CHAPTER VIII.

Spiritualism.--_Continued._ Automatic writing is a phase of phenomenal Spiritualism most difficult to prove. In the majority of cases we are reduced to the awkward position of accepting or rejecting the assertions of the persons who declare that the writing done by them is automatic--that is, written without thought and volition on their part. A close examination of this claim may lead to the conclusion that automatic writing is not impossible. Whether the controlling agent is “the spirit within us,” or a disembodied spirit, or both, is not a matter of much importance, if it is established, the writing is automatic. When messages are written without volition, in the handwriting of deceased persons, signed by their names, such messages must be treated on their merits. I have seen messages written in this way. I have seen messages written, not only automatically, but _direct_. Some were written the reverse way, and could only be read by holding up to the light or to a mirror. The direct writing was done in an exceedingly short time, two or three hundred words in less time than an expert phonographer could write the same by the most expeditious efforts. The evidence in favour of telepathic writing is not very strong, but of _direct_ writing there appears to be abundant proof. Dr. Nichols, in his fascinating work, “Forty Years of American Life,” writes:--“I knew a Methodist sailor in New York, a simple, illiterate, earnest man, who became what is called a test medium. He came to see me in Cincinnati, and one evening we had also as visitors two distinguished lawyers: one of them a brother of Major Anderson, “the hero of Fort Sumter;” the other, a gentleman from Michigan, and one of the ablest lawyers practising in the Supreme Court of the United States. I had brought into the drawing-room a heavy walnut table, and placed it in the centre of the room. The medium sat down on one side of it, and the sharp Michigan lawyer, who was a stranger to us and the medium, on the other. The medium placed his fingers lightly upon the table. It tilted up under them, the two legs nearest him rising several inches. The lawyer examined the table, and tried to give it a similar movement, but without success. There was a force and a consequent movement he could not account for. There was no other person near the table, there was no perceptible muscular movement, and in no way in which it could be applied to produce the effect. “When there was no doubt on this point, the lawyer, at the suggestion of the medium, wrote with careful secrecy on five bits of paper--rolling each up like a pea as he wrote--the names of five deceased persons whom he had known. Then he rolled them about until he felt sure that no one could tell one pellet from the other. Then, pointing to them successively, the tipping table selected one, which the gentleman, without opening, put in his waistcoat pocket, and threw the rest into the fire. “The next step was to write the ages of these five persons at their death, on as many bits of paper, which were folded with the same care. One of these was selected, and again, without being opened, deposited in the lawyer’s pocket, which now contained a name and a number indicating age. “With the same precautions the lawyer then wrote, in the same way, on bits of paper, the places where these persons died, the diseases of which they died, and the dates of their decease, going through the same process with each. He had then in his pocket five little balls of paper, each selected by a movement of the table, for which no one could account. “At this moment the hand of the medium seized a pencil, and with singular rapidity dashed off a few lines, addressed to the lawyer as from a near relative, and signed with a name which the medium very certainly had never heard. “The lawyer, very much astonished, took from his pocket the five paper balls, unrolled them, spread them before him on the table, and read the same name as the one on the written message, with the person’s age, the place and time of death, and the disease of which he died. They all corresponded with each other and the message. No person had approached the table, and neither lawyer nor medium had moved. It was in my own house, under a full gas light, and, so far as I could see, or can see now, no deception was possible. “The written communication, which purported to come from a deceased relative of the gentleman only expressed, in affectionate terms, happiness at being able to give him this evidence of immortality.” This incident is introduced here in illustration of one out of many phases of mediumship known to spiritualists. We see here both psychic and physical powers-exercised, not generally recognised as possible. A massive table moved without physical leverage or exertion, and “thoughts read,” which formed the basis of the message. Trickery and collusion in this instance are absolutely out of the question. The only questions which remain to answer are: “Did this medium possess in himself the powers referred