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Title: How to speak with the dead
Author: Sciens
Release date: November 21, 2025 [eBook #77281]
Language: English
Original publication: New York: E.P. Dutton & company, 1918
Credits: Peter Becker, Tom Trussel and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOW TO SPEAK WITH THE DEAD ***
HOW TO SPEAK WITH THE DEAD
HOW TO SPEAK
WITH THE DEAD
_: : A PRACTICAL HANDBOOK : :_
BY SCIENS
AUTHOR OF RECOGNISED SCIENTIFIC TEXT-BOOKS
[Illustration]
NEW YORK
E. P. DUTTON & CO.
681 FIFTH AVENUE
PUBLISHED 1918
BY E. P. DUTTON & CO.
Printed in the United States of America
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
PREFACE vii
I. DO THE DEAD STILL LIVE? 1
II. SOUL AND LIFE 28
III. TELEPATHY AND TELE-MNEMONIKY 44
IV. DISCARNATE SPIRITS 57
V. MEDIUMS 77
VI. COMMUNICATING 90
VII. PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR SPEAKING WITH THE DEAD 103
VIII. “SPIRITUALISM” AND “RATIONALISM” 131
PREFACE
Practical instructions for speaking with the dead are given in Chapter
VII of this book. Inasmuch, however, as rational men and women do not
care to enter upon systematic proceedings of any kind without having
some reasonable assurance that a commensurate result will follow, it
has been thought desirable to add, in Chapters I to IV, a general
outline of the scientific facts and arguments on which the certainties
of “survival” and “communication” are based. In Chapters V and VI some
necessary information as to mediums and communicating is given. And, in
Chapter VIII, the distinction between Speaking with the Dead on the one
hand, and Spiritualism faced by Rationalism on the other, is made clear.
The book is strictly impartial from all points of view--whether
Religious, Scientific, Agnostic, Spiritualistic, or Rationalistic. It
is impersonal. It sets aside the writer’s own occult experience which,
in the course of a long life devoted mainly to scientific pursuits,
has happened to be very considerable. It is a mere cold, neutral
text-book. The hard facts of the case are alone responsible for the
circumstance that it shows Science to be a sponsor for the reality of
speaking with the dead.
A few words--which many persons will read with amazement--must be added
here on the subject of _Cui bono?_ Multitudinous vials of scorn have
been poured out on the inanities of ordinary spiritualistic _séances_;
and all research into such matters is rigidly boycotted in scientific
circles as being unworthy of any intelligent individuals notice. Even
when the President of the Royal Society himself, and others who are
entitled to write F.R.S. or D.Sc. after their names, have been known
to touch the accursed and degrading thing, they have been either
ostracised or half-pardoned contemptuously. This attitude is based on
the belief that occultism is an idle and vain form of mental activity,
and cannot, with any reason, be expected to add anything to the stock
of human knowledge or to produce results of service to mankind. _Cui
bono?_ Why waste time in tomfoolery that can never be useful and may
possibly lead feeble persons into the abyss of insanity?
The defect of the attitude is that it is unscientific. The proudest
claim of Science is that she deals with the Facts of the universe
and gives her allegiance to Truth rather than to Opinion. But these
features are the characteristics of every well-conducted sitting for
the development of psychical manifestations. The search is for facts;
and the object pursued is the attainment of truth. If, then, a leader
of science denounce the sitting as being necessarily futile he does one
of two things: either he disallows the proudest claim of Science; or he
declares the limits of his own personal knowledge to be those of Fact
and Truth.
It has often happened that researches which appeared at the outset
to be a mere waste of time have in the end been found productive of
much practical and useful knowledge. The modern inquiries into the
feasibility of speaking with the dead are a case in point. They have
already brought the world of Science and Industry face to face with the
possibility and near prospect of a command over Matter and Physical
Force such as men have never hitherto enjoyed and such as must lead
inevitably to the greatest advance of material prosperity that mankind
has ever experienced. This may best be made clear by dealing with some
concrete example.
The lessons of the Great War, the utterances of expert authorities like
Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, and the newspapers generally, have taught the
public that the navigation of the air will be the great and dominating
factor of the world’s progress in future. This need not be enlarged
upon here. Everyone admits that the command of the air will solve the
problem of intercourse between all the regions of the globe, and will
bring in its train a vast improvement in all the arts of living and a
greatly-widened distribution of natural wealth.
Now the whole question of aerial navigation hinges absolutely and
completely on that of gravitation. The great desideratum is a
weightless (_i.e._, weightless in effect) aeroplane (with, of course,
a virtually weightless crew, virtually weightless passengers, and a
virtually weightless cargo) which can move fast or slowly as required,
which can come to a stop in the air and which cannot fall. Science
and industry are now within measurable distance of such virtually
weightless aircraft, thanks to the investigators who have not been
deterred by obloquy and ostracism from speaking with the dead.
It is usually assumed in scientific circles that gravity is an
unsolved mystery and is entirely beyond the scope of human control in
the present state of knowledge. The assumption is well founded if by
“knowledge” is meant merely that which is possessed by living human
beings and derived solely from normal sources. But if there be, in
reality, certain intelligences other than ordinary men and women,
they may possibly be better informed with regard to the facts of the
universe; and if intelligent communication be feasible as between the
better informed personalities and their cousins in this life, it is
conceivable that some of the latter may thus acquire information which
would otherwise be unattainable. This has actually happened with regard
to gravitation. Sir William Crookes more than forty years ago entered
into communication with supernormal intelligences and carried out
certain laboratory experiments that showed the control and modification
of gravity to lie within the compass of human ability when guided by
the intelligences in question. And many more experiences of a similar
or of an analogous kind are on record. The facts are well established
and cannot be successfully denied or explained away.
More recent researches have led to some elucidation of the knowledge at
which discarnate spirits have arrived with regard to gravitation. They
hold that human science is crippled needlessly by its non-recognition
of Motion as being in itself an entity distinct from Mass. They hold
that Matter is just as much a compound of Mass and Motion as common
salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine. They contend further that
gravitation is due to the fact that Motion, like heat, may, where
human observation is concerned, exist in either a latent or a sensible
form; and they assert the practicability of adding to or subtracting
from the quantity of Motion in any given bulk of Matter. In proof of
the truth of this assertion they point to the phenomena of what is, by
psychical enquirers, called “levitation”--phenomena which have been
observed and recorded over and over again and may be seen by any person
who takes the trouble to attend even an ordinary table-sitting. And
they occasionally rally the human personalities with whom they are
communicating upon the dullness of apprehension which has hitherto
stood in the way of a broad induction from the myriad everyday facts
of weight, coiled springs, drawn bows, artificial jumping frogs,
jacks-in-boxes, closely touching billiard-balls in a row, projectiles
at the moment of terminating their upward flight, cricket-balls at the
moment of meeting the stroke of the bat, and all other examples of
latent and sensible Motion.
These views entertained by spirits who have been spoken to on the
subject have of late been borne out very markedly by Dr. Crawford’s
experiments, referred to in Chapter I of the present book. Dr. Crawford
himself seems to be regarding his tests from the point of view of Mass
alone and to be thinking that he is on the track of a new kind of
Matter; but his results fit in still better with the long-established
facts of levitation and with the new doctrine of Motion that is fast
being accepted in Progressive Circles. It is difficult to believe that
a living woman can be deprived of a considerable portion of her Mass
without sustaining serious physiological injury. It is also difficult
to believe that the removed Mass when laid on the floor or on the
drawing-board can be invisible. But there is not any difficulty at
all in supposing Motion to have been removed from the medium, the
chair, the drawing-board and the platform, without any change of either
visibility or appearance in any of the entities concerned. When water
at 70° Fahr. is cooled down to 50° Fahr. it loses a something we call
heat, but the human eye cannot detect any difference in the liquid.
When a bowled cricket ball is arrested by the bat it loses a something
we call sensible motion, but its outward appearance remains unvaried.
We need not therefore expect a human body or a chair to look otherwise
than as usual simply because it loses some or all of its latent Motion.
That the knowledge here discussed may be applied practically and that
material substances may thus be rendered weightless and so removed from
the influence of gravitation is not a mere theory. It is an actual
fact: levitation occurs. What now remains to be done is to harness
the acquired knowledge and experience into the service of aerial
navigation. Certain Progressive Circles are at work. Whether success
will be achieved first by Dr. Crawford in his Goligher laboratory, or
by Mr. Edison in his “spook factory” where the workmen agree to become
recluses for a period of many months, or by the capable director of
the still more mysterious establishments in Florence where many a
medium has been passed under review during the last two years, or by,
haply, some other investigator of whom the present writer has not yet
heard, is a matter that must for the time being be allowed to rest on
the knees of the gods. What has already been accomplished in public and
the remarkable advances now taking place privately are a sufficient
answer to the question _Cui bono?_ Speaking with the dead is a practice
that is proving of benefit to England and the world at large.
SCIENS.
HOW TO SPEAK WITH THE DEAD
CHAPTER I
DO THE DEAD STILL LIVE?
If survival after what is called “death” be not a fact, the idea of
communication with the dead becomes nonsensical. The first question,
therefore, that has to be asked in any consideration of the subject
is--Do the Dead still live? This enquiry may be addressed both to
Religion and to Science; and in both cases it will be found that an
affirmative reply is given.
So far as Religion is concerned the case is simple enough. It is a
matter of common knowledge that nearly all the inhabitants of the
world, including a great majority of its scientific men, accept and
profess some form of religion. It is also a matter of common knowledge
that all religions teach the doctrine of survival; that is to say,
they teach that in every individual human being there exists a soul
which becomes separated from the body at death and continues to live
on in some form of existence while the body decays. The belief,
accordingly, of the great majority of mankind is now, and always has
been in historical times, that the answer “Yes” must be given to the
question--Do the Dead still live?
This is a hard fact that cannot be glossed over or explained away.
Where a belief is practically universal reasonable men may well infer
that it is not altogether unfounded. Such an inference, however,
falls a good deal short of actual proof; and when Religion is asked
to supply such proof the response, though satisfactory enough to
religious believers, is not acceptable from a scientific point of view.
The Bible, for example, and the sacred books of religions other than
the Jewish and Christian faiths, contain an abundance of testimony to
show that life after death is a reality; and history in general, both
ecclesiastical and secular, narrates many occurrences of such survival.
The body of evidence thus available is equal in quantity and quality to
that which is commonly accepted as sufficient to establish historical
facts in general or cases in the law-courts in particular.
But Science asks for something more than human testimony and records.
It turns from fallible men to infallible Nature. The only truths which
it will accept as proven are those revealed by the senses, by physical
observations and by actual experience. It demands also that every
truth thus established shall be capable of confirmation by repeated
experimental tests. What, therefore, has to be considered in this
chapter is whether survival after death is admitted by Science to be
one of Nature’s truths.
Such an admission has already been made by many of the foremost leaders
of Science in both past and present times. Sir Isaac Newton, Faraday,
Wallace, Crookes, Lodge, Barrett and other Fellows of the Royal Society
were, or are, survivalists. Their judgment of the case is not to be
lightly regarded; and by many reasonable men it is looked upon as
conclusive. It is, however, assumed that the readers of these pages
will not be content to have the matter settled by mere authority, even
of the highest degree of eminence; and as scientific men still exist
who declare in lectures, speeches and books that the doctrine of
survival is a mistaken one, it becomes necessary to make the case clear
by an appeal to fully recognised facts that no one, whether survivalist
or non-survivalist, can dispute.
The first of these facts is that Science admits the existence of
living individual personalities. When a man is made a Fellow of the
Royal Society, or when a President of the British Association for the
Advancement of Science is elected, the choice falls upon more than a
mere bulk of matter combined with a certain amount of force and energy.
Added to these there is a something characterised by knowledge, memory,
consciousness, will, conscience, morality, a perception of good and
evil, a capability of love and hatred, and all the other qualities
that go to the making up of what people mean when they speak of a
“soul.” If “non-survivalists” prefer to use some other word, well and
good. Disputes about names are a mere beating of the air. What is of
moment is that all parties are agreed as to the real existence of the
something to which reference has here been made.
The second fact is that Science admits the “soul” and body of a human
being to be distinct and separate entities, even though they may
be closely associated. This is not so clearly obvious as the first
fact; and some--though not many--scientists may feel disposed to
challenge the accuracy of the assertion. It is necessary, therefore, to
substantiate it in a detailed fashion.
It is a matter of common knowledge that if a man’s body be deprived of
an arm, a leg, an eye, etc., the “soul” is not affected thereby in any
essential way. Our hair may be shaved off, our nails cut, our teeth
extracted, and our “souls” are none the worse for the operations. A
lung may be put out of action by tuberculosis and the “soul” lives on
unaffected. A human being may be “apparently drowned” or may become
entranced. His breathing may cease, his very heart may stop beating.
The ordinary bodily mechanism by means of which the “soul” makes its
presence known may cease to be operative, and--as actually happens
now and again--the individual may be so “dead” in the judgment of
physicians that he or she is laid out for burial, aye, and is sometimes
buried in real earnest, while all the time the soul is as full of life
as ever it was. Every person of education is aware that these are
matters of frequent observation and experience. They cannot be denied.
They are not consistent with the idea of the existence of the “soul”
being limited by the existence of the body.
The case may be put even more strongly. In war it often happens that
a man is shot through the arm in such a way that a part of a nerve
controlling the muscles of certain fingers is destroyed. The fingers
thereupon become paralysed; but when a surgeon fills up the gap in the
nerve by inserting a piece of nerve taken freshly from a slaughtered
calf the brain finds itself once more able to send its messages to
the muscles, and the man finds he can move his fingers. Absolute
proof thus exists that the brain and the fingers are distinct and
separate entities; and it would be utterly unscientific to infer that
the observed paralysis indicates necessarily any disappearance of, or
change in, the brain. What really occurs is merely that the brain is
deprived, for the time being, of one of the tools it is in the habit of
using for the purpose of exercising its authority over the body.
Consider, too, what takes place when a man has a “stroke,” as it is
termed--an apoplectic fit, the breaking of a small blood-vessel in
the brain. The exuded blood forms a clot which presses upon some of
the brain-cells and interferes with the normality of their action. In
some cases the cells affected are those that influence the organs of
speech. The man becomes dumb or cannot pronounce correctly. He has the
will to speak in his ordinary manner and he makes desperate efforts to
do so. These remain unavailing until the blood-clot becomes absorbed
and ceases to interfere with the brain-cells; and then the man’s will
is once more able to exert its authority over the latter, which, in
their turn, are once more able to organise and send forward the desired
impulses to the tongue, lips, etc. Absolute proof thus exists that the
will and the brain are distinct and separate entities; and it would
be utterly unscientific to infer that the observed pressure on, and
paralysis of, the brain-cells indicates any disappearance of, or change
in, the will.
But the will is comprised in the something that is commonly called
the “soul.” We see, then, that the existence of the soul and body as
distinct and separate entities is admitted by Science and demonstrated
by the everyday experience of mankind.
It is desirable, however, to add a word or two respecting a phrase and
an idea correlated thereto which have long exercised a mischievous
influence in psychics and psychology. The phrase is that “thought may
possibly be a secretion of the brain.” The idea is that although body
and mind (or soul) are separate entities neither of them can exist
separately from the other.
To speak of thought as a secretion of the brain is to misuse the word
“secretion” and to render it meaningless, in which case the famous
phrase becomes nonsensical. A secretion is a material substance
organised from, and by, some other, parent, material substance. It
belongs to the domain of physics and can be expressed in terms of
statics and dynamics. Nothing of all this is possible with regard to
thought, which belongs to the domain of metaphysics and is immaterial.
To speak of something immaterial being organised from something
material is an abuse of language, and reduces discussion to an idle
jangle of articulate sounds.
