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The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1859 > August
August
Furniture from Beyond the GraveWe extracted the following passage from a letter sent by a corresponding
member of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies, from
Jura County:
“As I told you Sir, the spirits liked our old dwelling. In October last (1858) lady Countess C…, a close friend of my daughters, came over with her 8 year old son to spend a few days in our mansion. The child slept in the same room as his mother and the door between my daughter’s room remained open, so as to prolong the hours and the conversation. The boy, who was awake, told his mother: “What are you going to do with this man that is seating by your bed? He smokes a big pipe. Look how the room is full of smoke! Send him away ‘because he is shaking the curtains.’”
“Such vision lasted the whole evening. The mother was unsuccessful in trying to quiet the boy and nobody could sleep. This event did not scare my daughter or me since we know that the spiritist manifestations do happen. The mother, however, thought that the child was sleep-talking or making fun of us.”
“Here is another fact that I personally witnessed, which happened in the same room in May 1858. It is the case of the apparition of the spirit of a living person, who was really surprised for having come to visit me. I was very sick, not having slept for a long time when I saw a friend of the family seating by my bed, at about 10 pm. I manifested my surprise for having his visit at such late hours. He said: - Don’t speak because I came to watch you; don’t speak because you do need to sleep – and then he extended his hand over my head. I opened my eyes several times to check if he was still there and each time he would make a sign for me to close my eyes and be quiet. He played with the “snuff-box” between his fingers and from time to time he smoked, as usual. I finally slept and when I woke up the vision had gone.”
“As I told you Sir, the spirits liked our old dwelling. In October last (1858) lady Countess C…, a close friend of my daughters, came over with her 8 year old son to spend a few days in our mansion. The child slept in the same room as his mother and the door between my daughter’s room remained open, so as to prolong the hours and the conversation. The boy, who was awake, told his mother: “What are you going to do with this man that is seating by your bed? He smokes a big pipe. Look how the room is full of smoke! Send him away ‘because he is shaking the curtains.’”
“Such vision lasted the whole evening. The mother was unsuccessful in trying to quiet the boy and nobody could sleep. This event did not scare my daughter or me since we know that the spiritist manifestations do happen. The mother, however, thought that the child was sleep-talking or making fun of us.”
“Here is another fact that I personally witnessed, which happened in the same room in May 1858. It is the case of the apparition of the spirit of a living person, who was really surprised for having come to visit me. I was very sick, not having slept for a long time when I saw a friend of the family seating by my bed, at about 10 pm. I manifested my surprise for having his visit at such late hours. He said: - Don’t speak because I came to watch you; don’t speak because you do need to sleep – and then he extended his hand over my head. I opened my eyes several times to check if he was still there and each time he would make a sign for me to close my eyes and be quiet. He played with the “snuff-box” between his fingers and from time to time he smoked, as usual. I finally slept and when I woke up the vision had gone.”
“Several circumstances demonstrate that during the time of such an
unexpected visit I was perfectly awake and that it was not a dream. When
he really visited me for the first time I was careful enough to thank him.
He had the same “snuff-box” in his hand and held the same nice smile
that he showed when watching me.”
Since he attested that he had not come and that there was no reason
for him to come to spend the night by my side, I understood that it was
his spirit only that had come to visit me while his body rested peacefully
at his house.”
The apparitions are so numerous that it would be impossible to register
all of those of our knowledge or those from which we know about from
perfectly authentic sources. As a matter of fact, now that the facts are
explained; that we are aware of how they happen and that they belong to
the laws of nature, we know that there is nothing wonderful about them.
We have already provided the complete theory of the apparitions thus we
will only recollect in a few words for a good understanding of what comes
next.
We know that besides the material, corporeal envelope the spirit has
another one, semi-material, which we call the perispirit. Death is the destruction
of the first body only. In the errant state the spirit maintains the
perispirit that constitutes a kind of ethereal body, invisible to us in the
normal state. The spirits populate space. If, on a given moment, the veil that hides them were lifted, we would see an immense population agitating
around us, walking on air. We have them permanently around us,
observing us and frequently meddling with our businesses and pleasures,
according to their character. The invisibility is not a permanent property
of the spirits. Sometimes they show up under the same appearance that
they had when alive and it is not rare to find persons who, searching deep
into their memories, have knowledge of any fact of this kind. The theory
of the apparitions is very simple and it is explained through a very familiar
comparison such as the vapor that in the gaseous state is completely
invisible. On the first level of condensation it becomes foggy; condensed
further it changes to the liquid state and then to the solid. Something
similar takes place with the substance of the perispirit by the will of the
spirit. In fact, this is not more than a comparison, as we said, since we do
not wish to identify one with the other. We use the example of the vapor
to show the changes that may occur in an invisible body, but there is no
inference from this that there is a condensation of the perispirit, in the
actual meaning of the word. There is a molecular change in the material
that forms the perispirit that makes it visible and even tangible, and that
can give it, to a certain extent, the properties of the solid bodies. We know
that bodies, which are perfectly transparent, may become opaque by a
simple change in the position of the molecules or by the addition of another
body, equally transparent. We don’t know well what the spirits do to
make their ethereal bodies visible. The majority of them don’t even realize
that but from the examples we have mentioned, we understand its physical
possibility, which is enough to remove from the phenomenon what
could seem, at first sight, supernatural. Hence the spirit can do it through
a simple intrinsic modification or by the assimilation of an amount of
strange fluid that momentarily alters the appearance of their perispirit. It
is, in reality, this latter hypothesis that sticks out from the explanations
that have been given to us and that we have reported when discussing the
subject (Review, May, June and December 1858).
Up until now, there is no difficulty regarding the personality of the
spirit. We know, however, that they show up wearing outfits whose aspect they change at will; sometimes they even show some accessories of toilet,
jewelry, etc. In the two apparitions mentioned above one had a pipe that
produced smoke; the other a snuff-box, taking a snuff from time to time.
Notice, however, that this spirit was that of a living person and that his
snuff-box was totally similar to the one that he normally used, and that
it was at his house. What is the meaning then of those pipe, snuff-box,
clothes and jewelry? Do the material objects that exist on Earth have a
representation in the invisible world? Would the condensed matter, which
forms those objects, have a quintessential component that escapes our
senses? This is a huge problem whose solution may provide the key to a
number of things so far inexplicable. It was that “snuff-box” that gave us
the hint not only about the fact but also about the most extraordinary
phenomenon of Spiritism: the phenomenon of the pneumatography or
direct writing that we will discuss below.
If some criticize us due to the fact that we are advancing too much
in the theory, we will respond that once we find an opportunity to advance
we don’t see a reason to fall behind. If they are still looking to the
turning tables not knowing why they turn, that is not a reason for us
to stay put in the path. Spiritism is, no doubt, a science of observation,
but it is perhaps even more a Science of reasoning and reason is the only
means that can make it progress and triumph over certain resistances.
Such fact is only contested because it is not understood. The explanation
removes the character of wonderful, referring it to the general
laws of nature. That is why we see on a daily basis people who have
seen nothing and believe just because they understand, while others
have seen and don’t believe because they don’t understand. This takes
Spiritism to the path of reason, making it acceptable to those who want
to know the “why” and the “how” of all things and their number is large
in this century since the blind belief is no longer in our culture. Well, if
we had only pointed to the route and would have the clean conscience of
having contributed to the progress of this new science, we would fulfill
the object of our constant studies.
Let us return to our “snuff-box”.
