are picked up and
spontaneously completed five years later. Nevertheless, the queer
patchwork of language is again evident.
For this fact, the following explanation is offered. It will easily
be conceded that whatever the source or inspiring influence of these
messages, the language in which they are conveyed is the _mechanical
side_ of the matter, the most assuredly conventional element in the
process of transmission. But the obvious instruments are the brains
of F.B.B. and J.A. The reasoning and reflective faculties are at the
time in abeyance or are otherwise engaged,[1] their attention being
entirely diverted: but the storehouse of memories and subconscious
impressions latent within are being used, and quite independently
used, though concurrently in point of time with the normal use of the
thinking faculties on a wholly different subject.
[1] In the latest series of sittings, the rule has been for F.B.B.
to read aloud to J.A. during the whole course of the writing, from a
novel or other entertaining or amusing book, calculated to retain his
attention, and the script resulting has proved to have nothing at all
in common with the subject-matter of the book, but forms a related
series of essays bearing upon the conquest of matter by spirit.
Consider for a moment the human brain as the repository of all
impressions made on the mind from childhood upwards. Thus viewed,
it becomes, as it were, an encyclopedia of all knowledge which the
conscious mind has stored, each item recording an idea of a certain
quality, in such language as circumstances may at the time have
dictated. Suppose then--and it is not difficult to do so--that each
of these records is responsive to the impulse of an Idea which is
seeking expression, and whose instrument of expression is some sort of
sympathetic vibration attuned to the original thought which recorded
the particular memory or subject. The sympathetic vibration lays hold
of the denser or physical particles of the record, causing them to
respond and to emit their own proper voice.
In other words, the language of the script would be simply the product
of the reaction of our brain-records to the sympathetic vibration of
Idea, from whatever source arising.
Not that such conditions are always necessary or possible. There are,
for example, many quite well-authenticated cases of automatic writing
in which not only the idea conveyed is outside the consciousness of
the writer, but the language itself is entirely unknown to him, or to
her, as the case may be. Take, for example, the many recorded cases of
automatic writing in languages unknown to the medium, and sometimes
requiring special scholarship to appreciate.
The explanation seems in this case to be that the mind of the medium is
plastic to a more direct spiritual influence which can therefore mould
its particles and create a new record for itself. This must have been
so in the Gift of Tongues at the Pentecost, and later in the history of
the Primitive Church.
The second problem noted by critics is a more difficult one. It
concerns the intelligent source of the messages. As to this, I
have propounded the view of a Greater Memory transcending, and
interpenetrating our own. This theory is suggestive rather than
explanatory. It does not, and cannot, explain many things which in our
present state of knowledge are inexplicable. Neither does it pretend to
cover the whole ground. It is, as I say, merely suggestive. Its virtue
is that it excludes no other possible agencies, hence leaving room not
only for the exercise of transcendental faculty, such as clairvoyance,
but for any variety of _primary_ impulse, and for any number or degree
of directive agencies capable of employing it.
For as we are obliged by our own experience to acknowledge that our
own latent memory is revived and brought out in these scripts by some
intelligence working apart from our conscious minds; and to admit
that telepathy between two is involved: so we are also bound to allow
the possible presence of a further range of telepathic action working
through our minds in the production of these messages. And if we are
prepared to agree on the one hand that whereas the physical brain
dissolves at death and its action ceases, yet, on the other hand, that
a more inward and less material brain, the organ and vehicle of the
subconscious or intuitive self, still persists and survives entirely
the death of the physical body, and if we consider this more inward
brain as composed of finer particles, responsive to the far more rapid
movements of intuitive thought, then we shall have to allow that the
memory-record of any defunct personality, if capable of response _to
the same stimulus of spiritual Will and Idea which can actuate our
own_, can be drawn upon in like manner by the energising Intelligence,
and again, as in our own case, _without evoking the conscious "spirit"
or personality proper to it_. This is surely the meaning of Johannes
when he says (p. 95):
"Why cling I to that which is not? It is I, and it is not I, butt
part of me which dwelleth in the past, and is bound to that which my
carnal soul loved and called 'home' these many years. Yet I, Johannes,
amm of many partes, and ye better part doeth other things--Laus, laus
Deo!--only that part which remembreth clingeth like memory to what it
seeth yet."