There is not anything similarly nonsensical in the idea of body and
soul being interdependent entities. The question is one of simple fact
and observation. It is a matter of common knowledge that human bodies
continue to exist long after their separation from the something that
is called “soul.” This continued existence may even be unaccompanied
(as in the case of mummies) by ordinary decay, and in some cases may
involve a prolongation of partial vitality, such as, for instance, the
well-known phenomenon of the growth of hair and nails after “death.”
But that the soul has ceased to be united as before with the body is,
in all cases, a matter of certainty. Hence the idea now being discussed
obviously requires amendment. It is not permissible to say that body
is perpetually dependent upon soul. And the question remains whether
it is permissible to say that the existence of an individual soul is
dependent upon its remaining attached to the body it accompanied during
life.
This leads to the third of the facts to be considered--the fact,
namely, that Science admits the possibility of “souls” continuing
to exist when detached from the bodies with which they are usually
associated. The word “detached” does not mean necessarily separation
by any considerable interval of space, or the complete absence of
every means of communication. A man who speaks and a man who hears
are spoken of as being detached from each other notwithstanding that
they are connected together by a sound-conveying atmosphere. Bricks
stacked in a pile are detached separate entities even though, in
popular language, they are said to be “touching” one another. So, in
the case of a paralysed man, the affected portion of his brain is no
longer under the control of his will, and to that extent there is a
severance of his body from his soul; while in cases of complete trance
the detachment in question extends to the entire material organism, and
also to the entire psychical entity. The soul becomes, for the time
being, wholly separated from the body, which no longer is actuated
by consciousness, sensation, memory, thought or volition. All that
serves to distinguish the state of things from “death” is the absence
of bodily decomposition, together with one or two other physical
peculiarities, such as the response of the muscles to electrical
excitement and the ophthalmoscopic appearances of the fundus oculi.
Yet, when the trance comes to an end, the normal intimate association
of soul and body is resumed, and both soul and body are found to be
unchanged.
Now, this is a matter of common knowledge among educated persons and
has often been made a subject of scientific observation. It proves,
clearly enough, that souls can exist independently of material
bodies; and the proof will not be disputed by any man of science who
is concerned to speak of things as they are, and who uses words in
their ordinary plain meaning and not for the purpose of dialectical
subtleties.
Trance, however, is not the only form of separate soul-existence that
comes within the range of human experience. A very much more common
occurrence is that of sleep. Here the scientist will hesitate a little
before making any admission. The view now taken by Science of sleep is
that the phenomenon is “a natural condition of insensibility, more or
less complete, recurring normally (for the adult) with each night,”
and further, that “the cause of sleep is undetermined, but is supposed
to depend upon the production of sedative agents during our waking
activities which ultimately clog the higher functions of the brain.” It
is also held that “in natural deep sleep all the higher brain-centres
are more or less out of action, together with the senses of sight,
touch, taste, smell and hearing, though in varying degrees.” And, with
regard to dreaming, the explanation given is that “the gradual passing
of the higher nerve-centres--_i.e._ the highest centres of the cerebral
matter--from normal to subnormal activity, or rest, removes from the
lower centres a certain inhibition, and these respond more readily both
to external stimuli and to altered internal stimuli or tension of the
blood-vessels. Accompanying this functional dissolution of the higher
centres there is, in varying degrees, dissociation of consciousness
or obstructed association.... The result of such dissociation is
interference with judgment, resulting in false perception, illusion,
hallucination and perpetually altering variations of these.”
What is meant by the phrase “dissociation of consciousness”? It cannot
very well signify anything other than that consciousness during sleep
becomes detached from the brain, sometimes to a partial extent and
sometimes completely. This is the same thing as saying that soul is
found by universal experience to exist, time and again, in a state of
independence. To that extent the scientific view is well-founded and
acceptable. When, however, dreams are stated to be nothing more than
mere physical states of the lower brain-centres a doubt creeps in.
Dreams are not material. They are intangible thoughts and belong to the
domain of consciousness. Where the “removal of a certain inhibition
from the lower centres” comes in is by way of explaining that owing to
temporary physical conditions attending sleep, various brain-cells are
out of gear, as it were, and work irregularly--the case being analogous
to that of the man who is dumb or speaks badly owing to a blood-clot
in his brain. But at the back of the fantastic or imperfect appearance
are the consciousness and other elements of the soul marshalled in
regular co-ordination. It is more probable, therefore, that dreams are
distortions of realities perceived by the soul than that they originate
in disordered cerebral matter.
We see, then, that Science is faced by, and admits, three fundamental
facts, namely--
1. The existence, in this world, of human souls as well as human
bodies.
2. The existence of such souls and bodies as separate entities.
3. The possibility of souls continuing to exist when separated from
human bodies.
What has next to be considered is whether such separate existence is
limited to the case of temporary detachment during the life of the
body, or whether it is also possible when the separation is brought
about by “death.”
Reasoning by analogy may not be tantamount to direct proof; but it is,
none the less, cogent. When we reflect that the loss of an arm, a leg,
etc., is really the happening of death to the missing parts of the body
and yet that the soul is not thereby affected we are entitled to infer
that the loss of the rest of the body will leave the soul unscathed.
And when we add the reflection that in cases of trance, apparent
drowning, deep sleep, etc., the whole body is detached from the soul--a
separation that occasionally lasts many days or weeks--the inference is
greatly strengthened. Everyone knows, moreover, that in many instances
of natural death the soul remains in vigorous existence right up to the
moment of dissolution; and where death occurs from external causes,
as in warfare, both body and soul maintain their full normality until
the stroke of Fate has been dealt. Why, then, should it be assumed
that the soul ceases suddenly to exist? The body is seen to continue,
and, as regards its matter, to be imperishable. The soul is not seen;
but as it never had been seen, though known to exist, during life, no
reason can be assigned for expecting it to be visible at death. Not
even the flimsiest foundation can be discovered for the doctrine of
non-survival, which is merely the arbitrary assertion of a most patent
improbability. It is, therefore, unscientific in the highest degree.
In addition, however, to this analogical argument, which most
scientific men regard as conclusive, there exists a solid basis of
scientifically observed facts demonstrating very clearly the survival
of souls after death. The facts, it is true, are psychical rather
than physical; but this does not impair their validity. Modern men
of science are beginning to regard matter, force and energy as less
important in the scheme of the universe than are the entities that
cannot be expressed in dynamical terms; and the biologists are
fast conceding priority to will and conscious purpose over the
hitherto accepted supreme authority of Evolutionary Life. Still, the
observations above alluded to are in part of a physical character and
have been made within the sacred precincts of scientific laboratories.
Dealing first with the latter, it suffices, by way of example, to
mention the researches conducted by Mr. W. J. Crawford, D.Sc., a
gentleman who is Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering in the Belfast
Municipal Technical Institute, Extra-Mural Lecturer in Mechanical
Engineering in the Queen’s University of Belfast, etc. It is a matter
of common knowledge in scientific circles, and to a large extent in
popular circles as well, that he has, with respect to the “survival”
question, carried out a series of experiments and tests under the most
rigid conditions for ensuring accuracy of observation and correctness
of results--experiments and tests that have been witnessed by competent
persons and carefully recorded in a manner to which no valid exception
can be taken. In the ordinary way of scientific work the conclusions
arrived at by such a trained and eminently well-qualified observer
would be assented to by the scientific world as a matter of course;
and such assent should not be withheld merely because the field of
investigation lay outside the beaten tracks of Science.
Dr. Crawford’s observations and experiments are of quite recent date.
They have impressed greatly the scientific world. They are regarded as
proving the existence of the “invisible intelligent beings” mentioned
by Sir William Crookes in 1874, and as also proving that these beings
are encountered and communicated with here in this world. But the
knowledge of the work done by Dr. Crawford is not yet very widely
spread, and it is quite possible that many scientific men as well as
a good portion of the public at large are still unacquainted with its
character and the results attained. It may be well, therefore, to cite
an illustrative instance of one of the methods employed. This is done
in the scientist’s own words:--
“A drawing-board was placed on the platform of a weighing-machine
and a chair was placed on the top of the board. The medium (Miss
Goligher) sat on the chair, with her feet resting on the board.
“_Experiment 1._--I said to the operators [_i.e._ to the spirits],
‘You say the levitating cantilever contains matter from the body of
the medium. I want you to take out from her body the matter you use
in the construction of the cantilever you employ to levitate this
table (weight 12¼ lbs.) and to place this matter loosely on the
floor--not to build up the cantilever but simply to place the matter
required for it on the floor. Give three raps when you have done
this.’
“The medium’s weight began to decrease and in a few seconds became
fairly steady. Then I heard the three raps, signifying that the
operation was complete.
RESULT:
Weight of medium + chair +
board, before the experiment 9 st. 12½ lbs.
Fairly steady weight of medium
+ chair + board, after the raps
were given 8 st. 10½ lbs.
Decrease in weight of medium 0 st. 16 lbs.
“It is noteworthy that when I carried out the same test about
eighteen months previously, I obtained the same result within a pound
or two. (See ‘Reality of Psychic Phenomena,’ Experiment 63, p. 142.)
“_Experiment 2._--I asked the operators to put the matter they
said they abstracted in Experiment 1, not on the floor but on the
drawing-board under the medium’s chair (the drawing-board was resting
on the platform of the weighing-machine). They gave three raps when
the operation was complete.
RESULT:
“The medium’s weight showed no difference from her normal of 9 st.
12½ lbs.
“This, of course, is as it should be, as any actual matter taken from
her body and placed on the drawing-board would still be accounted for
by the weighing-machine, provided that such matter was acted upon by
gravity in the normal way.”
Here, as is obvious, was a laboratory experiment of the simplest nature
and not open to any doubt or cavil. It was a mere weighing operation
to determine whether any loss of weight took place in the material
objects on the platform of the machine. The medium, as a person, did
not enter into the problem at all. It was not a question of her good
faith any more than it was the question of the good faith of the chair
or the drawing-board. Nor was it the case of a phenomenon occurring in
darkness or under conditions that rendered close observation difficult;
while, as for Dr. Crawford himself, it will not be contended that he
was incompetent to read the indications of the machine or to report
them correctly. Yet his spoken instructions to something invisible
and intangible were followed by results that indicated intelligent
hearing and careful obedience. To deny that this was strict scientific
proof of the presence in Dr. Crawford’s laboratory of some kind of
consciousness, perception and will--_i.e._ of some “soul”--that was
separate and distinct from any soul in normal association with a human
body would be to speak as perversely as though one were to deny that
two and two make four.
So much for the physical category of the observations that have been
made in the scientific world respecting survival after death. We can
now turn to the psychical category.
The investigations in this direction have been carried on for so many
years and by so many observers, both scientific and lay, that a vast
mass of material has accumulated in the shape of evidence which, for
the greater part, is in favour of an affirmative answer being given
to the question--Do the Dead still live? None of the evidence is, in
fact, suggestive of a negative reply; but some is not of a trustworthy
character, while in other cases the requisite corroboration is lacking.
This is a trap for the unwary of both schools of thought--the
sceptical and the credulous. The former are struck by instances of
fraud, deceit and ignorant gullibility; and they neglect to consider
and weigh what is brought forward of a serious and genuine character.
The latter are carried away by their emotions and wishes, and prefer
the sensational rubbish to the calm and balanced testimony of honest
and careful observers.
A typical collection of the evidence here referred to--good, bad and
indifferent--is to be found in the pages of “Raymond,” the recently
published book written by Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S. The author, who
has for very many years been an eminent investigator of psychical
phenomena, in addition to having attained the highest rank in the
scientific world in respect of his electrical and other work, was
afflicted by the loss of a son, Raymond, in the Great War, and, in
accordance with what he considered to be possible, he endeavoured to
open up communication with the discarnate spirit of the deceased young
man. He describes his experiments and their result in the book he has
written. He does not hesitate to reject much of what he observed as
being “nonsense,” and a good deal more he describes as “unverifiable”
and doubtful. But he also brings forward an abundance of what he terms
“evidential matter,” which he deems to be genuine and convincing--a
conclusion fully accepted by serious readers who are not swayed by
prejudice. He makes many references to what has been done by other
investigators, and he expresses himself on the general question as
follows:--
“However it be accomplished, and whatever reception the present-day
scientific world may give to the assertion, there are many now who
know, _by first-hand experience_, that communication is possible
across the boundary--if there is a boundary--between the world
apprehended by our few animal-derived senses and the larger existence
concerning which our knowledge is still more limited. Communication
is not easy, but it occurs.... The more recent development of an
elaborate scheme of cross-correspondence entered upon since the
death of specially experienced and critical investigators of the
Society for Psychical Research, who were familiar with all these
difficulties, and who have taken strong and most ingenious means
to overcome them, has made the proof, already very strong, now
almost crucial.... The chief thing that the episode establishes, to
my mind, and a thing that was worth establishing, is the genuine
character of the simple domestic sittings, _without a medium_,
which are occasionally held by the family circle at Mariemont. For
it is through these chiefly that Raymond remains as much a member
of the family group as ever.... In the old days, if I sat with a
medium, I was never told of any serious imaginary bereavement which
had befallen myself--beyond the natural and inevitable losses from
an older generation which fall to the lot of every son of man. But
now if I, or any member of my family, goes anonymously to a genuine
medium, giving not the slightest normal clue, my son is quickly to
the fore and continues his clear and convincing series of evidences;
sometimes giving testimony of a critically selected kind, sometimes
contenting himself with friendly family chaff and reminiscences,
but always acting in a manner consistent with his personality and
memories and varying moods.... In every way he has shown himself
anxious to give convincing evidence. Moreover, he wants me to speak
out; and I shall. I am as convinced of continued existence, on the
other side of death, as I am of existence here.”
These personal utterances represent much more than the opinion of
a single individual. They are in effect a summary of what has been
established by the laborious investigations of many hundreds of
educated and capable enquirers--including highly-honoured leaders
of science--during the last half-century. The Society of Psychical
Research, for example--mentioned by Sir Oliver Lodge--comprises, and
has comprised, many of the foremost scientists and philosophical
thinkers of England, America, France, Italy and other countries. It
entered upon the investigation and study of psychical phenomena from a
strictly scientific point of view, without any tendency to be guided
by religious teachings and desirous of stamping out the influence of
so-called Spiritualism upon public credulity. Its work was conducted
with the utmost care and caution in every detail. Its Reports from
year to year were welcomed as sound and trustworthy text-books in a
little-known region of science. They are collections of demonstrated
facts rather than the presentation of inferences and speculative views.
So when it is found that the foremost psychologists and psychical
investigators work in harmony with the results attained by the
Society for Psychical Research, and that the conclusions announced by
authorities like Sir Oliver Lodge are largely based upon such results,
the case for the acceptance of these conclusions becomes very strong
indeed.
It has now been proved beyond all possibility of reasonable refutation
that both Religion and Science answer “Yes” when they are asked the
question--Do the Dead still live?
There is an allied question which should not be altogether ignored.
Euclid sometimes proves a proposition by showing that its denial
necessarily involves an absurdity. In like manner we may ask whether
the denial of the proposition that souls live on after death drives us
into a position that the common sense and conscience of mankind know to
be untenable.
If this life be the whole measure of the existence of a soul, if birth
mean its beginning and death its end, the something that is called
“soul” is seen to be merely a temporary evanescent affection of the
matter that constitutes the body. But it is an abuse of language to
speak of matter as being either morally good or morally bad. Even if
it be admitted that matter can live and be endowed with consciousness
and volition, there would still be a manifest absurdity in attributing
to it a knowledge of good and evil. It follows, therefore, that any
person who is a thorough-going materialist is logically debarred from
speaking of goodness, benevolence, honour, integrity, charity, truth,
piety, patriotism, profligacy, fraud, crime or wickedness. The masses
of matter to which he gives the name “human beings” are non-moral just
as much as his table or his boots. He talks nonsense when he praises
them for acting in a manner which he calls “right,” or when he blames
them for acting in a manner which he calls “wrong.” Nor is the case
bettered by conceding that “good conduct” may be beneficial and “bad
conduct” harmful to the mass of matter in action, and may therefore, in
an analogical way, be described as meriting commendation and reproof
respectively. The mass of matter will know well enough that success,
prosperity and worldly enjoyment are attained much more frequently
by bad men than by the righteous, and he will laugh at the idea of a
satisfied conscience being preferred to a satisfied body. He will know
that when death comes the good will not be any better off than the
bad--they will both be annihilated--and he will also know that during
life the bad are much better off than the good. Does this doctrine
commend itself to any sane man? Does any leader of science exist who
will say deliberately that he repudiates the doctrine of right and
wrong? If he will not say this he must not say that souls are merely
appurtenances of bodies and cease to exist after death.