Every theory we presented, with respect to Spiritism, was given to us
by the spirits, who have contradicted our own ideas many times. This
is consistent with the present case and illustrates the answers were not a
reaction of our thoughts. But the way by which a solution is obtained is
not something without importance. We know from our own experience
that it is not good enough to request something in order to obtain it. The
answers are not always very explicit; it is necessary to develop the subject
with certain precautions; progressively get to the objective and through
a chain of deductions that require previous work. In principle, the way
of formulating the questions, the order, the method and the clarity are
things that cannot be neglected and that please the serious spirits, for they
see the serious objective in all that.
Here is the conversation we had with the spirit of St. Louis, regarding
the “snuff-box”, aiming at solving the problem of formation of certain
objects in the invisible world (Society, June 24th 1859).
1. The report of Mrs. R…, it is related to a child that saw a man
smoking a big pipe near his mother’s bed. It is understandable
that the man could have taken the appearance of a smoker; it
seems, however, that he was really smoking, considering that the
boy saw the room full of smoke. What was that smoke?
- An appearance produced for the boy.
2. Mrs. R… also mentions the case of an apparition of the spirit of
a living person, seen by her. That spirit had a snuff-box and took
snuffs from time to time. Could he have experienced the sensation
that we have when taking a snuff?
- No.
3. The snuff-box was like the one he customary uses and that was
at his house. What was that snuff-box in the hands of the spirit?
- Always appearance. It was for the circumstances to be noticed,
as they were, and for the apparition not to be taken
as a hallucination produced by the health condition of the
clairvoyant. The spirit wanted that lady to believe in the reality of his presence thus taking all the appearance of
reality.
4. You say it is an appearance but an appearance has nothing real; it
is like an optical illusion. I would like to know if that snuff-box is
not an unreal image only, like for example, that of an object that
reflects from a mirror.
NOTE: One of the members of the Society, Mr. Sanson, observes
that in the image reproduced by the mirror there is something
real. If the image does not stick to the mirror it is because there
is nothing to fixate it, but if it is projected onto a daguerreotype
plate it leaves an impression, an evident proof that it is produced
by some sort of substance and that it is not an optical illusion
only.
- Mr. Sanson’s observation is perfectly fair. Could you kindly
tell us if there is any analogy with the snuff-box, that is, if
there is anything of material with that snuff-box?
- Certainly. It is with the support of that material principle that
the perispirit takes the appearance of outfits similar to the
ones that the spirit wore when alive.
OBSERVATION: The word appearance must evidently be taken
here as an image, an imitation. The real snuff-box was not there.
What the spirit had was only a reproduction. Compared to the original,
it was only an appearance yet formed by a material principle.
Experience teaches us that we must not take certain expressions
used by the spirits literally. By interpreting them according to our
own ideas we expose ourselves to blunder hence we need to investigate
further the meaning of their words, whenever there is the
smallest ambiguity. That is a constant recommendation made by
the spirits. Without the explanation that we provoked the word appearance, continuously repeated in similar cases, could give rise
to a false interpretation.
5. Would there be an extension of the inert matter? Would there
be, in the invisible world, an essential matter, covering the form
of the objects that we see? In one word, would these objects have
their double ethereal in the invisible word, like men are represented
there in spirit?
OBSERVATION: This is a theory as any other and was our
thought. The spirit, however, did not take it into account, based
on the fact that it did not absolutely humiliate us. Its explanation
seemed very logical and supported by a general principle, of
which we find many applications.
- That is not how it happens. The spirit has over the elements
spread in space, in our atmosphere, a power that you are far from
suspecting. The spirit can, at will, concentrate those elements
and give them an apparent shape, adequate to their intents.
6. I repeat the question categorically, so as to avoid any misunderstanding.
Are the clothes that cover the spirits something?
- It seems that my previous answer resolves this question. Don’t
you know that the perispirit itself is something?
7. It results from that explanation that the spirits make the ethereal
matter suffer transformations at their will and thus, in the case of
the snuff-box, the spirit did not find it readymade; the spirit made
it itself; it made it when needed and then made it disappear. The
same must happen to all other objects such as clothes, jewelry, etc.
- But that is evident.
8. That snuff-box was so perfectly visible to Mrs. R… to the point of
deceiving her. Could the spirit have turned it tangible?
- It could.
9. In that case Mrs. R… could have taken it in her hands, thinking
that she was holding an authentic snuff-box?
- Yes.
10. Had she opened the box it is likely that she have found snuff. Had
she taken it, would it have made her sneeze?
- Yes.
11. The spirit can then not only give the form but even some special
properties?
- If it wishes so; it is as a consequence of this principle that I
responded affirmatively to the earlier questions. You will have
proofs of the powerful action that the spirit exerts on matter
and that, as I have said, you are far from suspecting.
12. Suppose then that it wanted to make a poisonous substance and
that a person had taken it. Could that person have been poisoned?
- It could but it would not have happened, since the spirit
would not have been given permission to make it.
13. Could the spirit have made a healthy substance, proper to cure in
case of diseases? Has this happened before?
- Yes; many times.
OBSERVATION: A fact of that kind will be found with a
very interesting theoretical explanation in the following article
about A Servant Spirit.
14. Then it could also have made an edible substance; suppose it had
made a fruit or other goodies. Could someone have eaten them
and felt satisfied?
- Yes, yes. But do not try so hard to understand what is simple.
A single beam of sunlight is enough to make visible these
dense material particles, plentiful around the space in which
you live. Don’t you know that the air contains water vapor?
Condense it and you will have it in the natural state. Remove heat and there you have the intangible and invisible molecules
turning into solid, very solid. There are other matters that
will lead the chemists to show you even more remarkable
wonders. It is only the spirit that has more perfect instruments
than yours: their own will and God’s permission.
OBSERVATION: The question of satisfaction is very important
here. How come a substance that only has temporary existence
and properties and, to a certain extent, conventional, may produce
fulfillment? Through its contact with the stomach that
substance produces satiation but not the one resulting from plenitude.
If that substance may act upon the physical organization
and modify a morbid state it can also act upon the stomach, producing
the feeling of satiation. However, we ask the Pharmacists
and restaurant owners not to be jealous and do not think that the
spirits come to compete with them. Such cases are rare and exceptional
and don’t ever depend on the will. Otherwise cure and
alimentation would be very cheap.
15. Could the spirit make coins in the same way?
- For the same reason.
16. Since made tangible by the will of the spirit could these objects
have a character of permanence and stability?
- They could but this does not happen. It is out of the laws.
17. All spirits have that same degree of power?
- No, no.
18. Who are those who more particularly have that power?
- Those to whom God bestow that, when it is useful.
19. The elevation of a spirit plays a role in such case?
- It is certain that the more elevated the spirit, the easier to
obtain such a power. That however depends on the circumstances.
Inferior spirits may also be granted.
20. The production of semi-material objects always takes place from
a willful act of the spirit or the spirit sometimes exert such power
irrespective of their will?
- This frequently happens irrespective of the spirit’s will.
21. Such a power would then be one of the attributes, a faculty inherent
to the very nature of the spirit? It would somehow be an
attribute like seeing and hearing?
- Certainly. However, the spirit sometimes ignores this. Then
another spirit employs it, irrespectively, when required by the
circumstances. The Zouave’s tailor was exactly the spirit that
I have just mentioned and to whom he referred with his humorous
language.
OBSERVATION: We find an example of such faculty in certain
animals, as for example the electric fish that irradiates electricity not
knowing what or how it does it, not even knowing the mechanism
through which that happens. Don’t we sometimes produce certain
effects through spontaneous acts that we don’t realize? Thus, it seems
very natural to us that the spirit may operate under those circumstances
through a kind of instinct. The spirit acts through the will,
not knowing how, as we walk without calculating the forces at play.
22. We understand that in both cases reported by Mrs. R…, one of
the spirits wanted to have a pipe and the other a snuff-box to
impress the vision of a living person. I ask, however, if the spirit
were not successful in making her see the object, could the spirit
think that he had the object, thus creating the illusion to himself?