to? or did he possess them in consequence of being controlled by a disembodied spirit, as claimed by the message?” Although the message in itself did not contain evidence of any other source of information than that emanating from the lawyer’s own mind, we are forced to the conclusion that either the medium or the spirit controlling the medium had power to read his mind, and of exerting what Professor Crookes and Sergeant Cox would call Psychic Force to move the table, and indicate what pellets to select. We have here evidence of an intelligence capable of exercising an unknown force and of reading thoughts--that intelligence claimed to be a human spirit. TRANCE ADDRESSES. Trance and inspirational addresses, however, do not, in my opinion, furnish much evidence of the reality of spirit control. We are interested in the phenomena--taking for granted that these trance and inspirational states are genuine--although the evidence of external spirit control presented is often _nil_. The controls may or may not be veritable realities to their own mediums--professional or otherwise--but this is of little value, as evidence, to the public. I have known mediumistic and otherwise sensitive persons to be controlled--_i.e._, taken possession of by their reading. One gentleman swallowed large doses of Theodore Parker. In time he thought of Parker, talked of Parker, and finally believed he was “inspired” by Theodore Parker. This gentleman had been a Unitarian before being a Spiritualist, and doubtless his mind had been broadened and brightened by his course of Theodore Parker; but beyond his own belief and the evident state of excitability he exhibited when speaking under this supposed control, there was actually no evidence of “spirit control” worthy of notice. Mrs. Cora L. V. Tappan-Richmond, an inspirational medium, from America, delivered a series of remarkable addresses in this country about twenty years ago. These were published by J. Burns, of Southampton Row, Holborn, W.C. A young gentleman from Brighton heard and read the lectures, and finally budded forth as “an inspirational speaker.” For a long time the public got nothing but the Tappan lectures diluted. We had the same marvellous, even flow, similar processes of reasoning, fertility of illustration, and unbounded capacity for assertion. No one dare say this person was not inspired by the spirits. It might have been a way the spirits had of breaking in their instrument, but I had a shrewd suspicion the young orator was controlled by his reading. I don’t know how many others have been influenced in this way. I have noticed when a noted medium “came to town,” delivered a number of addresses in public, or gave seances in private, immediately thereafter a number of imitators professed--correctly or otherwise--principally otherwise--to have been controlled by the guides, who were supposed to control the medium aforesaid, and that they would soon be able to give addresses and manifestations, and what not. On the other hand, the noted mediums averred “their guides never controlled any other than themselves,” etc. The conscientious investigator is left to wonder how much imitation, vanity, and self-deception have to do with such statements. Some of the most perfect oratory, and some of the ablest and most cogent lectures and addresses I have ever listened to have been given by trance and inspirational mediums. It was stated, as evidence of spirit control, by those who professed to know, “that these mediums could not reason and speak that way in their normal condition.” All of which is worthy of consideration. At the same time I saw nothing inherently impossible--judging from a physiological or cerebral-physiognomic standpoint--to prevent these persons delivering, unaided by spirit agency, the addresses referred to. That a person speaks with greater ability, intelligence, or fluency in the trance state compared with his known powers in the waking state, cannot, alone, be accepted as proof of spirit control. We have seen hypnotised subjects do the same. But the reality, or otherwise, of spirit agency, cannot be estimated by the superiority, or otherwise, of the addresses and messages given. In all public meetings and in seances where a medium is expected to give trance and inspirational addresses the platform is “supported” or the chair surrounded by sympathisers, whose presence is esteemed favourable to “good conditions”--a “nebulous term” better understood by Spiritualists than the public. When the address is, as is often the case, a miserable jumble of things inconsequential, old, experienced Spiritualists say it is owing “to bad conditions,” _i.e._, the influence of the audience on the speaker being conflicting and bad, hence the inconclusive rambling of the spirit’s oration. Whether this is the true explanation or not, whether the medium was really controlled or not, or the addresses successful or not, the fact remains that Spiritualists admit that the “message” is not only “seriously modified,” according to the channel (or medium) through whom it is given, but that it may be deflected and distorted by the influences of the audience to whom it is given. Whatever the real cause of the imperfect oratory, what is this but admitting _the thoughts transferred from the audience to the sensitive either make or mar the utterance_? If spirit utterance is thus influenced, it becomes a difficult matter to decide how much of the original message has reached us as intended, and how unwise it is for some to have their lives directed by such uncertain counsel. There are many persons so organised, that when they come in contact with Spiritualism, (not knowing anything about clairvoyance, psychometry, thought-transference, thought-reading, etc.) are so convinced by what they hear and see for the first time--so much out of the ordinary run of their experience--the only way they can account for the phenomena is, “that they must be the work of spirits, for no human being could tell what they knew, or what they wanted, save a spirit who could read their thoughts.” This is just where, I think, the error creeps in. Those very revelations which they in ignorance so readily attribute as only possible coming from disembodied spirits, may be and are in some instances quite possible to man, unaided by any such agency. Many years ago I sat with Mr. David Duguid, the Glasgow painting medium. I had a “direct spirit painting” done. It was a correct--as far as I can recollect--painting of a small farm-house and stead, in the North of Ireland, where I as a child had been sent for my health. Neither Mr. Duguid nor the control claimed to possess any actual knowledge of me, or of the circumstances of my childhood. When I had an opportunity of attending the seance in question, I wondered if such a scene could be painted, and my wonder was greater when it was done. Here again, we have evidence of thought-transference. Whether Mr. Duguid, by some occult power, caused the direct painting to be done--his own spirit doing it while his body was in the trance state--or the painting was produced by one of his controls, I am not prepared to state. I am willing to state my belief that the painting was not done by Duguid, the medium, or any other person present in the room. One of the controls of the medium claimed to have painted the little sketch, and, truth to tell, it is not more difficult to accept this hypothesis than “the spirit of the medium did it.” In our ordinary experience of human nature, we do not find it usual for men to give credit to others--men or spirits--for what they are capable of doing and saying themselves. REFLECTIONS. It is quite possible, seeing that out of this life into the next, through the portals of death, pass all sorts and conditions of human beings, that in the next stage of existence--most closely allied to that in which we now live--mankind are not essentially different in character from what we find now. It is not, therefore, necessary to call in the agency of demons, as distinct from human spirits, to account for the phenomena of Spiritualism. If in artificial somnambulism and the phenomena of the psychic state the operating agent is an embodied human spirit, it is possible the same human spirit, albeit disembodied, may still retain power to control or influence other human beings. There is another and more serious matter for consideration, concerning which our investigations of Spiritualism have thrown little or no light--Spirit Identity. Not only do our friends depart and never return, and many have promised to do so. How far are we certain when spirits have returned? We may have been deceived by our own impulsiveness, anxiety, and desire to feel and to know that “they are not lost but gone before.” Again, admitting the genuineness of physical phenomena, and conceding that all the communications are really made by disembodied spirits or intelligent beings like unto ourselves, what proof do we possess that they are really what they represent themselves to be, or what they appear to be in spirit circles? “A bad or mischievous spirit,” says Dr. Nichols, “may, for aught we know, personate our friends, _penetrate our secrets_, and deceive us with false representations.” This is certainly worth thinking about. My object in writing is not to turn my readers against Spiritualism, but to get them to bring into the investigation judgment, not only to analyse evidence, but the capacity to “judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” It is no part of my purpose to deal with the history, ethics, or even the phenomena of Spiritualism. That has been well done by others. I merely write to show that Spiritualism “has something in it,” and is of such importance that it is neither to be lightly rejected on the one hand, nor are its phenomena at all times to be attributed to agency of disembodied spirits. Spiritualism is a many-sided subject, and too vast in its proportions to be dealt with here, and while I have no doubt that its public mediumistic exponents are no more perfect than the rest