CHAPTER II
SOUL AND LIFE
The phrase that the dead still live does not mean the same thing as
when it is said that a human body lives. In the former case the word
“live” merely means “exist”; in the latter the word “lives” connotes,
together with the idea of existence, a particular concrete form of
living which is differentiated markedly from “living” in the abstract.
This distinction is frequently overlooked, and as the oversight
leads to much confusion of thought and lies at the root of much of
the opposition that is here and there offered to the doctrine of
“survival,” it seems well to devote a few pages to its discussion.
The “life” that is found in human bodies and throughout the organic
world is impersonal. It is material, or, rather, physical, in the sense
that it has not any existence apart from the organic matter of which
it constitutes an affection or attribute. The case is analogous to
that of gravitation. According to the accepted Newtonian philosophy
every particle of matter in the universe attracts, and is attracted by,
every other particle: it gravitates: it is ponderable. But there is no
such thing as gravitation _per se_, though there may be an entity that
causes gravitation. It is convenient, for the purposes of language and
the orderly expression of thought, to speak of it separately, just as
colour, temperature, illumination, form, structure and other affections
are referred to; the understanding, however, being always that they are
not in themselves entities and are not characterised by anything in the
nature of self-existence.
Science does not at present hold that life is an attribute of all
matter. Minerals and other forms of what is called inorganic matter are
considered to be devoid of life, and the same destitution is asserted
with respect to “dead,” “inanimate” organic matter. Life is met with
only in “living,” “animate” organic matter; just as crystallisation
is found only in “crystalline” and not in “amorphous” matter; and--to
pursue the simile--it may be pointed out that the same matter which
is crystalline under some conditions becomes amorphous under others,
as in the case of carbon, which is sometimes diamond and sometimes
charcoal. In like manner living matter may change into dead matter--a
change which is called “death”; and dead matter may change into living
matter, as, for example, when food is assimilated by animals and
vegetables.
The true nature of the “life” met with in living organic matter is
not yet understood. Modern science has shown, indisputably, that the
doctrine of the conservation of energy applies without modification
to living beings just as much as to inanimate substances. The
idea of there being any specific “vital force,” “vital material”
or “vital energy” has long ago been abandoned. All the particular
phenomena observed by morphologists, physiologists, embryologists,
palæontologists and ætiologists--_i.e._ by the whole world of
biologists--can be satisfactorily explained in terms of chemistry,
physical force, energy and dynamics. But biology cannot as yet give an
equally clear account of the co-ordinated vitality of anything that
lives. It cannot even state the how and why of the simplest unicellular
organism. “We are forced,” says a leading authority, “to the conclusion
that a living organism is a particular synthesis of matter and energy,
the secret of whose organisation remains hidden.”
We know, however, that life displays the same kind of uniformity
that characterises heat, light, motion and other imponderables. The
something that appears as the temperature of boiling water is similar
in all respects to the something that appears as the equal temperature
of hot oil and can be interchanged therewith. Indeed, the fundamental
Theory of Exchanges upon which a great part of thermodynamics is based
depends for its validity on the absence of any distinction between
the heats of various masses of matter. The only variation of heat
is that of degree: the kind is always the same; heat never becomes
individualised. This is seen by everyday observation to be equally
true of life, and is frequently demonstrated by specific experiment.
Grafting, for example, whether it consist in the union of a scion of
one tree with the stock of another, or whether it take the form of
transferring a piece of John Smith’s skin to a flayed part of Robert
Green’s arm, is the migration of a vitality that remains unchanged in
spite of the change of environment and that intermingles harmoniously
and homogeneously with the vitality of its new abode. Neither the
individualities of the two trees nor the personalities of the two men
appear in, or accompany, their stocks of “life” any more than they are
to be found in their stocks of heat or weight. The various stocks may
be more or less abundant in quantity, but they do not differ in kind.
We know also that life is capable of indefinite increase by
reproduction, provided only that the means of sustenance be available.
A single pair of rabbits, for instance, if allowed to breed unchecked
and not killed off, will, in a comparatively short time, become
represented by two millions of similar animals. This means, of course,
that the quantity of “life” corresponding to two rabbits has been
augmented a million-fold. The increase has not been derived from the
food consumed, the total amount of which is accounted for by the
bodies and excreta of the conies. A similar phenomenon is observable
throughout the whole sum of living beings, whether human, “animal”
or vegetable. It distinguishes “life” very effectually from matter
and energy, both of which are, by the doctrine of conservation, as
incapable of increase as of decrease. The only hypothesis that appears
possible by way of explanation is to hold that “life” is one of the
protean modes of energy in the same way that heat is understood (by
those persons who are content to accept the Baconian, and modern
scientific view) to be a mode of motion. This hypothesis, however, does
not rest on any secure foundation. The only energy that is known to be
practically available for transmutation into life is heat (light and
electricity seem to be negligible); and reproduction, which often takes
place on a very large scale, has never been observed to involve the
absorption and disappearance of heat.
Again, we know by observation and experiment that the function of
“life” is to organise matter; that is to say, to arrange material
particles into differentiated groups and aggregates marked by varying
complexities of composition suitable for certain specific actions.
It is sometimes contended that this systematic co-ordination and
apparent display of purpose is to be found also in the inanimate world.
The phenomenon of crystallisation, for example, is here and there
regarded as an instance of life. It is attended by growth. It exhibits
both differentiation and integration, becoming on the one hand more
complex and on the other more unified. Lost parts are seen to be
regenerated. Some degree of adjustment to surroundings is noticeable;
and reproduction may even be said to occur to some extent. But when
the crystal is formed it does not differ, either in substance or in
function, from the raw material out of which it has been constructed.
It remains inert and destitute of any approach to vitality. It may be
destroyed by crushing, fusion, solution: it never “dies.” To speak of
it as being a living creature is, therefore, inept.
If, however, great importance be still attached to the occasional
regenerations and reproductions observed in the case of inanimate
matter, it should be borne in mind that these differ very greatly
from the corresponding phenomena where life is concerned. The repairs
effected by chemical affinity and other non-vital influences are
limited to restoration and replacement without alteration of structure
or change of adaptation; and where reproduction takes place it is
limited to repetition. Very different results are met with when Life is
in control. Take any “horny-handed son of toil.” The skin of his hands
when he was a child and until he began to work was soft and tender. It
became injured by friction, pressure and the like. It needed repair;
and then Life, instead of renewing the softness, gradually developed
a condition of toughness and callosity which served as a safeguard
against further injury. Such facts as these--and a vast number are
known to Science--conclusively establish the essential difference that
exists between living matter and matter that is not invested with
vitality.
Then, too, we know that Life is not characterised by consciousness.
This is clearly evident in the cases of seeds and eggs which are most
assuredly composed of living matter. But it is also just as obvious
in fully matured human beings if careful consideration be given to
all the facts involved. A man’s bones, for example, are endowed with
life; but no one suggests or contends that they are characterised by
consciousness. The same thing is true of his hair, his nails, his
flesh, his blood. His eyes and ears and other organs of sense are
mere receiving and transmitting apparatus, and are not in themselves
conscious. Hence by far the greater part of the life that enters into
the composition of a living human being is devoid of consciousness. And
when the brain is taken into account the situation is not changed.
Cerebral matter is, like the sensory mechanism, a mere piece of
apparatus, a gramophone, as it were, which, in a certain sense of the
words, may be said to hear and to speak, but which has not any inner
consciousness of what goes on.
This view, which no man of science will contest, and which is a tenet
of modern natural philosophy, is established by the everyday experience
of every man. Not only does he know that his bones, hair, blood, etc.,
are not conscious entities, though they are full of life; he also knows
that he remains as alive as ever during his sleep, which is frequently
dreamless and free from all indications of consciousness. He knows that
chloroform and other anæsthetics are constantly employed on thousands
of occasions with resulting insensibility and unconsciousness, but
with no difference in the life that animates the bodies of the persons
operated upon. He knows that a man may be stunned by a severe blow on
the head and may become, for the time being, bereft of consciousness
while still retaining his full vitality. The truth of the matter, in
fact, is so plain as not to be open to any serious discussion, even
though, as is the case with every doctrine under the sun, it may in
appearance be argued about in words and phrases that are ingeniously
diverted from their normal meanings.
It is furthermore to be borne in mind that Life has not any conscience
and is utterly non-moral From a strictly scientific point of view this
is not a matter of any consequence; for Science is concerned merely
with existence _quâ_ existence and disregards the whole subject of
ethical good and evil. Scientific men, however, have consciences and
the knowledge of right and wrong, and are able, whenever they may
feel so disposed, to judge of Life from the moral point of view. They
see, for example, that the vitality of a living human being is just
as active, efficient and exquisitely adaptative in the development
of a painful disease as in the production of enjoyable health. They
see that the fatal microbe is fostered and sent on its murderous way
rejoicing, just as much as the phagocytes (the “blood scavengers”)
and other defensive organisms are in like manner protected and caused
to multiply. The cow is made to yield milk, while the cobra is
equally aided to prepare a store of deadly poison. The bee is set to
the beneficent work of honey-making; and the mosquito is granted a
letter-of-marque for the dissemination of malaria. Everywhere in nature
the same blindness to moral considerations and the same absence of
ethical purpose are met with in the activities of Life.
The question of how Life originates should also receive attention.
Modern science rejects the idea of its being derived from inanimate
matter or from any combination of matter with physical force or energy.
The experiments of the late Dr. H. Charlton Bastian, F.R.S., and others
with respect to the demonstration of “spontaneous generation” are held
to be invalidated by various sources of error; and the almost unanimous
verdict of the scientific world is that every occurrence of life
proceeds from some antecedent, parent, life. This doctrine involves
naturally the referring back of the entire amount of life now existing
in the world to a long line of ancestry. And as Science teaches
furthermore that a time did once exist when the world was altogether
inorganic and inanimate, there emerges the problem of when and how
Life made its first appearance on this mundane sphere. This problem
is, as yet, insoluble; and, _faute de mieux_, certain scientists as,
for example, Helmholz, Tyndall and Lord Kelvin have found themselves
reduced to the necessity of suggesting that possibly the first specimen
of life on the earth was introduced in the form of some organism
borne hither by a meteorite. But such a suggestion does not solve the
problem of Life; it merely throws back the solution by yet another
stage. And in the meantime the remarks already made in the present
chapter with regard to the capacity of indefinite increase displayed
by Life are emphasised and confirmed in a prodigious degree. It is
surely a most marvellous thing that the whole vast volume of existing
life should be the product of some minute primordial quantity without
there ever having been added any growth-material from the outside. This
difficulty was felt by Dr. Bastian and his fellow-experimenters; and
even the stoutest upholders of Harvey’s doctrine, _omne vivum ex ovo_,
as, for instance, Huxley, Haeckel, Nageli, Pflüger and Ray Lankester
have not hesitated to admit the possibility of protoplasm having been
synthetically derived from inanimate matter at some early period of
the earth’s history, when physical conditions were very different from
those of the present time and when so many things were “in the making.”
Some scientists, indeed, hold that heterogenesis may even now be
taking place in localities or under circumstances that are shielded
from observation; and others, basing their judgment upon the triumphs
of modern chemistry in the synthesis of sugar, indigo, alizarine,
urea and other organic substances, think it probable that men may yet
succeed in putting together a combination of matter that shall exhibit
vitality as one of its attributes. The bearing of all this upon the
problems dealt with in the present volume consists, of course, in the
support given to the essentially physical and non-psychical nature of
Life.
If a comparison be now made between what has here been stated with
regard to Life and what was stated in Chapter I with regard to Soul, we
shall find ourselves in presence of certain marked contrasts as follows:
LIFE SOUL
1. Is impersonal. It has 1. Is personal. Individual
not any individualities or souls exist as separate entities
idiosyncrasies. and each has its own distinguishing
character.
2. Is homogeneous. It is 2. Is heterogeneous. Souls
divisible into separate portions are distinct from each other
only in the same sense and do not coalesce.
that the same is true of heat,
light, electricity, and other
forms of physical energy.
These various parcels coalesce
when brought into contact
with each other and form
a whole that is uniform without
any differentiation.
3. Is the organiser of matter 3. Is the employer of the
and the controlling influence organs formed by Life.
morphology, physiology,
embryology, palæontology and
ætiology of the organisms
produced.
4. Is non-conscious, 4. Is conscious, perceptive,
non-sensory and incapable of sensitive, emotional, intelligent,
thought or memory. thinking, and mnemonic.
5. Is non-moral. It is 5. Is characterised by volition,
conscienceless without any accompanied by a full
knowledge of good and evil. understanding of good and
Its functions are performed evil. It is capable of acting
mechanically without any regard rightly and wrongly and of
to what results may ensue. appreciating the results of
its actions.
6. Is capable of indefinite 6. Is incapable of reproduction.
increase by reproduction. It Each individual soul
may possibly be originated by is a self-contained, self-sufficing,
a particular grouping of self-continuing entity
material atoms in combination that has not originated from
with particular physical any other soul or from any
forces and under particular matter of physical force.
physical conditions.
These contrasts necessitate a duality of signification of the word
“death.” When the death of an organic being is spoken of, the phrase
implies that the matter of which it is composed has lost its attribute
of vitality (an analogous case being the reduction of the temperature
of a body to absolute zero). And where the organic being is a member
of the human race (the question of the souls of animals and vegetables
does not lie within the scope of this book) the phrase also implies
that the soul and body have become separated so completely as to
terminate the employment of the latter by the former.
The very pith of the arguments that are sometimes advanced against
the idea of “survival” is to be found in this double meaning of the
word “death.” When the belief is asserted that “death is the end” and
that there is not any “future life,” the statements are reasonable
and well-founded if regard be had solely to the phenomena of Life and
to the relations of Life with the body. The knight who contended that
the shield was of silver maintained a true enough view; as also did
the knight who advanced from the opposite direction and, having seen
the other side of the suspended buckler, declared it to be of gold.
Death is continued death so far as the question of physical Life is
concerned: it is merely a change of stage in psychical existence.
CHAPTER III
TELEPATHY AND TELE-MNEMONIKY
Science has not yet accepted definitely the existence of telepathy and
can hardly be said to have even begun the study of tele-mnemoniky.
But the idea of these matters is so intermingled with the subjects
of “survivals” and “communications,” and--as regards telepathy at
least--appears so frequently in psychical literature, that it is
desirable for those who contemplate speaking with the dead to become
acquainted with the general nature of the problems and facts involved
therein.
Many people are aware--and, indeed, have themselves tried the
experiment--that mind can influence mind without the intervention
of matter, such as the organs of speech and hearing operating in
a sound-conveying atmosphere. A common phenomenon is the mental
impression of a person being present who has approached without being
seen or heard. A somewhat less frequent, but still sufficiently
familiar, instance of the same order of things is to be found in the
fact that persons who are looked at intently (even behind their backs)
often become uneasy and turn to meet the gaze. So, also, it is found
that cases occur of persons suddenly, and without any apparent cause,
finding themselves thinking earnestly of certain other persons and
learning subsequently that those other persons were at, or a little
before, the time of the impression thinking of the persons impressed.