- No, if it holds certain superiority, because it would have a
perfect awareness of its condition. The same does not apply
to the inferior spirits.
OBSERVATION: That was, for example, the case of the Queen
of Oude, whose evocation can be found in the issue of March
1858, who still thought herself covered in diamonds.
23. Can two spirits mutually recognize each other by the appearance
that they had when alive?
- That is not how they recognize each other since they will not
take that appearance one to the other. If, however, under certain
circumstances, they were in the presence of one another,
showing that appearance, why wouldn’t they recognize each
other?
24. How can the spirits recognize one another in the midst of a crowd
of other spirits, and above all how can they do it when one goes
to a distant place and many times to other worlds looking for
someone that we evoke?
- That is a question whose answer would take you a long
step forward. It is necessary to wait. You are not sufficiently
advanced. At this point in time be satisfied with
the certainty that it is like that and you have sufficient
proofs of this fact.
25. If the spirit can take the materials to make all these things from
the universal element and give them a temporary reality, with
their properties, the spirit can also take from there the material
to write. Consequently, that gives us the key to the phenomenon
of direct writing.
- You finally understand.
26. If the matter that the spirit utilizes is not permanent, how come
the traces of the direct writings do not disappear?
- Do not judge from the words. From the beginning I have
never said “never”. In the studied cases it was related to bulky
solid materials. Here it is related to signs that are convenient
to preserve and they are preserved.
OBSERVATION: The theory above may be summarized like
this: The spirit acts upon matter; takes from the primitive universal
matter the elements necessary to willfully form objects with
the appearance of several objects that exist on Earth. The spirit
can also willfully operate over the elemental matter, producing an intimate transformation that gives determined properties to
that matter. That faculty is inherent to the nature of the spirit
who frequently exerts it when necessary, like in an unnoticeable
instinctive act. The objects formed by the spirits have a temporary
existence, subordinated to their will or to the necessity. The
spirits can do and undo that at will. In certain cases these objects
may have every indication of reality to the eyes of the living persons,
that is, may become momentarily visible and even tangible.
There is formation but no creation, since the spirit cannot take
something from the nothing.
Pneumatography or Direct Writing
Pneumatography is a writing produced directly by the spirit, without any
intermediary. It differs from psychography since the latter takes place
through the transmission of the spirit’s thought via the writing hand of the
medium. We inserted these two words in the Spiritist Vocabulary, in the
beginning of our Practical Instruction, with the indication of their etymological
difference. Psychography, from the Greek psykhe = butterfly, soul,
and graphô = I write; Pneumatography, pneuma = air, breath, wind, spirit.
With a writing medium the hand is an instrument, but his soul, the incarnate spirit in the medium, is an intermediary, or agent or interpreter of the strange spirit that communicates. With the pneumatography it is the strange spirit that writes directly, without intermediary.
The phenomenon of direct writing is unarguably one of the most extraordinary areas of Spiritism. However abnormal as it may seem, at first sight, it is today a verified and incontestable fact. If we have not spoken about it yet it is because we expected to be able to explain it after having personally made all the required observations in order to handle the subject with causal knowledge. If the theory is necessary for us to understand the possibility of the spiritist phenomena in general, it is perhaps even more necessary in this case, no doubt one of the strangest ever presented, but which no longer seems supernatural when we understand its principle.
With a writing medium the hand is an instrument, but his soul, the incarnate spirit in the medium, is an intermediary, or agent or interpreter of the strange spirit that communicates. With the pneumatography it is the strange spirit that writes directly, without intermediary.
The phenomenon of direct writing is unarguably one of the most extraordinary areas of Spiritism. However abnormal as it may seem, at first sight, it is today a verified and incontestable fact. If we have not spoken about it yet it is because we expected to be able to explain it after having personally made all the required observations in order to handle the subject with causal knowledge. If the theory is necessary for us to understand the possibility of the spiritist phenomena in general, it is perhaps even more necessary in this case, no doubt one of the strangest ever presented, but which no longer seems supernatural when we understand its principle.
The first revelation of this phenomenon provoked doubt, followed by
the idea of deception. In fact, everyone knows the effect of the so-called
sympathetic inks, whose traces initially completely invisible, show up after
certain time. It could seem that one was abusing people’s credulity and
we do not guarantee that such trick may have never been used. We are
even convinced that certain persons, without any mercenary intention,
but exclusively out of self-love and to make others believe in their power,
have employed such hoaxes.
J. J. Rousseau reports the following fact in the third letter of those
written from Montagne:
“In 1743 I saw in Venice a new way of fortune telling, stranger than
those of Préneste. Who wanted to consult had to get into a chamber and,
if wanted, could stay alone. There, from a book formed by blank pages,
the person chose one page to take off; then, holding that page, mentally
requested the answer to something that they wished. Then the blank page
had to be folded and inserted into an envelope that was then sealed and
placed inside a book. Finally, after having repeated certain bizarre formulas,
always keeping an eye on the book, the person removed the envelope
from the book. The seal was examined and the page removed from the
envelope, where there was a written answer.”
“The magician who did such tricks was the first secretary of the
French Embassy, called J. J. Rousseau.”
I doubt that Rousseau had known the direct writing otherwise he
would have known other things relatively to the spiritist manifestations
and would not have handled the subject so lightheartedly. It is possible, as
he himself acknowledged, when we interrogated him about this fact, that
he employed a process learned from an Italian charlatan.
However, just because we can imitate something it would be absurd
to conclude that such a thing does not exist. Haven’t we recently seen
means of imitating the somnambulistic lucidity to the point of an illusion
of reality? Just because that juggler’s trick has gone around all amusement
parks should we conclude that there wouldn’t be true somnambulists? By
the fact that certain merchants sell false wine is there any reason for not finding pure wine? The same happens to the direct writing. The precautions
to ensure the reality of the fact were, as a matter of fact, very easy
and simple, and thanks to them, there could not be any doubt today.
Once the possibility of writing without intermediary is an attribute of
the spirit and considering that the spirits have existed at all times, and also
that they have produced the phenomena that we know in all epochs, then
they equally produced the direct writing in the antiquity as produced in
our days. That is how we can explain the appearance of the three words in
Belshazzar’s feast room (Daniel 5:5). The middle ages, so prolific in occult
prodigies, but which were burnt at the stake, must also have known the
direct writing and we would probably be able to find it in the theory of
the modifications that the spirits may produce over matter, discussed in
our previous article – the principle of transmutation of metals. It is a point
which we will discuss one of these days.
One of our members have recently told us the story of one of his uncles,
a clergyman, that for many years was a missionary in Paraguay; around
1800 he obtained direct writing together with his friend, the renowned
Abbot Faria. His method, which our subscriber did not know well, having
only superficially observed it, consisted of a series of hanging rings, to
which some pencils were vertically adapted and whose tips rested on some
sheets of paper. This system represents the infancy of the art. From then
on we made progress. Whatever the results obtained at different times, it
was not but after the vulgarization of the spiritist manifestations that the
direct writing was taken seriously. It seems that the first person to report
it in Paris, more recently, was the Baron of Guldenstubbe, who published
a very interesting book about the subject, containing a large number of
facsimiles of the direct writings obtained by him. * The phenomenon was
known in the US for some time. The social position of the Baron; his
independence; the respect he enjoyed at the high society, undeniably keep
away any suspicion of fraud once he could not be moved by any greedy interest. If that much one could admit that he was a victim of an illusion
but there is a fact that peremptorily counters that: the fact that the phenomena
are obtained by other persons that have taken all precautions to
avoid any possibility of fraud or mistake.