Thus it seems to me the problem of personality, in the sense of the
conscious personal presence of individuals deceased, need not arise
at all in connection with these writings. All that it seems vital to
assume is the union of the deeper strata of our own latent mind or
dream-consciousness with others of a kindred nature and tone, by virtue
of their sympathetic and accordant motion in the presence of a greater
and all-inclusive spiritual essence, Idea, or Will, omnipresent and
all-permeating, waking into activity all dormant memory-records, and
directing them into any channel of mind which by previous preparation
on the conscious plane has become receptive and retentive of them.
Still small Voices from a distant Time!--thrilling through the void and
stirring faint resonances within the deeps of our own being--the great
Telepathy, the true Communion of Mind, the gate of the Knowledge, the
Gnosis of the apostle, whose key is Mental Sympathy, the key that the
lawyers took away, neither entering themselves, nor suffering others to
enter.
No discord can mar this communion, since love and understanding are
its law. Death cannot touch it: rather is he Keeper of the Gate.
Time, as we know it, here counts for naught, for to the deeper
dream-consciousness, a day may be as a thousand years, and a period of
trance or sleeping as one tick of the clock.
BRISTOL,
_May, 1918_.
NOTE
BY SIR WILLIAM BARRETT, F.R.S.
As some readers of this remarkable book have thought it too incredible
to be a record of fact, but rather deemed it a work of imagination, it
may be useful to add my testimony to that given in the book as to the
genuineness of the whole narrative.
The author has, I am sure, with scrupulous fidelity and care, presented
an accurate record of the scripts obtained through the automatic
writing of his friend, together with all the archæological knowledge
of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey that was accessible before the
excavations were begun. In order to remove any doubt on this point,
before further excavations were made, Mr. Bligh Bond has wisely asked
representatives of certain societies to examine the later scripts which
refer to the Loretto Chapel, note their contents, and see how far the
further excavations may or may not verify any of the statements made in
the later scripts.
From any point of view the present book is of great interest. To the
student of psychology, who ignores any supernormal acquisition of
knowledge and yet accepts the good faith of the author, the problem
presents many difficulties. Chance coincidence may be suggested,
but this does not carry us far. The question therefore arises,
where did the veridical or truth-telling information given in some
of these scripts come from? As is so often the case in automatic
writing a dramatic form is taken, and messages purport to come from
different deceased people. The subconscious or subliminal self of the
automatist, doubtless, is the source of much contained in the scripts,
and may possibly be responsible for all the insight shown. But in
that case we must confer upon the subconsciousness of the automatist
faculties hitherto unrecognised by official science. The author has
pointed out, on p. 156, some of the powers the subconscious mind must
be assumed to possess; to these we may add a possible telepathic
transfer of information between the author and the automatist, and
also occasionally the faculty of _clairvoyance_, or a transcendental
perceptive power; for, according to the investigations of the author,
some of the statements made in the script were unknown to any
living person, and not found in historical records, prior to their
verification in subsequent excavation. We must, however, be on our
guard against the too facile use of words such as "telepathy" and
"subliminal consciousness" as a cloak to our ignorance. The history
of physical science shows how progress has often been retarded by
the use of phrases to account for obscure phenomena--words such as
"Phlogiston," "Catalysis," etc., which explained nothing, and now
are ridiculed, but which were once used by scientific authorities as
unquestionable axioms. It is wiser to acknowledge our ignorance and
convey our thanks to the author and his friend for the patient and
laborious care with which they have furnished valuable material for
future psychological explanation. Nor must we omit to recognise the
courage shown by Mr. Bligh Bond in the publication of a work which
might possibly jeopardise the high reputation he enjoys.
_GLASTONBURY_
_Grey among the meadows, solitary, bare:
Thy walls dismantled, and thy rafters low,
Naked to every wind and chilly air
That steeps the neighbouring marsh, yet standest thou,
Great cloistral monument of other days!
Though marked by all the storms that beat thee through,
A radiant Parable of heavenly ways
That scarce thy lordly builders guess'd or knew!
Vanishing image of great service done,
Smiling to God under the open sky:
Even in thy translation, stone by stone,
Keeping thy spirit-grace and symmetry,
Through ruined clerestory and broken rood
Our chastened souls with tears ascend to God._
A. M. BUCKTON: from _Songs of Joy_.
"_Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek
that ye may excel to the edifying of the church._
"_Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he
may interpret._
"_For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my
understanding is unfruitful._
"_What is it then? I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with
the understanding also._"
I COR. xiv. 12-15.