Facts such as these--which are positive and undisputed--have led to
experimental tests, conducted scientifically, for the purpose of
determining whether it is possible, at will, to establish intelligent
communications between transmitters and percipients who are at a
distance from each other; and the name “telepathy” has been given
to the kind of intercourse in question. The work has been conducted
chiefly by the Society for Psychical Research, whose Reports on the
subject have become classics. Telepathy is recognised in so far as
it is a grouping of observed facts; but it has not hitherto advanced
beyond the status of a “working hypothesis,” which, however, still
awaits precise formulation. Thus, Sir Oliver Lodge, F.R.S., in his
“Raymond,” first published in November, 1916, says--
“The fact of telepathy proves that bodily organs are not absolutely
essential to communication of ideas. Mind turns out to be able to
act directly on mind, and stimulate it into response by other than
material means. Thought does not belong to the material region,
although it is able to exert an influence on that region through
mechanism provided by vitality. Yet the means whereby it accomplishes
the feat are essentially unknown, and the fact that such interaction
is possible would be strange and surprising if we were not too much
accustomed to it. It is reasonable to suppose that the mind can be
more at home, and more directly and more exuberantly active, when
the need for such interaction between psychical and physical--or let
us more safely and specifically say between mental and material--no
longer exists, when the restraining influence of brain and nerve
mechanism is removed, and when some of the limitations connected with
bodily location in space are ended.
“Experience must be our guide. To shut the door on actual observation
and experiment in this particular region, because of preconceived
ideas and obstinate prejudice, is an attitude common enough, even
among scientific men; but it is an attitude markedly unscientific.
Certain people have decided that inquiry into the activities of
discarnate mind is futile; some few consider it impious; many,
perhaps wisely distrusting their own powers, shrink from entering on
such an inquiry. But if there are any facts to be ascertained, it
must be the duty of some volunteers to ascertain them: and for people
having any acquaintance with scientific history to shut their eyes
to facts when definitely announced, and to forbid investigation or
report concerning them on pain of ostracism,--is to imitate a byegone
theological attitude in a spirit of unintended flattery--a flattery
which from every point of view is eccentric; and likewise to display
an extraordinary lack of humour.”
It must, however, be added that, a little further on in the same book,
Sir Oliver speaks somewhat less positively. He says--
“Matter is an indirect medium of communication between mind and mind.
That direct telepathic intercourse should be able to occur between
mind and mind, without all this intermediate physical mechanism, is
therefore not really surprising. _It has to be proved, no doubt_,
but the fact is intrinsically less puzzling than many of those other
facts to which we have grown hardened by usage.”
This account of telepathy is vague, and a similar vagueness also
characterises the utterances of other authorities on the same subject.
But no good reason exists why the matter should not be dealt with in a
manner very much more clear and precise.
We should consider, in the first place, that the word “mind” really
means “soul,” and is used merely for the sake of convenience as
concentrating attention upon the soul’s faculty of intelligence apart
from its sentient, emotional, volitional and ethical attributes.
Accordingly, when a telepathist speaks of mind communicating directly
with mind, it is the same thing as saying that soul communicates
directly with soul; and this, in its turn, implies the corollary that,
whether spirits be incarnate or discarnate, the idea of telepathic
intercourse is admissible.
In the next place, it is to be borne in mind that, as shown in Chapter
I of this book, every soul has always some definite location in space.
Nothing certain is known as to whether the shape and volume of a soul
correspond exactly in form and size with those of the human body that
is associated with the soul during life on earth. It is sometimes
thought, in a speculative way, that the soul extends beyond the
confines of the body, which thus becomes invested with an “aura,”
as it is termed, and can come into contact with other souls even
when the respective bodies are more or less apart in space; but no
facts have been observed that give serious support to this view. The
probabilities, indeed, are in favour of the something--which may or may
not be akin to ordinary physical matter--that constitutes a soul having
a volume approximating to the space occupied by its earthly body.
A third fundamental consideration is that the actual experiences
of every day consist in a large measure of the most astounding
instances of communication between widely separated bodies--or bulks
of matter--and souls. The sun is distant some 93,000,000 miles from
the earth, and yet it can impart sensations of illumination and
warmth to a soul on the earth’s surface, to say nothing of more
subtle influences conveyed by what are known as “dark rays.” The fact
is indisputable, but it is not yet clearly understood. Physicists
have felt themselves compelled to form the hypothesis of an “Ether”
pervading interstellar space and serving as a medium or vehicle for the
passage of radiant energy from place to place. This Ether has to be
conceived of as possessing a nature and attributes quite as wonderful
and incomprehensible as anything narrated in the “Arabian Nights” or
set forth in the Church doctrine of the Holy Trinity. It is understood
to be the means by which the marvels of wireless telegraphy become
possible, by which glances are exchanged between human eyes, by which
newspapers are read, and by which an artillery observer at the front
becomes aware whether the gunners are or are not hitting their mark.
Yet there is not any certainty that the particular Ether imagined by
modern science exists at all. For anything that is known and proved
the medium of communication may in the end turn out to be something
quite different. When, therefore, telepathy is spoken of, no scientific
man is entitled to reject the idea merely because it involves the
existence of some as yet unknown means of interaction. If the fact of
telepathy be established he must accept it, even though it may be as
yet inexplicable. The knowledge possessed by Science from time to time
does not set limits to the realities of the universe.
A soul that formulates a thought is obviously not in quite the same
state as was the case before the occurrence of the thought; and if
there be in existence some kind of space-filling “X,” corresponding to
the imagined “Ether,” it is conceivable that this change of state may
affect or disturb the X in a way analogous to the supposed affecting
of the Ether by a change of temperature in a heat-emitting substance.
In like manner if some other soul located elsewhere be in contact
with the X, it is conceivable that the disturbance of the latter may
cause such other soul to experience a corresponding change of state
and thus to become impressed with, as it were, a facsimile of the
original thought. The myriad complexities of the supposed changes of
state and disturbances involved in the communication of a train of
thought need not be regarded as an insuperable difficulty. Let anyone
study what takes place in the course of a telephonic message. A disk of
sheet-iron is caused to vibrate by the air-shaking human voice: these
vibrations cause corresponding fluctuations in the electric current
flowing through the wire uniting the transmitter with the receiver; and
the varying current sets up varying magnetic impulses which cause the
receiving disk of sheet-iron to vibrate in a manner exactly similar to
what happened in the case of the transmitting disk, so that the air
impinging on the listening ear is shaken in the same way as the air
affected by the original speaker’s voice. It all seems simple enough
until the character of the “vibrations” and “fluctuations” is looked
into. They are so varied, complex and multitudinous as to defy analysis
or even comprehension. The human mind desists from the attempt to
really understand them. But telephony remains an acknowledged fact;
and its existence lends a high degree of probability to the reality of
telepathy.
The term “thought-reading” is often employed to indicate telepathic
communication, and is very convenient by reason of its association
with what is understood by the common action of perusal. In so-called
“spiritualistic sittings” a medium sometimes mentions a name or
a circumstance known only to the sitter; and this is frequently
considered to be a complete proof of information derived by the medium
from some spirit. But it may just as well be a case of thought-reading.
The sitter’s soul, thinking of the name or circumstance, disturbs the
X accordingly. The medium’s soul, which is in contact with the X, is
affected by the disturbance and becomes conscious of the name or
circumstance. In simpler, less cumbrous language, the medium reads the
sitter’s thoughts.
It is not, however, merely a question of “mediums.” Telepathy is
important throughout the whole range of communication with the
spirit-world. Whenever and wherever a soul--whether still invested
with a human body or discarnate--is thinking, it is affecting the X
and thereby rendering it possible for other souls to be impressed
with the thoughts. For the most part the phenomena are of so faint a
character and the minds to be communicated with so “untuned” that the
incipient telepathy remains unnoticed and disregarded; but occasionally
it commands attention. This view of the case is borne out by ample
evidence. Second-sight, dreams, presentiments, “inspiration,” and such
mental impulses as are commonly considered inexplicable are undoubted
facts that fall within the scope of telepathy. In saying this it is
not asserted that the phenomena in question are always real. They are
frequently delusions due to an overwrought nervous system, to cerebral
disorder or to emotional disturbance; but in other cases they are as
actual and genuine as the common occurrences of human life.
Turning, now, to tele-mnemoniky, or “memory-reading,” it is to be
remarked that although everyone is familiar with the fact that memory
exists, and though everyone quite understands the signification of
the word, no one as yet has succeeded in giving even a rudimentary
explanation of the faculty of remembrance. The most eminent
psychologists have found the matter to be quite beyond the limits of
their understanding; as indeed is essentially the case with every
faculty of the soul, and--it may be added--with every attribute of
matter. The old saying remains as true as ever: “A child can ask
questions which a wise man cannot answer.”
For practical purposes, however, partial knowledge suffices. Thus the
existence of memory as a faculty of the soul is known, and it is also
known that this implies the possession by each soul of a store of
information. Whatever may be the nature of the storehouse, the doors
can be opened and the information set free or rendered subject to
inspection. It is conceivable, therefore, that a soul other than the
memory-owner may under certain unknown conditions have access to the
store.
This is what is meant by tele-mnemoniky--the state of things that
exists when not only current thoughts but also the accumulated
knowledge resulting from past experience and observation are read
by some outside soul. And as every memory contains much that is
“pigeon-holed” and out of use for the time being, a very notable
result is occasionally met with. Information is elicited as to facts
and circumstances of which the person subjected to tele-mnemoniky is
no longer conscious; and he, or she, becomes firmly and genuinely
convinced that the particulars mentioned must have been derived from
some supernormal source.
A word remains to be said regarding the speed of communication in
telepathy and tele-mnemoniky. Many persons hesitate to credit the
reports of experiments showing that two persons at a considerable
distance from each other--located, say, in London and Manchester
respectively--are able to exchange thoughts without any appreciable
delay. When, however, it is remembered that the velocity with which
light travels is 186,000 miles per second, there should not be any
difficulty in supposing that thought-vibrations, or whatever they may
be, are propagated through space at an equal or even greater rate of
speed. It is not a question, in either case, of any substance being
transmitted, or of the absolute simultaneity of emission and reception.
And to believe that thoughts may be communicated from soul to soul with
the velocity of light does not compel the belief that souls are able to
travel from place to place in an equally speedy manner.
CHAPTER IV
DISCARNATE SPIRITS
The existence of discarnate spirits has been proved in Chapter I. It is
desirable now to state what is known as to the conditions in which they
exist.
These conditions have been for thousands of years the subject-matter
of positive statements. The sacred writings and inscriptions, and the
traditions of the various religions that have flourished in olden times
or are still professed are full of descriptions of the religions in
which discarnate spirits pass their time and of the manner of their
lives in the spirit-world. Magicians, wizards, witches and necromancers
of all kinds have, it is said, received copious information to the same
effect. And during the last seventy years Spiritualistic literature has
added abundantly to the common stock.
In spite, however, of all this, great uncertainty prevails. The
statements to which reference has been made are, in well-nigh all
cases, of what is called an “unverifiable” character; that is to say,
they are not capable of test and confirmation by any mundane methods of
enquiry. But although an unverifiable assertion is incapable of normal
proof it may still be capable of disproof. If, for example, it be
self-contradictory it must, of course, be rejected. And if two separate
unverifiable statements contradict each other it is obvious that they
cannot both be true: one of them, at least, must be false, while the
other remains doubtful. Furthermore, if an unverifiable piece of
information be opposed to some clearly-established fact or well-proved
doctrine no reasonable person will regard it as worthy of credence.
This book is not concerned with the question of whether the accounts
of miracles and other supernormal details in the Bible are or are
not to be believed. The purely religious view of the matter need not
be dwelt upon. Nor will it be of any practical utility to take into
consideration the history of magic and the doings of magicians as
distinguished in the popular idea from religion and its ministers.
What is alone needful to be mentioned is the evidence that has been
more or less scientifically accumulated in modern times in connection
with psychical phenomena and with communications understood to have
taken place across the border-line between living humanity and the
spirit-world. Much of this evidence is, as has already been said,
unverifiable, and a good deal of it can be disproved. But there remains
a very substantial residuum that demands recognition and acceptance by
men of education who are free from prejudice and willing to be guided
by reason; and this is the trustworthy source of a certain degree of
precise knowledge with regard to the conditions of life beyond death.
The most striking fact that thus comes under observation is the
readiness with which communication can be opened up with discarnate
spirits by persons who are naturally capable of recognising their
presence. It happens frequently that in less than a minute after the
commencement of a “sitting” indications are given of one or more
spirits being in attendance; and it is very rarely indeed that any
sitting remains altogether blank. If, then, we reflect that since
“Spiritualism” has become a cult sittings have taken place, and are
still taking place, day by day, week in and week out, and from year’s
end to year’s end, we are forced to regard this world as being still
the habitat of many a discarnate spirit. The conclusion thus arrived
at is confirmed by the less systematic phenomena of dreams, phantoms,
haunting, “possession,” second-sight, clairvoyance, automatic speech
and writing, the spontaneous movements of material objects and other
like occurrences; merely, however, to the extent of their being really
due to the denizens of the spirit-world, which is acknowledged to be
the case in many instances.
The certainty thus arising that great numbers of spirits do not leave
the earth when they become separated from the human bodies they have
inhabited suggests a doubt as to whether any spirits at all go to some
other sphere. The evidence available does not remove the doubt. It is
true that discarnate spirits sometimes volunteer statements with regard
to another world, and sometimes in reply to questions give particulars
as to their residence in such a region. But this information is of the
unverifiable kind, is often “nonsense,” as Sir Oliver Lodge has said,
and is frequently demonstrably false; while it is always discredited by
the fact that the spirit who claims to be a resident in a far-distant
sphere of being is nevertheless self-admittedly present in a London
room or wherever else the sitting may take place. The contradiction
is never explained away in any reasonable manner. It may be said,
therefore, to be highly probable that death merely opens the way to a
further term of existence in this world, and that the spirits of the
departed remain for the period of such term in the more or less near
neighbourhood of the relatives and friends they have left behind them.
The idea of such post-mortem existence being also limited in time
arises naturally, and is to be reasonably inferred, from the evidence
now being considered. Although discarnate spirits are very numerous,
their number, so far as they manifest themselves, is altogether
insignificant when compared with that of the deaths that occur from
day to day; while if we take into account the consideration that the
entire soul-population of the earth becomes discarnate from generation
to generation, that is to say, every thirty years or so, we are faced
by the fact that living persons are but as a drop in the ocean of
possible individual existences. We have also to bear in mind that each
of these existences is separate from the rest, and does not originate
either from nothing or from inanimate matter or from inanimate energy,
as may possibly be the case with Life. If, then, souls when disembodied
remain perpetually in this world, it follows, first, that there must
be a continual supply of fresh souls coming in from some other region
of the universe; and, secondly, that of all these millions of millions
of active intelligences only one, here and there, is able or willing
to make its presence known to mankind. These conclusions are of so
extravagant a character as to be unacceptable; and if it be possible to
frame an hypothesis that avoids the difficulties they involve, it would
be a reasonable proceeding to adopt such an alternative view.
Psychical philosophy has in all ages been furnished with at least
one “working hypothesis” of the kind required. Its scientific name
is “metempsychosis,” which in more popular language is known as
“transmigration.” It teaches that after death the spirit enters into
some other human body which happens to be living and unprovided with a
soul; and the doctrine is frequently extended to include the idea that
the new habitat may even be the body of one of the lower animals. Many
of the most famous thinkers of Greece and the Orient were associated
with the belief in question. It is to be found in the Bible and other
sacred writings, and forms a part of the religions of many races
throughout the world. It cannot, therefore, be lightly disregarded as
a mere fantasy unworthy of consideration by civilised people in the
twentieth century.
As a matter of fact, the theory of transmigration fits in with modern
observations. It does away with the necessity of a perpetual supply of
fresh souls from extra-mundane regions. It also is consistent with,
and explains, the absence of any vast overwhelming spirit-population.