The direct writing is obtained, as in reality the majority of the spiritist
manifestations, in an ambient of worshiping, prayer and through
evocation.
They have been obtained many times in churches, by the tombs, near
statues or images of persons who were called. It is evident, however, that
the place has no other influence but that of allowing better reverence and
concentration of thoughts, since it is demonstrated that those communications
may also be obtained without those accessories and in the most
common places, like over a simple piece of furniture at home, as long as
we hold the required moral conditions and enjoy the mediumistic faculty.
In the beginning there was an assumption that it was necessary to
have a pencil and a piece of paper. The fact could be explained up to a
certain extent. It is a known fact that the spirits move and displace objects,
that sometimes take them and thrown them in the air. Then they
could also take a pencil and utilize it to write characters; they do the same
with the hand of the medium, using a planchette, etc. to obtain the direct
writing. However, it did not take long to discover that the presence of
the pencil was unnecessary and that a simple piece of paper was enough,
folded or not, on which the characters were found after a few minutes.
The phenomenon completely changes its aspect here, throwing us into an
entirely new order of things. The characters are traced with any given substance.
As that substance has not been supplied to the spirit then the spirit
made it himself. Where has the spirit taken it from? That is the problem.
The Russian General, Count of B…, showed us the first ten lines from
a poem, obtained in such a manner through the Baron of Guldenstubbe’s
sister, by placing a single piece of paper, torn off from her own notebook,
under the clock’s pedestal, by the chimney. After a few minutes she found
fine characters written on the paper, in perfect German. Through a writing
medium the spirit asked her to burn that paper; as she hesitated, afraid of sacrificing such a precious specimen, the spirit added: “Don’t be afraid.
I will give you another one.” Having that promise she threw the paper in
the fire, then she prepared a second sheet, also torn off from her notebook,
on which the verses were reproduced exactly in the same way as before. It
was this second edition that we saw and carefully examined and – strange
thing – the characters presented signs of pressure as if they had just been
produced.
Thus, it is not with pencil and paper that the spirits may operate but
also with ink and printing characters.
One of our honorable friends from the Society, Mr. Didier, a few
days ago obtained the following results which we had the opportunity of
attesting and whose authenticity we can guarantee. He had gone to Our
Lady Victory’s Church, with Mrs. Het, who had obtained results of this
kind not long ago; he took a sheet of paper containing the headings of his
commercial outfit, folded it in four and placed it over the steps of an altar,
asking for a good spirit to come to write something in the name of God.
After worshipping for ten minutes he found on the bottom side of the paper,
in one of the folds, the word faith, and in another fold the word God.
Then, after having asked for the kindness of the spirit to identify himself,
he placed the paper back on the steps and after ten minutes he found these
words: by Fénelon.
Eight days later he wanted to repeat the experiment, on July 12th,
going then to the Louvre, in the room Coyzevox, located in the clock
pavilion. He placed a folded piece of paper, like on the first occasion,
over the basis of the bust of Bossuet, obtaining nothing. A five-year-old
boy was with him and he had placed the boy’s hat on the pedestal of the
statue of Louis XV, just a few feet away from the other one. Considering
his experiment unsuccessful, he was ready to leave when he noticed under
the boy’s hat, apparently written with pencil, on the marble, the words
“Love God”, followed by the letter “B”. The first thought of the observers
was that such words might have been written before, by strange hands,
going unnoticed. In any case, they wished to obtain a new proof, thus
placing the folded paper on top of those words, covering it with the hat. After a few minutes they noticed that the paper contained three letters.
They replaced the paper, requesting that the phrase be completed, obtaining:
“Love God”; that is the same that was written on the marble, without
the letter “B”. It was then evident that the first words had been written
through direct writing. Still sticking out was the curious fact that the letters
were traced successfully and not at once, considering that on the occasion
of the first inspection the phrase had not been concluded yet! Once
he left the Louvre, Mr. Didier went to Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois where,
through the same process, obtained the words - Be Humble. Fénelon - very
clearly written. These words can still be seen on the referred statue.
The substance that forms the characters has total similarity with
graphite and it is easily erased. We examined it in the microscope, verifying
that it is not incorporated to the paper but simply irregularly deposited
on its surface, forming a roughness similar to certain crystallizations. The
erased part shows a dark layer introduced in the cavities of the paper’s
wrinkles. Carefully removed these layers are the actual matter used in the
operation. We regret to say that the small amount of material recovered
did not allow us to make a proper chemical analysis. We have not lost
hope, however, of doing that one day.
We refer the reader to our preceding article, where one can find the
whole explanation of the phenomenon.
In this kind of writing the spirit does not use any of our substances
nor any of our instruments. The spirit himself creates the substance and
the instruments required, taking the material from the primitive universal
element which, by the action of the spirit’s will, suffers the modifications
necessary to the effect that he wants to produce. The spirit thus can produce
the printing tone as well as the common ink and the graphite of the
pencil; and even produce typographic characters strong enough to produce
a ripple effect onto the impression.
This is the result that led us to the phenomenon of the snuffbox from
our previous article, and about which we have elaborated a lot as we have
seen an opportunity to probe one of the most serious laws of Spiritism,
whose knowledge may shed light onto several enigmas, even from the invisible world. That is how, from an apparently vulgar phenomenon,
light can shine out. The most important thing from it all is to carefully
observe what everyone can do, as we can, not limiting ourselves to seeing
the effects without seeking the causes. If our faith stood up from one day
to the next it was because we understood. If you want to produce serious
proselytes have them understood. The knowledge of causes has another
result: it delineates the borderline between truth and superstition.
If we look at the direct writing with respect to the advantages it may
offer we would say that up until now its main function was that of leading
us to the material confirmation of an important fact: the intervention of
a supernatural power that uses another means of manifestation. However,
the communications obtained by such process are rarely extensive. They
are generally spontaneous, limited to a few words, sentences, and sometimes
to unintelligible signs. They have been obtained in several languages,
such as Greek, Latin, Cyrillic, etc., or in hieroglyphic characters, but
have not been used in continual and quick conversations, as allowed by
the psychography or the hand writing of the mediums.
__________________________________________________
* La réalité des Esprits et de leurs manifestations, démontrée par le phénomène de l’écriture
directe. By the Baron of Guldenstubbe: 1 vol. in-8, with 15 slides and 93 facsimile. Price 8
francs at Rue de Richelieu. Also found in the Dentu and Ledoyen bookstores.
A Servant Spirit
We extracted the following passages from a letter of one of our correspondents
from Bordeaux:
“Here you have, my dear Mr. Allan Kardec, a new report of extraordinary facts which I submit to your appreciation, requesting your kindness in verifying them, evoking the spirit who produced them.” “A young lady, here called Mrs. Mally, is the person that operates as an intermediary to the manifestations that constitute the subject of this letter. She lives in Bordeaux and is the mother of three children.”
“She has had visions since the age of nine. One night, coming to the house with her family, she sees at the corner of the stairs, the distinct form of her aunt, who died four or five years back. She says in surprise: A! My aunt! And the vision disappears. Two years later she heard a voice calling her, which she assumed was from her aunt. The call was so strong that she said: Come in aunt. As nobody come in she went to get the door. As she saw nobody she went downstairs asking her mother if she had seen anyone going upstairs.”
“A few years later we find this lady under the influence of a guide, or familiar spirit, who seems to be in charge of watching over her and her children, doing a number of small services in the house, among others waking up the sick ones when it is time for their tea, or waking up those who need to go out. He reveals his moral state through other manifestations. His character is not very serious; adding to the signs of frivolity he has however given proof of sensibility and dedication.”
