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the author on one occasion asked a spirit control whether he could say
anything which would throw a light upon it. The answer was:
"It involves some factors which are beyond your human science and which
could not be made clear to you. At the same time you may take as a rough
analogy the case of water which is turned into steam. Then this steam,
which is invisible, may be conducted elsewhere to be reassembled as
visible water." This is, as stated, an analogy rather than an
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explanation, but it seems very apt none the less. It should be added, as
mentioned in the quotation, that not only Mr. Stanford, of Melbourne, but
also Dr. MacCarthy, one of the leading medical men of Sydney, carried out
a long series of experiments with Bailey, and were convinced of his
genuine powers.
The mediums quoted by no means exhaust the list of those with whom the
author has had opportunities of experimenting, and he cannot leave the
subject without alluding to the ectoplasm of Eva, which he has held
between his fingers, or the brilliant luminosities of Frau Silbert which
he has seen shooting like a dazzling crown out of her head. Enough has
been said, he hopes, to show that the succession of great mediums is not
extinct for anyone who is earnest in his search, and also to assure the
reader that these pages are written by one who has spared no pains to
gain practical knowledge of that which he studies. As to the charge of
credulity which is invariably directed by the unreceptive against anyone
who forms a positive opinion upon this subject, the author can solemnly
aver that in the course of his long career as an investigator he cannot
recall one single case where it was clearly shown that he had been
mistaken upon any serious point, or had given a certificate of honesty to
a performance which was afterwards clearly proved to be dishonest. A man
who is credulous does not take twenty years of reading and experiment
before he comes to his fixed conclusions.
No account of physical mediumship would be complete which did not allude
to the remarkable results obtained by "Margery," the name adopted for
public purposes by Mrs. Crandon, the beautiful and gifted wife of one of
the first surgeons in Boston. This lady showed psychic powers some years
ago, and the author was instrumental in calling the attention of the
Scientiflc Zmerican Committee to her case. By doing so he most
unwillingly exposed her to much trouble and worry, which were borne with
extraordinary patience by her husband and herself. It was difficult to
say which was the more annoying: Houdini the conjurer, with his
preposterous and ignorant theories of fraud, or such "scientific" sitters
as Professor McDougall, of Harvard, who, after fifty sittings and signing
as many papers at the end of each sitting to endorse the wonders
recorded, was still unable to give any definite judgment, and contented
himself with vague innuendoes. The matter was not mended by the
interposition of Mr. E. J. Dingwall of the London S.P.R., who proclaimed
the truth of the mediumship in enthusiastic private letters, but denied
his conviction at public meetings. These so-called" experts" cache out of
the matter with little credit, but more than two hundred common-sense
sitters had wit enough and honesty enough to testify truly as to that
which occurred before their eyes. The author may add that he has himself
sat with Mrs. Crandon and has satisfied himself, so far as one sitting
could do so, as to the truth and range of her powers.
The control in this instance professes to be Walter, the lady's dead
brother, and he exhibits a very marked individuality with a strong sense
of humour and considerable command of racy vernacular. The voice
production is direct, in a male voice, which seems to operate some few
inches in front of the medium's forehead. The powers have been
progressive, their range continually widening, until now they have
reached almost the full compass of mediumship. The ringing of electric
bells without contact has been done ad nauseam, until one would imagine
that no one, save a stone-deaf man or a scientific expert, could have any
doubt about it. Movement of objects at a distance, spirit lights, raising
of tables, apports, and finally the clear production of ectoplasm in a
good red light, have succeeded each other. The patient work of Dr. and
Mrs. Crandon will surely be rewarded, and their names will live in the
history of psychic science, and so in a very different category will
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those of their traducers.
Of all forms of mediumship the highest and most valuable, when it can be
relied upon, is that which is called automatic writing, since in this, if
the form be pure, we seem to have found a direct method of obtaining
teaching from the Beyond. Unhappily, it is a method which lends itself
very readily to self-deception, since it is certain that the subconscious
mind of man has many powers with which we are as yet imperfectly
acquainted. It is impossible ever to accept any automatic script
whole-heartedly as a hundred per cent statement of truth from the Beyond.
The stained glass will still tint the light which passes through it, and
our human organism will never be crystal clear. The verity of any
particular specimen of such writing must depend not upon mere assertion,
but upon corroborative details and the general dissimilarity from the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]