SPIRIT PHENOMENA

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 587, 16 August 1909, Page 4

SPIRIT PHENOMENA

SOME THOUGHTS AND EXPLANATIONS.

' (By Inquirer.)

Tho interesting account of Mr. Bailey's ■seance ,which appeared in Saturday's Do* otnion -provides, a good deal of food for curious thought. The medium certainly gavo an exceedingly clever exhibition, as was only to bo expected, but such performances alone, however mystifying they may be, will noyer quite convince the. average man.. Ho has witnessed-so many marvellous performances by professional- conjurers; without tho intervention 1 of' disembodied spirits, that he feels'.confident, arid not without reason, that '.''apports, ,, , however .inexplicablq th!oy niayappbar,-. aro , nothing moro than tho result of oxcoptionaily clever conjuring. _ It is true the thing is done under conditions that, to all appearance, make legerdemain impossible,' but so are many of the tricks of the .conjurors., It would, indeed, bo rather staggering if at his next demonstration Mr. Bailey would produce, as has been suggested, a'copy of the London "Times" of tho samo date as the'seance. That would bo an interesting test. Will Mr. Bailey try it? and -if not;-why > not?, •, ■ ■ ;. '■.•<;There are , ' two,classes of phenomena wuicli mediums attribute to the action of disembodied spirits/'Thereisintho first place the phenomena Whch may bo called "physical —• such as tho mysterious production, of birds, mats, 'etc, ■known, s's "apports'.'; ■ also slato , writing and. tho like.. In the second place wo have mental phenomena, such as tho giving -of: information which could'not normally haTe been in the possession of tho medium, and- wherein the-medium appears to possess knowledge of various kinds which he does not'have-when in hie ordinary-state. Until overwhelming evidence is given to tho contrary,: a reasonable open-minded man is justified in assuming that the natural explanation of the physical phenomena it is exebp--tionally clever-'cbnjuriiis- - It-is-true'that the'paraphernalia of the trickster, or most of jt.-is: absent,-but'on' the other hand the conjurer works in : the full glare of tho lights, whereas, the medium, is .shrouded by a mantlo of darkness. '.Tho; quickness of the hand cf the 'medium, like the conjurer, may :deceive theeyo. To-be convincing thoniedium mnst do so'mething'altogether- removed from'the region of .the possible .so far as conjuring is 'concerned; or, if ho relies on mental phqno--mena, he' must' give an- exhibition that can-, not possibly bo explained, wholly or partially, by telepathy,', suggestion, and other,, ,such powers. -.»■'■ ■•' •.-■' :'■;', : I ;'.'.' : '''. •"■ ! ..''.-.'

•Humani.Personality. ;:, /-,- ■ ' , ; ■"' ;To'the'thoughtful.' person,-the psychicalphenomena connected ' with spiritualism ;is fmuch more wonderful than the physical mailifestations. Modern psychology has discovered quite a new,"world m'the human mind,_and no man has yet fathomed the depths of his own. sub-conscious .self. * Little as wo; know of .this mental: region,' we. know enough, to' cbnviuco 'us that' the conscious . and uuconscibus powers of human personality are "far greater our fathers ever imagined; and even where..actual is not -at present .'forthcoming, there is good reason ■to believe, that -'we need not; look beyond i actual and latent possibilities of our own- spiritual and - mental beina for the -• explanation of spirit/phenomena. This, point of view-is;, we'll illustrated by theyfollowing accduht of'i'iypical and most intercstljng.seanceand:its'.:explnhation given by. Mr; 'Hudson in his'-ibook on "Psychic Phenomena":—• ■. is ■■/■".. ■ ■■ ;•..'■- \ -'- : ' Medium and .Sitter. , ; , :■■

iilt. Hudson and Ja 'celebrated Union general 'paid a- visit to - ''* , prominent slate-writing medium.m' Washington. It was-agrced that the general shmild. be the;sitter, and that he was .to bo' guided 'by Mr; Hudson's suggestions as to_ the;'course ho should pursue dur-ihg*-th©\seahcev -'-'THe'plan isuggested was. as folldiver— .t'.:;:;';-''".'/- , ■. "'•■'■"' -.'■ ■■'-■■••-.■ '.'..- --•'(l) r To';,wnte'-three"letters'- to'-as. many sprntswfw'lris dead*ac(iuaiutances, each |ono couched"-in^genpi'ah;terms—such as, ."Dear 8., 'can''yoii cbmniumcate with me to-day? If -go/ tell- me,youi' condition, in the.spiritj|and.",. Xhis could,-bp,;answered'by..very'gen-'eral remarks and woiild require no. specifio aiiswifr. involving 'any : knowledge of ; the. ;sit-: ter's-Sffairs;:"" : -':- ; 's'.' ;V '-' : \ '-'.■■ "' .• .'•:■.';• - •"