“Here you have, my dear Mr. Allan Kardec, a new report of extraordinary facts which I submit to your appreciation, requesting your kindness in verifying them, evoking the spirit who produced them.” “A young lady, here called Mrs. Mally, is the person that operates as an intermediary to the manifestations that constitute the subject of this letter. She lives in Bordeaux and is the mother of three children.”
“She has had visions since the age of nine. One night, coming to the house with her family, she sees at the corner of the stairs, the distinct form of her aunt, who died four or five years back. She says in surprise: A! My aunt! And the vision disappears. Two years later she heard a voice calling her, which she assumed was from her aunt. The call was so strong that she said: Come in aunt. As nobody come in she went to get the door. As she saw nobody she went downstairs asking her mother if she had seen anyone going upstairs.”
“A few years later we find this lady under the influence of a guide, or familiar spirit, who seems to be in charge of watching over her and her children, doing a number of small services in the house, among others waking up the sick ones when it is time for their tea, or waking up those who need to go out. He reveals his moral state through other manifestations. His character is not very serious; adding to the signs of frivolity he has however given proof of sensibility and dedication.”
“Mrs. Mally generally sees him under the form of a spark or a great
clarity but to the children he appears under a human form. A somnambulist
said that she was the one who gave Mrs. Mally that guide, over whom
she would have influence. When Mrs. Mally spent some time without
worrying about her guide he took care of reminding her through some
more or less unpleasant visions. Every time, for example, that she went
downstairs, she noticed a shiny cadaver covered by bed sheets. This lady
has a strong strength of character, as we will see later. Nevertheless, she
could not avoid suffering a painful impression from all that. She would
seek refuge in her mother’s room, quickly closing the door behind her.
On other occasions she would have the impression that her clothes were
pulled or that someone or some animal touched her.
This naughtiness stopped as soon as she addressed one thought to her
guide or when the somnambulist warned the spirit, prohibiting him from
tormenting the lady.”
“In 1856 the third daughter of Mrs. Mally, a four-year old girl, fell ill.
It was in August. The child was permanently in a state of sleepiness, interrupted
by convulsions. For eight days I saw the child myself, who seemed
to have come out of that state, taking a happy and smiley expression, eyes
half closed, not looking around to those who surrounded her; then she
would extend her hand in a gracious gesture, as if receiving something;
she would take it to her mouth and eat, then appreciate that with a delightful
smile. During those eight days the child was fed by that invisible
food and her body recovered the usual appearance and freshness. When
she was able to speak she seemed to have come out of a profound sleep,
describing wonderful visions.”
“During the recovery in the same house, on August 25th, there was
the appearance of a non-entity. Around 10:30 pm Mrs. Mally was walking
downstairs, holding the child by the hand when she noticed a person
walking upstairs. The stairwell was perfectly clear, receiving light from
the kitchen, so that Mrs. Mally could distinguish very well the person
who had the appearance of a healthy person. They met face to face at the
stairway landing.
It was a young man of pleasant expression, well dressed, wearing a hat
and having something in his hand that she could not figure out. Surprised
by such an unexpected meeting, at that time and using the service stairs,
Mrs. Mally stared at him not saying a word, not even asking what he
wanted. The unknown person observed her for a moment, then turned
back and went downstairs, rubbing the object he had in his hand on the
handrail, producing a noise similar to a wooden stick. As soon as he disappeared
Mrs. Mally dashed into the living room where I was shouting that
there was an intruder in the house. We searched with the help of my dog.
Every corner of the house was examined. We noticed that the main door
to the street was closed; that nobody could have entered and that it would
not have been possible to close it without a noise. It was unlikely then that
an intruder had come to a lighted staircase, at the time when there was a
good chance of being seen by people from any room of the house. On another
hand, how could a stranger have been found walking on the stairs?
In any case, had he been there by mistake he would have said so to Mrs.
Mally. Instead he turned his back on her and calmly left, like someone
who is not in a hurry nor is a stranger to the whereabouts. All those facts
left no doubt about the nature of that individual.”
“That spirit manifests itself several times through noises which are
similar to the drums; by violent blows on the stove; by stumping feet
at the doors which open on their own; or by noises of gravel thrown at
the windows. One day Mrs. Mally was in the kitchen when she saw the
doors of a cabinet opening and closing several times, as if done so by an
invisible hand. Other times, when starting a fire she would feel someone
pulling her dress or holding her heel when climbing the stairs. Several
times she had the scissors and other working objects hidden from her and
after having already looked for them for a long time she would have them
deposited on her lap.”
“On a given Sunday she was working in the kitchen, seasoning a
knuckle of ham when the garlic clove was taken from her hands. She
though it had fallen, she then tried to find it, unsuccessfully. She then
turned the ham, finding the garlic buried in a triangular hole, without the skin, as if indicating that someone had intentionally hidden the garlic
there.”
“Mrs. Mally was strolling around with her oldest daughter, the four
year old, when she noticed that the child was entertained by an invisible
being which seemed to be asking for the kid’s candies. The girl would
close her hand and say:
• These are mine. If you want you can buy yours.
Surprised, the mother asked who she was talking to.
• It is this boy that wants me to give him my candies.
• Who is this boy? The mother asked.
• This boy here by my side.
• But I see nobody.
• Ah! He is gone. He was wearing a white frizzled garment.”
“On another occasion the sick girl that I have already mentioned was
entertaining herself, making paper birds.
• Mummy, mummy! Stop this boy. He wants to take my paper.
• Who? The mother asked.
• This boy, he took my paper. And the child was crying.
• But where is he?
• There! He is leaving through the window. Naughty boy.”
“The same girl was one day hopping on her toes to the point of becoming
breathless, despite her mother’s urging to stop as the mother was
afraid she would hurt herself. She suddenly stopped and said: Ah! It is
Mom’s direction. When asked about the meaning of that she said that she
had seen an arm holding her, forcing her to stop. She added that she was
not afraid and that she immediately thought that it was her mother’s direction.
Facts of that nature have repeated constantly, becoming familiar to the children that have no fear since the thought of their mother’s guide
immediately comes to mind.”
“The intervention of that guide has manifested in more serious circumstances.
Mrs. Mally had rented a house with a garden in the commune
of Caudéran. The house was isolated, surrounded by vast prairies.
She lived alone with the children and a young woman tutor. The neighborhood
was then infested by criminals who used to vandalize properties
around and that had naturally set their eyes on her property since they
knew that it was inhabited by two women only, thus they used to come
every night to try to force the doors and windows. For three years in a row
Mrs. Mally lived in that house, constantly alarmed, but every night she
would deliver herself to God. After her prayer, her spiritual guide manifested
in the form of a spark. Several times, at night, when the outlaws
tried to force their way into the house, a sudden flash of light illuminated
her room and she heard a voice telling her: ‘Don’t be afraid. They will not
come in.’”
“In fact, they had never been successful when trying to enter the
house. Despite that, and for precaution, she had acquired firearms. One
evening when she saw them coming around the house she fired her gun
twice, hitting one of them because she heard the groaning. But they had
disappeared the next day. The fact was reported by a Bordeaux newspaper
as follows:”
“We have been informed about a fact that demonstrates the courage
of a young lady who lives in the commune of Caudéran.”
“A lady that occupies an isolated house in that commune has for companion
another young lady who is in charge of educating her children.”
“On the eve of the fact that we will report, the lady was victim of an
attempt theft. They have then decided to be on the watch, and if necessary
at night.”
“They did what they had planned to do. Then when the thieves
showed up to conclude their unfinished business of the previous night
they found a reception. They were careful enough not to establish any
dialogue with the inhabitants of the surrounded house. When the young lady felt their presence she opened the door and fired a gun shot which
may have hit one of the thieves since they found blood stains in the yard.”
“So far the responsible persons for that second attempt have not been
found.”
