ALLEGED SPIRITUAL MAINTFESTATIONS IN THE WAIRARAPA

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 6918, 23 July 1884, Page 4

ALLEGED SPIRITUAL MAINTFESTATIONS IN THE WAIRARAPA

A Country Editor,) by request, the followf New Zealand Mail :— last month or two it^has B^^pM^t;een-in my mind to write a brief •:** 'Series of alleged spiritual which have taken place in |^^^P|s^pitrts of the Wairarapa district. ■^^^^f:^t. present live there, but I am 'a newspaper published in l^^^is^ndtvvhich I frequently visit, and HB^ffif^way the i origin and progress of ■^^^^|ajLted ." Spiritualistic " movement H^@rae.;' closely under my observation, to say at the very outset mob' a believer in • which is Hl^^P^^pivitualisni," and that I prop^l|™T>^7l t° describe certain manifesm^'s^hioh came partly under my own Hgif||?fttio |]i ; and partly under that of Bb E^spereons whom I know to be thoj^ra m|tly) honorable, truthful, and trusstFIRST EXPERIENCE. HH Pp^titwo months ago, when chatting ■H^^^ifijr.^end, '. Mr W. C. Nation, the %toir jpf . the Wairarapa Standard, ia at Oreytown, the ■K^Mcßtiori turned upon the subject of H^^Sp|ritualisra." I expressed myself as Hmpjfffg;Boeptioal about the whole .business, |^^^^n||^r.. Nation offered to show me, in H^D^rjbqin'iu .which we were sitting, some J^lßenomena which would surprise me. MB^hereWere present the members of the B^|mllyX including Mrs N., and four girls, Bsj||f|&g'BS V ar ying from eight to eighteen W^M'rs.i ,: Thore .was also a young lady B^^aitorV a Miss 0, , aged about sixteen. A ■Sp|!f!!^&! i. formed of five persons, who laid |^^|i^iflnds lightly on the top of a heavy Bp^pffiipg table^ the hands of any one person Ba||wt! i touchin p those of another. In a j^^^o^ple? of iDiuuteß the table began to and then to move round slowly. soon became quicker, |^^n|USthe table spun round as fast as ■^^hoae forming tha circle could move with El§l!sp:The- 'table was a heavy one, with solid centre support, and it was imto suppose that it could have by the exertion of muscular the part of those whose hands Eragratfed JightJy on its top. (Miss C.) then placed the |jffi||ip^of her right hand fingers op the top backof a chair. The ohair moved B^jf^§i»dly foiand the room, the young lady it lightly in the manner and using no force to cause I said, " The chair will not move- " Try," ehe replied. I knelt and grasped, the chair firmly by its 1 , I found that, although I If l^poSBeBB; cotißiderable muscular power, I I the chair still. It wriggled i |p|in-vj6rked with great force. Thea I sat H glpg^n^on!' the floor with my back against 1 ||ui|fo#ali; 'and in that posture grasped two 1 P^gs'of .the chair. The attempt to hold it i^is|lfewaß useless. Gradually the chair -towards me, until the top of it |p|||iz%&ed° ray face and head against the wall. llpAlt.the time the young lady was only this volition-poßseased chair with ||||fn;@stip of oue finger. 1 W%M$B I s-- ! •■?* tll . e cnildreQ » "Bella," aged who is a wonderful medium, then down at the table with a slate before g||p|!i^rand a pencil in her hand. The announced their presence by on the table. A number of questions l^^e^'put^.'and the child "Bella" being i |||^jSß|jmed to be under the influence of the 1 pl^jsplrits,' 1 wrote answers on the slate. 1 Illllgme.Off these communications were very iSreniarkable, but this phase of the subject explained later on,. "Bella," ||||#h'ile.^in this trance state, was blindK|old'edi and in that state filled the slate P||^)ihVcblumns of figures, thirty or foity deep, added them up, and sefc down Iptji&.sum total. On examination, it was |||found that the addition of thi*B mass of ipllJjair&sV done blindfolded, wa3 perfectly ; 1 ||||r<r^ ;-•' ,THE MOVEMENT ORIGINATED AND 1 lltt'^ l^ 15 1N THE WAI ? ABA . PA DISTRICT. I ' course of inquiries which I |||ai tec wards made, I found that the phenoformed the subject investigation all over the ||||$airarapa Valley, and even as far as _ At the present moment Iplftivate ; " circles " have been formed where ; throughont the districts. t pmb of the Ghurch people denounce the ||i&PYement, but others of their body met ffiu|psecret, conclave, and try to obtain |||^;jnanif estations. ' ' 'origin of this movement in the dates rather more than a year ; AThe story of its rise and progress WS&*s?fy^interesting. ' . IPliij^arch, 1883, it was noticed that a |||littie;girl r named v Bertha," only 10 yeara one of Mr Nations daughters, of K possessed the mysterious &^|wer of causing a small rotmd table or a ; move across tthe room by the of the hand — sometimes Illflpfch Vtpne. .finger ©nly. Not knowK^U|g^ any thing of what is termed the family could not ; for this strange