THE SHADY SIDE OF SPIRITISM.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 16960, 11 April 1917, Page 7

THE SHADY SIDE OF SPIRITISM.

"A MONEY-MAKING GAME."

By STUART CUMBERLAND, the Well-known Thought-reader, In tiij London Da-j y Miail.

In this advanced, enlghtened twentieth century it does indeed seem wonderful that the old-time spiritism, wish its unsound pretensions and palpable little tricks,' all of wliieli the hard-head-ed had come to accent as things of the past, should flourish so strongly in our niiJst. ■ ■

But the hankering after the occult, the desire to lift the veil and peep into the future, has ever been with us and never really dies. With some it is an honest, deep belief, amounting almost to a religion; with others just a pose or a meretooney making game. It is this deep conviction of the true believer which has given tone to the movement and, at the, same time, n:r.de possible much of .the chicanery attached to it. No argument will convince the out-and-out believer that thi« or that manifestation alle£=d to hay« in his presence or t-rough his own mediumship is merely the outcome of ex-pecta-.on or false deductions. ./ith him the dfference between facts and inference from facts has no actual existence, c:jd as he has convinced himself of the genuineness of the manifestations which he alleges hav-j been personally vouchsafed him, he declines to see trickery in other drections and resents as an attaclc on his own genuineness of belief the unmasking of other people's trickery. In my endeavours to arrive at the truth in connection -with so-called " spirit manifestations" 1 have, it goes without saying, incurred the condemnation of those worthy folk whose aims and convictions have my profound respect instead of receiving their approval in weeding the cause of its palpable impostures. At an early age I. commenced my investigations with much enthusiasm and a perfe.:iy open mind. The University of Oxford -n. 3 good,enough to be interested in my work and, on a signed request, my tint exposition was given in the Hall of Christ Church, which was Lindly placed at my disposal for that purpose. About that time the Church had become -eomewhat alarmed at t~3 spread of this spiritualistic movement and "V the little tricks of the trade that went with it; ; and at the Church Congress at Newcastle an important feature of tlie programme was "The Duty of the Church towards Spiritualism and Infidelity." I-had. the honour of being invited to speak «,t tuis congress in the Town Hall,, Newcastle, where I was by several years the yr--Ti.--r.st speaker. '

1 shortly afterwards went to the West, followed by a visit to the East, in pursuit of ■ my investigations, hoping upon hope that 1 should eventually find some genuine instance of occult manifestation. I heard much about the alleged miraculous from people whose honesty of purpose was beyond question and whose veracity was above suspicion; and I saw much to which an occult origin wa<s attached but the. assumed "ceci:!..-cm of which proved,»on the one 'hand, to be the outcome of highly strung expectation or false sensorial impressions or, on the other, to be the result of skilfully applied chicanery.' '-" ■-,■;, .-'. , ;-■..'{

1 In a word, I have never yet in any land or wiih any medium or adept discovered any alleged occult manifesta^ tion that was nob explicable upon a perfectly natural basis and which in the majority of 'instances could not be humanly duplicated under precisely i similar conditions. This, as the true believer would say, has been my misfortune. But there it is. So inherent is this hankering after the supernatural in human nature that many would much rather seek for a supernatural than a naturae1 explanation of what may seem mysterious or out of the way to them. .It is just this longing in human nature upon which these psychic frauds are preying to-day.

To-day, with its heavy death toll and fateful uncertainty so' closely affecting every; section of the community, is indeed the moment for the practitioners on the shady side of spiritism. There is a natural desire among the bereaved, or those in doubt as to the actual facts surrounding the- " missing," to seek for news and guidance unobtainable through the ordinary channels. These credulous folk are told x that this or that medium is a real wonder who has given such and such person the most astounding revelations. So what has been | vouchsafed others can quite well be revealed to them. Hence the run upon the plausible "crooks," who so readily trade upon their credulity. The foolish, credulous dupes never for a moment consider the utter ineongruousnesjS of the association of their beloved dead or missing with tnc~e professional " spookists." J.t never enters their heads that if the spirit of anyone dear to them could return at all it would be to them, direct that his return would be manifested, and that to have to go to some strange "crook" and part wiwi money for the privilege of being put in touch with tne spirit is the height of absurdity. They are told that they themselves are not 'mediuimstic' and that it is only tlirough the truly 'mediumistic' that such communications are possible. Besides it is the fashion or " the t-vng" to go to these mediums, who, "poor dears," must live and who are entitled to payment for the exhaustion they frequently . undergo in getting in touch witl. the spirits. No labourer, in is as worthy of iiis hire as one m the spiritual vineyard.

And the wine he presses as he rakes in the notes is the flow of tears from the orrowful and distressed.

It is not only a shady businea but it is a cruel and mean one, and shoxU be put an end to. If the foolish cannot or will not protect themselves, they must be protected against their own folly. Smith - Dorrien's crusade against vice had for its object the wellbeing of the young soldier; but the vice, in all its alluring naturalness of

which he complains is, to put it quite bluntly, mild in its injurious effects as compared with the possibilities of harm arising to these soldiers' sorrowing relatives in their pursuit of the unnaturfl. Any mental authority will testify, to the men't^l dangers associated with such practices.

Tiiere is not sp--~ for me here in which to relate my impressions and experiences of spirits 1 have known, together with other phases of the socalled occult. It forms too ilong a story, I would, however, like to say that I am desirous of extending my knowledge of spiritism and occultism os as to include the latest exponents of the mystic art. lam quite open to conviction and should rejoice to h'nd something which under proper test conditions and with due investigation proved itself beyond question the outcome of spirit power. A manifestation which is capable of being demonstrated can alone be beyond question" when done under conditions from wheh all chances of trickery are eliminated. There are apparently, forms of "spirit power," winch, while not depending upon outward and visible demonstrations for their proof, claim to give tne inquirer glimpses of the past, present, and future. They, too, clipped of thenpatter and ungraspable ambiguousness, are interesting in their way as showing on what lines certain spirits alone can or will work.

Honestly the whole of my inquiring, investigating soul goes out to all: the bootless materialised form in white, the three dead friends on tne slips of paper, the passing of matter through matter, the sepulchral voice that comes from Beyond finally to find escape through the mediums' own mouth, the clutcning spirit-controlled hand that scribbles endless messages from the other world regardless of the shortage of paper m this. Xes, lam ready and eager +o become acquainted with them all and to make known to the world the truth that in them is.