of humanity--much is laid at their door which may have a basis on fact--yet I do think they often suffer unjustly. Firstly, from the cries of the ignorant--educated or otherwise, matters little--who charge them with fraud, simply because such people are ignorant of the psychic possibilities of man; and, secondly, from the admiring and thoughtless many who are prepared to accept the commonest of psychic phases instanter as evidence of “disembodied spirit” presence and power. I have no doubt many phenomena are quite explicable on natural grounds. Setting aside the possibilities of self-deception in untrained observers, and of fraud in dishonest mediums, and of genuine phenomena traceable to the powers of the “spirit which is within each of us,” there remains, to my mind, abundant evidence of the existence of “discarnate spirit,” possessing all the attributes of the human spirit, as we know ourselves from the study of man as a psychological subject. Unfortunately, the very best evidence in favour of both “embodied” and “disembodied spirit” is not of that kind which is available for publicity. Still, I hold, if there is evidence (psychological and physical) for disembodied spirit in Spiritualism, I am also satisfied there is abundant evidence for embodied spirit in the psychological experiences of life, apart from what we know of Spiritualism. I may fitly close these reflections by quoting the testimony of that keen scientific observer anent phenomenal Spiritualism--namely, Cromwell F. Varley, Esq., F.R.S:--“Twenty-five years ago I was a hard-headed unbeliever.... Spiritual phenomena, however, suddenly and quite unexpectedly was soon after developed in my own family.... This led me to inquire, and to try numerous experiments in such a way as to preclude, as much as circumstances would permit, the possibility of trickery and self-deception.”... He then details various phases of the phenomena which had come within the range of his personal experience, and continues:--“Other and curious phenomena had occurred, proving the existence (_a_) of forces unknown to science; (_b_) _the power of instantly reading my thoughts_; (_c_) the presence of some intelligence or intelligences controlling those powers.... That the phenomena occur there is overwhelming evidence, and it is too late to deny their existence.” The Bibliography of Spiritualism is somewhat extensive. What books are best to recommend to beginners is not an easy matter to decide. “The Use of Spiritualism,” by the late S. C. Hall, F.S.A.,[G] however, will repay perusal, and from the intellectual fitness, high moral tone, and spotless reputation of the author, this book may be safely recommended to all readers. THEOSOPHY.[H] I have been frequently asked, What is Theosophy? A question more easily asked than answered, and in answering I may do even less justice to it than to Spiritualism. Theosophy is an intellectual speculation, having for its main object the supplanting of Christianity, by a Revised Version of Hindoo Metempsychosis. An attempt to foist upon our western ideas and exoteric habits of thought, the mysticisms and esoteric speculations of the mystics of India and Japan. Modern Spiritualism is not a religion. Theosophy not only claims to be a religion, but to be “the essential basis of all religions.” Modern Spiritualism may have its faults, and be as imperfect as human souls are here or hereafter. But we at least understand its faults and defects. The triple-crowned spiritual monarch--sitting on the seven hills of Rome--is not more infallible than the principles which underlie Theosophy--with its demi-gods, its Mahatmas, its adepts, miracle workers and wonders. To not understand and be able to accept these principles at once, is to proclaim oneself an ignoramus. Theosophy is a strangely fascinating religion for intellectual æsthetics. Spiritualism is at least susceptible of being observed and investigated, and the hypothesis of Spiritualism is naturally a reasonable deduction from the facts. Not so Theosophy, which is merely a theory, an _a priori_ assumption pleasing to those with more reflective and imaginative powers than capacity for practical observation. Spiritualism has given facts to be examined and tested, Theosophy nothing save gigantic and baseless assertions. Its _astral shells_ and _elementals_ are like its _Mahatmas_, flimsy phantasies, less tangible than the ghost seen and described by Dr. Jessop, or visions of the _shade of shades_, seen by psychometers. For these latter we have at least a basis in psychic phenomena. _Re-incarnation_ is the back bone of Theosophy, and Karma its necessary adjunct. The _Kismet_ of Mahomet and the doctrines of election of Calvinism are not more inexorable than the _Karma_ of Theosophy. _Karma_ is a combination of earthly experiences and expiations of the soul of man in time, during its everlasting process of incarnating and re-incarnating in search of Wisdom, the Eternal Reality, and the final extinction of all _individuality_ in the Nirvana. _Devachan_ is the