power. It either the table or the bewitched, and Mr Nation j||§ qnSe. 1 , .remarked to Bertha one day that ||||(Mi£r ;^ould have to "stone her with or drown or burn her as a witch, had better choose which it should ||||B&^ ; £n isi little while they discovered that ||tetMrefy was -'an intelligent force at work. said, (t Move the table todoor,". the table straightway WMjiiiii&Q the^required movement. " I then," v ;Nation, "arranged that when e / ans * er -should be 'yes;' the table tilt slightly three times, according &M|p^the.'number of letters in the word, and K||iilt£^ice for .' no.' " llf^i^'Vi' SURPRISING • MANIFESTATIONS. Nation then continues :— " This answered admirably, and we were at the answers given to all soits One evening the table roße floor with the hands upon ifc, over upon another table, evening I said, « If I hide in, dark;.; can the table find me P ' It p%^B%ye;ilir:ee tilts, 1 and I stole away noisethe dining-room to the parlor, I "crouched behind an arm-chair in ; After waiting, I suppose, five g^^injitea, Bertha said, • Find papa.' Imthe table moved across the floor i fdiiijng-room, through the hall, and making straight over to when it bowed over and topi throwing the three claws right over the back, as much as behind the chair.' This puzzled the household exceedDisepvering such intelligence, we itfup with many questions, and startled by the replies— some to matter which oc- :" ; mVny years before. Fearing lest g^^ire ,|;8hou:ld bei delusion or some sibout the whole thiug, : fit .away from us. One day, how.the children Were at their around : a large round table, one i||pfM£pf^ :■ : it waß suddenly, raised where IP^ert.bai': was standing, ' and the others J put; to her not to do it. "It isn't ||||isioaid Bertha. " Ican't help it." I fea^ivrha.b was the cause, and said, "Put to the table." She did so, and gj^gtnediately the table rose again as mtmgrfiS ;Wfe \ now decided to thoroughly phenomena, and Bertha, IraP^K^^iP-^.'-'in'.-ber hand, one evening word; "Amy i. Then a rather followed./ The ,began : now to; get - the put. some severe ; HBR^ i 'SKBIT GDkDB ' I bKndf pided Bertha to' find kuidfi& her ;.pen i ■u'nepn-t:':^-h-??^^ ?y e^ were. ban. m^^^^M§^9^vt^4^i a parallel- witli hxcpjfy'as without the ban-

there not orossed, I called attention to it, and her hand was taken back and the defecta remedied, S3fflH?lindfolded, B ho copied some lines frc^ftpffiook, the leaves of which I had jueWufrned over, and which, it was impossible for her io see with heir natural eyes. This startled us still more, but since then, without her natural sight, she has deacribed pictures, put down sums upon the slate and worked them out, and played o's and X's as well as any of the family. This has been done in the presence of visitors. If we are asked by what power Bertha does this, the reply ia •• Amy," and this Amy says she is her spirit guide, WHAT THE BPIBITS WISH. There are two or three other young girls in Grey town who have what purports to be spirit control, and so powerfully that, with the finger tips upon the table, two men are sometimes unable to keep the table still. We are told by these unseen intelligences that the mere moving of tables, &c, is not their mission. It is by this means and by knockings that they try to gain the attention of mortals ; but they are now anxious that our family Bhould leave these things behind and seek something more instructive. They occasionally Bhow spirit lights, and have even shown a materialised hand in the midst of the circle.. All that I have stated has taken place in my house, and, with the exception of discerning the spirit lights and the materialised hand, can be seen in the light of the noonday sun. My experience is that if the matter is taken up with a Bincere desire to know the troth, and conducted without a spirit of levity , the highest teachings and the most excellent advice for everyday life are given ; while solemn warnings are uttered if the duties and responsibilities of this life are set at nought. Such is Mr Nations somewhat remarkable statement. There Is no doubt whatever that the manifestations described actually occurred. As to the cause and meaning of those manifestations I do not offer any opinion. On this point Mr Nation says :— •" There are witnesses to all the phenomena which I have described, and I challenge anyone to disprove them." DETAILS OF QUESTIONS AND KBPLIBS. . The following are some instances of questions" put and answered at various stances held in Mr Nations house and in the houses of other families : — The name of the daughter of a Maori chief was written down one night (four months ago), and upon questioning her, the replies