Moreover, it is the logical concomitant of our common, everyday
experience. We are familiar with the occurrence of what we call
“births,” that is, the coming into existence of new human bodies. We
know also that these new bodies become, in some way or other, the
temporary abodes of souls--the tenancy being sometimes a matter of
minutes only and sometimes enduring for rather more than one hundred
years. We see for ourselves that the habitation suits the tenant and
that the tenant suits the habitation. What, then, can be more natural
and fitting than that, when the tenant, for some reason or another,
has to quit his dwelling, he looks out for another abode of much the
same kind? So far from this course of action being fantastic and
improbable, it is pre-eminently likely. The play of mere imagination
is to be found altogether with those mental speculators who talk of
the supposed departure of discarnate spirits to supposed spheres of
existence beyond the earth.
It is quite conceivable, and probable enough, that some little time
elapses between “death” and “reincarnation.” Hence it is to be expected
that there is always a greater or less number of discarnate spirits
dwelling temporarily, and a little disconsolately, perhaps, in the
air-occupied space surrounding the earth; and this expectation is
borne out by actual observation. It is to be surmised, furthermore,
that spirits awaiting re-embodiment will feel themselves more at
home, as it were, if they remain in the immediate proximity of the
localities they inhabited and the persons they knew before “death.”
Here, again, we find the surmise to accord with experience. Some places
are undoubtedly “haunted”; and it is equally certain that some persons
are haunted also; for it would otherwise be impossible to account
reasonably for the well-known fact that sitters at _séances_ habitually
open up communications with their deceased relatives and friends
who have always been perfect strangers to the mediums with whom the
sittings take place. The spirits are not brought by the mediums; they
are introduced by the sitters themselves, who are quite unconscious
of being thus accompanied or “haunted.” To deny this is equivalent to
maintaining the absurdity that every real medium is _en rapport_ with
all the deceased relatives and friends of every living human being. The
soul of a medium is not endowed with powers vastly greater than those
of ordinary souls; any more than a discarnate spirit is able to know
and do very much beyond what he was aware of or could accomplish during
life. If either mediums or spirits were capable of really marvellous
achievements we may be sure that now and again some daring soul would
contrive to startle mankind; and as no such feat has been recorded
through the ages (“miracles,” religious and otherwise, are not here
referred to), it is a fair inference that our deceased friends are not
vastly different from, or, at any rate, are not vastly superior to,
what they were when we knew them here.
Coming now to the question of the form in which discarnate
spirits exist, all the available evidence of a verifiable or
logically-acceptable character goes to show that in the spirit-world
there are not any differences of type corresponding to what are found
among human beings. Spirits are not white, black, brown, yellow and
red; they are not Anglo-Saxon, Teutonic, Scandinavian, Gaelic, Arab,
negro, Mongolian or Polynesian. If the contrary were the case it would,
by this time, have become apparent. Something of this lack of evidence
may perhaps be due to the fact that modern psychical research has for
the most part been conducted by English and American investigators,
while most of the communications with spirits have involved the use of
the English language and have been recorded in that tongue. Hence it is
to be supposed that the spirits who have taken part in the proceedings
have been only those possessing a knowledge of English; yet, even in
that case, souls of many earthly races might have been expected to
come forward. And as the same argument applies to the less numerous
instances of psychical investigations by French, Italian, Spanish,
German, Swedish, Russian, etc., students of the occult, the conclusion
is inevitable that spirits are not divided into racial categories even
though they may differ in what may be termed bodily characteristics and
developments.
That spirits have organised bodies is clear. The “stuff” of which their
bodies are made is, however, not ordinary matter. We already know by
Dr. Crawford’s experiments--mentioned in Chapter I of this book--that
a something exists which gravitates and yet is invisible to our eyes.
We also know, by common psychical experience, that spirits are able to
see, hear, speak and touch, and can by us be seen, heard, spoken to and
touched. If these facts be co-ordinated they do not leave any room for
doubt as to there being spiritual equivalents of human bodies equipped
with organs of sense and perception. It does not follow necessarily
that these equivalents are counter-parts or facsimiles in form and
appearance, even if in many of their functions they are practically
indistinguishable from their human prototypes. Racial peculiarities
are admittedly absent, as also is Life with its physiological
requirements. Spirits are free from wear and tear, from the need of
food, clothing and shelter, and from the maintenance of health. They
are not divided by sex differences and they are not characterised by
any form of reproduction: they have neither ancestry nor posterity.
These various features lend force to the theory of transmigration.
They show the possibility of an ordinary human body being permeated,
so to say, by a spirit’s body which can enter or leave at any time and
which always maintains its separate existence. Here, again, there are
facts of common knowledge and experience that support the doctrine of
metempsychosis. Most persons are, now and then, conscious of memories
or reminiscent impressions that cannot be traced to any events of the
present life. It occasionally happens that when a person first visits
some particular locality he finds himself in surroundings with which
his mind is already familiar. The only reasonable explanation is that
the soul remembers somewhat of its experiences in a previous earthly
life.
Another line of thought leading in the same direction is that suggested
by the marked and well-known phenomena of mental heredity. Family
peculiarities of mind and character are commonly supposed to be
transmitted from parents to children in the form of material germs
which are imagined, but have never been proved, to exist. And yet in
many cases--as also happens with physical peculiarities--an intervening
generation is skipped, and it is the mental characteristic of a
grandparent or great-grandparent that reappears in the descendant. It
would, therefore, seem more reasonable to infer that the true cause
of heredity is to be found in the preference manifested by discarnate
spirits for reincarnation in the direct posterity of the human bodies
they have at one time or another inhabited. Nor is it a far-fetched
supposition to hold that, in the spirit-world, as in this life, souls
of similar characters associate together and, to whatever extent may
be possible, seek to be reincarnated in the same earthly families:
a supposition that accounts for more than one child of a family
presenting what are considered to be the hereditary characteristics.
It should not, however, be concluded that soul and body are without
reaction on each other. We know, as a fact, that mental habits
and emotional indulgences gradually affect a person’s features
and disturb the functioning of various organs. We also know that
bodily peculiarities warp the mind and influence the thoughts. The
phrenological mapping of the brain has some foundation in reality; and
probably there does not exist a single person of mature age who is not
to some extent a physiognomist. Intelligent capacity, sensitiveness and
moral character do, most undoubtedly, depend a good deal upon the size,
form and texture of the brain. In other words, a soul when in the body
is fettered and guided and is not fully able to reveal its true self.
From this it follows that when a soul becomes separated from the body
it cannot logically be expected to have exactly the same character that
it apparently possessed in life. Psychical experience in spiritualistic
sittings and otherwise is to this effect. It is customary, indeed, for
sitters to say--and, emotionally, to believe--that the spirits of their
deceased relatives and friends behave and speak exactly as they used to
do in life; but this is not quite borne out by the recorded evidence.
It is customary also, where the discrepancies are of too glaring
a nature to be glozed over or hushed up, to put them down to the
interference of mischievous spirits who personate the spirits called
for; but this is a very lame method of explanation. The best plan in
all cases of difficulty is to face boldly the facts. A disembodied
spirit is less cribbed, cabined and confined than when it was attached
to a living body; it is more free for both good and evil. We are
familiar enough with good, bad and indifferent souls in this world:
why should we expect the same souls to be otherwise simply because of
a change in their environment? All that we can reasonably look for is
a certain degree of revelation, a certain manifestation of what before
was more or less hidden and which may be estimable or the reverse.
A feature that deserves notice as related to this view of the matter is
the consensus of testimony to the effect that communicating spirits,
whether those who are sought for or those who are what may be termed
casual and errant, have habitually a less regard for truth than is
the case with highly-educated human beings; though, if an average be
struck of mankind in general, it does not seem that there is much to
choose between the trustworthiness of statements made by the living
inhabitants of the earth and the truth of what is said by disembodied
spirits. Still, the matter is of some importance, seeing that it bears
very materially upon the question of whether individual spirits are
always the particular disembodied souls they profess to be.
Another feature, equally worthy of attention, is the apparent absence
of spirits who can properly be regarded as diabolical. Sittings for
the purpose of communication with “surviving” souls are not attended
by devils or by beings occupied mainly in the pursuit of evil. It
may, of course, be the case that the published records and the verbal
accounts that are current suppress all mention of occurrences deemed
to be demoniacal, in the same way that, according to Sir Oliver Lodge,
spiritualists “usually either discourage or suppress” statements “about
the nature of things ‘on the other side.’” The eminent authority here
quoted goes on, indeed, to say--
“These are what we call the ‘unverifiable’ communications; for we
cannot bring them to book by subsequent terrestrial inquiry in the
same way as we can test information concerning personal or mundane
affairs. _Information of the higher kind has often been received but
has seldom been published_; and it is difficult to know what value to
put upon it, or how far it is really trustworthy.”
This very frank confession of the reports of _séances_ being
systematically garbled is a little disconcerting, especially when
coming from one of the shining lights of the scientific world; but it
probably means no more than that the champions of spiritualism do not
desire to arouse antagonism that can be avoided. In the same way it may
well be that those persons who, whether as mediums or sitters or in the
privacy of individual attempts at communication, happen to come into
contact with evil spirits do not feel disposed to subject themselves to
the hostility of the religious world by detailing their experiences.
But, however this may be, the fact remains that, so far as common
knowledge and common repute are concerned, the devilish element is not
likely to be encountered by those persons who seek to speak with the
dead.
If, now, the particulars set forth in the present chapter be summarised
we find the state of things to be as follows:--
1. Disembodied souls do not depart from this world when “death”
occurs.
2. They remain for a time free from bodily environment of an ordinary
material kind.
3. Sooner or later they enter into new human bodies, and perhaps,
also, in some cases, into new bodies of the lower animals.
4. During the period of their free existence while awaiting
transmigration, many of them make a practice of haunting localities
and living human beings.
5. They possess in themselves the equivalent of bodies constructed
of something analogous to matter and having organisms by which they
perceive and act.
6. Each disembodied soul is an individual entity existing permanently
apart from all others and not distinguished by any racial or sexual
characteristics.
7. Each individual soul has its own idiosyncrasies of intellect,
sense, emotion, conscience and volition. These idiosyncrasies are
subject to at least temporary modification by the association of the
soul with a human body.
8. The character and conduct of a disembodied soul are not
necessarily the same in all respects as were apparent during
life, and do not necessarily remain completely unchanged when
transmigration takes place.
9. The existence of souls that are wholly evil has not yet been
established by actual observation or experience of any kind.
This summary does not involve any religious views and is not based on
any religious teaching. It is essentially scientific; that is to say,
it puts into plain language the conclusions arrived at by impartial
students of physical and psychical facts and phenomena, irrespective
of whether such conclusions do or do not fit in with ecclesiastical
teaching, popular notions, or “sceptical” dogmatism.
At the same time it is to be observed that the view here taken of
discarnate spirits leaves the ground quite open for Religion. It
is quite consistent with the existence of a Divine Ruler, with the
doctrine of progression in either rightdoing or wrongdoing, and with
an Eternal Justice that inflicts punishment upon souls whose volition
is employed for base purposes. For example, it may well be that in
transmigration the choice does not always rest with the soul concerned,
but is divinely decreed; the new life may be higher or lower than the
preceding life, according to whether the latter was turned to good or
bad account. The number of transmigrations of any particular soul may
be limited; and metempsychosis may thus correspond to the doctrine of
Purgatory--an evolutionary period at the conclusion of which the soul
is transferred to a Heaven or Hell beyond the confines of the earth.
Even the idea of a Holy Ghost that continually appeals to the mind and
will is not excluded from the psychical summary above given; nor is
there therein anything that contradicts the theory of a Christ or a
Buddha. What the truth is with regard to such matters as these must be
determined by each person for himself or herself. The readers of the
present volume are not addressed as Christians or as non-Christians, as
Deists or as Atheists. They are considered merely as being interested
in the subject of speaking with the dead, and as being desirous of
receiving information with regard to the ascertained facts and admitted
logic of the matter.
CHAPTER V
MEDIUMS
Inequality is the rule of the universe. It is particularly observable
in the characters and capacities of human beings. Many persons are
musicians; others are incapable of playing the simplest musical
instrument. A few individuals, here and there, are mathematicians; the
great majority of mankind are not even good arithmeticians. Artists
exist in considerable numbers; but they are sparse compared with the
duller souls. Chess-players are rarities. Really good, unselfish,
high-principled souls, steadfast in the practice of righteousness and
unswayed by prejudice, convention and dogma, are seldom met with.
It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that the possession of minds
and brains capable of being affected by external psychical influences
is not found to be a common characteristic of people in general. In
past ages, magicians, seers, wizards, witches and the like, have
been the exception, not the rule; and in modern times, when these
singularly-constituted beings are called “mediums,” their numbers still
remain very restricted. That real mediums do, in point of fact, exist
to some extent is certain. Thus, Sir Oliver Lodge says, in “Raymond”--
“Do we understand how a mind [= soul] can with difficulty and
imperfectly operate another body submitted to its temporary guidance
and control? No. _Do we know for a fact that it does?_ Aye, that is
the question--a question of evidence. I myself answer the question
affirmatively; not on theoretical grounds--far from that--_but on
a basis of straight forward experience_. Others, if they allow
themselves to take the trouble to get the experience, will come to
the same conclusions.... Let us be as cautious and critical, aye, and
as sceptical as we like, but let us also be patient and persevering
and fair; do not let us start with a preconceived notion of what is
possible and what is impossible in this almost unexplored universe;
let us only be willing to learn and be guided by facts, and not
dogmas: and gradually the truth will permeate our understanding and
make for itself a place in our minds as secure as in any other branch
of observational science.”
He says, moreover, when alluding to speaking with the dead--
“Communication is not easy, _but it occurs_; and humanity has reason
to be grateful to those few individuals who, finding themselves
possessed of the faculty of mediumship, and therefore able to act as
intermediaries, allow themselves to be used for this purpose.”
The nature of the peculiarities--anatomical, physiological or
psychical, or perhaps all three combined--that distinguish a medium
from other human beings is not yet known, and no means of inspection
as yet exist by which to be certain that any particular person is or
is not a medium. Actual experience is the only guide. This, of course,
leaves the door open to the fraudulent assumption of mediumship. But
the occurrence of fraud and imposture does not affect the existence of
genuine mediums. In every profession are to be found similar examples
of deceit. Have not all educated persons heard of “pious frauds”
perpetrated by the holders of high religious office? Are there not
many instances of ignorant, venal and deliberately unjust judges? Do
statesmen and politicians always reject bribes and act solely for
the good of their countries? Does a physician invariably admit his
inability to understand a complaint; and do general practitioners in
every case administer real medicines instead of the proverbial “bread
pills” and “coloured water”? Do manufacturers and traders deal solely
in unadulterated goods? When these questions can be satisfactorily
answered it will be time enough to put the entire profession of mediums
in the pillory; and until then all reasonable men and women will be
content to recognise that in mediumship, as in other pursuits, we must
expect to meet with both the worthy and the unworthy.
What, perhaps, is not yet fully recognised is that mediums are
much more numerous than would appear to be the case if regard be
had solely to the professional class, that is, to the persons who
practise mediumship as a means of livelihood. There are many amateur
“mediums”; and there are also many other individuals who are conscious
of possessing what are spoken of as “psychic powers,” and yet either
do not allow the fact to become known or confine the exercise of their
powers to the development of communications in their own private
surroundings. Hence, if every professional medium without exception
were shown to be a fraud--which is not the case now, and never has
been the case at any time--there would still remain an abundance of
trustworthy experiential and experimental evidence establishing the
reality of speaking with the dead. For instance, the Mrs. Kennedy
who plays such an important part in the story of “Raymond” is not a
professional medium at all; she is the wife of a London physician,
leads the life of an ordinary private English lady moving in good
society, and is not paid for any aid she may render to friends who are
desirous of “communicating.” So, too, the medium, Miss Goligher, who
assists Dr. Crawford is a young lady of private social position, who
gives her services with the approval and aid of her family and without
fee or reward, except, of course, such moral satisfaction as may arise
from the consciousness of being engaged in a work likely to benefit
mankind.