“I will speak about other manifestations that occurred in that same
house in Caudéran, while those young ladies were there. Strange noises
were frequently heard at night, like balls rolling on the floor or firewood
thrown on the ground. However, everything was in perfect order in the
morning.”
“In case you think it to be convenient please evoke the guide of Mrs.
Mally and question him about the manifestations that I have reported.
Kindly ask him in particular if the somnambulist who has supposedly
given her that guide has the power of recalling him and if he would leave
in case the somnambulist died.”
Mrs. Mally’s Guide
PARISIAN SOCIETY, JULY 8th, 1859
1. (Evocation of Mrs. Mally’s guide) - Here I am. This is easy to me.
2. How can we call you? - However you wish. Use the name by which you know me already.
3. What was the reason that attached you to Mrs. Mally and her children? - First of all, old relationships; then a friendship, a sympathy always protected by God.
4. They say that it was a somnambulist, Mrs. Dupuy, who assigned you to Mrs. Mally. Is that true? - It was the somnambulist who affirmed that I was with her.
5. Do you depend on that somnambulist? - No.
6. Could she keep you away from that lady? - No.
7. In case the somnambulist died would that have any influence on you? - None.
1. (Evocation of Mrs. Mally’s guide) - Here I am. This is easy to me.
2. How can we call you? - However you wish. Use the name by which you know me already.
3. What was the reason that attached you to Mrs. Mally and her children? - First of all, old relationships; then a friendship, a sympathy always protected by God.
4. They say that it was a somnambulist, Mrs. Dupuy, who assigned you to Mrs. Mally. Is that true? - It was the somnambulist who affirmed that I was with her.
5. Do you depend on that somnambulist? - No.
6. Could she keep you away from that lady? - No.
7. In case the somnambulist died would that have any influence on you? - None.
8. Was it long ago since you left your body?
- Yes, many years ago.
9. What were you then?
- A boy, deceased when I was eight years old.
10. As a spirit are you happy or unhappy?
- Happy. I have no personal concerns about the others and if I
suffer it is because of them.
11. Was that you who appeared to Mrs. Mally at the stairway, making
her suppose that was an intruder?
- No, it was a companion.
12. How about the other day, in the form of a cadaver? That could
impress her unpleasantly. That was a naughty thing that demonstrates
lack of benevolence.
- Far from that, in many cases, but in that one the intention
was to stimulate more courageous thoughts in Mrs. Mally.
What is so frightening about a cadaver?
13. You then have the power of becoming visible at will?
- Yes, but as I said it was not me.
14. Then you don’t have anything to do with the other manifestations
that took place in her house either?
- Excuse me! That I do. It was what I have imposed myself to
do on her side, as a material work, but I do another work for
her, much more useful and serious.
15. Can you become visible to everyone?
- Yes.
16. Could you become visible here, to one of us?
- Yes if you ask God for that. I can but I dare not.
17. If you don’t want to become visible could you at least give us a
manifestation, as for example, bringing anything to this table?
- Certainly, but what would be the usefulness? For her that is
how I give testimony of my presence, but for you it would be
useless since we are talking.
18. Wouldn’t the obstacle be the lack of a medium, needed to produce
such manifestations?
- No, that is a small obstacle. Don’t you frequently see sudden
apparitions to persons without any mediumistic faculty?
19. Then everyone is capable of seeing spontaneous apparitions?
- Yes, since every human being is a medium.
20. However, doesn’t the spirit find better conditions in the organization
of certain persons in order to communicate?
- Yes but I told you – and you must know – that the spirits have
the power on their own. The medium is nothing. Don’t you
have the direct writing? Do you need a medium for that? You
only need faith and this sometimes happens even in spite of
human beings, that is, without faith and desire.
21. Do you think that the manifestations, like the direct writing for
example, will become more common than in our days?
- Certainly. How do you understand the full potential of
Spiritism without spreading in more direct ways like this?
22. Can you explain to us what was it that Mrs. Mally’s daughter
took in her hand and ate when she was sick?
- It was manna; a substance created by us that contains the
principle of an ordinary manna and the sweetness of the
sugar.
23. Is that substance formed in the same way as the clothes and other
objects which the spirits produce at their will and by the action
exerted upon matter?
- Yes but the elements are very different. The ingredients that
form the manna are not the same that I used to create wood
or clothes.
24. (to St. Louis) Were the elements utilized by the spirit to form the
manna different from those utilized to form other things? We
have always been told that there is only one primitive universal
element, from which all bodies are simple modifications.- Yes. It means that such a primitive element is in space, here
under a given form, there under another. This is what he
means. He obtains his manna from one part of that element
that he supposes different, but it is always the same.
25. The magnetic action through which one can give special properties
to a given substance, like the water for example, does it bear
a relationship with that of the spirit that creates one substance?
- The magnetizer does not employ anything beyond his own
will. It is a spirit that helps him who is in charge of preparing
the medicine.
26. (to the guide) Sometime ago we reported curious facts of manifestations
of a spirit who we called “the Gnome of Bayonne”. Do
you know that spirit?
- Not particularly, but I followed what you did regarding his
case and that was how I learned about him.
27. Is he a spirit of inferior order?
- Does inferior mean bad? No. If simply meaning not entirely
good, not much advanced? Yes.
28. We thank you for your kindness in coming to us and for the explanations
you gave us.
- At your service.
OBSERVATION: This communication offers a complement to what we
have said in the two preceding articles about the formation of certain
bodies by the spirits. The spirits prepared the substance given to the child
during her illness. This manna added in her healing. Where did they take
this material from? They took it from the universal element, transformed
for the desired application. This strange phenomenon of the properties
transmitted through magnetic action, an unexplained problem we outline
below, which has entertained the incredulous, is now resolved. In fact, we
know that it is not only the spirits of the dead that act but also the living
ones that have their part in the action in the invisible world. The man
with the snuffbox gives us this proof.
What is remarkable about the fact that the wishes of a person, acting
for the good, may operate transformations in the primitive matter, giving
it special properties? In our opinion this is the key to many supposedly supernatural
phenomena, which we will have the opportunity to talk about.
That is how, through observation, we come to observe things that are part
of the reality and wonderful. However, who can assure that such a theory
is true? Be it! It has at least the merit of being rational and in perfect agreement
with the observed facts. If any human brain finds another theory
more logical than this one given by the spirits, may them be compared.
One day, perhaps, we will be thanked for opening the path to the rational
study of Spiritism.
Someone told us the other day: “I really liked to have a servant spirit
at my command, even to the price of having to bear some of its tricks.”
It is a satisfaction that we all enjoy unnoticeably, for not all spirits who
assist us manifest in an ostensive way, but it does not mean that they are
not by our side, and just because their influence is occult, it is not less real.
Family Conversations from Beyond the Grave - Voltaire and Frederic
Dialogue obtained through two mediums that served as interpreters to
these spirits, in the session of the Society on March 18th, 1859.
PRIOR QUESTIONS TO VOLTAIRE
1. What is your situation as a spirit? - Errant, but regretful.
2. What do you do as a spirit? - I tear off the veil of error that I thought was the light of truth when alive.
3. What do you think about your writings in general? - My spirit was dominated by pride for I had the mission of giving an impulse to a people in their infancy. My books are a consequence of this.
4. What can you say particularly about your Joan of Arc? - It is a diatribe. I did worse things.
5. When alive, what were your thoughts about life after death? - Come on, you know well that I only believed in matter; and it dies.
PRIOR QUESTIONS TO VOLTAIRE
1. What is your situation as a spirit? - Errant, but regretful.
2. What do you do as a spirit? - I tear off the veil of error that I thought was the light of truth when alive.
3. What do you think about your writings in general? - My spirit was dominated by pride for I had the mission of giving an impulse to a people in their infancy. My books are a consequence of this.