intermediate state of oblivion, in which _personality_ is blotted out, and into which the spiritual soul, etc., enters between the periods of incarnation. Theosophy--the Wisdom of God religion--attempts to explain all the inequalities of life, the intellectual and moral differences in men, of sin and suffering, by its working theory, _Re-incarnation_, which doubtless has many attractive features. The phenomena Theosophists place so much reliance upon are the property of mankind--somnambulism, psychic consciousness, clairvoyance, psychometry, thought-transference, etc. The “Theosophic miracles of communication with persons in other parts of the world” are explicable by thought-transference, and in time may be no more inherently impossible than telegraphy without wires and poles. The physical wonders of Theosophy, akin to those of Spiritualism, are attributed to _shells_, the _astral_ carcases of once embodied but now rapidly dissolving _personality_ of man, and _elementals_, fragmentary spirit imps or sprites, who up to the present have not been as yet incorporated in some incarnated human soul. As to the ethics of Theosophy, brotherly kindness, charity, and self-sacrifice--most desirable virtues and _divine_ attainments--are neither new nor the special property of Theosophy. Such _divine_ qualities and virtues are common to all religions and religious teaching, and if they ever reached their climax in human form, they did in the person of Jesus, the Lord’s Christ. He was the embodiment of these, and a living example for all time, long, long before unthinkable and “ungetatable” Mahatmas were announced by Madame Blavatsky, or believed in by Mrs. Besant. Theosophists recognise seven distinct parts in man, _i.e._, four transitory and three eternal. The transitory elements are--the physical body, the vital principle, the _astral body_, and the _animal soul_. These four comprise man’s _personality_, and being transitory are perishable. Hence the _personality_ of man is annihilated at death. The three eternal elements are--the _spirit_, the _spiritual soul_, and the _mind_. These being imperishable form man’s _individuality_, and constitute the immortal part of man. This immortal part _incarnates_ and _re-incarnates_ throughout innumerable personalities on this globe, and the rest of the planets, beside having alternate periods of “rosy slumber” and of activity. Our _individuality_ has no sex, consequently we may be a little negro wench in one incarnation, an Egyptian monarch in another, a Nero in another, a John Knox in another, and so on. Others may not progress, but sink from incarnation to incarnation, from a mother in Israel, to a Deeming in Australia, and, finally, to utter annihilation. Those good souls who _live the life_, and perfect their souls through much suffering, will become as one with “the Eternal Reality, the Rootless Root of all that was, or is, or ever shall be.” The higher and ever advancing Theosophist may, however, stop short before he reaches the Nirvana, and elect to become a Mahatma, or great soul, and reside on this or some other planet to exercise power and precipitate wisdom, by letters and otherwise, to the world, through chosen adepts. The good Theosophist in this world and the next is surrounded by “thought-forms,” which influence him in his upward career. The Spiritualist has his departed friends for guides, and the Christian (Spiritualist) is comforted by “messengers sent forth to minister to them that are heirs of salvation.” I don’t know that “thought-forms” administering counsel to a spirit having no _personality_ is an improvement on the old ideas. It is impossible to do justice to this Wisdom-Religion with its orders, grades, and bewildering phraseology. It is a fancy religion for the intellectual, without a personal God or a personal soul. Its circles are masonic lodges for the rich. In no sense is it a religion to meet the wants of man as man, like that founded on the life and death of Jesus Christ. I do not pretend to explain Theosophy, for the task is beyond me. It is a religion intended for those who realise they are divine sparks of the Rootless Root, and not for the common people, who are incapable of understanding a system of morals thus veiled in allegory, and illustrated by signs and symbols. Amid the perplexities of many words, we learn that Theosophy teaches what St. Paul indicates as the divine order of morals by the words: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” To work out one’s own salvation is as old as the race. We may all be Theosophists without knowing it, as we don’t know who we are, what we were, or who we are going to be, such is _Karma_. Spiritualism and Theosophy are only referred to here seeing how largely the phenomena on which they are based, is explained by “How to Thought-Read.” FOOTNOTES: [A] In this way evil habits, such as erotic mania, opium eating, dipsomania, etc., may be cured. When the strength of the vice and the deterioration of the brain and body are such as to undermine the will