CONTENTS
PART PAGE
I. THE LOST CHAPEL 1
(_a_) INTRODUCTORY 3
(_b_) DOCUMENTARY 6
(_c_) PSYCHOLOGICAL METHODS APPLIED TO RESEARCH 17
(_d_) ON AUTOMATISM 22
(_e_) NOTES ON THE AUTOMATIC SCRIPT 26
(_f_) NARRATIVE OF THE WRITINGS 32
(_g_) TABLE OF VERIDICAL PASSAGES 70
(_h_) TESTIMONIES 79
II. THE CHILD OF NATURE 83
(_a_) JOHANNES GOES A-FISHING 86
(_b_) THE VAT OF GOOD ALE 89
(_c_) MEMORIES OF HIS HOUSE 93
(_d_) THE BURDEN OF THE FLESH 96
(_e_) THE GARGOYLE 98
(_f_) STORY OF EAWULF 105
III. THE LORETTO CHAPEL 109
(_a_) DOCUMENTARY 111
(_b_) STORY OF BERE'S VOW (1911 SCRIPT) 119
(_c_) CAMILLUS THESIGER SPEAKS (1916 SCRIPT) 125
(_d_) ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS DESCRIPTIVE OF THE
ITALIAN CHAPEL 128
(_e_) REVIEW 142
(_f_) THE 1917 SCRIPT 144
(_g_) RECONSTRUCTIONS 151
(_h_) CONCLUSION 155
(_i_) APPENDIX: TABLE OF DATA AND CONSTRUCTIVE
ARGUMENT 160
IV. INDEX AND SYNOPSIS 169
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE PAGE
I. RUINS OF GLASTONBURY ABBEY VIEWED FROM NORTH
TRANSEPT, LOOKING TOWARDS THE BROKEN ARCH
OF QUIRE. (F.B.B.) _frontispiece_
II. FOUNDATIONS OF THE EDGAR CHAPEL, AS RESTORED
(FROM WEST) _to face_ 56
III. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE INTERIOR OF BERE'S TIME
(EARLY SIXTEENTH CENTURY) FROM THE SAME
POINT AS PLATE I. (F.B.B.) (_frontispiece to
Part II._) _to face_ 84
IV. CONEY'S VIEW OF THE ABBEY (1817)
(_frontispiece to Part III._) _to face_ 111
V. RECONSTRUCTION OF THE NORTH TRANSEPT WITH
LORETTO CHAPEL AND CLAUSTRUM (FROM A PENCIL
DRAWING BY F.B.B.) _to face_ 154
FIG.
1. PHELPS'S PLAN 5
2. WILLIS'S PLAN 9
3. ARCHÆOLOGICAL INSTITUTE'S PLAN OF RETRO-QUIRE 15
4. PLAN OF GULIELMUS 34
5. SECOND PLAN, SHOWING EDGAR CHAPEL 36
6. PLAN OF APSIDAL CHAPEL, PUBLISHED BEFORE
DISCOVERY 61
7. PLAN OF APSIDAL CHAPEL AFTER EXCAVATION WAS
COMPLETED 64
8. SKETCH ELEVATION OF NORTH SIDE OF EDGAR
CHAPEL AND MONINGTON'S QUIRE 81
9. ABBOT'S HEAD (A GARGOYLE IN PROFILE) 99
10. STUKELEY'S PANORAMA OF THE RUINS IN 1723 115
11. HOLLAR'S VIEW, _c. 1655_ (ENLARGED) 116
12. CANNON'S SKETCH OF THE RUINS, _c. 1746_ 117
PLANS A TO I: NINE SHEETS OF DETAILS OF THE
LORETTO CHAPEL, BEING FACSIMILES OF THOSE
APPEARING IN THE AUTOMATIC SCRIPT _pages_ 129-142
13. GENERAL PLAN OF THE ABBEY LAID OUT ON SQUARES
OF 74 FEET (1912) 148_a_
14. GEOMETRIC PLAN OF ST. MARY'S CHAPEL 150
15. TENTATIVE PLAN OF THE LORETTO CHAPEL, ETC. 152
16. COMPLETE PLAN OF ALL CHIEF FEATURES MENTIONED
IN THE WORK 153