4. What can you say particularly about your Joan of Arc? - It is a diatribe. I did worse things.
5. When alive, what were your thoughts about life after death? - Come on, you know well that I only believed in matter; and it dies.
6. Were you an atheist in the true meaning of the word? - I was proud; I denied the Divinity from pride, which made me suffer and for which I regret.
7. Would you like to talk to Frederic, who has also kindly accepted
our evocation? Such a conversation would be instructive to us.
- If Frederic wishes, I am at your service.
Voltaire – My dear monarch, as you see I acknowledge my mistakes and I am far from speaking as I did in my books. Formerly we gave the spectacles of our turpitude; now we are obliged to give that of our regret and our desire to get to know the great and pure truth.
Frederic – I supposed you were less good than you really are.
Voltaire – My dear monarch, as you see I acknowledge my mistakes and I am far from speaking as I did in my books. Formerly we gave the spectacles of our turpitude; now we are obliged to give that of our regret and our desire to get to know the great and pure truth.
Frederic – I supposed you were less good than you really are.
Voltaire – A power that we are obliged to adore and acknowledge
in its whole sovereignty, forcing our soul to proclaim, perhaps to those
abused by us, a completely opposite doctrine from the one that we
professed.
Frederic – It is true, my dear Arouet, but let us pretend no more.
All veils have fallen.
Voltaire – We left so many disasters behind us that many tears
will be needed for our pardon and acquittal. We can never be united
enough in order to erase and repair the harm we have caused.
Frederic – We must consider also that the century that praised us
was very poor in its judgment and that just a little is needed to fascinate
people. It was nothing more than some audacity.
Voltaire – How come? We made a lot of noise in our century!
Frederic – It was that noise that has suddenly fallen into complete
silence and threw us into the bitter reflection, almost regret. I deplore
my life but how bored I am for no longer being Frederic! So do you
for not being Mr. Voltaire any longer.
Voltaire – Then speak for yourself Majesty.
Frederic – Yes, I suffer; but don’t say that again.
Voltaire – You have abdicated then! You will later do as I did.
Frederic – I cannot.
Voltaire – You asked me to be your guide and I will still do that.
I will only make sure that you don’t get negatively influenced in the
future. If you can read find here what can be useful to you. It is not
the Highnesses who question you but spirits who seek and find the
truth with the help of God.
Frederic – Take me by the hand then; design a line of conduct,
if you can… let us wait… but it will be for you… As for myself I am
very perturbed and this has lasted a century already.
Voltaire – You still incite in me the desire to be proud of being
better than yourself. This is not generous. Become good and humble
so that I can become humble as well.
Frederic – Yes but the hallmark left in my heart by my Majesty
always impedes me from humiliating myself as you can do. My heart
is tough like a rock, arid like the desert, dry like sand.
Voltaire – Are you a poet then? I did not know that was a skill of
yours, Sir!
Frederic – You pretend… you… I ask only one thing from God:
to forget the past… an incarnation of trial and work.
Voltaire – It is better. I am with you but I feel that I will have to
wait for a long time for my remission and forgiveness.
Frederic – Well my friend; let us then pray together once.
Voltaire – I always do that since God decided to take away my
veil of flesh.
Frederic – What do you think about these men who call us here?
Voltaire – They can judge us and we can only humble ourselves
before them.
Frederic – They bother me. Their ideas are very strange.
(Question to Frederic) – What is your opinion about Spiritism?
- You are wiser than we are. Don’t you live in a century after ours?
Although we are in heavens since then, we have just got there.
- We thank you for attending our appeal as well as your friend
Voltaire.
Voltaire – We will return whenever you want.
Frederic – Don’t evoke me many times… I am not as sympathetic
to this.
- Why aren’t you sympathetic?
- I disdain and find myself contemptuous.
March 25th, 1859
(Evocation of Voltaire)
- Speak.
1. What do you think about Frederic, now that he is no longer here?
- He rationalizes very well but he did not want to explain
himself. As he told you, he disdains, and such disdain for
everybody blocks him from opening up, afraid of not being
understood.
2. Then can you kindly cover for him, telling us what he understands
by “I disdain and find myself contemptuous”?
- Yes. He feels weak and corrupted, as all of us; perhaps he understands
even better than we do since he has abused, more
than the others, the gifts of God.
3. How do you see him as a Monarch?
- Skillful.
4. Do you consider him a righteous man?
- You should not ask that. Don’t you know his actions?
5. Could you give us a more precise idea about your occupations as
a spirit?
- No. At every moment of my life I discover the goodness under
another point of view and I try to practice it, or at least,
to learn to practice it. When someone had an existence like
mine there are many prejudices to combat, many thoughts to
repel or change completely, before the truth is reached.
6. We wish you could write a dissertation about a subject of your
choice. Could you do that?
- About Christ, if you want.
7. In this session?
- Later. Wait for another session.
April 8th, 1859
1. (Evocation of Voltaire)
- I am here.
2. Could you kindly write the dissertation that you promised?
- I can do what I promised, however, I will be brief.
My dear friends! When I was among your parents I had opinions
and to sustain them, making them prevail among the contemporary,
I many times simulated a conviction that I did not have.
That is how, on trying to attack the defects and vices of religion,
I sustained a thesis that I am now condemned to refute.
I attacked many pure and saint things that should have been
respected by my profane hand. That is how I attacked Christ
himself, this model of superhuman virtues. Yes, poor people! We
will show perhaps some similarity to our model but will never
have the dedication and holiness that he demonstrated to us. He
will always be above us for he was better before us. We were still
immersed in vice and corruption and he was already seated on the
right hand side of God. Here, before you, I retract from everything
I have done with my pen against Christ, for I love him, yes
I do love him. I regret for not had been able to do it yet.
Bulletin of the Parisian Society of Spiritist Studies
NOTE: According to the announcement, from now on we will publish
the bulletin of the works of the Society. Each number will contain
the report of the previous month’s session. These bulletins will only give
a brief summary of the works and the minutes of each session. Regarding
the obtained communications, as well as the others from strange sources
that were read, we will always publish them entirely, as long as they offer
something of useful and instructive. We will continue to indicate the date
of the sessions as we have done so far. The abundance of material and the
need for classification sometimes force an inversion in the order of certain
documents. This is not important since sooner or later they will find their
place.
Friday, July 1st, 1859
(Private session)
Administrative matters: Admission of Mr. S… corresponding member from Bordeaux. Postponement until broader information is available, membership of two members presented on the 10th and 17th.
Designation of three new chairmen for the general sessions.
Reading of the minutes of the previous session in June.
Friday, July 1st, 1859
(Private session)
Administrative matters: Admission of Mr. S… corresponding member from Bordeaux. Postponement until broader information is available, membership of two members presented on the 10th and 17th.
Designation of three new chairmen for the general sessions.
Reading of the minutes of the previous session in June.
Communications:
Mr. Allan Kardec announces that he was with Mr. W… son, from
Bologne-sur-Mer, covered in the issue of December 1858 of the Review,
regarding an article about the phenomenon of bi-corporeity. He confirmed
the fact of his simultaneous presence in Boulogne and London.
Letter from Mr. S…, a corresponding member from Bordeaux, containing
precise details about interesting manifestations and apparitions of
his personal knowledge from a familiar spirit. The letter is published in
this issue as well as the evocation related to the subject.
Dr. Morhéry awards the Society with two cantatas whose lyrics where
authored by him, entitled Italia and Venetian. Although the productions
are completely strange to the works of the Society, they were thankfully
accepted.
Mr. Th… notes that, with respect to the communication of
Christopher Columbus, obtained in the previous session that his answers
related to his mission and that of the spirits in general seem to bless the
doctrine of fatality.