It often happens that mediums are ignorant and illiterate; and
there is not any case on record where a medium, whether educated or
uneducated, has been able to give an intelligible account of the way
in which communications with disembodied souls become possible. As a
general rule real mediums do not claim a greater knowledge of psychical
phenomena than is possessed by the sitters themselves. They are aware
that communications take place, and they find by actual experience that
they themselves serve as intermediaries. Beyond this they do not seek
to enquire; and they refrain from attempting in any way to control the
proceedings. They are passive instruments in the hands of the powers
from “the other side”; much as was the case, we read, with those
persons who gave voice to the oracles of old. In view of these facts
it seems to follow that the common practice of “testing” the mediums
and putting constraint upon them is a mere waste of time and attention.
If they be genuine they are, virtually, mere pieces of mechanism; and
all that can be done usefully is to observe the working. If they be
fraudulent this will quickly enough become self-evident. All that the
sitter need do is to bring a little common sense to bear.
It is a vexed question whether professional mediums are or are
not banded together in a secret craft or guild for the purpose of
collecting and interchanging information with regard to sitters and
their families. The suggestion of such a combination apparently implies
a doubt as to the good faith of mediums in general; but another
interpretation is possible. It must be remembered that old laws are
still in existence which forbid any exploitation of asserted psychical
powers. These laws have produced a long series of “common informers,”
who under various pretences arrange sittings with mediums for the
purpose of entrapping them into breaches of the law, irrespective
of whether the phenomena observed are or are not genuine. It would
therefore be a very natural proceeding for mediums to co-operate for
the object of self-protection. But as regards any attempts to “arrange”
the communications the futility of such proceedings is obvious. Sitters
turn up unexpectedly from all localities. They may or they may not
give their right names and addresses. Where the _séance_ takes place
at once there is not any opportunity of instituting any enquiry. And
it is perfectly clear that a medium in any particular locality cannot
keep in stock a mass of information with regard to private individuals
in the rest of the country. The “sceptic,” or critic, therefore, who
indulges in the belief that communications can be explained away by the
theory that all mediums are dishonest, and have been at every sitting
in previous possession of the information conveyed in the alleged
utterances of the spirits, is very much more credulous than the most
gullible sitter.
Although it is correct to regard the medium as a mechanism by means
of which the spirits are able to communicate with living persons, it
would be a mistake to overlook the fact that the mechanism possesses
an individuality which to some extent qualifies the communications.
Every man knows that his handwriting varies with every change of
pen. Delicate embroidery is not practicable with darning-needles. A
discarnate soul that finds itself compelled to use a medium’s hand
for writing or a medium’s vocal apparatus for speaking has to actuate
these organs by means of the medium’s brain, which may be, so to speak,
either coarse or fine, and in every case is attuned by the experiences
of its normal life. The medium’s habits of thought and expression thus
become intermingled with and sometimes quite override those of the
communicating spirit; and this “sophistication,” as it is termed, leads
frequently to much confusion and many errors of statement. It also
serves to accentuate in appearance the change of character, already
mentioned in these pages, that is often observed in disembodied
spirits when compared with their demeanour during life. Great care is
necessary, therefore, in judging how far communications through mediums
are to be taken at their face values. It is not a question of good
or bad faith. The point involved is whether any, and what, allowance
should be made for the imperfection of the instruments employed.
Many mediums--the great majority, in fact--assert, and are genuinely
convinced, that they work under the control of certain individual
spirits. This has always been claimed in magical circles; and a good
deal of evidence exists to support a belief in the reality of “familiar
spirits.” At the same time it is difficult for unprejudiced observers
to accept the idea of there being any spirits who are content to
dance attendance day and night and year after year upon human beings
of a very ordinary type and undistinguished by any great qualities
of soul. This difficulty is increased when consideration is given to
what is said with respect to the “controls” themselves. They adopt
names that are fantastic and arbitrarily assumed; they never give any
confirmable information as to their identities and abodes when in
life; their professed individualities--little Indian girls, Indian
_yogis_, Indian chiefs, unknown “doctors,” etc.--are constantly in
palpable contradiction with their own utterances and doings; and
they remain in evidence only so long as their respective mediums
continue in professional work. The theory is sometimes advanced that a
“control” is a “second personality” of the medium--a supposition that
meets the difficulties to which allusion has been made. But a “second
personality” is, in effect, a second soul, no matter what attempts may
be made to whittle down its meaning by talk of “sub-consciousness,”
“subliminal individuality” and the like. A person who has a second soul
is a person who is “possessed” by a spirit entering into the body from
the outside and sharing the habitat with its original tenant. It is
not necessary to infer that the brain and other bodily organs are used
simultaneously by the two souls: the trend of the available evidence
is, on the contrary, to show that the normal soul is commonly in sole
control and that it is only occasionally that the supernormal occupant
takes the reins. But the theory in question does undoubtedly compel a
modification of the view usually entertained with regard to mediums.
Not only must they all be looked upon as human beings of exceptional
physical and psychical characteristics, but in the majority of cases
they must be classed in the category of persons who are “possessed.”
Fortunately the “controls” are rarely, if ever, of a completely evil
nature; but there is reason to think that they are occasionally of a
type lower than souls in general. Idiocy and insanity are not always
accompanied by any clearly-defined disease or malformation of the
brain, and in such cases may possibly result from what may be termed
the clumsy intermeddling of two distinct souls--both being of an
inferior order--in the same bodily environment.
The subject here discussed is not a light and negligible matter where
speaking with the dead is concerned. Very many persons find it both
convenient and desirable to employ mediums as intermediaries, and in
almost every instance this means the additional intervention of some
“control.” Here, again, it will be useful to make a quotation from
“Raymond,” the most satisfactory work yet published on “survival” and
“communication,” and a well-filled storehouse of fact and reasoning.
“But however much,” says Sir Oliver Lodge, “can be and has been
written on this subject, and whatever different opinions may be
held, it is universally admitted that the _dramatic semblance_ of
the control is undoubtedly that of a separate person [_i.e._ a soul
distinct from the normal soul of the medium]--a person asserted to
be permanently existing on the other side and to be occupied on that
side in much the same functions as the medium is on this. The duty
of controlling and transmitting messages seems to be laid upon such
a one--it is his special work. The dramatic character of most of the
controls is so vivid and self-consistent, that whatever any given
sitter or experimenter may feel is the probable truth concerning
their real nature, the simplest way is to humour them by taking them
at their face value and treating them as separate and responsible
and real individuals. It is true that in the case of some mediums,
especially when overdone or tired, there are evanescent and absurd
intrusions every now and then, which cannot be seriously regarded.
Those have to be eliminated; and for anyone to treat them as real
people would be ludicrous; but undoubtedly the serious controls show
a character and personality and memory of their own, and they appear
to carry on as continuous an existence as anyone else whom one only
meets occasionally for a conversation.”
There is not anything in this weighty expression of opinion that really
clashes with the “possession” theory, except, indeed, the suggestion
that the controls are persons “permanently existing on the other
side”--a suggestion which is in obvious conflict with the admission
that controls are in constant attendance on mediums in this world. What
Sir Oliver means by “evanescent and absurd intrusions” that “cannot
be seriously regarded” or treated as “real people” is also not clear,
but probably refers to some form of “sophistication” resulting from a
derangement of the transmitting mechanism. In any case the conclusion
remains that the transmission takes place through a combination of
medium-_cum_-control; and this may in great measure explain the
apparent psychical sensitiveness of mediums. That is to say, the reason
why mediums are particularly subject to spiritual influence from the
outside may be due to the fact of their possessing, or being possessed
by, a secondary semi-attached soul which is comparatively free to
perceive and attend to the efforts made by external spirits to open up
communication.
CHAPTER VI
COMMUNICATING
Very many methods have been discovered of communicating with discarnate
spirits; but it is not needful in the present volume to deal with
any system of incantation or “magical” rites. What is proposed is to
describe such practices as have in modern times been found to yield
good results and have become customary.
1. EXPECTANCY
This is suitable where an individual person desires to ascertain
whether he or she is endowed with any psychic powers. By sitting in
some place quite alone and free from interruption, and by adopting
a mental attitude of passive receptivity and expectancy, the soul
becomes ready to perceive and be affected by any spirits that may be
in its vicinity and that may attempt to open up communications. A
Quakers’ meeting--though not a case of solitary individuals--is a good
illustration of the method of expectancy in actual practice. No one is
supposed to speak without being “moved thereto by the Spirit”; and it
is by no means an uncommon event for the meeting to begin, continue
and end without a single word being said--the necessary vocal impulse
being wanting, although various members of the congregation may be
distinctly conscious, in a less definite way, of spiritual presence and
thought-suggestion.
The manifestations in the course of expectancy sittings may vary
from thought-suggestion to positive physical phenomena, such as the
sensation of being touched or gently blown upon, the movement of some
inanimate object, the hearing of a voice or even the visual appearance
of some supernormal object. All depends upon whether the sitter is
or is not susceptible to psychical influence, and also upon whether
the locality or the sitter personally is or is not haunted. This word
“haunted” must not be understood as implying that the sitter--any more
than the locality--is conscious of the proximity of spirits or is in
any way inconvenienced thereby. It merely means that, as explained
in a previous part of this book, discarnate spirits tend to remain
near the places and persons with whom they were familiar during
life--perhaps in the hope of being able to make their presence known.
2. AUTOMATIC WRITING
It is very rarely that the results of “expectancy” go beyond
thought-impression and subsidiary physical manifestations, neither of
which can be regarded as in the nature of practical communications. For
the giving of a message or the carrying-on of a conversation something
more is required. Accordingly, when an enquirer sits alone it is
customary to have at hand a pencil and paper or some apparatus--as,
for example, a planchette--by means of which writing is possible. It
is then frequently found that the sitter’s hand, without any conscious
guidance by the sitter, will manipulate the pencil or the apparatus so
as to produce a “script” on the paper. This is read and may be followed
up by _vivâ voce_ comments and questions, and thus a regular verbal
interview takes place.
Automatic writing does not depend upon solitude. It may take place in
the presence of any number of observers, and is frequently employed by
mediums as being an expeditious method of communication.
3. TRANCE WRITING AND SPEAKING
In cases where the sitter is markedly “psychic” and adopts the method
of Expectancy it frequently happens that normal control over the body
is lost. A condition of trance supervenes, and while this continues
the spirit--which may be either a “second personality” or a soul from
the outside--that has gained the upper hand makes use to a greater or
less extent of the brain and other organs subject to its mastery. The
hand may write: the mouth may speak: the whole body may be engaged in
some impersonation; and all this may take place beyond the scope of the
sitter’s normal consciousness. When the trance is over the sitter is
not able to recall anything that has been written or said or enacted.
The services of some recording observer are therefore necessary if any
practical result is to be obtained.
The trance condition is particularly likely to occur when the sitter,
or one of the sitters, is a genuine “medium,” or, in other words, a
person who either is naturally endowed with special susceptibility
to psychical influences or is the habitat of two souls, normal and
“subliminal” respectively. Accordingly in the majority of _séances_
with professional mediums the communications from discarnate spirits
are received during trance, and take the form of script executed
by the medium’s hand or words spoken by the medium. Frequently,
moreover, the medium is not completely entranced but retains partial
consciousness; the result being that what may be described as a dazed
condition ensues, and the utterances from “the other side” become
mixed with, and qualified by, various halting and imperfect statements
emanating from the medium’s own mind. This is why so many of the
published reports of spiritualistic _séances_ contain what appear to be
merely such erroneous and ignorant remarks as might be expected from
comparatively uneducated persons who have become acquainted with the
tricks of a trade. And as the simulation of a partially-entranced and
semi-conscious state is a very easy matter for persons who have any
dramatic turn, it is often difficult to know how far a communication is
genuine and how far it is inadvertently or designedly sophisticated.
But if the recipients of the communication do not allow themselves to
be swayed by emotion, and bring a little common sense to bear, they
will find in the great majority of cases that the matter can be made
clear enough for all practical purposes.
4. SIGNALLING
Communication need not be confined to writing and speech. It is found
that codes of signals can be arranged with discarnate spirits desirous
of opening up intelligent relations with living persons.
The methods of signalling depend upon the ingenuity and preferences
of the parties concerned. They are not restricted to any particular
proceedings; though it has become customary with the majority of
sitters to make use of “raps” and “table-tilting.” It is also usual
to agree with the spirits that a single rap or tilting movement shall
signify “No,” that three raps or tilts shall mean “Yes,” and that words
shall be conveyed letter by letter, the system adopted being for the
living person to pronounce the letters of the alphabet in their due
order and for the spirit to give a rap or tilt when the right letter is
reached.
It must not, however, be supposed that the employment of a table is
in any way necessary. The method has come into vogue merely because
people assembling together for intercourse with discarnate spirits
have found it convenient to sit round a table. Any idea that spirits
have a predilection for, or an attachment to, a table or any other
article of furniture is a popular delusion and is most assuredly
contrary to common sense. All available evidence goes to show that
spirits find much greater difficulty in operating on matter than on
mind. The setting of any physical mass in motion is a particularly
arduous task; and the work becomes lighter in proportion as the mass
to be moved is smaller and less weighty. To expect a spirit to set a
bulky article like a table in movement is unreasonable; and the fact
that tables are moved by spirits is not an argument to the contrary.
Spirits are sometimes asked how they contrive to do such physical work,
and a conventional reply has become current, namely, that the sitters
“supply magnetism which is gathered in the medium and goes into the
table.” From a scientific point of view this answer is nonsensical.
It is, in all probability, a “sophistication” repeated, wittingly or
unwittingly, by medium after medium. Another explanation which is put
forward occasionally seems to be nearer the mark, _i.e._ that where
heavy articles are moved the work is done by a number of spirits acting
together.
However all this may be, it is clear that those sitters who use
less cumbrous means than tables for signalling are more likely to
be satisfied. And it is also clear that the customary “once for No”
and “three times for Yes” are not imperative. Any other code may be
adopted. Communications are not subject to any arbitrary regulations.
They have all the freedom of ordinary personal intercourse.
5. DIRECT MESSAGES
These have already been mentioned under the heading of Expectancy;
but they are occasionally found to occur in conjunction with other
methods of communicating. A pencil is sometimes seen to be apparently
writing of its own accord on a sheet of paper; no human hand being
near it. Sometimes it is seen to be guided by the simulacrum of a
hand--a phenomenon that takes place more frequently when the sitting
is held in a dimly-lighted locality or even in the dark. In the latter
case the visibility is due to the object seen being self-luminous. The
script produced by such direct writing is, of course, the message to be
received.
In like manner a message is sometimes conveyed by a voice which is
unconnected with any person present at the sitting; and the utterance
may vary from a whisper addressed to some individual ear to a loud
discourse audible by the whole company.
6. MATERIALISATION
This is a development of direct communication. The spirit becomes
either visible or tangible, and sometimes is both. Its form and
appearance are akin to those of a clothed human being; though the
similarity is not in any way complete. The substance of which
such phantasms are composed is as yet unknown to science; but its
perceptibility by normal sight and touch suggests a material character,
without, however, necessitating the idea of solidity any more than
in the case of an evanescent cloud or mist. So, too, the form assumed
must not be regarded as being necessarily the real form of the spirit
in the apparition, the tenuous substance of which is obviously capable
of any desired configuration; while the comparative rarity of the
phenomenon implies that it is only here and there that a spirit is
found possessing the requisite knowledge and artistic capacity for the
work of putting together and shaping such a production.
Some of the materialised beings seem unable to speak or to display
much power of movement. Others can speak and move about with facility.
Others again can handle various objects, such as musical instruments,
books, flowers and the like, and can convey them from place to place.
