IN THE SPIRIT WORLD.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVI, Issue 14498, 9 October 1907, Page 3

IN THE SPIRIT WORLD.

: (Melbourne “ Argus.”) In a little, dimly-lighted room iu the heart of the city there assembled, a tew nights ago a small band of persons whose religion consists of communion with spirits. On almost any night o the week you may attend such a gathering, and, hawing paid one mm - ing, you may dip into the spirit won through the agency of a medium, frequently a prize in the shape of a message from the unseen will reward you. Sometimes you draw a blank. . -t>n , medium as a rule trades fairly, will give you your money s worth u « bo at all possible. The invisible puts on visibility. New planets swun into your ken, and things undreamt or in your philosophy will be made known to you from regions astral. , On the evening in question about a score of person© — all sad-lookmg, pale-faced women—-having P al d , door-keeper the shilling entrance tee t the spirit world, gathered m a naircircle round a pretty, dark-coxnplexio - ©d woman of about thirty. She wa tho medium In the chair a stout, extremely pale, middle-aged man presided.- There was something creepy about the surroundings. The walls of ,tne little apartment were hung with pictures of noted spiritualists, among whom Madame Blavatsky occupied a prominent place. There were colour schemes,” representing the visions ot spiritualistic seers. The gas globes were red-tinted., Tho company was silent and expectant. Upon the table at which the thaumaturgist sat was a collection of articles suggesting a fancy goods stall at a bazaar. Bach of the persons present had placed there a means bv which the medium was enabled to hold high converse with the The silence was broken by the chairman giving out a hymn- It ' was an adaptation of Cardinal Newman s lemons “ Lead, Kindly Light,” and bcBan— - . “Lead, spirits bright, ’midst earths encir- , cling gloom; Lead ye me onl”

Tli© singing over, tile medium addressed an invoca rive prayer to the spirits, and then, after shaking her head a few times, as if to produce clarity of spiritual vision, she began her work upon the articles on the table. The first- was apparently a photograph, wrapped in newspapei. “I feel/’ she said, as she fingered the paper, “ that this article has been placed here - by someone in need of a mossagw. fool that tliero .lias been some depression in. the life of the person who put this- here. To whom does the article belong?” A young lady acknowledged the . ownership. , , “ Am I not right P” asked the me- . drum.- . , - . The young . lady, greatly impressed, replied “Yes.” , . “I feel,” the medium continued, “that the person whose photograph this is has passed out.” _ “ Passed out/’ which is _ generally considered to be a colloquialism, appears to be the spiritualists’ way of describing the dead. _ The young lady, in . reply to the question, said, Yes, he has.” Then the medium felt that the subject of the picture was a male. .“Yes, he is,” was the answer. The medium was doing really well when dis■t aster overtook her. She felt that the 'male had suffered a lingering illness. ‘ “No,” promptly rejoined owner of the picture; “he.was killed.’’ “ Now, do not misunderstand me, .the medium persisted; “he lingered some time after the accident. But ' 'this, too, was wrong. The young man 'had been killed outright. The medium, however, was equal .to the occasion. She felt that the young man had suffered from a “ weakness in the back ’ at one time, and had not complained of it. She cheered her questioner, however, with an affectionate message from the spirit world, and assured her.,that the young ~ man had made great spiritual advance. The next article was a look of hair. The medium again felt that the person who put the hair on the table was m ■ need of help. Whose was it ? The door- -■ ’ keeper explained that he had brought ' it to the meeting on "behalf of a friend ■ who wished to know whether the lady ■whose hair it was would recover from . • an illness. ~ ■ She has been ill some time? ques- ■ tioned the medium. This was correct. . “ I feel that there is a falling away—- • that she is getting thin.” Oh, no; she was gaining weight. “ Then why do I feel this peculiar -magnetic current which tells of a falling .’away?”-demanded the medium. By • the way, who is George?” “ I am,” the doorkeeper replied witti an amused laugh. ,i.. ; ■ “ Ah, I thought so. Well, I feel that the lady is becoming weaker. I would advise magnetic treatment. Her illness is not incurable.” “ Thanks,” replied George gratefully. The subsequent procec lings interestled George no more. He fell into a noisy and altogether unspiritual slum- .. her .The seekers after truth took no 'notice as the sounds of sleep roso and '“fell in unmusical cadence. They were too engrossed in the excursions of the "medium. . , The next article was a ring. As she ‘fingered it, the medium felt that the person who brought it had strong mag''netic powers, and would, if he .cultivated thom,."become a good medium. A .very urimagnetic-looking septuagenarian claimed the ring- The medium informed him that he should have de-, ▼eloped his magnetic powers years ago. 'Who was Jack? , Jack, George, William and Thomas are the’ stock male names. The female ■ names are Elizabeth, Sarah and Mary. " There are not many persons who have not a relative called by one of these . names. “Jack” on this occasion was ' the man who had owned the ring. He ■ is in need of counsel,” hazarded the medium. “Yes ho is not well, the nnmagnetic seeker answered. The medium ventured to assert that Jack ■ was dissatisfied, which was true the septuagenarian said, as he was always shifting about. He was counselled to . he more contented, as things were not bo had as they appeared. Then a pocket-book was held up. «Dot ist mein,” a young man ©xd^ou do not belong to an EnglishBpeaking family,” the medium asM "No, I kom from Sout Africa,” answered the young man, marvelling at the medium’s discernment. ' “ As I feel this article, the medium rontinued, “I seem to hear the sound ■of- guns. You have been near a war •or fight?” 7 .. , . , “ Dot was so,” was the delighted ronlv. The young foreigner was advised not to he restless, and if he decided ‘ upon what he was now thinking of he would he successful if he exer<nsed_ care. Did he know' someone named LouisYes, he did. And someone named Johann. n “Yes, several beoplo of dot name. Ah, she thought so. After this display of power, an elderly lady claimed a letter. The medium, : felt that this letter had been written by a near relative. Yes, it had. It had come across water ? Yes. bhe knew that because there was a break in the magnetism, and water always broke the current. The writer was Very dear to the questioner ? No, the questioner had never seen the writer. The medium was never discouraged

by adverse replies. It was made dear to everybody that this letter, having lain in a drawer with others, had acquired some magnetism from the bundle of letters. Nevertheless, a message was obtained from tho spirit-world, al- ; though tho writer had “ passed out ” | twenty-five years ago. The medium sa w “ a form building I ui) ” behind the owner of tho letter. There was actually a form there, sitting bolt upright. It was George, the doorkeeper, snoring loudly. On the outside of the circle sat a sadeyed pale youth. “ "Who was William?” he was asked. He was. Ab ! sho thought so. He did a good deal of writing? Yes. (A pencil was sticking conspicuously out of bis pocket.} Was .there not another William? No. I “Come now, think,” said the medium persuasively. “Why do I feel I the magnetism of William from the spirit world?” i The material William thought awhile. At last his face cleared. “My greatgrandfather’s name was William,” he said. i “ All, I thought so. Why did you not sav so before?” '“He’s so very dead,” answered the material William. “ Passed out,” corrected the medium reprovingly. “ It’s about a century ago,” pursued William. “It does not master how long ago,” the medium continued; and, while William wondered at _ the facility with which she raised a bridge over tho gulf of time, she brought a message from the great-grandfather telling him not to worry over the matter about which

he had doubts, as all would be well and his .material prosperity -would increase. This concluded the ecance. The chairs were pushed back. The noise awoke George, who, with a final splutter of an interrupted snore, stood to attention at the entrance as the company filed out.