were in every way satisfactory as to her identity. She requested that I should tell her father that she and her brother Alex, were far happier where they were, and he must not grieve. I said, " If I tell your father that, he will say, 'How do I know that Emily sent that message?' therefore you must tell me something that will convince him." The reply came instantly, " Aak him if he remembers giving me a gold ring ; it was too big for me, and he said I might keep it until I was married." I went to the chief and very carefully sounded him, and found that it was quite correct — indeed, all that we had been told. On another occasion she told me to ask her. mother if she remembered giving her a pink shawl. (b) A female died in the local hospital not many weeks ago, and communicated one evening with a family who were investigating Spiritualism. Upon giving the name, Bhe was closely questioned upou many points, and so perfect were her descriptions and truthful her remarks that the family are now thorough believers in spirit communications. (c) A young man (a fortnight ago) was afterwards invited to prove the reality of spirit communion at the house of this same family, and though he never thought about the matter before, his hand was controlled to write his brother's name. Astounded and unbelieving, he put a series of test questions extending back to the days of boyhood, and the answers were so satisfactory that he gave in his adhesion to Spiritualism, THE EXPERIENCES OF MA.OEI CHIEFS— THE SPIRIT-LIGHTS APPEAB. (d) During the sitting of the Land Court at Grey town five weeks ago, six Maori chicf 8 asked to see the phenomena, and an evening was set apart for them at my house. They were all intelligent men. Sam Mahupuka, well-known as one of the best native oratorß and a man of great influence throughout the Wairarapa Valley was present. They were Bhown the movements of the table, and Sam was asked to hold it still while a young girl's hand was in contact with it. Sara tried hard, and another native was asked to help him, but both failed. This amazed the company. Then a large round table was moved round, and when the request was asked, "Move it round the other way," it was instantly complied with. Then a lady visitor sat down* at a small round table, and I asked that the spirits would rap and they did so — everyone hearing the raps distinctly. I said, " Can you rap out the tune ' There is a happy land,'" and this was complied with. The room was then cleared, and a , horße-shoe shaped circle was formed. The medium, who had only been entranced once before, took her seat in the armchair, and a circle of about eight persons joined bands. In about two minutes the medium was in a deep state of trance, andjjiu a quarter of an hour a beautiful light appeared at the feet of the medium. This grew, and then appeared like a beautiful fleecy cloud, about the height of a chair, i with a bright light at the top. I asked this vapoury form to come into the circle ; it did bo. I asked that it would dissolve or "go out " where it atoed ;it did so, and then it came forth again. This I was witneaßed by over twelve persons that evening, and every one will vouch for the correctness of my statement. The natives wore awestruck, and talked together in their own tongue, calling to remembrance which they had seen in their younger days. Before the missionaries came they always had communication with departed spirits; the missionaries, however, forbade it. After the enhancement, Sam Mahupuku took a piece of chalk and held it to the slate. Almost immediately he was compelled to write the name of one of their ancestors.. (The name I cannot spell.) Now, he had never had anything to do with spiritualism before — he had never tried to move a table or write. When the natives saw the name upon the slate, they looked at Sam, and Sam looked at them, and they got intensely interested. I said, "You must prove this, to see if correct. " They asked where he lived. "Mahia" was the next writing. Several questions followed, the natives asking them in Maori, and they were perfectly satisfied of the md entity of the individual, the answers being all correct. This departed spirit told them that he learned to write in the school at Owyhee, where Captain Cook was killed. As to the descriptions of spirits-lights. ' Sometimes they are like glow-worms in the dark, or corruscationß of light flitting to and fro in this form * ' * . These, I iudge, are afterwards consolidated. Then we also discern a phosphorescent vapory substance, and can watch it move across the circle. The " spirit-h«nd "we saw appeared in this form, and this has been seen twice. . - (To he continued.)'