Several members contested such consequence of the answers given
by Christopher Columbus, since the mission does not subtract from the
spirit the freedom of doing or not doing something. The human being
is not fatally impelled to do this or that thing. It may happen that, as
an individual, the person behaves more or less blindly but as spirit is
always aware of his actions. Supposing that the principle of fatality was
derived from Columbus’ answers, this would not be the consecration
of a principle that has been contested by the spirits all the time. At any
rate, it is only a personal opinion. Well, the Society is far from accepting
it as an irrefutable truth since the Society is aware that the spirits may
be wrong. A spirit may well say that it is the Sun that turns and not the
Earth that would not be more truthful just because it had come from a
spirit. We take the answers by their value. Our objective is to study the
individualities, whatever their degree of advancement or inferiority. We
thus acquire the knowledge about the moral state of the invisible world,
giving no credit to the doctrine of the spirits, unless fit to reason and common sense and when there is real light in them. When an answer is
illogical or erroneous, we conclude that the spirit that gave that answer
is delayed. That is all. As for Columbus’ answers, there is no implication
of fatality whatsoever.
Studies:
Questions about the long lasting perturbation of Dr. Glower, evoked
on June 10th.
Questions about the causes of the painful physical sensations produced
on Mr. W… son, from Boulogne, by suffering spirits.
Questions about the theory behind the formation of material objects
in the world of the spirits, such as outfits, jewelry, etc. and the transformation
of the elemental matter by the spirit.
Explanation about the phenomenon of direct writing (see our article
“Pneumatography or Direct Writing” in this issue)
Evocation of a high ranked officer killed in Magenta (second conversation);
questions about certain sensations beyond the grave.
Proposal put forward by Mr. S… for the evocation of Mr. M…, disappeared
for a month, in order to know if he is dead or alive. When questioned
about it St. Louis said that such evocation cannot be made; that
the uncertainty about the fate of that man has the objective of a trial and
that later, through ordinary means, one will know what happened.
Friday July 8th, 1859
(General session)
Reading of the minutes and works of previous session.
Communications:
Reading of two spontaneous communications obtained by Mr. R…,
member: one from St. Louis, giving advice to the Society as for the modes
of assessment of the answers given by the spirits; another from Lamennais.
They will be published in the next issue.
Reading of the news about Deacon Pâris and the convulsions of SaintMédard,
prepared by the working committee as a matter for study.
Mr. Didier, member, reported curious experiences he carried out
about the direct writing and the remarkable results obtained.
Studies:
Evocation of the familiar or guide spirit of Mrs. Mally from Bordeaux,
regarding the news transmitted by Mr. S… about the manifestations produced
in her house, read in the previous session.
Evocation of Mr. K… deceased on June 15th, 1859, in the Department
of Sarthe. Mr. K…, a righteous man, very educated, was versed in spiritist
studies and the evocation carried out after the request of his family
and relatives, confirming the influence of those studies upon the state
of detachment of his soul after death. Besides, it spontaneously revealed
the important fact of the spirits nightly visits among the spirits of living
persons. Grave consequences are derived from this fact for the solution of
certain moral and psychological problems.
Friday July 15th, 1859
(Private session)
Reading of the minutes of previous session.
Administrative matters:
On the request of several members and considering that many persons
are absent during this season, the President proposes, according to what is
established in all societies, that a period of vacations be established. The
Society decides to suspend the sessions during August, resuming its activities
on September 2nd.
Mr. Cr…, deputy secretary, writes requesting his substitution, due
to new occupations which do not allow him to regularly take part
since the beginning of the sessions. His replacement will be done in
due course.
Communications:
Reading of a letter from Mr. Jobard, from Brussels, Honorary
President of the Society, reporting some facts relative to Spiritism and offering
a song to the Society entitled “The Zuavo’s Song”, inspired by the
evocation of The Zouave of Magenta, published in the July issue of the
Review. The song was presented in the Brussels’ Theater. The aim of that
song, in which the spiritual inspiration of the author unfolds, is to show
that the spiritist ideas have the effect of destroying the apprehensions of
death.
Mr. D… reports new facts about the direct writing, obtained
by him in The Louvre and in Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois (see article
“Pneumatography or Direct Writing” in this issue).
Reading of a letter addressed to the President with respect to the
storm of Solferino. The author indicates several similar facts and asks if
there wouldn’t be something of providential in such coincidence. This
question was answered through a question addressed to the high ranked
official deceased in Magenta. As a matter of fact, this conversation will be
the subject of a more detailed examination.
Letter from Mrs. L… in which she mentions a mystification that victimized
her from the part of a malevolent spirit that pretended to be St.
Vincent of Paul, who deceived her with an apparently elevated language,
providing details about her and her family, inducing her to compromising
attitudes. The letter itself indicates to the Society that the spirit had revealed
his nature by certain facts that would not allow any doubt regarding
his identification.
Studies:
Moral problems and several questions: About the merit of the good
deeds, aiming at the future life; about the missions of the spirits; about the
influence of the type or the wish of death; about the intuitive mediums.
Questions about nightly visit among living persons.
Evocation of Deacon Pâris.
Evocation of the false spirit of St. Vincent of Paul, mystifying spirit
of Mrs. L…
Friday, July 22nd, 1859
(General Session)
Reading of the minutes of previous session.
Communications:
Reading of a private communication from the member Mr. R…,
about the theory of madness, dreams, hallucinations and somnambulism,
by the spirits of Francois Arago and St. Vincent of Paul. That theory is a
scientific and rational development of the principles already issued about
the subject, to be published in the next issue.
Mr. R… communicates a recent fact of apparition. He was acquainted
with Mr. Fume. On the day of his funeral, Saturday July 16th, Mr. Fume appeared
to the wife of Mr. R… at night, with the same appearance as he had
when alive, trying to approach her, while another spirit, whose face she could
not distinguish, held him by the arm, trying to keep him away. Perturbed
by such a vision she covered her eyes but continued to see him as before. On
the next day, that lady who is a writing medium, like her husband, started to
frenetically trace irregular characters that seemed to form the name Fume. In
fact, another spirit that was questioned about it, responded that Mr. Fume
wanted to communicate with them, but in his current state of perturbation he
hardly recognizes himself, adding that it would be necessary eight more days
before evoking him, so that he could communicate freely.
Dr. V… reports a case of spirits’ prediction, which took place in his
presence, even more remarkable for the accuracy of dates provided by
the spirits. About six weeks ago a lady of his acquaintance, an excellent
psychographic medium, received a communication from the spirit
of her father. Suddenly, and without provocation, her father started to
spontaneously talk about the Italian war. He was asked if the war would
end soon. He answered that the peace would be signed on July 11th. Not
giving importance to that prediction Mr. V… inserted the answer in
a sealed envelope and sent it to a third person, recommending that it
should not be open before July 11th. It is a fact that the event happened
as announced.
It is worth noting that when the spirits talk about things of the future
they do so spontaneously, certainly because they consider it useful to do
so; however, they never do that when provoked by curiosity.
Studies:
Moral problems and diverse questions.
Complementary questions about the merit of the good actions; about
the spirit’s visits and about the direct writing.
Questions about the intervention of the spirits in the phenomena of
nature, like the storms, and about the attributions of certain spirits.
Complementary questions about the Deacon Pâris and the convulsions
of Saint-Médard.
Evocation of General Hoche.
To Mr. L… de Limoges
We kindly ask the person who took the burden of writing to us from
Limoges, indicating interesting documents relatively to Spiritism, to
facilitate our direct contact, allowing us to respond to the questions
which we had the honor of receiving from him. The lack of space does
not allow the publication of certain passages of your letter.
ALLAN KARDEC
ALLAN KARDEC