of the patient, hypnotism, properly employed, may be used and recognised as a powerful and legitimate curative agent. [B] “Phrenological Annual,” 1892. Extract from article by Dr. Samuel Eadon, M.D., M.A., LL.D. and Ph.D., etc., Aberdeen and Edinburgh Universities. [C] “Spirits Before our Eyes,” page 215. By W. H. Harrison, 1879. [D] Dr. Joseph Rhodes Buchanan has been Dean and Professor in several American universities. As far back as 1830 he was Professor of Medicine in Transylvania University. In the year 1841 he made several important discoveries in cerebral psychology, which he communicated to the American and to the Edinburgh Phrenological Journals. These discoveries are elaborated in his unique system of Anthropology, and are published in his works--“Therapeutic Sarcognomy,” “Psychometry,” “The Dawn of a New Civilisation,” “System of Anthropology,” and “The New Education--which can be obtained through my publishers, or direct from myself.” [E] Thought (says Professor Houston) is accompanied by molecular vibrations in the grey matter of the brain, and these brain molecules, like everything else, are immersed in and interpenetrated by ether; this being so, their vibrations must set up wave-motions in the ether, and these must spread out from the brain in all directions. Further, these brain-waves, or thought waves, being thus sent out into space, will produce some phenomena, and, reasoning by analogy we may expect that--as in the case of sound-waves--sympathetic vibrations will be set up in bodies similar to that which generates the waves, if those bodies are attuned to respond. Again, reasoning by analogy, we may expect--as in electric resonance--that such oscillations would be set up as are found when electric waves are sent out and, meeting a circuit in consonance with them, set up in that circuit oscillations like their own. In view of these facts, which are well ascertained, he (Professor Houston) considers that it does not seem improbable that a brain engaged in intense thought should act as a centre for thought-radiation, nor that these radiations, proceeding outwards in all directions, should affect other brains on which they fall, provided that these other brains are tuned to vibrate in unison with them. Light waves are etheric vibrations, and it would seem that these brain-waves should “partake of the nature of light.” If so, why should it not be possible to obtain, say, by means of a lens, a photographic impression of them? Such a thought-record suitably employed might be able to awaken at any subsequent time in the brain of a person submitting himself to its influence thoughts identical to those recorded.--_English Mechanic._ [F] The _contact_ is usually made by the agent taking the wrist, or by placing his hand on the brow of the reader. [G] “The Use of Spiritualism.” By S. C. Hall, F.S.A., late Editor of the _Art Journal_, author of “The Retrospect of a Long Life,” etc. Price, 1s., Post Free, 1s. 1d. Hay Nisbet & Co., London and Glasgow. [H] “What is Theosophy?” By Walter R. Old, F.T.S. Price, 1s., Post Free, 1s. 2d., gives an excellent outline of this interesting subject. Hay Nisbet & Co., London and Glasgow. TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE Most of the inconsistent hyphenation has been retained as in the original, like ‘mind reading’ and ‘mind-reading’, ‘supersensitivity’ and ‘super-sensitivity’, etc. Obvious punctuation errors have been silently corrected. Original spelling and grammar have been preserved except for the following: page 5: “the ordinary lauguage” changed to “the ordinary language” page 23: “render she sight” changed to “render the sight” page 29: “Stanhope, Macclesfield, Charlville” changed to “Stanhope, Macclesfield, Charleville” page 29: “Camillie Flammarion” changed to “Camille Flammarion” page 29: “Dr. Jykell and Mr. Hyde” changed to “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” page 30: “and discribed a funeral” changed to “and described a funeral” page 31: “s capable of” changed to “is capable of” page 42: “enter the first doo” changed to “enter the first door” page 45: “She can also indentify” changed to “She can also identify” page 54: “why it hould not” changed to “why it should not” page 73: “from our own sensorums” changed to “from our own sensoriums” page 75: “following by like feelings” changed to “followed by like feelings” page 77: “the brig in a dorry” changed to “the brig in a dory” page 77: “the dorry was again” changed to “the dory was again” page 79: “The coffin, at anyrate” changed to “The coffin, at any rate” page 81: “happened her” changed to “happened to her” page 84: “I notice a solitary” changed to “I noticed a solitary” page 118: “This gentlemen had” changed to “This gentleman had” page 125: “understand it faults” changed to “understand its faults” page 125: “election of Calvanism” changed to “election of Calvinism” page 126: “Devachian is the intermediate” changed to “Devachan is the intermediate” Footnote A: “such as errotic mania” changed to “such as erotic mania”