(2) t To"write, two.similar letters ~ to ■>two persons'knowtf-to the sitter, but unknown to thb : mediumj-to.be etil} living in the flesh. ' - .(3) To : write pile letter to a deceased per-, son asking a specific question, the ..correct' >neWet"' to which'' neither the fitter lior. the medium s could> possibly ■■know... .'' , ■ ,'■ (4) Under iio circumstances ■ to' let the medium know, -the iiarao or antcepdonts of .tho sitter. -' ; w??''■'-.....■• :. .' : 'i''■;"■■; "-. iMr.' Hudson" tfien recdunts. at considerable length :tho"process of slate-writirigj by which' means the replies were /given.; Alter it had proceeded '.for >'■ few moments the. spirit wanted to' write in colours,' and crayons were produced. 'The medium, howover, said it was quite ■unnecessary to placo them between the slates as ''the'colours could be got, from tho outside just as well." '■■ Tho box of crayons was therefore merely placed beside,the slato '-fcnd/tno? writing was resumed, and -when it was it was- seen that four,or five colours-had 1 been ; used. The rcsults ; .aro'suih-'' med up,byTSlr'-'Tl«dsen.^s ■ , • ,/->Tiio. coiftehtsiof every letter' written, by the. sitter ,were:'.cyideritly'4inown: to- the intelligence which wrote.the .replies, for every letter 'received an appropriate ..answer /saye- one Three of tho letters wore te deceased.'friends of thb-sitter'and two to living person's,: the ;whole' five: being, couched : ail . general .'terms: which required no specific"knowledgeablo an. appropriate reply to bo framed. Each of tho replies; ; hovvover, indicated, that the writer was'a denizen of the spirit-land. . ~ . The:, sixtiv.. letter AVas addressed to Aa" deceased relative, and was as follows :-p ' • . • '.'Dear,j : A,B.,rrrWhom do you desire to have !appointed administrator of your estate?— C.D." .;- .' v ■■•: "/; '■■'' '..'■ / v ' :, ' / ' ' } '''••To' this letter'the only, reply was from .'.the ■'medium'B "control," who .reported as fol-. lows:—..:•'. '■■■■ '■:.' . . ,'.,- .'■.•■., : ."A.B. is.hore', but cannot communicate, to:day," .-."; ; : ." •'.''■ '■■■■■ A :-.'■:•'..■ rThß.lCcnclusions. : ..,■:. , ~.; .'..'...■.• ■ .'.: ■ The' conclusions. which /are inevitable' may (says Mr. Hudson) be summed as follows:— ■*-l. The" slate-writing,.;was: dqno without] physical contact with, the pencil, either, by ■the medium or .anyone else. \ It all occurred , in'broad'daylight. ; There was no .chance for fraud or legerdemain,, and.there was none 1 . .■ 2. Tho powoj moved the pened, being clearly not physical,' m'ust-have been occult".'sThis occult power was either that of disembodied spirits, or that of tho medium. Djd it proceed from disembodied spirits? Let us see. The replies to the five ■ letters emanated from the same source; that is.to say, if the replies to any'of them were from disembodied spirits, they'were all from''disembodied spirits. They were clearly not all from disembodied spirits, for-two of tho betters' were addressed ■ te' persons, and the" replies were'of the. same, character, as the others. The' logical ■ conclusion ■is inevitable that none of the replies were from disembodied,spirits. To put it in' the simple form 1 of a.syllogism, we have the following:— The replies to the fivo letters,wore alj from .the same source. •" . ■ • ; . -~"■ . Two of them wero Dot from disembodied spirits.- '.. '.. - ' .■■■•. /' ''. Therefore, none of them were from disembodied spirits. . ■ ■ . ■ The power to produce the slate-writing 'emanated either from disembodied spirits or from tho niedium. .... . ~-■',■ It did not. emanate from disembodied spirits. '■"■'■ » . . •■• , . .. ... j. ■ •••Therefore;- it emanated from the medium. There'w'as nothing apparent in the answers to the-'five letters mentioned which would'mdicate , that they emanated from any gource other than the medium. They contained no information possessed exclusively by disembodied spirits, although . they all, purported to emanate from them.. S.he five fetters were not, however, .framed for the -purpose-of testing the knowledge; possessed 'by spirits, but merely te show that the. repties did not emanate from-,that source. ..

A Crucial Test, . The sixth letter, however, was framed for the express purpose of testing the knowledge possessed by the intelligence which moved tho pencil. The question, "Whom do yon deeiro to haro anointed administrator ■ oi

your estate?" was asked becauso the sitter did not know the correct answer, and ho know that tho medium could not know..Tho knowledge.was possessed by the deceased person exclusively; and it is reasonable to suppose that if he was present, as tho medium declared that lie was, lie would havo given the desired information. Tho intelligence which wrote, the replies was in full possession of tho contents" of/all the , letters, all the nanies addressed, and all tho signatures, including those- of tho sixth letter. Tho answers to five of them wore peifcinent, and intelligent,,no specific knowledge being -required. But when the sixth was reached,'tho spirit "could not communicate ' to-day." Why? Simply because the specific knowledge required to answer tho question was not in tho possession of anyone present, and it could not, therefore, be obtained telepathically, as the knowledge of tho contents of th« other letters was obtained. This is tho rock upon which all so-called spirit intercourse splits. , Evorything goes along swimmingly as long as tho medium knows what, to reply, or can obtain information by moans or his telepathic or clairvoyant powers. But the moment ho is confronted by a question requiring knowledge not obtainable in that way ho fails dismally. Mr! Hudson says ho has' reluctantly come to the conclusion "that there is.no valid eyidencp in-tho phenomena of so-called spiritism, that the spirits of tho dead have any part in their production." He does not on this account for a moment yield his convictions of a life beyond- the grave. - "On the contrary," he writes, "tho very powers which H aro evoked in--the production of the phenomena constitute one of the strongest links in tho chain of evidence going to show that man possesses within '■ himself an entity wliiuh' docs not depend for its existence upon the continued life of .the body." ,

In an advertisement in another part of this issue Mr. Wm. M'Lean states that ho will reply to correspondence in reference to tho Bailey seances in tho, course of a day or two.'. The second-seance is to be held tomorrow evening. ■ '. .'.' ",••'.••