The manifestations here touched upon are much more frequent in dark
_séances_ than in the light; and even when some degree of illumination
is allowed the usual practice is to provide “cabinets” or screens
under the cover of which the psychical effects are developed. This
naturally gives ample opportunity for trickery to persons who, whether
for money-making or for other motives, pose as mediums without
having any real qualifications for the work; and it is unquestionable
that many instances of sham materialisations have from time to time
taken place. On the other hand, the well-evidenced instances of real
materialisations and of many other analogous kinds of psycho-physical
phenomena are much more numerous. We must consider, moreover, that
a good reason exists for dim light and darkness in connection with
attempts to communicate with discarnate spirits. When the eyes are
active the mind receives continual impressions of numerous objects
and occurrences that engage its attention and render it much less
receptive of occult influences. Hence by minimising or shutting out
the distractions of sight the soul of a sitter becomes very much
more attuned to whatever telepathy may exist in connection with such
external spirits as are present.
With regard to communicating in general the old proverb, “Practice
makes perfect,” holds good. Mediums, it is true, are born, not made;
but, as is the case with all human beings, their powers are at first
immature, and have to be developed by long-continued exercise and more
or less skilled training before the best results become attainable.
Every person who wishes to speak with the dead is--as is also every
other person in the world--at least a potential medium so far as he or
she knows at the outset. If it be found on trial that psychic powers
exist to an appreciable extent it may be taken for granted that they
are capable of very great increase by persevering effort and systematic
employment; and the growth may be such as to lead through the lower
to the higher forms of communicating. If, however, after repeated
experiments it appears that a susceptibility to psychical influences
is lacking or very moderate in degree, or if, for any other reason,
a continuance of personal effort be not desirable, then it becomes
necessary to have recourse to the services of mediums. These latter
may be either amateur or professional; but, whichever they are, their
utility depends upon the stage of development they have reached.
The term “development” as here used means an increased sensitiveness
of the perceptive faculty by which the medium becomes aware of and
influenced by the proximity of discarnate spirits. It means also an
intensified passivity of the normal soul, thus facilitating control by
the secondary mind or by external spirits. And it signifies furthermore
the placing of a larger proportion of the medium’s substance and
physical powers at the disposal of the controlling beings, thereby
enabling these existences to produce manifestations which otherwise
would be impossible. The actual _modus operandi_ of the use by a
control of a medium’s body and vitality is not yet understood; but the
fact of such use has been a matter of observation and experiment in
all ages of which we have any record. Hence the communication with a
discarnate spirit will be fuller, freer and more extended in proportion
to the better adaptation of the intermediate psychical mechanism.
CHAPTER VII
PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR SPEAKING WITH THE DEAD
1.--As a general rule applying to all methods of communicating, every
person who desires to be brought into touch with discarnate spirits
should make a point of being tranquil, unoccupied, serious and
attentive. There are two reasons for this. First, it is obvious that a
mind free from outside cares and distractions is able to concentrate
itself in any desired direction, and can become aware of influences
that would pass unnoticed in the ordinary hurly-burly of life.
Secondly, a soul at rest can be impressed by other souls very much more
readily than when it is busy with activities of its own.
2.--The best method to adopt at the outset is that of Expectancy (see
Chapter VI). The enquirer should sit quite alone in some room free from
interruption--an indoors sitting, by reason of its fewer distractions,
being preferable to a sitting in any out-of-doors locality.
The thoughts need not take any religious turn, and prayer is quite
unnecessary. It is desirable, in fact, to think as little as possible
about anything, except in the event of the presence of some particular
spirit being hoped for. When that is the case the mind may with
advantage be occupied by reminiscences connected with the spirit
in question--a situation being thus created which much facilitates
telepathy and is analogous to the hoisting of a signal calling for
response.
The evening is the most suitable time for an Expectancy sitting,
which is to be held in the light or in semi-obscurity; the bustle and
turmoil of the day having then given place more or less to quietude
and tranquillity. But, if darkness does not inspire fear, a sitting
in a bedroom (or other apartment) during the hours from midnight to,
say, two o’clock in the morning is preferable. Silence is then more
supreme than at any other time, and the majority of the human beings in
the locality are asleep. This accounts for the traditional notion of
“the witching hour,” which is not based, as is supposed erroneously,
on some divine or diabolical limitation of certain hours as the free
time for errant spirits. It refers to the fact that sleep is a kind
of trance during which the hold of the body on the soul is slackened,
thus facilitating the task of any outside spirit who may wish to
communicate; the point in issue being well exemplified by the old
Romans (and others of the ancients), who taught that dreams are the
apparitions of supernormal beings.
Dealing first with the case of a midnight sitting, it should be noted
that absolute darkness is not imperative. The room may be illuminated
in any way that is convenient; but, for reasons already given, the less
light the better. If the nerves of the sitter will bear the strain
the sitting should take place quite in the dark. In that event some
apparatus for signalling by sound should be provided, such as, for
instance, a small key suspended by a thread inside a glass tumbler in
such a manner that a very slight movement is accompanied by a tinkling.
After remaining quiet and expectant for a few minutes the sitter should
speak aloud and ask, “Are there any spirits present?” This requires
a little courage, both physical and moral; the former because of the
darkness, the “witching hour” and the sound of one’s voice in the
stillness; and the latter because one is tempted to regard both the
situation and the question as absurd, and because one does not relish
the idea of possibly making a fool of one’s self. But it is merely a
question of breaking the ice. When once the sitter has spoken aloud the
difficulty of speaking does not recur.
To ask in one’s mind whether there are any spirits present is not as
effective as actual speech. There is a greater psychical concentration
when a thought is focussed, as it were, by spoken words; besides which
there is some reason to believe that spirits--the bodily substance and
organs of whom are analogous to those of living persons--find it easier
to receive impressions by physical sounds than by telepathy.
If no answer be given to the question, this should be repeated with
a request that the spirit or spirits will reply by causing the
suspended key to move in such a manner as to produce three distinct
tinklings--or words to the same general effect in the case of some
other signalling apparatus being employed. If there still be silence,
it may be concluded either that no spirit is present in the room on
that particular occasion, or that no spirit within hearing understands
the English language, or that the prevailing temporary conditions do
not allow of physical effects being produced on inanimate matter, or
that the sitter, by lack of psychic power, is unable to attract the
attention of discarnate spirits.
If a reply be given, it is not a matter of course for it to take the
form requested. Instead of being a tinkling or other specified signal,
it may be a rustling, a rap, a tapping, a scratching, a pattering, a
sigh, a movement of the air or of some object in the room, a sensation
of cold, a sound as of whispering, a faint luminosity, a touch, etc.
Hence the necessity for the sitter to be keenly on the alert and
completely attentive, while at the same time remaining perfectly
tranquil and collected; for some indication of a spirit being present
may be given by the latter spontaneously before any word is spoken.
When once any sign of communication is observed the sitter should
announce the fact and should ask for it to be repeated, and if this
be done a signalling code may thereupon be adopted by agreement and
a conversation may take place accordingly. If, on the other hand,
there be no sign at all during the period of, say, half an hour from
the commencement of the sitting, this latter should terminate and
the enquirer should renew the attempt on some future occasion. No
disappointment need be felt at a negative result, whether at the outset
of the experiments or at any particular sitting. Conditions are not
always favourable, even with the same sitter and in the same room; and
in spite of widely-prevalent ideas and the records of spiritualistic
_séances_, it is quite idle to suppose that disembodied souls do, in
fact, cater for the arbitrary wishes and personal convenience of human
beings. Nothing of the kind can be taken for granted, except, indeed,
that matter-void space has its inhabitants just as much as is the case
with any matter-occupied locality, and that any room in any house is
just as likely to be visited from time to time by discarnate spirits as
by living persons.
Coming now to what may be termed ordinary Expectancy sittings, that
is to say, evening sittings in a lighted or semi-lighted room, the
conditions of visibility admit of more elaborate manifestations than
are possible in darkness. Automatic writing in particular becomes
practicable. Provision should be made for this by placing a pencil
and one or more sheets of paper on a table or desk. And, of course,
signalling apparatus should be furnished of either an audible or a
visible kind. When these matters are attended to the proceedings at the
sitting should follow the course described as suitable for the midnight
_séance_; but, naturally, both eyes and ears should be active in the
detection of signs indicating the presence of spirits. And every now
and then the pencil should be taken in the hand and held close to the
paper in a writing position, the result frequently being that a strong
impulse to write is felt. This should not be resisted. The hand should
be given free play; but, of course, there should not be any conscious
guidance by the sitter. At first the script is, in the majority of
instances, found to be a confused scribble or a meaningless sequence of
words. Later on, if the sitter be patient and persevering, order begins
to take the place of chaos and intelligible messages are obtained;
always supposing that the enquirer is really gifted with an appreciable
degree of psychic power.
Self-deception and the imaginations bred of wishes and emotions are
to be guarded against. This is an additional reason for cultivating
a tranquil habit of mind and a level-headed habit of judgment. It
should be remembered that in solitary Expectancy fraud and trickery are
completely absent, and that all manifestations are matters of the most
simple personal observation, the accuracy of which can be confirmed--as
in an ordinary scientific laboratory--by the test of repetition. For
the friends and acquaintances of the sitter the only evidence available
is the latter’s personal and uncorroborated statements, which from a
scientific point of view are worthless; but for the sitter himself or
herself the very same evidence is in the highest degree conclusive, and
rightly so. The facts are _known_ to have occurred.
* * * * *
3.--The next step after solitary Expectancy has been tried is to
arrange with one’s friends for Expectancy Circles; that is to say, for
groups of persons to meet together at appointed times and in appointed
places for the purpose of joint sittings. There are marked advantages
in proceeding thus.
First, the probabilities of success are multiplied. It is frequently
the case that living individuals, and especially those who have
recently lost some relative or friend by death, are “haunted,” although
they themselves are seldom conscious of the fact. If, then, several
persons are present at a sitting the chances of there being some
spirits near at hand are much increased.
Secondly, there is a greater likelihood of some person being present
who is naturally endowed with mediumistic powers, in which case it
becomes easier for a spirit to enter into communication with the
sitters.
Thirdly, whatever may be the true explanation of the manner in which
manifestations are brought about, it is well known that the more
numerous the sitters the more full and complete are the phenomena.
The theory of the sitters contributing “electricity” and “personal
magnetism” may be very safely rejected as nonsensical; for the very
words employed are not used in their ordinary scientific meaning and no
other signification has ever been propounded. But each person present
does undoubtedly make some contribution to what may be called the
common stock of psychical influence available in the room where the
sitting takes place.
It should be a matter of common understanding and agreement that
the sitters in an Expectancy Circle are all animated by a serious
purpose and have not come together for mere amusement or for the
“fun” of tricking each other. There is no objection to their being
as “sceptical” as they please. A sitter may be of opinion that all
occultism is “tomfoolery” and “piffle.” Opinions do not alter facts.
If psychical phenomena do really occur all the scepticism in the world
is of no moment; and no good evidence has ever been brought forward
to show that spirits are in any way embarrassed by the presence of
doubters and resisters; though it is true enough that passivity on the
part of the sitters favours communication. A sceptic may happen to be
a good medium without being aware of the fact; in which case his or
her mental prejudice will not hinder a spirit from making use of the
psychic power thus brought into the Circle. At the same time practical
joking and the surreptitious imitation of phenomena are quite out of
place. They cannot do any good: they are productive of confusion; and,
seeing that discarnate spirits have not changed their minds at death,
there does not exist any reason for supposing such beings to have
become incapable of taking offence and going away in high dudgeon when
sitters attempt to make fools of them--in which case, of course, the
sitting is a failure.
With regard to the arrangement of the sitters, this is entirely a
matter of convenience. Seats may be provided round a table or scattered
about a room. And not the least attention need be paid to the sitters
joining hands or being otherwise in contact with each other: the
supposed necessity of this being a popular delusion based upon some
vague and erroneous notion of “electricity.”
The use of a table is, however, to be recommended. It is desirable for
each sitter to have a pencil and paper in readiness; for it cannot be
known in advance which particular individuals are capable of automatic
writing; and a table facilitates the manifestation as well as providing
a convenient standing-place for signalling apparatus, etc.
The sitting may, if desired, take place at high noontide and in the
very fullest daylight; though, for reasons already stated, it is better
to sit in the evening and in semi-obscurity. The singing of hymns,
praying and other “religious” features are to be deprecated. They do
not affect the actual phenomena; but their tendency is to produce
a morbid and emotional frame of mind which in its turn facilitates
self-deception and the imaginary perception of happenings that do not
really occur. Conversation also should not be indulged in to any extent
that engrosses the attention of the sitters. By far the best plan is
for the Circle to sit silently, each individual being on the alert to
perceive and announce the slightest indication of anything external.
At the expiration of a few minutes--assuming no manifestation to have
happened--some sitter should ask aloud the question, “Is any spirit
present?” and if no answer be received the question should be repeated,
turn by turn, by all the other sitters. In this way it is often
possible to discover those of the Circle who are natural mediums; a
fact that is also made evident by the ability to write automatically or
by the susceptibility to “impressions,” such as touches, whispers, the
sensation of a cool breeze, tremblings, twitches and, in rare cases,
various forms of clairvoyance, trance and insensibility.
If the first round of questioning produce no result, the silent
sitting should be resumed for another period of a few minutes and
then the question should again be asked. These alternate silences and
questionings should be continued for as long as may be convenient; and
then the Circle may adjourn to some future date. It is not, however,
very usual for a complete blank to be drawn, where several--say half
a dozen or so--persons sit together. Some “sign” or another is pretty
sure to be perceived.
When once a manifestation of any kind takes place it should be
confirmed by asking for it to be repeated; and then a code of
communication can be agreed upon and conversation can proceed. It will
facilitate matters and prevent confusion if each communicating spirit
be requested to declare its identity, and then for the particular
sitter who may recognise the name and personality to conduct the
interview.
The so-called “test” questions and other “evidential” conversations
are, for the most part, a waste of time and the loss of an opportunity
of obtaining useful information. Spirits are, after all, mere ordinary
souls in an environment somewhat different from the human body and its
mundane surroundings. They are as little likely as is any reasonable
man or woman to trouble themselves with personating their fellow-souls
at random. What are they to Hecuba, or Hecuba to them? When a spirit
claims to be some specified disembodied soul the probabilities are
greatly in favour of the claim being true; just as in common life
people are found to be as a rule the persons they assert themselves
to be. That some of the spirits in circumterrestrial space are,
in a sense, vagabonds, without kith, kin or any specific identity
connected with humanity, may well be the case, and is now and then
a matter of observation; but this is not any reason why they should
find any satisfaction in masquerading as Tom, Dick and Harry. There
is probably some amusement to be extracted from personating a great
figure of history, such as Julius Cæsar, Luther, Napoleon, Disraeli
or Gladstone, and inducing both mediums and sitters to accept with
reverence the pompous utterance of ridiculous banalities; and the
history of Spiritualism shows that something of the kind does really
happen now and then. But no evidence exists to show that the average
sitter who seeks to speak with the average deceased relative or friend
is ever duped by any impersonation of the latter. It may not always
be possible to prove the genuineness of the communication to the
satisfaction of an outside scoffer or critic. This, however, is not a
need of the case. The sitter hears and knows for himself or herself
at first-hand. What does it matter if outsiders who have not been
present at the manifestations and merely hear of them at second-hand
choose to evolve from their own inner consciousness the theory that the
spirit interviewed was not the real “sainted Maria,” but was merely
a mischievous “spook” or, more probably, the “fake” of some medium?
The old proverb remains good, “The proof of the pudding is in the
eating thereof.” Any person of ordinary good sense is quite capable of
distinguishing between sham and reality even when speaking with the
dead is in question.
* * * * *
4.--When an Expectancy Circle has had several successful sittings
and has established communications with spirits, those latter
should be asked to collect together a group of beings “on the
other side” who are willing to co-operate actively with the Circle
by regular attendance and the production of manifestations on a
continually-developing scale. In past times there has been by far too
little of such co-operation. Each professional medium has had his or
her alleged “controls,” who in an incidental way have occasionally
introduced spirits, while the sitters have also--without any design
of so doing--brought disembodied souls to the _séances_. And
sittings--especially of the “table” kind--have taken place in private
homes where the enquirers have usually been restricted to a few members
of a single family, and where the spirits communicated with have been
recently-deceased relatives and other inexperienced beings. Under such
circumstances it is surprising that so much progress has been made.
It is found, however, that spirits are just as “keen” and interested
in psychical phenomena and the extension of communication across the
border-line as are the Crookeses, Lodges, Barretts, Crawfords and other
investigators in the ranks of the living. It is not difficult for an
Expectancy Circle of sitters to develop into a Progressive Circle of
co-operating sitters and spirits. A request for co-operation is usually
complied with, and it almost always happens that the spirits who are
asked to act succeed very quickly in finding others to assist, some
of whom have had much experience in manifesting and communicating
and can instruct their human colleagues how best to operate. What is
chiefly necessary on the part of the sitters in order to ensure results
of the highest type is to work in a systematic and co-ordinated way;
and the manner in which this may be most effectually done is by each
human member of a Progressive Circle entering into relations with
some specific spirit-members and undertaking some distinct line of
conversation and enquiry by whatever method may be most convenient and
practicable--_e.g._ by automatic or direct writing, by signalling, by
clairvoyance, etc. These duologues, or--where more than one sitter and
one spirit are concerned--these Committee Meetings may be held at any
time and place found fitting, and should be carefully recorded for
report to the regular sittings of the Progressive Circle, when the
various reports are considered and compared together and are made the
starting-point for additional conversations and enquiries.
* * * * *
5.--The great majority of attempts at speaking with the dead are of
a character much less ambitious and far-reaching than is that of
the Expectancy and Progressive Circles method; and the results are
correspondingly imperfect. The system most generally adopted is what in
early and mid-Victorian days was known as “table-turning” or “raps,”
and consisted in a number of persons sitting round a table on which
their hands were placed, the right hand of each sitter resting on,
or sometimes only touching his neighbour’s left hand. After a little
while a tapping or rapping noise would be heard on the table, or the
table would tilt up a little at intervals, or it would turn round
and round, or it would move about the room. Any of these occurrences
admitted of utilisation for signalling purposes, and in that way it was
found possible to enter into intelligent communication with the spirit
or spirits acting on the table--it being generally the case that the
communicator was a deceased relative of one of the sitters.
In a Table-sitting--the term now commonly employed--it is desirable for
the hands of the sitters to be placed on the table (though the reason
for this is not yet clear), but it is not necessary for any sitter’s
hands to be in actual contact with those of his neighbours--there
not being any electric or other current in circulation. And it is
not necessary for the sitters to engage in any form of incantation,
whether sung, spoken or thought. They should, however, be serious
and attentive, and should be careful not to spoil the sitting by any
foolery or conscious attempts to tilt or move the table.
It is best for some one of the sitters to act as spokesman and for
some outsider--_i.e._ a person not sitting at the table--to officiate
as the recorder of all that is said and done. The simplest system of
communication to adopt is that of the alphabet; the letters being
called out by the spokesman in regular order and the table giving a
rap or making a movement whenever the right letter is reached. It must
not, however, be taken for granted that words will be spelt correctly
or that the letters will be grouped in regular sequences of words. Many
a message has been put aside as a mere haphazard unmeaning jumble of
letters, and has subsequently been found perfectly intelligible and
intelligent when the key to the arrangement of the letters has been hit
upon. Why such puzzles should be set with seeming deliberation by the
spirits is not understood; all we know is that the phenomenon sometimes
occurs and its possibility must therefore be taken into account.
* * * * *
6.--The sittings referred to in the foregoing five Instructions are
such as may take place without the aid of professional mediums, and for
that reason are commonly regarded as being particularly satisfactory
and “evidential.” This, however, is a view born of prejudice. It
assumes that professional mediums are all more or less untrustworthy.
Persons who are broad-minded enough to rise superior to prejudice and
who choose to weigh seriously the _pros_ and _cons_ of the whole matter
are bound to recognise the advantage, in all kinds of enquiry, of
seeking the assistance of individuals possessing natural qualifications
who have become expert in their own province. Accordingly, in speaking
with the dead a rational person will not deem it needful to keep aloof
from professional mediums. Rather will he seek their aid whenever
opportunity serves--provided always that no good reason exists for
doubting the good faith of any individual medium so met with.
The proceedings at a sitting conducted by a medium are of much the
same general character as in the case of the Expectancy Circles
and Table-sittings already described, except that the sitters are
altogether passive instead of taking any active part.
Precautions for ensuring “anonymity” and the like are needless.
Mediums as a rule are quite careless respecting the identity of their
sitters, save, perhaps, in the cases of highly-placed persons. Besides,
the sitters go to the mediums for their own private requirements
and not for the purpose of building up a structure of evidence that
shall satisfy some other mind. The best plan, therefore, is not to
trouble about what the medium does or does not know normally, and to
depend on one’s own common sense in judging of, and dealing with, any
communication received.
So, too, with regard to the alleged “controls.” It is idle to attempt
anything in the nature of cross-examination or “tests.” Such attempts,
if there be confusion, will only make it worse confounded. The proper
course to pursue is to listen attentively to all that is said, and
to ask only such questions as may be desirable for the purpose of
elucidation or in order to elicit further information.
It is, however, obvious that where a medium writes automatically or
speaks under control there must always exist a doubt as to how much
is genuine and how much is “sophistication,” either intentional or of
an unconscious character. The sitter, therefore, who thinks proper to
consult a professional medium will do well to ask for a Table-sitting
in preference to a Trance-sitting; as when a Table-sitting takes place
the medium remains normal, and the communication is conveyed through
the instrumentality of the inanimate table instead of making its way
amid the disturbing influences of the medium’s brain and personality.
If the medium cannot, or will not, give a Table-sitting it is not worth
while for the sitter to express any dissatisfaction: the situation must
be accepted with as good a grace as possible--tranquillity and harmony
being the proper atmosphere where mental phenomena are in issue.
In the case of Trance-sittings, where the medium is likely to be
strongly controlled and made to speak or act in the guise of some other
individuality (it being sometimes the case that a decided modification
of facial expression, features and voice becomes noticeable), a
frequent practice is to arrange for a subdued light--as, for example,
by pulling down the window-blinds and using a lamp with red glass. This
is quite unnecessary; it is a mere conventional usage based upon a
tradition to the effect that spirits are more powerful in darkness than
in light; but the proceeding need not be objected to. It is as harmless
as is the colour or the pattern of the wall-paper.
Some professional mediums adopt the method of Clairvoyance and
Clairaudience; that is to say, the communications take the form of an
oral description by the medium of what he or she sees and hears in the
vicinity of the sitters--the underlying supposition being that the
latter bring with them certain haunting spirits or that certain spirits
make their way into the room from the outside in order to be near the
sitters. This kind of a sitting is, perhaps, the least satisfactory of
any from an intellectual point of view. The medium may be labouring
under some delusion or may even be deliberately inventing the alleged
appearances and utterances. No method has yet been discovered of
clearly distinguishing between genuine and unreal clairvoyance (a word
which also includes crystal-gazing and the like). Sitters must judge
for themselves what to believe and what to reject.
* * * * *
7.--Materialisation-sittings with the assistance of professional
mediums form a distinct category of phenomena. They cannot be classed
under the head of “communications,” and they are just as much physical
as psychical. Their chief defect is that they are not “open and
above-board,” as is the case with the analogous proceedings of ordinary
“table-turning” in private circles, where very astounding movements,
etc., take place in full light. For some reason or another--good,
bad or indifferent--but never on account of any real necessity,
materialising mediums in the majority of cases insist upon the sittings
taking place in darkness, and upon the use of “cabinets” and screens
in the shelter of which the spirits are understood to make their
preparations for the show they are about to give. The sitters, of
course, cannot interfere: a patient does not instruct the physician
with respect to what prescription is needful. Each medium must be
allowed to go about his business in his own way; and each sitter is
equally free to make his own observations and form his own conclusions.
The stock phenomena in dark _séances_ are the sounding of musical
instruments laid upon the table for the purpose and their being moved
about through the air, the sitters occasionally feeling themselves
touched by the articles in question. Then, too, fitful lights are seen
here and there in the room, and voices are heard speaking or singing.
Small objects, such as flowers, are tossed about, and larger ones, such
as chairs, couches, etc., are moved--often with great violence. It is,
moreover, not an uncommon occurrence for detached hands and faces,
faintly luminised, to become visible; while, sometimes, what appear to
be full-sized simulacra of human beings mix with the sitters.
The medium in charge of such sitting is usually tied to a chair or held
by some of the sitters in such as way as to prevent any trickery. This
course of action should not, however, be pursued. Sitters do not attend
_séances_ for the sake of amusement or for the purpose of witnessing
a clever conjuring exhibition. There ought not to be any question of
a contest of wits between the sitters and the medium. The real object
to be striven for is the completeness of the manifestations; and this
can best be attained by giving the medium and the spirits the freest of
free play.
Let it be granted, for argument’s sake, that trickery is possible.
Let it be admitted, as a matter of fact, that many mediums have been
detected and exposed in various instances of imposture. This shows
merely that some alleged materialisations are not genuine; it does not
prove that no materialisation ever takes place. Here, also, the sitter
must judge for himself. Where it is possible to adopt both a normal
and a supernormal explanation of any observed manifestation the rules
of scientific enquiry impose upon us the obligation of postulating a
“natural” cause in preference to assuming that some “supernatural”
power is in operation; we are bound, for example, in cases admitting
of trickery, to hold that the medium is a cheat rather than to infer
the intervention of any spirit. But when a normal explanation is not
possible, or so highly improbable as to be outside the confines of
good sense, we act foolishly if we insist upon declining to recognise
a patent fact merely because it does not fit in with our preconceived
opinions. The same remark applies, _mutatis mutandis_, to many of
the “normal explanations” in themselves. It is, for example, said
sometimes that the voices heard in the course of dark sittings are
produced ventriloquially by the medium. This leaves out of view the
consideration that ventriloquy is in itself an illusion depending upon
the sense of sight as well as upon that of hearing. No ventriloquist,
however clever, can produce the impression of there being a sound
emanating from some specific locality when the hearer is in the dark; a
fact that is evident to any person who tries the experiment of shutting
his eyes when at a ventriloquial entertainment. And if we reflect that
in a materialisation _séance_ several distinct voices are often heard
simultaneously, the explanation of the medium being a ventriloquist is
seen to be ludicrously inadequate. The “normal” theory does not fare
any better in suggesting that the medium manages to vacate his chair
in the darkness and to pick up the trumpet or the tambourine, etc.,
from which he forthwith proceeds to extract some sounds. This might be
feasible in the case of a single instrument in a single locality; but
it often happens that several instruments of various kinds are being
played simultaneously and are heard in different parts of the room at
the same time. And when it is remembered that the sitting where such
facts occur may, and does frequently, take place in a sitter’s own
house, where the medium has not been able to make any preparations and
where no confederate is available, the futility of the “natural” way
of accounting for the manifestations becomes still further evident.
So, after all, we come round once more to the recommendation that the
sitter should not interfere, should merely observe, should keep an open
mind and should be guided by facts quite irrespectively of whether the
facts be normal or supernormal.
CHAPTER VIII
“SPIRITUALISM” AND “RATIONALISM”
This book ought not to be concluded without something being said as to
its design and character, and as to the mental attitude it presumes on
the part of its readers.
It is intended, first, as a practical guide for the assistance of those
persons who may be desirous of speaking with the dead; and, secondly,
as an elementary text-book of occult phenomena. It presupposes for its
readers a willingness to be guided by facts and a disregard of opinions
based upon imagination instead of upon fact.
Leaving out of view all questions of religion, religious authority and
Church controversy, it may be stated generally that most people are
given to understand that occult matters must be looked upon in the
light of either “spiritualism” or “rationalism.” When, therefore, they
find in the public press various statements by eminent spiritualists
that demolish the case of the rationalists, and when they at the same
time discover statements by eminent rationalists that are equally
destructive of the positions occupied by the spiritualists, it becomes
very difficult for persons who are not close students of the matters
in dispute to arrive at a settled judgment. Accordingly, the following
observations may prove of some service.
The true nature of articles in the newspapers, magazines and reviews
should be borne in mind. These articles are written professionally,
that is, for pay, and they have to provide commercial value for the
remuneration received by their writers. They have to be readable and
popular, which means that they must be smart and sensational and penned
with much literary ability. The authors have also their own futures to
think of; they must please their respective editors and they must show
off to the best advantage such stores of knowledge, such dialectical
powers, and such capabilities in the arts of sarcasm and abuse as they
may possess. They are like the barristers in the courts of law. They
are not concerned for either justice or truth. Their business is to
snatch a verdict if they can; and to do this they find their best plan
is to fasten upon the weak points of their adversaries and ignore
the strong ones; while, as regards their own cases, they make the
most of every favourable feature and keep all doubtful points in the
background. So the reader should be on his or her guard, and should not
accept meekly, as a matter of course, anything that appears in print.
A good example of what is here referred to may be found in the _Strand
Magazine_ of July, 1917, under the title of “Is Sir Oliver Lodge Right?
‘Yes,’ by Sir A. Conan Doyle. ‘No,’ by Edward Clodd.”
Persons who wish to pursue the study of dialectics and partisan
literature in connection with psychical phenomena may be recommended
to read _Light_ and _The International Psychic Gazette_, which are the
two leading organs of the Spiritualists in England, and the _Literary
Guide_ (the sub-title being _The Rationalist Review_), which is
published by the Rationalist Press Association, and is the recognised
mouthpiece of the most distinguished exponents of Rationalism in
the United Kingdom. All three of the publications referred to are
characterised by much learning and very great ability. The facts
they record are selected carefully from partisan points of view and
the comments and arguments that appear in their pages are admirably
one-sided and correspondingly conclusive. But the reader is thus
enabled to see both sides of the shield, and has himself only to blame
if he become the champion of either gold or silver.
Current literature, however, is not the only danger in the path of
persons who desire to walk in the company of Reason. Current teaching
is perhaps even more formidable, and especially so where Science is
concerned. The popular idea of scientific men is that they are votaries
of Truth and are deaf to the voice of every other deity. Hence the
authority wielded by the leaders of Science, and the willing obedience
rendered to their behests. It is rarely remembered that scientific men
are simple human beings, subject to the same weaknesses and possessed
of the same foibles as the rest of the race. History has shown that
if power be placed in the hands of any professional set of men it
will inevitably be abused; and Science does not provide an exception
to the rule. There is every whit as much bigotry, blind dogma and
savage intolerance in scientific circles as ever there was in any
ecclesiastical or puritanical organisations. Sir William Crookes,
O.M., P.R.S., found this out very many years ago, and Sir Oliver
Lodge, F.R.S., is now rediscovering it; the latter case of persecution
by the Rationalistic Inquisition being rendered particularly piquant
because of the great indebtedness of current materialism to the famous
champion of the Ether--a doctrine that forms the only line of defence
as yet available against the attacks of the Becquerel rays, the
Ballistic Theory of Explosives and other subverters of modern dogma.
In the midst of all such strife this little book is neutral, and it
counsels its readers to be neutral also. Rationalism is a good thing in
a way and within proper limits; and so is Spiritualism. But neither the
one nor the other is the whole truth; and, when rightly understood, the
two schools of thought are not at variance. When Science speaks of the
universe being fashioned and ruled by Nature, Evolution and the like,
it is only another way of naming the very same existing something that
the Christian calls God. The glorious Service of Humanity when followed
into the recesses of its meaning is found to be a mere plain listening
to one’s conscience; and the survival of good deeds is, in the last
analysis, indistinguishable from the survival of the souls by whom
they are accomplished.
_Sursum corda._ Let us speak to the dead and let us add their knowledge
and counsel to the common store.
THE END
Transcriber’s Note:
Spelling and hyphenation in common use at the time of publication have
been kept as is. Instances of the same word differing in hyphenation
have been changed to the majority variant.
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